Velma was lying on a towel on the soft sand of the beach, in New Elounda Bay. The sea sparkled and shimmered as far as the eye could see- or at least, as far as Velma's glasses allowed her to see. Fred and Daphne were hitting a beach ball backwards and forwards, laughing when the other missed it or fell onto their face in the cushiony sand. Shaggy and Scooby were over at a food stand, clearing out the large cool box behind the brightly painted stand.

There was only a light breeze, but suddenly the wind started getting up, blowing Daphne's hair back and shaking Velma violently. It felt as though there were two hands on her shoulders, pulling and pushing, trying to get her attention though she knew there were only sand dunes behind her…

"VELMA!"

Velma opened her eyes. Shaggy was standing over her, his hands on her shoulders, Scooby at his side.

"Like, is Freddy here?"

She shook her head, confused.

"No, why would he be?"

"Like, he's not in our room. Like, his shoes and jacket are gone too!"

Velma pushed back the covers, pulling her nightie down a little in the process. Her own shoes were next to the door. She walked over and slipped them on, as Daphne yawned and slid her legs off the bed.

The gang-minus-one trooped through to room 103. Velma walked over and touched the mattress of the single bed, clearly marked out as Fred's by the ascot draped over a knob on the headboard. Scooby flicked the end of the ascot, grinning.

"Stone cold," Velma muttered, looking down at the floor next to the bed. Something brown was on the floor. She stooped and picked it up, opening it. It was Fred's wallet, she realised as she saw the driving licence inside.

"His wallet… He must have been in a hurry, wherever he went."

The door creaked open behind them suddenly and Fred poked his head round, liberally sprinkled in sand. He looked surprised to see the whole gang around his bed and Velma holding his wallet open. Velma realised what she must look like and dropped the wallet onto the bed, blushing.

"It was on the floor…"

Fred shook his head and walked into the room, his own cheeks red. Velma couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or flushed from running, or a mix of the two. She fixed him with a curious look.

"Where were you? It's three in the morning!"

Fred suddenly realised that thing he was meant to do whilst going back to the hotel: make up a story in case anyone had discovered him missing.

"I… uh…"

They were all looking at him expectantly.

"I… went to get my cell phone out of the Mystery Machine; I remembered I'd told my brother I'd send him a message as soon as we arrived."

Everyone looked sceptical.

"He's got a baby, guys; he's always awake this early. He gets up at two anyway, his work."

He couldn't help shifting a bit as he said it. Only the baby bit was true.

The others decided pressing the matter wasn't going to help, plus it was too early for a big talk. They filed away to bed.

It was only as Velma got back into bed she remembered something; Fred had taken his cell phone out of the Mystery Machine along with the sat nav in case anyone tried to steal them.

She sighed. She would find out the truth soon. Fred wasn't the type to keep stuff from them, especially if it was so important that he was up at three in the morning on the first day of vacation to do it.

Maybe he thought he'd left his cell phone in the Mystery Machine…

Velma sighed and tried to think of other things. She knew she'd never get to sleep if she didn't.