CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 48


Michael walked back along the beach for the better part of an hour before trying to make sense of what had happened. Nothing made any sense, least of all his marriage to Niki. He entered the bungalow and tiptoed to the room were she was resting. Beyond the closed door everything was quiet. She must be sleeping. He walked to the bar and made himself a drink, after motioning for his security guard to wait outside.

The doctor had said she’d probably sleep for several more hours. He sat down on the leather sofa and reached for his cell phone.

“Tony? Michael.”

“Hey, man. Good to hear from you. I thought you’d be busy with the little woman.”

“Yeah, well. This isn’t exactly a normal honeymoon, you know. We’re trying to be civil, but we basically strangers.”

“I can imagine.”

“Have you heard anything from Cassandra since we left?”

“Not a word. The trial must have really taken the wind out of her sails.”

“You mean the wind out from under her broom.”

“Yeah, that too. So she hasn’t been around?”

“No, why the concern? Has something happened?”

Michael hesitated. “Well, we’ve had a little incident.”

“On the island? What happened?”

Michael told him about what had happened to Niki. Tony was sympatric.

“And you think Cassandra might have had something to do with it.”

“Only for lack of suspects. Could you make some inquiries?”

“No problem. I’ll drop by her place later tonight. Pay her a friendly visit.”

“Thanks, Tony. I’d feel better being able to cross her name off the list.”

Michael hung up the phone and walked back to Niki’s door. The room was still quiet. He opened the door, throwing a wedge of light across the bed. The bed was empty.”

“Niki.”

Michael flipped on the light and looked around the empty room.

“Niki.”

He searched the rest of the house, checking the rooms one by one, but she was nowhere to be found. Grabbing the flashlight he walked outside and began to search the grounds. The moon was much higher than before, providing him with dim light. He searched for over an hour before dialing 911.



Tony replaced the receiver. Michael was probably being paranoid, but Tony had promised to check it out. Throwing on his jacket, he slipped behind the wheel of his Z28 and headed toward Cassandra’s house. As he drove down her street, he was surprised to see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles parked in front of her house.

He stopped the car across the street and got out. A steady stream of uniformed traffic was traveling in and out of the house, while the flash of lights told him reporters were also on the scene. He walked over to one he recognized.

“Hey, Denny. What’s up”

“Tony. What are you doing here?”

“Just driving by. Do you know what happened?

“Not really. A neighbor called about the front door standing open. When the police arrived they found blood in the front hall.”

“And Cassandra?”

“She’s missing.”