The next morning, the three girls went to breakfast in the café as usual. They hoped to find Juan there with his friends, but the guys were not in sight.
"What will we do now?" Emma asked.
"Just stick with the plan. Juan could have friends working in the café, remember?"
"Okay," Emma agreed.
They looked over the menus until a waitress arrived.
"May I take your order now?" she asked.
Kacey and Ava ordered first. When it was Emma's turn, she closed her menu and said,
"I don't think I can eat a thing! I'm just too excited!"
"Oh, Emma!" Kacey interjected, "I know! Getting that diamond ring last night must have been quite a shock!"
"You're not kidding! But you know my Dave...full of surprises! I never expected him to propose to me!"
The waitress smiled, "Oh, you got engaged last night?"
"Yes! Right on the beach at the restaurant where we had dinner!"
"Congratulations," said the waitress.
"Thanks! I only wish I could wear the ring! He bought it a size too large, and I'm afraid I might lose it, so I'm keeping it in my room until I can take it to a jeweler to have it fitted for me."
Ava chimed in, "You sure wouldn't want to lose that rock! It must have cost a fortune!"
Emma shrugged, "Oh, well, I'm sure it wasn't a fortune for Dave. After all, his father has promised him a full time job after graduation at his firm. He'll probably become the vice president in no time!"
Kacey asked, "How much does that diamond weigh?"
"Three and a half carats!" Emma gushed.
"Wow!" the waitress exclaimed with wide eyes.
"You're going to need muscles to haul that thing around," Ava said, "You'd better eat something to keep up your strength!"
Emma laughed, "Oh, I guess I should. I think I'll have the blueberry pancakes."
"Thank you," the waitress replied, "And congratulations!"
The girls thanked her and waited until she was far away before talking.
"Well, one seed has been planted," Kacey said.
"Yeah, if she's involved, maybe she'll tell Juan about the ring." She looked at Emma and smiled, “Boy, you really laid it on thick...three and a half carats?”
“Well, we want to tempt them, don’t we?”
She looked down at her hand. She had turned the ring around so the diamond was hidden and had kept her left hand under the table.
"You know, I don't care that my real diamond is only half a carat. I still love it. I wouldn't even care if it were a fake!"
"It's beautiful, Emma," Kacey said, "And I'm sure you're very happy that Dave proposed."
"Yeah. When he didn't come here on Spring Break, I got to thinking maybe he was tired of me and had someone else he was dating."
Ava shook her head, "Dave is crazy about you, Emma! Didn't I tell you that?"
The food arrived shortly after and the girls ate while keeping an eye on the waiters and waitresses.
"I don't see anything suspicious going on," Kacey remarked.
"Neither do I," Ava agreed. She was paying more attention to the staff members than her own meal, and was the last to finish. She looked at her watch and said,
"We still have half an hour to kill. Let's walk around to see if we can spot Juan or his friends."
The girls agreed and they soon left the café and headed toward the pool.
The pool area was not busy, and there was no sign of Juan or his friends. They walked down to the beach and found only a few people there. Ava checked her watch again and then said, "It's almost time. Let's head back."
The girls were soon in their hotel room.
The room looked empty, but Ava announced, "It's only us. Any luck?"
The three guys came out of their hiding places and shook their heads.
"No, nothing yet, but it's early," Josh said, "Now it's the girls' turn to wait."
"I'm starved. Let's go eat breakfast!" Dave announced. Before he and the guys left, Dave and Emma hugged each other and kissed. Rick and Josh left and Dave followed soon after.
"So now what?" Emma asked Ava.
"We get ready to go hang out at the pool and look for Juan. He always seems to be there."
The girls changed into their bathing suits and waited until the guys came back. Then the girls left to go to the pool while the guys stayed in the room to wait for the robbers. Tossing a roll of duct tape into the air and catching it several times, Dave asked,
"Do you think this plan is going to work?" he asked his friends.
They shrugged, "Who knows. Until someone comes up with a better plan, it's all we've got."
Down at the pool, the girls found three empty lounge chairs and sat down. There was no sign of Juan, so they took their time putting on sun block and talking about their plan.
The girls waited by the pool for almost an hour. Twice Ava walked down to the beach and around the hotel looking for any sign of Juan. Kacey went for a swim while Emma read a magazine.
When Ava returned, Kacey asked, "Did you see him?"
Ava shook her head, "Nope. Maybe he checked out."
"I certainly hope not," Kacey said, "Today's our last day to catch him."
Emma said, "I feel bad for Dave. He flew all the way down here and his only day with us is going to be spent hiding up in our room!"
Ava nodded and said, "Maybe we can try to leave Juan a message at the front desk just to find out if he's still here."
"Good idea," Kacey said, "I'll go do that while you two stay here."
Kacey dried off and wrapped a towel around herself. She headed toward the front desk inside the lobby.
The desk clerk smiled and asked, "May I help you?"
"Yeah, I was hoping to see a friend before I leave tomorrow, but I don't even know if he's still here at the hotel. Can you tell me if he's checked out? I only know his first name is Juan and he's from Puerto Rico. He's a young guy...about my age, with dark hair and brown eyes. Have you seen him?"
The desk clerk smiled, "Not that I remember, but I'll check the registration for anyone named Juan."
She pulled up a file on her computer and began searching Juan's name. After a few minutes, she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but there's no one registered here by that name. Could he be staying with someone else under a different name?"
Kacey shrugged, "Maybe. Well, thanks for trying."
"You're welcome. Have a great day!" the clerk replied.
Back at the pool, Emma and Ava were looking tired and hot.
Kacey told them what she had learned from the desk clerk.
Emma said sarcastically, "Great! So he may not even be here at all. He and his friends may be miles away already."
Kacey looked at her watch and said, "Let's wait another half hour. If he doesn't show up, we'll call off the whole thing."
The others agreed and sat down to wait. More and more people came down to the pool. Young people frolicked in the water while their parents kept an eye on them. Kacey kept looking at her watch. After thirty minutes, she said, "I guess he's not coming. Let's go back to the room. There's no sense in wasting our last day hanging around the hotel."
The others agreed and everyone left, heading back to the hotel. Kacey was really sad that she couldn't catch the robbers and get Tanya's job back for her. She had prayed about it last night and again this morning, but nothing had happened.
'God's plan is best,' she told herself. She had learned long ago from her father that if things weren't going as she had planned, it was because God had a better plan in mind.
As they were entering the hotel, someone was just coming out of the elevator. They almost bumped into him before they realized it was Juan.
"Juan!" Kacey exclaimed, "What a surprise!"
"Yeah," Ava said, "We thought you had left and gone back to Puerto Rico."
He gave a bright smile, "Oh, no...not yet."
"We leave tomorrow," Emma volunteered. As Juan was looking at Kacey, E
mma turned her ring around her finger and hid her left hand behind her.
"Well, have a great trip home," he said, "Did you have a good time here?"
"Yeah, it was awesome! We were just headed for the pool. Want to go with us?" Kacey asked.
"Sure!" he agreed and followed the girls back out to the pool. Ava lagged behind and sent a text message to Rick saying that Juan was with them.
They found four chairs together and sat down by the pool.
"So tell me," Juan said, "What did you like best about your vacation here?"
"Well, the theme parks were amazing," Kacey said.
"And so was the surfing," Ava added.
"And my favorite thing," Emma said with a smile, "Was getting engaged!"
"You did?" Juan exclaimed, "That's great!" His eyes searched for her hand and she noticed.
"Oh, I didn't bring my ring down to the pool because I don't want to lose it. It's a little too large, so I'm taking it to a jeweler this afternoon to have it resized."
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to lose that rock!" Ava said.
"I'll say!" Kacey agreed, "What does it weigh? Like two carats?"
Emma grinned, "No, three and a half carats! But Dave can afford it now that he's going to be working at his father's firm. He comes from a wealthy family."
"Wow," Juan remarked, "You are very lucky. I hope you put the ring into the safe in your closet."
"Oh, is there a safe in there? I didn't know," Emma replied, "No, I just put it under my pillow after the maid cleaned our room this morning. I'm sure it will be fine there."
"Hey, Juan, how about a swim?" Ava asked him.
He looked at his watch, "Oh, no, I'm afraid I can't. But you girls stay and enjoy yourselves. It's your last day. Have fun!"
"We will!" Kacey promised, and said to Ava, "I think I'll go swimming, too."
"I'm going to lie here and soak up the sun for another hour or two," Emma said.
"Well, if I don't see you girls again, have a good trip home. It was nice meeting you," Juan said. They all said their goodbyes and watched him leave.
After he was gone, Kacey asked, "Do you think he bought it?"
Ava said, "I don't know, but we'll soon find out."
Juan headed into the hotel while texting someone to meet him on the second floor. Soon, he was stepping out of the elevator and into the hallway. He nodded to his friend, Carlos, and asked, "Did you get the room number?"
"Yeah, it's the same one we hit earlier this week. Do you think we should still go in there?"
"Of course! All three girls are down at the pool. But we'll have to work fast. She put a diamond ring under her pillow. We'll check the beds first."
Carlos was wearing a short, gold waiter’s jacket and carrying a tray. They found room 221 and knocked. Carlos announced, "Room service."
When no one answered, he used a key card and opened the door. The room was empty. Carlos and Juan went inside and began looking under the pillows of each bed.
Suddenly, Juan called out, "Got it!"
He held up a small box from a jeweler.
Carlos hurried to his side and said, "Open it!"
Juan opened the box and found a small note inside that read, "Surprise!"
They exchanged puzzled looks.
"Not what you expected, was it?" a voice asked. The two robbers spun around to find themselves facing Josh and Rick, who had been hiding in the bathroom.
Carlos dropped the box, and Juan held his hands out, saying, "We were just delivering a room service order."
"We didn't order any room service. And you went right to the beds and started looking for the ring. You thought it was there," Josh said.
"No, that's not true!" Juan pleaded, "We weren't looking for a ring!"
"It sure looked that way," Rick said, "Should we play it back again and see how it looks?"
Dave stepped out from the closet holding up his cell phone.
"I got the whole thing on video. I think I'll post it on You Tube right now," he said.
"No!" Juan cried. He and Carlos made a rush for the door, but Rick and Josh stopped them. They grabbed both guys and forced them onto the ground with Dave's help. Dave tied them up with duct tape and taped their mouths.
Dave picked up his phone and called Mr. Rivers.
"Mr. Rivers, we've got your robbers! Caught them red-handed here in room 220, and it's on video, too!"
"I'll be right there!" Mr. Rivers replied.