Death by Temptation (13 page)

Cindy
sped back to the hotel to find Mattheus and get him on board. Abe was probably
right; it would be better and safer for her to investigate the drug ring with
Mattheus at her side. If he was there, it would give her more clout with Santos
as well.

When
Cindy arrived at the hotel she immediately rushed to Rowley’s room, expecting
everyone to be there, including Mattheus and Rod. Now that the medical
examiner’s report was final, they were probably all packing, getting ready to
leave. Cindy slowed down as she approached the door. What if Mattheus was upset
to see her? Rod would certainly be. It didn’t matter. Cindy and Mattheus
weren’t down here simply to make people happy but to find a possible killer on
the loose.

When
Cindy got to the room, once again the door was half open. Cindy knocked anyway.

“Come
in, come in,” a male voice Cindy hadn’t heard before responded.

Cindy
pushed the door open and walked in. To her surprise, the room was almost empty.
Only Rowley and an attractive older man were sitting side by side on a sofa in
the corner. Cindy remembered the older man to be Rowley’s father, Pete.

“Cindy?”
said Rowley, surprised to see her. “What in the world are you doing here?”

Why
shouldn’t I be here, Cindy immediately thought, I’m on the case, aren’t I?

“I
actually came to say good-bye to you and your family,” Cindy responded
pleasantly. “I also wanted to have a few words with Mattheus.”

“You
knew we were leaving?” Rowley looked disturbed.

“Mattheus
told me that you we were planning to leave after the medical report was
official,” said Cindy.

“I
didn’t know he told you that,” Rowley muttered.

“It’s
good of you to come by,” Pete interrupted. “And it was good of you to loan
Mattheus to us for such a long time.”

Cindy
appreciated Pete’s comment. At least there was one person here who didn’t see
her as the enemy.

“This
has to have been a terrible time for you and your family,” she responded to
him.

“Indeed,”
Pete nodded, “and we’re all hurt to the core to learn about Shane as well.”

Pete’s
remark surprised Cindy. No one in the family had expressed any concern about
Shane as yet. Cindy gave Pete a long glance. He was an unusually attractive man
with salt and pepper hair and beautiful blue eyes. He seemed different than the
others, calmer and warmer.

 “Thank
you for caring about Shane, Pete,” Cindy responded, as though Shane were
someone Cindy had known a long time.

“Do
you have any news about her case?” Pete came closer, as if drawn to Cindy as
well.

“The
police are investigating,” said Cindy, “but they haven’t been able to locate
Shane’s family and except for her boyfriend, Vinny, no one else is overseeing
developments.”

Pete
nodded sadly, as though he got the picture immediately. “You need a lot of
clout down here to get things done,” he agreed.

“You
and your family haven’t met with Vinny, have you?” Cindy suddenly asked.

“No,
of course not,” Rowley broke in. “Why would we?”

Rowley’s
reaction disturbed Cindy. “I just thought you might have,” she replied. “After
all, he’s going through the same thing as all of you.”

“Not
quite the same.” Rowley wouldn’t have it. “Kara is still missing, but Shane is
dead. There’s absolutely no reason to think there’s any connection between
them. And there’s no point in exploring it, either.”

Pete
stepped in strongly now. “The police have told us that Vinny and a friend of
Kara’s are joined at the hip now, investigating night and day.”

“And
the losers have come up with nothing,” Rowley joined back in. “It doesn’t
surprise me. Alfred’s a wild card, always has been. I have no idea why he and
Vinny teamed up, none at all. I find it bizarre, especially as there’s no
connection between Kara and Shane.”

“Not
that we’ve found yet,” Cindy reminded him.

“What
kind of connection could there be?” Rowley looked shaky.

“That’s
exactly what I’m going to explore.” Cindy felt defiant. “I’m going to talk to
some people involved in the drug ring.”

“No,
don’t do that!” Rowley became agitated.

“Why
not? It’s the perfect next step,” Cindy declared.

Rowley
jumped toward her. “It’s a dangerous step. The guys in the drug ring down here
are all lowlifes and animals, everyone knows that. I don’t want anyone else
involved in this case turning up missing or dead.”

“It’s
not a good idea,” Pete agreed quickly.

“I’ll
go with Mattheus.” Cindy tried to calm the flames, surprised that Rowley
suddenly seemed so concerned about her.

Pete
stepped in front of Rowley, blocking him from Cindy’s view. “Can we take a
little walk, Cindy?” he asked then, obviously wanting to tell her something
alone.

Cindy
was surprised and threw a glance at Rowley, wanting to see how he felt about
it.

 “Rowley
has to stay here near the phone, on the off chance that the ransom call finally
comes in,” Pete continued, noticing Cindy’s glance. “We’ll only go for a few
minutes. It’s okay, Rowley, isn’t it?”

“Sure,
go,” Rowley reassured his dad. “I know you need a breather.”

“It’s
not that,” said Pete softly.

“Okay,
so you want to talk to Cindy alone.” Rowley didn’t feel like discussing it
further. “I know what you think and you probably want to tell her. So, go tell
her, it’s fine with me. I promise you, it doesn’t make any difference.
Everybody has a right to think something.”

“Fine,
then,” said Cindy, “let’s go.”

Once
out of the room and in the hallway, Pete breathed a sigh of relief. “We don’t
have to go far, just to the visitor’s lounge at the end of the hallway,” he
said immediately. “Rowley’s right, I just wanted to talk to you alone.”

Cindy
wondered what it was that Pete thought. They walked quietly, side by side, to
the end of the hallway and entered a plush visitor’s lounge, with large
windows, sofas, a coffee machine, and low wicker tables with magazines strewn
around.

“First
of all, let me thank you with my whole heart,” Pete said as he and Cindy sat
down.

Cindy
was touched. Pete was completely different from the others in the family. He
was straightforward and caring.

 “I
haven’t really done much of anything,” Cindy replied. “I wish I had been able
to bring Kara home.”

“Listen
to me.” Pete leaned closer to her. He smelled good, of expensive cologne.
“Nobody believes a thing I’m saying, but I have a strong view about all of
this,” he went on.

“What
is it?” asked Cindy, completely open to hearing whatever he had to say.

“I
believe Kara is well and alive.” Pete’s eyes shone suddenly. “I believe she
left on her own and is somewhere, safe and sound. I’ve tried to convince Rowley
of this, but he refuses to believe me. His mother and Kara’s family won’t
listen either. I need to speak to someone who will at least consider that I’m
not entirely crazy. I can’t stand not being listened to for one more minute.”

“I’m
listening,” said Cindy, “please tell me all that you feel.”

“I
never, ever thought Kara and Rowley were suited, right from the start,” Pete
spoke quickly. “Rowley’s a good person, a wonderful guy, but he and Kara are
fundamentally different. Rowley’s a straight arrow, follows the main road,
loves what he does. He needs lots of acclaim and recognition, and he gets it,
big time, from his patients and from the medical profession as well.”

 “And
Kara?” asked Cindy.

“Kara
enjoys playing in dangerous territories,” Pete went on, edging closer to Cindy,
seeming to be thrilled to be heard at last.

Cindy
was startled by what he was telling her.

“Kara
can’t resist the temptation to live at the edge,” Pete continued. “She can’t
resist all kinds of new experiences.”

Can’t
resist temptation? This was an entirely new picture of Kara that Pete was
painting.

“Be
specific, please,” asked Cindy.

“Kara’s
job, for starters,” Pete continued. “It never fit, was always strange to me.
She works with shady characters all day long, and she simply loves it. Can she
talk to Rowley about it, though? I seriously doubt it. I know for a fact, he
has no understanding of why she does it. And he seriously believes she’ll give
it up when they have children. I told him that she never would. She told him
that, too, but he refuses to believe it.”

“Rowley
loves her though,” murmured Cindy.

“Sure,
he loves her,” Pete continued, “but is that enough for a marriage to work? I’ve
asked him that many times and he’s always brushed off my question. Look, I
fully get that Rowley’s had a bad role model when it comes to relationships.
His mother and I couldn’t be more opposite. We’ve lived our lives on parallel
tracks and I’ve put up with it all these years.”

Cindy
was startled that Pete was willing to share such intimate information with her.
But by now, it seemed as though all the stops had been pulled out for him.

“This
awful time has taught me something I’ll never forget,” Pete continued. “Kara ‘s
smarter than me. She realized she’d made a terrible mistake during her
honeymoon, and took off before it could go any further. In her own way, she’s
brave. Braver than I’ve been all these years.”

“Where
is Kara now, Pete? Where did she go?” asked Cindy.

“I
have no idea where exactly, but she’s got hundreds of contacts. Someone took
her in. She’s somewhere alive, I feel it.”

“Did
you tell this to Mattheus?” asked Cindy promptly.

“I
didn’t,” Pete confessed. “Mattheus is a hard guy to talk to and besides he’s completely
tied up with Rod. Rod’s falling off the edge day by day and Mattheus is trying
to hold him together. I told it to my wife though, who laughed in my face. I
also told it to Kara’s mom and she hasn’t said a word to me since. This is not
a family I belong in.”

“I’m
sorry you’ve had to go through pain like this, Pete,” Cindy said slowly.

“Thank
you, I know you are,” he answered softly, “that’s why I knew I could talk to
you.”

How
did he know? Cindy wondered. She’d barely seen him all this time. Pete seemed
extremely sensitive and aware, though. Once again, she was touched by his
comment.

“How
is Rowley holding up?” Cindy asked him, wanting to move the conversation in
another direction.

“Rowley’s
dazed and depressed, on a low dose of anxiety medication now to help him get
through the day,” said Pete.

Cindy
nodded; that made sense.

“Do
you think there’s any merit to what I’m thinking, Cindy?” Pete looked straight
into her eyes then.

“Of
course,” said Cindy. “It’s entirely possible. You know the people involved
better than I do. I hope to God you’re right and that Kara is alive and
breathing. How wonderful that would be.” Cindy didn’t want to tell Pete that
Alfred had reason to believe Kara was alive. She didn’t want to add fuel to
what might simply be hope and fantasy. If she encouraged it, later on it could
be so much harder if they found that she was dead.

“It
means so much to me that you think that,” said Pete quietly. “As soon as I saw
you the first day you arrived, I knew you were special.”

“Thank
you,” Cindy murmured.

“Frankly,
I’ve been surprised and upset that you haven’t been here more with Mattheus all
this while. I don’t quite understand it.”

“We
divide up our tasks in an investigation,” Cindy covered up quickly. “But I’ve
been thinking of all of you every day.”

Pete
was so touched by Cindy’s response, he grabbed her hands for a quick moment.
The warmth and strength in his touch ran through Cindy’s body like a sudden
bolt of energy.

“It’s
wonderful knowing you,” Pete continued, “it makes it so much more bearable to
talk to you.”

“Thank
you,” Cindy responded. “I hope what you feel about Kara is true. I still plan
to go down to the drug ring and find out more about Shane. For all we know one
case could lead to another.”

“Of
course, I understand,” said Pete. “You’re doing what you have to, what you’re
meant to do.”

Cindy
was bolstered by Pete’s recognition. She was also surprised to realize how much
that kind of recognition had been missing from her life for a long while now.

“Go
investigate the ring if you have to,” Pete continued, “but please don’t go
alone.”

“No,
of course not,” said Cindy. “I’m going to ask Mattheus to come along.”

“And
if for some reason Mattheus can’t go, ask me. I’d be honored to accompany you
anywhere at all.” He smiled at Cindy warmly.

“Thank
you,” murmured Cindy.

“I’m
not just saying that either, I really mean it,” said Pete, looking at Cindy
strangely.