Death by Proposal (14 page)

“Kate
wasn’t doing leading anyone on, she was doing the exact opposite. She was being
honest,” Cindy stated flatly.

“Yeah,
of course, in her mind Kate was being honest,” Mattheus continued, “maybe she
didn’t realize the effect she was having on Clay. Or, maybe she did? Maybe she
liked it? Maybe that’s how women get power, by leading guys on?” Mattheus looked
at Cindy in an odd way.

“What
are you saying, Mattheus?” Cindy didn’t let it slide by.

“I’m
saying that it only looks like guys have power in relationships. Basically,
they’re helpless when they fall for a gal. That gal has ultimate power over
them, and often she uses it ruthlessly.”

Mattheus’s
bitterness was so intense, Cindy could barely breathe. It surfaced like this at
odd moments, and made Cindy feel ill.

“How
could Kate have so much power over Sean? He was seeing Riva too, wasn’t he?”
Cindy retorted.

“Riva
was a backup, a side show,” said Mattheus. “Sean never really fell for her.”

“Riva
fell for Sean, though,” said Cindy.

“Maybe?”
said Mattheus. “There’s no evidence of that though.”

Cindy
thought of the emails Riva was sending Clay now. Maybe Mattheus was right?
Maybe Riva never fell for Sean at all, was only opportunistic, out to get what
she could for herself?

 “Riva
sent quite a few condolence emails to Clay,” said Cindy.

That
stopped Mattheus. “Now, that’s interesting to me,” he said.

Cindy
was surprised. “Why?”

“It
just further proves what I said about Sean. The guy can’t be trusted, he’s a
player, needs a woman around to make him feel strong. Riva sounds like a nice
gal who picked up the slack when things got rough between Sean and Kate. But when
Kate actually hooked up with Clay, that was too much. It shot down Sean’s self-esteem.
He couldn’t let that happen. Came down here to the hotel to stop it.”

“Looks
like you’ve got the case all tied up,” said Cindy.

“What
else is left?” asked Mattheus.

“Maybe
we need to check all this out with Riva,” said Cindy, “see what she thinks
about Sean.”

“Great
idea,” Mattheus agreed. “Let’s go for it. Once we talk to her, we’ll just get more
confirming evidence about Sean.”

“And
maybe we won’t?” breathed Cindy, hopeful. “Maybe something entire different
will come to light?”

   
As both Cindy and Mattheus suspected, Riva had not yet checked out of the
hotel. Registered in Sean’s room, she was obviously waiting for him to go home.
Right now Sean had been released back to his hotel room on the condition that
he wouldn’t leave the Island for another few days. The police didn’t have
enough to hold him, but agreed that he was a person of interest.  Rod told
Mattheus that they were waiting for Cindy and Mattheus to come up with
something more.

After
the Kite boarding lesson and lunch, Cindy and Mattheus returned to the hotel to
check on the whereabouts of Riva. When Cindy got Sean on the phone, he said she’d
gone on a bar hopping tour. They’d find her at a local bar.

“Okay,
thanks,” said Cindy, “we need to talk to her.”

“What
exactly has Riva got to do with this?” asked Sean, sounding glum.

“Nothing
probably,” Cindy answered, “but we can’t leave any stone unturned.”

“Knock
yourself out,” Sean snapped, “but you guys are barking up the wrong tree. If
you really want to know what happened to Kate, talk to Clay’s family. Find out
more about Clay and her.”

“We
already did,” said Cindy, “so far Clay’s family looks great and so does he.
Nothing comes up in the records.”

“Yeah,
yeah, Clay’s just a regular prince,” scoffed Sean.

“You
have some proof that says otherwise?” asked Cindy.

“The
guy looked spacey to me at dinner that night,” said Sean. “Didn’t seem like a
normal dude.”

“That’s
not evidence,” said Cindy. “But tell me more about Clay, I’m interested.”

“Thank
God someone’s interested in finding out the truth, not just jumping all over me.
They’re never going to be able to lock me up, because I didn’t do it,” said
Sean. “Talk to Clay’s family. Find out more about him.”

“That’s
a good suggestion, thanks for it,” said Cindy.

Sean
let out a long jagged breath. “Kate got with Sean much too quick. It had to be
on the rebound. That’s where the problem is, between her and him. What has it
got to do with Riva?”

For
a second Cindy wanted to mention that Riva had been emailing Clay, but stopped
herself instantly. If what Mattheus thought about Sean was true, that could put
Riva in danger.

“We
need to talk to Riva, just to cover all bases,” said Cindy.

“Yeah,
I heard that before,” Sean quipped. “How’s she involved in all this?”

“No
one said she’s involved,” Cindy said. “Riva knew Kate though, didn’t she?”

“A
little,” said Sean. “Kate didn’t usually socialize with the girls from Riva’s
crowd.”

“What
kind of crowd was that?” asked Cindy.

“Poorer,
a little on the edge. So what?” said Sean.

“Are
you and Riva are tight?” asked Cindy.

“We’re
friends – friends with benefits,” he chuckled. “Ever hear of that? I was never
as tight with her as I was with Kate.”

“Kate
was the one for you?” Cindy said.

Sean
became silent. Cindy felt his hurt over the phone.

“I
realize that you loved her,” Cindy continued.

Sean
could not speak. Finally, he recovered himself. “So, what else do you want from
me?” he muttered.

“What
do you think happened to her, Sean?” Cindy wanted to hear more of what he
thought.

“That’s
just it, I’m not sure,” Sean’s voice deepened and hardened. “I don’t know, but
I don’t think Kate killed herself. Not Kate, no way. Not only should you dig
into Clay’s family, but also talk to Kate’s Uncle Carl. Kate and Carl were way
too close, always. She told him every little thing. He’s the one who can give
you a lead, if he wants to. He probably won’t want to exposure the family dirt,
though. That family keeps everything looking pretty. Their lives are based on
it.”

“What
dirt?” asked Cindy, alerted.

“Dirt,
dirt, dirt,” said Sean. “Ask Carl, he knows.”

Cindy
hung up the phone, shaken.  True Sean was rough, but there was also something
plain and direct about him that Cindy resonated with. And, clearly, Sean loved
Kate. Cindy felt certain of it. No matter how hurt Sean had been, Cindy didn’t
feel he’d push her to her death.

*

Cindy
and Mattheus caught up with Riva in Monte’s, a trendy bar in a nook. People
started gathering there in the afternoon, and the bar was hopping all through
the night. When they spotted her, Riva was sitting at the bar with a bunch of
girls, drinking Marguerites, as if everything was fine with the world.

Cindy
and Mattheus made their way over to her easily, recognizing her photo. She was
slim with long, chestnut brown hair, dark eyes, too much make up and a great
figure. She was dressed in very tight jeans and low shirt

“Riva?”
asked Mattheus, standing beside her.

Riva
looked up, startled. “Who are you?” she asked.

Mattheus
moved in closer, “I’m a private detective working on the case,” he said in a
hushed tone.

Riva
squinted her eyes. “It’s terrible, awful, isn’t it,” she breathed, putting her
drink down on the bar.

As
Riva put her drink down, Cindy moved in as well. As she did, to Cindy’s
amazement, she saw a beautiful amber bracelet that Riva was wearing that looked
incredibly familiar to her.

Riva
turned her head and looked over at Cindy then. “Who are you?” she asked,
defensive.

“I’m
working with Mattheus on the case,” Cindy said.

“You
guys cornering me or something?” asked Riva.

“I
wouldn’t put it that way,” said Cindy, remembering Riva from the dinner that
night.

Riva’s
eyes squinted further. She didn’t seem to like Cindy, looked back over at
Mattheus, far more comfortable.

“What
do you both want from me?” Riva asked him pointedly.

“We’d
just like to talk to you alone for a few minutes,” said Mattheus.

“Alone?
I’m here with a tour.”

“It’ll
only take a few minutes,” Cindy interjected, “how about we go to a quiet table
in the back.”

“How
long?” Riva’s eyelids fluttered.

“Just
a few minutes,” Mattheus interjected, going closer to her and calming her down.

“Okay,”
she said, blocking Cindy out, and smiling at him.

Riva
took her drink with her as the three of them walked to a table in the rear.
Fortunately, it was still early and the back of the place was relatively quiet.

As
Cindy watched Riva sway her hips and glide to the back table, Cindy kept
wracking her brain to remember where she’d seen the bracelet Riva wore.

After
they were seated, Riva still focused exclusively on Mattheus.  “Shoot,” Riva
said “Ask me any questions you have.”

“You
knew Kate well?” Mattheus started.

Riva
shrugged. “I knew her a long time,” she answered. “Not that well. We traveled
in different circles.”

“How
about Sean?” Mattheus continued.

Riva
sighed and looked at Cindy out of the corner of her eye, uneasy.

“Sean
and I were an item,” Riva started, “at least I thought so.”

“What
do you mean an item?” Cindy couldn’t help asking.

“We
had it going,” Riva said flippantly. “It was nice between us, great chemistry.”

“I
heard Sean was Kate’s boyfriend for a long time,” Cindy commented.

“Yeah,
he was,” Riva crossed her legs and picked up her drink. “When they broke up,
Sean and I got together.”

“They
broke up a lot, didn’t they?” asked Mattheus.

“From
time to time,” said Riva.

“I
heard they were about to get engaged,” Cindy broke in.

“You
always hear all kinds of things about them,” Riva shot back. “They’re together,
apart, in love, in hate, getting engaged, getting separated for life.”

“When
were they in hate?” asked Mattheus, excited to hear that.

“When
they broke up, when it was over and done, Sean would tell me how relieved he
was, that Kate was a huge drag on him.”

“How
so?” asked Cindy, fascinated.

“Kate
was fancy, demanding, used to having every little thing her heart desired. It
became a big strain on Sean.”

“Maybe
he didn’t want to give her everything her heart desired?” said Mattheus

Riva
smiled at him, “Maybe not. Why would he?”

“Did
Kate tell Sean he didn’t give enough to her?” asked Cindy.
“Not in so many words,” said Riva. “But there’s all kinds of ways of making a
person feel lousy. Sean always felt much better about himself when he and Kate
were broken up. I was much better for him, ask anyone. He was a different guy
when he was with me. He laughed more, stopped fighting so much.”

So
why was he about to become engaged to her?” Cindy probed. She didn’t like Riva
or trust her for a second.

“I
didn’t hear that until recently,” Riva said to Cindy then, in a smaller tone. “After
Kate met Clay, I really thought that Sean and I would be finally together.”

“It
didn’t work that way, though, did it?” asked Cindy.

“No,
it didn’t, but so what?” Riva said, flipping her hand up and tossing her hair
back over her shoulders. As she did her amber bracelet tossed up in front of
Cindy again.

“That’s
quite a bracelet you have there,” Cindy commented.

“Something
wrong with my bracelet now?” Riva asked, rolling her eyes and looking to
Mattheus for help.

“Nothing
wrong at all,” said Cindy, “it’s beautiful.”

“Thanks,”
said Riva, smiling.

Then
it hit Cindy hard, like a flash from nowhere. That was the bracelet Kate wore
at dinner that night in the hotel. Cindy had noticed it then as well.

Riva
put her wrist down then, as if to hide it.

“That’s
Kate’s bracelet, isn’t it?” Cindy said flippantly.

Riva
stared at Cindy unabashed. “No, it’s mine now.”

“Now?”
asked Cindy.

“Sean
gave it to me,” Riva uttered.

Cindy
and Mattheus stared at each other in shock.

“How
did Sean get Kate’s bracelet?” asked Mattheus.

“I
have no idea,” said Riva, “I didn’t ask him. I was just happy when he gave it
to me.”

“You
were happy to be wearing a dead girl’s bracelet?” Cindy asked, horrified.

“Sean
gave it to me, it was mine, now,” Riva’s voice got louder.

“So,
you had her guy and her bracelet,” Cindy flung back at her.

“Clay
was Kate’s guy,” said Riva, growing more nervous. “Didn’t you see on her
Facebook page? They’d gotten engaged.”

“Accessory
to a crime and you go to jail too,” Mattheus broke in, somberly.

“I
didn’t do anything to go to jail for,” Riva’s voice grew teary and scared.

“If
Sean took this bracelet from Kate, it means he was with her when she died,”
Mattheus said in a no nonsense manner. “You knew he was with her that night,
didn’t you?”

Riva
began shaking. “No, I didn’t, I swear it. I knew he was upset and needed to see
Kate just one more time. That’s what he told me. He said he was going to talk
to her. When he came back he said he couldn’t get into her room.”

“So,
how’d he get the bracelet?” Mattheus demanded.

“I
have no idea about that,” said Riva, trembling, “truly I don’t.”

“Did
you think it was an engagement present for you from Sean?” asked Cindy.

“No,
I didn’t,” Riva practically spit out. “I’m not that stupid. Yeah, I thought
Sean loved me for a long time and that we’d be together someday. He told me
that and I believed him. But when I saw how crazy it made him to lose Kate, I
realized it wasn’t true. He couldn’t stand being away from her for a long time
- let alone forever. He was so furious when he heard Kate found someone else
that I told him to go talk to her Uncle Carl. Carl was the only one who could
influence Kate. Believe it or not, I tried to help Sean and Kate get back
together.”

“You
loved him that much?” said Mattheus.

“I
don’t know anymore,” Riva’s mouth pursed shut. “The more I think about it, the
more mad I get.”

“What
happened when Sean went to see Kate’s Uncle Carl?” asked Cindy, wanting to stay
on track.

“Carl
told Sean that Kate was going down to Aruba with a guy named Clay. It was over
between them. That was the first time Kate had ever been with another guy. It
flipped Sean out. It was mean of Carl to tell him that.”

“You
knew that Carl hated Sean though, didn’t you?” asked Cindy. “Didn’t you realize
he’d tell Sean to back off?”

Riva
looked furious. “Sean didn’t deserve to be treated that way by Carl. Who the
hell did Carl think he was? Always getting between Sean and Kate, always making
Sean feel like dirt. And stupid Kate always listened to her Uncle. It was all
pathetic if you asked me.”