by Jaden Skye
“Exactly,” Cindy agreed. “But I need to know more about the deposit, and she’s not going to say a word.”
“Why don’t I take you down with me to see Taylor?” Eric suggested softly then. “He’s got to know more about this.”
“Taylor? You know where he’s hiding?” Cindy was shocked to hear that and also pleased that Eric offered to take her with him.
“Yes, I found out,” Eric answered, “and you can’t go down there alone. It’s out of the question.”
“I’d love to go with you, as soon as we can,” Cindy agreed immediately.
“How about an hour?” asked Eric.
“Great,” Cindy felt huge relief.
“And one more thing,” Eric asked swiftly.
“What?” asked Cindy.
“How come you didn’t call Mattheus when this all happened, and called me instead?”
Eric’s question was unexpected and silenced Cindy for a long moment.
“We’ve been working on this together all along,” Cindy finally replied.
“Yeah, of course we have, but Mattheus’s down here now,” Eric was persistent. “He’s smart, he’s strong, he’s a great detective.”
“But I called you,” Cindy echoed.
“That’s right,” Eric’s voice dropped. “And I want to know how come?”
Chapter 22
Cindy hoped Eric wouldn’t bring that question up again when she met with him and thankfully he didn’t. Instead, he quickly bundled her into a car with dark windows and had the driver take off in a flash.
“There’s no need for you to see where we’re going,” Eric started, “or for anyone else to see us there, either.”
“We’re off to the dark side of the Dominican?” Cindy commented.
“Every place has its dark and light sides,” Eric answered, “but where we’re going it’s darker, for sure.”
“Thanks for taking me with you,” Cindy offered as felt the car whirring down the street at a tremendous pace.
“I like Taylor, he’s a fascinating guy and gold mine,” Eric said as the racing car thrust them closer to one another.
It was interesting to Cindy that Eric found Taylor fascinating. Certainly, no one else did.
Eric certainly had an appreciation for a wide range of people.
“Taylor’s obviously dug too deep and found something he shouldn’t, or he wouldn’t have received the threat,” Eric continued confidentially. “If you want the truth, the minute he told me about it, I arranged for him to come down here and lay low.”
“Thank God you did that,” breathed Cindy.
“It was the least I could do,” said Eric. “The police couldn’t care less about the threat. They make light of everything when it serves their needs. When Taylor told them what happened they said, hundreds of threats being made every day. Most amount to nothing.”
Cindy was relieved to hear that the police didn’t know where Taylor was. She’d had a passing thought that they might turn up with Mattheus while she was down here interviewing him. The last thing she needed now was to feel nervous about running into Mattheus.
The car Cindy and Eric were driving in pulled up under a row of low laying, heavy trees. Eric leaned forward and said something to the driver, who grunted in return.
“We’re here,” Eric said to Cindy. “Take it slow, it’ll all turn out fine.” Then he opened the car door, and gave Cindy a hand out.
Cindy stepped out into the shade of the overgrown trees and looked around. A row of shaky huts stood beside one another on a narrow street. The entire place was empty and oddly quiet for this time of day. Cindy felt as though she’d landed in a hidden basin of the island that was disconnected from everywhere else.
“Where are we?” asked Cindy, looking around.
“It doesn’t matter where,” Eric responded quickly as he took her elbow and led her along the narrow street.
“This neighborhood is a hideout?” Cindy asked as they walked and wondering how Eric knew about it, what connections he had down here.
Eric only smiled. “Taylor is holed up in that small shack at the end of the block,” he said, “he’s expecting us.”
“Exactly what kind of threat he received?” Cindy asked, confronting Eric face to face.
“Taylor will tell you himself,” Eric responded, as they approached the hut. “Actually, he said he’s looking forward to seeing you.”
That surprised Cindy. “Really?”
“Taylor likes and respects you,” replied Eric, “I told him I could certainly see why.”
“I respect him as well,” said Cindy, “He’s going all out for his brother and I’m sure it gets lonely when you end up in hiding.”
“It gets lonely whether or not you’re hiding,” Eric replied, tossing a quick, searching glance at Cindy.
Cindy didn’t respond to Eric’s questioning glance. Instead, she walked more quickly up to the front of the shaky door of the hut Taylor was in, and knocked.
Taylor opened up quickly. “Come in,” he said, excited to see them and looking more pulled together than Cindy had ever seen him before.
Cindy and Eric walked in to the small space inside, which was surprisingly neat and tidy. She guessed Taylor’s time down here alone had been valuable for him in many ways.
“Sit down,” Taylor went on, “thanks so much for coming.”
“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through these threats, Taylor,” Cindy started.
“I’m not,” he grimaced. “The idiots are all coming unraveled now. Let them threaten me all they like. It’ll just blow the case wide open and help us solve it faster. I’m not staying here long anyway. It’ll all be over soon.”
“Yes, it will,” Eric agreed. “You made a huge find, and as soon as the pieces are tied up, you’ll walk out of here a safe man.”
Taylor looked at Eric gratefully. He and Eric had obviously built a warm relationship and Cindy was touched by that.
“Who threatened you, Taylor? What did you find out that scared them?” Cindy couldn’t wait for details.
Taylor threw his head back and laughed for a second at Cindy’s rapid, gunfire succession of questions.
“I’m guessing it’s either someone from the real estate company or the place where Pete worked. The two places are linked, there’s a connection between them.”
Cindy sat on the edge of her seat. “Like what?”
“When I dug deep into the books I found lots of money siphoned by Pete from his company to Val. He gave it to him under the table but there are always traces if you know how to look.”
“Pete was stealing from the company he worked for?” Cindy was genuinely surprised.
“I would call it stealing, but Pete could have thought of as making a silent investment, if you know what I mean?”
“My God,” breathed Cindy. “And what did Pete get back for doing it?”
“Plenty,” Taylor mumbled.
“Do you have a specific trail?” asked Cindy.
“Sure I got a trail, I got all kinds of information,” Taylor became smug. “And from where I sit, the hundred thousand dollars down payment Val said he couldn’t find was probably only part of it.”
“No, it wasn’t. Pete never gave anyone a hundred thousand,” Cindy stopped him. “Loretta was the one who gave that money to someone else there, a guy named Lou Gran..”
Taylor looked surprised for a minute and then guffawed. “Tell me another,” he said. “You can’t believe what any of them say.”
Cindy felt aghast, wondering if it were true what Loretta said, that she never gave the money to Lou Gran?
“That hundred thousand came from Loretta’s father, so for all we know, both Pete and Loretta could have been stealing from Henry, too,” Taylor went on. “But it doesn’t matter a damn what happened to the hundred thousand. Actually, Pete was just about to sign papers for the condo with any down payment at all. It was a freebee the company was giving him, probably in exchange for all the money Pet
e had siphoned off to them.”
Cindy needed time to process this. “Pete was getting the condo without a down payment?”
“Yup,” I have copies of the papers. “And, in his name only, to boot.”
“What happened?” Cindy was totally on the alert. “Why didn’t the deal go through?”
Taylor stood up, stretched slowly and threw Cindy a knowing glance. “There was a
sudden glitch. The real estate company reneged, the deal got called off and the next day Pete got killed. I got it all in black and white. I found a record of every single thing. Charma had nothing to do with it all.”
“God bless you for getting this,” Eric spoke heavily.
“Did you give this to the police?” Cindy was on edge.
“Every bit of it,” said Taylor and they just laughed in my face, “said it was conjecture and rumor and wouldn’t stand up in court.”
“Did you tell them you had it in writing?” Cindy grew irate.
“Sure,” said Taylor, “and the next day I got the death threat. I was warned I’d be
killed if I gave the police the papers I had. But sooner or later the police going to have to get it, and as soon as they do, case closed.”
“Why are the police refusing?” Cindy was stunned.
Taylor’s face grew tough. “It’s hard to let their main suspect go. Makes them look pretty dumb, doesn’t it? Once they see what I’ve got they’re going to have to take on the real estate company and Pete’s company as well. That’s lots of red tape to wind their way through. There’s got to be people at both companies paying these cops off, real good, too.”
Cindy saw the depth of corruption that paved the paths on the Island.
“It’s okay,” Taylor went on. “Eric’s got some people on it now, tracking down the guy who threatened me. As soon as we find him, the case is finished.”
“I’d say the case is finished now,” Cindy stood up, restless.
“It’s still circumstantial,” Eric objected. “I want definite proof of who made the threat.”
“They’ve nailed people with less circumstantial evidence than this,” Cindy replied, turning to Taylor then. “Is there anything else you have in writing to back this all up?”
“I do,” Taylor went on, “I have letters I found to Pete from Loretta’s father, Henry, demanding his money back.”
“So, Henry knew about everything that was going on?” Cindy murmured.
“Of course he did,” answered Taylor. “I could have told you that before I came down here. Henry’s letters to Pete went on for a couple of years and then stopped a few days before Pete was killed.”
“Oh my God,” gasped Cindy, “do you think Henry was involved in Pete’s murder?”
Taylor grinned strangely, “No, not at all. Henry was just another victim of Pete’s stupid scams. But recently Henry had enough of it. When he couldn’t get what he wanted from Pete, seems like he went to the people in the real estate company and threatened to blow the whistle on them all. He ruffled feathers big time and even struck up a relationship with one of Charma’s tricks, John Burnd.”
“Henry knew Burnd?” Cindy was horrified.
“Yeah, and Henry met Burnd at the whorehouse, when Henry was tracking Pete down. He told me no one knew more about what went on than Burnd. He was definitely Charma’s main man.”
Cindy threw a quick glance at Eric, but his face was unruffled, showing no response.
“I want to talk to Burnd again immediately,” Cindy declared suddenly.
“There’s no reason for it,” Taylor insisted .
“Yes, there is. Burnd knows more than we realize,” Cindy felt it deeply.
“A waste of time,” Taylor shook his head. “Val’s the one to track down. Whatever happened, he engineered it. The money trail from Pete leads straight to him.” Taylor turned to Cindy then and stretched out his hand. “You’re a brave woman, Cindy, you’ve done a great job.”
Cindy didn’t feel as though she hadn’t done much of anything.
“Most people wouldn’t come down here to see me, either,” Taylor continued.
“Cindy’s definitely not most people,” Eric agreed.
“Great to see the two of you working together,” Taylor spoke confidentially.
“We’re not exactly working together,” Cindy stopped him.
“So, what are you doing then?” Taylor chided her. “When you see a good man, grab him, honey. There aren’t too many of them around.”
Before Cindy had a chance to answer, there was a sudden knock on the door.
“Who’s that?” she asked startled.
Eric and Taylor looked at each other confused.
“You came in a dark car, right?” Taylor asked Eric, becoming nervous suddenly.
“Of course,” Eric mumbled.
The knock on the door came again, louder this time.
“Somebody trailed you down here,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “They got you covered.”
“No one trailed us,” Eric insisted. “I was watching in the rear view mirror the whole time.”
Cindy’s heart began pounding. Immediately she sensed that not only were the police outside, but it had to be Mattheus who’d brought them here.
“What are we going to do?” Taylor became shaky.
“Take it easy, it’s gonna be alright,” said Eric. “Let’s just open the door and see who it is.”
Chapter 23
Just as Cindy suspected, when they opened the door not only was a large policeman outside, but Mattheus stood beside him, waiting to be let in.
“What do you want? What are you doing here?” Taylor began trembling.
Eric stepped in front of him, “Come in,” he said strongly. “It about time we had your help.”
“They’re not here to help,” Taylor whispered loudly to Eric, “they came uninvited. Who knows what they want?”
Eric moved Taylor to the side and let them in.
As Mattheus stepped through the entranceway, he threw Cindy a strange glance.
“How did you found out where we were?” Eric didn’t take his eyes of Mattheus for a second.
“This is Chief Officer Brad Rolfson,” Mattheus responded, introducing the large, Caribbean cop who was beside him. “Brad’s an old friend of mine. We’ve worked together before.”
“Did Cindy tell you we were here?” Taylor suddenly threw a pained look at her, as though she had betrayed him.
“Actually, Cindy didn’t tell me a thing,” Mattheus responded slowly, clenching his jaw. “Brad and I have been working the case for a while, even when I wasn’t on the Island. As soon as I heard about the death threat to Taylor, I had it tracked and found out where he was hiding. Smart move, to come down here.”
Cindy was shocked by the whirlwind manner in which Mattheus had gathered crucial information and done what needed to be done.
“So the police knew where Taylor was for awhile?” asked Cindy.
“The police who work with me have,” Mattheus responded. And I’ve made sure the hideout was covered. I’ve had the police waiting to see if the guy who threatened Taylor would find out where he was and show up? Then it would have been a piece of cake to nab them.”
“Incredible,” Eric murmured.
“No one’s showed up though,” Taylor mumbled, shaky. “Only Eric came once or twice and today he brought Cindy with him.”
“Why did you bring Cindy here for?” Mattheus zeroed in on Eric.
“Cindy wanted to know what Taylor dug up, needed the information from him first hand,” Eric replied.
“That was a dangerous move,” Mattheus didn’t like it. “As soon as the people I have watching Taylor found out that Cindy was here, they let me know immediately.”
Eric let out a long sigh. “You’ve done a great job, Mattheus,” he exclaimed. “I’m surprised, I’m impressed. I’m grateful to you.”
Both Cindy and Mattheus were taken aback by Eric’s heartfelt response.
“We ha
d a hell of a time getting the cops involved,” Eric continued, “and you did it in a second.”
“I realize that,” Mattheus took a step closer to Eric, seemingly impressed with him as well. “You’ve done a great job taking care of Taylor as well.”
“Why thank you,” Eric replied.
“It’s all very nice, all very good,” Brad interrupted them, turning to Taylor. “Now we’re gonna need the paper trail you say you got,” he demanded, “every single page.”
“I’ll be glad to hand it over,” said Taylor. “I’ve actually been begging for you guys to pay attention it.”
“If it all holds up, if everything Mattheus tells me you found is so, we have to reconsider everything,” Brad continued.
“There’s no reason then to hold Charma, either. Is there?” Eric burst out.
“Charma’s got Pete’s fingerprints all over her,” Brad repeated.
“There’s a million ways she could have gotten them, too,” said Eric.
“True,” Brad relented a second,” but we need solid proof implicating someone else.”
“Charma wasn’t even there when Pete died,” Cindy burst in. “Sanya, a woman in the house, saw her coming back from a date a couple of hours later.”
A ragged silence fell over the entire room.
“I heard that rumor” Brad finally managed, “but it’s uncorroborated. Unless we know who Charma was with that night, unless they come forth and tell us, it’s not a real alibi. That woman in the house could have made up anything.”
“Can’t you find the person she was with?” Taylor suddenly became insistent. “Why is it so difficult?”
“Charma won’t tell us,” Mattheus turned to Taylor. “She’s hiding something, hiding someone.”
“Got to be someone at the real estate company,” Taylor insisted. “Maybe they paid her to keep her mouth shut.”
“Conjecture,” Brad insisted. “It doesn’t do us any good.”
“Charma has a real alibi,” Eric spoke out suddenly. ”She was with me.”
The entire room fell into an icy silence again.
Taylor finally caught his breath as his eyes darted back and forth frantically. “What are you talking about?” he demanded.
