Death by Seduction (6 page)

“What about
Taylor?” asked Cindy. This was the first time she’d heard anything about him.

Loretta made a
sour face, ignoring the question. “My best friend Angela will also be coming down
tomorrow. She and I have been through everything together. You’ll love her,
Cindy. And she’ll love you.”

“And what about Taylor?”
Cindy repeated.

Loretta’s face
flushed as she swerved around.  “I never liked him much and he never liked me.
I’d rather you stay away from him.”

Cindy was
startled. “Why?”

“Taylor gets
weird ideas and becomes obsessed. Sometimes he even upset Pete.  I’m not sure
why he’s coming, I asked him not to. I told him we’d be home soon and he could
help take care of things then.”

“Was Pete close
to his brother?” asked Cindy surprised.

“Very,” said
Loretta, “family was family for Pete and nothing could get in the way.”

“That’s a
wonderful quality,” said Cindy.

“Maybe,” said
Loretta, “but if anything was a bone of contention between us, his crazy brother
Taylor was.  He was a bad influence on Pete.  I tried to keep him as far away
from us as I could.”

“That must have
hurt Pete, it was his brother!” remarked Cindy.

“So what?” said
Loretta nastily, “just because he was Pete’s brother didn’t make him a friend.”

By the time Cindy
returned home she was exhausted, took a shower and practically fell into bed. Before
she pulled up the covers up she checked her phone, just to be sure. To her surprise
and relief, there was a missed call there waiting for her from Mattheus.

Cindy blinked a
moment, then bolted up in bed. She’d half hoped for the call and half hoped
not. She clutched the phone close to her, but kept herself from listening to
the message Mattheus had left.  

Cindy fell back
down in bed, wide awake now, and saddened. Even though she’d been wanting to
hear from him, it really wasn’t okay for Mattheus to call whenever he felt like
it. Cindy wasn’t going to let him bounce in and out of her life  It wasn’t
healthy and it wasn’t right. She quickly turned off the ringer, slipped the
phone under her pillow, and then turned and twisted in bed, desperately trying
to fall asleep.

*

After a night of tossing
and disturbing dreams, Cindy awoke, groggy in the morning. To her surprise,
though, it wasn’t Mattheus she had dreamt about all night long, but Clint.
Memories of losing her brand new husband not so long ago, of Clint going
missing in Barbados on their honeymoon, surfaced vividly.  In her dreams Cindy
saw both the ocean he’d gone surfing in and the lone surf board that had
returned without him on it. Cindy’s sister Ann was in the dream as well,
standing there stalwartly, comforting her. Cindy thought how much she missed 
Ann now, how wonderful it would be to have her here to talk to. She also knew
that Ann would have approved of her decision not to call Mattheus back. Ann and
Frank had never approved of Cindy’s relationship with Mattheus, though, Cindy had
never understood why. Cindy had thought that basically Ann and Frank just
didn’t want her to be a detective, and Mattheus was an intrinsic part of that. The
difficulty Mattheus had with Cindy’s mother and Frank during their visit after
Ann’s death, was something else. It had stunned Cindy.  Mattheus had given them
no reason for the hostility they’d expressed towards him.

As Cindy lay in
bed thinking things over, she pulled her phone out from under her pillow and
turned the ringer back on. To her surprise it was later than she realized and
there was also a missed call from Loretta this morning. Cindy listened to the
message Loretta had left.

“Call as soon as
you get up. My dad is here and he wants you to join us for breakfast
downstairs,” said Loretta.

Cindy looked at
the time. It was about nine thirty, much later than she usually woke up. She
immediately returned Loretta’s call.

“Where are you?”
Loretta asked right away. “Dad and I are downstairs in the outdoor restaurant in
the Greens, having breakfast.”

“Give me a few
minutes and I’ll be right there,” Cindy breathed.

*

The Greens was a
beautiful, outdoor restaurant in the hotel. It overlooked a rolling golf course
that seemed to go on for miles.  The moment Cindy stepped into the restaurant,
Loretta stood up from the table she and her father were seated at and waved.

Cindy walked over
quickly, noticing how full the place was despite the early hour.  As she
approached Loretta’s table, her father, a tall,  muscular, well-dressed man 
with short dark hair and a square, carved face, stood up to greet her.

“Thank you for
coming so quickly to help my daughter,” he said, extending his large hand.
“Henry Dodd.”

Cindy shook his
hand politely and smiled. “Cindy Blaine, “she replied, “and I’m happy to be of
help,”

“Your name is
familiar,” Henry shook his head, “I’ve been wondering if I remembered you from
Loretta’s college days,” he said as he held out a chair for Cindy to sit on.

Cindy looked over
at him more carefully.  He seemed totally unfamiliar to her.

“Do you remember
me?” Cindy asked, as she took her seat and he pushed her chair in.

“To be honest I
don’t,” Henry replied as he sat back down. “Those were hard years for me.”

Cindy knew that
he was referring to the sudden loss of his wife in a car accident.

“Yes, I realize
that,” she said, as Henry motioned for the waiter to come over so Cindy could
order breakfast.

Right after Cindy
ordered a cheese omelet and coffee, Loretta pushed her chair back.  “Listen, I
am so sorry, but I have to go now,” she said. “Angela’s plane is arriving in
half an hour and I told her I’d meet her at the airport.”

“That’s fine,”
said Henry, “you go pick Angela up, and I’ll stay here with Cindy.”

“Thank you,
you’re a doll,” Loretta said breathlessly, blowing a little kiss to her father.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Don’t rush on
the roads, drive safely,” her instructed as she twirled around for a moment and
quickly departed, leaving  Henry and Cindy  at the table alone together.

“She’s amazing,
isn’t she?” Henry said, not taking his eyes off Loretta as she left the
restaurant.

“Yes, it’s
amazing, the way she’s holding up,” Cindy looked over at him.

“Don’t kid
yourself,” he replied, his voice promptly lowering. “I heard her crying into
her pillow way into the night.  Loretta knows how to cover up and be strong.
She has since her mother died. I taught her how.”

“You did a good
job of that,” Cindy remarked as a delicious hot omelet was placed before her.

“I did a good job
of lots of things,” Henry was pleased with Cindy’s comment.  He smiled as he
lifted the coffee pot on the table to pour her a cup of coffee.

“And right now
you’re being quite being brave as well,” Cindy went on, wanting to learn more
about this man she was having breakfast with.

“Of course I’m
brave,” he answered gruffly. “What good would it do for Loretta to see me fall
apart? I want to give her a feeling of normalcy, to know that life goes on.”

That made sense,
of course, Cindy thought as she ate the wonderful breakfast. But things weren’t
normal at this time and it was important to recognize that as well. Part of
being brave was also acknowledging the pain and grief you were feeling and expressing
it.  Cindy needed to break through this wall of false appearances that both
Loretta and her father had so carefully constructed and lived behind.

“Who do you think
killed Pete?” Cindy asked then, abruptly changing the tone of the conversation.

Henry was
startled. “Well, I didn’t think there was any question about that,” he replied,
staunchly.

His response
confused Cindy. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“The police have
said it’s an open and shut case, haven’t they? All the evidence is in,” he
remarked.

“Some evidence is
in,” Cindy acquiesced. “One can always look further.”

“One can always
look further with everything. There’s a point when that’s counterproductive, of
course,” he replied. “I was told that it was clear that Pete died at the hands
of the whore.”

Cindy recoiled.
Henry had such a look of disgust on his face, as though Charma were a rag Pete
had found somewhere that could be easily thrown away.

“I realize that
Loretta refuses to believe that Pete was killed that way,” Henry went on
forcefully. “That’s why you’re here. Loretta began to freak out when the police
began to question her about Pete. She insists that Pete would never cheat, let
alone visit a whore.”

“She knows her husband,”
Cindy breathed.

Henry grinned
oddly. “I don’t know how much she really knows about Pete, or about anybody,
for that matter. Loretta could never really face everything squarely.”

“What do you
mean?” Cindy  was fascinated.

“I mean I raised
her to be a good girl,” Henry continued. “I’m actually glad that you and I are
alone now so that I can speak to you frankly.”

Cindy was glad as
well. “Please do speak frankly,” she said. “Whatever you say will help me.”

“Help you with
what?” Henry retorted. “Finding the killer? Forget that, the killer’s been
found. You’re basically here to support Loretta, help her get through this
rotten ordeal.”

Cindy was shocked
by his comment. “That’s not how I see my role here,” she replied.

“Well, I’m glad
to be setting things straight for you then,” Henry picked up his own cup of
coffee then and swallowed every last bit. “I don’t want you stirring up any
more pain for my daughter.”

“I’m a private
detective, not a counselor,” Cindy held her own. “It can be very painful for
families to find out about posthumously about their loved ones and I’ll do my
best to ease that for Loretta. But I came down here to find the killer. That’s
my job and it’s what Loretta hired me to do.”

Henry thrust his
head up, looking at Cindy harshly. “I told you that Loretta refuses to see most
things as they are,” he repeated emphatically. “She always has, this is nothing
new.”

“What exactly
does she refuse to see?” Cindy was surprised by Henry’s antagonism.

“Listen,” his
voice got lower and gruff, “Pete wasn’t exactly the husband Loretta cracked him
up to be. This guy had his problems, if you know what I mean?”

“What do you
mean?” Cindy wasn’t relenting.

“Pete was a sex
addict from day one, if you asked me,” Henry’s voice dipped so low it was hard
to hear what he was saying at first.

Cindy was
startled.  “That’s quite an accusation. What do you base it on?”

“Come on, honey,”
Henry became too familiar. “In the beginning I saw how he used to look at
Loretta, couldn’t keep his hands off her. Then after they were married and time
passed there were those long trips alone down to the Dominican Republic.”

“I thought he
came here for business,” Cindy interjected.

“Yeah, what kind
of business? Monkey business, Henry spit out.  “Then there also were adventure
vacations with the guys and plenty nights back at home when he didn’t get home
until way too late. He told Loretta he was working and she went along with
everything. But a father gets the picture.  Pete was hungry for sex and
adventure and out on the prowl to get it wherever he could. I thought that the
minute I met him, but became convinced as time went on.”

“Did you ever tell
that to Loretta?” asked Cindy, distressed.

“Not in so many
words, of course,” said Henry. “Sure I asked her where he was all those time
she was by herself, and she always found a reason. I had to leave good enough
alone. She said was happy with him, he was everything she wanted. I wasn’t
going to be the one to crush her dream.”

“That must have
been hard on you,” Cindy remarked.

“It was hard, it
was lousy, but most guys aren’t so different. How many husbands do you think
are faithful?”

Cindy immediately
thought about Clint.  Clint had been faithful to her and she was sure Mattheus
also would have been.

“In other ways
Loretta had a good deal in life,” Henry continued. I helped her get her wedding
business going, and it took off  like wild fire. People look up to her. I’m
proud to see that.”

“How did you help
her with her business?” Cindy was interested.

“I funded the
business from top to bottom,” Henry announced proudly, “gave her every penny
she needed to get the boutique going and keep it growing the way it is.”

Cindy didn’t know
why she was so disturbed to hear that. She thought Pete had helped Loretta with
her business.

“What about
Pete?” Cindy asked

“Pete couldn’t
have paid for it like I did. No way in the world,” Henry sneered.  “Yeah, he
made some money one month and then lost it the next. His company speculates on everything,
a perfect job for him. You think a guy like that could ever give Loretta the
stability and backing she needed?”

“You don’t sound
as if you respected Pete,” Cindy had a sinking feeling.

“You got that
right,” Henry was emphatic. “So if you wonder why I’m not sitting here crying
in my soup, it’s because I always knew something like this would happen. It was
only a matter of time. When you play in the gutter, you get pulled down the
drain.” Henry’s intense dislike for Pete was palpable.“So, I’m sure the whore
did it,” he continued, “and if I were you, I wouldn’t bother myself looking any
further.  You’ll only stir up  bad publicity for Loretta and her boutique.
Let’s keep this quiet, it will all blow over. She’ll get over it and find
somebody better down the road. I’ll make sure of that, believe me.”

Cindy wished it
were that simple, she wished she could go along with Henry, but she couldn’t.
There were too many questions unanswered and leads left unexplored.

“I heard that
Pete left a big deposit on the condo they were buying down here,” Cindy
commented.

Henry only
sneered mildly this time.  “Pete left it? Maybe he handed it over, but I  was
the one who gave Loretta every buck for that down payment, the whole hundred
thousand. I put the money in Loretta’s account and she gave it to Pete.”

“A hundred
thousand?” that seemed like a large deposit.

“I told you,”
Henry got more confidential, “Loretta can come to me for anything. And so can
anyone who’s a good friend to her.”

Cindy wasn’t sure
what Henry was implying, but it made her skin crawl.