Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(8)

Gina repeated what she had told the real estate agent, that she had gone to Boston College with Cathy and was hoping to speak to her. There was a long pause before Andrew Ryan asked, “Were you a friend of my sister?”

“Not a close friend, but I do want to get in touch with her.”

“Then you don’t know that Cathy died in an accident last week, when she was on vacation in Aruba.”

Gina gasped. “No, I didn’t know that. I’m so terribly sorry.”

“Thank you. Of course, we’re all in shock. It was the last thing we could have expected. Cathy was always very careful, and she was a very good swimmer.”

“I’d like to tell you more about the reason I’m calling. But I understand if this is not a good time. If you prefer, I can call back—”

“Now is okay. How can I help you?”

Gina hesitated for only a moment. “I’m a journalist and I had hoped to talk to Cathy about a story I’m working on. Before I go into it, I have to ask, did she ever work at REL News?”

“Yes, she did.”

“How long was she there?”

“Three years. And then she left for a job at a magazine publisher in Atlanta.”

“When was the last time you saw or heard from Cathy?”

“About two weeks ago. It was our mother’s birthday so both of us came down to Palm Beach for the weekend to celebrate.”

“What was the date of the birthday?”

When Andrew Ryan answered, Gina did a quick calculation.

“I received an email from Cathy the day of your mother’s birthday. Let me read it to you.”

Andrew listened as she read the email. Gina explained how she had been about to leave on a trip and had encouraged Cathy to get in touch with her when she returned.

“And she never contacted you after that initial email?”

“No, she didn’t. But I’ve gone to great lengths to try to find her.”

There was a long silence before he said, “I sensed something was not right with Cathy the night of the birthday. She was very quiet. She said she wanted to talk to me about something, but then said, ‘Let’s do it when I get back from Aruba.’ She was going there for five days.”

“Do you know if she stayed in touch with any of her coworkers from her days at REL News?”

“I’m pretty sure she kept up with a few people after she left.”

“Would you happen to know their names?”

“There was one in the New York area. I’m blanking on her name. Maybe I can find it. I went down to Aruba after the accident and picked up Cathy’s personal items including her cell phone and laptop. I’ll go through them. I know I’ll recognize her name if I see it.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

“Give me your number. I’ll call you as soon as I find something.”

They exchanged cell phone numbers. Then Andrew asked her quietly, “Do you have any idea what my sister was referring to when she wrote ‘terrible experience’?”

“Not yet. But I intend to find out.”





8





After speaking with Andrew Ryan, Gina sat for long minutes reviewing the conversation in her mind. There were so many more questions she wanted to ask him. She grabbed a pad and began to jot notes.

Cathy started at REL News right out of college. She would have been twenty-two. Her brother said she worked there for three years before leaving. So the “terrible experience” happened when she was twenty-two to twenty-five. Very young and vulnerable, Gina thought.

She hadn’t thought to ask about the particulars of her accident. He mentioned that she was a good swimmer, so it must have been in the water? It happened in Aruba. Was she there with a boyfriend? girlfriends? alone?

Aruba, wasn’t that where Natalee Holloway’s family had such a hard time finding out what happened when she disappeared after going there on a high school graduation trip?

Was there an investigation? If by any chance this was not an accident, how should she follow up?

Gina pushed the chair back and got up. She remembered that she was to meet Lisa at the Bird’s Nest in another twenty minutes.

She jumped into the bedroom and quickly changed her clothes. She grabbed a pair of black slacks, a black tank top, and her favorite black-and-white print jacket and hurried out.



* * *



The subway ride to the West Village took only twenty minutes. When she opened the door of the restaurant, Lisa was seated at a small table facing the bar.

Lisa jumped up to meet her. “I missed my buddy when you were on vacation,” she said. “In case you’re wondering, I got this table because I want to watch that bartender make drinks and see if any ice hits the floor.”

“And has any?” Gina asked.

“Not so far. Enough about ice cubes. Tell me about Nepal over a glass of wine.”

“It will take the whole bottle,” Gina said. “To begin, the trip to Nepal was fabulous. I think it did my father a world of good to be with his old friends. He’s still brokenhearted about losing my mother.”

“Very understandable,” Lisa said. “I loved your mother.”

Gina took a sip of the wine, hesitated, and then began. “The day I left for Nepal I received an email that may be the next article I’m hoping to write.” She filled Lisa in on the details.