Death by Seduction (22 page)

Just
as Cindy suspected, when they opened the door not only was a large policeman
outside, but Mattheus stood beside him, waiting to be let in.

“What
do you want? What are you doing here?” Taylor began trembling.

Eric
stepped in front of him, “Come in,” he said strongly. “It about time we had
your help.”

“They’re
not here to help,” Taylor whispered loudly to Eric, “they came uninvited. Who
knows what they want?”

Eric
moved Taylor to the side and let them in.

As
Mattheus stepped through the entranceway, he threw Cindy a strange glance.

“How
did you found out where we were?” Eric didn’t take his eyes of Mattheus for a
second.

“This
is Chief Officer Brad Rolfson,” Mattheus responded, introducing the large,
Caribbean cop who was beside him. “Brad’s an old friend of mine. We’ve worked
together before.”

“Did
Cindy tell you we were here?” Taylor suddenly threw a pained look at her, as
though she had betrayed him.

“Actually,
Cindy didn’t tell me a thing,” Mattheus responded slowly, clenching his jaw. “Brad
and I have been working the case for a while, even when I wasn’t on the Island.
As soon as I heard about the death threat to Taylor, I had it tracked and found
out where he was hiding. Smart move, to come down here.”

Cindy
was shocked by the whirlwind manner in which Mattheus had gathered crucial
information and done what needed to be done.

“So
the police knew where Taylor was for awhile?” asked Cindy.

“The
police who work with me have,” Mattheus responded. And I’ve made sure the
hideout was covered. I’ve had the police waiting to see if the guy who
threatened Taylor would find out where he was and show up? Then it would have
been a piece of cake to nab them.”

“Incredible,”
Eric murmured.

“No
one’s showed up though,” Taylor mumbled, shaky. “Only Eric came once or twice
and today he brought Cindy with him.”

“Why
did you bring Cindy here for?” Mattheus zeroed in on Eric.

“Cindy
wanted to know what Taylor dug up, needed the information from him first hand,”
Eric replied.

“That
was a dangerous move,” Mattheus didn’t like it.  “As soon as the people I have
watching Taylor found out that Cindy was here, they let me know immediately.”

Eric
let out a long sigh. “You’ve done a great job, Mattheus,” he exclaimed. “I’m
surprised, I’m impressed. I’m grateful to you.”

Both
Cindy and Mattheus were taken aback by Eric’s heartfelt response.

“We
had a hell of a time getting the cops involved,” Eric continued, “and you did
it in a second.”

“I
realize that,” Mattheus took a step closer to Eric, seemingly impressed with
him as well. “You’ve done a great job taking care of Taylor as well.”

“Why
thank you,” Eric replied.

“It’s
all very nice, all very good,” Brad interrupted them, turning to Taylor. “Now we’re
gonna need the paper trail you say you got,” he demanded, “every single page.”

“I’ll
be glad to hand it over,” said Taylor. “I’ve actually been begging for you guys
to pay attention it.”

“If
it all holds up, if everything Mattheus tells me you found is so, we have to
reconsider everything,” Brad continued.

“There’s
no reason then to hold Charma, either. Is there?” Eric burst out.

“Charma’s
got Pete’s fingerprints all over her,” Brad repeated.

“There’s
a million ways she could have gotten them, too,” said Eric.

“True,”
Brad relented a second,” but we need solid proof implicating someone else.”

“Charma
wasn’t even there when Pete died,” Cindy burst in. “Sanya, a woman in the
house, saw her coming back from a date a couple of hours later.”

A
ragged silence fell over the entire room.

“I
heard that rumor” Brad  finally managed, “but it’s uncorroborated. Unless we
know who Charma was with that night, unless they come forth and tell us, it’s
not a real alibi. That woman in the house could have made up anything.”

“Can’t
you find the person she was with?” Taylor suddenly became insistent. “Why is it
so difficult?”

“Charma
won’t tell us,” Mattheus turned to Taylor. “She’s hiding something, hiding
someone.”

“Got
to be someone at the real estate company,” Taylor insisted. “Maybe they paid
her  to keep her mouth shut.”

“Conjecture,”
Brad insisted. “It doesn’t do us any good.”

“Charma
has a real alibi,” Eric spoke out suddenly. ”She was with me.”

The
entire room fell into an icy silence again.

Taylor
finally caught his breath as his eyes darted back and forth frantically. “What
are you talking about?” he demanded.

“I
was with Charma  the night Pete died. She was my date for the evening,” Eric repeated,
breaking the deep wall of silence and shame he had been living behind.

Brad
stared right through Eric, his forehead creasing in puzzlement. “You’re
kidding, right?”

“No,
I’m not kidding,” Eric replied. “I swore Charma to silence about our
relationship, and I’ve been silent about it myself, naturally. You can only imagine
what will happen to my life and my career when this information goes public.”

Cindy
could not believe what she was hearing. What had moved Eric to speak up this
way now?

“No
one knew? Not one person?” Brad looked stunned, both at the news and sudden
confession.

“Cindy
knew,” said Eric softly, “that’s all.”

“Cindy
knew?” Mattheus echoed.

“Yes,”
Eric went on. “When Cindy interviewed her, Charma told Cindy to contact me.
Charma said I’d do everything I could to help find the true killer. And I
have.”

“My
dear God,” breathed Mattheus, closing his eyes for a second.

“Rotten,
sordid story, huh?” said Eric. “The papers are going to have a field day with
it.”

“Sorry
about this,” Brad shook his head slowly, “but yeah that’s right. The papers are
gonna have a field day with everything. This’ll hit the front page. You sure
you know what you’re doing? You don’t want to back out?”

“I
know what I’m doing,” breathed Eric. “I’m saving a life.”

Eric
was visibly shaken and so was Cindy. But she was also thrilled by Eric’s
courage, and the turn his life had suddenly taken. He wasn’t only freeing
Charma from jail, he was freeing himself, she realized.

“Okay,
that’s it. Now we can let Charma out of custody,” Brad declared, “and  haul Val
and the other guys into the station for immediate questioning. Let’s see how
their story matches up with the facts we have on them now.”

Taylor
went over to Eric and put his hands on his shoulders. “I don’t care what
reporters  say about you, you’re a prince in my eyes,” he said.

Mattheus
joined in immediately, “I can’t but agree,” he nodded warmly to Eric. “You did 
strong thing, you did what’s right. Everyone will benefit in the long run,
including you, Eric.”

Cindy
stood silently with tears in her eyes, as Eric turned, and walked to the door.

“You’ll
come in and give us a formal statement?” Brad asked as Eric took a few steps
away.

“Absolutely,”
said Eric, then stopped. “How about Taylor?” he went on. “Is there any reason
he needs to stay in hiding?”

“No,
he’ll be okay,” said Brad shaking his head. “We’re on top of everything now.”

“Wonderful,”
Taylor exclaimed.  “I’m leaving the island the minute the case is closed. In
the meanwhile, I’ll lay low.”

“Fantastic,”
said Eric. “I’ll give you a ride back now. Go gather your stuff,  I’ll be
waiting outside.”

Eric
started walking again to the door. Before he got there go, he stopped himself one
more time and turned to Cindy and Mattheus. 

“Thanks
for everything, both of you,” he said. You got a great partner there, Cindy. CM
Investigations! An amazing company, long may it thrive.”

Cindy
and Mattheus rode back to the hotel with Brad in the police car.

“You
never know when a case will crack open,” Brad mumbled as they returned, “you
never know when a chump will turn into a hero.”

“I
never thought of Eric as a chump,” Cindy remarked, unable to stop thinking
about Eric and what he’d done.

 “Yeah,
that guy’s got guts, turning the tables on himself like that,”  Brad agreed.

“He’s
a man of integrity,” Mattheus added.

Cindy
took a long moment to appreciate the sacrifice Eric had made.  He probably had
no idea himself that he was going to admit that he’d been Charm’s date for the
evening.  But being honest and saving a life obviously meant more to him than
his reputation and what would happen to him. Cindy felt both honored to know
him and scared of what would he would go through now.

The
police car stopped at the station, letting Brad out. Then Brad had the car take
Cindy and Mattheus back to the hotel.  

Cindy
and Mattheus drove together silently, not saying much. When they got to the
hotel, Mattheus turned to Cindy, “Is it time for us, now?” he asked.

“Yes,
of course,” said Cindy quietly, “let’s go and have a long lunch.”

*

Cindy
and Mattheus were seated under a palm tree at the outdoor restaurant in the
hotel where cool breezes blew in through the veranda on them. It was settling
to be here with Mattheus now. Cindy was grateful for the unconditional support
he always offered. Despite his flare up of moods, Mattheus was a rock Cindy
knew she could always depend upon.

After
they ordered lunch, Mattheus stretched his hands out on the table, as if
reaching for hers.

“Look,
this time it’s different. I’m really sorry,” he said.  “Eric’s a great guy and
I suspected him and I also suspected you.” Mattheus was determined to get it
all out.

Cindy
was moved that Mattheus appreciated Eric.

 “I
had no idea Eric was involved with Charma,” Mattheus went on. “You could have
blown me away with a feather when he said that.”

“It’s
hard to understand, isn’t it?” murmured Cindy. “I never could make sense of it either,
a guy like that.”

“He’s
definitely a man of value,” Mattheus said, “and being involved with Charma
doesn’t change that at all.”

“No,
I suppose it doesn’t,” said Cindy.

“I
really didn’t know he cared for someone else,” Mattheus went on, “I thought the
two of you were falling in love. Then, when I saw how crazy Eric was about Charma,
 I realized what a jerk I was.”

Cindy
was unnerved by the idea that Eric loved Charma so deeply. Why hadn’t she seen
it as clearly as well?

 “I
don’t blame you if you can’t take my stupid jealousy,” Mattheus was
disgruntled.

“You’re
right, I can’t take it,” agreed Cindy. “That’s definitely for sure.”

“I
don’t blame you if you want to get rid of me, either.” Mattheus continued.

Cindy
was surprised to see Mattheus so truly shaken. “You don’t blame me, but you
won’t let me go, either,” Cindy smiled slowly.

“You’re
right, I can’t let you go,” said Mattheus. “You mean too much to me.”

Cindy
felt the power of Mattheus’s feelings go through every cell of her body.

“How
can you love someone and not trust them?” Cindy responded.

“That’s
a wonderful question, and I don’t have the answer,” said Mattheus.

“What
would it take for you to trust me,  Mattheus?” Cindy continued.

“Another
great question,” Mattheus replied. “At this point I don’t think it has anything
to do with you at all. It’s up to me to not to go along with this jealousy. I
have to recognize these crazy thoughts for what they are, nuts.”

“Easier
said than done,” Cindy responded.

“That’s
for sure,” Mattheus looked at her pleadingly, “but I’ve conquered bigger
obstacles in the past.”

“You
certainly have,” said Cindy as she decided to be completely forthright as well.

“And
your ideas about me and Eric were not completely crazy,” Cindy went on. “ I did
feel close to him and he was developing feelings for me as well. You picked
something up.”

Mattheus
breathed more easily.  “Thank you for saying that. I thought so.”

“But
I was far from falling in love with him and just because people have passing
feelings for each other doesn’t mean anything more is happening. If you’re
alive, you have feelings. So what?  It doesn’t take away from my love for you.”

“It’s
hard for me to see that,” said Mattheus, sadly.

“You’ve
got to see it, Mattheus,” Cindy insisted, “or you’ll be on edge your

whole
life long. You have to trust that you’re completely worth loving, no matter who
else comes onto the scene.”

 “Am
I?” asked Mattheus in his charming, young boy voice.

Cindy’s
heart flew open in a rush of love. “More than worth it,” she uttered, “it’s
wonderful to be with you.”

Mattheus
looked at Cindy deeply, taking it in. “You mean that?”

“Of
course I do,” Cindy breathed. “But it’s up to you to receive it.”

“I
receive it,” said Mattheus finally. “I thank you for it.”

 “And
the problems we had were not only because of you. It’s me, too, It’s hard for
me not to answer a call for a case from a desperate person. I can’t drop
everything then and spend time with you.”

“I’ve
noticed,” Mattheus smiled, seemingly relieved that Cindy was sharing
responsibility for the difficulties they faced. “I left last time because you
put everything before me and I was convinced I didn’t really matter to you. But
then I thought better of it.  Finally, I realized, it wasn’t about me at all.”

“No,
it wasn’t,” said Cindy.