Death by Seduction (20 page)

“Nothing
else, really?” Mattheus continued. “I saw how he was looking at you.”

“Lots
of guys might look at me that way, Mattheus, but it doesn’t mean a thing to me.
If you’re going to lose sleep about it, so be it.” Cindy was sick of his
suspiciousness.

“I’m
not going to lose a second of sleep about it,” Mattheus suddenly laughed.

“It’s
crazy to think that way,” Cindy couldn’t help but continue. “Especially if we
decide

not
to go on with our relationship.” 

“We
haven’t decided that, have we though?” asked Mattheus.

Tears
suddenly filled Cindy’s eyes and began to stream down her face. “I don’t know,”
she said sorrowfully, “I’m not sure.”

“Cindy!”
Mattheus turned her to him and put his hands on her face. “You’re crying.”

The
tears just kept falling all by themselves.

“God,
I’m sorry, so sorry,” Mattheus kept repeating. “I’m a fool, a jerk, I’ve hurt
you so much.”

“That
doesn’t work,” Cindy finally answered. “It’s not enough to say you’re sorry if
you just keep repeating the patterns again and again.”

“If
we
keep repeating the patterns,” Mattheus corrected her. “And we’re
going to break through those patterns, I promise,” he was insistent.

“When,
Mattheus?” Cindy answered, “How?”

Mattheus
said nothing as the taxi pulled up to the front of the hotel.

“Will
you come into the lounge with me and talk things over?” Mattheus asked as they
got out of the cab.

“No,
I won’t, not now,” Cindy responded, “it’s late, I’m too tired.  And I’m also
shocked to suddenly see you here.”

“When
will you?” asked Mattheus intensely.

“When
the time is right we’ll both know,” Cindy replied.

Cindy
went to her room and immediately, threw off her shoes, tossed her bag on the
couch. Then she ran to the window and looked out at the dark sky which spread
out blindly  without the trace of any stars.  As she stood and looked at the
sky, the entire evening rose up before her, her strange dinner with Eric and
then the sudden appearance of Mattheus. Cindy thought she should have been
shocked when she saw Mattheus, and she was. But at the same time it seemed as
if he’d never left. She didn’t know what to make of it.  

Cindy
was also upset about her time with Eric and his professed feelings for her. She’d
grown to like and respect him and didn’t want to hurt him. But also it became
more and more clear as the evening went on, that Eric was also completely
enmeshed with Charma. So, what could his feelings for Cindy possibly mean?
Nothing, just another fantasy he was clinging to. It distressed Cindy to see a
man of Eric’s stature  in the grip of such emotional confusion.

 As
Cindy reviewed the evening, oddly enough none of what had happened seemed
unexpected. The primal rhythms of the Dominican Republic made whatever happened,
no matter how outlandish, seem completely normal.

Cindy
knew that the first thing tomorrow morning, she’d have to talk to Loretta and
confront her with the new information. It was crucial to find out why Loretta
had said Pete had left the down payment, when in fact she had? The discussion
wouldn’t be pretty or pleasant, but there was no choice but to have it. It was
time to get the full truth out. It might even help keep Taylor safe.

There
was definitely too much to go over for one night and Cindy knew the best thing now
would be to take a warm bath, go to sleep, and let the next day bring fresh
insights. Cindy jumped into a hot bath to calm herself, and then went to bed
quickly.

Before
long Cindy fell into a fitful sleep that lasted all night along. Strange dreams
of Clint emerged once again, as they usually did when Cindy found herself at a
cross road. Clint was standing there, watching over her, smiling warmly. The
dream was so intense that at one point Cindy suddenly awakened. It was only a
dream, she assured herself. Clint had died on their honeymoon. Seeing him so
vividly in the dream  was only her wish to have him back. But, he’d been gone a
while, and Cindy was with Mattheus now, she reminded herself. Or was she? Cindy
rain her hands through her hair, fell back down on the bed and tried to fall
back to sleep.

When
morning came, Cindy rose at the first glimmer of light. There was a lot to do
and she was eager to get going. She and Mattheus hadn’t made any plans to see
each other that day and Cindy was glad of that as well. She was going to keep
to her schedule as though nothing had changed. Obviously, Mattheus was busy
working with the police, who were glad he was here, had  welcomed him with open
arms.

Cindy
ordered a quick breakfast in the room and when she finished the pot of hot
coffee, called Loretta.  She decided to act  cheerful over the phone so as not
to scare Loretta away.

“I
need to come over and speak to you for a few minutes,” Cindy remarked when
Loretta picked up.

Loretta’s
voice, on the other hand, sounded heavy and slurred. “When?” she murmured.

“Now?”
Cindy replied.

“Now?”
Loretta was disconcerted. “I just barely got up.”

“Half
an hour then?” asked Cindy, wanting to give Loretta a little to get ready.

“Fine,”
Loretta said grudgingly. “What’s it about anyway?”

“I’ll
tell you when I get there,” Cindy answered.

*

Cindy
hadn’t been in Loretta’s room for a while so she was taken aback when she
walked into tremendous disarray.  The room smelled stale and musty, clothes
were strewn all over the floor and empty bottles of wine stood around.

Loretta
was sprawled out on the coach. She’d left the door open and hadn’t bothered to
get up when Cindy walked in.  As Cindy looked around she realized that clearly
the reality of Pete’s death had been taking its toll on Loretta, turning her
world upside down.

“Come
in, sit down,” Loretta mumbled, her head underneath a decorative pillow.

Cindy
made her way through the messy room and sat down at the edge of the couch.“Rough
night?” Cindy asked softly.

“Very,”
Loretta mumbled. “And each night is getting rougher.”

Cindy
put her hand on Loretta’s arm to comfort her. “This is going to take time,” she
said softly.

Loretta
pushed the pillow off her face. “Well, I got all the time in the world now,
don’t I?” she responded, her eyes swollen and blurry. She blinked a few times
then, trying to look at Cindy clearly. “Okay, so what’s all this about, first
thing in the morning? You found Pete’s killer all of a sudden?”

“Almost,”
Cindy replied quietly.

At
that Loretta pulled herself up. “What do you mean almost?”

“You
can help me with the last few steps,” Cindy answered swiftly.

The
blurriness in Loretta’s eyes started to vanish. “How?” she demanded.

Cindy
decided to get to the main point immediately. “I heard that Pete never gave Val
the down payment for the condo,” she said.

Loretta
suddenly looked frightened, like a deer caught in the brush. “What are you
talking about?” she asked.

“I
heard that you gave a hundred thousand dollars deposit to someone else at the
real estate company, Lou Gran,” Cindy spoke with no emotion. “that’s why Val
couldn’t find a record of anything from Pete.”

Loretta
shook her head back and forth a few times. “Wait a minute, say that again,” she
muttered, as if she were unable to believe what she was hearing.

“You
gave Lou Gran the deposit, Loretta. Why didn’t you tell me that?” Cindy asked.

“Are
you crazy or something?” Loretta’s eyes flashed open, “coming in here first
thing in the morning and handing me junk like that? Where’d you get those lies
from?”

“The
police have proof of it,” Cindy stretched the truth a moment to see where it
would lead.

“What
kind of proof?” Loretta’s hands twisted together. “I never gave any money to
Lou Gran, so there couldn’t be any proof. I hardly know the guy. I only saw him
once or twice in passing. What are they trying to do now? Frame me?”

“Of
course they’re not framing you,” Cindy was quick to assure her.

“I
told you Pete had plenty of money and he was buying the condo for him and me!
You don’t believe me now?” Loretta was back on her game. “You don’t think he
loved me?”

“Of
course Pete loved you. It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Cindy replied, “it’s
that we have new information.”

“You
don’t have anything,” Loretta flashed back, “just a pack of lies. And how come
you believe them, instead of me? That hurts, Cindy, it really does. We’ve been
friends since college, not you and the police.”

“Did
your father give you one hundred thousand dollars, Loretta?” Cindy didn’t want
to get distracted.

“Of
course not, why would he do that?” Loretta’s eyes flashed fire. “You think Pete
couldn’t support me? You think I needed my father for that?”

Either
Loretta was totally in a fantasy world, or she was lying point blank, thought Cindy.“Whatever
goes on between me and my father is none of your business anyway,” Loretta
exclaimed, growing more irate as she thought about it. “It’s nobody’s business.
He’s my father and he has the right to give me whatever he wants.”

“Of
course he does. No one said he doesn’t,” Cindy tried hard to get back to her
good side. “I’m on your side with that completely.”

Loretta’s
back arched suddenly like a frightened cat. “No, you’re not. You’re not on my
side at all,” she said suddenly. “I thought you were my friend and you aren’t.
For all I know Taylor told you those lies and you’re in cahoots with him now.”

“I’m
not in cahoots with anyone,” Cindy tried to defend herself, “and did you know
Taylor was threatened? Had to go into hiding?”

“Let
him hide all he wants, I couldn’t care less,” Loretta exclaimed, “he’s crazy,
he’s paranoid, everything terrifies him.” Then she rushed to the phone and
quickly dialed. “Get over here right away, Angela,” she screamed into the
phone. “Right away, right away. And, you get out of here,” she said to Cindy.

“I’m
not going anywhere,” Cindy said softly.

“You
refuse to obey my orders?” Loretta started to shout. “You refuse to leave when
I ask you?” Loretta then dove back down on the couch then and buried her head
back inside the cushions. “We’ll see what the police think about that,” she
threatened.

Cindy
watched  Loretta curl up into a ball and stay that way until Angela burst open
the door and flew into the room.

“What’s
wrong? What’s going on?” Angela exclaimed, the moment she came in.

Loretta
jumped up from the couch immediately and ran over to her. “Cindy’s after me,
she’s threatening me with all kinds of lies. Help me, you have to help me.”

“What
are you talking about?” Angela looked astonished.

“Cindy
came in here and accused me of lying to her,” Loretta started to moan.

“That’s
not true,” Cindy broke in. “I came in here with a few questions, just needed
more information.”

Loretta
turned and glared at Cindy, “Well, you’re not getting another thing from me.”

“It’s
okay, it’s okay,” Angela patted Loretta’s shoulders, trying to calm her down.
“Cindy’s not a bad person, she tries to do what’s right.”

“She’s
bad,” Loretta insisted. “I want her to leave. Tell her to get off the island
immediately.”

Angela
looked distraught. “Okay, calm down. You go into the other room and lay down,”
she said to Loretta, “and I’ll tell Cindy to go.”

“You’ll
get her out of my life?” Loretta pleaded as  Angela led her shaky, half drunken
friend into the adjoining bedroom to lay down and rest.

Cindy
closed her eyes, horrified by the way Loretta had become unraveled. It was
probably the drinking that had done it, Cindy decided as she waited patiently
for Angela to return and find out more.

In
what seemed like a long while, Angela returned, looking grim.

“Is
Loretta okay?” Cindy walked over to her quickly. “Is she hung over? What?”

“I
don’t know exactly what you said, but you’ve upset her deeply,” Angela did not
meet Cindy’s eyes. “She’s taken a lot of steps backwards again.”

“That
was not my intention,” Cindy was surprised by Angela’s reaction.

“Loretta
said you’ve been filled with lies, and that you believe them,” Angela was
disturbed. “Is that so?”

“I’ve
discovered new information,” Cindy responded, “and I needed to talk to Loretta
about it. I’m here on an investigation.”

“The
truth comes out all by itself,” Angela said in a strange tone, “and when it
does it takes care of everything.”

“Yes,
the truth takes care of everything,” agreed Cindy. “But it doesn’t come out all
by itself, not unless there’s someone there digging. And someone willing to
face the facts.”

“But
you know you have to be careful about what you say to Loretta!” Angela grew
frustrated. “We’re working so hard to stabilize her and she’s drinking more
than ever now.”

“I’m
sorry about that,” said Cindy.

“And
even so, you barged in here and upset her anyway,” Angela wasn’t budging,  determined
to protect her friend.

“I
didn’t exactly barge in, I called Loretta first,” Cindy defended herself.

“You
know what I mean, though,” Angela’s face hardened. “You forced her to face
things she was not ready to face.”

“Like
what?” Cindy grew angry. “That Loretta gave the real estate company the down
payment and Pete never did?”

“I
don’t know anything about that,” Angela backed off.

“Loretta
lied to me, she told me Pete left the down payment,” Cindy wanted to shake
Angela from her complacency as well.

“It
wasn’t a lie, it was the way Loretta sees things. We both know that. We’ve
talked about it, haven’t we?” asked Angela irate.  “Loretta can’t face reality
always. She makes up things in her mind and sticks to them.”

“Loretta
runs a successful business,” Cindy flung back. “There are plenty of things she
has to face.”

“I
agree with Loretta, you should go now,” Angela said. “Your services are no
longer required. Leave the Dominican Republic as soon as you can.”

Cindy
was stunned by Angela’s response. She was in complete compliance with Loretta,
unwilling herself to look the truth in the eye.

“I’m
not going anywhere,” Cindy flatly refused. “There’s been a murder committed, a
potentially innocent woman is being held for it. As of now the killer is on the
loose. It’s my duty to find the truth.”

“Loretta
said your services are no longer required,” Angela repeated blindly. “If you
don’t leave on your own, she’ll call her father. In fact, she’s probably
speaking to him on the phone right now.”