Death by Desire (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 4) (19 page)

“Who?” asked Cindy, alerted.

Rori’s face had a strange wildness about it. “There
are plenty of people who would breathe easier if the case was closed. Then all
kinds of dirt won’t get dredged up and this island can still look like a
paradise. Tourists will feel safe, money keep flowing, new homes and casinos
built. My mother always says let sleeping dogs lie. I say it’s time to wake up
all the sleeping dogs and let them howl. One of them killed Tiffany. Let them
howl so we can find out who!”

 Cindy was inspired by Rori’s spirit.

“Who else knows Tiffany was an addict?” Cindy needed
confirmation.

“Probably Frances, I’m not sure. But I saw her
sniffing cocaine all the time.”

“That must be pretty common down here,” Cindy
said.

“But recently Tiffany graduated to heroine. I’m
sick of the whole family thinking she was a goody goody and I was the rotten
one. When the truth comes out it will be better for everyone.”

“How recently did Tiffany graduate to heroine?”
asked Cindy.

“A couple of months ago,” said Rori. “I told
her she was playing with fire. She told me to mind my own damn business. It was
her life and she’d do with it what she wanted. It wasn’t her life for long,
though.”

“The two of you fought?” Cindy insisted.

“We didn’t fight. We said it like it was.”

“Did Tad know about her addiction?”

“Who the hell knows, or cares?” said Rori. “If
you ask me, Tad lives in a world of his own. He never really knew much about Tiffany,
just imagined he did. He liked to wear her on his arm, like an expensive Rolex.
Believe me, Tad was never important to her.”

“She was important to him though,” said Cindy.

“Who knows?” Rori was growing impatient. “No
one ever really got to know Tad. None of our friends much liked him, either.
They just put up with him for Tiffany’s sake.”

“Did anyone besides Jimmy Bolton see Tad scuba
diving that afternoon?” asked Cindy, “anyone at all?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” said Rori. “I
told you Tad’s unimportant. The one you should be really talking to is the
pusher who sold Tiffany her drugs. He knew her better than Tad did. He could
help you find the killer.”

Rori took out a piece of paper and wrote the
name and address of the pusher down.

A huge, bitter wave blew in from the ocean, as
a cluster of birds flew out of the trees, cawing loudly and flying together, as
they made a zig zag path across the sky.

“Go see the pusher as soon as you can,” Rori
repeated. “Then let me know what he says. Get ready, you’ll get a whole lot
more from him than you’ve bargained for.”

*

When Cindy got back to the hotel, Mattheus was
sitting and waiting in her room. She was momentarily stunned to see him there.

“I see we’re playing a game of cat and mouse,”
he said as she walked into the room.

Cindy didn’t realize she’d left the door open.

“Where have you been?” he continued.

“I went to speak to Rori,” Cindy said in the
most professional tone she could muster, not looking at him at all.

“On Christmas Day?” he asked.

“Rori called. She wanted to get off the boat
and meet with me,” Cindy remarked, incredibly careful not to talk about
anything but business. “In fact, Rori told me that Tiffany was a drug addict,
and gave me the name of her pusher.”

Mattheus sat up upright in his chair. “You mention
this so casually?”

“And, that’s not all,” Cindy was on a mini
roll. “When I was waiting for the cab to go home last night, Sanchez Hanuah, a
cop from Guadeloupe approached me. He said we’d better get off the case and leave
the island as soon as we could. Seems our messing around is causing deeper
problems. Law enforcement may be called in now from everywhere.”

Mattheus turned and faced Cindy.

“And how long were you going to wait to tell me
this?” he said.

Cindy felt her face go ashen, looking directly
at him.

 “I planned to tell you today,” she said
lightly.

“And you just decided on your own to rush off
and see Rori, after a warning like that from Hanuah?”

“Time is of the essence,” Cindy said archly. “We
don’t have much time here. I didn’t want to lose a second. I don’t feel that
Frances did it. And, we both know the medical examiner isn’t coming up with
anything real.”

“They can pin it on him anyway,” said Mattheus.
“Things like this happen all the time.”

“Not when I’m on a case,” said Cindy.

“When you’re called?” asked Mattheus. “How
about me? You’re doing this alone now?”

Cindy stopped talking and stared at him. “I don’t
know,” she answered quietly.

“You don’t know what?” The muscle in Mattheus’
jaw started working.

“I don’t know how I’m going to proceed,” Cindy
said definitively.

“You’re furious because of me and that red
head?” Mattheus looked outraged.

“I think things have gotten a little out of
hand between us,” Cindy said quietly. “It happens. I’m not blaming you.”

Mattheus took a step closer. “I was doing my
job,” he said. “This is the way to get women to spill, you butter them up. She’s
an important undercover agent.”

Cindy said nothing.

“It’s a known tactic,” Mattheus repeated.

“And maybe she was doing the same to you?”
Cindy quipped. “Ever think you could have been set up? Lured in? It sure wasn’t
difficult.”

“I wasn’t caught in anything,” said Mattheus.

“That’s not how it looked to me,” Cindy said.

Mattheus breathed out hard. “You got jealous,”
he said.

“Yes,” Cindy answered. “You made a fool of me.”

“What are you talking about? There’s not one
woman at that party who could ever hold a candle to you,” said Mattheus, emotionally.

Cindy didn’t buy it. It was more of the same
banter they engaged in that turned created these fantasies.

“That’s an unnecessary comment,” she said.

“No, it isn’t,” said Mattheus. “In fact, it’s
exactly to the point. I’ve never met a woman I felt about the way I feel about
you.”

Cindy’s chest constricted. She found it hard to
breathe.

“You’re not only beautiful, you’re smart, gutsy
and I respect you,” Mattheus said.

It was hard to take all this in.

“And it seems as if you feel the same way about
me,” Mattheus slowly grinned.

“I don’t know what I feel exactly,” said Cindy.
“It’s easy to get lost in a fantasy here.”

“It doesn’t have to be a fantasy,” Mattheus
said then, slowly. “We can make it real.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you,” Cindy said,
tears suddenly stinging her eyes.

“You have to trust me,” Mattheus was pleading. “I
didn’t do anything. I told you, I was only working.”

“But it didn’t look like that to me, Mattheus.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but that’s all it was.
Now, let’s go down to the restaurant and have a Christmas meal.”

Before Cindy and Mattheus went down to the
restaurant in the hotel, he reserved the best seats in the front, overlooking
the ocean. They needed some time together, not only to soothe ruffled feelings
but go over what they’d found.

Even though she was hungry, Cindy felt somewhat
hesitant about going for a meal with Mattheus. Last night had been taxing and
had taken a toll. But, she also knew that she and Mattheus had work to do. She
planned to keep their meal focused squarely on that.

Mattheus went back to his room to change and Cindy
dressed casually, in a rose, silk dress with sandals and a light sweater. She
pulled her hair back to look more professional and went very light on the
makeup. Simpler and plainer was better, she thought.

Cindy dressed quickly and as she inspected
herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help feel an odd sense of loneliness she
hadn’t felt in a while. Probably because of the holiday, she thought. It was
odd being away from friends and family, made her feel as if she were a drifter
with no real anchor in her life.  Cindy was suddenly struck with a strong desire
to call home and speak to her sister, Ann.  Ann had been so disapproving of
Cindy’s new life that it had been a long while since they spoke. Cindy wondered
if maybe Ann might be missing her as well.

On impulse, she reached for the phone and
dialed her sister in the States.

The phone picked up immediately. “Merry
Christmas,” the voice on the other end rang out.

Cindy dove in, “Merry Christmas, Ann.”

Silence. Her sister had probably been expecting
someone else.

“Is that you, Cindy?” the voice on the other
end was faltering.

“Yes, it’s me,” said Cindy, “How are you?”

Another pause. Obviously, Ann was taken aback.

 “I’m fine,” Ann said. “What prompted you to
call out of the blue?”

“It’s Christmas,” said Cindy, in what she tried
to speak in a light hearted tone.

“Oh, that’s it!” Ann’s voice grew tighter. “The
other three hundred and sixty four days of the year don’t matter at all?”

Cindy’s stomach clenched. She wondered why she’d
expected a different response, had hoped her sister might have mellowed by now.

“I was hoping you’d be glad to hear from me,” said
Cindy.

“You mean you want me to pretend that I have a
sister for a day? Someone who cares what becomes of us all?”

 “I care about what becomes of you, Ann,” Cindy
responded. “Sounds like you don’t feel the same way.”

“Don’t twist this around,” Ann’s voice started
to slur a little.

Cindy knew that Ann was deeply unnerved by Cindy’s
detective work and it seemed she’d only grown more bitter since they’d last
spoken. 

“Are you well, Ann?” Cindy said.

Ann started crying a little. “I miss you,
Cindy,” she said, in a suddenly childlike voice. “I can’t stand the worrying
you’re putting us through.”

“I’m sorry,” said Cindy.

“Sorry isn’t enough,” said Ann, “Come home. Give
up this crazy obsession with finding killers.”

“It’s not an obsession,” Cindy defended
herself.

“It is an obsession. Clint is gone. You found
his killer, that’s enough. Life goes on. There are good people to meet, a new
life to build. You’re wasting your life.”

Cindy took a deep, breath, as the thought of
Andy crossed her mind. He would be exactly the kind of person that Ann would be
thrilled to have Cindy bring home. But was it even possible? Cindy had seen too
much by now, been down too many mazes. She didn’t think she could ever go back
into that kind of life again. Like it or not, she’d become an entirely a
different person.

“I’ll be home to visit soon, Ann,” Cindy said
softly.

“Yes,” said Ann, “but then as soon as someone
else calls, you’ll go running out on another case! You and the guy you’re
working with, he can’t settle down either, both of you running away from
ghosts.”

Cindy was offended. Ann didn’t know the first
thing about Mattheus and Cindy wasn’t going to start defending him now.

“People need me,” Cindy said quietly. “I’m good
at what I do.”

“And what about me, what about the family? We
need you, too.”

Cindy was sorry she’d called and caused Ann
this upset.

 “I’m sorry I called,” she said.

“You miss the point entirely,” said Ann. “Don’t
be sorry you called. Be sorry that you’ve left the whole family behind.”

“I love you, Ann,” Cindy said softly.

“That’s all you have to say?” asked Ann.

“Merry Christmas,” Cindy added.

“Merry Christmas,” Ann echoed, as she hung up
the phone.

*

Cindy sat quietly for a few minutes after she
hung up the phone. She felt even more empty and hollow after talking to Ann.
They’d been so close for so many years. It was painful to realize that she and
her sister were growing in such different directions and that Ann couldn’t
understand her at all now.

 Cindy got up then to go down to the lobby,
apprehensive about how things between her and Mattheus would go. Oddly enough
though, when she got there, Mattheus was excited to see her. It was odd how men
could go on as if nothing happened, forget an entire upset in one minute flat.
Cindy noticed that Mattheus had dressed for the occasion, looked more dashing
than usual, in beige linen slacks and a brightly colored shirt. She did her
best to disregard it.

“I’ve got us the best table in the house,” Mattheus
said lightly, as he led her through the crowded lobby into the luxurious
restaurant on the water.

Actually, it was wonderful to be in the
restaurant. It was decorated for Christmas, everyone was decked out, and there
was a sense of celebration in the air. Cindy and Mattheus sat at the front
table, where the sun shone on them and light breezes gently drifted by.

“Gourmet French dining at its best,” Mattheus
said as he glanced at the menu.

Cindy ordered sautéed salmon, salad and white
wine. Mattheus chose the same.

After they’d ordered, Mattheus leaned towards
her, reaching out for her hands.

Cindy did not offer them, and he slowly drew his
hands back again.

“Okay,” he said suppressing a smile, “let’s get
right to business.”

“Good,” said Cindy. “My talk with Rori was incredible.
She claims that Tiffany was a drug addict and game me the name of her pusher.”

“Whoah, hold up. What kind of drugs?” asked
Mattheus, disconcertedly.

“She recently graduated to heroine about two
months ago.”

“According to her sister,” said Mattheus.

“I can check it out with the pusher,” said
Cindy.

“That’s a trip we’ll take together,” said
Mattheus, “it’s not a place for you to rummage around alone.

At one time that would have made Cindy feel
cared for, now it irritated her.

Cindy disregarded his comments, “I have more
information,” she said. “Rori also said Tiffany and Frances were in love.”

Mattheus looked startled.

“It’s an important part of the picture,” Cindy said,
“could explain a lot of things, like why Tiffany chose to become engaged to Tad,
who rarely could have sex, was impotent.”

Mattheus’ eyes flashed. “You sound like a
living tabloid.”

Cindy didn’t like that. “Tiffany’s mother said Tiffany
confided in her and told her that.”

“So, that’s why explains Tiffany’s affair with
Frances,” Mattheus remarked. “But why marry a guy who’s got a problem like
that?”

“Rori said Tiffany never intended to marry Tad.
She became engaged to pacify her mom.”

“It’s all very interesting,” said Mattheus, “but
none of it takes us one step closer to who committed this sordid crime.”

“The drug part might,” said Cindy.

“I have my money on Petrovich,” said Mattheus

“You think he killed Tiffany?” Cindy asked
point blank.

“Not him, once of his henchmen. He’s got them
spread out, like tentacles, all over the place.”‘

“What’s the motive?” asked Cindy.

“Not exactly sure yet, but getting closer,”
said Mattheus, definitively.

“Fill me in,” said Cindy.

The waiter brought the food and placed it
luxuriously down in front of them. Mattheus started to eat. He seemed happy to
be there, and hungry. As he ate, Mattheus looked up at Cindy and talked in a
low voice.

“Petrovich is head of a smuggling ring, money
laundering operation, and huge real estate empire. And, he personally controls
every part of it. The cops, politicians and intelligence agents are all in his
grip. And it’s a tight grip, let me tell you.”

“How’d you find all this out?” Cindy asked.

“I put it together,” said Mattheus, talking to
the folks around him.

“You mean the red head?” asked Cindy.

Mattheus looked up at her with a strange look, “let’s
not get into that again.”

“I’m not getting into anything, just asking,” said
Cindy. “Is she part of his covert operation?”

“Yes,” said Mattheus. “She doesn’t think I know,
but I do. She told me last night she was an intelligence agent, with her own
questions about Petrovich.”

“She’s a double agent?” Cindy remarked.

“I’m sure of it,” said Mattheus, his eyes
narrowing.

Cindy picked up her fork, but couldn’t eat.

“So, she’s feeding you false information?” said
Cindy.

“Right” said Mattheus grinning, “but I’m two
steps ahead. I know how to ferret out the truth and read between the lines.”

Cindy put her fork down.

“What’s the matter?” asked Mattheus, “the food’s
fantastic.”

“I’m not so hungry,” said Cindy.

“You need a strong stomach for the work we do,”
Mattheus looked directly at her. “You can’t let developments affect you like
this.”

Cindy realized he was right. She had to learn
to deal with whatever this life laid out before her.

“Tell me more about the cop you ran into,”
Mattheus asked.

“Sanchez Hanuah, from Guadeloupe, showed me his
badge. Wanted me to go for a ride with him.”

Mattheus stopped eating. “Yeah, a ride straight
to hell.”

“He warned us to stop poking around and get out
of town as quickly as we could. He wasn’t kidding, Mattheus. He meant business.”

“So do I,” said Mattheus. “I looked this guy up
after you mentioned him.  There’s no record of anyone like that on the police
force in Guadeloupe.”

Cindy was startled. “Could he be working for
Petrovich?”

“I asked Petrovich about him, too,” said
Mattheus. “He denies knowing anyone like that.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Cindy, “Petrovich’s
security guy at the door knew who he was. The two of them had a relationship.”

“I should have been there with you,” Mattheus said
firmly. “Don’t run away like that again.”

Cindy felt a flush of heat as he said that. “There’s
more too,” she said quickly, defending herself, “Hanuah said you were a typical
ladies man. Someone who easily fell into the trap and that I wasn’t safe with a
partner like that.”

“I’m not a lady’s man,” said Mattheus
definitively. “I was once, years ago. Those days are over forever. You are
completely safe with me.”

Cindy shrugged. “Just telling you what he said.”