Death by Jealousy

by Jaden Skye

  She heard the ocean lapping and their feet hitting what sounded like a wooden ground, as they ran more quickly.

  “Here,” one of them grunted as they rushed up what sounded like a plank.

  “We got her,” the other said, victorious, once inside.

  Where was she? Her head was spinning and her whole body ached.

  “Get going,” a man’s voice called out then, and Cindy heard the motor of a boat start up.

  Mattheus, Cindy called out in her mind, Help me, Find me!

  But as the boat took off in the dark, choppy waters, Cindy felt it was too late. These guys had been lying in wait for her. Had Mac had set her up? Had she been a total idiot? Did she deserve what lay in store?

  “You can let her go now,” a man’s voice said calmly, after they boat had been going for a few minutes. The voice was familiar but Cindy couldn’t place it.

  The guys took their hands off her eyes and her mouth.

  “I’d rather she watch us dump her overboard,” the voice said calmly. “Let her find out what happens to women who make trouble down here.”

  *

  Mattheus sat on the edge of Cindy’s bed. He felt lonely for her, but also relieved to have a few minutes to himself. She’d be back in a little while, he realized, and they’d take it from there. Mattheus drew his hand over her quilt gently, as if he were stroking and reassuring both her and himself that they’d be together again soon.

  As his hand wandered back and forth he felt a small, cold object. He picked it up, Cindy’d left her cell phone laying there. Mattheus smiled and took it in his hand, and without thinking, opened it up. To his amazement, the text from Mac stared him right in the face.

  Come meet me downstairs, alone, it’s important. Mac.

  Mattheus began shaking. What the hell was going on? Here she was accusing him of having a secret life with Vivien while she’d slipped out to be alone with Mac. Mattheus looked at the message again. What could be so important? And why did this guy want her down there alone? He and Cindy weren’t an item, at least Mattheus believed that. As he stared at the text his body began to stiffen. It didn’t compute - something was off. He rammed the phone in his pocket, jumped up, and decided to join the two of them downstairs.

  Mattheus rushed to the front of the hotel, looking up and down the wide street. It was empty. No one was there. Had Cindy met Mac and taken off? Was there more going on between them than Mattheus realized? He paced back and forth when suddenly he saw Mac walking towards him, wobbling a little.

  “Where’s Cindy?” Mac asked gruffly, as he came closer to Mattheus.

  Mattheus broke out into a sweat. “What the hell do you mean where’s Cindy? She came down here to see you.”

  Mac’s eyes were bleary, half drunk. “I waited and she didn’t show up,” Mac managed to say.

  Mattheus went closer, grabbed him by the color and put his face in his.

  “Where’s Cindy?” he screamed for all he was worth.

  “Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,” Mac started blubbering, “I don’t know. I waited for her and she didn’t show up. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

  “Never meant for what to happen?” the adrenalin shot through every vein of Mattheus’s body. Immediately, he yanked out his phone and called the police. “Emergency,” Mattheus shouted in the phone.

  “The Coast Guard, the Coast Guard,” Mac shot to attention. “They’ve probably got her out in the boat.”

  “The Coast Guard,” Mattheus yelled into the phone again as a small crowd from the hotel started to gather.

  Mattheus spun around and there was Ann and Frank, rigid with fear.

  “What’s wrong? What happened?” Ann looked like a ghost had claimed her.

  Vivien stood beside Ann, looking equally shaken.

  “I’ve been waiting for Tad and he hasn’t showed up,” Vivien panted. “I ran into Cindy’s sister and brother in law. They’ve been kind to me, we’ve been talking and talking. I told them all about the jewels.”

  “What else did you tell them?” Mac’s voice came in short spurts.

  “I want to go home now,” Vivien started trembling.

  “What else did you tell them?” Mac’s voice was loud and gruff. “Tell me or you’ll never go home.”

  “Emergency, Emergency, get the Coast Guard,” Mattheus kept yelling into the phone.

  Mac lunged over to Mattheus and threw his arms around him.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll get Cindy back with us,” Mac insisted. “We’ve got the best Coast Guard in the world.”

  *

  Cindy’s head was throbbing. As she’d suspected, she was in a boat, racing out to sea, moving at top speed. She turned her neck as best she could to see who was talking to her, but the darkness was thick and the face still hidden.

  The voice came closer to her then. The further from shore the braver it sounded.

  “You think you can just come between people and threaten them, rip their lives apart?” the voice demanded.

  In a horrible moment, Cindy recognized the voice of Tad.

  “What are you talking about, Tad?” she managed to say. Cindy suddenly remembered the microphone she’d clipped on. It had to be recording. Even if they dumped her down under the ocean, she’d rip off the mike first and leave it behind. Someone would find it. Her life wouldn’t have been in vain.

  Tad stepped out of the darkness into the dim light, looking stony faced and menacing.

  “Vivien warned me right up front you were the one to look out for,” he said in a grainy tone.

  Cindy’s heart pounded and her limbs grew numb. Tad looked insane and there was no one to help her.

  “Vivien said you were going to pin Allie’s death on her,” he went on, “I promised her I would never let that happen.”

  “Was Vivien responsible for Allie’s death?” Cindy managed to re-gain her voice.

  “See, she was right,” Tad’s eyes narrowed. “You think she killed Allie!”

  “Did she?” Cindy demanded. Even with the waves around her lapping at the boat, even with the prospect of her own death facing her, Cindy craved the truth.

  “No, she didn’t,” Tad snapped back, “but she wasn’t stupid, either. She saw how you tried to get Mattheus to play with her head.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Cindy.

  “Vivien said you wanted him to steal her away from me,” Tad went on as he dark eyes narrowed.

  “That’s not how it happened,” Cindy spoke fiercely. “Vivien came onto Mattheus. I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t like it. You got it all mixed up. She was trying to get between me and him.”

  Tad laughed for a second, then his eyes took on a dismal glare.

  “Bullshit,” he growled. “Don’t play with my head. I’ve had enough of tricks and lies for one lifetime.”

  Cindy’s breath came in short gasps. “So have I,” she said.

  “And no one steals my girlfriend from me. No one! You got that?” Tad’s voice got louder.

  Cindy felt as though the two of them were suspended together in eternity, on the turbulent ocean, underneath the black sky.

  “It wasn’t Mattheus who wanted to steal your girlfriend from you,” Cindy said then, in a drawling tone. Her only hope would be to confuse him, throw his fear elsewhere.

  Tad took a few steps closer to her. “Oh yeah? Who else?”

  “There were plenty of people who were with Vivien, weren’t there?” Cindy assumed a mocking tone. “It wasn’t so hard to steal her away.”

  Tad’s lips spread open slowly, like a reptile of some kind. “None of them meant a thing to her,” he called out, “none of them. Only me. I’m her dream man!”

  “That’s what she told you, but it wasn’t true.” Cindy’s only hope was to make him believe someone else was the culprit.

  Tad started laughing. “You’re a fool and you don’t even know it,” he said. “There wasn’t anything you’d stop at to break us apart. You were the one who
found out about the cash accounts at the company.” Tad’s voice now had an eerie tone. “You were the one who wanted Mattheus to tell Edward and Mac. You didn’t want me to have the cash to get Vivien the jewels, did you?”

  In the midst of Cindy’s terror, clarity dawned.

  “You were the one taking money from the company,” she said. “You needed it to buy Vivien gifts. Without them, she’d never stay with you.”

  Tad barked out a raucous laugh. “No one’s ever bought you jewels, have they?” He looked Cindy up and down disparagingly. “Why should they? Who the hell are you, anyway? What gives you the right to burst into our lives? You think Peter’s the only one who deserves to have money? You think Peter’s the only one who deserves to have love?”

  Cindy started trembling. Tad was rabid, livid and paranoid. She heard snickering then, and saw the slimy guys who’d been at Carlos’s place, step out of the shadows. They had to be the ones who’d grabbed her and come after her in the car. Obviously, they all worked together, laundering their rotten drug money through the company. And whose boat was this? Who was driving it? Cindy suddenly realized it had to be Jared. This was the same boat Allie dove from the night she died.

  “This is Jared’s boat, isn’t it?” asked Cindy.

  Tad grinned. “You’re not so stupid after all,” he said.

  “You all work together?”

  “You bet your sweet life,” said Tad.

  “Mac’s a part of this, too?”

  “Nah, he’s a dumb ass. Just takes his share of the booty and goes gambling with it. Actually, Mac thinks the world of you. Told me you and he are meant for each other, said there’s no way you can be apart for long.”

  Cindy shivered to the depths of her bones.

  “Mac told me he’s gonna marry you and bring you down here to live. You think I’d ever let that happen? You got the idiot hoodwinked, like everyone else.”

  In the midst of the ranting and madness, another wave of clarity came over Cindy.

  “You’re the one who killed Allie, aren’t you? Admit, Tad!” she demanded. There was no reason for Tad not to admit it. She was about to be dumped into the sea. “Admit it to someone before you die!”

  “Me, die?” Tad laughed loudly. “Look into the water, honey. You’re the one who’s going down into it. It’s your body that’s gonna drift back up on shore one day.”

  “So, tell me anyway,” Cindy persisted. “When I go, I’ll take your secret with me. At least you’ll have told someone the truth. You killed Allie, didn’t you?”

  “Wrong,” Tad called out, irate, “I had no reason to kill Allie. It was Peter I was out to finish off.”

  Cindy gasped.

  “It was death by mistake,” Tad howled into the night. “Jared mixed up the air gauges I brought him. He gave the red one to Allie. I told him it was new, made especially for Peter. Jared switched them at the last minute. He said he thought Allie should have the better on. He had no idea I’d messed with it. None at all.”

  “You were going to kill your best friend?” Cindy faced Tad head on.

  “It was his life or mine, and I was sick of putting his first. He found out someone was depositing weird cash in the company and pulling it out,” Tad proclaimed as the boat started bouncing up and down on the sea. “Peter was ready to blow open the lid. He’s stupid. He was going to tell his lousy father about the money. Then he’d watch like a hawk, close down accounts, no more loose cash for me.”

  “No cash, no Vivien,” Cindy breathed. “You were going to lose her.”

  “I couldn’t let Peter take her away from me,” Tad looked peaceful for a moment, almost beatific.

  “You wanted your best friend dead,” Cindy repeated, “but he’s still alive.”

  “We messed up,” Tad’s voice grew sullen, “but next time no one will make a mistake. Peter has to die.

  Cindy was horrified. “Did Peter’s father find about the accounts?”

  “Not yet!” yelled Tad, “but he was about to find out, thanks to Mattheus. Peter’s so wiped out by Allie’s death, it all took a back seat for him now. Then you had Mattheus barge in and call Peter on it. Peter told me. I just told Edward that Peter could be in trouble financially and it was a good idea to get rid of you and Mattheus fast. He agreed. I never told him why or what happened.”

  “And you never told him you tried to kill his son!” Cindy’s voice rose like a wave of brimstone splashing at him now.

  “Peter will die in a freak accident,” Tad called out into the night. “He won’t suffer. It’s gonna happen fast. In the long run it’s gonna be better for everyone for Peter to be dead. Lots of people live off the company. Peter would have taken us all down! For what? Nothing! For a little cash that goes in one door and out the next - and brings people pleasure and happiness. Were we supposed to sacrifice all that for Peter?”

  “What’s going to happen when Edward finds out that you tried to kill his son?” Cindy felt as though she and Tad were surfing wild waves next to each other.

  “He’ll never find out,” Peter called out. “You’re gonna be dead and gone way before that.”

  “When I go missing, they’ll search further,” Cindy closed in on him. “Vivien’s paranoid and she’ll get scared. She’ll say something to Mac or Edward. She’ll turn on you if she’s in trouble. You can’t buy love and loyalty just with cash and jewels.”

  “Oh no, try me and see,” Tad laughed as the boat started slowing down. “What the hell’s the matter?” Tad called out then, “Keep moving.”

  “It’s stalling,” a voice in front answered.

  “Rev it up. Rev it up. We can’t dump her here. Her body will wash up. I want her out further, miles from shore. Hurry. Time’s running out.”

  Cindy began shivering uncontrollably as a sharp light flashed at them from the dark seas.

  “Jesus, what’s that?” Tad looked shaken.

  A cluster of boats drove up fast, surrounding the boat.

  A loud voice in a megaphone called out, “Coast Guard. Stop. We’re coming on board.”

  Tad grabbed Cindy, shoved her in front of him and ran to the edge of the boat.

  “You come on board and she’d dead!” Tad hollered back.

  The wild wind blew fiercely over them as Cindy and Tad stood glued together, barely balancing.

  Cindy heard a splash in the water then, as if someone had jumped in. She wondered if it were Jared, trying to swim to safety.

  “You tell them to let me go or I’m taking you out,” Tad whispered in Cindy’s ear. “Tell them you came onboard of your own free will.” He pressed her ribs harder against him.

  “I came on of my own free will,” Cindy proclaimed loudly, into the night.

  As the boats from the Coast Guard got closer, Cindy saw Vivien standing next to the officer with the megaphone.

  “Let her go, Tad. It’s not her fault,” Vivien’s voice echoed through the megaphone, over the waves. “I told them about the money laundering and smuggling. There’s nothing left to hide.”

  Cindy twisted in Tad’s arms as Jared come up beside them.

  “It was a mistake!” Jared called out loudly. “A horrible, horrible misunderstanding. Give us a chance. Let us explain!”

  At that moment, Cindy heard an intense rustle behind them as if a wild animal had jumped onto the boat.

  “Put her down, or I’ll shoot you dead,” someone growled. “You’ll go down under, like you sent Allie.”

  They all spun around. Mattheus, soaking wet, had a gun pointed at Tad and Jared. He’d obviously jumped into the water from the Coast Guard boat, swam up to them and climbed on board.

  “Put her down or you’ll never get out of here alive,” Mattheus was breathing heavily.

  Tad slowly loosened his grip.

  “You’re the one who killed Allie, aren’t you?” Mattheus voice trembled as he spoke to Tad.

  “It was Peter he was after, not Allie,” Cindy called back. “Before long, Peter was going to turn up de
ad, too!”

  Mattheus’s jaw was working intensely. “Going to kill your own best friend?” he demanded, as he advanced on Tad, and officers suddenly swarmed up onto the boat.

  Trembling, Tad let Cindy go. “But I didn’t kill Peter, he’s still alive,” he mumbled.

  “He wouldn’t have been for long though,” Cindy shouted, as she fled from Tad to Mattheus’s side, and the officers took Tad and Jared into custody.

  Mattheus turned to Cindy, opened his arms and pulled her into them. His arms closed around her tightly then, keeping her warm and sheltered for what seemed like a long, long time.

  “I’m never letting you go,” Mattheus whispered, as the officers rounded up the other guys and the rough sea hit up against the boat.

  “There’s nowhere else in the world I want to be,” Cindy whispered back.

  “Promise me, promise me,” Mattheus breathed, “that we can start all over again.”

  “We already have,” said Cindy, as they drew together, in a deep, blissful kiss.

  CHAPTER 20

  Money, Drugs, Greed and Murder, the headline of the local newspaper read. Once again TV reporters and local papers were photographing Cindy and Mattheus, demanding interviews, craving details.

  The next day, after they’d spent time with reporters and police, and after Cindy had handed the recording on her microphone in, she and Mattheus went out to walk at the beach together. Oddly, the waves were calm and the air mellow.

  “Seems like the storm has passed,” Mattheus said softly, holding Cindy’s hand.

  They walked to the jutties and sat down on them, looking out into the sea. It almost felt better to Cindy to say nothing. Mattheus’s actions had spoken loud and clear. He’d thought nothing of risking his life to save her, time and again.

  “You almost lost your life twice, and I let it happen,” said Mattheus, “don’t think I’m not aware of that.”

  Cindy took his hand, put it to her face and kissed it. They’d had such a beautiful night together again last night, sharing a bed, when they’d gotten back. They needed each other and belonged together. They balanced and nourished each other deeply. They couldn’t let anything get in the way of that.