“That’s understandable, Cindy replied.
To her surprise, her response irritated him.
“Right now, nothing is understandable,” he replied in a clipped tone. “That’s why both of you are here.”
Cindy knew it was par for the course for family members to be filled with sudden anger and exasperation. She tried to take it in stride.
At that very moment, a tall, lanky, beautiful young woman with long, chestnut hair, dressed in white shorts and a T shirt, walked up to the Senator and put her arms around him.
“Mom heard that they’re here, dad,” the young woman said.
“This is my elder daughter Winnifred,” the Senator commented.
“Mom wants to see Cindy immediately,” Winnifred threw Cindy a glance. She seemed calm and poised, like her father. Her younger sister had been killed three days ago, Cindy thought, and she’d had some time to take it in. Now she was probably trying to give the family strength, to normalize things.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Winnifred,” Cindy said.
“Wynn,” the young woman replied, tossing her long hair back over her well framed shoulders. “Thanks for coming.”
A tall, slender, very handsome young man walked over to join them, then. He had a shock of blonde hair, piercing hazel eyes, an aquiline face and was dressed impeccably in shorts and an expensive T shirt. The young man had an intelligent air about him as he stood there looking deeply at both Cindy and Mattheus.
“This is Tad,” the Senator said, “Tiffany’s fiancée.”
Tad nodded silently.
Cindy had seen photos of him, but it was shocking to see him in person.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Cindy.
“That’s good of you,” said Tad. “We’re all glad you’re here.”
The Senator took a deep breath. “This has been a total nightmare for Tad,” he said slowly.
“I can only imagine,” said Mattheus.
“Tad was the last to see Tiffany alive,” the Senator quickly filled them in. “Inevitably, he’s become the main suspect. It’s routine, of course. They look always look at those closest to the victim. As of now they have no idea who did it, so, they grab onto whatever seems logical.”
“Murder is never logical,” said Mattheus.
“So true,” the Senator warmed to him. “And there’s absolutely no reason to suspect Tad. He and Tiffany were together for almost two years. He’s become a part of our family. We all love him.”
“We’ll go over this in great detail,” Mattheus said, taking every word in. He also gazed at Tad, who seemed like the very last person in the world who could ever commit such a crime.
“Dad,” Wynn broke in then, “mom is waiting.”
“Of course,” the Senator snapped to attention. “Show Cindy to mom’s cabin right away. We don’t want to keep her waiting another minute.”
Cindy noted a condescending tone creep into the Senator’s voice when he mentioned his wife, as if he were talking about a difficult child.
“You take Cindy to see mom,” he said to Wynn, “and in the meantime, I’ll fill Mattheus in, introduce him to family and friends.”
“Fine,” said Wynn, motioning for Cindy to follow her.
Cindy looked over at Mattheus, who nodded.
“I’ll be waiting for you here,” he said.
The Senator looked at Cindy piercingly for a moment before she left.
“Remember, you can’t take everything my wife says literally,” he said. “She’s not in a normal state of mind.”
“How can you say this in front of Tad?” Wynn murmured to her father, blushing.
Tad stood there expressionless though, as if he could not absorb what was going on. He seemed to be in shock as he looked intermittently at Cindy, then Mattheus. Finally, he simply stared over their shoulders, out to the ocean, then way beyond that to the sky.
“Tad’s part of the family,” the Senator, replied to his daughter, “and I don’t want Cindy misled. Your mother is not in her right mind now.”
“Who is?” said Wynn.
“That’s enough for now,” said the Senator, curtly.
“I’m sorry dad,” Wynn replied, “this is excruciating for us all.”
“Excruciating,” Tad murmured then, his head dropping down. Then he looked up slowly staring up at the sky, which was filled with clouds drifting peacefully, on what otherwise could be called a beautiful day.
CHAPTER 3
Cindy followed Wynn up the narrow, winding staircase to the second floor of the yacht. The wooden floors were polished, the freshly walls painted white, and the door to each cabin along the hallway trimmed in beautiful, ivory molding. Cindy felt as though she could have been walking along a hallway in an exclusive hotel.
“My mother’s cabin is at the far end,” Wynn said as they walked in that direction. Cindy wondered if her mother and father had separate rooms.
They got to the mother’s door and Wynn knocked on it tentatively.
“We’re here, mom,” she said.
“Come in.”