Death by Divorce (16 page)
“I had no choice then—and I don’t have a choice now!” Dalia said raising her arm higher. “You have a right to know what happened before you die, too. I owe you this at least. ”
“You knew what you were doing each step of the way?” Cindy asked incredulous.
“I called you down to Grenada to make it look like I was doing everything I could to find Ames. I thought you would fail. I didn’t think there was a way his body could ever get loose and wash up on shore. ”
“But it did,” said Cindy.
“You did it!” Dalia turned on her. “You found it and pulled it out!
“Dalia, give me the knife,” said Cindy. “You don’t want to do this again.”
Dalia laughed oddly then, twirling her head back and forth. “I do, I do,” she shrieked piercingly, “I have a right to be free, to be happy. And you have no right to live anymore. You disappointed me, Cindy. Disappointed me deeply! And I thought you were a good friend!”
Cindy gasped as Dalia inched closer.
“And now you force me to do this on you,” said Dalia. “You’ve turned into a traitor right in front of my eyes.”
Dalia plunged forward and Cindy ducked, her heart beating wildly.
“He deserved to die and so do you now,” Dalia spoke wildly, her eyes huge with rage and delight. “What choice do I have? People disappoint me. Everyone disappoints me, sooner or later. Even you!”
Then she grabbed Cindy’s arm with incredible force and spun her around, getting her in the perfect position.
Caught in Dalia’s grasp Cindy thought about the suffering Clint must have gone through as his life was taken from him. She was now experiencing the same thing, but to Cindy’s amazement, death didn’t frighten her. Neither did this crazy woman or her fierce rage. Cindy was glad to be able to step into the darkness and overcome it with courage and strength.
“You won’t get away with this, Dalia,” Cindy uttered, in pain.
“That’s what you think, idiot!” Dalia spit back. “You’ll be dead and I’ll be free of you. I’m meant to be free and live a life of beauty. You could have had a wonderful life down here too, but you turned on me!
You’re just jealous because nobody ever wrote you love letters like mine. There’s no one in your life who loves you like that. ” And she pressed Cindy’s arm harder. “There never was and now, there never will be. But I’ll always have that special person to write love letters to me. ”
Dalia squeezed Cindy’s arm harder, and harder then, pressing her to the ground.
Cindy screamed, kicked at her feet, wrenched her arm, and then, just in time, saw Mattheus running out from the rocks, to grab the knife out of Dalia’s trembling hand.
Dalia stared at him unbelievingly.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she lashed out.
Mattheus pushed her down on the sand, and pulled her arms behind her back as she groaned.
Cindy watched Mattheus handcuff Dalia as she thrashed around. For a second Cindy flashed back to Dalia as a young girl, the two of them sitting on the stoop, filled with dreams, and hopes. How had it come to this? That was the true mystery.
“I’m sorry, Dalia,” she said softly, “I’m so, so sorry. But we have to take you in. There’s nothing else to be done. ”
A great wave of sorrow overcame Cindy then, for Dalia, for Clint, for Ames. She knew without a doubt then that she had come down here to return to the source of Clint’s murder.
By solving Ames’s murder, she’d resolved whatever had been unfinished in her own life. She had faced the pain and horror that Clint had gone through, and come out whole. Oddly enough, she could go on more fully now.
Finally, she felt, Clint was at peace.
All the newspapers ran the story of Cindy’s success. The hotel filled up with reporters and tourists who wanted to get a look at her. She stayed in her room and had meals alone, wanting to be as private as she could. It was painful thinking of Dalia, and what had happened to her.
The newspapers also reported that Dalia was taken to jail and a few hours later, the Captain freed. But at least, Cindy had saved the Captain from false accusations. It was a strange exchange being made, but he was innocent and deserved to go free.
The first thing the Captain did as a free man, was call Cindy and thank her.
“You’re an incredible woman,” he said, emotional.
“Thank God I could help you,” Cindy replied.
“Everything pointed to me,” he said, “but I would never do anything to hurt Ames. Never. Not anyone. No one would believe me in there. ”
“I understand,” said Cindy.
A few minutes after that, there was a knock on her door. Cindy opened it and Mattheus stood there, dressed in khakis, grinning, a bunch of tulips in his hand.
Cindy was touched. “Please come in,” she said as she took the flowers. They were fresh and delicious, a combination of her favorite flowers, tied with a long, red bow.
Cindy was happy to see him.
“You’ll have to come out of hiding sooner or later,” Mattheus said, “you know, there’s a lot of excitement about you out there. The police department wants to hold a dinner in your honor, before you go. ”
Cindy laughed, holding the flowers to her face.
“It’s not necessary,” she said.
Mattheus looked sad then. “When are you going?” he asked quietly.
Cindy paused.
“You know a call came into the station for you,” Mattheus said, “from a woman on another island. She heard about what happened here and wants your help with her case. Said she was desperate for help from a woman detective. ”
My goodness
, thought Cindy.
Another one.
“You’re a natural,” said Mattheus.
“I guess I am,” said Cindy.
“What do you think?” said Mattheus.
“About taking on another case?” said Cindy. “No way. I need to go home. ”
“You wouldn’t have to do it alone,” said Mattheus. “You know, I’ve been thinking for a while of going private, doing detective work. We’d make a pretty terrific team. ”
Cindy saw him looking at her, his eyes shining.
“I’d love to have you at my side,” he said.
Cindy took a deep breath. “This isn’t the way I pictured my life.”
“How did you picture it?” he said.
Naturally, Cindy thought about Clint. “I thought I’d be married with a family, working for a newspaper, living in a suburb in the US. Pretty normal. ”
“Well,” Mattheus laughed, “you could be married with a family and working as a detective down in the Caribbean, in your own firm.”
It was too much for her to take in.
“For a starter at least,” Mattheus continued, “you could be working in your own firm with a terrific partner.” He took a step closer. “You did a terrific job, Cindy,” he said. “You had intelligence, guts, determination, grace. You saved the Captain’s life. ”
“Give me a little while to think about this,” she said, breathless.
“Sure,” he answered smiling, “never let it be said that I pressured anyone.”
*
That evening, after a light dinner alone in her room, Cindy got away by herself, for a long walk on the beach. The sun was setting as she got there, spreading a glow of color on the water. She thought of Clint as she walked, wondering what he would think now, how he would feel about this new possibility. Cindy knew he wouldn’t want her to be alone forever; he’d always had encouraged her to be daring and discover new parts of herself.
As she walked she heard birds calling to each other over the sound of water lapping up against the shore.
Cindy stopped and looked out towards the horizon. A sense of peace came over her as she felt as if Clint’s spirit was there with her, giving her his blessing, letting her know it would be fine to move forward. She could dedicate this work to his memory. His death would not have been in vain.
Cindy stood on the sand alone, for a long moment, savoring the silence and peace, gathering her courage, saying goodbye to the past she had known. She was determined to let everything that happened be a seed for a powerful new future.
When she got back to the hotel, to her surprise, Mattheus was waiting for her in the lobby. As she walked in, and he looked over at her, he broke into a smile that beamed. Then he stood up and held his hands out to her.
Cindy walked right over to him, very glad that he was there. “I’ve come to a decision,” she said as she got closer.
“No need to say a word,” Mattheus interrupted. “Your face tells me everything. I’ll put you in touch with the woman who called for your help. She’s praying and waiting to hear from you. Then we’ll go to the hotel bar to celebrate with the very best champagne. ”
Books by Jaden Skye
THE CARIBBEAN MURDER SERIES
DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1)
DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2)
DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3)
DEATH BY DESIRE (Book #4)
DEATH BY DECEIT (Book #5)
DEATH BY JEALOUSY (Book #6)
THE TOM’S RIVER SAGA
A PERFECT STRANGER (Book #1)
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