Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (17 page)

“This couple had to stand out,” Cindy
insisted.

The guy next to Cindy quickly shook his
head, as if to tell the bartender to keep quiet.

“If we find out that you saw the couple
and you keep it from us, that’s obstructing an investigation,” Cindy informed
the bartender.

The bartender hedged.  “Yeah, I think I
remember something. Some local, young guy comes in, once in a while, with a
very pretty, Caribbean girl. We don’t ask any questions, it’s none of our
business. They come in and sit at the table over there. They stay a little
while and then they go. He pays in cash.”

Cindy’s heart started beating fast. “Who
is he?” she demanded. This information could save Andrea’s life.

“I really don’t know,” the bartender
said, suddenly rapping his knuckles on the bar. “It’s not part of my job to
know exactly who the customers are.”

“What do they do when they sit there?”
Cindy was on fire.

“They have a drink and talk to each
other,” the bartender replied carefully.

“Do they seem close?” Cindy couldn’t
stop asking.

“Hell, how do I know?” the bartender
shrugged. “Everyone seems close until they aren’t.”

“Anything else you noticed about them?”

“Nothing, I know nothing, I told you,
and neither does anyone else,” he was getting fidgety now.

 “That’s it,” the guy next to Cindy
broke in. He and the bartender were obviously friends. “There’s no reason to
pull him into this mess.”

“A young girl’s life could be at stake,”
Cindy turned to him. “If there’s a witness that puts her here at the time of
the murder, he could be saving her life. What time was she here?”

“I really don’t know,” the bartender had
enough. “I have no way of knowing that. I just remember seeing them. I don’t
know when they were here or for how long.”

Cindy’s excitement faded somewhat. At
least part of Andrea’s alibi was true. She had been seen here with someone. Of
course it wouldn’t amount to much unless they could say exactly when.

“Did anyone else see them?” asked Cindy.

 “Now you’re going too far,” the
bartender backed off. “I have no idea who was here and saw them. And I have no
idea who the guy is.”

“If by some chance he should come in
again and you see him, would you please get his contact information for me,”
Cindy asked.

The bartender threw his head back and
closed his eyes a second, “If by chance he comes in, I will,” he echoed as
Cindy realized that there was absolutely no way  he meant what he said. “Anyway,”
he went on, “you want a drink?”

Cindy really didn’t. She stood up and the
guy beside her had stood up as well, irritated.  This certainly wasn’t the kind
of thing he came to the bar for.

Cindy turned to him anyway, “You’re sure
you didn’t see them, either?” she asked casually, just in case for some reason
he might have.

“Not a chance,” he responded, patted
Cindy on the shoulder, lowered his head and said, “it’s not a good idea to keep
pursing this. There are people around here who make sure this part of the
island is kept trouble free. The tourist trade and the value of the homes here
depend on it.  They don’t like detectives snooping around. They won’t take well
to it.”

“And who are these people, if you don’t
mind my asking,” Cindy wouldn’t let him off the hook.

The guy smirked. “You didn’t hear what I
said,” he answered. “They don’t answer questions like that.” Then he turned and
walked to the other end of the bar, sat down and turned his back to her.

*

Cindy easily got a cab to take from
Magenta’s Tavern back to the hotel.  As she sat down in it, she was surprised
to realize how exhausted she was. It had been a grueling day. But, at least
this trip was not in vain. Andrea had actually been seen here. Her story wasn’t
total fantasy. That was something, at least. The bartender’s shift was from
noon until seven, so at some point during those hours she’d actually been in
the Tavern. Cindy was excited to tell both Mattheus and Sean about this. The
fact that Andrea had been seen here gave some support to her claim.

But Cindy needed more and she didn’t
want to let another moment go by. It suddenly struck her that Petra would know
about Andrea’s visits to Magenta Tavern. She might well know who Andrea met
there. Cindy quickly leaned over to the taxi driver and told him to go straight
to Petra’s house.

Evening was approaching as the taxi drove in the
fading light to Petra’s house. Cindy expected she’d be home. Where else would
she go? Cindy had heard that these days Petra had been laying low in her home,
not talking to many people.

When Cindy got out of the taxi, she walked quietly
to the front door. To her surprise it was ajar. She could just push a bit and
go in. For a moment she was going to do that, but then decided to ring the bell
first.  Cindy rang and rang and no one answered.

Finally Cindy pushed the door open a little more and
heard loud music playing. It was probably drowning out the sound of the bell.
She took another few steps down the familiar hallway and then walked straight
into the living room.

To Cindy’s total amazement, Petra sat on the sofa
with Mattheus. They both had drinks in their hands and were smiling. Again?  Cindy
couldn’t believe her eyes.  Another rendezvous?

“Excuse me for interrupting,” said Cindy as she
stood at the edge of the room.

Petra and Mattheus stopped talking at the same
moment and looked over at Cindy.

Petra jumped up, in horror. “You don’t believe in
knocking?”

“I rang the bell many times,” said Cindy.

Mattheus got up and came over as well. “The music
was loud, we didn’t hear you,” he said, looking nervous.

“So I gather,” said Cindy, shocked and amazed to see
him here again.

Petra was agitated. “You have a lousy habit of walking
in on people, you know. What are you, some kind of crazy stalker?”

“I just came from Magenta’s Tavern,” Cindy replied, ill
at ease. She didn’ t know exactly what had drawn her to Petra’s place this
moment when Mattheus was here, but she was glad she’d come. And, of course,
that didn’t deny the fact that Petra was right, she should have knocked or
called. On the other hand, finding Mattheus with Petra was totally
disconcerting. He hadn’t said a thing to Cindy about going to talk to her
again. Obviously they were developing some kind of relationship.

“What happened at the Tavern?” Mattheus was right on
it.

“The bartender remembered seeing a pretty young
Caribbean girl there a few times with a guy from that area,” said Cindy. “That
had to be Andrea.”

“Oh wow,” Mattheus was excited.

“Beyond that, nothing. He doesn’t remember what time
she was there exactly,” Cindy spoke to Mattheus as though he were a distant,
business acquaintance.

“Cindy, it’s great that you found that out,” Mattheus
jumped off the sofa and took a step over to her.

Cindy’s body jerked away instinctively.

“What so great about it?” Petra dove in. “I could
have told you that. Andrea went to Magenta’s Tavern regularly. So what?”

“So, it could prove her alibi,” said Cindy.

“Nothing’s gonna prove her alibi,” Petra suddenly
became sullen. “No one wants it proven.”

“Don’t start that again,” Mattheus said to her.

Cindy looked at the two of them partially disgusted,
partially unmoved.

“Petra believes that Andrea’s gonna get killed in
jail,” Mattheus commented.  “She called me here to tell me that.”

“By who?” asked Cindy coolly,

“What’s wrong with you, Cindy?” Mattheus asked.

“What’s wrong
with me?” Cindy finally flared up. “I’m not the one who declares their undying

love one minute
and then runs to be with another woman the next.”

“His undying
love?” Petra laughed out loud. “For who? For you? It’ll never last, honey. You’re
not the kind for him. Guys like Mattheus need a woman who can be there for them
all the time, whatever happens, no matter what.”

Obviously that
was the way Petra ran her love life, and look what it lead to. Cindy wondered what
else her comment was implying. Had Mattheus told her personal details about
their relationship?

Cindy shuddered
at the thought of it.

“Sounds like
Mattheus has given you an earful,” said Cindy.

“An earful of
lots of things,” Petra smiled, throwing out the gauntlet at Cindy.

“This is going
too far,” Mattheus didn’t like it. He tried to break in. “I’m here to find out
more about Andrea, just like you are, Cindy.”

Cindy refused to
engage with Mattheus, though. “I came here to find out who the guy is that

Andrea meets at
Magentas,” Cindy said straightforwardly to Petra.

“If I knew his
name, I’d tell you,” Petra’s eyes flared. “But I don’t. No one does. Andrea’s
keeping it secret.

“Why?” Cindy
demanded.

“Why not?” asked
Petra.

“Playing games
with me isn’t going to help a thing,” Cindy took her on. “I’m here to help your
daughter.”

“Don’t give me
that,” Petra snapped. “You’re here to take Mattheus far away from

his daughter. You’re
here to help yourself. You want Mattheus back, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t,”
said Cindy and meant it. “In fact, I can’t wait to solve this case and get out
of here.”

That truly
pleased Petra, “Be my guest,” she jumped right in. “Get out of here now.”

“You don’t want
everyone possible here, helping to free your daughter? That’s peculiar to me,”

Cindy looked at
her accusingly.

“Everything’s
peculiar to you because you don’t belong here, and you don’t understand our

world,” Petra
replied. “So I can’t see how you’re gonna do any good.”

 “Especially
when you don’t really want your daughter freed,” Cindy replied menacingly. “Do

you, Petra?”

Petra winced. “You
accusing me of something again?”

“I don’t know,
Petra, should I be?” Cindy took a step closer to her. As she did, she noticed
Petra’s eyes were bloodshot. She’d probably been drinking. “You had a lot to
gain by Cain being dead, didn’t you?”

“Oh yeah? What?”
Petra seemed suddenly woozy.

“How about you
and your boyfriend, for starters?” Cindy wasn’t holding anything back.

“I told you the
guy I was with was a neighbor,” Petra insisted.

“Who said him? I
mean Mattheus,” Cindy shot back.

Mattheus gasped
at that comment. “That’s ridiculous, Cindy, it’s nuts,” he exclaimed.

Petra smiled a
long, languid smile though, “Now that’s something that’s not such a bad idea,”
she crooned. “I can think of lots of worse boyfriends to have than Mattheus. If
you ask me he looks even better now than he did years ago when I first met him.”

“This is crazy!”
Mattheus shot back at Petra. “What are you trying to do? Get both of

 us locked up?”

Petra threw back
her head, laughed loudly, flung herself at Mattheus and put her arms around his
neck.  “Honey, I can think of a lot of worse things than being locked up with
you!”

Cindy cringed as
Petra tossed her a backhanded look over her shoulder. It was as if she were
saying, he’s mine now. I got him. Go take a walk.

*

Cindy took Petra’s
advice and stormed out of the house without another word. She wasn’t

taking any walk
though, but heading straight to the jail to speak to Andrea one more time.
Andrea

deserved to know
that part of her alibi had been verified. Maybe when she heard that she’d tell
Cindy

the name of the
guy she’d been there with.

Despite the late
hour, Cindy was admitted into the holding station without much ado. By now

The police there
and guards knew who she was.

“I need to see
Andrea right away,” Cindy said to the main guard the moment she entered.

Cindy’s urgency
frightened him a little. “Why? What’s happened?” he exclaimed. “More trouble

coming?”

Cindy knew he was
referring to the beating Andrea had undergone. “Could be,” Cindy

answered, to
make sure he’d let her in.

“Well, tell us
about it first,” the guard requested.

“I’ll tell you
about it after I talk to Andrea,” Cindy exclaimed, holding it as a card to
insure they’d

let her in.

Without further fuss, the guard took a ring of keys
and lead Cindy down the hallway to the waiting section.

“We don’t usually get visitors this late at night,”
he mumbled as they walked along.

“It’s urgent,” Cindy repeated and he grew quieter as
they approached the waiting section.

“I’ll sit here,” said Cindy, “while you go get
Andrea.”

To Cindy’s relief the guard did exactly as she told
him to. Cindy hoped that the time of night and intensity of the visit might job
something loose in Andrea, get her to talk to her honestly.

*

In just a few minutes the guard returned, with
Andrea following him, looking scared.

“Sit here,” he commanded her, roughly, motioning to
a chair opposite Cindy.

Andrea sat down, staring at Cindy, almost in tears.

“We need to be alone now,” Cindy said to him, in an
authoritative tone.

“Got it,” he replied, grumbling, and walked back
down the hallway.

“What happened?” asked Andrea nervous. “Why are you
here so late?  Did something happen to my mom?”

Cindy thought it was interesting that Andrea would
think that. “Why do you think that?” she probed.

“Because she’s all alone now,” Andrea’s voice
sounded as if she were wailing.

“What about her friend? The neighbor who came here
with her?” Cindy asked promptly.

“He’s just a neighbor, he’s in and out,” Andrea
looked more frightened. “If she’s alone anyone can harm her.”

“Was that your job, Andrea, to take care of your
mother?” Cindy asked then, breathlessly.

“It was one of my jobs,” said Andrea. “Why?”

“And what were the others?” Cindy had to hear.

“What do you want from me now? Why did you come so
late?” Andrea’s lower lip started to tremble.

Cindy reached out her hand and put it on Andrea’s. “I
didn’t come to upset you. I came to tell you interesting news. It could be important,
it could help you.”

“What is it?” Andrea’s eyes opened.

“But you have to cooperate with me, too,” Cindy took
her hand back. “You have to answer my questions.”

“I’m answering them as best I can,” Andrea looked
both helpless and terrified at the same time.

Cindy decided to calm her down, give her the news
and hoped that would cause her to respond.

“I went to Magenta Tavern,” Cindy started, “and the
bartender told me he saw you there.”

“What?” Rather than relieve her, she grew more
alarmed. “Why did you do that? That’s crazy.”

“I went to confirm your alibi,” Cindy exclaimed. “No
one else had, I told you I wanted to. And I did. The bartender said he saw you
there with a guy. Is he the one who loves you?”

“Shut up,” Andrea snapped back. “It’s none of your business.”

“Of course it’s my business, I’m here to help you,
Andrea.”

“That’s what he said too, he said he’d always help
me. But where is he now? Nowhere.  Has he even come to the jail once to see me?
No. None of my friends have come to visit. And I’ve even gotten a weird note
saying that now he’s seeing someone else.”

“I want to see that note, Andrea, I have to see it,”
Cindy said intensely.

“I ripped it up right after I read it,” Andrea
exclaimed. “Then I got other notes, pressuring me to confess, or else.”

“Did you rip those up too?” asked Cindy.

“Of course. The notes said I should rip them up
right away, or I’d get beaten even worse than ever. And besides that, I hear
someone walking back and forth outside my cell late at night. When I told the
police, they paid no attention.”

“Andrea, you must tell me who beat you up?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t know, they had a mask on,”
she finally breathed. “There are all kinds of idiots who enjoy beating me up.”‘

“You’ve got to tell me who the guy is you were with
at Magenta’s,” Cindy insisted now. “They saw you with him at Magenta’s but no
one will say who. I asked but they wouldn’t!”

 Andrea shot up and started pacing back and forth. “You
did the wrong thing, you did the wrong thing,” she howled, breathlessly. “It’s
nobody’s business, no one at all. You’re making it worse for everybody.”

Cindy was shocked by her reaction.  She got up and
caught her by the shoulders.

“Andrea, calm down this minute,” Cindy spoke in an
authoritative tone. “If you have an alibi and someone confirms it, it will help
you get out of jail.”

“So then they’ll kill me the minute I get out,”
Andrea started moaning.