Death by Proposal (21 page)

“He’s
still alive. Call the rescue crews and police immediately,” Mattheus yelled as
he slid down the edge of the cliff to each Carl and bring him up to safety.

As
Cindy watched Mattheus disappear from sight she immediately called for police
and rescue crews.

“Is
it over for us?” Dan asked, trembling, holding Clay in a tight grip.

“The
police will be here in a few minutes,” said Cindy, “they’ll take it from here.”

“What
happens then?” Dan looked ravished. “My boy is sick.”

Cindy
looked at both of them intently.

“I
had no idea Clay was coming down here,” Dan was talking at top speed.  “We keep
a careful watch on him.”

“He
went up to see Kate though in New York, didn’t he?” Cindy asked, dumbstruck.

“Yes,
he did, but my wife went with him. She stayed at a room across the hall at the
motel and checked in on him all the time. My boy only needs to be monitored
when he’s sleeping,” said Dan.

 “How
dare you let him date someone?” asked Cindy appalled.

“He
found her online,” Dan murmured. “He found her himself. He sent her his poems.
She loved them. It made him so happy, we didn’t have the heart to say no. He
didn’t mean for this to happen. He never meant to hurt her. It must have
happened in his sleep.”

“Clay
threw Carl off the edge of the cliff in broad daylight,” said Cindy stonily, “while
he was wide awake.”

Dan
hung his head in despair then. “The sickness must have progressed,” he said
softly. “Nobody had any idea.”

The
headlines read, Sleepwalker Strikes In His Sleep. Killer found his prey online,
looking for love. Is it murder or is he criminally insane? Is his family
responsible?

Endless
commentators responded to those questions, both on TV and online.

The
headlines continued:  Brave Detective Finds The Killer At Risk To Her Own Life.
 

Once
again Cindy was receiving citations on the news and in person. Once again calls
were coming in for her from all over the world.

“The
detective’s partner Mattheus also risked his life,” Cindy added, as reporters
thronged around her. “Mattheus arrived just in the nick of time, and rescued us
all. Thanks to him, Kate’s uncle Carl is in hospital, recovering and doing
well.”

“It
was nothing,” Mattheus responded to the reporters, shrugging it off.

After
rescuing Carl, Mattheus had refused to leave Cindy’s side. And, there was no
way he wanted any praise in this matter. Mattheus told Cindy that he could never
forgive himself for not being there with her. What happened was his fault
entirely. He should have listened to her carefully, he’d been selfish,
arrogant. He wasn’t a good partner to her any longer.

Although
Cindy agreed, she said nothing. After all, he’d finally shown up. His strength
re-appeared. It was always there inside him, waiting.

“Are
we done?” asked Mattheus lamely.

“I
don’t know,” Cindy replied. “We need to work on our relationship. And we can’t
do it alone.”

“Are
you talking about therapy?” asked Mattheus, looking as though he’d bitten into
a very sour lemon.

Cindy
laughed and he hugged her.

“Couples
therapy is not the worst idea in the world,” said Cindy. “Better people than us
have been through it.”

“I
thought a good vacation would help straighten things out,” Mattheus responded.

“A
vacation is one thing,” said Cindy slowly, “talking out our differences with
someone who can help us is something else.”

Mattheus
shivered a second and pulled Cindy closer to him. “I’ll do anything you ask,”
he said slowly, putting his face down in her hair. “I love you and don’t want
to lose you. I would die if anything happened to you. And I almost let it
happen.”

Cindy
closed her eyes then as he held her close. The feelings between them were
strong and powerful. But they came in waves and then receded.

“I’ll
do anything you ask, anything,” Mattheus repeated.

“I
don’t want to lose you either, Mattheus,” said Cindy, “but I don’t really have
you, the way we are now.”

“Well
said,” said Mattheus softly. “You find someone to help us, and I’ll go for it.”

The
phone rang then shrilly. As Cindy put her hand on it to pick it up, Mattheus stopped
her.

“No
calls now, no new cases. Give us some time first to work things out,” he said. “At
least a month together before we go back to work.”

“A
month?” said Cindy.

“You
can’t deny there’s something strong between us,” said Mattheus.

“I
don’t deny it,” said Cindy. “I never did.”

“It’s
special, it’s precious, it’s hard to find. Let’s take a month to decide if we’ve
got what it takes to make our relationship work. Then we can even set a date to
get married,” Mattheus added lovingly. “I even bought the ring.”

Cindy
was shocked to hear that.

“You
told me to wait for a happier time to give it to you,” he murmured. 

“That’s
the surprise you had for me?” asked Cindy unbelievingly.

“It’s
still here in my pocket,” Mattheus grinned. “You want to see it?”

“Of
course I want to see it,” said Cindy, “not this minute, but soon.”

NOW AVAILABLE!

DEATH
BY OBSESSION
Book #8 in the Caribbean Murder Series

Tap
here to download DEATH BY OBSESSION on Amazon now
!

In
DEATH BY OBSESSION, the next installment in the #1 Bestselling Caribbean Murder
series, a huge destination wedding, merging two blueblood families, is about to
take place in St. Martin, when Cindy and Mattheus get an emergency call from
the father of the bride. He wants them to come down to the island immediately
and dig up dirt on the groom. He can’t shake his bad feeling about the guy,
even though all his other investigations didn’t turn up a thing.
Cindy and Mattheus, who have been spending time building their relationship and
are much closer, agree to come down on a lark and see what they can find. With
help from informants from the seamy side of the island, they stumble upon a
shocking secret that no one knows about: not his friends, not his family, and
not his bride.
Cindy and Mattheus disagree about what should be done. But as the father
confronts the bride with the news, it sets off a dramatic and unexpected
response. Soon, a sudden death follows.
As all of this is going on, Cindy unexpectedly discovers something that also
shakes her world: Mattheus, too, has a deep, dark secret that he has never told
her. As Cindy and Mattheus investigate the awful homicide, they must also deal
with this new revelation which threatens to tear their relationship apart.
Death by Obsession brings us into the heart of love, passion, secrets and lies.

D
EATH BY OBSESSION is a stand-alone novel,
and is also Book #8 in the Caribbean Murder series.

Tap
here to download DEATH BY OBSESSION on Amazon now
!

Books by Jaden Skye

THE CARIBBEAN MURDER SERIES
DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1)
DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2)
DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3)
DEATH BY DESIRE (Book #4)
DEATH BY DECEIT (Book #5)
DEATH BY JEALOUSY (Book #6)
DEATH BY PROPOSAL (Book #7)
DEATH BY OBSESSION (Book #8)
THE TOM’S RIVER SAGA
A PERFECT STRANGER (Book #1)

Tap
here to download Jaden Skye books on Amazon now!

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