“Not quite.” Cindy was having trouble catching her breath.
Mattheus put his arms around her. “It’s okay, be calm, Cindy,” he said.
It felt wonderful having his arms around her again. Cindy wanted to put her head on his shoulder, but wouldn’t.
“Did the person say she was Kara?” Mattheus repeated.
“She said, help me please, I’m begging,” Cindy continued. “Her voice was garbled.”
“It could be anyone,” Mattheus responded.
“No, it was Kara, I’m positive of it,” Cindy insisted. “She tried to give me a clue where to find her. She said under four trees and a fence, circle the corner.”
That could anywhere,” Mattheus went on, “and it also could be someone playing with you, sending you off on a wild goose chase.”
“That’s not how it felt.” Cindy pulled back a moment and looked into Mattheus’s eyes. He now looked as he used to now, present, caring, completely available.
“I’m not making this up, Mattheus,” Cindy went on. “We have to have the call traced.”
“No one said you were making it up.” He pulled Cindy to him more closely then and led her to the edge of the bed. “Let’s sit down a minute and talk,” he said. “Of course we’ll try to have the call traced. But fill me in, what don’t I understand?”
“I went down to the drug ring this afternoon,” Cindy whispered, “and spoke to a guy named Santos.”
“Oh no,” said Mattheus. “I told you never to go there alone.”
“It was a good meeting, really,” Cindy continued.
“How did you get his name?” Mattheus was wide awake now.
“From Abe,” Cindy continued. “He said Santos would help me out.”
“Help you out how?” Mattheus looked alarmed. “This is totally nuts.”
“I told Santos I was trying to find out whatever I could about both Kara and Shane,” Cindy continued. “I also met a woman down there who seemed to be close to him, Holly.”
“You had a busy day.” Mattheus started stroking Cindy’s hair.
“I had an interesting day, a fascinating one. Santos wasn’t thrilled that Shane was dead, either. He said he’d help me and I’d see how. Is that why this call came, Mattheus? Did Santos arrange it somehow?”
“Don’t jump to all kinds of conclusions.” Mattheus seemed nervous. “Firstly, you have no idea who the call was from. Secondly, you don’t know if it had anything to do with Santos. Or maybe he had someone play a crazy prank on you to confuse things further, get you off the trail? These guys are snakes, they’re wicked, Cindy.”
“The woman was in pain, Mattheus, she was in distress,” Cindy insisted.
“God,” Mattheus breathed. “I had no idea all this was going on.”
“I tried to call you and tell you,” said Cindy.
“I know you did, I know,” said Mattheus. “I’m sorry, really sorry.”
“I also got a lead on Shane’s Facebook page. I found a friend of hers there, Jenna, who left some messages that were suspicious. She was warning Shane of danger.”
“We’re not on Shane’s case,” Mattheus repeated softly then. “I know you have a huge heart and want to help the whole world, but we can’t, Cindy.”
“It’s not about that,” Cindy insisted. “I strongly believe the two cases are tied together.”
“Based on what?” Mattheus seemed exasperated.
“Based on a strong feeling inside,” replied Cindy. “Kara going missing and Shane turning up dead in the same place is too coincidental. It doesn’t sit well with me. I sent Jenna a message asking her to contact me.”
“Okay,” said Mattheus. “You sent her a message, and then how soon after that did this call come?”
Cindy paused for a moment. “I sent her the message this evening, before dinner.”
“Wow,” said Mattheus. “Speak about coincidental. For all you know the call was from her.”
“Why would she do that? For what reason?” Cindy didn’t buy it.
“There’s lots of crazies out there,” Mattheus whispered softly. “I don’t know this woman, I don’t know Shane. But I do know we should take a rest now. I’ll put in a call to the station and have the call you received traced. We can pick it all up in the morning. But for now, please come to bed.”
Cindy looked into Mattheus’s eyes, which were filled with concern.
“Okay, let’s go to sleep now, Mattheus,” Cindy agreed, as she waited for Mattheus to call the station. Then they went back into the bedroom, lay down together, and fell asleep nestled in one another’s arms.
CHAPTER 17
Things felt better between Cindy and Mattheus in the morning. Both of them had needed to sleep close to one another, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Cindy slept lightly, waking and dozing alternately, wondering what in the world would be next for them.
“Please forgive me for everything,” Mattheus murmured several times during the night as he tossed in his sleep. Even though he wasn’t awake when he said it, Cindy found
comfort in his words.