CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

Cindy and Mattheus sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the plane, enjoying the trip and each other, relaxing like old times, as if nothing had gone wrong between them. Before they’d left they’d gone over the details of the case that they were flying down to the Cayman Islands to solve. Mattheus felt it could just be a case of a missing person—a bride at a destination wedding who’d gotten cold feet and ran away. Sure, she’d found a strange way to do it, but last minute panic can do crazy things to the mind. He wasn’t convinced they were looking at a crime.

Cindy wasn’t so sure.

Cindy hadn’t even been sure she was going to work on another case with Mattheus, until the frantic call for help came in. The call came very early in the morning, the day after she and Mattheus had finished their last case in Key West. Cindy was planning to go back home to Long Island, take a breather, and spend much-needed time with her sister Ann. The visit would stabilize Cindy, help her regain her footing. It always did.

Cindy had still been in Key West, asleep in her hotel room, when her phone rang uncontrollably and wouldn’t stop. She’d picked up the receiver, only half awake.

“My son, my son!” a woman kept gasping.

“Who is this?” Cindy woke up fast.

“Dana McPherson,” the woman could barely speak.

Dana McPherson was a well-known surgeon in Oyster Bay who Cindy had known when she’d been married to Clint. Dana, a strong, elegant woman could barely catch her breath.

“What’s wrong?” Cindy grabbed the phone hard.

“We need you, Cindy,” Dana’s voice was laced with panic and tears. “You’ve got to help.”

“Tell me what happened?” Cindy tried to calm her.

“They’re holding my son Peter for questioning. He’s the main suspect,” Dana could barely get the words out.

“Suspect in what?”

“He didn’t do it, I’m positive,” Dana was babbling. “You have to come down and convince them of that. You must.” Then she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Cindy’s heart clenched. She wasn’t ready to take on another case. She needed time, had promised it to herself. She wanted to sort out her life, see where things were going with her and Mattheus. Things had happened so quickly between them, she hadn’t had time to digest it. Mattheus’s erratic behavior in Key West had frightened her in more ways than one. Cindy had to be sure this was the life she really wanted, and that Mattheus was the one she wanted to share it with.

Dana finally stopped sobbing and began speaking again.

“We’re all here at the Cayman Islands for Peter’s wedding. Everything was fine. Then Peter and Allie went for a night dive a day before the wedding. The two of them got separated underwater and she never surfaced again. Never!”

Cindy gasped. The awful story reminded her of what had happened to her and Clint on their honeymoon when he’d disappeared surfing. She remembered the wait, the horror, the search.

“It’s awful,” Cindy breathed.

“Beyond awful,” Dana’s voice choked back. “They’ve been searching under water and on land and can’t find her anywhere. For no reason at all, they’re focusing on Peter. We can’t do this without you, Cindy. You and Mattheus are known for the fantastic work you do. Especially in the Caribbean.”

“Thank you, Dana,” Cindy breathed.

“Can you come right away? We’ll pay you well for it.”

Cindy flinched. It wasn’t about the money, it never had been. There was a deep satisfaction she felt helping others who’d become victims of sudden crimes. Cindy loved digging beneath the surface of lives, stripping off masks, listening for lies. She enjoyed searching out the real culprits and then helping families discover a new equilibrium in their lives. It made what happened to her with Clint bearable, gave it all meaning to help someone else.

“Please come down with Mattheus, right away,” Dana pleaded.

“We’re on the way,” Cindy responded.

“We’ll be landing at Cayman Islands Airport in exactly twenty minutes. The weather is perfect, skies are clear,” the Captain’s voice came over the loud speaker, updating the passengers who’d left Miami a short time ago. It was only a thirty minute flight down to the Cayman Islands and seemed as if no time had passed at all.

Cindy looked out of the airplane window. This was the part she loved, flying through a cloudless sky, arriving at a new island, being ushered in. She loved being filled in on the details of a case, meeting the people involved, getting an overall feel of the crime scene. The trip had been easy so far, and things between her and Mattheus felt natural and good, as if they’d never gone through the difficulties they had on their last case.

Mattheus reached out and squeezed Cindy’s hand with warmth and anticipation, just as he used to. It gave her a sense of closeness and support, as if the two of them were in this completely together. This was the part she loved most of all, being a team with someone she cared for - and who cared for her, no questions about it. That connection between them had almost been gone during the weeks that just went by. Granted, it was a time of shock for him. After years of searching, Mattheus had finally located his missing wife’s body in Key West. To his horror, he also discovered she’d just been killed, had been alive in hiding, all along.

Naturally, it threw him for a loop and old waves of rage and confusion arose. The more he investigated and discovered about his wife’s secret life, the worse he’d felt about himself - and everyone else.

Cindy told herself over and over she had to understand that. How could Mattheus not be suspicious then, turn into a stranger and withdraw? How could she have expected him to be the same person she’d known? Cindy desperately wanted to trust him again, have things go back to the way they’d been. But could they ever? Did time go one way only? That was her question now – she wasn’t sure.

Cindy put her head back on the plane seat and smiled. No matter what had or hadn’t happened, at least they were still together, shoulder to shoulder, taking on a new case. That was something anyway. Despite herself she felt comforted.

“I reserved one room for us at the hotel this time,” Mattheus leaned closer and said softly.

Cindy smiled. She’d been wondering about that. They’d both been so cautious in the beginning of their relationship. They’d only progressed to sharing a bed after many months of working together, knowing each other, building a bond. When they’d finally became lovers, it had been wonderful for both of them, deeply healing and nourishing, as if their lives could truly start again. But old wounds weren’t healed so easily. Hard times and misunderstanding came and by the time they were down in Key West on the last case, she and Mattheus had returned to being working partners again, in separate rooms.

“Hope you’re okay with one room again?” Mattheus murmured. “I asked for two single beds, just in case.”

Cindy turned and looked at the delicious, boyish smile on his face, the one she’d always found so engaging and hard to resist.

“We can take one room,” said Cindy, “but two single beds are good. Let’s not jump into anything right away, we’ll see how it goes.”

“Ever the cautious one,” Mattheus grinned. “I’d better be glad with what I can get. One room is definitely better than two.”

Cindy looked into his beautiful eyes and smiled. He still loved her, that was clear. She loved him too, but was that enough to create a foundation they could build a life on? She truly didn’t know.

“Fasten your seat belts for landing,” the voice over the plane’s loudspeaker announced.

“Already?” Cindy was shocked.

Mattheus laughed as he reached over and pulled her seat belt over her gently. “We’re on the way,” he said.

“Prepare for landing,” the voice continued.

“I’m prepared,” Mattheus whispered to Cindy, “how about you?”