Death by Desire (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 4) (20 page)

Mattheus looked sad. “Sounds like he got to you
and turned your head inside out.  That was his intention, make you insecure,
split us apart, take your power, dislodge our investigation. That tells me we’re
getting close to something big.”

Cindy wondered if it were true? Had she simply fallen
into a trap? It was frightening to contemplate. For a moment she felt way out
of her depth.

“Listen,” Mattheus said, pushing his plate away
from him, “I have an appointment in an hour with the person from the party. I’ll
grill her on Hanuah, as well as everything else.”

“An appointment with who?” Cindy was startled.

Mattheus pushed his chair back.

“I left our discussion midway last night. There’s
more stuff I need to get from her.”

“The red head?” asked Cindy.

“You’ve got to drop that,” Mattheus said. “This
is a murder case we’re on.”

Cindy’s heart started pounding. He was right.
She had to pull herself together immediately. He had every right to talk to
anyone he liked.

“You’re right,” said Cindy, as strongly as she
could. “Find out about Hanuah, and while you’re at it, I’ll go check out the
guy who sold drugs to Tiffany.”

“Wait until tomorrow when I can go with you.
Those guys are low lives. Don’t go alone.”

Cindy
only half heard what Mattheus was saying, her mind was racing uncontrollably.
In a few

minutes he was going to take off and meet that woman
again. Was it so urgent that he had to see her on Christmas day?  Why he really
was going back? How much information could she really have?

Cindy didn’t say a thing to him, just drank the
water near her plate.

“Hey,” Mattheus said then, “you haven’t eaten
even a bite of lunch.”

“I’ll eat later,” Cindy said lightly, her stomach
clenched in a knot.

   
 After Mattheus left for his
appointment Cindy stayed downstairs, walking along the winding stone paths that
surrounded the hotel, leading to the edge of the water. It had been a wild holiday
so far, and she wondered what was to come next. There were a few hours left
before sun down. Cindy especially loved this time of day. She slowed down as
she walked and basked in the soft light that filtered through the clouds. More
than ever now, she realized what a rocky path she had chosen. Danger lurked
everywhere, not only from those she encountered, but from the emotion and
confusion that arose within. To Cindy’s dismay, she didn’t know now whether or
not she could trust Mattheus. Her confusion and suspicion about him, distressed
her most of all. Was Mattheus simply a ladies man, as Hanuah had claimed? Was Mattheus
playing with her, relishing her need for him, enjoying the power? That would be
entirely unacceptable. If it were so, there would be no way they could go
forward. Or, was it only her loneliness and longing for a partner that had allowed
fantasies to develop about him?

She sat down on the edge of a rock then, close
to the water. No matter how she tried to rationalize it though, the plain fact
of the matter was that something was off.  Right now Mattheus was with the red
head, taking her out for a drink. They’d made the date last night. Part of
Cindy wished she could follow him and see for herself exactly what was going
on. Another part was ashamed for even having those thoughts.

As she sat there, wondering, the water splashed
close to where she was sitting. She snapped back, startled, and woke up. How
she could even be wasting another moment dwelling on this? Time was of the
essence. She was here for a purpose. There was so much more to be done. Cindy
took her phone and quickly dialed the number of Tiffany’s pusher. He was an
important lead and she’d get on it right away.

His phone rang and rang.  No one answered.
Cindy wouldn’t be put off.  She got up from the rock and decided to grab a cab
and go in person to his address to see what she could find. After all, Mattheus
was out there, investigating, there was no reason she shouldn’t be as well.

*

The roads were not as crowded today and taxi
drove quickly over a hill, down a ravine, through a narrow cluster of spindly trees
and straight to a tiny fishing village in an out of the way spot. Cindy enjoyed
looking out the window, watching the scenery fly by.  There was no end of nooks
and crannies on the island with unexpected flowers, bramble, trees and rocks.

They arrived at the bottom of a hill and the
driver stopped.

“Should I wait for you to take you back?” he asked.

Cindy was surprised. “No, it’ll be a while,”
she said.

“May not be so easy to get a cab back,” he said,
“especially today.”

Cindy hadn’t thought of that.

“How long will you be?” he continued.

She had no idea. The guy might not even be
around.

“It could take a few minutes,” she said, “or I
could be here for half an hour, or more.”

“I’ll wait,” the driver said nonchalantly,
inspecting Cindy out of the corner of his eye.

Cindy appreciated it, but it also made her
uneasy.  Why did he want to wait so much, she wondered? Maybe he’d also have a
hard time getting another fare today.

“Okay, thanks,” she said

*

A few, small, wooden shacks lined the bottom of
the sloping hill he’d taken her to. Cindy walked along the tiny road in front
of them. Loud music was playing in the first shack Cindy passed. The next one
was dead silent. The third one, dark grey and broken down was a bit further
away. The place had a seedy, moldy feeling about it. The paint was peeling and
the fence in the front, cracked. Cindy walked up closer to it and checked the
address on the front door. This was it, the place Rori had said Tiffany came to
buy her drugs.

Cindy walked up to the front door and knocked
on it, loud.

No one answered. Who knows where he could be
today, Cindy thought. She knocked once again and waited.

No answer again.

Cindy turned and was about to go back to the
cab, when someone came to the front door and opened it slowly, peering out. The
door creaked as he opened it wider.

A small man with thick lips and beady eyes stood
there, rumpled and worn.

“Yeah? Who are you?” he said.

Cindy was taken aback. He looked as if he had
either just woken up or was high on something himself.

“Cindy Blaine,” she said.

It meant nothing to him. “What are ya here for?
Want to buy?”

“I want to talk to you,” Cindy said slowly, not
wanting to put him off.

He jutted out his big bottom lip, “What about?”

“Tiffany O’Connell.”

His face contorted for a second. “What about
her?”

“Can I come in?” Cindy asked, not knowing what
she expected to see inside.

“We can talk on the porch,” the guy said, eased
out and slammed the door.

That was probably a better idea thought Cindy,
though she was curious to look around inside his house.

“I don’t got anything inside you would want,”
he said, covering his bases. “Who told you to come here?” Minute by minute he
seemed more awake.

“Tiffany’s twin sister, Rori,” said Cindy.

He shrugged as if he had no idea who Cindy was
talking about.

 “Rori said you might have some ideas about who
killed Tiffany.”

Suddenly, is bottom lip dropped and looked glum.

“Heard about that,” he mumbled, “damn, rotten
shame,” he seemed truly distressed. “Nice girl.”

“You knew her well?” Cindy continued.

“Not well. But I knew her.”

 He sat down on the edge of the one broken
chair on the porch, and rubbed his knees.

“What can you do? You play with fire and it burns
your ass,” he said.

“She got burnt bad,” Cindy said intrigued.

“Sure she did. Drugs burn. I have no idea what
happened to her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Cindy could barely breathe. The smoldering air
down at the bottom of the hill, the dampness of the shack, the horrible
discovery all pressed down hard on her chest.

“You have no idea who could have done it?”
Cindy dug deeply in.

“You should know, not me,” the guy said, peering
carefully at Cindy. “Who are you anyway, the lady detective I heard about who
came down from the US to solve this crime?”

“How did you hear about me?” asked Cindy.

“People talk, word gets around. Nothing stays
hidden here very long.” He looked at her more closely and grinned. As he
grinned, his nose slanted to the other side of his face.

“And how about you? The cops know what you’re
doing?” Cindy wanted to put him on the spot.

He laughed harder then. “Everyone here knows
everything that happens. If a bird falls out of his nest, someone hears about
it.”

Cindy suddenly wondered if Petrovich was in on
this.

“Petrovich protects you?” she asked.

The guy got quiet then and chewed his lips.

 “Good question. You’ve done your work. You’re
not as dopey as you seem,” he said. “I always say watch out for the ones who
act like they don’t know anything.”

“Petrovich takes a slice of your profits for
protection?” Cindy continued, unabashed.

“He doesn’t need my profits, Petrovich’s got
billions.”

“There’s something else he gets from you, then?”

At that the guy got up off his chair, looked at
Cindy keenly and said, “the interview’s done. I gave Tiffany what she asked
for. The rest’s up to you.”

He started to go back into his house, when his
phone rang. This time he picked it up immediately.

“Yeah, she’s already here,” he said.

Someone had to be calling checking up on Cindy.
She began to tremble inside. It couldn’t have been Mattheus as she hadn’t gave
him the pusher’s contact information.

“No, no,” the pusher grinned, “she’s just
leaving now.”

He hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” asked Cindy.

“No one you know,” he mumbled. “Just an old
friend from Guadeloupe.”

“Sanchez Hanuah?” Cindy’s blood went cold.

Shocked, the pusher stared at her.

“You did more than your homework,” he said,
impressed.

 Hanuah had to have been keeping track of her,
may have even tailed her to this spot. Once again, Mattheus was right. She
shouldn’t have come here alone.

“Alright, I’m going now,” said Cindy.

“Good luck lady,” the guy said. “I really mean
it.”

“Thank you,”

“And remember, Tiffany was a good girl. Just
got caught in the rotten pool of desire that floods the folks down this way.”

“I’ll remember,” said Cindy.

“Take care of yourself,” he said then, as he
crept back to the door, and disappeared inside.

Cindy walked off the porch quickly and turned
back up towards the cab. Thankfully, he was waiting for her. It had grown
darker out by now, but there was still enough light left to make her way to
where he had parked.

As she walked quickly, in the long shadows made
by the trees, she suddenly heard a rustling noise behind her. Fear flooded her
and she picked up her pace. It was probably just a small animal that had leapt
out from the trees. There was no reason to be afraid, she told herself.

The next thing she knew strong arms gripped her
from behind and a hand slapped over her mouth. Cindy wanted to scream, but
couldn’t. She felt the arms pressing around her, squeezing her ribs, forcing
the air out. Then, a punch landed on the side of her face, and an excruciating
kick on her lower back. Flooded with pain, her head began reeling, as she
gasped desperately for breath. Help me, help me, she wanted to call out as
darkness enclosed her, dimming what was left of the light of the day. The last
thing Cindy heard as she swooned into unconsciousness was a deep voice saying, “Throw
her away.”

Cindy woke up the next day in a white room,
hooked up to a machine. Her head spun as she looked around, not knowing where
she was. It was as if she’d fallen into a deep sleep and had terrible dreams
she couldn’t escape from. She looked around the well lit room slowly and took a
deep breath. A sharp pain in her mid back flooded her entire body. She lifted
her hand to her back, but couldn’t get it to move far. It seemed as if she lay
like that forever, when a nurse walked into the room.

 “Where am I?” asked Cindy.

The nurse, a lovely young woman, in her mid-thirties,
with a slight French accent leaned over her.

“You’re safe, you’ll be well. You’re in a
hospital in St. Maarten. You were flown over here by helicopter late last
night. There are people worried about you, waiting outside.”

Cindy tried to move her head back and forth,
but that was also difficult.

“You’re bruised badly, but nothing much is
broken,” said the nurse. “One rib is strained or fractured and will heal by
itself. In a couple of days you’ll be able to leave.”

Memories of being grabbed and beaten slowly
came back to Cindy as the nurse spoke.

“You had an angel around you,” said the nurse. “The
taxi driver who was waiting for you came looking when you did not return.”

Cindy started to cry.

“He found you laying under a tree nearby,
called the police, and they flew you here.”

“Is Mattheus here?” Cindy asked softly.

“Your partner?” the nurse asked.

Cindy found it hard answering.

“Don’t worry,” the nurse put her hand on Cindy’s
arm. “Your partner is outside and another man is also with him. They’ve been
waiting here all night long.”

Cindy felt terrible. How had she let something
like this happen?

“Would you like to see your partner?” the nurse
asked.

Cindy managed to nod her head.

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to hear you’re
awake. He’s been pacing back and forth in the hallway all night long.”

Cindy closed her eyes. She’d put Mattheus through
hell, for no reason.

The nurse left the room and Cindy lay there
quietly, taking it all in. Memory upon memory flooded back to her. The rustling
behind her, the hard arms around her waist. She also thought of the call she’d
made to her sister earlier in the day. What would have happened if the taxi
hadn’t been waiting for her? Ann was right. Cindy might not have ever seen her family
again.

Mattheus looked distraught as he rushed through
the door and ran over to her. He took her hand and looked in her eyes. Cindy
wondered if her face was black and blue.

Cindy tried to smile.

“The doctors and nurses say you’re going to be
okay.”

Cindy nodded slowly.

Mattheus closed his eyes. Cindy saw how
tremendously upset he’d been.

“It’s my fault,” said Mattheus, “I’m so sorry.”

Cindy was confused. “Not at all,” she
whispered. “My fault entirely.”

He looked chagrined. “I should never have left
you alone on Christmas,” Mattheus spoke heatedly.

Cindy closed her eyes. It was hard talking and
listening, but she was glad he was with her, very glad, indeed.

“I had my priorities all mixed up,” said
Mattheus.

Cindy shook her head. “We were doing our jobs,”
she murmured.

“My main job is to take care of you,” he said.

Despite her throbbing headache and pain in her
back, Cindy realized that Mattheus was not thinking clearly at the moment. All
of this must have been a terrible shock.

“We’ll talk about it more later,” said Cindy.

“Of course, we will. You rest,” he said.

The nurse came in with some light food for
Cindy.

“It’s important that you start to eat by
yourself,” she said. “Right now we’re giving you liquids.”

The last thing Cindy wanted was something to
eat.

“Later,” she said.

“I’ll feed it to her,” said Mattheus, picking
up the dish of applesauce they’d brought.

“That’s fine,” then nurse said and smiled. “She’ll
have to rest for most of the day then. I believe she will be able to start
having visitors tomorrow.”

“Makes sense,” said Mattheus, trying to put a
spoonful of applesauce into Cindy’s mouth.

Cindy opened her mouth and took it.

“I’m staying here until you’re better,”
Mattheus said. “The Senator flew over immediately last night as soon as he
heard what happened. He can come back tomorrow. He’s tremendously upset.”

Cindy took another mouthful of applesauce. She
had no desire to see the Senator at all right now.

“They’ll keep you here for a little while,”
said Mattheus, “and then we’re on the plane back to the States.”

It was too much for Cindy to process right now.

“Game over,” said Mattheus. “Some you win, some
you lose.”

“This wasn’t like him,” thought Cindy, taking
another spoon of food.

“Besides, there’s plenty of law enforcement
down here on the case,” he continued feeding her.

“Like who?” Cindy managed to get out.

Mattheus smiled. “Still the investigator?” he
said. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, you really have to rest.”

Cindy closed her eyes, and blissfully fell
asleep.

*

It was two days before Cindy felt well enough
to speak to any visitors who came to the hospital. But by then it was actually
amazing how much better she felt. Mattheus had stayed at her side continually
as well, putting any fears and suspicions she’d had about him totally to rest.
I must have been crazy, thought Cindy, believing what I did. Hanuah got to me, played
with my mind. There’s a huge lesson to learn here.

Cindy thanked Mattheus many times. He said he
was grateful to be here with her, helping her heal. Cindy knew he hadn’t had
the opportunity to be there for his wife when she was attacked and killed. This
has to be relieving for him now.

After lunch on the second day they said it
would be fine if Cindy had a few visitors. The Senator had stayed outside
waiting each day and was the first to come in.

He walked into the room, looking devastated.

“I’m so sorry,” was the first thing he said,
walked over, and sat next to Cindy’s bed. “I should have never let it go this
far. Thank God we haven’t had another casualty here.”

Cindy’s heart went out to him. He was in way over
his head, caught in a quagmire he could not crawl out of.

“I’m doing well,” she said.

“What in the world inspired you to go to the
most dangerous, seedy part of the island?” he asked right away.

Cindy paused. She didn’t want to tell him what
she’d learned about his daughter or that Rori had sent her there.

“You get lots of leads that you have to follow,”
was all she replied.

“I know you were doing this for our sake, but
it has gone far enough,” he repeated. “Once you’re well, you and Mattheus have
to leave.”

“We’re being officially fired?” she asked. A
strange time to be fired, she thought, when they were so close inside the web.

“For your own good,” said the Senator, “and for
our sakes as well. There’s plenty of cops on the job now, anyhow. The gendarmes
have called for backup from Guadeloupe.”

Cindy wanted to ask if Hanuah was among them,
but didn’t want to stir up more trouble or endanger anyone else.

“I see,” she said.

“You both have done a wonderful job,” said the
Senator, “please realize that. In fact, I have a nice bonus for both of you.”

That was the last thing Cindy cared about.

“When you’re ready to be discharged, Mattheus will
go back to the island and pack up. I’ll arrange for first class tickets on the
next plane home for both of you.”

 “You’ve paid attention to every little detail,”
said Cindy.

The Senator took that as a compliment.

“Yes, thank you. I have. You’ll probably only
be here one more day - be discharged tomorrow. I know my family wants to thank
you and say good bye.”

“That’s kind of them,” said Cindy. “By the way,
did the police happen to find out who attacked me, and why?”

“It’s being looked into as we speak,” the
Senator said in a suddenly official voice.

“I hope you realize that whoever did it,” Cindy
remarked, “is very likely connected to the death of your daughter.”

“Strong possibility,” said the Senator
ruefully.

“And, as Frances is locked up in jail, clearly he
had nothing to do with it,” Cindy spoke intensely.

“Doesn’t look like it,” the Senator said,
officially, once again. “I’m sure the police will not hold him much longer.”

Cindy wasn’t so sure.

Mattheus walked into the room then.

“I’ve told Cindy about the plans for what
happens after her discharge,” said the Senator.

“We’re off the case officially,” Mattheus said
to Cindy.

The Senator stood up and looked at them both.

“Once again, I’m terribly sorry about what
happened to you,” he said to Cindy, “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“And I’m sorry about the death of your
daughter,” Cindy responded. “I hope you will forgive us for not finding the
killer. But we’ve come very close now.”

“Yes, you have,” he mumbled and walked out of
the room.

Cindy and Mattheus looked at each other then.

“He’s weak,” Cindy said.

Mattheus shook his head. “No, there’s only so
much he can handle. There’s only so much power he can wield. Now he’s afraid
for the rest of his family.”

“I understand,” Cindy said.

“At least Frances will be let out of custody.
That’s something,” Mattheus said.

“Are you sure he will?” asked Cindy.

“Yes, that was the agreement,” Mattheus said. “There’s
no link at all between Frances and whoever wanted you dead.”

“It had to be Hanuah,” said Cindy, “or someone
connected to him. He warned me about this Christmas Eve.”

“Hanuah’s only another pawn,” Mattheus said.

“You found out who he is?” asked Cindy,
surprised.

“I did,” said Mattheus. “He’s actually married
to the red head I was interviewing. They’re both in Petrovich’s employ.”

Cindy was shaken.

“Petrovich wanted to divide us, and take the
spoils for himself.”

“Why would he want Tiffany dead, though?” asked
Cindy.

“He didn’t,” said Mattheus. “We were just
treading too deeply on their turf. He had no way of knowing what we would turn
up.”

“So, Tiffany amounts to nothing, then?” Cindy
said.

“She amounts to something, but we can’t go
further to find out. Just can’t.”

“I get what you’re saying,” said Cindy. “But I’ve
never been one to accept defeat.”

“This isn’t defeat,” said Mattheus. “You’re a
brave, courageous, fabulous woman and you’ve proved it every which way.”

“Thank you,” Cindy flushed.

“And I care about you, more than I can say,”
Mattheus said.

Cindy looked into his eyes. It was true, she
could see it. She took his hand and held it close to her.

“And I hope you care about me, too,” Mattheus
said, suddenly nervous.

“I do,” said Cindy, and meant it.

Mattheus breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’ll be out of here tomorrow,” he said. “You’re
much better now. I’ll go back to the hotel tonight, and pack up. You will be discharged
tomorrow around eleven a.m. Then you’ll be taken to the airport to fly back to
St. Bart’s. I’ll meet you there before the flight back to the States. We have
tickets on a three o’clock flight.”

“So, that’s it?” said Cindy.

“It’ll take some time to process what happened,
get our bearings, but we’ll be fine. We’ll move forward. Another case will come
along.”

Cindy marveled at Mattheus’ spirit.

“Okay,” she said. “I didn’t listen to you
before and look what happened. What choice do I have now?”

“None at all,” he said.

They both smiled.

“And now there are a few people outside waiting
to see you,” Mattheus said. “Do you have enough energy for a little visit, for them
to thank you and say good bye?”

“Of course,” said Cindy.

Mattheus smiled, got up, and went to the door.

“Okay, you have your visits, and I’ll be going
back to St. Bart’s to start packing. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Good,”
said Cindy, feeling as though she was being forced to close a chapter that was
not