“Yes, it is, but I don’t have it,” Cindy cried out. “There’s new, important evidence here.”
“That’s what they always say,” Mattheus yelled back. “This one new lead will turn everything around.”
Cindy felt sweat break out on her forehead. If Mattheus refused to listen to and acknowledge the importance of the fact that Kate had died before her messages were posted which one of them was in denial? She took a deep breath, got up and walked out onto the patio.
Mattheus followed her out there. He came close to her and put his hands on her shoulders lightly.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, “I just want to wake you up.”
“Carl is going to a rocky peak on the Western side of the island to confront Clay tomorrow morning,” Cindy replied. “He wants you to accompany him.”
“He wants me to accompany him? Or you do?”
“I don’t think he should do this alone,” said Cindy.
“It’s nice to see how much you care about Carl,” Mattheus responded, “how busy you are looking after his welfare.”
“Carl hired us to solve this case,” replied Cindy bitterly.
“The case has been solved,” Mattheus quipped. “Carl hasn’t hired us to be his bodyguards while he works out his anger with his niece’s fiancée. First he was angry with Sean, now his anger has turned towards Clay.”
“It’s not quite like that,” said Cindy.
“Well, tell me what it is then?” said Mattheus. “You know Carl much better than I do anyway.”
Cindy bit her lip hard. Mattheus’s devastating jealousy clouded his vision and judgment every time it flared up like this.
“You say I have a sickness,” Cindy said, “how about you and your jealousy? It’s crazy and rampant. The least little thing can spark it. It clouds your judgment, Mattheus.”
“I accept that,” said Mattheus, “but I do not accept the fact that it is my duty to accompany Carl to an encounter with Clay. Carl’s doing this for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the case.”
“Everything has to do with the case,” Cindy insisted.
“That’s the sickness speaking,” said Mattheus, as he took his hands off her shoulders and walked back inside.
*
Cindy could barely sleep all night thinking of what Mattheus had said. Was it true, was her drive to solve the case a sickness, or addiction of some kind? Had she gone overboard? She tossed and turned as Mattheus slept, facing away from her all night long.
As the first light of day broke through the window, Cindy got out of bed, showered, pulled on navy linen slacks and a hand painted summer shirt, and brushed her long hair, hard. Then she looked in the mirror. Who was looking back at her? On the one hand she saw a beautiful young woman, suntanned, hair flowing down over her shoulders, beautifully dressed for the oncoming day. On the other hand, if she looked deeper, she saw someone driven. Had she become a person whose life had been taken over by the pursuit of killers, down here in the Caribbean? Was Mattheus right? Had the hunt for these killers and justice for the victims become more important to her than building a life and relationship of her own? Had finding killers replaced it? Was there any room for her to be with Mattheus in the way he wanted it to be? Cindy stopped for a second a wondered.
She walked back into to the bedroom and looked at Mattheus sleeping for a moment, before she opened the door and went downstairs. Mattheus was a good man and he loved her. She loved him as well, and for a long time they’d loved working together. Cindy wasn’t sure when things changed so deeply and became the way they were now.
Cindy considered waiting for Mattheus to wake up before leaving, but the thought of Carl going alone to confront Clay worried her. If Mattheus wouldn’t go, at least she should. This was a delicate time for all concerned and there was no telling what could take place. It was the right thing to do, it was the only thing to do, she told herself as she stepped out of the door and onto the elevator.
After having a quick breakfast downstairs in the café, Cindy hailed a cab and took it to the spot Clay liked to hang out at. It was early to go, but Cindy wanted to be sure to there before Carl arrived.
The taxi made its way to the Western part of the island then wound up a hill and stopped at a high peak, over the ocean, and Cindy got out. The waters and winds were calmer today, and the air had the wonderful, biting smell of ocean, mixed with the fragrance of flowers, after a storm had passed.
As Cindy walked slowly towards the edge of the peak, to her surprise, she saw Clay there already. Cindy shuddered as she walked closer. Clay was standing on the edge of the peak, tearing papers wildly, and throwing them down into the ocean below.
“Clay,” Cindy called out, despite herself, unsettled by seeing him doing that. She was sorry the moment she called his name, though. She’d wanted to hide in the shadows for a while and watch what else he was up to.