Death by Jealousy (15 page)

Mac
whistled between his teeth. “Damn idiots,” he muttered.

  
“You know who they were?” Cindy asked.

“Green
car?” Mac asked, “scratched up?”

Cindy
hadn’t time to look at the details. “It happened fast,” she said. “Someone told
me it was an old, green car. I just saw a bullet out of hell suddenly coming at
me.”

Mac
drank his whole glass down fast. “I’m very sorry about this,” he murmured. “Not
kidding.”

“Sorry?”
Cindy thought that was an odd way to put it, as though he could have done
something to prevent it.

“Of
course I’m sorry,” Mac said. “I should never have left you alone after I took
you back to the hotel. What were you doing in town?”

“Does
that matter?” asked Cindy.

“It
could,” he said.

“I
was taking a walk to clear my head, buying a gift for my sister. Why?”

“Listen,
you stepped into uncharted territory this morning, and you did it alone. The
guys down there have no idea what you’re looking for. They probably found out
that you’re a detective. That’s all they needed to know. Those guys are goons,
they can be dangerous. They’re protecting their turf.”

“Dealing?
Smuggling? What?” asked Cindy.

“I
told you gangs are spreading,” Mac said.

The
waiter came over with menus, but Cindy didn’t have the energy to glance at
them.

“Let’s
have the lunch of the day,” Mac said, “everything here’s delicious. Crab cakes,
soup, salad.”

“Fine,”
said Cindy.

“Cindy,”
Mac said then, in a low, deliberate tone then, “there’s no reason for you to
stay here on the Island. Allie’s body was found, the autopsy’s in. In a day or
two the police will declare it an accident. Case closed. What’s left to do?”

“I
don’t like being bullied,” said Cindy grimly. “I don’t like being driven out of
town.”  

Mac
smiled. “You’re amazing, you’re spunky. But no one’s personally bullying you.
It’s just the way things work. These gangs eliminate whatever feels like danger
to them. You made those guys uneasy.”

“So
they run me over?” Cindy said, “and the police won’t care?”

“They
can’t do a thing about it,” said Mac. “Besides, nothing actually happened, you
weren’t hurt.”

“And
if I was?”

“You
weren’t,” said Mac. “Let’s stay with the facts.”

For
a strange second Cindy felt as if she were sitting here with Mattheus, going
over their day, encouraging each other to stay focused on the facts. It was
eerie.

The
food came and Cindy and Mac both ate hungrily. It was delicious and filling,
and particularly comforting for Cindy to be eating with someone she felt at
ease with.

“You
spend most of your time down here on the Island?” Cindy asked Mac, as she
finished the squash soup.

“Recently,”
he mumbled. “When we started the company, I split my time between here and the
States. After my divorce, I mostly settled down here.”

“I’m
sorry,” said Cindy.

Mac
smiled. “Nothing to be sorry for,” he said. “The split hurt for a little while,
but in the long run, was the best thing that ever happened to both of us.”

Cindy
wondered who his wife was and what had happened between them. “Any children?” she
asked.

“I’ve
got a daughter who won’t talk to me, even if I beg. She feels I let her mother
down. Never saw what her mother was up to - and I never told her. Girls have to
look up to their mothers,” Mac spoke and ate quickly.”

For
no reason at all, Cindy felt tremendously sad for him. She could now see why it
was so important to him to take care of everyone else.

“I’m
sure there are plenty of women down here to date,” Cindy said as she finished
her salad. “It’s a good place to be if you’re divorced.”
Mac smiled wanly. “There are plenty of women everywhere,” he said, “but not any
of them like you.”

Cindy
was taken aback.

“It’s
a playground down here,” he continued, “I hang out at beaches, casinos and gals
of all ages are happy to spend time with me.”

“I
can imagine,” said Cindy.

“Can
you?” asked Mac.

It
was almost time for coffee and dessert.

“And
what about you?” Mac asked before they ordered. “Why didn’t you call Mattheus
when that car came at you. Why did you call me?”

It
was a good question and he had a right to ask it.

“It’s
a long story,” Cindy said, suddenly exhausted. “We don’t have all afternoon.”

“I
have all day, all night, all week, all season,” Mac murmured.

“I
don’t,” said Cindy. “I have to get back to see my sister, and I need time to
rest.”

“Of
course,” Mac said, “but at least tell me why you didn’t call Mattheus this
afternoon?”

Despite
herself, Cindy could not resist. She desperately needed someone to talk to, and
didn’t really want to tell her sister everything. It would only upset her and
Ann would insist that Cindy return home with her immediately. They’d fight
about it. Cindy didn’t want that.

“I’ve
found out some things that have been going on behind my back,” Cindy looked
directly at Mac. “I don’t do well with hiding and lies. If you’re my partner
you’ve got to be open with me. Without trust -.”

“There’s
nothing,” Mac finished her sentence.

“Exactly,”
said Cindy.

“I’m
with you on that,” Mac said strongly. “Been there myself. What did you find out
about Mattheus?”

Cindy
looked down a moment. It wasn’t like her to talk like this, but perhaps Mac
could shed light on what was happening.

“I
don’t know if you realize,” Cindy started, “but Mattheus and Vivien are
spending lots of time together quietly, behind everyone’s backs.”

Mac
looked away.

“It
doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on,” she said.

“How
did you find out about this?” Mac was clearly ruffled.

“Someone
up there is looking out for me,” Cindy smiled.

“I’m
sure they are, but tell me how you found out?” Mac was insistent.

“I
just happened to have a massage early this morning with the woman who massages
Vivien, too,” Cindy said.

“The
masseuse told you?” Mac seemed amazed.

“Yes,
she had no idea who I was, just kept talking and talking to fill up the time. They
do that. People give them bigger tips then. Obviously, she talked to Vivien and
Vivien talked back.  Vivien told her all about Mattheus.”

Mac’s
face darkened. “What else did Vivien talk to her about?”

“I
haven’t the slightest idea,” said Cindy, “but after that I went through
Mattheus’s emails. There were tons of them from Vivien. She’s after him, big
time, doesn’t leave him alone.”

Mac
bit his lips. “Son of a bitch!” he burst out, “she doesn’t have enough in her
life to keep her busy?”

“I
thought she and Tad were a couple?” Cindy sparked to Mac’s anger.

“They
are,” Mac said, bitterly. “Tad’s crazy in love with her, from what I can see.”

“Really?”
Cindy’s back arched. “When I first met them Tad told me the two of them weren’t
close.”

“Tad’s
a minimal guy,” Mac spoke deliberately. “He comes from a poor family, feels
lucky to be where he is. He downplays whatever he gets, is always afraid of
losing it. If he says something doesn’t matter to him, then he probably figures
it won’t hurt so much when it’s taken away.”

Cindy
was impressed with Mac’s insight.

 “Tad’s
based down here and Vivien flies down to the Island all the time to be with
him. They’re good for each other. I’ve been encouraging the relationship. I was
sure they were in love.” Mac looked agitated.

 Cindy
raised her eyebrows.  “I guess there’s all kinds of ways of being in love?”

“Tad’s
a great catch,” Mattheus continued, “he does whatever you ask of him. He’s
dependable, quiet, and gives Vivien everything she asks for. I’ve never seen
him look at another girl either, not even when she’s away.”

“So,
why is she running after Mattheus, then?”

“My
guess is that Mattheus is running after her!” Mac replied vigorously. “Vivien’s
a gorgeous girl, lots of guys want her.”

 “From
the emails it looks like she’s after him,” Cindy exclaimed.

 Mac’s
face flushed. This was getting to him more than Cindy expected.

“Hell,
Vivien’s a loose wire,” he finally said, “l told you before. From time to time
she plays the field. It doesn’t mean much to her, though.”

“Was
that why she and Peter broke up?” It was all becoming clearer to Cindy.

“Yes,
it was,” said Mac. “Peter’s a straight arrow, can’t deal with anything like
that. It was way beyond his comfort zone.”

The
way Mac said it Cindy was suddenly struck with the horrible feeling that Mac and
Vivien also had a fling at one point, too.

“You
also had a fling with her?” Cindy asked in a hushed tone.

Mac’s
hands clenched as he stared in Cindy’s eyes.

“It
was nothing,” he insisted, “just a crazy, wild drunken night. We both forgot
about it the day it was over.”

“Does
Tad know?” asked Cindy.

At
that Mack pushed himself back from the table and stood up tall.

“Tad
doesn’t know and he never will,” Mac pronounced vehemently. Cindy thought he
was going to bang his fists through the table. “And you’ll never tell him or
Mattheus, will you?” he looked fiercely into her eyes.

“Of
course not,” said Cindy, equally fierce. “But for all I know Mattheus is using Vivien
now to gather all this information.”

“What
information? What the hell’s Mattheus going to find out? That a bunch of lonely
people played around with each other from time to time!” Mac’s jaw clenched, “Don’t
fool yourself, Mattheus is just taking an opportunity for a welcome diversion.
The guy probably needs to unwind.” Mac shook his head. “I’m sorry for Tad
though, thought Vivien was through with this.” Then he suddenly realized the
whole picture, and looked at Cindy, sadly. “And I’m very, very sorry for you.”

 Cindy
stood up, irritated. “Don’t be sorry for me.  I’m glad I found out.  Who said I
need Mattheus? I’ve got a whole, new world in front of me.”

 “Yes,
you do,” said Mac emphatically, “and I only hope you’ll include me in your
whole, new, beautiful world.”

Cindy
was silenced. “Include you, how?”

“That’s
for us to find out, isn’t it?” Mac asked, as he and Cindy sat back down.

 Mattheus
had been sitting in the slick, well-appointed office, digging through the
computer files for hours by now. Nothing so far. Everything looked in perfect
order. He had complete access to all the files and no intention of stopping.  Once
in a while, one of the guys in the office stopped by to ask if he needed or
wanted something. They were all expensively dressed, well groomed, living high
on top of their game. Tad was in an office three doors down, in a meeting. He
sent a note that he’d be in to help Mattheus as soon as his meeting was over.
Tad was taking over Peter’s duties until Peter could come back to work.   It
could be a while and there was lots Tad had to be filled in on.

This
company was run like a well-oiled machine. The records were kept to perfection.
Mattheus went over the audit by the forensic accountants once again. Everything
carefully and duly noted. The company dealt with international clients who
invested in major companies around the world. Clearly Peter was being groomed
by his father and Mac to eventually take over.

From
what Mattheus could see, Peter did a flawless job, was in very early and worked
late. He let nothing distract him, not even the many emails from Allie, asking
if he could leave earlier that evening, spend more time with her. Peter
answered each one of her emails, telling Allie that he loved her and would see
her when he got back. Beyond that, there was nothing that Mattheus could find
that was a problem in their relationship. And even that didn’t seem like a
problem.

Mattheus
stopped digging a minute and leaned back in the comfortable leather chair, put
his legs up on the desk and took a deep breath. What the hell did he expect to
find, anyway? A sign of financial wrong doing, a power struggle in the company?
So far there was no reason to suspect either of them.  The only thing that made
Mattheus suspicious was that everything was all tied up too neatly - no rough
edges anywhere.

Mattheus’s
telephone rang. It had to be Cindy, checking into see how he was doing. They
usually spoke by this time of the day. For the past half hour, he’d actually been
wondering why he hadn’t heard from her yet.

“Nothing
yet to report,” Mattheus said, as he picked up the phone.

To
his surprise, Vivien was on the other end.

“I
heard you were spending the day in the office alone,” her voice was lilting and
sweet.

“Who’d
you hear that from?” Mattheus felt odd talking to her at the moment.

“Tad
told me,” Vivien went on. “How long are you going to be there? Can we have an
early dinner alone together before you run back to her?”

“Listen,
Vivien,” Mattheus was going to tell her to forget it, when something overtook
him. There was no reason to say no, she was closely connected to all the people
here. Why shouldn’t he take an extra hour and spend it with her? She was great
to be with anyway, made Mattheus feel as if whatever he said or did made such a
huge difference. At least someone looked up to him.

“Please,”
Vivien’s voice broke into his thoughts. “I really love talking to you. I need
to. Tad’s so busy these days he won’t even realize. I’ve never seen him so
caught up.”

“An
hour or so won’t hurt,” Mattheus agreed reluctantly.

“Does
that mean yes?” Vivien sounded excited.

“Only
an hour or so,” Mattheus’s voice deepened, as he took a deep breath.

 
“That’s beautiful,” Vivien murmured, “but don’t mention it to Tad, whatever you
do.”

  
“Wait a minute,” Mattheus felt uneasy.

  
“Will you call me when you’re ready, or should we just meet somewhere?” Vivien
was breathless.

  
“I’ll call you,” said Mattheus put off. “Why shouldn’t I mention it to Tad?”

   “Just
don’t,” Vivien replied, “I’ll tell you why later.”

“Tell
me now,” Mattheus said.

“It’s
obvious, isn’t it?” said Vivien, “and if it isn’t, figure it out yourself. You’re
the detective, aren’t you?” Then she hung up.

What
was obvious? That Vivien wanted to be alone with him, enjoyed a clandestine
relationship? It wasn’t like him to go along with something like that. And what
about Cindy? Should he not mention it to her either? Mattheus realized at that
moment that he didn’t know much about Tad. Was something strange going on in his
relationship with Vivien?

Mattheus
pulled his legs down off the desk, went back into the computer and decided to
switch accounts and scroll through Tad’s business email account. To his
surprise there were just a few emails from Vivien. Most of them were from Peter,
Mac and other guys at the company.

Mattheus
decided to open the ones from Vivien first.

I’ll
see you at eight tonight,  
she
wrote
.
And, thanks for the bracelet. It’s beautiful. You can’t
imagine how much I’d love the matching necklace, too.

One
thing at a time
,
Tad answered;
remember I told you patience, patience.

Allie
doesn’t have to be patient,
Vivien
wrote promptly back
. She gets what she wants the minute she wants it.

Sweetheart,
Tad responded
,
you’re gonna get whatever you want, too. And more, believe me. I’ve got deals
in the works.

Mattheus’s
eyes opened wide. What kind of deals was Tad talking about?

You
always say you have deals in the works
– now Vivien sounded petulant.

That’s
the business I’m in,
Tad responded.
We make deals and then pick up the cash later. When I get my
cash, you get your jewelry.

Mattheus
shuddered momentarily. The guy had a hungry girlfriend who was pressuring him.
Sounded a bit like pay to play.

Mattheus
stopped scrolling through the emails for a moment, got up and went to the
coffee machine in the room and poured himself a cup. This was probably just the
old story, a gal after a guy for what she could get.  It wasn’t the feeling
Mattheus had about Vivien, but hell, there it was in black and white.

As
Mattheus brought the coffee back to the desk and sat down to drink it, he
thought about Cindy. She was nothing like that. To his shock, he realized that
he’d never even bought her one gift all the time they’d been together. For a
second he felt half badly about it, but then stopped himself. Were he and Cindy
even together now anymore? It had been a long time since they’d shared a bed.
She’d run out on him right after they moved in together, just because he wanted
to take on a case. Was that really a reason to run out on him? Look at these
guys here – working from morning until night. Look at Vivien, happy to get even
an hour alone with him tonight.

Mattheus
finished what was left of his coffee and went back to Tad’s emails. You never knew
what else might be hidden in them.

Most
emails were about business meetings, letters to send, calls to make. Then
Mattheus opened an email from Peter to Tad.

I
need to see you as soon as possible
,
it said.
Please come into my office right away.
Peter sounded agitated.

This
is a rough day,
Tad
answered
.  Busy every minute- how about tomorrow?

Come
right now, it’s an emergency,
 Peter
wrote.

What
was the emergency? Mattheus wanted more. None of the other emails between Peter
and Tad mentioned anything further. Then Mattheus started opening Tad’s emails
to the other guys at work.  One was to a guy named Ned.

Peter’s
calling me in for an emergency meeting
,
said Tad.
Stay alerted.

Damn
it,
answered
Ned.
That guy has his tentacles all over the place.

Stay
alerted,
Tad
replied immediately.

Mattheus’s
heart started to pound. What was Tad alerting Ned to? There were no other
emails to or from Ned. Mattheus wondered what had happened in the meeting with
Peter? What did Peter want to talk about?

Mattheus
picked up the phone and dialed Tad’s extension.  He wanted to talk to him about
this right away. No one answered.

Mattheus
spun back into Peter’s email account immediately. Was there something there he’d
overlooked? What kind of emergency had Peter been dealing with?

Peter’s
business email accounts showed nothing. Mattheus decided to check further into
his files. Mac had given him the overall password that could get into anything.
He opened Peter’s business files, began to scan them and immediately saw one
file had recently been deleted. Two other files had been scrambled. It happened
the day before Allie died.

Mattheus
tried Tad’s phone extension again. Still no answer. Then he decided to call
Peter at the hotel.

Peter
picked up immediately, “Yes?” he responded.

“I’m
checking things at your office,” Mattheus said to Peter immediately.

“Thanks,”
Peter replied.

“I
need your help, Peter,” Mattheus was blunt.

“Of
course,” said Peter, “whatever you need.”

“Can
you come right down to the office and meet me here?”

“Why?
Did you find something?” Peter sounded agitated.

“Just
come as soon as you can,” Mattheus replied.

 “I’ll
be right over,” Peter said.

*

Mattheus
drank another cup of coffee while waiting for Peter to arrive. Something was
brewing, but he wasn’t sure what. Peter sounded nervous, but he also sounded
relieved. Mattheus instinctively knew that his meeting with Peter was going to
open a whole new door.

When
Peter walked in he was dressed casually in khaki slacks and an open shirt. He
looked tired and upset, but also glad to be there. For a long while he stood in
the center of the office and looked around as if trying to ground himself in
the reality that even after tragedy, life goes on.

“It’s
good to be here, even for a little while,” said Peter, as he sat down. “I’m
happy to see you.”

“I’m
sorry for your loss,” said Mattheus, before going into anything.

“Thank
you,” said Peter, somberly. “I don’t know how I’ll go on without her. Everyone
tells me somehow I will – in time.”

Mattheus
was touched by the raw emotion Peter was feeling. It permeated the room.

“You
will go on,” Mattheus tried to encourage him. “It takes time, but things
change. You can’t see how they will at the moment, but they do, all by
themselves.”

Mattheus
looked at Peter directly then. Peter had a straight forward manner, combined
with an old fashioned manner that was striking.

“I
hate to bother you with all this now, “Mattheus went on, “but it’s important. There
are things I have to know about.”

“Me,
too,” said Peter, “I also have my questions. Ask me anything you like.”

Mattheus
leaned closer to him across the desk.

“I
saw an email you sent to Tad asking to come to your office right away for an emergency
meeting.”

Peter’s
brow wrinkled. “Yes,” he said, “that’s right.”

“What
was the emergency?” asked Mattheus plainly.

Peter
glanced at the door, which was half open.

“Do
you want me to shut the door?” Mattheus asked.

“No,
it doesn’t matter now,” said Peter. “There are no secrets anymore.”

“Was
that a secret?” asked Mattheus.

“Not
a secret, I just wanted to be careful and sure. I found something irregular
going on in the company,” Peter started talking abruptly, “there were large
sums of cash being deposited in some accounts, and being withdrawn in odd ways.”

Mattheus
bristled. “Money laundering?”

“It
could be construed that way, “said Peter, “but I don’t know, I’m not sure.”

“Who
was doing it?” Mattheus asked.

“I
have no idea,” said Peter. “Whoever was doing it was clever. The deposits were
made anonymously. After I first caught it, I waited to see if it continued. It
did. So, I was getting ready to tell the Principals about it and take it the
next step.”

“Your
father and Mac?” asked Mattheus, to be sure.

“That’s
right,” said Peter in a suddenly clipped tone. “They were the ones I had to
report it to.”

“You
were getting ready? You didn’t tell them?” Mattheus was confused.

“I
told Tad about it,” said Peter. “He’s my right hand guy. I wanted to talk it over
with him first to make sure he agreed. Heck, this is not something you do
lightly. My dad and Mac would have been horrified, turned the place upside
down. I wanted to make sure first, see what Tad thought.”

“That
was the emergency you called Tad into discuss?” asked Mattheus.