It seemed like Raina’s only concern was to keep up the good name of the family and take Lynch off the hook, Cindy thought. What better way to do it than by blaming the victim?
“How is Lynch doing?” Cindy asked then, trying to get at things from a different angle.
Raina stopped talking and stared at Cindy hard. “How do you expect him to be doing? He’s a wreck - still think she’s somewhere, alive.”
Cindy wanted to tell Raina that was natural, that it took time for a shock like this to sink in, but she stopped herself. She found Raina’s defensiveness off putting, was still waiting to hear one word of sympathy from her for Tara or her family.
“Lynch will calm down and come to his senses,” Raina picked up the thread where she’d left off. “But there’s going to be all kinds of fall out.” Then she paused and straightened her back, as if to make a grand announcement. “Okay, this is why I wanted both of you here,” she paused grandly. “I do not want a word about Lynch’s son leaked to the press. That would be disaster for us all.” Suddenly she stood up and smoothed her skirt. “I’m sure I can trust both of you in that, can I not?” Raina stopped and stared directly at Cindy.
“Trust us in not letting the press know about Lynch’s son?” Cindy asked carefully.
“Exactly,” said Raina firmly. “Not only the press. I don’t want you telling anyone.”
Mattheus stood up then and went over to Raina. “We certainly won’t give the information to the press,” he said quietly. “But, one way or another, the police are going to find out about it.
It’s impossible for them not to.”
Raina’s bristled. “Why is it impossible? Who is going to tell them?”
“Raina, a young woman is dead,” said Mattheus. “There has to be a thorough investigation.”
“I never said otherwise,”Raina shot back.
“And the existence of Lynch’s son is part of the story, like it or not,” Mattheus informed her.
“He’s not part of anything,” Raina burst out harshly. “This is confidential information. Is there a way to make sure that the police don’t leak it, that they don’t ruin our business and reputation?”
“Confidentiality is another question,” said Mattheus.
“I need a way to keep the police quiet about it,” Raina demanded shrilly. “They do not have to divulge every, personal detail of our lives to the news, do they?”
“It depends how things develop,” said Mattheus.
Cindy stepped in instantly. “Mattheus means that if suspicion for Tara’s death falls on Bala or her brother Dawl, it may be hard to keep that quiet.”
Raina spun around, her face pale.
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Mattheus tried to calm her.
“I can’t do that,” she answered agitated. “I have to keep the big picture in mind. We’ve suffered enough through all this. It’s up to me to protect my family now.”
CHAPTER 12
The question of how Raina was going to protect her business and family was on Cindy’s mind as she and Mattheus left Raina’s room and went downstairs. There was a lot they had to go over and decided to take some time at the beach together to debrief.
The exquisitely beautiful, sun and surf made the day seem perfect. Not a cloud floated in the clear, azure sky and guests at the hotel who were not part of the wedding, were lolling about, sitting on beach chairs and drinking cocktails as if nothing much had happened.
“Let’s walk down towards Ryder’s Cove,” said Mattheus. “We’ll trace her footsteps, see what comes up.”
The thought of it brought a chill to Cindy. “We don’t know that’s where she died,” she said, “only that’s where she was found.”
“Let’s go there anyway,” said Mattheus, “it ‘ll give us a better sense of what went on.”
Cindy blanched. Her personal connection to Tara made this case different. “I want to hear that she’s fine and this didn’t really happen,” Cindy looked up into Mattheus’s eyes.
He smiled quietly. “I understand,” he said, “it’s too close for comfort.”
“I liked her,” said Cindy, feeling bleak.
“Then let’s give this our all,” Mattheus replied as they took off their shoes and walked through the warm sand to the edge of the water, and then headed to the cove.
Cindy wanted to hold Mattheus’s hand as they walked, but stopped herself. She had to get a grip. This murder was different from most of the other cases they’d been on. She’d spent personal time with Tara, admired and respected her. It was hard for Cindy to have a sense of her as dead.
Mattheus broke into her thoughts as they walked and the surf played with their bare feet.
“Tell me about your visit with Tara to Bala,” he said. “I need to hear every detail of it.”
Cindy knew it was tremendously important to tell him about it. She was ashamed of how reluctant she was to go over it again. Instead of wavering though, she decided to jump right in now.
“Let’s sit down for a second on the sand,” Cindy said. “I can’t talk about this as we keep walking.”