by Jaden Skye
“Raina had to have arranged all this,” Cindy said to Mattheus as they walked through a line of reporters and admirers into the main doors of the hotel. “This is definitely not Aldon’s style.”
“It’s Raina’s son’s wedding. She has a right to,” Mattheus remarked. “
The irony of it struck Cindy powerfully as she thought of how alone Tara was feeling. Cindy wondered how Tara was doing now. She wondered if the excitement of preparing for the celebration, dressing for it, greeting family and friends distracted Tara from the fact that she was getting married to Lynch the very next day.
Cindy and Mattheus walked into the incredible, elegant lobby, with high ceilings, mirrors and grand furnishings, and were led to a long, private, formal dining room through an alcove. The dining room was full of guests, decked out to the hilt, meeting one another, circulating easily, excited to see who arrived next. Whatever difficulties had taken place behind the scene, obviously no one here had any inkling of them. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and joyous anticipation.
A group of young women and men, presumably part of the wedding party, dressed in cocktail
dresses, tuxedos and suits, were laughing and chatting comfortably with one another. Cindy and Mattheus circulated among them, introducing themselves as friends of the bride and groom. A particularly striking brunette, in a dashing lime green dress, unusually poised and gracious, seemed to be the center of the group. When Cindy and Mattheus came over to say hello, she introduced herself as Lea, Tara’s maid of honor.
“How’s Tara doing?” Cindy asked offhandedly, trying to hide her concern. If Tara was having difficulty, her maid of honor would certainly know about it.
“She’s perfectly fine,” Lea answered brightly.
“Really?” asked Cindy, registering surprise.
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Lea seemed taken aback by Cindy’s response. “Tara’s marrying the number one bachelor around, an absolutely fantastic guy. The hotel is glorious, the weather will be perfect.”
“No last minute jitters?” Mattheus joined in with a charming smile.
Mattheus’s light tone seemed to relieve Lea. “Of course, jitters are natural, aren’t they?” she conceded. “I told Tara that, myself. But, she’s definitely had a beautiful day. She and Lynch took time together and went down to Ryder’s Cove for a late afternoon swim. I’m sure that relaxed both of them. The water in that cove is amazing, always warm and soothing.”
“The perfect thing,” Cindy chimed in, light heartedly.
Lea smiled and turned away then to talk to other friends close by.
“Everyone’s determined to keep up this cheerful front,” Cindy half whispered to Mattheus.
“It’s not a front,” Mattheus corrected Cindy. “No one knows anything. Just take a look, all these friends and guests are genuinely happy. And Lea’s right - jitters are completely natural and they come in all kinds of ways.”
A cocktail waitress stopped in front of them then, carrying a tray of hor doerves. Cindy and Mattheus took two vegetable fritters and placed them on a small crystal dish. Just as she was about to eat hers, Cindy suddenly saw Raina out of the corner of her eye, coming towards them. Dressed in a cream colored, bouffant, silk dress, she could almost have been mistaken for the bride.
“What a delightful surprise to see the two of you here,” Raina swept by, addressing her comments directly to Mattheus. “I had no idea the two of you were on the guest list.”
“I didn’t either,” Mattheus laughed.
“Tara insisted that we come,” Cindy interrupted their banter.
“Really?” said Raina, turning towards Cindy and raising her eyebrows slightly. “I wonder why. She never said a word about it to me. It’s wonderful, of course, to have you here,” and she turned back to Mattheus, smiling flirtatiously. “Just a bit of a surprise.”
“Tara’s full of surprises, I suppose,” Mattheus answered, keeping the conversation going.
“Yes, indeed,” Raina picked right up on it. “But who isn’t? Tara’s a good girl though, a wonderful girl. We’re thrilled to have her become part of our family.”
“Is her father here?” Cindy asked then.
“Yes, of course,” said Raina, “Aldon’s over on the other side of the room, with his friends and family.”
“And where’s Tara?” asked Mattheus then, looking around.
“Should be here any minute,” said Raina, looking around as well. “I’m not positive where she is at the moment. She has her own room. It’s an old custom, the bride and groom spending the last night before the wedding in separate rooms. Lynch arrived alone a few minutes ago. He’s over there.”
Cindy turned towards the side of the room where Raina motioned and saw Lynch, dressed in an indigo blue, summer suit, his blonde hair brushed perfectly, looking dashing.
“Looks magnificent, doesn’t he?” Raina said taking him in and swept up in the grandeur of the evening. “I’m totally thrilled and proud of him. Looks just like his father did as a young man. If his father were here, he’d be delighted as well.”
Lynch did look magnificent, thought Cindy, and as though he was having a wonderful time. There was nothing at all to betray any unease. Cindy wondered if he even noticed that Tara hadn’t arrived yet.
Raina tapped Mattheus’s shoulder lightly then. “Well, it’s delightful to have both of you joining us. I must dash and talk to others now. We’ll all be seated in a little while and it will be harder to chat with everybody then.”
“Of course,” said Mattheus as Raina flurried away.
Cindy and Mattheus looked at each other for a long moment. There was no apparent reason for the apprehension Cindy began to feel.
“It’s a beautiful party, but where’s Tara?” Cindy said under her breath.
“She’ll be here any minute,” said Mattheus.
“I certainly hope so,” Cindy replied.
*
Guests were seated, happily chatting with those at their sides. It took a little while before people realized that Tara had not arrived. Where was she? People began asking, looking around as a pall began to fall over the room.
As more and more people started looking for Tara, Lynch finally got up from his seat, went over to his mother and whispered something to her.
Raina, disconcerted, went with him to the back of the room, took out a phone and began calling.
As soon as Cindy saw this, she and Mattheus also got up from their seats and joined Lynch and
his mother in the rear.
“This is just like her,” Raina quipped to Lynch, as Cindy and Mattheus arrived.
“It’s nothing like her at all,” Lynch replied staunchly. Tara is always on time.
Whoever Raina was calling wasn’t picking up.
“Do you want me to go to Tara’s room and see what’s happening?” Cindy asked bluntly.
Raina didn’t especially like having Cindy at her side. “That’s the last thing I want,” she grumbled. “I simply want Tara down here immediately.”
“I’ll go and get her,” said Cindy quietly.
Lynch put his hand on Cindy’s arm to stop her. “Tara won’t take well to that,” he said. “She doesn’t like being checked up on.”
“Tara doesn’t like this, she doesn’t like that,” Raina grew more irate. “This is your rehearsal dinner, however. Friends have come from far to attend it -. Right now it doesn’t matter what she likes.”
“It’s okay, mom,” Lynch tried to calm Raina, though she would have none of it.
“There’s nothing okay about it, Lynch,” Raina grew more edgy.
“I’m going this minute to check on Tara,” said Cindy definitively. “Tara asked me to be here, to stand by her side.”
“Why would she ask you that?” asked Lynch astonished.
Cindy was amazed at the way Lynch seemed to block out the upset that had gone on between them the past few days. “Tara was feeling wobbly after she heard about your son,” Cindy put it plainl
y.
“That again? Raina’s face flushed bright red. “You bring that up now? In the midst of our happiness?”
Mattheus interrupted strongly. “Cindy’s just answering Lynch’s question.”
“There’s no good answer to Lynch’s question,” Raina flung her head back. “And we are going on with the rehearsal dinner as if everything is just fine. If people ask where Tara is, I’ll simply tell them, she’s not feeling well. A stomach virus.”
“But is that true?” Cindy confronted Raina directly.
“Who the hell cares?” said Raina.
“I care,” said Cindy, “and I’m sure Lynch cares as well.”
“Of course, I care,” said Lynch, growing nervous. “Go, please go and check her room.”
*
Mattheus stayed with Lynch and Raina and Cindy got the number and key to Tara’s room. She went to the elevators and waited for one, at first feeling calm. But on the way up to Tara’s room, Cindy’s stomach fell. What if Tara wasn’t there?
Cindy got off on the fourteenth floor, rushed down the hall, put the lock in the key, opened the door. The room was totally empty. As she looked around quickly, the pit in Cindy’s stomach grew. Everything was in perfect order. The bed was made, the clothing was in the closets, even Tara’s hand bag was laying right there. But there was no evidence in the room that a young woman had spent time in it getting ready for her rehearsal dinner. There was also no evidence of a struggle or that anything untoward had taken place. In fact, there was no evidence of anything at all.
Cindy took a deep breath and went out on the balcony and looked out at the huge vista from it. Again, everything was in perfect order. The gardens below were trimmed and manicured, the moon was rising in the sky. Some guests were walking in the courtyard below. A perfect silence before the storm, thought Cindy. Perhaps Tara had just quietly decided to walk away on her own? Somehow it didn’t seem likely to Cindy, though. If she did, why would she leave her bag behind?
A sense of doom encircling her, Cindy called Mattheus immediately.
“What’s going on up there?” he asked. “Everyone down here is waiting.”
“Gone,” said Cindy in a hoarse tone.
“Repeat that,” Mattheus sounded stunned.
“Tara’s room is empty. She’s nowhere to be found.”
“Oh God,” said Mattheus, “I don’t believe it.”
“Put a call into the police this second,” Cindy said.
“I’m on it,” Mattheus replied.
CHAPTER 10
In less than ten minutes Cindy watched three police cars converge onto the hotel, as stunned reporters flashed their cameras. The police got out of their cars, rushed into the hotel and flocked into the private dining room, en masse. The room which had become quiet, filled with panic.
“What’s wrong? What happened? Is someone hurt?” Voices rose above one another.
“Who called the police?” Raina she rushed over to Mattheus, incensed.
“Routine procedure,” said Mattheus quietly.
“There is nothing routine about it. Police do not flood a private dinner party unless they’re called,” Raina insisted.
“I called them,” Mattheus stood eye to eye with her. “There was no choice about it. Tara’s not in her room, but her belongings still are.”
“Idiotic and ridiculous,” Raina breathed. “What’s the big deal? Tara obviously had cold feet, ran away and is hiding somewhere under our noses. We could have easily found her on our own. She’ll come to her senses - everyone does. You’ve gone and destroyed our celebration.”
“I hope it’s that simple,” said Mattheus. “Really, I do.”
Taken aback by the strength of his feeling, Raina quieted down. “What are the police going to do?” she asked, taking it in, and growing alarmed.
“They’re going to search for Tara,” Mattheus replied.
“We can obviously do that for ourselves,” Raina shot back.
Cindy, who’d been listening a few feet behind, came over and joined the conversation. “When someone disappears, time is of the essence, she said. “The police are best equipped to cover all bases.”
“What bases?” Raina flung back. “And, Tara has not disappeared. She’s gotten cold feet, and will obviously turn up in a little while. You’ll both look like fools.”
“There’s nothing I’d like better than to look like a fool,” replied Cindy.
Raina turned her attention to the guests at the party then. People stood huddled together, whispering, watching the police. “I have no idea what our guests could be thinking,” Raina hissed. “This is atrocious. It will hurt our business. Now not only do I have to explain Tara’s lateness, but the arrival of the police as well. I have to make it all seem normal, nothing to fuss over.”
It struck Cindy that Raina was more concerned about how her guests were reacting than what had happened to Tara.
“It’s a good idea to get your guests ready,” Cindy wanted to bring some reality in. “These police will be questioning everyone to see if they have any idea about where Tara might be, or if they ‘ve heard anything. And, right now, other police are already out on the island searching, checking airports, hospitals.”
“Dear God,” breathed Raina, as Aldon came over, agitated.
“What the hell is this?” Aldon demanded. “What are the police doing here? Where is my daughter?”
“Tara was not in her room when I went to look for her,” Cindy began speaking to him slowly.“Good, very good,” Aldon flung back. “She’s seen the light, taken off. At the last minute she had the sense not to go through with this miserable charade.”
“I beg your pardon?” Raina’s teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed.
“Who in their right mind goes through with a marriage when faced with secrets and lies?” Aldon demanded.
Raina took a tiny step closer. “We agree about one thing, Aldon. Obviously your daughter is not in her right mind.”
“Look in the mirror, dear Raina,” Aldon replied, a strange smile at the corner of his tight lips.
It was painful for Cindy to see their dislike for each other so blatantly on display. She wanted to defuse the situation. “Where would Tara go to if she had decided not to go through with the wedding?” Cindy asked Aldon point blank.
“That is exactly the question you should have asked before humiliating us by calling the police!” Raina declared forcefully.
Lynch came over then, distraught and flustered. “Who called the police?”
“Tara’s gone,” Mattheus said slowly.
“She’s here somewhere,” Lynch exclaimed. “This was completely unnecessary. The police told me she was not in her room. So what? She must have simply gone somewhere to think things over. Tara loves to take long walks and think everything over.”
“Where?” asked Cindy on the spot.
“I have no idea,” said Lynch hurriedly. “Absolutely none. Last I knew she was excited about the dinner, couldn’t wait to come.”
“So, why isn’t she here?” asked Cindy.
“You two resolved your differences?” Mattheus joined in.
“Yes, of course we did,” said Lynch, on edge. “What happened before was only a slight bump in the road and we passed over it quickly. Why wouldn’t we? We worked it out!”
Lynch was so distraught and engaging that Cindy could not help but believe him for a moment. Then she remembered her trip with Tara to see Bala and the child. This was more than a bump in the road they’d come to, much, much more.
“Did you agree to include your son in your life?” Cindy continued, confronting Lynch head on.
Lynch blanched. “How do you know about that?” he was taken off guard.
“Tara told me about it,” Cindy replied.
“Tara told you what?” Aldon seemed totally confused. ‘I thought you two were off the case.”
“Temporarily,” said Cindy. “Tara called me and asked me accompany her to see Bala and the boy one more time
.”
“You were off the case and you had no business encouraging her to do that!” Raina jumped in immediately.
“I didn’t encourage her, I just accompanied her,” Cindy said defiantly.
“Cindy was trying to help your daughter,” Mattheus said to Aldon.
“Well, I thank her for that,” Aldon remarked, unsettled.
“Your precious daughter insisted that Lynch include his illegitimate son in their lives,” Raina jumped in. “I know all about it, Lynch told me. And, I advised him to ignore it. People have all sorts of strange ideas before they walk down the aisle. Of course I never thought she’d actually go to see the boy again on her own. Tara was obviously having a mini breakdown. I thought she’d forget all about it after the honeymoon and I told Lynch so.”
“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.
