by Jaden Skye
Cindy suddenly realized that Rowley had not only refused to go along with the drug ring, he hadn’t told anyone he’d been contacted by them.
“I have only one thing to ask you now, Rowley, and it bothers me a lot.” Santos shook his head back and forth. “What kind of husband wouldn’t say yes? What kind of man leaves his wife to die? Before I give Kara back to you, I want an answer!”
“Kara’s not dead, she’s alive, you just said so,” Rowley burst out.
“Yes, she’s alive, but no thanks to you, is it?” growled Santos.
Rowley stared at Santos, his jaw setting hard. ”It’s not my fault, it’s her fault that this happened. I’m not the one who was friends with Shane. I’m not the one who got drugs from her.”
Cindy couldn’t believe her ears. Rowley blamed Kara for all that happened.
“So, I’m asking you now, Rowley,” Santos went on somberly, “your wife is alive, but if you want to see her again, will you say yes to the drug ring? What is it?”
Rowley flinched.
Cindy heard footsteps nearby growing closer. Santos heard them too and turned around. There was nothing to see, though, just trees rustling in the wet, evening breeze.
“You brought me here to force me to say yes to the ring?” Rowley turned to Alfred, furious.
“I brought you here to rescue your wife,” Alfred shouted.
“How about it, Rowley?” Santos grinned. “Do we take you to Kara or not?”
Rowley bit his lower lip and shut his eyes tight. “If I say no, you’ll do the same to me,” he replied, “lock me up in a hut and throw away the key?”
“That’s not the question.” Santos became more intense. “The question is what are you willing to sacrifice to see your wife alive again?”
“Do you love her enough?” yelled Alfred.
“This is blackmail, not love,” Rowley cried out, his voice echoing as out of the shadows Mattheus, Abe, Darrin, and two other cops emerged.
“It’s over, we heard every word,” Mattheus started.
Oddly enough, Santos remained at ease. “This has to be Mattheus.” Santos looked him up and down, slowly. “Cindy’s missing in action partner.”
“It’s over,” Mattheus repeated.
“It’s far from over, my friend,” Santos remarked, smiling at Mattheus. “In fact, it hasn’t even yet begun.”
“Take us to Kara this minute,” Mattheus responded.
“That’s a big request.” Santos rubbed his face.
Darrin stepped over to Santos then. The two of them seemed to know each other well, nodded warmly at each other.
“Kara’s alive?” Darrin muttered.
“How would I know something like that?” Santos remarked. “I had nothing to do with this one at all.”
“Plea deal.” Darrin’s voice grew softer. “You show us where she is and I never heard of you. In fact, I didn’t even see you here.”
“Wait a minute,” Mattheus started, but Darrin quickly put his hand over Mattheus’s mouth.
“Let’s go,” Santos said to Darrin solemnly, “we have an agreement. I’ll bring you to her.”
“That still doesn’t tell us anything about what happened to Shane.” Darrin was trying for more.
“Who’s Shane?” Santos replied, letting Darrin know exactly how far he was willing to take him. Yes, he’d lead him to Kara, but Shane was another matter. Darrin would have to find out about her on his own.
CHAPTER 23
A light rain began to fall as they all trekked through the forest, down another incline and around a patch of bare land. Cindy walked beside Santos, and Mattheus followed up from behind with Abe and Darrin. It felt good to be with Santos, as if, strangely enough, that was where Cindy belonged. Santos threw Cindy a quick glance as the rain fell harder.
“Your partner is here. You love the man?” Santos asked out of nowhere.
Cindy was dumbstruck by the question. “I don’t know,” she finally answered.
Santos grinned and shook his head hard. “When a woman loves, she knows it,” he said.
Cindy was overcome with sadness. “We’re close to the hut?” she asked then.
“When a woman loves she doesn’t change the topic,” Santos continued.
“Are we close?” Cindy repeated.
“A few more feet,” Santos replied.
Altogether, as one person, they stopped at another shack, similar to the one they were at before.
Felix slipped out from the group, like quicksilver, ran to the door of the shack and pulled the door open.
“Here, here,” he called out. It was obvious that he’d been here before. Had he been in charge of caring for Kara? Did he know who had brought her here in the first place?
Once the door was open, they all rushed in, with Rowley up front, leading.
*
Inside the hut was dark, moist, and chilly. There was a low ceiling, a small window, and a few stray chairs scattered around. In the back was a mattress spread out on the floor. It took a few minutes for Cindy become accustomed to where she was. Then, suddenly she heard the sounds of someone pattering around.
“Kara, Kara.” Rowley was the first to call out as the pattering sounds grew louder.
From the back of the room there came a whimpering sound.
“Kara, where are you? Is that you?” Rowley called, about to take a step in her direction.
Santos put his hand on Rowley’s arm to detain him. “Give her time to get used to everything,” he said. “It’s too much all at once.”
“Is she well?” Rowley was blathering.
Mattheus put his hands on Rowley’s shoulders.
Rowley shook him off. “We’re here, Kara,” he kept calling, “come out, see us.”
In a few more moments, the slim silhouette of a young woman, with a rough blanket wrapped around her, appeared in front of them all. She stood there shivering, looking from face to face, disoriented.
“My God, Kara, you look like a ghost.” Rowley was totally beside himself.
“Where am I? Where am I?” Kara mumbled quietly.
Cindy wanted to go over and soothe her, but kept her place.
“Jenna? Is that Jenna?” Kara recognized her first.
Jenna ran to Kara and hugged her. “It’s all right, we’re here, you’re fine. All is well.” The words bubbled out quickly, one after another.
“Where’s Shane?” asked Kara then, looking around like a startled bird. “I want to see her. She said she’d be back to get me.”
Once again, a heavy silence descended.
“Why didn’t Shane come?” Kara repeated. “Where is she now?”
“Shane’s gone,” Jenna said quietly, looking away.
“Gone?” Kara didn’t understand.
Jenna began crying. “Her body was found dead on the beach,” Jenna finally managed.
“Oh my God, my God,” Kara wailed. “I warned her, I told her.” Then Kara started crying hysterically.
Jenna reached out to Kara and the two young women hugged in pain.
“Shane was too good to die.” Kara could not be comforted. “It wasn’t her fault, she was stuck in a trap.”
“I know,” mumbled Jenna, sobbing.
“Kara, I’m here.” Rowley went over, wanting to be close to Kara as well.
“How could Shane be dead?” Kara kept mumbling, as she turned to Rowley. “Shane came here right after they took me and told me that she was going to contact you. She said as soon as you said you’d work with the ring, they’d let me out, just like that.”
Cindy couldn’t help but step in. She wanted everything on record.
“So, Shane definitely knew you were here? Shane was involved in the kidnapping?” Cindy whispered.
“Shane promised me I’d be out soon,” Kara repeated, her eyes flaring as she turned to Rowley head on. “Did Shane contact you after I went missing?”
Rowley was entirely unnerved. “Yes, she did,” he burst forth. “She contacted me agai
n and again and again!”
“What did you say?” Kara’s distress was turning into frenzy. “Did you agree to work with the ring?”
“Of course not,” Rowley replied.
“Not even to save me?” Kara’s eyes grew enormous. “You could have saved me and said no later.”
“You don’t say no to the ring, ever,” said Rowley. “If you do, you end up like you.”
Kara’s eyes grew larger and fiercer. “How did Shane die, Rowley?” she demanded.
“How do I know?” Rowley was both shaken and enraged.
“I know that you know,” said Kara. “You hated my friend, you despised her.”
“That’s right, I did.” Rowley’s face curled into disgust. “Not only did I hate her, but so did your father! We had a reason to hate her, didn’t we? Look what she did to the woman we loved?”
“You told my father about what was going on with Shane?” Kara gasped.
“What else could I do? You went missing. Your father was falling apart,” Rowley breathed. “You think I could keep something like that from him?”
Cindy turned to Mattheus quickly and gave him an odd glance.
“Rod never said a word to me about this,” Mattheus whispered to her.
“What happened to Shane?” Kara stepped closer to Rowley now, practically breathing in his face.
Rowley weaved back away from her.
“If you don’t tell me I’ll never speak to you again,” Kara declared, “never. We’ll be done. Finished!”
Rowley put his head in his hands. “After you disappeared, Shane threatened me. What could I do? I had to get rid of her for everyone’s sake. Our entire lives were at risk, Kara.”
“Oh my God, my God,” Kara started moaning.
“You refused to get rid of her, so we had to!” Rowley’s voice got harsher. “Your dad and I got the name of a guy at the ring who needed money badly. Guys like that aren’t hard to find. We gave him a wad of cash and told him to get the sick bitch off our necks.”
“To get rid of Shane? Get rid of my friend?” Kara was trembling.
“Shane wasn’t your friend. She had you kidnapped, threatened your life! Now she was threatening mine too! When your father heard about it he said I was right. He encouraged me to do it.”
“My father encouraged you to have Shane killed?” Kara wove back and forth, unable to believe what she was hearing.
“We never told him to have her killed,” Rowley started shouting. “We just told him to get her off our necks. It was his business how he did it! He could have had her go missing like you, locked her up in a shack. Anything!”
Mattheus walked over to Rowley then, looking ashen. “It’s okay, calm down, Rowley. You just have to tell us the name of the guy you and Rod contacted at the ring.”
“I can’t do that, I can’t,” Rowley started shouting.
“You have to, Rowley,” Mattheus insisted.
Darrin came and stood beside Mattheus then. “It’s okay,” Darrin interrupted. “If I know how things work down here, the guy at the ring they contacted has been taken care of by now.”
Mattheus looked aghast. “What do you mean, taken care of?”
“Nobody in the ring does anything like this without Santos’s approval,” Darrin went on. “And Santos didn’t say yes to this. If he had we’d never be here at all. And we’d never find Kara alive. Count your blessings, Mattheus.”
Santos walked over to them. “You got it perfect, my friend,” he said. “And it’s not just because of me, it’s because of your beautiful Cindy. She begged me to find Kara and I couldn’t say no.”
“Thank you, Santos,” Cindy said as she turned to Mattheus. “And what happens now to Rowley and Rod? Both were instrumental in Shane’s death.”
Mattheus looked at Cindy strangely. “I can’t believe that Rod would ever go along with this. I was with him the whole time. He never said a word about anything like it to me.”
Was that all Mattheus had to say? Cindy felt deeply disheartened. Was Mattheus involved in a cover-up?
“At least the police have got to take Rowley in,” Cindy insisted. “He openly confessed to masterminding a crime.”
Darrin looked at Cindy kindly. “We’ll take care of everything in good time,” he replied. “This crime has plenty of moving pieces. Lots of people were responsible for what happened.”
“That’s a cover-up.” Cindy felt indignant.
“Leave Rowley alone with his wife now,” Darrin went on.
But when Cindy looked over toward Rowley and Kara, it didn’t seem as though she wanted to be near him at all. Kara was speaking only to Alfred, while Rowley hung back in the shadows, a few feet away.
“Will they take Rowley in, Santos? Will they prosecute him?” Cindy turned to Santos then.
“Never,” said Santos in a low tone. “Plenty of words have been spoken, but there’s no proof of anything. Nothing at all. You have Kara now, take her back out of here fast. Take the next plane home and tell her to forget whatever happened.”
Cindy looked at Santos with searing sadness. “How can Kara forget what happened to her good friend? How can she ever live with it?”
“Ask yourself that same question,” Santos replied. “How can you live with what happened during your honeymoon, and finally have a life? And when you find the answer, come and tell me. I’ll be waiting to hear.”
*
After a few more moments Jenna and Alfred led Kara gently out of the hut with Rowley following close behind. Santos, Mattheus, and the police stood to the side as they walked out.
“Alfred has a car waiting for them,” Santos mentioned.
There was so much more Cindy wanted to ask Kara, but of course this was not the time. Kara needed to readjust to this world, to realize that she was free, alive, out of their clutches. Cindy suddenly realized that Felix was nowhere to be seen. He had left on his own without anyone noticing.
“Why did Felix leave?” Cindy asked Santos, surprised.
“He did his job,” Santos answered plainly. “He wasn’t needed here anymore. When someone isn’t needed, it’s better for them to go. Dead wood draws maggots in the forest.”
Mattheus threw a long glance at Santos. Cindy wondered if Mattheus was thinking that he’d been dead wood all these days on the case.
Fortunately, Santos walked a few steps away to talk to Abe then, and Cindy and Mattheus had a chance to be alone.
“Are we just letting Rowley and Rod walk?” Cindy asked, as soon as Santos was far enough out of earshot.
Darrin, who’d been standing behind them, scraped his throat loudly. He was letting them know he’d heard Cindy’s comment.
“The ring takes care of its own down here.” Darrin joined in the conversation. “At times like this, you don’t go pushing yourself in unless you want to end up like Kara or Shane.”
Cindy didn’t like Darrin’s insinuation, or the fact that he was willing to leave justice to the ring. “I’m talking about Rowley and Rod,” she said. “They’re not involved in the ring, are they?”
“Of course they are.” Darrin’s voice grew gruffer. “They contacted someone in the ring to get Shane off their necks. They’re in over their heads now and they know it. Santos obviously found out about it. The rest we will never know.”
Cindy turned on her heel and stared at Darrin. “Three men conspired in the death of Shane and you’re telling me that ring will take care of justice?”
“Most likely the guy who shot Shane is long gone,” Darrin mumbled, throwing a furtive look at Mattheus, wanting him to step in. “Once we step into a tangle, the knots tie us up too. Get what I mean?”
Cindy didn’t want to. Darrin was telling her that he and Santos were silent partners, that it was all right with the police for the ring mete out justice of their own. If Darrin did anything to disrupt the delicate system, he’d be caught in the trap himself.
“Be happy you got Kara out alive,” Darrin mumbled, “it’s a miracle you should b
e grateful for.”
Say something, Mattheus, Cindy said in her mind to him. Tell me you’re not going along with this underworld.
“You have to know where you are and how the law operates there,” Mattheus said slowly. “There’s all kinds of justice, Cindy.”
“The law of the jungle?” Cindy breathed.
“Rowley and Rod would be laughed out of the courts down here in a few seconds.” Darrin spoke strongly now. “The guy’s getting his punishment anyway, isn’t he? Looks like he lost his marriage before it even had a chance to start. And the wife had her part in this, too. Don’t forget that.”
Cindy shivered.
“After all, it was Kara who took the drugs from Shane, not Rowley,” Darrin reminded Cindy. “Be glad that Santos agreed to free her, at least.”
Finished with the conversation. Darrin turned on his heel then, waved to the other cops, and started back.
Santos walked over to Cindy and Mattheus then and the three of them stood under a sliver of moonlight that shone down.
“You got a fantastic woman there, Mattheus,” Santos said without a moment’s hesitation. “Don’t ever let me hear you left her alone again. That wouldn’t sit well with Santos.”
Mattheus looked at Santos, incredulous.
“Now that I’m Cindy’s friend,” Santos went on, “no one’s ever gonna leave her alone again.”
CHAPTER 24
Missing Woman Found Alive the papers grandly announced, celebrating the unexpected return of Kara. Due to the incredible, persistent work of Cindy Blaine, of C and M Investigations, this young woman has been returned to her family safe and sound. Thankfully, the family is on their way home now as this is being written. We are all proud of the victory that has taken place down here in St. Lucia.
Conveniently, no mention was made of Shane, or how that investigation was proceeding. Alfred and Jenna returned with the family, and Cindy received a quick, last email from him.
We will all be totally indebted to you forever. It was your connection with Santos that made this possible. For some reason Santos loved you and couldn’t say no to whatever you asked. These things happen when the angels are with us, don’t they? Jenna and I will have a memorial for Shane when we get back home. We’re both certain that the man who harmed her is dead, by now. So far, Kara and Rowley are not speaking. They are moving into two separate apartments for now.
