Death by Deceit (Book #5 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (18 page)

“May I join you?” asked Mattheus, softly.

“Join us?” Ann was perturbed. The thought of it
rankled her.

“May I?” He repeated to Cindy.

“Yes, of course, you can join us,” said Cindy, as
she looked at Ann. “In fact, one of the reasons my sister and brother in law
came down here originally, was to meet you face to face.”

*

Dinner went quickly with
almost no one looking at each other. They all ate slowly, made one word
comments and when dinner was over,  Ann and Frank got up, pushed their chairs
away, and said they had to get to bed to make an early plane.

Ann gave Cindy a little hug
and didn’t say good bye to Mattheus. Frank gave him a perfunctory nod and the
two of them left.

The moment they were gone the
atmosphere lifted.

“Whew,” said Mattheus, “that
had to be one of the most unpleasant dinners I’ve ever sat through. This is
your family?”

Cindy was disturbed, but tried
to make light of it. “It’s not how they are normally, they’re just terribly
worried about me right now.”

“And I’m the bad guy in this
scenario?” asked Mattheus. ”You’ve told them awful things about me?”

“No, I haven’t,” said Cindy, “in
fact, they don’t know you at all.”

“They don’t want to, either,”
said Mattheus. “Their minds are all made up.”

Cindy felt badly about that.
“It’s not you, it’s the work. They connect you with it and hate having me do
it. They want me home, safe.”

“Sure,” said Mattheus, “I get
that. They want a normal, stable life for their sister.”

“Can you blame them?” asked
Cindy.

“Of course I can’t,” Mattheus
said.

“They want me to have a chance
to have a family, sink new roots down,” Cindy continued.

“Everyone deserves a family,”
said Mattheus, “everyone deserves roots with someone they love.” He turned and
looked at her with his eyes open and clear. “It’s what I want, too.”

Cindy’s heart began beating
hard. It might be that was what Mattheus wanted, but was he able to make that
wish real? Could he sustain a relationship or was he addicted to solving cases,
running away from real intimacy?

As if hearing her thoughts,
Mattheus reached out his hand to her. 

“You have no idea how much
I’ve missed being with you,” he said. “When your sister told you to leave it
was as though she were ripping me in half.”

“I missed you, too,” Cindy
murmured, despite herself.

“Did you?”

“Very much,” said Cindy, as
they drew closer.

“I’ve learned a lot of things,
Cindy,” Mattheus whispered, “I realize now, that I never could have gotten
close to anyone as long as Shelly’s case was unsolved. It was not only her
case, it was our marriage. I never knew what happened. You know, she told me
over and over that I didn’t know her, but I brushed it off. I thought it was
just a female thing, that she needed too much attention. I thought I listened
to her plenty. But she was right, I listened, but I didn’t hear.”

Cindy reached out her hand for
his. “That’s true, Mattheus,” she said softly. “Even with me, you listened but
you didn’t hear. You didn’t really take it in.”

“Oh God,” said Mattheus, “if
you only knew how sorry I am, not just with you, but with her, too. Shelly told
me about guys in her life all the time, she said they were just friends and I
believed her because I didn’t want to know the truth.  There were all kinds of
little lies that floated around too, but I brushed them off, thinking it was
cute. I was wrong again.  It wasn’t cute. I had no idea about the woman I was
married to, or what was going on inside her. So, how could I ever get close to
someone else then?”

“You couldn’t,” said Cindy,
impressed by Mattheus’s courage in facing this. “It takes such guts to admit
this, Mattheus.”

“No, it’s not guts,” said
Mattheus.  “It’s all being put right in my face, wherever I turn.  I can’t
escape it if I want to find Shelly’s killer.”

He held Cindy’ hand very close
in his and then brought it to his lips. “God, if you only knew how much you
mean to me, Cindy –if only I had some way to tell you.”

Tears filled Cindy’s eyes, as Mattheus
suddenly pulled her to him swiftly, and their lips met in a deep, sudden kiss.

After the kiss, neither Cindy
nor Mattheus said anything for a long while. Then they started talking softly,
simply about the case.

Cindy told him that Shelly had
gotten between Katrina and her abusive husband. Mattheus was alarmed. He was
also shocked that no one had mentioned this crucial piece of information.

“They may not have known it,” said
Cindy.

“They had to,” Mattheus
responded. “It’s fundamental and basic.”

Cindy disagreed. “Nobody
bothered spending real time at the Shelter. Actually, I just told the police myself
this afternoon.”

Mattheus stared at her. “And
what did they say?”

“Alex said he’d put it on the
record.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s it,” said Cindy.

“Sounds like he was placating
you,” said Mattheus.

“When I told him I wanted backup
to see Katrina, he said it was up to Rodney, and he’d let me know.”

“A delay tactic,” Mattheus
murmured. “No good, something smells.”

Cindy agreed, and both of them
decided that Cindy had to speak with Katrina as soon as possible.  

“When you go, I’ll wait for
you at the Hemingway House,” Mattheus said. “It’s a few blocks away. After the
interview, we’ll meet and go over everything. If you have any kind of problem,
I’ll be right close by.”

That felt like the old
Mattheus. Cindy could go and be covered.

“Call her now,” Mattheus said,
“set up an appointment.”

“I will,” said Cindy, getting
her phone.

 To Cindy’s relief Katrina
picked up immediately and as soon as Cindy introduced herself, was actually
glad to be talking.

“Come first thing tomorrow
morning. I have a busy day. But I want to talk to you. Really, I do. It’s a
terrible thing that happened to Shelly,” Katrina’s words tripped over each
other. “We do need to talk. I’m so glad you called.”

“Okay, we’re set for tomorrow
morning,” said Cindy, after she hung up the phone.

“Do you want to leave
together?” asked Mattheus, “or do you want me to meet you afterwards?”

“Meet me afterwards,” said
Cindy. It felt better going alone, as long as she knew he’d be close by
waiting.

After Cindy and Mattheus
talked a little longer, they went up to their separate rooms. Everything was
happening so quickly, there were so many feelings to digest, Cindy was glad to
have time alone.

Right after she got out of her
bath and was about to go to sleep, the phone rang.

“I know it’s late to call,”
Ann said, “but we’re leaving first thing in the morning. I wanted to say good
bye.”

“Good bye,” said Cindy,
sleepy, “and thanks, Ann.”

“Thanks for nothing,” Ann
muttered.

“Thanks for coming down. I
appreciate it,” Cindy was determined to take the high road.

That emboldened Ann, and got
her going. “Just because Mattheus is so good looking, and charming,” she
continued, “doesn’t mean he’s a guy you can trust.”

“You don’t know him.” Cindy’s
voice rose. She didn’t want to hear any more now.

“Neither do you,” Ann shot back.
“Guys like that are great at camouflage, and I know your whole history with men.
Until you met Clint, there was nothing but trouble. Neither Frank nor I like
him.”

It hurt to hear that, but
ultimately, Cindy’s relationship with Mattheus belonged to her. As did the life
she was now choosing.

“This isn’t about my
relationship with Mattheus,” Cindy defended herself, “it’s about a case we’re
working on together.”

“They’re intertwined,” Ann
warned.

“I heard enough,” said Cindy,
angry.

“No, you didn’t,” Ann replied.
“You didn’t hear a word I said.”

*

First thing in the morning,
Cindy dressed in an ivory linen sundress, put on her favorite coral beaded
necklace, had a quick breakfast, grabbed a cab and went to the address she had
for Katrina. Mattheus would be coming on his own, to Hemingway’s House, in a
little while.

As the cab wound through the
streets, Cindy thought about what happened between them the night before. It
wasn’t all bad, she realized - the rough encounter with her family hit Mattheus
hard. He seemed to have woken up to the reality that he would definitely lose
Cindy if he continued on as he’d been. It was clear that he didn’t want to lose
her, either. Later on, it also became clear that he was beginning to face the
truth about his part in his marriage. That turned things around for Cindy, gave
her more confidence in him. They’d both needed that kiss desperately too,
needed to feel their connection restored. Cindy wondered what Mattheus thought the
kiss meant about their relationship now. She herself, wasn’t at all sure, but
she was glad to have him back as a partner on the case at least.

The taxi pulled up at a large,
pink, stucco house set back from the road. There was a long entranceway, lined
with tall bushes and blooming flowers. Cindy felt as if she were arriving at a quirky
bed and breakfast that guests seldom came to.

She walked up the entranceway
quickly and was surprised to find the front door left ajar. Clearly, Katrina
was expecting her and wanted her to walk right in. Cindy decided to knock
loudly first.

She knocked, waited, knocked
again, and in a few minutes a large woman with unkempt, curly, bleached blonde hair
came to the door. She wore a tropical dress, sprawling with flowers and huge
hoop earrings that hung far down her neck.

“Come in,” the woman breathed,
through her bright red lipstick, “hurry up, and close the door behind you.”

Cindy slipped into the house
and closed the door.

Inside place was large and
sprawling, but only half furnished, with old rattan furniture scattered around.
The wide, empty spaces in the hallway and main room had plants sitting in them,
and small, scratched footstools here and there.

“Our cat, Mumu, just loves
resting on these footstools,” the woman pointed to them.

“You’re Katrina?” Cindy asked,
to be sure.

“Of course,” Katrina stopped
walking a moment and flung her hair back, “who else would I be?”

“Just wanted to be sure,”
Cindy responded.

“Who’s sure about anything
these days?” Katrina commented as she pointed to a ratty sofa, with large print
cushions that didn’t match. “Sit down, please.”

Cindy sat down and Katrina
pulled up a wobbly chair for herself.

“It’s so early in the
morning,” Katrina started quickly, “the whole world is still sleeping, except
you and me,” and she leaned back in the chair and heaved a deep sigh. “Thanks
again for coming.”

Katrina was clearly living
under intense pressure and Cindy wondered why she’d returned from the Shelter,
to live here alone with a violent husband. That would make anyone as nervous as
she seemed.

“I heard that you knew Shelly
very well,” Cindy started, wanting to start the conversation slowly.

“Yes, very, very well,”
Katrina’s eyelids fluttered. “She was my counselor.”

“At the Shelter?” Cindy said.

“Yes, of course, at the
Shelter! Where else?” The question unnerved Katrina and she looked around the
room, as if she were checking to make sure no one could overhear her.
“Irrelevant questions upset me,” she said then, “I begin to wonder what other
surprises are coming down the road.”

“Sorry about that,” said
Cindy. “Can you tell me more?”  

Katrina’s eyes narrowed. “More
about what? The Shelter or Shelly? The Shelter’s still here, Shelly’s not!” and
she smiled nervously.

“Terrible,” said Cindy.

“Yes, it’s terrible thing when
things go that far. Usually the guys stop before it gets to this.”

“Which guys are you talking
about?” Cindy asked, alerted.

“Another ridiculous question,”
Katrina spit out. “You think there’s a big difference between one and another?
There isn’t. The bastards are all the same. But, there are ways of stopping them,
too, if you’re smart.” Katrina’s shoulder rose and she looked at Cindy
knowingly. “All of us women know how to do it. We know how to calm them down.”

Cindy hung on her every word.
“How?”

Katrina looked at her
scathingly for a moment. “Looks like you’ve never been up against one of them
yourself? You’re just coming in here to tell others.”

“I’m coming in to solve a murder,”
said Cindy plainly, “to gather all the information I can get.”

Katrina grinned oddly.  “Say
what you want. Shelly wasn’t smart either, she was like a bull in a china shop.
Some of the other women thought so, too.”

Katrina looked around again,
as if guarding herself from being overheard. Cindy wondered if her husband were
still in the house.

“Is something the matter?”
asked Cindy, growing edgy. “Is your husband at home?”

That really sparked Katrina.
“Do you think I’d be talking to you, if Flan were here? My God, how stupid can
you be? He owns a fleet of shark fishing boats and he’s out early every morning
with tourists. Thank God. When he’s gone I can talk to you, when he’s here,
it’s another thing.”

“Why?”

“Why? He’d slap me around good
if he heard me saying anything he didn’t like. That’s what these guys do.” She
looked down at the ground.

“He did that a lot?” asked Cindy.

“Of course,” said Katrina, “he
can’t stop. And he’s done worse than that too! Plenty worse.”

“Why did you come back here
with him?” Cindy had to ask that directly. It was hard to imagine what would
bring Katrina back into the heart of fear she lived in.

Katrina started rocking in her
chair. “Plenty of the women go back to the guys they love. They give it time,
let things cool down, and then they go back to where they started.”

Cindy shivered.

“After a while, you forget
what happened, you only remember how good it can be. And boy, it’s fabulous
between me and Flan! Better than fabulous! We go to the moon!”

“You missed him?” Cindy filled
in the pieces.

Katrina crossed her big legs. “Missing’s
not the word for it. I craved the bastard every day. And, when he came back and
said he was sorry, I saw he was craving me, too. Do you know what that kind of
craving feels like, honey? You think it’s so easy to say no?”

Cindy said nothing. That
infuriated Katrina.

“I can see you don’t have the
vaguest idea about what it means to crave a guy,” Katrina spit out,
contemptuous.

Cindy let that statement pass.
Her personal life was none of Katrina’s business. Cindy felt uneasy as if she
were sitting beside a volcano that was about to explode. It was probably caused
by the terror Katrina lived in every day.

“How about Shelly, did she know
what it was like to crave a guy?” Cindy decided to change the focus, was
definitely not going to getting pulled into the undertow Katrina was swimming
in.

“I already told you, Shelly
was stupid,” Katrina now seemed to be playing with Cindy, dangling her, leading
her on. “No one wanted Shelly to drop dead, but some of us thought she got what
she deserved.”

Cindy was shocked.  “Shelly deserved
to die?”

Katrina got up then, towering
over Cindy. “Listen up, sweetheart, Shelly looked like sweetness and light, but
she was really bad news. Ever hear of people preying on people under the guise
of helping? I saw how she’d look at the guys who came around. She liked hearing
all the details from the women about their lives, but basically she only wanted
their husbands for herself.”

“The women’s husbands aren’t
allowed in the Shelter, they don’t know where the women are,” Cindy
interjected, rankled.

“It doesn’t matter. Shelly
asked the women too many questions about their husbands, seemed too interested.
It made a lot of them feel creepy. And other guys came to the Shelter, staff,
delivery men, all kinds of guys. Man, Shelly was one hungry dame!  I should
have never told her that Flan was secretly coming to meet me. When he came, the
bitch found us and flirted with him in front of my eyes! I told her to cut it
out, and she said I was imagining things. She was just trying to get him to leave
me alone. What horseshit! The bitch was trying to take him away!”

Cindy remembered how Barbara
warned her that the women at the Shelter could become paranoid – not to believe
everything they said.

“Are you certain?” Cindy was
trying to hold to reality.

“Positive,” Katrina’s teeth
gritted. “In my opinion Shelly was a pathological liar who got off on crazy
drama and lies. She even once told me that her life with her first husband was
too boring, he left her cold, flat. Who the hell knows what went on between
them? At first she only came down to the Keys for a vacation - but once she
came down and got a taste of life without him, she loved it and couldn’t leave.
There are people like that. They come down to Key West for a week-end and stay
their whole lives.”