Death by Obsession (19 page)

“Yes, I am,” said Mattheus.

“And what if she turns up suddenly, later on in our
life?” asked Cindy.

“We’ll deal with it then,” Mattheus proclaimed. “You
can’t live your life based on what ifs!”

“But I do live my life that way,” said Cindy. “That’s
how this case got solved.”

The shocking news spread quickly and once again Cindy
was hounded by reporters for interviews.  
No Winners In These Shocking Turn
of Events
 the headlines screamed. Once Again Cindy and Mattheus Save the
Day!

After a long afternoon of speaking to the press,
Cindy and Mattheus sunk back into the sofa in their hotel room. There was a long
list of people still wanting to see them, including Bala, who had returned to
the island with gifts.

“Are she and the boy truly safe here?” Cindy asked
Mattheus after he spoke with her. “Will someone else in the company still want
to take them down?”

“That’s over now,” said Mattheus. “Lynch has complete
control of the company now. And, he’s already contacted Bala twice, asking to
see the boy.”

Cindy perked up, she hadn’t heard that.  “Really?
That’s a huge development.”

“It’s Lynch’s way of honoring Tara and her wishes,”
said Mattheus, “I talked to him about it.”

Cindy felt wonderful hearing that. It was
heartwarming.

“Lynch’s not the cad you once thought,” Mattheus went
on. “This is a fine young man who has been dealt a horrible blow.”

“And he’s doing the honorable thing now,” said Cindy.

“Yes, he is,” Mattheus agreed.

“And how about Dawl? How does he feel about Lynch
seeing the child?” asked Cindy.

“Dawl’s thrilled,” said Mattheus. “Lynch’s testimony
about what his mother said helped Dawl get out of jail. And, Lynch assured him
he’s not taking the boy away. Who knows? One day they could even become friends.”

Cindy felt herself about to cry, as Mattheus reached
out his hand to her.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered.

“I’m so touched,” Cindy said.

“Then, I suppose this is the perfect moment to tell
you something,” Mattheus went on softly.

Cindy felt shivery, not knowing exactly what he had
in mind. “What?”

“I’ve contacted my daughter,” said Mattheus. “We’re
going to meet her together for the first time at the Aupres Hotel, later this
afternoon.”

Cindy stared at him astonished, not able to take in
what she was hearing. “Meet your daughter later today?” she finally whispered.

“It’s all set,” Mattheus replied.

“Mattheus, Mattheus,” Cindy threw her arms around
him.

“I know, I know,” he replied quietly, putting his
arms back around her. “When I heard that Lynch was going to see his son, I knew
immediately how much that would mean to you. And then I thought about myself
and Andrea.”

“Your daughter’s name is Andrea?” Cindy whispered.

“Right,” Mattheus went on. “I finally saw how right
you were. There’s no way we could go forward in our relationship and get
engaged without our both meeting her.”

Cindy shook her head back and forth unbelievingly.
Dreams did come true, prayers were answered, she thought silently, people you
cared about suddenly opened their eyes and grew ten feet tall. “I am so proud
of you, Mattheus,” Cindy whispered.

“I knew you would be,” he smiled proudly, “I just knew
it.

*

Both Cindy and Mattheus showered and changed before
going to the Aupres Hotel, where they were to meet Andrea in the lobby, walk in
the gardens, and then have dinner together in a beautiful restaurant at the
foot of the hill, near a wild life sanctuary. Mattheus had left nothing
unplanned.

Mattheus, silent in the taxi on the way over, held
tightly onto Cindy’s hand.

“I know how hard this must be for you, Mattheus,”
Cindy whispered, holding his hand just as tightly, giving him all the support
she could.

“Hard’s not the right word for it,” he corrected her.
“Terrifying is.”

It was rare for Mattheus to say anything at all was
terrifying.

“I have actually never seen her,” he went on. “I have
no idea what she’s like or what her mother told her about me.”

Cindy was nervous as well. “It’s amazing you were
able to find her now,” she said.

“I’m just as amazed,” said Mattheus. “She still lives
exactly where she was born in Anguilla, nearby.”

“She lives there with her mother?” Cindy asked.

“Seems so,” said Mattheus. “I called down there for
her, and got hold of her easily - if she’s really my daughter?”

“If? You’re not sure?” Cindy was taken aback.

“When I called she picked up. First I asked for her
mother and she said her mother wasn’t in. Then I asked for her mother’s
daughter and without hesitating a second, she said it was her. I was really
taken aback. She asked who was calling and I just said it was her father.”

“My God,” said Cindy, “she must have been shocked.”

“Oddly enough, she didn’t seem so shocked, just got
very quiet. “What do you mean my father? she finally asked. I told her my name
was Mattheus and I’d known her mother a long time ago. At that, she murmured
strangely, as if she’d heard about who I was. At that point I went on quickly
and asked what her name was, how old she was now.”

“It’s amazing she could talk at all,” said Cindy.

“She was fine,” Mattheus remarked. “She said her name
was Andrea, that she’s fifteen now and had been waiting to hear from me a long
time. That threw me for a loop. You’ve been waiting to hear from me?” I said to
her.

Cindy shivered from head to toe. “She’s actually been
waiting to hear from you?  My God.”

“I can’t imagine why,” murmured Mattheus.

Cindy thought about it a second. “Everyone wants to
know where they came from,” said Cindy. You two have the same genetic pool.  And
most parents want to see their biological children too, even if they’ve left
them behind.” 

“I didn’t leave her behind,” Mattheus bristled. “I
was never with her mother at all after that night.  I knew she got pregnant,
but the child didn’t really register.”

“Didn’t you wonder if the mother might have lied to
you about being the father? That she might have had other men?”

“Sure, I thought that in the beginning,” said
Mattheus, “but then I found out that the baby was born nine months to the day
after that night.”

“How did you find that out if you had no more contact
with her?” asked Cindy amazed.

“It gnawed at me in the beginning,” said Mattheus. “So
I got a friend to check it out and find out when the kid was born. Then I sent
the mother a nice chunk of money, in an envelope without a return address.”

New layers were appearing in Mattheus’s story. The
baby had made an impact on him, if only for a short while. Cindy wondered what
else was waiting to be revealed.

“I can’t get my mind around this, Cindy,” said
Mattheus, growing edgy and taut.

“Who could?” said Cindy.

“I figured her mother had moved on, was married by
now and that someone else had stepped in and taken the role of her father.” Mattheus
spoke with great pressure in his voice.

“It’s easy to assume that,” said Cindy.

“Andrea said she’ll be standing in front of the
reception desk in the lobby,” Mattheus continued, “and that she’s tall and
beautiful.”

Cindy smiled, “She told you that?”

“Yes, she did.  She said she’ll be wearing red
bracelets,” Mattheus went on, “and that her skin is so light she passes for
white most of the time.”

That was the first time that Cindy realized that his
daughter’s mother was Caribbean. “Was her mother also beautiful?” Cindy asked,
suddenly fascinated.

“Yes, she was, as far as I can remember,” said
Mattheus. “I told you, it was just a fling. Ships passing in the night who got
drunk at a club one night. The woman didn’t mean anything to me.”

Somehow that made it worse and Cindy suddenly felt
awful for Andrea. “Did the mother ever marry? Was there ever a man in the
picture?” Cindy asked.

“I don’t know,” Mattheus replied. “I wrote to her for
a few times after I sent the money and she wrote back. Then things just tapered
off. She didn’t answer the last note I sent and I figured that someone else was
in her life and our relationship was over. It was a relief.”

“We figure all kinds of things, don’t we?” said
Cindy.

“Yes, we do,” Mattheus murmured, rubbing his face,
nervously.

“Well, in a few minutes, we’ll see for ourselves,”
said Cindy, “we won’t have to guess anymore.”

*

The moment Cindy and Mattheus walked into the Aupres Hotel
they headed to the reception desk. A tall, lithe, beautiful, teen age, young
woman, with long, chocolate brown curly hair, stood there restlessly, three red
bracelets on her arm.

“There she is. You go over,” said Cindy. “I’ll wait
back here.” Cindy wanted to let them have their first moments alone together,
but stood close enough so she could hear and see what went on.

“Oh my God, she’s beautiful,” said Mattheus.

“Very beautiful,” Cindy agreed.

Mattheus gathered his courage then and walked over to
her. “Andrea?” he said, as he approached.

Andrea turned towards him, stopped shifting around, and
looked at him boldly. “It’s you?” she asked, edgy. “You’re Mattheus, my father?”
 

“I’m Mattheus,” he responded, matching her edginess.

Andrea’s lips curled into disdain.  “I didn’t ask if
you were Mattheus,” she said, snappy. “I asked if you were my father?”

“Are you my daughter?” Mattheus replied, clearly
taken off guard.

 “What? Are you some kind of nut?” she answered,
digging in. “You called me and asked me to come here. You said you were my
father.”

Mattheus was so jarred he could hardly speak. “We
have to sit down together and explore this,” he managed finally.

“Explore what?” Andrea looked for a second like she
would explode.

Cindy knew Mattheus was wondering if she was really
his daughter and what it would mean if he acknowledged it without being sure.  He
must have felt he wanted evidence.

“What did you call me here for?” Andrea dug in and
challenged him.

Immediately, Cindy walked over and stepped in to
defuse the situation. “Hi, Andrea,” Cindy smiled, “we’re so happy to meet you. We’re
so glad you came.”

“Who the hell are you?” Andrea bit her lower lip, flashing
a look of anger at Cindy for even being there at all.

“I’m Cindy Blaine,” said Cindy slowly.

“The wife?” Andrea spit out.

“No,” Cindy quickly corrected her, “I’m Mattheus’s
business partner.”

“Look,” said Andrea, “I wasn’t born yesterday. Tell
me another.”

Andrea was obviously street smart and tough, thought
Cindy, on the lookout for trouble.

“We’re private detectives,” Cindy went on, wanting to
give the young woman solid information so she could feel more secure.

“Detectives?” that seemed to shock her. “Does my
mother know that?” Andrea turned to Mattheus, confronting him.

“I haven’t been in touch with your mother for years,”
he said quietly.

“Yeah, that’s what she told me,” said Andrea. “And
she’s wondering why in hell now?”

“Look let’s go sit down together in a comfortable
place,” Cindy suggested. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” Andrea became more defensive. “And
I came to see my father, not you. He didn’t say he was bringing someone.”

“I’m sorry,” said Cindy.

“So take a hike,” she went on. “Leave us alone
together.”

Even though her request made sense, Cindy didn’t feel
like she could go. Oddly enough she felt frightened for Mattheus, as if he
needed protection from this young woman. And Mattheus was right, Cindy suddenly
realized, who knew who she really was? At the moment neither of them could be
positive that this young woman was actually his daughter, after all.

“Cindy and I do everything together,” Mattheus informed
her. There was no way he wanted to be alone with her, either.

“So? What do you want with me?” Andrea got more
restless.

“Let’s go somewhere to talk,” Cindy suggested again.

“Why? This isn’t a party,” said Andrea. “It’s me
meeting my dad for the first time.”

“Of course, I realize that,” said Cindy. “But can’t
we all meet together?”

 “Screw you,” Andrea practically spit in Cindy’s
face. “Don’t try to tell my father and me what we should do. I haven’t seen him
since I was born.” Then she turned straight to Mattheus and stared at him.

Mattheus stared back at her. There was absolutely no
love lost between them.

“My mother said you screwed her and dumped both of us
like a piece of dirt,” Andrea continued, “just a night’s fun.”

“That’s not true,” Mattheus’s back arched.

“Well, I’ll believe my mother before I believe you,”
Andrea answered.  “Give me one reason in the world why I should believe
anything you tell me at all?”

There wasn’t one reason Mattheus could come up with.

“We didn’t contact you to upset you,” Cindy
interjected.

Andrea put her long, willowy arms on her hips. “So,
why did you contact me, then?”

“Mattheus wanted to meet the daughter he never saw,”
said Cindy.

“Just like that? Out of the blue? Nah, I don’t buy
it. You want something from me or from my mother. Who knows if you even are my
father? You probably want to break up my mother’s relationship with Cain.”

“Who’s that?” Mattheus asked, stunned.

“My new dad,” said Andrea. “Somebody we know must
have contacted you, heard that you two were private detectives. Everyone wants
to break their relationship up, but it isn’t happening! Just because Cain’s
been in jail a couple of times doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a second chance.
Besides, he nice to me, very, very nice. I like him.”

Andrea’s strong statement of support for Cain alarmed
Mattheus. “An ex con, tell me more,” he said, suddenly paternal.

“I’m not telling you a word,” Andrea tossed her head,
“because it’s none of your damn business. Nothing about my life is.”

Mattheus extended a hand to Andrea then. “Andrea, let’s
go to the back garden and at least sit down and talk about it. I want to hear
about it. I want to know all about your life.”