Death by Deceit (Book #5 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (11 page)

Cindy flinched. He got the
point.

“That would be ridiculous,” he
added, fitfully.

Cindy hardly knew how to
answer. She didn’t know at the moment what or who she trusted.

“You’ve got to answer that
question,” Mattheus was emphatic.

“No, of course I won’t let
anything ruin my trust in love,” said Cindy, rallying. “But we’re not here to
talk about love, we’re here to talk about finding Shelly’s killer. That’s why
you called me down to Key West.”

“That’s not the only reason,” said
Mattheus, fumbling.

“But that’s the reason we have
to focus on now,” said Cindy.  The case was complicated enough as it was. This
was the time for unraveling Mattheus’s relationship with Shelly, not for
dealing with their romance.
“Come to the Shelter with me tomorrow,” Cindy repeated.

“I don’t want to,” said Mattheus
simply. “It was Shelly’s place, she worked there, those were her friends. I
don’t want any part of it.”

“You’re mad at her?”

“Mad’s not the word for it. I’m
mixed up, shaky” he said.

 “I understand,” said Cindy. “That’s
why I’m going back to the Shelter. “One of us has to find out the truth.”

When Cindy returned to the
Shelter the next day, Barbara was there to greet her. Cindy was struck with how
different Barbara looked today, pretty and, at the same time, professional. She
was dressed in a green cotton suit with her brown hair lying softly around her
face.

“We’re all so excited about
your being here,” Barbara said, as she led Cindy through the wide doors to the
place where the tour was going to begin. “The whole place has been buzzing
about it. Finally, someone really cares about Shelly.”

That felt a bit extreme to
Cindy, as if the entire fate of Shelly’s case now rested on her shoulders.

 “I’m sure a lot of people
care about Shelly,” Cindy said. “They’re doing all they can to help.”

Barbara stopped and stared at
her.

 “One of the things we learn at
the Shelter is not to make excuses for bad behavior,” Barbara said crisply.

Cindy was startled. Was
Barbara accusing her of making excuses?

“The women here have made
excuses their whole lives,” Barbara continued quickly, “they’re terrified to
face the truth. That’s why they’re here in hiding.”

It was shocking to see this
other side of Barbara come out so suddenly, a woman on a mission, not willing
to let anything go by.

“Even after some of these
women are beaten, they’ll only tell you about how wonderful their partner is,” Barbara
went on. “They’ll give you all the reasons they deserved the beating, say their
partner was only doing it for their own good.”

Cindy shuddered.

“The sooner they see the truth
about their abusers, the safer they’re going to be. It’s our job here to keep
them safe! Not only safe in the Shelter, but after they get out of here and
make a new life!”

“That’s wonderful,” said Cindy
and meant it. She could understand why Barbara felt as she did, but what got
her started on the tirade? Did it have to do with something Cindy’s said? She
didn’t want to side step the issue.

“Did you think I was making
excuses for someone?” Cindy asked Barbara directly.

“There was a strong whiff of
it,” Barbara replied. “You said everyone’s doing all they can to find Shelly’s
killer. That’s an excuse. They’re not!”

“How do you know they’re not?”
Cindy was stung.

“It’s a common excuse, we hear
it all the time - from the cops, the courts. I even just heard that Shelly’s
husband, Mattheus, is a detective who’s come down to help with the case. No
one’s even heard a word about him all these years. Where has he been all along?
You think he’s doing all he can, too?”

Cindy flinched. Barbara had no
idea that Mattheus was Cindy’s partner. She might not even know that Shelly had
gone missing six years ago, either. Cindy couldn’t fill her in on that yet. There
were lots of missing pieces here.

“What kind of a jerk that Mattheus
must be!” Barbara got more agitated as she went on. “It’s unbelievable that even
after she was found dead, he hasn’t even come here once! So, it’s not true
they’re doing all they can.” Her face flushed with exasperation.

Cindy picked up Barbara’s
agitation and tried to calm down.  She thought of the years of his life
Mattheus had spent searching for Shelly’s killer, doing all he possibly could. It
was such a danger to generalize about others without knowing all the facts.

“How do you know what other leads
Mattheus is following?” Cindy asked crisply.

Barbara smirked. “Defending
him now, too?”

Cindy wouldn’t even go there.
“How do you know the cops aren’t checking out other leads?”

“Because they’ve pounced on
the first suspect they got, Shelly’s boyfriend, Anthony. We heard he’s in
custody, locked up.”

“He is” said Cindy.

“Convenient,” Barbara went on,
“But Shelly and Anthony did well, they were pretty happy most of the time.”

Cindy’s eyebrows arched.
“That’s not what I heard.”

“Sure, they fought,” Barbara
went on emphatically. “Shelly used to talk to me about it a lot. They weren’t
terrible fights though, just the usual kind. And, whatever happened, Anthony
never once put her down. That impressed me a lot. I used to point it out to Shelly.
If anything, she was the one who was rough on him.”

  Cindy thought she’d better
calm down and really listen. It was too easy getting caught up in what she
believed and not let new information in.

“What kind of things did Shelly
and Anthony fight about?” Cindy asked.

Barbara was glad, at last, to
be getting her chance to be heard.

“Well,” if you really want to
know the truth, it was Shelly who was the jealous one. She couldn’t stand all
the attention Anthony got from his fans. He had a big fan club and another one
forming.  Shelly punished him for it,

 yelled about it, threatened
to leave if he didn’t stop answering all those women’s emails and calls. She wanted
him to stop playing so many concerts, too.  Of course he refused.”

Cindy faced Barbara squarely. “I
could see how that would be hard for any woman,” she said.

“Sure,” said Barbara,” but
that was his job, music was his life.”

“Some guys lead women on,” said
Cindy, “they know how to flirt under the radar, invite all the attention they
get.”

“Anthony wasn’t like that,”
Barbara assured her.

“You knew him personally?” Cindy
didn’t like the sound of it.

“We all knew him here,”
Barbara said. “He would come all the time to pick up Shelly from work. If she
was late, he’d just sit and wait for her patiently. We all thought he was a
really special guy.”

Cindy was amazed to see Barbara
siding with Anthony now. “Sounds like he sure had a way with the women,” she said.
 Did Barbara consider Shelly the abusive one? Cindy wondered. This was a lot to
digest. Did Shelly ultimately do something that caused her own death?

“So, Shelly was the jealous one?” Cindy probed gently.

“Very,” whispered Barbara, “it was a sore spot of hers.”

“Did she abuse Anthony?” Cindy asked more strongly.

Barbara stopped in her tracks. “Now that’s going too far.“We
all loved Shelly, I told you.”

 “Yes, of course,” said Cindy, and wondered if Shelly’s
jealousy might have had something to do with why she ran away from Mattheus? Did
Mattheus make Shelly jealous unwittingly? Was she getting revenge with him for
that?

*

  Cindy and Barbara walked
down the hall then to where a group of about fifteen had gathered to take the
tour. A woman dressed in an ivory slacks suit, introduced herself and said she
would be leading them through the facilities, floor by floor. As they all
started walking, Barbara stayed beside Cindy the whole time, listening along
with everyone. The tour leader described what each section was for, all the
services offered.

  Cindy saw the library where
group therapy was conducted, she went to the art studios, gym, classrooms,
therapy rooms, meditation space, cafeteria, and then upstairs to the living
quarters.

Upstairs, the women each had
separate rooms, with extra space for those who had children. Clothes and toys
were scattered around. There were private bathrooms and in some cases small
kitchens with hot plates. Cindy felt as if she’d slipped through the cracks of
one world and entered another. This was a place to hide and be safe from
danger, but also a space for growth and healing. It was a place to be trained
to live bravely in the world, get a new job, face difficulties and hopefully
begin all over again.

When the tour was over Cindy
felt exhausted.

“Let’s go have lunch in the cafeteria
with the others,” said Barbara, giving Cindy a friendly tap on the shoulder. “I
know how exhausting it can be to experience all of this for the first time.
After lunch, I’ll introduce you to some women here who knew Shelly well.”

“I’d love to have lunch,” said
Cindy. There were tons of people to meet and talk to, all kinds of stories to
hear. This was going to be a long day. She had no idea when it would end.

*

Right after lunch, Barbara
started to introduce Cindy to some of the residents who were excited that she
was here, and eager to speak to her. Cindy became slightly alarmed when she saw
one woman after another, come in and line up, waiting for their turn, at a long
table nearby.  

“So many,” said Cindy, looking
down the long line.

“They all knew Shelly and want
to help find her killer.”

Cindy nodded.

“Don’t worry about it,” said
Barbara. “You won’t get to them all, it’s impossible in one day. But just
listen to what the ones you talk to have to say. If someone really strikes you,
spend more time with her, or make an appointment to see her later.”

The more Cindy got to know
Barbara, the more impressed she was. Barbara was on top of all kinds of
details, focused, sensitive to everyone’s needs.

“You do a fabulous job,” said
Cindy.

Barbara smiled broadly and her
eyes shone. “Thank you. I try hard and that means so much, coming from someone
like you.”

“There’s nothing special about
me,” said Cindy. “I don’t know half of what you do about domestic violence.”

“But you know plenty about
other things, and you’re sharp,” said Barbara.

“Not only are you sharp, you
truly want to help, that’s clear. You’re willing to open your mind and listen.
That takes courage, Cindy, don’t forget that.”

“Thank you,” said Cindy
surprised.

“I have a feeling you’re going
to be the one to catch Shelly’s killer,” Barbara suddenly added.

Cindy was startled.

“And you’ll probably be saving
a few other lives in the bargain. Once they start killing, it’s hard to stop.”

Cindy’s whole body clenched. She
knew that. It was one of the facts that motivated her most of all. These
killers developed a hunger to kill, a taste for it; if they got away with it once,
they’d strike again, others would be in danger. Finding one killer could save
many lives.

“Thank you,” said Cindy,
suddenly overwhelmed.

Barbara caught it. She put her
hand on Cindy’s arm. “This can’t be easy,” she said. “I have no idea how you
got into this line of work. You must have quite a story of your own.”

Cindy was grateful for the
moment of kindness.

“Maybe we can talk about it
someday,” said Barbara. “I’d really like that.”

Again, Cindy was touched by
the warmth and understanding this young woman was capable of. She was also
surprised at how much she wanted to talk to Barbara, tell her what happened to
Clint, how she chose this line of work and what it meant to her. Ann was the
only other woman Cindy had ever talked to about it. Her opposition hurt Cindy
and made her shaky at times. Right now she needed inspiration and support
badly.

“I’d love to talk more about
it one day,” said Cindy.

“Great,” said Barbara, and
then motioned to the first woman who was sitting at the table, waiting to talk.

*

The first woman who came over
was in her late thirties, with brown straggly hair, a cut on her face and grey
eyes. She couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Cindy.

“This is Heidi,” said Barbara
as she sat down on the bench and slid too close to Cindy.

“Hi,” Heidi whispered, looking
around.

“It’s okay, Heidi,” Barbara
said. “It’s fine to talk. No one’s listening.”

“You can’t be too sure,” Heidi
murmured.

Barbara picked it right up, “Even
if someone here hears you, you’re safe now. You can say whatever you want to.”

Heidi took a deep breath and
plunged in.

 “Shelly didn’t deserve this,”
she said to Cindy in a low, rumbly voice.

Cindy looked in her eyes. They
were sad and scattered.

“Of course Shelly didn’t,”
Cindy replied. “Did you know her well?”

“She was my counselor for the
first three months I was here. Then I was switched to Angie,” said Heidi.

Cindy looked over at Barbara
who was listening intently.
“Angie’s another excellent counselor at the Shelter,” Barbara clarified.

“Is Angie still here?” asked
Cindy.

“Of course,” Heidi remarked
quickly, putting her hand over her mouth. “Why wouldn’t she be? Is she also in
danger?”

Barbara put her hand on
Heidi’s shoulder. “Angie is not in danger,” Barbara said, “no one here is in
danger.”

Heidi looked up at Barbara
doubtfully.

“Everyone here
was
in
danger,” Barbara went on calmly, “but that’s over. Not anymore.”

“Were you in danger?” Heidi suddenly
asked Cindy.

“Many times,” Cindy said. She
didn’t want Heidi to feel that she couldn’t relate. And, Cindy had been in
danger working cases, and also during her honeymoon. They could have just as
easily killed her along with Clint if she’d been gone to the beach with him
that afternoon he’d gone surfing.