“Is that true?” Mattheus turned to Lynch slowly.
“Yes, it’s true,” Lynch replied. “My mother knows more than I do, she’s experienced with these things. I trust her guidance completely.”
“What kind of breakdown was Tara having?” Aldon confronted Lynch, aghast.
Raina jumped in, though. “What normal woman wants to include an illegitimate son in her new marriage?” She glared at Aldon mercilessly.
“My daughter is more than a normal woman, she’s a wonderful person,” Aldon declared, “thoughtful, sensitive, like her mother was, just like her mother.”
“I’m sure she is,” said Mattheus, taking a deep breath. “No one is casting aspersions on Tara. The only question is where is she now?”
*
Where is Tara? That was the question on the lips not only of the guests at the wedding, but all the island? News of her disappearance was announced on TV. An alert was sent out to search for her and all roads leaving the island were temporarily blocked. Guests took it upon themselves to scour the hotel grounds and roads nearby, searching. Lynch left the dinner and went fiercely roaming around beaches, calling her name.
Aldon returned to his hotel room and sat squarely next to the phone, waiting for his daughter to contact him. As he waited, he summonsed Cindy and Mattheus to come over and speak to him.
“You’re back on the case, obviously,” Aldon said as soon as Cindy and Mattheus walked into his suite. “Find my daughter as soon as you can. Let her know that I’m full square, completely on her side. Tell her I agree with her choice and that she must never fear returning home.”
Cindy and Mattheus agreed to do deliver his messages as soon as they found her.
“And I’ll tell you something else,” Aldon continued, “I’m pleased that Tara ran away. It shows good sense on her part. The more you find out about Lynch and his family, the further away you’d want to run from them, too.”
“There are all kinds of ways Tara could have ended the relationship,” Mattheus broke in. “It’s not the best idea to just disappear.”
“Maybe that’s all she could do right now,” Aldon said with a gleeful glint in his eye.
“Maybe that’s true,” Cindy agreed with him. “Maybe Tara couldn’t think of any other way to say good bye. Let’s hope she said something to someone about where she was headed.”
“Tara has plenty of friends she’s close to,” Aldon agreed. “Someone here knew she wasn’t going through with the wedding! Go talk to all of them and find out who.”
“We will,” said Cindy. If nothing else there were certainly plenty of people to talk to.
“We also need to talk to you,” Mattheus jumped in. “You know your daughter better than anyone here. Where do you think she could be?”
Aldon closed his eyes and trembled. “Thank you for that,” he said slowly. “Actually, I used to know Tara better than anyone - before her mother died and she met Lynch. Once she met him things turned around. Lynch had a strange effect upon her, drew her away from me right away.”
“That had to be rough,” said Cindy.
“It was terrible,” Aldon remembered. “She couldn’t think straight anymore once she was with him. Everything revolved only around him. I didn’t matter a whit anymore.”
“Tell us more,” Cindy said.
Aldon suddenly seemed sad and frightened. “Tara just got swept up in that crazy whirl that Lynch and his mother lived in – parties, dances, the high life, it seems. I never saw that side of her before.”
“She wasn’t raised that way?” asked Cindy.
“Of course not,” Aldon looked out of the window and up at the sky. “Tara was raised to be a fine, upstanding, community woman, with all the right values. Do you understand?”
“I do,” said Cindy warmly. “And I believe you succeeded in that. The Tara I knew cared a great deal about others.”
Aldon was pleased and also startled. “What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Tara insisted upon including Lynch’s child in their marriage,” said Cindy. “I saw that when we went to visit the child one more time.”
“I wish you hadn’t done that,” said Aldon. “I don’t like the idea. I would have advised against it. The locals on the island can’t be trusted.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mattheus sneered.
Aldon’s voice grew more strident, “Why didn’t anyone tell me about it?” he demanded.
“No one told you because no one knew about it,” said Cindy. “Only me.”
*
After Cindy and Mattheus left Aldon, they went down and sat on the veranda in front of the hotel. It was a beautiful clear night and the stars were out in full array, a glittering canopy. But as Cindy gazed at the sky, rather than feel the wonder of the evening, her sense of desolation deepened.
“I don’t have a good feeling,” she said to Mattheus.