When sisters take a two-week vacation to the Caribbean, they find themselves in what appears to be paradise — until they become victims of not one, but two crimes. This true tale of those two weeks makes for a quick and mostly fun read, one part memoir, one part travelogue, with a dash of mystery and suspense thrown in.
Close-knit, but scattered around the globe, the author and her sisters Debay (a family name for three generations stemming from the words “the baby”), the fun flirtatious traveler, and Linda, the bold eldest, meet once a year for a girls get-together. This time, they chose Vieques, an island off of Puerto Rico. They get the first sign of trouble when a taxi driver in Puerto Rico warns them of the drug traffickers in Vieques. “We thought it was just the big island talking. Yeah, Yeah,” Dillon writes.
The sisters laze by the pool, snorkel and ride horses — often while sharing favorite childhood tales. Then, one day at a secluded beach, they leave their things to explore, and return to find they’ve been robbed. A phony police call in the evening, combined with other oddities, leads them to suspect the culprit is someone they know. The second robbery occurs as they sleep in their vacation rental and is even more frightening, but as before, the shaken sisters vow to salvage the vacation.
As it happens, it is Debay’s birthday and the celebration — in this case, a champagne breakfast — must go on. “It was probably the best thing we could have done to calm us down,” writes Dillon. “Nothing like a greasy plate of bacon and eggs and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot for a little comfort! Veuve Cliquot will never taste the same!”
Two Weeks in Vieques blends family folklore with travel tales — both light and dark — for an enjoyable read that is perfect for a day at the beach.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
