The detectives cut the seat belt straps and pulled the bench off Drs. Pachla and Hubley, and then helped them to their feet. Stiff after sitting for hours on end, they stood slowly. Dr. Hubley was shaking and breathless as she pulled her mass of curls out of her face, adjusted her glasses and straightened her clothes. Dr. Pachla stood and straightened her white lab coat. She turned and surveyed the damage around her, and whistled, low and soft when she saw Dr. Muzqu�z lying in a growing crimson pool. One of the �investigators� was on the ground by the door, and two more men she didn�t recognize were across the room. Dr. Pachla looked at Dr. Hubley, who was also surveying the room.

�Diane!� Dr. Pachla shouted.

�She�s in danger!� Dr. Hubley said, grabbing the arm of the nearest detective.

The sun was just starting to introduce itself to the beach, gently sending a purple glow to the white sands and warm clear water. The hint of warmth awakened the winds, and they sent gentle breezes to tickle the palm trees. They giggled with rustling fronds, and the parrots and other birds squawked their objections to the early dance. Seagulls took to the air, and the pelicans started cruising just above the breakers, ready to dip in and snag the unwary fish that hadn�t yet partaken of its morning coffee.

The orange-gold glow of daylight approaching from his right side warmed the skin of an already tanned man sitting on a straw mat under the palm trees. His legs were crossed and his hands rested on his knees, palms facing upwards, his thumbs pressed against his middle fingers in the lotus position. His head was back and his eyes were closed as if he were in deep meditation. As the warm breeze woke the wildlife around him, he inhaled as deeply as possible, filling his lungs with the fresh, warm, salty air. He straightened his neck and opened his eyes. He looked around himself with a surprised face, getting his bearings as if he were deplaning for the first time in a foreign country. In a few seconds, his face relaxed and he stood stiffly, then stretched his back and finally, stretched his arms to the sky. He moved his right arm slowly, taking a second to rub a spot on the right side of his chest with his left hand.

The man bent over and picked up his straw mat. He gently shook the sand from it, rolled it up, and stuffed it under his arm. He paid his due respects to the sun and then plodded through the soft sand back up to the beach cottage he called home. Entering the house, he prepared the coffee pot, grabbed a passion fruit, sat on an overstuffed teak side chair, picked up a book and started reading.

�Ahhhh. I should have done this years ago,� he said with satisfaction as he perched his feet on the teak ottoman and turned a page.