Death by Seduction (17 page)

“Of
course,” said Cindy, delighted for the opportunity to talk to Loretta’s friend
and find out more.

“Thanks,”
said Loretta, “I appreciate that. I wouldn’t want to leave Angela stranded, and
besides, she’s told me she’s looking forwarded to talking to you.”

“No
problem at all,” said Cindy. “I’m looking forward to meeting Angela, as well.”

Cindy
met up with Angela at a little park in the center of town. By the time Cindy
arrived, Angela was already waiting under a gazebo, near a water fountain.
Fortunately, Cindy had seen her once before and knew who she was right away. To
Cindy’s surprise, Angela seemed delighted when Cindy approached.

“Thanks
so very much for meeting me,” Angela reached out and gave Cindy a quick hug. 
Angela was beautiful and bubbly, a true friend to Loretta’s, and seemed
thrilled to have Cindy on  board.

“Thank
you for your time,” Cindy countered, liking Angela immediately.

“Isn’t
it lovely here?” Angela pointed to the charming park. “When I first came down to
the Dominican Republic Loretta and I came here often. Now, it’s harder to get
her to leave her room.  I’m so glad she went with you to the waterfalls.”

“Yes,
so am I,” Cindy agreed, wondering if the reality of Loretta’s situation was
finally dawning on her. “Sometimes reality sets and the person freezes,” Cindy
commented. “It can become hard to do anything.”

“Absolutely,”
Angela agreed, “I thought that from the beginning, wondered when Loretta would
actually realize that Pete was gone.”

“Let’s
take a walk around the park,” Cindy suggested, “and you can fill me in.”

“Absolutely,
I know you must have a million unanswered questions,” said Angela as she and
Cindy stepped onto a beautiful, old cobblestone path that wound through the old
park that was filled not only with flowers and ponds, but statues of Saints
lining the walks. “I love it here,” Angela continued, “I love having the Saints
around me, watching me along the way.”

Cindy
glanced up at the statues of the imposing figures that were looking down at
them. At that moment they were standing in front of the statue of the Virgin
Mary.

“Isn’t
she beautiful?” Angela murmured. “It’s Our Lady of Altagracia. She’s the
protector and queen of the hearts of the Dominicans.”

“Beautiful,”
Cindy couldn’t help but agree.

“People
here have such devotion to her that January 21 is a national holiday in her
honor. Actually, I’ve always wanted to attend the celebration.”

Cindy
was moved not only by the kind glance of the statue, but by Angela’s warmth. This
was such a different moment from the one’s Cindy had been experiencing so far,
and she relished it.

“We
all have to fight the darkness in our own ways,” Angela spoke softly, as they
continued walking.

“Yes,
indeed we do,” Cindy agreed as they soon stood in front of another towering
statue.

“This
is another Patron Saint of the Dominicans,” Angela pointed to the statue before
them of Saint Dominic. “The legend about him is that Mary pointed out two
figures to him to show him who would help save the world. One was Dominic
himself, the other a stranger. The stranger, who turned out to be a ragged
beggar, went up to Dominic, embraced him and said, you are my companion and
must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand us.”

Cindy
felt chills go up and down her entire body. It was indeed true, she felt, that
no dark power could contend with those united in standing for truth.

“The
beggar turned out to be Francis of Assisi,” Angela continued. “The meeting of
these two men is commemorated twice a year on their feast days.”

Cindy
couldn’t help wonder why Angela was telling her about this now.

“There’s
plenty of darkness down here in the Dominican Republic,” Cindy responded. “We
certainly need all the help we can get.”

There’s
darkness everywhere,” Angela murmured.  

“I
couldn’t agree more,” Cindy chimed in. “And it’s wonderful you’ve come down to
help your dear friend.”

“Well,
so have you,” said Angela. “Loretta needs both of us here badly,” Angela’s
voice then dropped. “It’s been a terrible road for her.”

“You
mean losing her husband?” asked Cindy.

“Even
before that,” Angela stopped walking, and walked over to a fence and leaned
against it.  “Pete hurt and humiliated Loretta over and over again.”

Cindy
was stunned. This was entirely new information. “Loretta told me their marriage
was good,” Cindy replied, “how did Pete hurt her?”

“I
know Loretta says that,” Angela continued in a hushed tone. “She says that to
everyone, and she may still even believe it herself.  Some of us just can’t
face the truth, especially about a man we love and look up to.”

“No,
we can’t,” Cindy agreed softly.

“It’s
too hard, it’s too painful,” Angela spoke quickly. “No matter how many times I
tried to get Loretta to face things about Pete back home, she had an excuse for
everything he did.”

“Like
what?” Cindy felt herself growing cold.

“Pete
was involved with other women,” Angela started. “It was obvious to everyone,
except Loretta.”

“Many
of them?” asked Cindy.

“Who
knows how many?” Angela shrugged. “Does the number matter?”

“Of
course not,” Cindy agreed.

“Pete
was gone at all the important times. Towards the end of the marriage he barely even
touched Loretta anymore,” Angela went on.

“I’m
so sorry,” Cindy caught her breath.

“If
you asked me, at the end Pete couldn’t stand her,” said Angela.

“Why
not? What happened?” Cindy felt devastated for Loretta.

“Who
knows what exactly?” said Angela. “If you asked me, first he got addicted to
porn and then took the next step to the prostitutes. Loretta even found porn on
his website one time, saw it for herself with her very own eyes. But when she
asked him about it he told her it was just someone spamming him. She actually
believed him.”

“She
couldn’t have believed him completely,” Cindy jumped in. “If she had why would
she have mentioned it to you?”

“Maybe
some part of her realized something was strange,” Angela had to agree, “but she
kept that part in darkness. Soon after Loretta found the porn on Pete’s website
though, she started drinking a lot more than before.  What a nightmare!  Here
was a fabulously successful woman who ran the most elegant, expensive salon for
brides and even helped plan top A list weddings. If word ever got out that her
husband visited prostitutes, do you know what it could do to her business?”

Cindy
could well imagine. Loretta had  been very proud even in college, extremely
sensitive to what people thought.

“But
Loretta said she and Pete were buying a condo together down here to have more
quality time together. I guess they were trying make things better,” Cindy
mused.

“That’s
what she told herself and me, too,” said Angela. “But from the start I felt
funny about it. I even told her father, Henry, I didn’t think it was a wise
move.”

“Why
would you tell that to her father?” Cindy was startled.

“Loretta’s
father and I have been close for years,” said Angela. “He’s a wonderful man, he
adores Loretta, would do anything in the world to help her.”

“Did
Henry know that Pete was involved with other women?” Cindy asked bluntly.

“Of
course he knew,” said Angela. “He was in the same bind I was in though, scared
of saying it to her straight out. Scared the facts would destroy her, or that
she just wouldn’t believe them and cut him out of her life. Her father couldn’t
bear being cut out of Loretta’s life. She’s everything to him.”

“He
must have hated Pete a lot,” whispered Cindy, wondering if there were any way
Loretta’s father could be involved in this?

“Yeah,
he hated him, but he didn’t do this,” Angela answered quickly. “He wasn’t on
the island when it happened. And, Henry gave Loretta the money for the down
payment on the condo, too. He wanted things to straighten out between them.”

Cindy
was startled that Angela had such intimate information.  It was even more
disturbing because Loretta had said the money for the down payment came from
Pete.

“Why
did her father give money to her?” Cindy needed to know more. “Couldn’t Pete
afford it? Loretta said he could.”

“Pete’s
money flowed through his fingers like water,” Angela began whispering now.

“Come
on, let’s walk more.”

Cindy
started back down the cobblestone path with Angela.

“Pete
had money but he wasn’t stable,” Angela kept talking as they walked. “Loretta
knew it and it humiliated her.”

“So
she took money from her dad?” Cindy asked.

“She
took everything she needed from her dad,” Angela continued.

“Didn’t
she make plenty of money on her own with her boutique?” asked Cindy.

“Yeah,
she made money, but her business was in both her name and Pete’s. Who knows
what happened to the money she made? For all we know, he siphoned it off.”
Angela looked at Cindy slyly.

“What
are you telling me, Angela? “ Cindy felt increasingly agitated.

“If
you want to find the killer, follow the money trail,” Angela whispered. “Who
knows what Pete did with his money? He could have been into weird deals, or for
all we know he

could
have given it to one of the prostitutes who had him by the throat.”

Cindy
shuddered.

“I
know it’s horrible and ugly,” said Angela, “but someone has to say it as it is.
Someone has to face the truth.”

“What
is Loretta’s father doing about this?” Cindy was suddenly struck by the fact
that it was his money that had been lost. “Does he realize the real estate
company has no record of the down payment?”

“Of
course he does,” Angela smiled with relief. “He’s a smart man and he’s on it,
big time. He’s even gotten the police involved. Henry actually believes that
the real estate company stole the money he gave Pete and Loretta and then had
Pete killed.”

“That’s
quite an accusation,” Cindy took it all in.

“Henry
even wonders now if Pete was in cahoots with the real estate company? It
doesn’t make sense that Pete would give them the money and it would just
disappear. Were they both in a scam to steal from him? The cops are putting
heat on the real estate company as we speak, checking into the books.”

“Oh
my goodness,” said Cindy. “Taylor’s also checking.”

“Taylor,
who? Pete’s brother?” asked Angela alarmed.

“Yes,
what’s wrong with that?” Cindy was shaken.

“Taylor’s
a woman hater and a madman, “Angela breathed. “You can’t trust him. He hates
Loretta like poison, too, always has.”

“That’s
doesn’t make him a madman,” Cindy responded.

“No,
I guess not,” Angela stopped walking as they stood under the towering gaze of
another Patron Saint. “But why is Taylor involved in the investigation at all?
I’m sure Loretta never asked him to help her.”

“Taylor’s
brother was killed,” said Cindy slowly. “It makes perfect sense that he’d do all
he could to find the murderer.”

“Yes,
I guess it does,” Angela relented.

“It’s
good to have pressure put on the real estate company,” Cindy commented. “I
don’t know how they thought one hundred thousand could go missing and no one
would want to find out where it was?”

“Me
neither,” said Angela. “Loretta’s father planned to tell her he was checking
into what happened to the deposit, but then decided not to. Loretta’s been
drinking a lot more than she should again now. Even though it’s understandable,
she promised her father she wouldn’t,” Angela’s voice dropped to a confidential
whisper. “Loretta drinking makes Henry nuts.”

“Loretta’s
had a drinking problem in the past?” Cindy wanted to be definite about it.

“She’s
been in rehab a couple of times,” Angela spoke so softly, Cindy could barely
hear her. “Her father’s walked her through every step of the way and blamed
Pete for it, completely,” Angela went on.

“Sounds
like he blamed Pete for everything that went wrong in Loretta’s life,” Cindy
exclaimed.

“You
can say that again,” said Angela. “Every single thing.”

“Should
I talk to Henry again?” Cindy stopped and confronted Angela directly.

“For
what reason?”  Angela became uneasy. “I’m telling you everything you need to
know. Why upset him more?”

“Is
there anything he may know that I’m not aware of?” Cindy zoned in intensely.

“Absolutely
nothing, I promise you,” said Angela. “I’ve become like a daughter to Henry
myself.  He knows I love and look after Loretta and there’s nothing he hides
from me, nothing at all. I promise you.”

When
Cindy and Angela parted they promised each other they’d stay in close touch.
Cindy thanked Angela profusely for her invaluable help.

“You’re
a terrific woman, Angela,” Cindy exclaimed.

“So
are you,” said Angela. “Please hurry and get this case tied up. I want to take
Loretta back home so she can stop drinking and start to settle down.”