"Thank you." She swallowed hard. "I mean, Gabi and I tell each other everything, so I was a little mad that she didn't even tell me she was going on a cruise when she'd slept over at my house for two days before her dad picked her up. You know, like how could she forget to tell me something so exciting?"
"Do you think her dad was trying to surprise her?"
"Um, well, she did say that after I asked. She thought that maybe her father was waiting for her mom to come home before they went away. Oh, and then she said her dad was acting different since her mom was away . . . like he was giving her a lot of surprises."
"How different?"
"She didn't say."
"Okay, so you asked her how the cruise was, and she said?"
Marti seemed more relaxed now. "She said they weren't on a cruise . . . they were at her dad's cousin's house." She touched her chin. "I think she said her name was Maria."
"Did Gabi say where Maria lived?"
"No, we didn't get that far."