Death by Betrayal (Book #10 in the Caribbean Murder series) (21 page)

“But
we want to know what you think,” Mattheus repeated.

“I
think it’s entirely possible,” Cindy said.

“And
I agree,” Mattheus concurred.

“So
then just before I left, for no reason at all I happened to ask Ronnelle where
she was from. She lightly replied
Wisconsin
.” Cindy paused.

“So?”
asked Mattheus.

“So
Ann and Frank are from Wisconsin,” said Cindy disconsolately.

“Well,
that’s something,” Mattheus yielded a moment, “but not much. Entirely
circumstantial.”

But
Cindy was on fire. “Then, when I got back to the hotel, unexpectedly, my Uncle
Charlie came to my room. He’d heard that the police were looking for Frank and
decided to give me his address.”

Mattheus
whistled under his breath. “He knew where Frank was all along?”

“No,
Ben knew. He finally told Charlie,” said Cindy.

“Ben
should have called the police,” Mattheus bristled.

“No,
he should not have,” Cindy held her ground.

“Your
mother must have known as well,” Mattheus was dwelling on it.

“Ben
was taking care of my mother and Charlie did the right thing,” Cindy said. “As
soon as he found out he told me, not the police. Charlie didn’t want Frank
cornered like a trapped rat, he wanted him handled with compassion. After all, Frank’s
just lost his wife.”

“Okay,
go on,” Mattheus was uneasy. “So, you took Frank’s address and went to see him
immediately?”

“Exactly,”
Cindy replied.

Mattheus
was bolt upright now, paying total attention. “And you found him?”

“Yes,
I did,” said Cindy. “I had the talk we needed to have, and he finally admitted
to knowing Ronnelle. He had a passing affair with her.”

“A
passing affair?” Mattheus sounded entirely skeptical though he was listening
now with every pore of his body.

“Frank
also admitted having a small offshore account with Beggio,” Cindy went on at
top speed. “He said he and Ann had come down to Bermuda to reconcile.  Ann knew
there was someone in his life at the end, but it was over - they were
reconciling.”

“According
to Frank,” Mattheus muttered.

“Ann
also knew that Frank only loved her, the affair was just a pastime.”

Mattheus
cleared his throat. “I wonder if Ronnelle felt the same way about it?”

“Frank
said he didn’t tell Ronnelle he was defriending her, just wanted to end things
and start new,” said Cindy. “Frank told Ronnelle that he loved Ann, was coming
down here with her to make things right.”

“That’s
his story,” Mattheus mumbled, “every word of it. And, what does all this have
to do with Ann’s death?”

“That’s
for us to find out, isn’t it?” Cindy shot back. “Frank said he thought Ann
might have gotten killed accidentally by one of Beggio’s boys. They might have
mistaken him for a big time operator and her for one of the girls at the
Greenstone Hotel.”

“Unlikely,”
said Mattheus. “What do you think?”

“I’m
not sure,” Cindy went on, “but I need to talk to Ronnelle again.”

“Not
a good idea,” said Mattheus. “From here on in, let the police handle it.”

Cindy
took offense at that. “Why? I’m the one who’s gotten the information. It’s my
family. Why would I hand it over to them? I’m seeing this through to the end.”

Mattheus
walked over to her calmly. “That’s not a good idea, Cindy,” he said. “This is
convoluted and you’re too involved.”

Cindy
felt furious suddenly. Who was he to take her work away from her? He should he
praising her for all she’d accomplished.

“No
one is taking this away from me, Mattheus,” Cindy declared.

“I
don’t want to take anything away,” he replied. “But you’ve put yourself into
danger, going to speak to Frank alone, not telling anyone. I think you need to
lay low.”

“I
disagree,” Cindy felt herself flush all over. “I think I need to jump in even
further now.”

“Cindy,
stop it,” Mattheus voice rose.

Cindy
recoiled, “Leave me alone,” she called back. “I can do this and I’m going too.”

“I’m
going with you then,” Mattheus demanded.

“No,
you’re not. No way,” Cindy called out to the universe. “I’m seeing this through
myself to the end.”

Mattheus
returned to his room to give Cindy time to chill out, saying they’d talk more
at dinner and make a specific plan about what to do next.

Relieved,
as soon as Mattheus left Cindy called the police station and spoke to Trage’s
assistant Michael. To Cindy’s delight, the moment she asked for Ronnelle’s
address, he gave it to her immediately. Triumphant, Cindy scrawled it down on a
piece of paper, then smiled, ran to shower and changed.  In what seemed like
just a few minutes, she was outside and on her way to Ronnelle’s suite -
located in a fancy hotel not far away. Cindy figured she could get there and
back before Mattheus even knew she had gone. She would pin Ronnelle down,
confirm Frank’s story, get more details.

Cindy
slipped into a cab and arrived at Ronnelle’s hotel as evening was falling.
Without checking at the desk to see if she were there, Cindy went straight to the
elevator, stepped out at the top floor and quickly slid down to Suite 424. Then
she rang the bell a few times. What in hell was Ronnelle doing in a suite of
her own on the top floor of hotel like this, Cindy wondered.

“What’s
going on? Who is it?” Ronnelle’s voice rung out from behind the door.

“Open
up,” Cindy said in a garbled tone, trying to disguise her voice.

“Who
is it?” the voice behind the door grew closer.

“Open
up, this minute” Cindy scrambled her voice even further.

Fearlessly,
Ronnelle flung the door open. She and Cindy stood there staring at each other.

“You?”
Ronnelle said surprised.

“Yes,
me,” Cindy tried to smile pleasantly, but felt the muscles of her face growing
taut.

“Why
are you here?” Ronnelle gathered herself together quickly.

“Can
I come in?” Cindy asked.

“Why”
Ronnelle clearly wasn’t thrilled to see her.

“I
have just a few more questions I need to ask,” Cindy said hurriedly, trying to
relax her face and not look so grim.

“Just
for a few minutes,” Ronnelle moved aside. “I have plans for later and I have to
get ready.”

“Of
course,” Cindy agreed, as she entered the grand room and then looked around awe
struck. There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the
room, an ivory pillar on each side, and beautifully framed fine art on the
walls. “How’d you get a place like this?” Cindy murmured.

“The
company pays for it,” Ronnelle grinned lightly. “I never pay for anything,
ever. Always had my life set up that way.”

Cindy
felt uneasy. What in the world would someone who lived like this have to do
with Frank? It didn’t make sense. Cindy walked in and looked further around.
The room was filled with plants, fresh flowers, baskets of fruit on different
tables.

Ronnelle
watched Cindy’s every move. “All this has been provided by the hotel,” she added.
“Lovely of them, wouldn’t you say?”

Ronnelle
was so smug and entitled, Cindy had to keep herself in check. She suddenly had
an intense desire to slap Ronnelle across the face. Ann had never been that
way, she’d been grateful for every little thing she got. Was it possible that
Frank had paid for this suite, sent these baskets? Cindy couldn’t bear the
thought of it.

“How
long are you staying here?” Cindy asked slowly.

“As
long as I care to,” Ronnelle answered flippantly. “Why?”

Cindy
suddenly wanted to tell Ronnelle that she didn’t deserve it, explain to her how
Ann had lived. But Ronnelle wasn’t up for a long conversation.

“Okay,
get to it,” Ronnelle turned snippy. “What are you here for? What do you want to
ask me?”

“Did
you know my sister was a wonderful woman?” Cindy started plaintively.

Ronnelle’s
eyes narrowed. “This is what you came to tell me?” she repeated more intensely.

“I
came to ask how you dared get between a married woman and her husband?” Rage
started building in Cindy.

“You’re
out of your mind,” Ronnelle stood straighter. “I told you I barely know your
sick brother in law. I don’t know what he told you about me, but it’s all a
load of junk. There are crazy guys all over the place living off sick fantasy.”

For
a moment Cindy grew frightened, wondering if it could be so. Was Frank some
kind of psycho who was fantasizing about Ronnelle, dreaming up a relationship?
Or had he made up this sordid story to divert suspicion away from him?

“Prove
to me that Frank lied!” Cindy shot back

“I’m
done with this sick conversation,” Ronnelle threw her hair back over her
shoulders. “Get out of here now.”

Cindy
thought about apologizing for a moment, backing down, softening her tone. She
needed to stay longer and find out more. But it was hard to acquiesce. The thought
of this woman stealing away Ann’s husband was infuriating. Mattheus had
probably been right again. Cindy should have let him come here, this was too
personal, too much to handle.

“I
want you out of here this second,” Ronnelle’s voice grew sharper.

“I’m
really sorry. I came on too hard. I’m so upset about this,” Cindy said, as her
eyes suddenly fell on something shining on the rug. She grew silent and looked
more closely - a small, glimmering rhinestone was on the floor. It took her
breath away for a second, reminded her of something. Cindy became lost in thought
then, couldn’t say another word.

“What
are you staring at?” Ronnelle asked, following Cindy’s gaze.

Cindy
jumped up and grabbed the rhinestone then, clutching it in her hand. She
remembered! This was exactly the same rhinestone as the one she’d found in
Ann’s room after she died.

Cindy
opened her palm and shoved it in Ronnelle’s face. “What’s this?” she demanded.

Ronnelle
looked at it confused. “Must be from my jacket,” she finally guessed, “give it
to me.”

Cindy
felt her eyes flash wide open. “What jacket? Show it to me!”

Ronnelle
looked mildly alarmed by Cindy’s intensity. Her voice rose as she pulled an
evening jacket of hers off a nearby chair. It had many little rhinestones like
that covering the collar.

This
jacket, “she proclaimed.

“My
God, my God,” Cindy shouted.

“What,
lunatic?” Ronnelle matched her volume.

Cindy
grabbed the jacket from her and stared at the collar. Ronnelle must have been
wearing this jacket the day she’d killed Ann. A  rhinestone from the collar must
have dropped off accidentally.

“It’s
all over, Ronnelle,” Cindy said darkly then.

Ronnelle
looked at her blankly.  “Nothing’s over, nothing  began,” she muttered.

 “The
police have this rhinestone,” Cindy went in for the kill. “We found it in Ann’s
room after she died. It must have fallen from your jacket.”

Ronnelle
turned ash white. “I only wear this jacket at night,” she countered. “Ann died
in the late afternoon.”

How
did Ronnelle know that? It was a little known fact that no one had spoken of.
Cindy felt emblazoned. “No, you wore this jacket the afternoon Ann was killed,”
Cindy was adamant.

“Get
out of here now if you know what is good for you,” Ronnelle said gruffly.

“It’s
not as easy as that, you don’t get away with this,” Cindy stepped right into
her face. “It was my sister you took out.”

“What
do you know about life? What do you know about guys?”Ronnelle suddenly blurted
out.

“Frank
hurt you?” Cindy practically hissed at her between her teeth.

“Damn
jerk,” Ronnelle wobbled backwards a second. “He did, and I believed him. I let
him hurt me.”

“Looks
like you were the fool, weren’t you?” Cindy took an odd pleasure in taunting
her.

Ronnelle
spiveled around, leaned towards a table and grabbed a huge stone that sat on it.

“You
deserve to die too,” she held the stone over Cindy. “You and your whole rotten
family.”

Cindy
dove away from her, towards the door, to press the button on her phone for
emergency help. Suddenly Ronnelle came up from behind, grabbed Cindy around the
waist and threw her down on the couch. Before Cindy could get her bearings, she
felt Ronnelle behind her and then a pillow being shoved down hard over the back
of her head.

“Get
off me, get off,” Cindy started yelling as the pillow sunk more and more deeply
into her head and neck. This was what it had to have been like for Ann, Cindy
thought, as it became harder and harder to breathe and she felt as though she
were going down under water, never to return. Ann had succumbed, but she
couldn’t. With her last bit of strength, Cindy tossed to the side, but Ronnelle
only pressed the pillow down on her face then.

Cindy
started drifting away, until suddenly, as if from a million miles, she heard a
fierce banging close by.  

“Open
up! Police! Let us in immediately,” a loud voice thundered.

The
strength of the pillow pressing down on Cindy subsided for a second. Cindy
tried to rally and push Ronnelle away, but her arms felt like liquid and her
head was filled with cobwebs and ached.

“Open
Up!” the voice and banging got louder.

Thankfully,
Ronnelle jumped off the couch as Cindy gasped breath by breath to fill her
lungs. Finally she heard a crash close by, as if the door were being broken
down. Cindy slowly turned then, and with every ounce of her strength pulled
herself up.

“Get
over to the side,” it was Mattheus shouting. 

Cindy
looked over the edge of the sofa, Mattheus wasn’t alone. Trage and two other
cops with him and Frank was there too, standing in the crowd.

Cindy’s
heart started pounding as Mattheus flew over to her. “You’re okay? You’re not
hurt?” he seemed desperate.

“I’m
okay,” Cindy slowly found her voice.

“Thank
God, thank God,” said Mattheus. “When she wouldn’t let us in, I thought the
worst.”

“How
did you know I was here?” Every cell in Cindy’s body was trembling.

“You
called Trage’s assistant Michael to get Ronnelle’s information,” Mattheus said,
“and thank God, he called us immediately and told us where you were headed. The
minute I heard I knew there would be trouble. I called Trage and the cops as I headed
over.”

It
was hard for Cindy to take it all in, she felt shaky and her head and neck
hurt. She kept wanting to close her eyes and sleep.

But
Mattheus wouldn’t let her. He kept talking uncontrollably, trying to keep her
awake.

 “The
minute I left you at the hotel, I called your Uncle Charlie and told him to bring
Frank to me right away. Fortunately, Frank was back in his room. He returned
himself after speaking to you.”

“Is
Cindy okay? Is Cindy okay?” she heard Frank moaning in the background.

“You
lousy rotten, miserable bastard,” Ronnelle practically spit at him.

Cindy
forced herself to turn and look at her brother in law, who looked completely
stunned.

“You
thought you’d get away with something like this?” Ronnelle’s teeth were
chattering, as she drew closer to him. “You think you can promise me diamonds
and give me crap? Not Ronnelle, you got the wrong girl.”

As
she spoke, Trage came over slowly and stood behind her.

“Bermuda
is our place, not yours and Ann’s,” Ronnelle’s voice broke now, turning into
the howl of a wounded animal. “You and I came down here first. You said you
were going to marry me. Tell them, it’s true, tell them.”

Cindy
shuddered completely.

“It’s
true,” Frank muttered then, under his breath, “I said that to you.”

Cindy
felt swords of pain strike through her body. How dare he betray Ann that way?

Ronnelle
couldn’t stop babbling.  “How dare you bring your lousy wife down to a place
we’d been so happy in?”

Frank’s
head hung in terrible pain and despair. “Oh God, forgive me, forgive me,” he
could barely breathe.

“God
will never forgive you,” Ronnelle looked at him as if she were about to crouch
for a kill.

 “I
told you I loved Ann,” Frank burst in then uncontrollably. “I told you she and
I were reconciling.”

“How
can you marry me and love Ann?” Ronnelle suddenly looked confused. “You had no
right to reconcile. You told me it was forever, that we were getting married
soon.”

Cindy
felt like throwing up. How much of this had Ann been aware of?

“I
didn’t mean it, I never meant it,” Frank could barely speak as his entire body
broke into dry heaves. “I always loved Ann, always. Cindy, you have to believe
me,” he yelled.

Mattheus
went over to Frank then and put his hand on his shoulder.

“So,
you got rid of Frank’s wife,” Trage said to Ronnelle then, in a low, measured
tone.

Ronnelle
flipped around and stared at Trage with rage in her eyes. “I had a right to,
didn’t I?” she said. “She was trying to get rid of me!”

Frank
broke into terrible sobs then. “Oh God, oh God, this is all my fault,” he wept.
“I did this to Ann by being with Ronnelle. I never thought it would mean much
of anything, though. I never thought so, believe me.”

For
a moment it seemed as if Frank would pass out.

“Take
it easy, Frank,” Mattheus had both hands on his shoulders. “Guys make terrible
mistakes – they say things they don’t mean, have no idea what they’re doing. This
kind of thing happens all the time.”

Cindy
looked over at Ronnelle then. Trage was pulling her arms behind her,
handcuffing her. She stood there in a daze, just staring at Frank.

“I
loved you, you bastard,” she hissed at him. “It was the first time I loved
again since I was little and my father died on me.

Trage
nodded to another cop in the room to open the door.

“We’re
taking you in,” Trage said softly to Ronnelle.

“Take
me anywhere you want,” Ronnelle shot back. “You’ll never be able to hold me,
long. I’ll kill myself in jail. And when I die, I’ll find Ann and take her to
hell with me. You think about that, lover boy.”

Frank
gasped as Ronnelle and Trage walked slowly past him, and she spit at him on the
way.

*

“You
saved my life, Cindy, you saved my life,” Frank kept blubbering, as they left.

Too
bad your life and not my sister’s life, thought Cindy, unable to take a step
closer to him.

“Believe
me, if I ever thought something like this would have happened, I would have
killed myself first,” Frank pleaded with Cindy.

Cindy
had to say something, but didn’t know what.

“There
are many strands that go into a person’s life and death, Frank,” Mattheus
filled in for her. “What you did was wrong, but you can’t blame yourself for Ann
dying. Ronnelle was a psycho, you didn’t know that.”

“Blame
yourself,” said Cindy swiftly, “not for Ann’s dying, but for the lies you told,
the way you deceived her. How could you have betrayed such a beautiful person”?

“This
was the first time it happened, it never happened before. I was a faithful
husband,” Frank’s head fell into his hands. “I took good care of Ann, truly. I
was getting old, I was tired, I met this girl and she bewitched me.”

“You
met her in Wisconsin,” Cindy said slowly then, pulling the awful pieces
together.

“Yes,”
he whimpered.

“Ronnelle
introduced you to Beggio and his funds. She probably worked with him for all we
know. You invested with him to have enough money to give her whatever she
wanted, right?”

“Right,
right,” Frank mumbled.

“How
else could you ever keep a young girl like that at your side?” Cindy said.

“Cindy,
you have to forgive me, you just have to,” Frank started wailing again. “Will
you ever, ever be able to forgive me?”