Free On Tenterhooks by Greever Williams Page A

the Cozumel Police Department , in Mexico . I am sorry to inform you , but there has been a terrible SCUBA accident . I am afraid your mother has passed.”
     
    Veronica breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
     
    “ Um , look, Commander, ” said Veronica , “t here’s some sort of mix-up here . My mother has never been to the Caribbean , and she certainly doesn’t SCUBA dive.”
     
    “ Señorita ,” said Captain De Hoyos , “p lease try to understand me to what I am saying to you . We are not in the habit of making such calls as these without b eing sure of facts. I question the dive profesor a myself . Sh e was most assured to me that this was Se ñ ora Ryder’s first time to Mexico and she had only just received her diploma for the open-water diving . In fact, la profesor a knew her story very well . Sh e say she spent the entire time o f the boat ride to the reef telling to her how much it might mean to you that she was learning to dive.”
     
    Veronica felt her throat constricting .
     
    “Ms. Ryder? Are you not an avid diver as your mother described you to the professora ?” asked Commander De Hoyos .
     
    “What?” Veronica asked. “Yes, yes, I am . But , but I didn’t know she was doing this. H ow did she . . . ?”
     
    “Si,” said De Hoyos. “After hearing from the professora about the events that were occurring, the medico forense, um . . . the coroner . . . believes that Señora was attacked by her heart while diving . The professor a say sh e turned to help another student . Your madre, she lose her breathing machine out of her mouth , and she was passed before the professora could revive her . They brought your mother to the boat and tried to revive her , but it did not work. In less than several minutos , she was gone . I am very, very sorry for your loss, Señorita .”
     
    Veronica did not respond . De Hoyos paused on the line for a moment before continuing.
     
    “We would prefer to have someone come here to Cozumel to collect your mother and return her to the Estados Unidos ,” said De Hoyos . “It would be well if you could come, soon.”
     
    “Is the investigation closed?” asked Veronica . “ I mean , it’ s already over?”
     
    “Si” said De Hoyos. “We pride ourselves on la Isla de Cozumel with being a safe place for Americanos to travel . Your mother’s passing is only the second muert e of the year . T his is such a rare thing that mi Capitano asked that I contact you rapido to ask you to arrive. There is nothing more to do for the policia.”
     
    “Yes,” said Veronica . “I will be there tomorrow morning.”
     
    “Si,” said De Hoyos , “t hat is bueno . When you arrive you can reach me at . . . ”
     
    And that had been how her mother had left the world behind , with n o chance for goodbyes or healing the rift . It had been sudden and definitive . Veronica ’s father had died decades ago , and her older sister , Louise , had never left Elysburg in her life, so it had to be Veronica who flew to Mexico the next day . That had begun a horrible two-week odyssey to retrieve the body , bring it back to the United States, deliver it to Pennsylvania and coordinate the funeral arrangements .
     
    “I still don’t know what got it into her head to go to Mexico , of all places,” Louise had insisted . “And she wouldn’t let anybody go with her , either . Said it was something she had to do. I think maybe she wanted to impress you or something . . .”
     
    Veronica never told her sister that t he i r mother had died SCUBA diving . Instead, she talked about a peaceful death in her sleep at the resort where she was staying . Yes, it was a lie . But only a small one, designed to keep the family at peace instead of breaking it into pieces. Veronica was certain Louise blamed her for their mo ther’s death, even if she refused to admit it. The barrier between them only grew stronger , as Veronica took charge of all the details with a business-like attitude that left