Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series)

by Jaden Skye

“Who is it?” Cindy demanded.

  “Mattheus, open up,” the voice outside answered.

  Cindy sighed a breath of relief and opened the door slowly. Mattheus stood there, looking exhausted and disheveled.

  “Where did you go when you left here?” Cindy asked as she stepped to the side to let him in.

  Mattheus walked in staunchly. “I have people I’m working with down here, I went to see them,” Mattheus replied.

  Cindy knew that Mattheus had a wide network of people all over the Islands who respected him and would help with all kinds of connections and support. Especially in a case like this, so directly connected to him.

  “Sit down,” Cindy offered.

  Mattheus kept standing. “I don’t trust that Sean guy one bit,” he started. “I don’t like that you called him and that he was in your room when I got here.”

  Cindy took a deep, swift breath. “I’m working with the police on this, Mattheus. He’s the point man for the case.”

  “He’s after me,” said Mattheus. “You’re gonna deny it?”

  “I won’t deny it,” said Cindy carefully. “But I won’t confirm it, either. I’d say he has questions about your involvement in the case.”

  “That’s ridiculous, he wants to lock me up with Andrea. Then they’re done with everything. Case closed. The killer goes free.” Mattheus was on fire.

  “Who’s the killer, Mattheus?” Cindy suddenly had an urgent need to know what he thought.

  “I have no idea. But I’ll find out for sure,” Mattheus’s jaw was set. “I’ve got my own string of people investigating. This police force has been bought off, they’re completely useless.”

  “Bought off by whom?” Cindy was stunned.

  “When we find that out we have the key,” Mattheus shot back, “and we’ll also know the truth about Sean.”

  Cindy’s head started spinning. Mattheus was a great detective and she didn’t doubt Mattheus’s motives, but Sean was right. He could be a ticking time bomb.

  “Mattheus,” Cindy turned to him swiftly, “why not give the investigation over to me, and back off for a little while. Step away. Get off the Island.”

  Mattheus looked stunned. “And leave my daughter in their clutches?”

  “I’m on it, I’m good, I’ll take care of her,” Cindy insisted. “And the cops won’t feel so threatened if you’re not around. Then I can get the cooperation I need from them. You put me in touch with your contacts and we’ll penetrate the web.”

  Mattheus wouldn’t even consider it. “First of all, Andrea won’t talk to you. She’ll barely even talk to me,” he replied. “Secondly, the way things look to me, you’re swept away by Sean. Before I know it, the two of you will turn on me.”

  Cindy sat down on the sofa, unnerved. She had no idea why Mattheus suspected her loyalty so deeply.

  “You think I came down here to turn on you?” she asked, deeply saddened.

  “No, I think you came down here because you felt guilty,” Mattheus retorted. “You pushed me to meet Andrea - so you have a hand in whatever happened next. I think you came down here to clear your conscience – just like you became a detective to clear your conscience about what happened with Clint. But are you someone I can trust? Are you someone who’s really loyal to me? I’d have to say no.”

  Tears stung Cindy’s eyes. “I’m not loyal because I went back home after you told me you were leaving me to be with your daughter?”

  “That’s one reason,” Mattheus replied. “You’ve done it before, too. Just pulled out on me without a moment’s notice.”

  “And your behavior had nothing to do with it, Mattheus?” Cindy was quick on the draw now. “It’s all me? You’re the victim?”

  “It’s normal to want to be there for a daughter you hadn’t seen for her whole life,” he replied, shaken.

  “Okay, it’s normal,” said Cindy, “but is it also normal to dump the woman you’re about to get engaged to in the process?”

  “I didn’t dump you,” he insisted.

  “Of course you did,” said Cindy. “There was no discussion at all about it. You just told me you were going and I was staying behind. There was no mention for how long either. It could have been a year or more, for all I knew. I was disposed of for your convenience and you didn’t even say you were sorry.”

  Mattheus listened and then walked to the window. “I was in a shocking situation, Cindy. How often does a guy meet a daughter he abandoned at birth?”

  “Sure it was shocking,” said Cindy, “so, the way you handle it is to abandon me, too?”

  “In your eyes, I abandoned you. In my eyes, I did what was right,” he insisted.

  “So here we are now,” breathed Cindy, now trembling. “And where do we go from here? There’s no way to work for someone who doesn’t trust you.”

  “What are you doing,” Mattheus’s jaw clenched, “pulling out on me again?”

  “No, I’m not,” said Cindy. “I came down here to solve the case and I intend to do it. I made a commitment to justice.”

  “You made a commitment to justice and not to me?” Mattheus asked, startled.

  Cindy stopped and they looked at each other. “Did we ever make a commitment to each other, Mattheus?”

  There was no way to answer that directly and Mattheus knew it. The muscles in his face quivered.

  “I wanted to Cindy, I was about to do it,” Mattheus’s voice trembled.

  Cindy said nothing. “Wanting to doesn’t mean a thing. It doesn’t catch the gold ring,” she finally muttered.

  “So, you intend to team up with Sean against me?” Mattheus quipped again.

  “Not at all. Sean and I are not a team. I’m working the case on my own, but I need police support and protection. And I also need to move out of this hotel. Whoever threw the note, knows I’m here.”

  Mattheus nodded bruskly.

  “I want to transfer to Hotel Washington,” Cindy continued, “and I want you to move there with me as well.”

  That surprised Mattheus. “Why Hotel Washington, and why me?” he replied.

  “However you feel at the moment, we are still working this case together. We need to share information.”

  “I got that,” said Mattheus, seemingly relieved, “but why Hotel Washington?”

  “Sean asked us to transfer to it,” Cindy replied matter of factly. “We’ll be safer there, they can keep a better eye on us.”

  “He wants us to transfer there?” Mattheus asked, agitated.

  “Yes,” said Cindy, “in different rooms on the same floor.”

  “And where to from there?” asked Mattheus then. “What’s next?”

  “For me, more research for me into Andrea, her family and friends,” Cindy replied.

  “What did you find out about Andrea from Natalie?” Mattheus suddenly shot to attention.

  “More than you want to know,” said Cindy, “much, much more.”

  Chapter 13

  Hotel Washington was a few miles away, up on a hill, overlooking the ocean. It had all the amenities anyone could want, including a beautiful pool, wonderful restaurants, a top notch bar and rooms with large balconies. Sean arranged for the move first thing the next morning and Cindy and Mattheus got there just before breakfast. It was a tremendous relief to leave the other hotel. Cindy wanted to ask Mattheus if he wanted to grab breakfast before they went to their separate rooms, but was afraid it would seem too much like old times.

  “Let’s grab a bite of breakfast before we go to our rooms,” Mattheus jumped the gun.

  Cindy was hungry and she also wanted to normalize things between them. “Sure,” she said quickly. It couldn’t hurt, and there was a lot they had to cover anyway.

  *

  Cindy and Mattheus were quickly seated in a large, airy coffee shop, ordered breakfast and breathed the sweet, refreshing ocean air. Cindy hadn’t felt so comfortable since she’d arrived on the island.

  Once breakfast came and they started eating, Mattheus looked o
ver at her. “I hope you don’t totally hate me,” he said under his breath.

  “Of course I don’t hate you,” Cindy said casually.

  “There’s no excuse for some of the things I said last night,” Mattheus wouldn’t drop it. “I was accusing you and that was awful.”

  “It wasn’t pleasant,” Cindy agreed. “You get like that, Mattheus, jealous and suspicious. You lose perspective.”

  “I’m under terrible pressure,” Mattheus tried to defend himself.

  “I know,” said Cindy. “The case hits way too close to home.”

  “It’s tricky for me down in the underworld, too,” Mattheus continued. “Slimy beyond words, so many rotten things happening down here, it’s hard to keep focus. These gangs have their hands into everything, and I mean everything.”

  “What are you looking for, exactly?” asked Cindy.

  “I’m talking to people who knew Cain. I found out he was part of everything. Cain worked for a guy named Pedro who orders routine executions of anyone who gets in his way. Cain took the job on, did the dirty work, contracted the hits out to people he knew.”

  “The middleman?” asked Cindy.

  “You could call him that,” said Mattheus.

  “There’s got to be lots of people who wanted Cain dead,” said Cindy.

  “Absolutely,” said Mattheus, “but no one messes with Cain, or they’re messing with Pedro. And I heard Pedro’s fuming about Cain’s death.”

  “Is he trying to find out who killed Cain?”

  “I’m sure he is,” said Mattheus, “and most likely he knows.”

  “Personal vendetta?” mused Cindy, “or, maybe Pedro did it himself?”

  “That’s what I thought, too,” said Mattheus, “but the guys laughed when I asked that. They say Pedro loved Cain like a brother.”

  “So, he’s got to know who did it, “Cindy felt nervous. How could something like this happen under his watch and he not know?

  “It’s also possible this could have come out of left field,” Mattheus was musing, “could have knocked Pedro for a loop as well?”

  “Can you get to talk to Pedro directly?” Cindy was fascinated. “He’s probably doing our work for us, tracking down the killer as we speak.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do,” said Mattheus. “I’m getting closer, too.”

  “The guys down there also have to know who threw the rock in my window,” Cindy suddenly realized.

  “No, they don’t. They sneer when I ask them. That’s baby stuff, not even on their radar. You don’t count with them. I do, because Cain was my daughter’s stepfather.”

  “Nobody suspects you?” Cindy was surprised.

  “They like me,” Mattheus started to grin. “Damned if I know why, but they like having me around. I meet them in a shack down in the lowlands, under a bunch of scraggly trees. They know I’m a detective who’s in trouble himself and that gives them a boost.”

  “Wonderful,” said Cindy, “a great crowd to be with.”

  Mattheus smiled. “But when I told them about someone throwing a rock in your cab window, they were actually confused. Seems like someone’s barging into their territory. They ordered me to find out who the jerk could be.”

  “So the rock throwing came out of left field,” Cindy mused, “just like the killing might have.”

  “Could be,” said Mattheus.

  “Tell me more about Cain,” Cindy suddenly felt like her old self, following the scent of the true culprit.

  “The guy was heartless - a sadist,” Mattheus continued. “I heard he enjoyed ordering the killings, wanted to hear every little detail about them after they were done.”

  “So, he got his just due,” Cindy mused. “It’s easy to imagine that there’s someone around who wanted to get revenge.”

  “Absolutely,” Mattheus agreed, “but why hadn’t they gotten it before? How come Cain’s killing was linked to the time I came down to see Andrea?”

  “It’s a good question,” said Cindy, “I kept asking it myself.” You’d think the cops would be all over it, too.”

  “You’d think so,” Mattheus muttered. “But I’ve seen it before – rotten cops who’ve been paid off to look the other way. Paid off big, probably. But what bothers me most, what I can’t get it out of my head, was that Petra was married to Cain.”

  “There’s a lot of things that trouble me about Petra,” Cindy quickly added.

  “Like what?” Mattheus seemed startled.

  Cindy didn’t know how he’d handle what she had to tell him. She didn’t want to throw him more off balance than he already was.

  “Petra wasn’t a good mother to Andrea,” Cindy started mildly.

  “Why do you say that?” Mattheus looked disturbed.

  “Mattheus, Petra let Cain beat Andrea,” Cindy retorted.

  “Let her? That’s harsh,” he replied. “Cain also beat Petra. She must have been scared to death.”

  “A mother defends her daughter,” Cindy insisted.

  “And maybe she couldn’t?” Mattheus’s face flushed. “Obviously, you’ve got something against Petra.”

  Cindy was amazed that he was defending her. The idea that his daughter had been living in danger, with no protection all these years, didn’t seem to hit him at all. Maybe he was too guilty to face it. Cindy decided to try another tack.

  “I’m not accusing you, Mattheus,” Cindy continued. “What happened to Andrea all these years is not your fault. There’s no way you could have done anything about this. You didn’t even know her.”

  “I didn’t care to know her,” Mattheus corrected her. “And I never would have known if you hadn’t pushed me to find Andrea. So, I’ve got to thank you for that. But I don’t see Petra the way you do. I see her as gutsy and trying to do the best with the little she’s got.”

  “We’ve got to find out if that’s so,” Cindy said slowly. “So, while you’re talking to the guys in the gangs, I’ll go speak to Petra.”

  Mattheus bristled, “I’m not sure it’s the best idea.”

  “It has to be done,” Cindy said uncompromisingly. “It’s part of my investigation.”

  There was no way Mattheus could disagree. “Okay, so go talk to her, but tread lightly. Her daughter’s in danger, her rotten husband has been killed and now Petra’s on her own.”

  Cindy wasn’t so sure about that, either. I’m more on my own than she is, Cindy thought.

  *

  After breakfast Mattheus left to continue his discussions with the guys in the gangs. Cindy went upstairs and enjoyed spending some time in her new room. It was spacious and open, with pink flowered wall paper, a large bed, comfortable settee and large white wicker doors that led to a balcony. Cindy felt safe and protected here, finally able to unwind.

  The next step would be to go talk to Petra. Cindy wondered whether she should let her know in advance that she was coming, but decided against it. It would be best to arrive unannounced. That way Petra wouldn’t have time to prepare for the visit and Cindy would find her just as she was. Petra wouldn’t like it, but so what? Cindy wasn’t there to make a friend.

  After relaxing out on the patio for a little while, Cindy got up, went to the bathroom, showered and changed. She slipped on a lovely lemon summer dress, with a lime green cotton sweater. Then she spent some time on her make up. It had been awhile since she’d had a chance to pamper herself. It made her feel better, more ready to face whatever was next for her.

  Just as she was about to leave to drop in on Petra, her phone rang. It was Sean.

  “I’m a block away and would love to have some time with you,” he said. “Does it work?”

  There was no way Cindy could say no. This wasn’t necessarily a personal call. Sean might have new information for her. “Sure,” she replied lightly.

  “Great, let’s meet in the lobby in ten minutes?” he said. “Looking forward.”

  *

  Sean was there waiting in the lobby by the time Cindy came down. He lo
oked fit, handsome, and eager for her to arrive. It was surprisingly good to see him, as well.

  “Wow, you look beautiful,” he said immediately, taken aback by her appearance.

  Cindy smiled. It was the first time she’d been able to take care of herself properly and get ready. And she hadn’t had a compliment like that in quite a while, she realized.

  “Let’s go to the garden in the back,” Sean suggested. “There are plenty of tables for coffee, or trails to walk on.”

  “Great,” said Cindy, “let’s walk.” Cindy felt like walking along one of the narrow, winding, hiking trails that wound its way in back of the hotel, and up through a well known birding paradise. As they entered the trail the song of birds filled the air.

  “This island is so beautiful and I never had a moment to realize it until now,” Cindy smiled. She was glad to be taking a little time just to walk and enjoy nature and the sunny day. “I’m so glad you came by,” she commented.

  Sean smiled broadly. “Me, too, I’m so glad.” He stepped just a bit closer to her.

  They walked along until they came upon a wooden bench in a clearing. “How about sitting down here for a few minutes?” Sean asked.

  It was a perfect spot to stop in, right beside a gurgling brook and little birds twittering on branches.

  “I always feel so good when I’m with you,” Sean said softly. “You’re a special woman, Cindy, easy to be with, smart, comforting.”

  “Thanks,” she replied, flushing. It felt good to hear those words, was surprised how badly she needed to hear them.

  “Mattheus is lucky to have you helping out here,” Sean continued.

  “It’s the least I can do,” Cindy responded. “He’s helped me over and over again in so many ways.”

  Sean became more silent. “Really?”

  “Yes,” Cindy continued, “Mattheus taught me all I know about being a detective. And, he’s totally been there for me in times of real danger.”

  “A person can have so many sides to them,” Sean said thoughtfully.

  “That’s true,” said Cindy, looking over at Sean. “How about you? Sounds like you have many sides, too.”

  Sean smiled. “I wouldn’t say so. I’m a pretty straight forward kind of guy. I like what I do, I mean what I say.”