“I’m sorry, Dalia,” she said softly, “I’m so, so sorry. But we have to take you in. There’s nothing else to be done. ”
A great wave of sorrow overcame Cindy then, for Dalia, for Clint, for Ames. She knew without a doubt then that she had come down here to return to the source of Clint’s murder.
By solving Ames’s murder, she’d resolved whatever had been unfinished in her own life. She had faced the pain and horror that Clint had gone through, and come out whole. Oddly enough, she could go on more fully now.
Finally, she felt, Clint was at peace.
CHAPTER 20
All the newspapers ran the story of Cindy’s success. The hotel filled up with reporters and tourists who wanted to get a look at her. She stayed in her room and had meals alone, wanting to be as private as she could. It was painful thinking of Dalia, and what had happened to her.
The newspapers also reported that Dalia was taken to jail and a few hours later, the Captain freed. But at least, Cindy had saved the Captain from false accusations. It was a strange exchange being made, but he was innocent and deserved to go free.
The first thing the Captain did as a free man, was call Cindy and thank her.
“You’re an incredible woman,” he said, emotional.
“Thank God I could help you,” Cindy replied.
“Everything pointed to me,” he said, “but I would never do anything to hurt Ames. Never. Not anyone. No one would believe me in there. ”
“I understand,” said Cindy.
A few minutes after that, there was a knock on her door. Cindy opened it and Mattheus stood there, dressed in khakis, grinning, a bunch of tulips in his hand.
Cindy was touched. “Please come in,” she said as she took the flowers. They were fresh and delicious, a combination of her favorite flowers, tied with a long, red bow.
Cindy was happy to see him.
“You’ll have to come out of hiding sooner or later,” Mattheus said, “you know, there’s a lot of excitement about you out there. The police department wants to hold a dinner in your honor, before you go. ”
Cindy laughed, holding the flowers to her face.
“It’s not necessary,” she said.
Mattheus looked sad then. “When are you going?” he asked quietly.
Cindy paused.
“You know a call came into the station for you,” Mattheus said, “from a woman on another island. She heard about what happened here and wants your help with her case. Said she was desperate for help from a woman detective. ”
My goodness, thought Cindy. Another one.
“You’re a natural,” said Mattheus.
“I guess I am,” said Cindy.
“What do you think?” said Mattheus.
“About taking on another case?” said Cindy. “No way. I need to go home. ”
“You wouldn’t have to do it alone,” said Mattheus. “You know, I’ve been thinking for a while of going private, doing detective work. We’d make a pretty terrific team. ”
Cindy saw him looking at her, his eyes shining.
“I’d love to have you at my side,” he said.
Cindy took a deep breath. “This isn’t the way I pictured my life.”
“How did you picture it?” he said.
Naturally, Cindy thought about Clint. “I thought I’d be married with a family, working for a newspaper, living in a suburb in the US. Pretty normal. ”
“Well,” Mattheus laughed, “you could be married with a family and working as a detective down in the Caribbean, in your own firm.”
It was too much for her to take in.
“For a starter at least,” Mattheus continued, “you could be working in your own firm with a terrific partner.” He took a step closer. “You did a terrific job, Cindy,” he said. “You had intelligence, guts, determination, grace. You saved the Captain’s life. ”
“Give me a little while to think about this,” she said, breathless.
“Sure,” he answered smiling, “never let it be said that I pressured anyone.”
*
That evening, after a light dinner alone in her room, Cindy got away by herself, for a long walk on the beach. The sun was setting as she got there, spreading a glow of color on the water. She thought of Clint as she walked, wondering what he would think now, how he would feel about this new possibility. Cindy knew he wouldn’t want her to be alone forever; he’d always had encouraged her to be daring and discover new parts of herself.
As she walked she heard birds calling to each other over the sound of water lapping up against the shore.
Cindy stopped and looked out towards the horizon. A sense of peace came over her as she felt as if Clint’s spirit was there with her, giving her his blessing, letting her know it would be fine to move forward. She could dedicate this work to his memory. His death would not have been in vain.