by Jaden Skye
“Do you need me with you, back there? The storm isn’t due to hit for another few hours.”
Cindy smiled. It felt good having the old Mattheus back. She felt cared for and appreciated. She didn’t need him to actually go with her, it was enough that he cared.
“Not at all,” she said. “It’s fine for the two of us to cover different fronts.”
Mattheus looked at her appreciatively. “Good. We’ll make best use of our time that way.” Then his eyes crinkled into a little smile for a moment, “And, our little spat is over?” he asked.
“Completely,”“ Cindy smiled, “you came back.” It was huge for him and Cindy realized it.
The taxi pulled off and Mattheus dissolved into a blur of rain. It was best this way, thought Cindy, she needed to speak to Nell alone. The story would hit the papers tomorrow, there was no way Nell could have heard yet. Cindy didn’t want her to be alone when she found out the news.
The drive was shaky in the winds and rain and seemed to take forever. Cindy had plenty of time to think everything over. There had to be a connection between the two murders, first a father, then a son. Kendra was locked up when this murder took place. This would have to create questions about her guilt. Would Margot now become a suspect? Cindy found it hard to imagine how Margot could have taken her own son’s life. Or her husband’s, either, for that matter. But Cindy knew she had to keep every possibility open. As soon as you closed your mind, the case was shut down.
When the taxi finally pulled up at Kendra’s home, Cindy got out and rushed to the front door. No answer. The door was open though and Cindy walked in, closed the umbrella, shook off the rain from her clothing. It was empty and silent again inside, but schools were closed for the storm. Cindy knew Nell had to be home. Rather than going right up to Nell’s room, Cindy called her name, in the chance that she could hear her, and would not be taken by surprise.
“Nell,” Cindy called, her voice echoing through the empty rooms.
No answer.
“Nell, it’s Cindy, are you home?”
More silence. Cindy decided to climb the stairs and knock on Nell’s door. If she wasn’t there, at the very least, Cindy could spend more time on her computer.
Cindy knocked on Nell’s door softly at first, then louder. No answer at all. She turned the knob and walked in the room. Nell was on the floor in the corner, curled up.
Cindy was horrified. “Nell?”
Nell didn’t move or look up.
Cindy went over, bent down and put her hands on Nell’s shoulders. “Are you all right?” Cindy said.
Nell grunted like a wounded animal.
She must have found out about Graham, Cindy thought. “Look at me, Nell,” Cindy said as softly as she could manage.
Very slowly, Nell looked up through unfocused eyes that were blood shot.
“It’s going to be alright,” Cindy tried to hug her, but Nell lurched away.
“Don’t touch me,” she muttered. “Nothing’s gonna be all right.”
“You heard what happened?” Cindy asked gently.
Nell threw her head back and laughed. “Of course I heard.”
Cindy was startled. “When did you find out?” she asked.
Nell laughed again, a loud, rough, raucous sound.
Cindy knew that shock manifested in all kinds of ways. Obviously, she found out that Graham was dead. Cindy had to find out how. “Tell me how you heard the news?” Cindy demanded.
“What news?” Nell said, bleary.
Cindy put her hands on Nell’s shoulders and gave her a shake. She had to break the spell Nell was under. “You’ve got to calm down and talk to me, Nell.”
“And what if I don’t?” Nell’s eyes suddenly flashed and her tone turned sharp and bitter.
“How did you find out that Graham was dead?”
“An angel told me,” said Nell and laughed again.
Cindy shook her harder. “This isn’t a game. We have to find out who did it. The killer could strike again.”
That stopped Nell for a moment. Then she sprung up and shook herself off. “Graham’s dead. He’s dead,” she started shrieking.
Cindy held her face in her hands. “Stop this!” she yelled back.
Nell started crying. “You can’t tell me he isn’t dead. I heard it with my own ears.”
Cindy shuddered tremendously. “How?”
“A friend told me,” Nell yelped.
“What friend?” Cindy started closing in. “You have to tell me. You cared about Graham. The two of you were good friends.”
“We weren’t good friends, we loved each other. We were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Cindy’s head started to swim. She’d thought that when she’d looked at the photos, but it was different hearing it from Nell.
“You saw that he loved me on the photos,” the words were now pouring out of Nell. “Don’t play your stupid head games with me.”
“I’m not playing any games,” Cindy’s voice got louder as she tried to absorb what Nell was saying. “I want to help you. I want to help your mother.”
“It’s too late for that,” said Nell.
“It’s never too late.”
“Go to hell,” Nell almost spit in Cindy’s face.
Cindy put her arm up to block her face, and moved in closer. “Did your mother know about you and Graham?”
“My mother didn’t know anything. She didn’t care either. She didn’t know who any of my friends were. But, my father knew!”
“Your father?” Cindy was stunned.
“One day, when Graham was here, my father came home early from a trip! He came up to my room to say hello, and he saw him.”
Cindy went on high alert.
Nell started talking faster now, unable to stop. “I didn’t think anything about it. Why should I? So I had a boyfriend, so what? But my father’s face got white the minute he saw Graham. He looked like he was in shock. Graham and I looked at each other. We had no idea what was going on. My father eye’s narrowed in a way I’d never seen before. He looked at Graham as if he’d seen a ghost. Graham and I got more and more frightened. Then my father suddenly starting shouting so loud, we started shaking. How did you find out about Nell? My father kept asking him. Graham didn’t know what he was talking about. He thought his father had come to visit. Find out what? he yelled back.”
Cindy’s heart started pounding.
“Once in a while, I’d seen my father in rages like that. But not too often,” Nell continued, the words tripping faster and faster over each other. “When my father started yelling at us, I thought it was because he was jealous.”
“It was more than that though,” Cindy urged her onwards.
“You can say that again,” Nell bit her lip so hard Cindy thought it would start to bleed. “Much more. All of a suddenly my father started yelling that we were half brother and sister. He yelled it so loud I thought a vein in his neck would bust and he’d drop dead of a stroke on the spot. Too bad he didn’t! It would have saved us a lot of misery and pain.”
“Half brother and sister,” Cindy repeated. “Did you believe him?”
“Of course not,” Nell whimpered, not in the beginning. I thought my dad hooked up with someone and imagined that Graham was his child. I thought he’d finally gone nuts. He was always nuts around the edges. “
Little beads of perspiration broke out on Cindy’s forehead. She felt a mixture of incredible pity and terror for Nell.
“What happened to Graham?” Cindy asked then straight forwardly. Nell was on a roll. Cindy felt she would answer any question was put to her now. She couldn’t stop.
“Things got too complicated,” Nell continued, a fierce pressure under her words. She seemed almost relieved to be talking. “It took Graham awhile to realize that he and I had the same father. When he did, Graham went nuts. His relationship with my father changed overnight. My father insisted Graham stop seeing me. Graham refused. He was crazy about me. He became enraged at the sugg
estion. His relationship with me changed too. He began calling all day long, coming over at strange times. It terrified me. He said he’d never let go, never listen to his father.”
“Did your father tell you that he had two wives, was married to both your mothers?”
“Finally, he told us. That made it worse for Graham, made him hate my father more. I didn’t know what to believe. It was a shock to think that my dad had two wives. I used to look at my mother and think what an idiot he was making of her. I didn’t care so much about that, though. She wasn’t good to him, ever. She never really loved him, I didn’t think It wouldn’t matter to her. But, when Graham realized that my father really had two wives, it was terrible for him. I’m not allowed to have anyone, Graham would say over and over, and dad can have whoever he wants?
“One night it was too much. They had a terrible fight. I was there when it happened. My father told us both to meet him for dinner, at the mall, behind a back alley. We went, sat there opposite him while he tapped his fingers on the table hard. You two are bringing a curse on the whole family, he said. Imagine him talking about a curse, a man married to two women at once. It really made Graham nuts. He couldn’t stand it. It was the last straw.
“My father went on and on and then, suddenly, Graham just flipped out. He jumped up, grabbed the steak knife and lurched over towards my dad. I grabbed Graham’s wrist, twisted his hand and the knife fell back down on the table. My father looked like he was going to explode. He started to call Graham rotten and smarmy.
“Like father, like son, Graham yelled as his face contorted. You cheating on two women at once. Be a man, stand up and tell the truth.
“My father jumped out of his seat and ran out the back of the restaurant. Graham wasn’t going to let him go. He grabbed the knife and ran out after him to the narrow, side street. It was just getting dark. The street was empty. I ran behind both of them, but when I got there, it was too late. Graham had caught my dad by the back of the neck and started stabbing. There was blood pouring all over. I screamed and screamed but nothing came out. My voice was frozen.
“Finally, Graham dumped my dad on the ground. I was terrified. Graham started running, but I couldn’t leave my dad alone, like that. I ran into the restaurant for help, then stopped. Who would believe me? No one. Nell’s eyes were clear now and gleaming.
“Did you catch up with him?”
“No. He was gone. I didn’t know where he went. I just knew that he took the knife with him. I went running back to the alley way, to my dad. He was laying there uncovered. I threw leaves and branches over him to cover him up. Later on, a few people walked by. They didn’t even notice. I even grabbed a piece of paper that was lying on the floor and scrawled a good bye note on it. Then I stuck it in the wall.”
That must have been the note Cindy’d found.
“Your mother’s in jail for the crime,” Cindy said breathless. “They’ve been suspecting her all along.”
“There was no way I was going to tell on Graham,” Nell was babbling. “How could I? I loved him. And it wasn’t his fault. My father asked for it, he pushed both of us right up to the edge.”
“Now, Graham’s dead too,” Cindy said, pointedly, reining her in. “Who killed him?”
Nell looked up at her scared. “Graham couldn’t live with himself after this happened. He got more and more agitated every day, had to see me constantly to tell him it was okay. It was too much for me, I couldn’t take it. He was making me crazy. Can you understand that?”
“Yes, I can,” said Cindy.
“I told him to give me some time, to stay away. He wouldn’t listen. No matter what I said, the next minute he’d call. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t get a minute’s peace. I couldn’t sleep at night anymore.”
Cindy felt a long, chill go up and down her back.
“So I called a tough kid in school I know. This kid likes me. He’s tough, but he’s sweet. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. I told him Graham was bothering me and I couldn’t take it anymore. I asked him to keep Graham away, to frighten him off a little bit. That’s all I said. I thought he’d rough him up a little and that would be that.” Nell started gasping for air. “I never wanted to hurt him. The kid didn’t mean to hurt him. They fought, they wrestled. Things went wrong.”
Nell’s face was pouring with perspiration as tears started to fall. She shot up and went for the bureau drawer, pulled it open and yanked out a big, glistening, silver life.
“Was that the knife Graham used to kill your father?” Cindy asked, horrified.
“Yes,” Nell yelled, now holding it up to her own throat. “And I’m killing myself with it. I don’t want to live anymore.”
“Nell, give that to me,” Cindy yelled back. “You can’t do it. It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was my fault. I deserve it. I want to die.”
As Nell raised the knife high, Cindy flew at her, yanked the knife out of her hand, and held her tightly as she sobbed and sobbed so loudly, it drowned out the winds, pounding rain, and wooden shutters that were banging madly against the walls.
CHAPTER 28
YOUNG WOMAN DETECTIVE SOLVES SORDID MURDER ON HER OWN!
Once again the headlines screamed the news of Cindy’s victory in the strange, convoluted case. Mattheus bought at least ten copies, grinning from ear to ear.
“You have an angel with you, whispering secrets none of us can hear.”
Cindy smiled wanly. “Just female intuition,” she said.
“I’m proud to be your partner,” said Mattheus, “and proud to know you.”
His words felt like honey pouring through Cindy’s veins. They warmed her and gave her strength and energy. But even though she was glad to have solved the case, even though Kendra was being released from jail that very day, Cindy still felt deeply saddened by the outcome. Margot had lost both her husband and son, and the thought of Nell bearing the burden for the sins of her family, made Cindy ill.
“It’s not totally fair,” said Cindy. “Nell was just over eighteen, so she’ll be charged as an adult and accomplice.”
“Nothing’s totally fair,” said Mattheus. “This kind of victory is often bittersweet.”
“More bitter than sweet,” said Cindy. “I grew to like Nell very much. I’d say she’s more of a victim than a criminal.”
“The courts will take that into account,” Mattheus said.
Cindy wondered. “Maybe,” she said, “What does it say about the sins of the fathers, resting on their children’s heads?”
Mattheus grimaced. “You did the best that you could do. This is not work for the faint hearted.” He put his arm around her for comfort. “You have to face that you did an amazing job.”
“I saved Kendra’s life,” Cindy said, “and destroyed her daughter’s. A quirk of fate.”
“And now we’ve got to move on,” said Mattheus. “There are a lot of calls that have come in about new cases. One in particular, I think, will interest you. It’s on St. Barts.” Mattheus grimaced, looking out. “This one strikes close to home.”
Cindy wondered what he meant by that. As she studied his pained expression, she wondered if this victim had been killed in a similar way to his former wife?
Cindy felt overwhelmed at the idea of jumping onto another case. She didn’t know if she had the strength to go on, the strength to look deeper into murders. And most of all, the strength to grow closer to Mattheus.
She sighed as she looked out at the horizon, at the devastation left by the storm. She knew she had another tough decision to make. She felt Clint’s presence with her strongly, urging her to accept, to find vindication for him. As she saw the sun break through a patch of dark clouds, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she’d say yes.
NOW AVAILABLE!
DEATH BY DESIRE
Book #4 in the Caribbean Murder Series
Tap here to download DEATH BY DESIRE on Amazon now!
In the midst of gorgeous St. Bart’s, a few days before Christma
s, a Senator’s daughter is found stabbed and strangled on the beach—the day after her engagement party. While the rich and famous are pouring in to celebrate the holidays, the local police are desperate to keep it quiet and not cause an uproar. But the Senator’s family wants justice for their daughter, and they hire Cindy and Mattheus to solve the crime.
As Cindy and Mattheus investigate, they meet the elite crowd surrounding the Senator’s family, an exclusive world of unimaginable wealth, of luxurious parties on yachts and private villas. They learn of all the people who may have wanted the young woman dead, all the jealousies and rivalries, the secret ex-es and affairs. They meet her devastated fiancé, her twin sister and her distraught Mom—all intent on the killer’s being found. They meet the corrupt police force, who wants them stopped, and a rich Russian mogul who controls half the island—and has his own agenda to bring down the senator.
As they delve deeper, they learn the many secrets of this exclusive family and the young woman, and discover that all was not as perfect as it appeared to be. As they get close to the answers, Cindy faces personal danger, while at the same time her relationship with Mattheus grows deeper—and faces a crisis of its own.
And as the two of them are about to leave the island, a sudden twist in events changes everything. Ultimately, they come to learn that on the pristine, perfect St. Bart's, everything is not always as it seems to be.
DEATH BY DESIRE is both a stand-alone novel and Book #4 in the Caribbean Murder series, following DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1), DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2) and DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3). Books #5--#8 in the series are now also available!
Tap here to download DEATH BY DESIRE on Amazon now!
Books by Jaden Skye
THE CARIBBEAN MURDER SERIES
DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1)
DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2)
DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3)
DEATH BY DESIRE (Book #4)
DEATH BY DECEIT (Book #5)
DEATH BY JEALOUSY (Book #6)
DEATH BY PROPOSAL (Book #7)
