Cindy’s eyes opened wide suddenly. “That’s a strange question to ask,” she said. “What kind of forces? What are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure,” he mumbled, “just wondering. Every time we get closer, it seems, something comes and gets in the way.”
Cindy felt distressed by that. “This case isn’t getting in the way,” she said emphatically.
“It is though,” Mattheus insisted. “We’re back as working partners again.”
“We’re everything, Mattheus,” Cindy responded. “We’re fortunate to be down here at this moment and if it’s time for us to solve another case, what choice do we have? There’s no way I can step aside from this, can you?”
“Of course not,” Mattheus quietly admitted. “But I hope you know I love you, too.”
“I know that,” Cindy murmured softly as she closed her eyes, and exhausted, immediately fell into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER 5
Both Cindy and Mattheus awoke at the crack of dawn and jumped out of bed. The reality of what lay ahead flashed upon them mercilessly. Kara’s dad, Mattheus’s friend Rod, would be arriving soon along with his wife. Rowley’s family was also on their way. Not only did Cindy and Mattheus have to speak with them, they had to go online and spend time finding out more about Kara and Rowley, see if anything lingered in their backgrounds that could explain Kara’s sudden disappearance.
“We have to take the time to eat a good breakfast first before we get going,” Mattheus called out as Cindy dashed to the bathroom to wash up.
“Absolutely,” Cindy called back. “Order up in the room, so we can plan our day while we’re eating.”
“Right,” Mattheus answered, and Cindy soon heard him on the phone, placing their usual order of orange juice, eggs over light, muffins, marmalade, and coffee.
By the time Cindy was dressed and breezed into the main room, Mattheus was still getting ready. Cindy took a moment to open the latticed French doors that led to the outdoor patio and walked outside. The day was balmy with a perfect light breeze and the air smelled fresh and delicious. Cindy thought about the vacation they had planned on and looked out ahead of her at the azure water, rippling softly without a care in the world. How lovely it would have been to spend the day wandering on the island, she thought in passing. Cindy had hoped to go snorkeling with Mattheus at the Anse Chastanet Reef in the southwest of the island. It not only offered some of the best diving in St. Lucia, with a number of shipwrecks to explore, but reef itself wound into a unique coral wall for around 140 feet.
But, whether or not she’d expected the vacation to be suddenly cut short, that’s what happened. And this was where she and Mattheus were needed now. The water that stretched out in front of her now seemed more threatening as Cindy wondered if Kara had drowned in it. Was the search for her just routine with little hope of recovery?
Mattheus suddenly came out behind Cindy on the terrace, put his hands on her shoulders, and gently kissed the back of her neck.
“Breakfast has been delivered,” he said softly. “I know you love your coffee hot first thing in the morning.”
Cindy smiled; she hadn’t heard the bell ring or the food being brought in.
“You’re absolutely right, I do,” she said, turning around and going back inside with Mattheus to get the day going.
*
This was a working breakfast. Mattheus had a pad on his lap as they ate, and made rough notes on it from time to time.
“Let’s brainstorm this,” he started. “Where do we go from here?”
“The family’s coming today. We have to talk to them in depth,” Cindy started, quickly drinking down most of her steaming coffee.
“Agreed,” Mattheus grunted. “I’ll talk to Rod, of course, and his wife. You can spend time talking to Rowley and his family. He seemed to like you.”
“I liked him too,” Cindy agreed. “And we’ve got to meet the Chief of Police, Darrin, and also keep in touch with Abe.”
Mattheus glanced at his watch off-handedly. “The search team’s got to be at it again by now,” he murmured. “Unless, of course, they found something last night.”
Cindy and Mattheus looked at each other for a dreaded second. Cindy saw the fear of finding Kara’s body flash through Mattheus’s eyes. How could he ever tell his friend Rod what happened?
“You don’t think they’re going to find her right away, do you, Mattheus?” Cindy asked.
“Actually, I don’t.” Mattheus sounded glum. “How many missing persons surface in the first twenty-four hours, anyway?”
Cindy nodded. It made a difference though. She knew that time was of the essence in finding a missing person. The longer they were gone, the less the chance of finding them alive.
Mattheus stood up swiftly, clearly uneasy. “I’m going to call Abe, check in and see what turned up last night. It can’t be anything much or Abe would have called and left word.”