by Jaden Skye
different with Tiffany, she was everyone’s dream. Rori was the rebel. It was how she got attention, by overpowering everyone else.”
Rori came out looking stunning in a tightly fitted, very short bright green silk dress, with a halter
top, that was backless.
“I’ll take it,” she said, turning around in front of the mirror.
“You look beautiful,” Cindy said and meant it. Rori was stunning, even though she had an edge about her, marked by a tattoo of a butterfly perched on her left shoulder.
“Thanks,” said Rori surprised.
“Come sit over here a minute,” said Cindy, motioning to the bench she was sitting on.
Rori came and sat next to her. Then Alma followed close behind.
“We need time to talk,” said Cindy.
“We have plenty of time. Right now all we have is time. We’ll all go out for coffee after I get what I need,” said Rori. Then she got up to go try on another dress. “I want that dress over there in red,” she said and started to grab it, as if there had to be something to make up for the loss of her twin sister. “And I want that red necklace, too.”
Alma didn’t join Rori, but stayed behind with Cindy.
“Rori isn’t the most polite,” Alma started. “People get insulted - take her the wrong way. I even heard a few people say that the killer may have killed the wrong twin by mistake.”
“That’s horrible,” Wynn’s face puckered. “Don’t you dare let Rori hear you say that.”
“She’s heard it herself,” said Alma. “She just laughed and said, “it’ll be a cold day in hell before anyone gets me. I’m not weak, like Tiffany.”
Cindy turned to Wynn. “Is there any truth in that? Was someone aiming for Rori?”
“Of course not,” said Wynn. “People may be put off with her, but no one would want to kill her. Nothing ever got that far.”
“And what about Tiffany?” Cindy asked, “how was she weak?”
“Tiffany let her mother drag her around by the nose,” Alma continued, “Rori hated that. It made her nauseous.”
“Rori and Tiffany weren’t close?” Cindy asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Wynn interrupted. “People can have disagreements and love each other.”
“What do you say, Alma?” Cindy asked.
“I don’t know for sure. It really bothered Rori though that their mother loved Tad so much. She often said that it was her mother who was making Tiffany marry Tad. Or, that Tiffany was doing it to be a good girl.”
“Rori didn’t think Tiffany loved Tad?” Cindy was startled.
“Tiffany loved Tad,” Wynn insisted.
“Rori wasn’t sure,” Alma continued. “But Tiffany did love making her mother happy and Rori hated it. She wouldn’t take any of her mom’s crap.”
“What kind of crap?” asked Cindy.
“Her mom can be pretty willful and dominating.”
Cindy suddenly felt afraid for all of them. “With fits of depression?” Cindy added.
“That’s putting it mildly,” said Alma.
“Enough,” Wynn broke in. “My mom’s done as good a job as she’s capable of. She’s loved all her daughters, whatever Rori thinks. Rori plays the devil’s advocate. She always has. You say night, she’ll say day.”
“I never said their mother didn’t love them,” said Alma, nervous.
Just then Rori came bopping over, her arms filled with two dresses, a necklace and a shirt.
“Not a bad day,” she said lightly, tossing a look at what Cindy was wearing. “Why don’t you get yourself a few things, too?” Rori asked, pointing to a part of the store filled with colorful, gauze, flowered dresses. “You’re actually very pretty. If you’d upgrade your image, you’d really be something else!”
Cindy was stung, despite herself.
“Come on, I’ll look with you,” said Rori.
Not only didn’t Cindy want to buy anything, she doubted if she could even afford a shirt here.
“You never know who you’ll meet on the island,” Rori continued. “Lots of great guys come down during holiday season. For all you know, the perfect guy for you will appear right at your hotel.”
“I’ve already had the perfect guy for me,” Cindy said sharply, offended.
“Really?” said Rori, taken aback.
“He died on our honeymoon,” Cindy continued.
All of them fell silent.
“I’m so sorry, Cindy,” Wynn said then, her face flushing. “Really, that’s awful.”
Cindy moved away from them and looked over her shoulder for a moment. To her surprise she saw two of the gendarmes, Marc and Tomas, standing outside the boutique, looking in. They were watching her closely.
Cindy nodded to them in recognition. Neither of them nodded back. Instead, one of them, Marc, came into the shop and walked over to her.
“Hello,” said Cindy.
He did not respond, simply stood close besides her. Cindy started to sweat.
“What’s going on?” Alma whispered, nervous.
“I’m not sure,” Cindy said.
Rori went to the front desk quickly to check out.
Cindy turned and looked directly at Marc, who refused to meet her glance.
“Is something wrong?” she asked finally.
Again he said nothing, just stood there silently.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Wynn.
Alma rushed over to Rori and the moment Rori finished checking out, the two of them went to the door.
Rori waved, “We’re going back to the boat,” she called.
“I’ll meet up with you later,” Wynn called back, staying close beside Cindy.
“Let’s get out of here and get a bite to eat,” Cindy said to Wynn.
The two of them turned away from Marc, went out onto the street, and walked south towards a popular café for lunch.
CHAPTER 11
The café Cindy and Wynn went to for lunch had wicker tables, benches, homemade croissants, finger sandwiches, salads and delicious French gourmet pastries. They sat at a table in the back. Suddenly ravenous, Cindy ordered a big meal and when it arrived, ate every bite of the food that was brought to her. It calmed her down and helped her shake off fear that had gripped her at the sight of Tomas and Marc and all the other unknowns that were piling up.
Wynn sat quietly, sipping a cup of Cappuccino.
After she’d eaten, Cindy took a long look at Wynn. She was extremely different from Rori, much steadier, poised and considerate. Cindy liked Wynn, respected her. It was easy to see how hard Wynn tried to hold her family together, keep things from falling apart. What had happened to Tiffany was way beyond her, though. She needed help and seemed to know it. Wynn seemed to be very grateful to have Cindy at her side.
“You’ve got quite a sister there,” Cindy said, after she finished eating. “Rori’s a handful.”
“Rori means well,” Wynn defended her automatically. “She’s just incredibly self-involved, always got what she wanted when she wanted it.”
“Not nice,” said Cindy. “Must have been hard on Tiffany.”
“Tiffany took it in her stride,” said Wynn. “Rori never got to her, really. Tiffany was our dad’s favorite and that made up for a lot of things. If you ask me, right now, Rori’s in shock. We all are. It’s natural.”
Wynn reached for her Cappuccino.
“Yes, it is,” said Cindy.
“Why were the gendarmes following you?” Wynn asked then, nervous.
“I’m not sure,” said Cindy. “They may not be thrilled to have us here on the island poking around. Private detectives can be a thorn in their sides. And they’re trying to keep things quiet.”
“I know,” said Wynn, “it’s driving my dad nuts.”
“How is he doing?” Cindy asked.
“You never know the answer to that question,” said Wynn. “My dad always puts up a good front. Tries to be strong for his family.”
“He’s close
to all of you?”
“His kids are his whole life,” said Wynn, “Believe me, my father won’t rest until the killer’s tracked down. He’s actually made calls to the States about it. Getting more help lined up. The jokers on this island aren’t going to get away with anything.”
Cindy wondered who he was contacting and how much Wynn knew about Petrovich and her father’s relationship with him.
“What do you think about the murder, Wynn?”
Wynn dove down into her Cappuccino again, not saying anything. Cindy felt she was holding something back.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Cindy said quietly.
“It’s killing all of us,” Wynn said finally, “especially our mom.”
“You’re very worried about your mother?” Cindy probed again.
“No, I’m not,” Wynn answered abruptly. “She goes through spells of craziness for less reasons than this. We’re used to it. The whole family.”
“Your father’s used to it, too?”
“Especially him.”
“How does he handle it?” Cindy suddenly wondered if there might be someone else in the Senator’s life, someone who might have resented Tiffany.
“He handles it by working,” said Wynn.
“I mean does he have another woman?”
Wynn teared up for a moment. “That’s a weird thing to ask his daughter,” she said.
“I’m sorry to have to ask it,” said Cindy, “but there’s a web we have to break through here. You never know where the weak link might be.”
Wynn nodded and caught the waitress’s eye.
“Another Cappuccino,” she ordered. “Want something, Cindy?”
Cindy did not. She wanted information, facts, she wanted to hear something that would alert her to danger and help put the pieces of this puzzle together.
“My father does not have any girlfriend that I know of,” said Wynn, after her next Cappuccino arrived. “Of course anything is possible, but it’s not something I have knowledge of. The truth is I always hoped that he would have someone. I always wanted him to be happy.”
Cindy sighed deeply. She understood. She remembered feeling that same way herself about her own mother and father. It had hurt her to see her father alone, night after night in the living room while her mother went to bed early, or talked endlessly on the phone with friends.
“I guess we all want and need our parents to be happy,” Cindy said softly.
Wynn appreciated that. “We do,” she said.
Cindy saw an opening. “How about Tiffany? Was she really happy about the engagement?” Cindy kept digging.
“I hope so,” Wynn answered, her eyes tearing again. “Everyone thought Tad was a great catch. I hope she felt that way too. In a way Rori was right about her, Tiffany was weak. She always acted like she was happy, but, there were moments I saw her looking strange. She seemed lonely then, desperate, even. How does anyone really know?”
Cindy felt she was getting closer to something, but Wynn suddenly made a hundred and eighty degree turn and diverted the conversation.
“How about you?” asked Wynn. “That’s a horrible story you told us about your husband who died on your honeymoon.”
“Yes, it was,” said Cindy.
“Awful,” said Wynn, “And you deserve to be happy, too.”
“Thank you,” said Cindy.
“Do you think you ever will be?” Wynn asked. “After something so awful happens, can anyone ever be happy again?”
“There are lots of ways of being happy,” said Cindy, tried to answer honestly.
“You know what I mean,” Wynn persisted.
“Do you mean will I ever be happy again with a man?” asked Cindy
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Wynn.
“Who knows? It could happen someday,” said Cindy. “Right now I’m happy doing my job. I loved my husband very much. He was everything I’d always wanted. He was fun, warm, kind, romantic. We were incredibly close, made each other terrifically happy. I felt completely at home in his arms.”
Wynn took a deep breath in. “That’s beautiful.” She looked at Cindy touched that she had opened up. “You were lucky in a way.”
Cindy never thought of herself as lucky regarding Clint before.
“Even if you only had him for a little while, you had a chance to know what real love was like.”
That was true.
“Many people never get that,” said Wynn, “no matter how much else they have.”
Cindy felt warmly towards Wynn and wondered about her love life then.
As if reading her mind, Wynn went on, “I’ve had some great boyfriends, but no one who moved me that way. Nobody I ever felt so safe and at home with.”
“I understand,” said Cindy.
“Yes, I know you do,” Wynn smiled. “It’s good to talk to you, Cindy.”
“I hope you have that special love one day,” Cindy said and meant it.
“Thank you so much,” Wynn responded, moved. Then she smiled, “But, you know, plenty of people decide to get married to someone they don’t really love.”
“Is that what happened with Tiffany?” Cindy pressed forward. She felt something lurking beneath the surface that Wynn was trying to tell her, but could not get out.
Wynn dug into her pocket book then, and threw some bills for the check on the table. Cindy noticed her hand was trembling.
“What happened with Tiffany?” Cindy dug in.
Wynn looked up, tears suddenly streaming down her face.
“Tiffany was having an affair,” Wynn finally breathed.
Cindy was startled. “When she was killed?”
“Yes,” said Wynn, noticeably shaking. “It was with a guy named Frances, who she knew for years. He came down here all the time. He always liked her. She always liked him.”
“Tiffany was sleeping with Frances while she and Tad were together?” Cindy wanted to be sure of what she was hearing.
“Yes,” whispered Wynn. “And it was still going on when she died.”
Wynn was noticeably nervous. She got up suddenly, grabbed her handbag and before Cindy realized what was happening, flew out the door.
“Wait a second Wynn,” Cindy got up and followed after her quickly, walking fast beside her on the street.
“I didn’t want to tell anyone about the affair,” Wynn spoke quickly, “I didn’t want to smear my sister’s name.”
“You didn’t smear her name, you’re trying to help her,” Cindy replied. “Do others know about this too?”
Wynn stopped and stared at her for a second, “No, they don’t. Why would they?”
“How did you find out?”
“She told me,” said Wynn, the tears falling more swiftly as she started to walk quickly again. “Tiffany spoke to me about everything.”
“She didn’t speak to Rori?”
“No.”
“Did Tad find out?”
“No, he didn’t,” Wynn stamped her foot. “He never knew. I’m sure of that. Neither did Rori, or anyone. Just me, I’ve been carrying this awful secret alone. And I’ve kept it completely quiet, until now.”
“How awful for you,” said Cindy walking faster beside her as Wynn picked up her pace.
“Don’t judge her,” words spilled out of Wynn that she’d obviously wanted to speak for a long time. “He gave her something she needed badly.”
“Sex?” asked Cindy.
“More than that,” said Wynn. “She was a different person when she came back from being with him, she was peaceful, complete. I could see it on her face.”
“No one in your family suspected?”
“Just me, I knew.”
“This must have been a terrible burden to carry,” said Cindy softly.
“It was. I’m just telling you know because I’m terrified that it may have something to do with her death.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. I’m not the detective. You are. Find out.�
�
“Tell me about this recent guy, Frances,” said Cindy.
“This one was more than just a recent guy. I felt she actually loved him.”
“More than Tad?”
“Much more. After Tad left, she’d rush out to be with Frances. Not only here, but back at home. Seemed like she couldn’t get enough of him. She couldn’t refuse him, even if she wanted to. Sometimes I saw her getting dressed to meet him. She turned into someone else.”
“Then why did she get engaged to Tad?”
“That’s the twenty four thousand dollar question,” Wynn stopped for a second and stared at Cindy. “I asked her that over and over. Tiffany said Tad was good for her. He calmed her down and let her do whatever she wanted because he liked lots of time to be alone.”
“Let her do whatever she with other men?”
“No, of course not! He had no idea. He let her go out as much as she wanted with her friends. She didn’t feel tied down. Tiffany was terrified of being tied down.”
“Why else did she get engaged to him?”
“How do I know?” Wynn grew restless, “maybe it was our mother? She was crazy about Tad. She pushed and pushed for the engagement.”
“Why?” asked Cindy. “Do you think your mother had any idea about what was going on behind Tad’s back?”
“Never,” said Wynn. “Our mom thought that Tad would stabilize her. Tiffany could get flighty at times.”
“Did your mother ever meet Frances?”
“Only as one of Tiffany’s friends. She never thought much about him - no one did. No one does now.”
Cindy tried to slow Wynn down. This was important information and she didn’t want to miss a word.
“Let’s sit on the bench for a few minutes,” Cindy said.
There were a bunch of benches scattered on the sidewalk. They sat down and Wynn breathed more easily.
“How can you be sure Tad didn’t find out?” Cindy grilled her. “It would be the perfect motive for the crime.”
“Tad never found out, I’m positive,” said Wynn and she lifted her I phone and emailed the video from the engagement party to Cindy. “Take a look and see.”
Cindy opened her phone and looked at the video. Tiffany was there, in Tad’s arms. They were laughing, dancing, having a great time. The video then switched to Tad glowing, making a speech about how finding Tiffany made his life complete. There was no way in the world he could have known about Frances and make a speech like this.
