Rising Tide Read online

  Emily and Peggy sat down on the couch. Maggie started to squirm and whimper as if she sensed the tension in the room. ‘I’ll take her,’ Annie said, quietly picking her up out of the stroller.

  ‘I’m afraid I have some bad news,’ Thomas began. ‘This morning the body of a young girl was washed up on Manchebo Beach. Emily knows this because she was with me when the call came in.’ At first, Peggy looked shocked, and then she looked at Emily as if to say now I understand.

  ‘Just a short time ago, I discovered the girl’s identity. I hate to have to tell you this, but the girl is Ariana Van Meeterens.’

  ‘No,’ Peggy said, looking from Thomas to Martin and Annie. ‘That can’t be. She was here till … how could that be?’

  ‘Oh my God, Thomas,’ Emily said. ‘That lovely young girl … but what happened?’

  ‘We don’t know much yet, but we know she didn’t drown. She was strangled before she went into the water.’

  All of them were shocked to hear this. Martin put his head in his hands and Annie started weeping again. Peggy went over to her and gently took Maggie. ‘Oh, Annie,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry. I know how fond you were of her.’

  ‘We have very little to go on,’ Thomas continued. ‘Her parents don’t know yet, but there is one very strange thing.’ He turned to look at Emily and she noticed a question in his gaze. ‘She was found wearing a gold bangle with an inscription inside: To Emily, All my love, Michael.’

  Emily gasped, ‘My bracelet, but how …?’

  ‘I’m hoping you can help me with that. It is your bracelet, Emily?’

  ‘It must be. I brought it with me. It was a gift … from Michael.’ She felt an overwhelming need to explain – not to the others, but to Thomas. ‘He gave it to me years ago,’ she continued, her eyes almost pleading with his. ‘I wanted him to take it back but he wouldn’t.’

  ‘When did you last see it?’ His eyes were still searching her face.

  ‘I can’t remember. I remember grabbing my bangles from the dresser at home at the last minute. They were gold and I was going to wear gold with my aqua dress …’ She knew she was rambling but couldn’t seem to stop herself. ‘I did it without even thinking. Well, anyway, when I got here I put all my jewelry in the box on the dresser in my suite. I haven’t worn it. I haven’t even looked for it. I thought … but surely Ariana … how could she have—’

  ‘I don’t know. That’s something we’ll have to figure out. Was Ariana in your room at all?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Was there any sign that someone could have been in your room when you weren’t there? After all, there are no locks on the doors … anyone could have gotten in. Was there any sign … things out of place, anything else missing?’

  ‘Oh, Thomas, stop,’ Annie called from the other side of the room, her voice and her eyes angry. ‘Please, stop. You’re not saying that Ariana would have—’

  ‘Annie, I’m sorry, but I have to ask.’

  ‘There was never any sign that someone was in my room,’ Emily said brusquely. ‘None at all.’

  ‘Is all the rest of your jewelry there?’

  ‘I don’t know. I know my sapphire earrings are there; I wore them last night. But I didn’t put them back in the box. I just left them on the dresser. I didn’t look in the box.’

  ‘OK, I’m going to ask you to go down to your suite and check. See if everything else is there and call up here and let me know. Perhaps last night during the wedding …’ Thomas didn’t finish his thought. ‘Now, I need to talk to Annie and Martin, and then Annie and I have to head to the Van Meeterens’.’

  Emily shuddered to think what that would be like. ‘I’ll check right now,’ she said. ‘And Annie, I’m so sorry.’ She hugged Annie and then, turning to Thomas, said, ‘I’ll call up as soon as I’ve checked.’

  ‘No need for you to stay, Peggy,’ Thomas added. ‘But I’ll need you to think about the last two days. The time you spent with Ariana, was there anything … anything. I don’t even know what at this point, but please think about it.’

  ‘Of course, but I don’t … I’ll think about it. Wait, Emily, I’ll walk down with you.’

  They walked quickly back and Emily immediately went to the box on her dresser. ‘It’s all here, Peggy,’ she said. ‘My gold necklace, the earrings. Wait … my other bangle. It’s not here. How strange. I always wore the two of them together. The other one was a graduation gift from my parents. I loved it. It’s not here either, but everything else is. I’ll call Thomas.’

  ELEVEN

  The young man sat in a darkened room on Helfrichstraat, a small dingy street near the old oil refinery in San Nicolas, smoking cigarette after cigarette. The TV, its sound turned off, played before him. Over and over ran the scene at Manchebo Beach. He didn’t bother to listen anymore; they just kept repeating the same thing. A beautiful young girl washed up, again and again.

  That stupid girl, he thought. It was her own fault. What had she thought? That he was just going to let her tell? Even if he had wanted to, it was too late for him to get out of this. He was in too deep. What did she know? She was rich, rich and spoiled … and pretty. She had been awfully pretty and sometimes when he was with her … well, he could almost see himself as … But it made no sense to think about that now. What did she know about anything? He had been so sure. He had been smart. Waited till she had fallen for him. Bided his time until everything was set. How had it gone so wrong?

  He got up and paced back and forth across the small space. He had to think. He had to go through everything in his mind. He had thought of leaving, of running away. But he had worked too hard to give this up. It meant everything. Money and connections. He would have to find another way.

  OK, what to do now? He rubbed his hand through his straw-colored hair. He had to cover his tracks. Who had seen them together? They had spent a couple of hours doing tequila shots at Charlie’s bar, but the place had been packed and there had been a crowd of them all drinking and dancing. He had always been careful – never seen with just her. Always one of the crowd. Some people might recognize her, but he didn’t think anyone would think of them as a couple. After that they had headed to Palm Beach, but by then they were alone.

  He knew she hadn’t told anyone about him. She knew if her parents found out it would be over.

  He had to think back carefully. Had anyone seen him when he met her on the path at the Bluffs on Friday evening? That had been stupid, so stupid, but he’d needed to see her. And he was just another worker. They had hired dozens of them. She’d been begging to see him and he’d had to get this settled. He’d spent only a few minutes with her trying to convince her to go through with his plan. Time was getting short and she had to agree. Just this once, he had promised her. Just to get me out of this jam. But she was wavering. ‘Look, we can’t talk about this now. Let’s talk later,’ he’d said, sure that he could convince her. ‘I’ll pick you up at the front gate.’ She was leaving at the end of the week and it had to be now. It would have all worked out so well.

  Had anyone seen him later when he picked her up? He was trying to remember. He had watched as she headed to the entrance. She had stopped to talk to a couple; the woman had red hair. She had gestured towards the car. He had already ditched that. Could they have seen him? Had he had the inside light on? He couldn’t remember.

  And the stupid bitch with the kid? Ariana couldn’t stop talking about them, especially the kid. Drove him crazy. Had she noticed him on the path Friday evening? Probably not. He was just another worker. He wasn’t with Ariana at that point and she had walked by pretty quickly. He had looked away. He didn’t think she’d paid any attention, but now he couldn’t be sure.

  He knew no one had seen him last night after the wedding. There was no one around when he picked her up and he had been more careful, waiting a little further down the road from the front gates.

  He turned the sound up – an announcement. So they knew who she was. Not much else. No talk about wi
tnesses. He’d have to be sharp now. He’d have to pay close attention. He didn’t think anyone had seen him, but if they had, the redhead or the kid’s mother, could they identify him? He knew he couldn’t take that chance. Whatever happened, he’d be keeping a careful eye on them.

  TWELVE

  Emily watched from Reception as Annie was dropped off. She had hoped Thomas would come in, but no. Annie looked awful, her face grey, her eyes red.

  ‘Oh, Emily,’ she said, coming up the steps. ‘You can’t imagine.’ And her tears started to fall.

  ‘Annie, I wish there was something … I’m so sorry,’ Emily said, putting her arms around Annie, whose sobs were now uncontrollable. ‘You should head up to the house. Martin’s in the office; I’ll tell him you’re back.’

  Martin Maitland sat with his head in his hand as he held the phone to his ear. ‘Yes, Thomas, I understand,’ Emily heard him say as she entered.

  ‘Annie’s back, Martin. She’s gone up to the house. Is there anything I can do?’

  ‘Honestly, Emily, there’s nothing anyone can do. I don’t think I can face this again. I know it’s awful of me to even be thinking about the Bluffs, but after last year? Now we’re drawn into another murder.’

  ‘But Martin, this isn’t the same at all. The Bluffs had nothing to do with this. Why …’

  ‘You don’t understand, Emily. Don’t you see? Ariana was here last night … and your bracelet. I just can’t understand that. They’ll want to question everyone. How did she get your bracelet? She wouldn’t … She couldn’t have …’

  ‘Martin, I …’ But she couldn’t think of anything more to say.

  ‘Come,’ Martin said. ‘Come with me. I need to talk to Annie. She could use some support right now.’

  Annie was sitting on the living-room couch, her feet drawn under her, her face empty. ‘Martin,’ she said, reaching her arms out to him. ‘It was so horrible. I can’t even … Kat and Christiaan, what can I say? They’re devastated. Couldn’t even speak. Thomas did the best he could but …’

  Emily knew Annie needed to talk.

  ‘At first, they wouldn’t even listen to Thomas. “This is not possible,” Kat said over and over. “You’re wrong,” Christiaan insisted. “You’ve made a terrible mistake.” He swore Ariana was upstairs, still asleep. He even went up to her room. Of course, she wasn’t there. When he came down, Kat knew right away. She just kept screaming, “No, no, don’t say it, Christiaan, don’t say it.” Then, begging, “Please, Christiaan, please don’t say it.” Her sobs and cries, the sound of it …’

  ‘My God,’ Martin uttered. ‘I can’t even imagine. I think of Sarah and Alex. What if …’

  Annie was sobbing again. ‘I tried … I tried to help, to comfort Kat, but there was nothing … nothing.’ Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘And then, when Thomas mentioned the bracelet, they became so angry. Kat just looked at me and walked out of the room, and Christiaan asked … told us to leave. I can’t talk about it anymore. I have to lie down.’

  ‘Yes, lie down. We’ll talk more later.’ Martin led Annie out of the room.

  ‘Is there anything we need to …’ Emily heard Annie mumble.

  ‘Nothing, nothing right now,’ Martin answered, his voice quiet. ‘Just sleep for a bit, then we’ll talk about everything.’

  Emily just sat in the living room, not knowing what to do. She looked out at the veranda, the bright blue sky, the vibrant flowers, and wondered how everything could look the same as yesterday and yet be so utterly changed.

  ‘What happens now?’ she asked Martin when he returned.

  He shuddered as he answered. ‘There’ll be a press conference shortly. Thomas will speak. He won’t say much. No mention of the bracelet, not yet. And then they’ll come here. I couldn’t say that to Annie, not yet. God, if only this could be a bad dream.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’

  ‘No, nothing. You should go. Get some rest yourself. This will be hard on everyone. I need to talk to Nelson. Get the names of the staff working on Friday and Saturday.’

  Emily headed back to her suite. Peggy was sitting on the sea wall while Maggie played in the sand at her feet.

  ‘You’re back. I knocked on your door but—’

  ‘I was up at Annie and Martins’s. Annie’s back; she’s lying down.’

  ‘Do they know anything?’

  Emily just shook her head. ‘There’s going to be a press conference any minute now. I was going to watch from my room.’

  ‘OK if I come?’ Peggy asked, picking up Maggie.

  ‘Sure. I could use some company.’

  As soon as Emily turned on the TV and Peggy had settled Maggie on the floor with some toys, Thomas’ face appeared on the screen. He looked tired and drawn as he spoke. Martin was right – there wasn’t such to say. A body washed up on Manchebo Beach, the cause of death, Ariana’s name and age, no suspects, no motive, and at the end an appeal for help. Anyone who had seen anything, please call. They showed a picture of her, one they must have gotten from her school or perhaps a friend. From what Annie said, Emily was sure that Thomas hadn’t gotten a picture from her parents. She was looking straight into the camera. Khaki linen pants, a white shirt, her blonde hair blowing slightly in the breeze and a wide smile. It was heartbreaking to look at.

  ‘How was Annie?’ Peggy asked as the press conference ended.

  ‘Terrible. The Van Meeterens were devastated. Who wouldn’t be? But they were angry too − angry at Annie, and at Thomas.’

  ‘But why? It wasn’t—’

  ‘Over the bracelet. Annie said they got incredibly upset when Thomas asked about the bracelet. Felt he was accusing Ariana of … I can understand it of course, this whole thing must be so unreal, so tragic for them, but …’ Just then Emily’s cell phone rang.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Emily, it’s—’

  ‘Oh, Thomas. We just saw the press conference.’ Peggy quickly picked Maggie up and headed out the door. ‘How are you? Sorry, I guess that’s a stupid question.’

  ‘No, no. It’s fine.’ Thomas sounded exhausted. ‘This is going to be a long, dreadful day. I’m headed to the Bluffs now, but I wanted to get a minute to talk to you before … Could you meet me outside the front gate?’

  ‘Of course. Anything.’

  ‘I should be there in about fifteen minutes.’

  ‘I’ll be waiting.’

  THIRTEEN

  Thomas’ car arrived as soon as Emily reached the front gate of the resort. She got in and he drove slowly up the road. ‘I thought I would just pull up around the bend here so we could talk away from the house.’ He looks haunted, Emily thought, and reached over to put her hand on his. For a moment he held it tightly, but then he dropped it and rubbed his eyes.

  ‘Thomas, I wanted to explain … about the bracelet … I …’

  ‘No need to explain, Emily.’

  ‘No it’s important … to me. I want you to understand. That bracelet held some memories for me, but that’s all … just memories. That part of my life is over, you know that. When I picked up that bracelet to bring it with me, it was just a piece of pretty gold jewelry that would match my earrings. Nothing more.’

  ‘I understand. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I first saw it, maybe more than surprised by how it was found, the connection to Ariana’s death – maybe shaken more than surprised. But after hearing you talk about it earlier, I realized it was just a bracelet.’ And for a moment, Thomas took her hand again.

  ‘I spoke to Annie,’ Emily said. ‘She told me a little of what happened. It must have been awful for you, Thomas.’

  ‘It was, always is. The press is going crazy already. We’ve had a couple of these cases – missing or murdered young women. They’re the worst, really. Reporters digging up every last bit of dirt. Screaming headlines. I hate them. I know it’s their job to report the news, but do they have to … I don’t know, it just seems they enjoy it so damn much. And we didn’t do so well on
those earlier cases. I was just walking a beat at that time, but I remember what it was like.’

  He grew quiet, just sat staring out the front window. Emily waited a couple of minutes then tried to draw him back. ‘What happens now, Thomas?’

  ‘Uh. Well, we have teams of detectives out. There’s a ton of people to talk to. Family, although we’ll wait a bit before going back to the Van Meeterens, try to give them a little more time. But we can’t give them too long – we need information. We have so little to go on. Then friends, schoolmates, anyone who might have seen Ariana last night. We’re combing the Manchebo Beach area, but nothing so far. We’ll interview half the island before this is over.’

  ‘And here at the Bluffs?’ Emily asked.

  ‘That will start now. I’ve spoken to Martin already. We have a team coming over. Myself and two detectives, which is all we can spare right now. We have to interview everyone – guests, staff. Martin’s making up a list. The thing that keeps getting to me is your bracelet. How did she get it? I had to ask the Van Meeterens about it.’

  ‘I know. Annie told me.’

  ‘I knew they’d be angry but … we have to know. Had they seen it before? Did she steal it? I know that’s hard to imagine, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone steals something that they could easily buy – Ariana’s parents are pretty rich and I’m sure if she wanted something like that … but sometimes people do steal for … well, it happens. If not, if she didn’t take it … then someone had to have given it to her. I guess it would have been pretty easy for someone to walk into an unlocked room and target the jewelry box … but why?’ Thomas banged his fist on the steering wheel. ‘I’m sure you’ve been thinking about this. Is there anything?’

  Emily just shook her head.

  ‘Well, we’d better head back. I have a lot of work ahead of me.’

  Annie and Martin were both in the office when they arrived at the main house. Annie looked a little better, but not much. They were poring over a long list of names.