* * *

           Elise ran her hands through her hair and gasped at what must have been a sudden thought. “You weren’t even going to tell me, were you?”

          “What do you mean?”

          “I mean, if you hadn’t talked to Mia’s friend tonight, you weren’t going to tell me. What were you going to do? Just wait until the authorities showed up on your doorstep one day? Possibly our doorstep?”

          “It’s not even going to go that far. Trust me. I’ll get an attorney and…”

          “Trust you? Trust you? Roland, I don’t even know you.” 

             Elise turned and began walking up the beach back toward the resort.

          Roland thought about going after her but knew nothing he said was going to make a difference right now. He had messed up and there was no way of getting around it.

The authorities. Hearing her say that made him shiver. He had thought about it before but never let his mind rest on it. But it was a reality he was possibly going to face whether he wanted to or not.

         He sat back down on the sand and stared at the ocean. Right now, he didn’t want to face Elise or anyone else for that matter. This was definitely the beginning of the end.

--Excerpt, The Tides That Bind