Just A Touch

The illusion of paradise is only in my mind.

"There is a disease that lives among us. It's not a virus, a microbe, or a germ. Yet, it is a deadly sickness nonetheless. It's a sickness known as greed."

Imagine a small community infiltrated by illicit drugs. The local youth become involved in drug use and trafficking. Boys turn into thieves and gangsters, while girls resort to prostitution. They become outcasts and criminals-scars on the community.

Now, envision that this community located on a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and the nearest help is one hundred miles of open ocean distant.

Maya Alvarez is an investigator who first appeared in the novel "Lies, Deception, and the Stealing of Wealth". "Just A Touch" occurs three years later, and Maya is a Spanish transplant now living in French Polynesia. Her quiet life is interrupted when she receives a passionate call from a friend, Fetia Picard. Fetia lives on the atoll of Faaite in French Polynesia, and she is desperately searching for her missing son. Having already lost her husband to the drug cartels, she is left to care for her son and daughter. Her call to Maya is a plea for help, driven by the fear of what may have happened. And it is a plea to the reality of what caused the disruption and loss in her tranquil life.

"Just A Touch" is a fictional story that sheds light on a real problem in Polynesia, focusing on the individuals who come to the aid of those in distress.