The Body in the Sand Prologue
Maryanne Conlin sat down at the table across from her fiancée, Daniel Bellinger. He smiled at her as she unfolded her napkin.
Daniel said, "So, hon, how was work?"
She sighed. "Eh…OK. Zavier was being an ass today."
Zavier Zazu Zigmund was Mary's boss. Most of the time, he was a nice enough guy…If he was on his bi-polar meds, that is. But he must have been off them if he was being a jerk.
Dan said, "I'm sorry Mary. So did we pick a date?"
Mary nodded and pulled out her planner that she kept everything in. "Yeah. August 15th."
Dan groaned. "That's the hottest part of the summer here in D.C. Mare, we'll be in an un-air conditioned Lutheran church." Both Dan and Mary were Lutheran. Her family's Lutheranism could be traced back to the time of the Reformation.
His family…A little more recent. His parents were Catholic, but his older brother, Rick, had cussed out a priest at the age of two. Dan's parents were too embarrassed to go back to the Catholic Church. So they became Lutheran.
"No, we won't. We're getting married in a meadow, remember?"
"Not really, no."
"Dan-iel!"
"What?"
"This our wedding!" Her shouting was attracting stares. "Do you care at all?!"
He reached for her hand to comfort her, but she pulled it away. As he retracted his own hand, he said, "Of course I do, Mary. I love you. You know that."
"Do I? Daniel, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were cheating on me!"
His eyes flashed with anger. "Maryanne! How dare you say that?"
She glared at him. By now, the whole restaurant was watching their little exchange. "I can and I will Daniel Bellinger." She had spoken with such deadly coldness, that the room seemed to drop a few degrees in temperature.
He stared back, just as angrily. "Fine."
"Fine! I'm leaving!"
"Fine! Don't come back!"
Mary got up and stormed out of the restaurant.
It was the last time anyone ever saw her alive again…
