Death by Desire (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 4) (13 page)

*

Frances sat on the couch glumly, not saying a
word then, just waiting for the cops. When the doorbell rang, he got up like a
robot and opened the door.

Tomas and Jean Pierre were standing outside.

“Come in,” said Frances.

They nodded to him and entered.

Mattheus got up and went over to them.

“Thanks for the tip,” Tomas said,
appreciatively to Mattheus.

Mattheus nodded grimly.

“Okay,” said Tomas to Frances, “sit down a
minute. We have a few questions to ask.”

As if he were a doomed man, Frances sat down on
the edge of the couch, almost listless by now.

“I loved her,” Frances said slowly.

“First things first,” said Tomas. “Where were
you the afternoon, Tiffany was murdered?”

“I was here at home, like I usually am.”

Tomas looked at him more closely. “Doing drugs?”

“Sometimes,” said Frances.

“We can take him in for that,” said Jeanne Pierre
who stood stiffly behind him.

“Did you do some today?” asked Tomas.

“A little while ago.”

It frightened Cindy to see Frances so
undefended. He seemed to be losing the will to fight.

“So, you and Tiffany were an item?” said Tomas
fitfully then.

“Yes, we were,” said Frances.

“Even though she was engaged to someone else?”

“That’s right,” Frances continued, determined
to say it as it was.

Cindy felt a strange admiration for him, mixed
with fear. He seemed like a lamb about to be led to the slaughter.

“Was there anyone who saw you at home at the
time Tiffany was killed?” Tomas continued questioning.

“No, there was not,” said Frances

“Did you tell anyone you were going to be at
home during that day?”

“No, I didn’t,” Frances replied.

“There was no friend, no person you mentioned
it to?”

“No one,” said Frances.

“That’s odd for the holiday season, isn’t it?”
Tomas’s eyes narrowed. “Usually everyone’s with someone, at a party, on a boat,
in town?”

“I didn’t mention it to anyone,” said Frances.

“Is something else wrong in your life?” Tomas
asked, his voice becoming more subdued.

“Nothing else was wrong,” said Frances, as long
as Tiffany was around.” His eyes were glassy and there was a sense of doom
growing around him.

Tomas looked at Jeanne Pierre who nodded at
him.

“Frances,” said Tomas, “I am arresting you now
on the suspicion of murder.”

Frances stood opposite him and stared into his
eyes.

“Tiffany was pregnant with my baby,” Frances
muttered.

“What’s that?” said Jeanne Pierre.

“It was my baby. It wasn’t his,” Frances added
sorrowfully. “As soon as the tests are complete, the medical examiner will tell
you who the real father was.”

Tomas looked confused for a moment, then he
leaned over and placed France’s wrists behind his back in handcuffs.

“You’ll come with us and tell us more,” Tomas
said, as he led Frances in cuffs to the front door.

“I didn’t hear that she was pregnant,” Jean
Pierre remarked to Mattheus as they walked out.

“She wasn’t”, said Mattheus, confidentially. “It
was something I concocted to get him to talk.”

Cindy’s heart dropped, but Jeanne Pierre
winked.

“Smart tactic,” he said.

Cindy didn’t say much on the drive home.
Obviously, Mattheus felt good that he’d gotten the truth out of Frances and was
going on and on about guys who cheated on their friends.

“They’re the pits,” Mattheus said.

“Now it’s my turn to tell you not to sit in
judgment,” Cindy interrupted. Life happens. I like him.”

“How could you like him?” Mattheus asked, “why?”

“He seems honest, he’s not hiding anything. And
I believe he’s in real pain.”

“Listen, I had to give this information to the
police,” Mattheus said.

Cindy couldn’t disagree. “Sure, it’s one thing
to give them the information, it’s another thing to hate the kid.”

“Who said I hate him?”

“It feels like you hate him,” she said.

“I don’t hate him, I hate what he did. I hate
the fact that the Senator’s daughter was left on the beach like garbage, and he
could have been part of it.”

“Yes, but you don’t know for sure that he was.”

“Not for sure, but it’s a possibility. A good
one if you asked me.”

“How about the Petrovich and his vendetta
against the Senator?” Cindy reminded him.

“Possible, but I’m not sure,” said Mattheus. “The
Senator isn’t enough of a thorn in his side. And, the nature of the crime was
more personal – she was stabbed so many times. Had to be someone who knew her
and felt passionately. Frances is a passionate guy and he knew her very well.”

Cindy didn’t buy it. All these logical
deductions added up to nothing in her mind. No matter what Mattheus said, she
liked the kid. Something about the way he went weak when he heard about the
baby, and the way he didn’t defend himself. Mattheus thought it made him look suspicious.
Cindy felt the opposite. And she felt they were ganging up on him.

“I’m going to take a quick swim in the pool to
unwind now,” Mattheus said as they got to the hotel. “Want to join me?”

Cindy didn’t. She wanted to get back into her
room, get to the computer and do more research on Frances, see what she could
find out.

“Not right now,” she said to Mattheus. “I want
to find out more about Frances first.”

“Have it your way,” said Mattheus. “But, as for
me, some of my best ideas come to me when I’m in my bathing suit, swimming in
the sun.”

“Have a great time,” Cindy said lightly as she went
in the opposite direction, to her room.

The minute she got inside, her phone rang and to
Cindy’s surprise, it was the Senator. This was the first time he’d called her
directly.

“Where’s Mattheus?” he asked, when she picked
up the phone.

“He’s downstairs,” said Cindy.

 “Look, I just got news that the police made an
arrest in the case.”

“Yes, they did,” said Cindy. “Mattheus tipped
them off.”

“When in hell were you guys going to let me
know?”

“It just happened a few minutes ago,” said
Cindy. “I’m sure Mattheus is planning to give you a call.”

“Who is this kid? What have they got on him?”

Cindy flinched. She wasn’t going to tell
Tiffany’s father that his dead daughter had been cheating on her fiancée with
this guy.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

“Listen you two are working for me. I need facts,
and I need them right away.”

“There was motive,” said Cindy. “He had
feelings for Tiffany.”

“That’s it?” the Senator got quiet. “Lots of
guys had feelings for Tiffany.”

“What do you mean?” Cindy honed in on that.

“I mean she was a beautiful, young woman. I
could see the way guys looked at her. Lots of them.  So what?”

“Maybe this time it went further than that,”
Cindy mentioned cautiously.

The Senator wasn’t impressed. “That’s all they
have?”

“So far there’s no evidence connecting him or
anyone to the crime,” Cindy repeated professionally. “Whoever did it took every
precaution to leave nothing behind. No fingerprints, no DNA, no trace evidence
of any kind. The necklace she wore was missing. That’s all there is.”

“It was premeditated,” the Senator growled. “First
degree murder.”

“So, for now we focus on motive,” said Cindy.

“What’s the motive here? This guy was jealous
of her fiancée?” the Senator sounded skeptical.

Cindy felt upset keeping this chain of
conversation going. Deep within she felt that Frances had nothing to do with
the crime.

“He’s just a suspect,” Cindy added. “I’ll let
Mattheus fill you in on the details.”

“Listen,” the Senator cleared his throat. “The
police are gloating about this. They’re taking all the credit and, also, they
want you guys off the case. As soon as possible. They’ve brought other
investigators in from Guadeloupe who don’t want foreign detectives poking
around.”

“They wouldn’t have had Frances without us,”
Cindy was irritated. “I got the lead and Mattheus and I followed it up.”

“I’m not talking about what’s fair or right,”
the Senator said in a husky tone. “I’m just telling you how it is. I’m not
giving into their pressure, but you guys got to keep me tight in the loop. As
far as I’m concerned, Frances is a convenient cover. First it was Tad, now it’s
him. I don’t know exactly what you found out that led to the arrest, but it was
stupid. He didn’t do it.”

Cindy agreed, but not for the same reasons.

“There’s much more to this than meets the eye,”
the Senator went on vehemently. “There’s murky dealings going on under wraps
all over the island, at last a billion dollars’ worth, and people want it kept
very quiet, if you get what I mean.”

“I get what you mean,” said Cindy.

“These guys can’t stand the sight of me.
Tiffany’s death was a warning, I’m sure. I’ve called Washington and they’re
sending down someone from the C.I.A. “

Cindy gasped. The Senator was working on his
own behind their backs as well.

“Does Mattheus know that?” asked Cindy

“He will when I get him on the phone,” the
Senator said.

“Good,” said Cindy.

The Senator paused, and as if surprised, added,
“It’s been really nice talking to you.”

“Thank you,” said Cindy, “you, too.”

“What are you up to, next?” he asked, calming
down a bit.

“I’m doing more research on Frances now,” she
said. “I don’t believe he did it.”

“Good,” said the Senator, approvingly. “Dig him
out of this crap. He’s just a foil. A kid on drugs, like the rest of them.”

“I’m digging,” said Cindy.

“I appreciate that.”

After Cindy hung up, she felt a bit dizzy, the
C.I. A. coming down was a big deal. Well, why shouldn’t they? The daughter of a
U.S. Senator had been killed on a foreign shore. Even though the story hadn’t
surfaced, it could certainly be bigger than anyone imagined. Cindy had an
impulse to call Mattheus and let him know, but instead turned to her computer
to learn more about Frances.

Cindy dug through Frances’s background quickly.
It was easy to see that he’d had a troubled past. His family had a history of
domestic abuse, with his mother taking out an order of protection against his
father three years ago. The man she was with now was a new husband. Cindy
checked through more material, including Facebook pages as well. She discovered
that Frances’s father had moved to California and had almost no contact with Frances
now. After the divorce Frances had grown belligerent and had a few brushes with
the police. He had a wide circle of friends who supported him though, and a couple
of beautiful ex-girlfriends, whose photos were still up on his page. The all
kept in touch, too. No wonder Frances didn’t mind about Tiffany and Tad.
Frances was still in touch with all the women in his own past.

Cindy shook her head slowly. This world that
seemed so beautiful on the outside was filled with loneliness and pain. She got
up, walked around her room a few times, and felt a compulsion to watch the
video of the engagement party again.

It was startling to see Tiffany alive again, and
everyone exuberant, toasting to her happiness. Cindy stared at the people at
the party, running the video again and again, looking for any clues she might
have missed. Tad looked handsome and gracious, completely on top of his game.
Cindy did see something that jarred her somewhat, though. She ran the tape
again and noticed Rori, acting oddly, flirting with Frances a lot. He seemed to
be enjoying it too. Perhaps it made him feel better to have a woman who looked
exactly like the woman he loved, admiring him. Rori and Frances were chatting
and laughing. At the end of the video, they started to dance. Cindy wondered
how Tiffany felt about that, or if she even noticed. The place was packed and
it was certainly possible that her sister’s flirtation might have escaped her.

Cindy drummed her fingers on the table. She wanted
to speak to Rori again, ask her more about Frances, find out how well she
really knew him.

 As Cindy stared at the video there was a knock
on the door.

 “Come in,” Cindy called surprised.

Mattheus walked in, looking refreshed and
handsome, in linen slacks and a light blue shirt.

“I got a call from the Senator,” he said,
coming in and sitting down opposite her.

“I know,” said Cindy. “He called here looking
for you.”

Mattheus’ brown creased. “There’s an unexpected
glitch,” he said.

Cindy felt uneasy.

“More pressure from the Guadeloupe police force
to get us off the case.”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Cindy. “They’re
being territorial. The Senator doesn’t want us to go.”

“He might not have much choice about it,” said
Mattheus, somberly.

The tone wasn’t like Mattheus. Cindy was
startled.

“The Senator said those guys are in the pocket
of the government. If they want us out, they’ll find a way. It’s been done
before.”

Cindy had a quick moment of fear. It flashed
upon her like a sudden, summer thunderstorm. There was no way she was going to
let it grip her, though.

Mattheus continued, “We have limited time to
get this tied up and get out of here.”

“They say it’s dangerous for us to stay?” said Cindy.

“Something like that. The Senator said people
disappear on this island when they fight against the ruling families. It’s
happened before, it will happen again. Case files are filled with missing
persons. Not one of them has ever been found.”

“What has that got to do with us? Are we
fighting against the ruling families?” Cindy was momentarily distressed.

“Could be, and we don’t even know it,” Mattheus
said. “Could be the Senator’s daughter’s death really was a warning to him.”

“I thought you rejected that idea,” Cindy
objected.

“I’ve been wrong before,” Mattheus said. “The
Senator told me what we were up against and said it was up to us to decide what
to do. He’s trying to be fair.”

Cindy shook her head, she didn’t buy it.

Mattheus looked at her carefully. “The last
thing I want is to place you in danger,” he said.

Cindy stopped and stared at him as they shared
a moment of silence.

“I’ve never been someone to run away from
danger,” Cindy said quietly, then. “In fact, when I’m threatened, I do just the
opposite - run directly into the situation.”

Mattheus smiled. She knew he liked her bravado.

“It’s not so simple this time,” said Mattheus. “Right
now there’s a bunch of rough guys up from Guadeloupe who don’t want anyone on
the prowl.”

“What exactly are they protecting?” asked Cindy.

“That’s what I need to find out,” Mattheus said.

“What about
me
?” Cindy was offended. “I
need to find it out too.”

“Cindy,” Mattheus started softly.

“If you’re about to tell me I should go home,”
Cindy burst in, “forget about it.”

“These guys mean business,” Mattheus said. “It’s
not a joke.”

Cindy couldn’t believe that Mattheus actually
thought she would back out.

“Forget it,” Tiffany exclaimed. “I’m not a
quitter. I owe it to Tiffany, her mother and the entire family to stay here and
finish what I’ve started.”

“I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to
you,” Mattheus said suddenly, then.

Cindy was touched by the warmth in his tone.

“It happened to once,” he went on. “I can’t
have it happening again.”

Cindy knew he was talking about his wife’s
murder. Cindy wanted to reach over to him and comfort him for all he’d been
through. At moments like this, the walls between them fell away and the deeper
connection between them appeared.  At these moments their being together seemed
so right, as if they’d been brought together to help each other grow and heal
from what they’d both been through.