Death by Deceit (Book #5 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (15 page)

“You can’t hurt someone more than
by just going missing and never saying a word?” Cindy exclaimed.

“Going what?” asked Barbara disturbed.

“Shelly went missing from New
Orleans six years ago,” said Cindy.

“That’s not what she told us,”
said Angie looking directly at Cindy. “She said she told Mattheus many times
she needed more from him and if she didn’t get it, was going to go. He’d just
look at her blankly. He didn’t do a thing about it.”

Cindy swallowed hard. This put
everything into an entirely new light. Was it possible that Shelly thought she
had let Mattheus know that she was leaving, that he’d never heard what she
said. Did she think all along that he knew their relationship was over?

“Shelly needed warmth, she
needed love, is there something so bad about that?” Angie spoke stridently.

“Of course not,” said Cindy.

“Her family hated Shelly when
she was growing up,” Angie continued. “She needed something more now.”

“Of course she did,” said
Cindy.

Rattled, Barbara stood up.

“We’re going too fast. Let’s
back track a minute,” Barbara said. No one ever said anything about Shelly’s
having gone missing.”

“It’s on the record,” said Cindy
quietly. ”There was a search for her that went on a long time.”

“Where?” asked Barbara,
amazed.

“In New Orleans,” said Cindy.

“No one here knew about that,”
Barbara insisted.

“I believe you,” Cindy said.

“If we knew about that, she
never would have been hired,” Angie flared up.

“Yes, she would,” Barbara
defied her. “It wouldn’t have mattered. Brave women go missing. Sometimes it’s
the only way they can escape!”

“That’s going too far,” said
Cindy.

“Why?” Barbara turned on the
offensive. “Are you taking Shelly’s side, or are you one of those women who turn
against their own kind, who identify with the aggressor?”

Cindy flushed as anger welled
up. “I’m not turning against anyone, “she defended herself heatedly. “I’m just
trying to get facts and piece them together.”

Angie stood up and walked over
to Barbara.

 “Cindy’s not doing anything
wrong,” she said quietly, “she’s doing her job.”

“I don’t like the insinuation
that what happened could have been Shelly’s fault. It’s just another form of
blaming the victim,” said Barbara, irate.

Cindy stood up as well. “I’m
not blaming Shelly, I’m not blaming anyone. I’m not the judge and jury, here.”

 “Well, you should be facing
the fact that Shelly was emotionally abused and that’s why she left, no matter
how she did it.  She didn’t run away for no reason. Why don’t you blame the guy
she lived with?” Barbara’s eyes were full of fire.

“Blaming is always beside the
point,” said Cindy said emphatically. “We gather facts and let them speak for
themselves. If we have a pre-planned agenda, then the truth will never be
served.”

“Fancy words,” said Barbara.

Cindy breathed heavily.
Barbara was on a mission and nothing was going to get in the way of it. She was
automatically on the side of all the women, saw all the men as at fault.

“Tell me, have you ever met
Mattheus? Have you ever sat down and questioned him?” Barbara couldn’t be
stopped, was on a rampage.

Cindy felt her face grow pale.
“Yes, I have,” she said. “In fact, we work together, we’re partners.”

“You’re what?” Barbara
screamed.

The silence that fell in the
room then was deafening.

“You’ve betrayed us!” Barbara
finally breathed.

“I’ve done no such thing. I’m
here to help Shelly. Neither Mattheus or I had any idea she was alive. She’s
been officially missing for six years.”

Barbara gasped.

“You can only imagine what a shock
her recent death has been to both of us” Cindy insisted.

“Of course I can,” Angie
stepped to the forefront.

“You should have disclosed
that you were Shelly’s husband’s partner immediately,” said Barbara. “I would
have never introduced you to anyone.”

“Stop, Barbara,” Angie
demanded. “Cindy hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then she turned to Cindy directly.
“Have you questioned Mattheus, in depth, about the marriage?”

“He’s been fully questioned,”
said Cindy, “not only now, but when Shelly disappeared six years ago.”

Angie and Barbara stared at
each other.

“It’s all on the record,” said
Cindy quietly. “I’m just telling you what it says. And I’m here to find out
more.”

“No, that’s not why you’re
here,” Barbara seemed furious now. “If you truly want to help, you’d better
realize that you’re here to bring light to the horrible plight of abused women
everywhere. Shelly worked here, was one of us! Her murder is just another
expression of what we all go through.”

Cindy breathed heavily. There
was no getting through to Barbara now.

Thankfully, Angie stepped up
again. “Cindy’s not the enemy here,” she said to Barbara.

“I hate it when one woman
turns on another,” Barbara exclaimed. “It’s treason. It isn’t fair.”

“Cindy’s not turning on
anybody,” said Angie.

“Not supporting a woman in
this situation is the same as turning on them,” Barbara exclaimed.

“The deepest form of support I
can give to anyone,” said Cindy, “is to find out the truth.”

“The truth looks different,
depending on what glasses you look at it through,” Barbara shot back. “Okay, I
heard enough. It’s time to go.”

“Wait a minute,” Angie stepped
in again quickly. “We need Cindy here.”

“That’s what I thought,” said
Barbara, “only now I’m not so sure.”

“There’s no reason to believe
that Cindy is on Shelly’s husband’s side. He’s not even a suspect,” said Angie.

“I know he isn’t,” said
Barbara, “but if you want to know all about Shelly, you have to know what
happened between her and Mattheus. And, she told us what happened clearly. He
abused her. So, who do we believe? Her, or what they put on the record? Abused
women go through this all the time. Their stories are discounted, their
husbands are believed. It’s a man’s world we live in.”

Cindy wanted to try one more
time. “I’m not saying Shelly didn’t experience emotional abuse. No one is
saying that. What we’re saying is that we need specific examples of it, in
order to round the picture out. From her point of view, he may have been
abusing her. From his point of view, he was not. So we need facts and details.”

Barbara threw her hands up in
the air. “I’ve heard that rap, over and over. It’s just another way of
de-valuing the woman.”

Angie came closer to Cindy
then. “Listen,” she said, “We’re going to have to cut this short, now. I’ve
really told you all I can. Shelly was lonely, desperate with Mattheus. She
needed to find someone to give her the love she craved. It’s not such an unusual
story.”

“No, it’s not,” said Cindy.
“And what about her relationship with Anthony?”

“It was good as far as I
know,” said Angie. “He was smart, he gave her lots of freedom. Shelly needed
space. She liked time to herself, to go places alone, to dance and have a good
time. She felt so trapped her entire life that this was absolutely necessary
now.”

“What exactly was necessary?”
Cindy was fascinated.

“Use your imagination. Shelly’d
go out on the town alone, from time to time.”

“She’d go out alone and meet
other guys?” Cindy was blown away.

“Yes, she did, Shelly did what
she needed to do and Anthony was good about it,” said Barbara as if it were the
most natural thing in the world. “It was fine with him. He’d be busy rehearsing
with his band anyway. The relationship worked for both of them.”

“Whoah, hold up a minute,” said
Cindy emphatically. “If Shelly got involved with other guys that could be
related to her murder. We have to know who.”

Angie looked at Barbara, who suddenly
nodded quickly.

“I just know that she went out
with other guys here and there, Angie said briskly, “Anthony was cool with it.”

This was entirely new to
Cindy. Why hadn’t she heard about it before? It was pivotal to finding the
killer.

“Wait a minute,” said Cindy,
slowing this all down, “if Shelly played around with other guys – “.

Barbara burst in furiously. “See
how you put it! Played around! It’s demeaning her.”

“I’m not demeaning anybody!”
Cindy stood up to Barbara forcefully. “I’m respecting Shelly by finding her
killer. I can’t find her killer if I don’t know the whole truth!”

Barbara quieted down.

“Cindy’s right,” Angie jumped
in, “the truth will save some other women from getting killed.

“So, tell Cindy what you want,”
Barbara relented, “but do it with kindness, with respect.”

“Shelly needed lots of
affection, and lots of attention,” Angie said. “Anthony got busy and couldn’t
give it to her all the time - so, if there was a dry spell, she went out on the
town and found what she needed. It’s not such a big deal down here.”

Cindy purposely kept her face
impassive. “Do you know some of the guys she fooled around with?” Cindy asked.

“Not really,” said Angie. “Shelly
didn’t want to talk about that. Once in a while she’d tell me that she’d had a
great night. You could see it on her face when it happened, too. There was no
lying to Anthony about it, either. The situation was just what it was.”

“I’d really like to know who
some of those guys were,” Cindy repeated.

“Some of those guys?” Barbara
flared up. “You act like she had a whole army of them!”

“Did she?” asked Cindy.

“We don’t know who and how
many,” Angie answered calmly. “That’s the truth. If I knew I would tell you.”

Cindy believed her.

“Enough,” Barbara burst in,
“the interview is over.”

“I think it’s important for
you to talk to Katrina,” Angie said quickly then.

“Who’s Katrina?” asked Cindy.
The picture was changing by the minute.

“She was one of Shelly’s long
term clients,” Angie said. “They were close for a long time, then things got
strange. Katrina recently left the Shelter and moved back home with her volatile
husband.”

“Why should I talk to her?”
Cindy felt wired.

“Katrina knew Shelly better
than most. She had a lot to say about her, too. If you’re trying to uncover
every corner, you’ve got to speak to her. Something weird just happened between
them too, and it worried me.”

Cindy shivered and the very
same moment as Barbara.

“What happened?” Cindy asked
urgently.

“Katrina’s been a resident
here a few times. She comes and goes, can’t stay away from her husband Flan, no
matter how much he beats her,” Angie continued. “They’re a crazy couple, and
one day, Shelly realized something weird was going on. She mentioned it to me a
few times. She found out that Katrina would sneak out of the Shelter and meet Flan
down the road, in a secret spot. That is absolutely forbidden here. I told the
authorities, and they wanted to know if Katrina came back at night. She did.
So, that was enough. They didn’t do anything else about it. “

Barbara got up then and
started pacing back and off.

“Shelly was pissed off big
time that the authorities let it go on. One day, she got fed up, followed
Katrina and caught her and Flan together. Then she got between them.”

 “I don’t know how in the
world she thought she could do that,” Barbara was at her wit’s end. “No one
here authorized that behavior. It came purely out of her own dedication.”

“Shelly told me she faced off
with Flan, told him to leave Katrina alone!” said Angie.

“You’ve got to keep this
quiet,” Barbara was beside herself.

“I can’t keep quiet, it’s
important,” said Angie, “and I always knew it was.

“You’ll bring down the whole
Shelter,” warned Barbara.
“No, I won’t. I’ll protect another woman from getting killed,” Angie
proclaimed.  Then she turned back to Cindy. “Katrina returned to the Shelter
for a little while after the confrontation, but things spiraled downwards and
pretty soon she left again and went back home with Flan.”

 “Give me Katrina’s address
immediately,” said Cindy. This was a huge lead. It was impossible to believe
that no one knew about the fact that Shelly had gone head to head with a
volatile, abusive guy.

“We’re not allowed to give out
a former resident’s address,” said Barbara, coldly.

“This is a police matter,”
Cindy replied fiercely. “There was unusual involvement between Shelly, Katrina
and Katrina’s husband Flan. It has to be investigated. Time is of the essence. And,
it‘s also definitely possible that the wrong man is being held in custody as we
speak.”