Death by Seduction (21 page)

“And
what’s Henry going to do to me? Throw me out?” Cindy felt irate by the
suggestion.

“I
never saw this side of you, Cindy,” Angela’s lips began quivering. “But it’s
obvious to me now that Loretta is right. You came down here to help her, and
you’ve turned against her. You’ve become her enemy, now.”

Cindy
felt both hurt and furious at the same time. “I’m not anyone’s enemy, Angela,”
she insisted. “Not unless they’ve done something wrong.”

“See
that, deep in your heart you’re blaming Loretta,” Angela repeated. “You have no
idea how to forgive.”

“I’m
not blaming anyone, I’m just looking for answers,” Cindy insisted, “and what
exactly is it I have to forgive?”

“Forgive
Loretta for her blindness, for the terrible pain she’s been living with,”
Angela whispered in a soft tone, suddenly. “You’ll make things easier for her
if you forgive.”

“It’s
not up to me to forgive her for that,” Cindy answered, directly. “I feel badly
about it, I wish she weren’t suffering, but the way out of it is for her to face
the truth.”

“That
may be the way for some, but not everyone, ”Angela began breathing quickly. 
“Some of us can’t take it. It’s just too much.”

*

Cindy
left her meeting with Loretta and Angela completely rattled. Loretta was sicker
than Cindy had realized. But that did not eliminate Cindy’s need to find out
why she gave Lou Gran the hundred thousand. For a moment, Cindy suddenly wanted
to call Mattheus and talk it over with him. But she stopped herself, thought
better of it. She didn’t want to just step back into their relationship as if
nothing  had happened. They needed time to talk things over, find a new way to
go forward if they decided to do so.

Instead,
to her surprise, Cindy decided to call Eric. He’d been on the case with her
step by step up and she wanted to tell him what had happened.

To
Cindy’s delight the moment she called, Eric picked up. “I’m so relieved to hear
from you,” he said without hesitation.

“I
want to fill you in on what’s happening,” Cindy answered  in a shaky tone.

“What’s
wrong?” Eric asked immediately.

“I
just went to see Loretta,” Cindy went on breathlessly, “I wanted to ask about
her being the one to leave the deposit on the condo. Not only did she tell me
it was all lies, she got furious and discharged me.  She told me to get out of
the Dominican Republic immediately.”

“You’re
not going anywhere,” said Eric emphatically. “You’re on the case and if any
problem arises, just say you’re working for me.”

“Thank
you,” said Cindy quietly.

“I
had no idea this dame was such a nut,” Eric then continued.

“She’s
not a nut,” Cindy wanted to defend Loretta, “just drinking a lot and finally
realizing that her husband is gone. Anyone who brings the truth to her becomes
her enemy. Right now she’s spiraling downwards and a bit out of control.”

“That’s
a ticking time bomb and lethal cocktail,” warned Eric.

“Exactly,”
Cindy agreed. “But I need to know more about the deposit, and she’s not going
to say a word.”

“Why
don’t I take you down with me to see Taylor?” Eric suggested softly then. “He’s
got to know more about this.”

“Taylor?
You know where he’s hiding?” Cindy was shocked to hear that and also pleased
that Eric offered to take her with him.

“Yes,
I found out,” Eric answered, “and you can’t go down there alone. It’s out of
the question.”

 “I’d
love to go with you, as soon as we can,” Cindy agreed immediately.

“How
about an hour?” asked Eric.

“Great,”
Cindy felt huge relief.

“And
one more thing,” Eric asked swiftly.

“What?”
asked Cindy.

“How
come you didn’t call Mattheus when this all happened, and called me instead?”

 Eric’s
question was unexpected and silenced Cindy for a long moment.

“We’ve
been working on this together all along,” Cindy finally replied.

“Yeah,
of course we have, but Mattheus’s down here now,” Eric was persistent. “He’s
smart, he’s strong, he’s a great detective.”

“But
I called you,” Cindy echoed.

“That’s
right,” Eric’s voice dropped. “And I want to know how come?”

Cindy
hoped Eric wouldn’t bring that question up again when she met with him and
thankfully he didn’t. Instead, he quickly bundled her into a car with dark
windows and had the driver take off in a flash.

“There’s
no need for you to see where we’re going,” Eric started, “or for anyone else to
see us there, either.”

“We’re
off to the dark side of the Dominican?” Cindy commented.

“Every
place has its dark and light sides,” Eric answered, “but where we’re going
it’s  darker, for sure.”

“Thanks
for taking me with you,” Cindy offered as felt the car whirring down the street
at a tremendous pace.

“I
like Taylor, he’s a fascinating guy and gold mine,” Eric said as the racing car
thrust them closer to one another.

It
was interesting to Cindy that Eric found Taylor fascinating. Certainly, no one
else did.

Eric
certainly had an appreciation for a wide range of people.

“Taylor’s
obviously dug too deep and found something he shouldn’t, or he wouldn’t have
received the threat,” Eric continued confidentially. “If you want the truth, the
minute he told me about it, I arranged for him to come down here and lay low.”

“Thank
God you did that,” breathed Cindy.

“It
was the least I could do,” said Eric. “The police couldn’t care less about the
threat. They make light of everything when it serves their needs. When Taylor
told them what happened they said, hundreds of threats being made every day.
Most amount to nothing.”

Cindy
was relieved to hear that the police didn’t know where Taylor was. She’d had a
passing thought that they might turn up with Mattheus while she was down here
interviewing him. The last thing she needed now was to feel nervous about
running into Mattheus.

The
car Cindy and Eric were driving in pulled up under a row of low laying, heavy
trees. Eric leaned forward and said something to the driver, who grunted in
return.

“We’re
here,” Eric said to Cindy. “Take it slow, it’ll all turn out fine.” Then he
opened the car door, and gave Cindy a hand out.

Cindy
stepped out into the shade of the overgrown trees and looked around. A row of shaky
huts stood beside one another on a narrow street. The entire place was empty
and oddly  quiet for this time of day. Cindy felt as though she’d landed in a
hidden basin of the island that was disconnected from everywhere else.

“Where
are we?” asked Cindy, looking around.

“It
doesn’t matter where,” Eric responded quickly as he took her elbow and led her along
the narrow street.

“This
neighborhood is a hideout?” Cindy asked as they walked and wondering how Eric
knew about it, what connections he had down here.

Eric
only smiled. “Taylor is holed up in that small shack at the end of the block,” he
said, “he’s expecting us.”

“Exactly
what kind of threat he received?” Cindy asked, confronting Eric face to face.

“Taylor
will tell you himself,” Eric responded, as they approached the hut. “Actually,
he said he’s looking forward to seeing you.”

That
surprised Cindy. “Really?”

“Taylor
likes and respects you,” replied Eric, “I told him I could certainly see why.”

“I
respect him as well,” said Cindy, “He’s going all out for his brother and  I’m
sure it gets lonely when you end up in hiding.”

“It
gets lonely whether or not you’re hiding,” Eric replied, tossing a quick,
searching glance at Cindy.

Cindy
didn’t respond to Eric’s questioning glance. Instead, she walked more quickly
up to the front of the shaky door of the hut Taylor was in, and knocked.

 Taylor
opened up quickly. “Come in,” he said, excited to see them and looking more
pulled together than Cindy had ever seen him before.

Cindy
and Eric walked in to the small space inside, which was surprisingly neat and
tidy. She guessed Taylor’s time down here alone had been valuable for him in
many ways.

“Sit
down,” Taylor went on, “thanks so much for coming.”

“I’m
so sorry you’ve had to go through these threats, Taylor,” Cindy started.

“I’m
not,” he grimaced. “The idiots are all coming unraveled now. Let them threaten
me all they like. It’ll just blow the case wide open and help us solve it
faster.  I’m not staying here long anyway. It’ll all be over soon.”

“Yes,
it will,” Eric agreed. “You made a huge find, and as soon as the pieces are
tied up, you’ll walk out of here a safe man.”

Taylor
looked at Eric gratefully. He and Eric had obviously built a warm relationship
and Cindy was touched by that.

“Who
threatened you, Taylor? What did you find out that scared them?” Cindy couldn’t
wait for details.

Taylor
threw his head back and laughed for a second at Cindy’s rapid, gunfire
succession of questions.

“I’m
guessing it’s either someone from the real estate company or the place where
Pete worked. The two places are linked, there’s a connection between them.”

Cindy
sat on the edge of her seat. “Like what?”

“When
I dug deep into the books I found lots of money siphoned by Pete from his
company to Val. He gave it to him under the table but there are always traces
if you know how to look.”

“Pete
was stealing from the company he worked for?” Cindy was genuinely surprised.

“I
would call it stealing, but Pete could have thought of as making a silent
investment, if you know what I mean?”

“My
God,” breathed Cindy. “And what did Pete get back for doing it?”

“Plenty,”
Taylor mumbled.

“Do
you have a specific trail?” asked Cindy.

 “Sure
I got a trail, I got all kinds of information,” Taylor became smug. “And from
where I sit, the hundred thousand dollars down payment Val said he couldn’t
find was probably only part of it.”

“No,
it wasn’t. Pete never gave anyone a hundred thousand,” Cindy stopped him.
“Loretta was the one who gave that money to someone else there, a guy named  Lou
Gran..”

Taylor
looked surprised for a minute and then guffawed. “Tell me another,” he said. “You
can’t believe what any of them say.”

Cindy
felt aghast, wondering if it were true what Loretta said, that she never gave
the money to Lou Gran?

“That
hundred thousand came from Loretta’s father, so for all we know, both Pete and
Loretta could have been stealing from Henry, too,” Taylor went on. “But it
doesn’t matter a damn what happened to the hundred thousand. Actually, Pete was
just about to sign papers for the condo with any down payment at all. It was a freebee
the company was giving him, probably in exchange for all the money Pete had siphoned
off to them.”

Cindy
needed time to process this. “Pete was getting the condo without a down
payment?”

“Yup,” I have
copies of the papers. “And, in his name only, to boot.”

“What happened?”
Cindy was totally on the alert. “Why didn’t the deal go through?”

Taylor stood up,
stretched slowly and threw Cindy a knowing glance. “There was a

sudden
glitch. The real estate company reneged, the deal got called off and the next
day Pete got killed. I got it all in black and white. I found a record of every
single thing. Charma had nothing to do with it all.”

“God
bless you for getting this,” Eric spoke heavily.

“Did
you give this to the police?” Cindy was on edge.

“Every
bit of it,” said Taylor and they just laughed in my face, “said it was conjecture
and rumor and wouldn’t stand up in court.”

“Did
you tell them you had it in writing?” Cindy grew irate.

“Sure,” said
Taylor, “and the next day I got the death threat. I was warned I’d be

killed
if I gave the police the papers I had. But sooner or later the police going to
have to get it, and as soon as they do, case closed.”

“Why
are the police refusing?” Cindy was stunned.

Taylor’s
face grew tough. “It’s hard to let their main suspect go. Makes them look
pretty dumb, doesn’t it? Once they see what I’ve got they’re going to have to
take on the real estate company and Pete’s company as well.  That’s lots of red
tape to wind their way through. There’s got to be people at both companies
paying these cops off, real good, too.”

Cindy
saw the depth of corruption that paved the paths on the Island.

“It’s
okay,” Taylor went on. “Eric’s got some people on it now, tracking down the guy
who threatened me. As soon as we find him, the case is finished.”

“I’d
say the case is finished now,” Cindy stood up, restless.

“It’s
still circumstantial,” Eric objected. “I want definite proof of who made the
threat.”

“They’ve
nailed people with less circumstantial evidence than this,” Cindy replied,  turning
to Taylor then. “Is there anything else you have in writing to back this all up?”

“I
do,” Taylor went on, “I have letters I found to Pete from Loretta’s father,
Henry, demanding his money back.”

“So,
Henry knew about everything that was going on?” Cindy murmured.

“Of
course he did,” answered Taylor. “I could have told you that before I came down
here. Henry’s letters to Pete went on for a couple of years and then stopped a
few days before Pete was killed.”

“Oh
my God,” gasped Cindy, “do you think Henry was involved in Pete’s murder?”

Taylor
grinned strangely, “No, not at all. Henry was just another victim of Pete’s
stupid scams. But recently Henry had enough of it. When he couldn’t get what he
wanted from Pete, seems like he went to the people in the real estate company
and threatened to blow the whistle on them all.  He  ruffled feathers big time
and even struck up a relationship with one of Charma’s tricks, John Burnd.”

“Henry
knew Burnd?” Cindy was horrified.

“Yeah,
and Henry met Burnd at the whorehouse, when Henry was tracking Pete down. He
told me no one knew more about what went on than Burnd. He was definitely
Charma’s main man.”

Cindy
threw a quick glance at Eric, but his face was unruffled, showing no response.

“I
want to talk to Burnd again immediately,” Cindy declared suddenly.

“There’s
no reason for it,” Taylor insisted .

“Yes,
there is. Burnd knows more than we realize,” Cindy felt it deeply.

“A
waste of time,” Taylor shook his head.  “Val’s the one to track down. Whatever
happened, he engineered it.  The money trail from Pete leads straight to him.” Taylor
turned to Cindy then and stretched out his hand. “You’re a brave woman, Cindy, you’ve
done a great job.”

Cindy
didn’t feel as though she hadn’t done much of anything.

“Most
people wouldn’t come down here to see me, either,” Taylor continued.

“Cindy’s
definitely not most people,” Eric agreed.

“Great
to see the two of you working together,” Taylor spoke confidentially.

“We’re
not exactly working together,” Cindy stopped him.

“So,
what are you doing then?” Taylor chided her.  “When you see a good man, grab
him, honey. There aren’t too many of them around.”

Before
Cindy had a chance to answer, there was a sudden knock on the door.

“Who’s
that?” she asked startled.

Eric
and Taylor looked at each other confused.

“You
came in a dark car, right?” Taylor asked Eric, becoming nervous suddenly.

“Of
course,” Eric mumbled.

The
knock on the door came again, louder this time.

“Somebody
trailed you down here,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “They got you covered.”

“No
one trailed us,” Eric insisted. “I was watching in the rear view mirror the
whole time.”

Cindy’s
heart began pounding. Immediately she sensed that not only were the police
outside, but it had to be Mattheus who’d brought them here.

“What
are we going to do?” Taylor became shaky.

“Take
it easy, it’s gonna be alright,” said Eric. “Let’s just open the door and see
who it is.”