Why shouldn’t I be here, Cindy immediately thought, I’m on the case, aren’t I?
“I actually came to say good-bye to you and your family,” Cindy responded pleasantly. “I also wanted to have a few words with Mattheus.”
“You knew we were leaving?” Rowley looked disturbed.
“Mattheus told me that you we were planning to leave after the medical report was official,” said Cindy.
“I didn’t know he told you that,” Rowley muttered.
“It’s good of you to come by,” Pete interrupted. “And it was good of you to loan Mattheus to us for such a long time.”
Cindy appreciated Pete’s comment. At least there was one person here who didn’t see her as the enemy.
“This has to have been a terrible time for you and your family,” she responded to him.
“Indeed,” Pete nodded, “and we’re all hurt to the core to learn about Shane as well.”
Pete’s remark surprised Cindy. No one in the family had expressed any concern about Shane as yet. Cindy gave Pete a long glance. He was an unusually attractive man with salt and pepper hair and beautiful blue eyes. He seemed different than the others, calmer and warmer.
“Thank you for caring about Shane, Pete,” Cindy responded, as though Shane were someone Cindy had known a long time.
“Do you have any news about her case?” Pete came closer, as if drawn to Cindy as well.
“The police are investigating,” said Cindy, “but they haven’t been able to locate Shane’s family and except for her boyfriend, Vinny, no one else is overseeing developments.”
Pete nodded sadly, as though he got the picture immediately. “You need a lot of clout down here to get things done,” he agreed.
“You and your family haven’t met with Vinny, have you?” Cindy suddenly asked.
“No, of course not,” Rowley broke in. “Why would we?”
Rowley’s reaction disturbed Cindy. “I just thought you might have,” she replied. “After all, he’s going through the same thing as all of you.”
“Not quite the same.” Rowley wouldn’t have it. “Kara is still missing, but Shane is dead. There’s absolutely no reason to think there’s any connection between them. And there’s no point in exploring it, either.”
Pete stepped in strongly now. “The police have told us that Vinny and a friend of Kara’s are joined at the hip now, investigating night and day.”
“And the losers have come up with nothing,” Rowley joined back in. “It doesn’t surprise me. Alfred’s a wild card, always has been. I have no idea why he and Vinny teamed up, none at all. I find it bizarre, especially as there’s no connection between Kara and Shane.”
“Not that we’ve found yet,” Cindy reminded him.
“What kind of connection could there be?” Rowley looked shaky.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to explore.” Cindy felt defiant. “I’m going to talk to some people involved in the drug ring.”
“No, don’t do that!” Rowley became agitated.
“Why not? It’s the perfect next step,” Cindy declared.
Rowley jumped toward her. “It’s a dangerous step. The guys in the drug ring down here are all lowlifes and animals, everyone knows that. I don’t want anyone else involved in this case turning up missing or dead.”
“It’s not a good idea,” Pete agreed quickly.
“I’ll go with Mattheus.” Cindy tried to calm the flames, surprised that Rowley suddenly seemed so concerned about her.
Pete stepped in front of Rowley, blocking him from Cindy’s view. “Can we take a little walk, Cindy?” he asked then, obviously wanting to tell her something alone.
Cindy was surprised and threw a glance at Rowley, wanting to see how he felt about it.
“Rowley has to stay here near the phone, on the off chance that the ransom call finally comes in,” Pete continued, noticing Cindy’s glance. “We’ll only go for a few minutes. It’s okay, Rowley, isn’t it?”
“Sure, go,” Rowley reassured his dad. “I know you need a breather.”
“It’s not that,” said Pete softly.
“Okay, so you want to talk to Cindy alone.” Rowley didn’t feel like discussing it further. “I know what you think and you probably want to tell her. So, go tell her, it’s fine with me. I promise you, it doesn’t make any difference. Everybody has a right to think something.”
“Fine, then,” said Cindy, “let’s go.”
Once out of the room and in the hallway, Pete breathed a sigh of relief. “We don’t have to go far, just to the visitor’s lounge at the end of the hallway,” he said immediately. “Rowley’s right, I just wanted to talk to you alone.”
Cindy wondered what it was that Pete thought. They walked quietly, side by side, to the end of the hallway and entered a plush visitor’s lounge, with large windows, sofas, a coffee machine, and low wicker tables with magazines strewn around.
“First of all, let me thank you with my whole heart,” Pete said as he and Cindy sat down.