If only Ryan's family felt that way.
"Thanks, but I'm just doing my job. Just like you."
Chuckling, Carl shook his head. "I don't get to do anything exciting or dangerous. In fact, my life is boring as hell while you're out catching bad guys."
"It's not like it looks in the movies. Trust me. I spend a lot of my time in the office doing research."
Carl didn't look like he believed Ryan.
"So do you have any leads on what happened to Brad? Any theories?"
None that Ryan wanted to talk about so he tried to joke his way out of the question. His friends probably didn't know about the medical examiner's report yet.
"Hey, give me a break. I just got here yesterday. I haven't even unpacked yet. I have a lot of people to talk to."
His friend wasn't the pushy type so he thankfully let it go.
"Just know that we're all rooting for you. We know you'll figure out what happened to Brad."
It wouldn't be easy. Cold cases never were.
Brad, what did you do that night? What was going on in your life?
At one point, Mariah and Caroline had been close friends. During their teenage years, they'd spent the night at each other's house and talked about what their lives were going to be like when they were grown up. Caroline had wanted to get married and have kids, and so did Mariah, although in her fantasies she was also a celebrated artist.
One out of three isn't too bad. And I'm still young.
Okay, point-five out of three. I can't call myself celebrated but I do make a living at it.
After going to different universities they'd drifted apart slightly. Still friends, but not the kind that divulged deep secrets to one another. They'd mostly partied together with the rest of the group. Caroline had been dating Brad, and Mariah was with Ryan. Brad and Ryan were friends too, so they all seem to end up in the same places on a regular basis. She got along with Caroline and they'd never argued, but later when Mariah and Ryan ended things, somehow she hadn't heard from Caroline anymore.
To be honest, Caroline had started separating herself from the group after Brad's disappearance. It had been a huge surprise when she'd married Dan, but she'd been absolutely radiant at the wedding and Mariah was thrilled that she'd found love after all that had happened.
Mariah had let Daphne and Caroline do most of the talking but eventually the conversation wound around to her life and what she was doing with it.
"You and Ryan look good together," Daphne said. "Do you still feel any of the old tingles? Maybe you guys could give it another shot. You're single again."
Tingles? My heart races and my palms get sweaty. But I'll never admit it.
"We're just friends. His apartment is across the hall from mine so we shared a taxi here. It's not a big deal."
Daphne looked over Mariah's shoulder to where Ryan was deep in conversation with Carl.
"He still looks good. Even better, actually. The cop stuff is kind of...manly, too. Not like my husband who sits behind a desk all day and then plays golf on Saturdays."
Mariah wasn't sure what Ryan was doing to stay in shape but it was working well. If anything, he was in better condition than when they were in school.
"I'm not looking for a relationship right now."
Caroline frowned. "You want to be alone forever?"
"Not forever, just...for now. Relationships are a lot of work. I'm just enjoying dating and my work. I'm not looking to take care of a man."
Mariah's ex-husband had been high maintenance to say the least, and by the time they'd divorced she'd been exhausted trying to keep him happy. Eventually she'd had to admit that it was a goal that was never going to be achieved. Bobby was never happy and she didn't think he wanted to be either.
"I don't like to think of you alone," Caroline pressed. "Do you have a cat or a dog?"
"I'm thinking of getting a cat." She waved away their concern. "I'm fine. Honest. I'm just glad to see both of you. It's been so long."
Welling up with tears again, Caroline sniffled. "I love both of you so much but I hate that we're together because of Brad's death. I guess I fooled myself into believing that he was really alive all of this time. You know, he used to talk about faking his death. Do you remember? He said he'd go off to some tropical island and sell fishing gear to tourists. I didn't want to think anything bad happened to him so I would imagine that he was there."
"I heard him say it more than once," Daphne said. "I didn't take him seriously. I assumed it was a joke."
"I'm sure it was a joke," Caroline replied, her eyes watery. "But it made me feel better, if that makes any sense. Now I can't pretend that he isn't gone."
"When did you last talk to Brad?" Mariah asked. "What did he say?"
"He said he wanted to stay and drink some more with Theo. He told me he'd meet me at the airport the next morning. I told him that we should both go home but you know how he was, stubborn as a mule. He wanted to stay so there was no point in arguing with him."
"And you didn't hear from him after that?"
"No, but I didn't expect to. I went home and went to bed. When we got to the airport, he wasn't there. But you know that."
Caroline had been livid when Brad hadn't shown up that day. Absolutely furious. She'd tried to call him a dozen times at least while they waited to board the plane. She'd been pissed off during the entire flight but had finally settled down when they'd landed, deciding to enjoy the trip without Brad.
Sniffling and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, Caroline stood from her chair. "I'm going to the ladies' room to try and fix my eyeliner. I'll be right back. Will you order me another martini?"
When Caroline turned the corner and was out of sight, Daphne leaned closer to Mariah.
"She was cheating on Brad. I think that's why she's so upset. She feels guilty."
This was news to Mariah. She'd never even suspected.
"Cheating? Are you sure?"
Daphne nodded toward Trent, who was talking to Ryan. "With him. She told me. She was mad at Brad for running around and not paying enough attention to her so she was sleeping with Trent. When we were in Hawaii, I saw her sneak into his hotel room when she thought the rest of us were asleep."
"What were you doing up?"
Smiling even wider, Daphne waggled her eyebrows. "I was sneaking into Theo's room."
"How did I not know any of this?"
"There was a lot of sleeping around back then but you and Ryan weren't a part of that. We didn't hide it from you, but we didn't shout about it either. Honestly, I think you just wanted to think the best of everyone, so even if you had seen me sneak into Theo's room, would you have thought I was doing it to have sex with him?"
Was I that naive back then?
"I wasn't a prude or anything. I wouldn't have judged you."
"I know. You're not that type." Daphne's gaze moved to Caroline's husband Dan at the end of the table. "I don't think Danny knows about Trent, so let's just keep that between us, okay? It was a long time ago and it doesn't really matter anymore, right?"