Death by Betrayal (Book #10 in the Caribbean Murder series) (17 page)

Cindy
took a swift breath in. “What do you mean you don’t know where he is?”

“Your
uncles and I were calling him all day yesterday and he didn’t pick up. Ben said
that Frank probably needs a little time alone, went somewhere to be away. He’s
still on the island, obviously, but we don’t know where right now.”

Cindy
got cold all over. “That’s not acceptable,” she murmured.

“Well,
acceptable or not, that’s how it is,” her mother responded snippy and hung up
the phone.

Mattheus
was listening and watching closely.

“They
don’t know where he is at the moment,” Cindy murmured.

“So
I gathered,” Mattheus was on the alert.

“He
could just need some time alone to grieve for Ann,” Cindy searched for excuses.

“Yes,”
Mattheus answered, “or he could be with someone right now.”

“Who?”
Cindy answered outraged.

“Don’t
worry, we’ll find out,” said Mattheus heavily. “The police have been checking
those hidden cell phone calls. Once we know who they are from, we’ll have a
better idea where Frank’s holed up right now.”

Cindy
broke out into a little sweat. He’s not hiding, she had to remind herself. He
obviously has a life down here, and could just be spending time with some
friends.

“Let’s
get to the boat races early,” Cindy said to Mattheus. “The woman I met at
Beggio’s party thought she’d seen Frank there. Maybe there’s nothing
suspicious, maybe Frank’s taking a breather at the water? He loves boats and
races.”

“Good
idea,” Mattheus agreed.

It
seemed as if all of Bermuda had gathered for the races. The atmosphere down at
the water was lively and festive, people were sprawled out on blankets with
picnic lunches, some were sitting on benches, others trimming the shore, waving
their favorites on. Music was playing and vendors were selling food and
souvenirs of all kind. It was a perfect day too, with the sun shining brightly.
Cindy knew it would be a long shot to spot Frank here, but you never knew, had
to cover every possibility. Guilt couldn’t stay hidden forever, especially not
when flashlights were on, searching for the truth. One of the rules she and
Mattheus had lived by was that sooner or later whoever you needed to see was
drawn to you.  Over and over again Cindy had been amazed by the unexpected
meetings that had taken place in the midst of an investigation, the pieces of
vital information dropped innocently enough. The investigators just had to keep
their antenna wide open and not overlook anyone who drifted their way.

“What
a spectacle,” Mattheus exclaimed as they approached the gala celebration.
“What’s the chance of spotting Frank here?”

“Probably
ten to one against it,” Cindy commented, looking around at the boisterous
crowds.

“We
just need to be a little patient,” said Mattheus. “The police will call soon
with more information.”

Cindy
recoiled. She didn’t want the police all over this, wanted to get in and do the
work herself.

“Is
that the Cindy Blaine I just met yesterday?” Cindy heard a voice calling to
her. Cindy turned and there was that woman Linda, she’d seen at Beggio’s party.

“Hi,
Linda,” said Cindy, turning to greet her. “And this is my partner, Mattheus.”

“Is
this a fabulous day or what?” Linda asked, smiling at Mattheus plainly.” No one
in their right mind misses the races. So glad to see you here.”

Cindy
didn’t like her overly familiar attitude, but tried to overlook it.

“Oh,
there’s my friend Ronnelle,” Linda waved to her brightly. “We’re all together,
no one absent.”

“What
about Frank?” Mattheus asked lightly then.

“Who’s
Frank?” Linda looked confused a second, then quickly remembered. “Oh, is he the
guy Cindy had the photo of the other night?”

“Right,”
said Mattheus.

Linda
smiled at Mattheus boldly. “I have no idea at all about him,” she answered, doing
a little side step, “we talked all about it at Toni’s party. You were there
last night, were you though?”

“Nope,
sorry I missed it,” Mattheus played along with her. Cindy knew Mattheus was
being charming in order to cull information from her, but still Cindy felt
rankled.

“Well,
I’ve got to run to my friends,” Linda looked down the way, at Ronnelle
beckoning to her.

“You
guys are welcome to join us, if you care to.”

“Thanks,”
said Cindy, “but -.”

“We
will in a little while,” Mattheus interrupted, as Linda did a little turn and
smiled at him over her slim, beautiful shoulders.

“Good,”
Linda said, “looking forward to it.”

“Why
join them?” ask Cindy irritated.

“Why
not?” said Mattheus. “Someone knows something and we need to be positioned to
hear about it.”

“I
already spoke to that crew at the party,” said Cindy.

“So,
I’ll take a turn now,” said Mattheus. “I can go alone if that would work
better. There’s plenty of other people around you can talk to.”

Cindy
knew he was right. That was their M.O. They always broke up in order to use
their time wisely and have more impact on the people they were with.

“Okay,”
she said, “go talk to the ladies. I’ll wander around and see who I run into,
what else I can find.”

“I’ll
meet you back here in this spot in about half an hour,” said Mattheus. “This
way we’ll have used our time optimally. If you’re going to be delayed, give me
a call.”

*

 Cindy
felt both uneasy about Mattheus’s joining the ladies and relieved to have time
to wander alone. Even during the short time she’d been here, the crowds had
grown thicker. Cindy decided to just walk amidst the throngs of people and see who
and what came her way. The day was warm and sunny, and at the very least she’d
have some exercise and time to relax.

Cindy
wandered a bit, looking at the happy couples and families, enjoying this summer
day to the hilt. All of them seemed like strangers to her and certainly she was
a stranger to them all. No one had the least idea of who she was or why she was
here. Though she looked like them on the surface, no one would imagine that she
was actually hunting down a killer. Nor did they realize for a second that a killer
could be wandering among them right now.

Suddenly,
to her surprise, Cindy heard her name being called.

“Hey,
Cindy, hold up a minute. I’m so glad to see you again.”

Cindy
turned swiftly and to her surprise, there was Evan Price, gliding towards her
purposefully. He was the last one she’d imagined she’d meet at the races.

“What
are you doing here?” she asked him astonished.

“I
could ask you the same thing,” he smiled broadly. “How are you doing? How is it
going?”

Despite
herself Cindy was glad to see him.

“I’ve
heard that you wowed everyone at Beggio’s party, all decked out in jewels,”
Evan couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

“How
did you hear that?” Cindy was astonished.

“Nothing
goes on here that everyone doesn’t hear about,” Evan’s voice dropped a few octaves.
“I was thrilled that you took my advice and went to see Beggio. That’s your
best lead. Don’t get distracted, don’t take the pressure off that guy.”

“Beggio’s
party didn’t yield much,” Cindy spoke frankly. “Beggio said he’d never heard of
Frank.”

“Don’t
believe a word of it,” Evan whispered. “Beggio’s heard about everything.”

“One
woman at the party said she vaguely recognized Frank from his photo,” Cindy
added.

“That’s
something,” Evan was pleased to hear that.

 “Not
much. I need specifics,” Cindy answered sharply.

“You’ll
get them,” Evan seemed certain. “And in the meantime, tell your good looking partner,
Mattheus, to stay away from Grenfield.”

Cindy
was stunned at that. “Why?”

“Grenfield’s
a master of planting false leads,” Evan Price went on quickly.

Cindy
was amazed and fascinated. “Grenfield told Mattheus about a hidden cell phone
number Frank had,” she immediately blurted out. Cindy was thrilled to be able
to talk about it to someone who was sympathetic to her.

“Yeah,
yeah,” said Evan sarcastically, “everyone in Bermuda has a hidden cell phone
number. It doesn’t mean a thing.”

Cindy
was relieved to hear that. “Mattheus gave the number to the police
immediately,” Cindy quickly continued.

“Dumb
move,” said Evan. “The police grab at anything they can find.  Once they close
the case it’s a feather in their cap. Of course they want to nail your brother
in law - it will make them look good.”

“That’s
what I felt right away,” said Cindy.

Evan
stopped talking a minute and looked at her closely. “That was quite a necklace
your partner got you,” he remarked slowly.

“How
do you know Mattheus got it for me?” Cindy was astonished.

“I
have friends at Beggio’s party,” Evan commented. “I have friends everywhere
keeping an eye out for me. In fact, I heard Mattheus bought the necklace for
you that very morning.”

“Yes,
he did,” Cindy didn’t like it. Evan was watching her too closely. Why?

“You
guys an item?” Evan kept probing.

Cindy
was caught short. “Mattheus and I have been partners a long time,” she replied.

“Being
partners is not the same as being an item,” Evan refused to leave it alone.

Cindy
couldn’t go there though. “I can’t deal with that now while I’m working on my
sister’s murder,” she said in a clipped tone. “It’s not even fair to ask.”

Evan
smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said, “and I got my answer. Listen, I’m a patient guy.”

“What
kind of answer did you get?” Cindy felt confused.

“No
one who’s an item says they need time to think about it. When you’re an item,
you’re an item.” Evan seemed pleased.

“You’re
jumping to conclusions,” said Cindy, worried about what he was reading into her
response.

“Look,
I just want what’s best for you, “Evan replied. “For now, just keep the
pressure up on Beggio. A lot of people will be helped once Beggio gets busted.”

“I
will,” said Cindy, glancing at her watch, “and I have to go now.”

“Where?”
Evan asked, irritated.

“Mattheus
and I are meeting back over there in a few minutes,” said Cindy. “He’s been
talking to others. Now we de-brief.”

“You’re
going to tell him you saw me?” asked Evan.

“Of
course I am,” Cindy answered. “Everything is grist for the mill. We have no
secrets between us ever, none at all.”

*

When
Mattheus and Cindy met once again in the designated place, the day had grown a
bit overcast. But the crowds didn’t notice, the cheers kept rising as different
boats came in. Mattheus rushed towards Cindy quickly, happy to see her again.

 “I
think we’ve spent enough time here for now,” said Mattheus, taking her elbow
and gently leading her across the hill, away from the commotion. “Frank’s not
hanging out here, and we need to find him.”

“Was
this a waste of time?” Cindy asked, allowing herself to be led by Mattheus away
from the crowds.

“Not
in the long run,” he replied. “Even if it seems like a waste of time, I know
it’s ultimately not. Something someone said can ring a bell later. None of the
women I spoke to seemed to know who Frank was or where he was staying. How
about you? Find anything at all?”

“Well,
believe it or not,” Cindy said, suddenly chirpy, “I ran into Evan Price, or
rather he ran into me.”

“Really?”
Mattheus was taken aback.

 “It
was useful,” Cindy continued. “He’s interested in the investigation, so I told Price
about Frank’s hidden cell phone. He said everyone in Bermuda had one. It’s no
big deal. He also said to stay away from Grenfield – that the guy’s famous for
planting false leads.”

“Whoah,”
Mattheus held his hand up. “That’s quite a statement coming from Price. Sounds
like the pot calling the kettle black. Believe it or not, Grenfield said the
same thing about Price. Those guys can’t stand each other.”

Cindy
laughed, “I’m not at all surprised,” she said. “Everyone here talks behind
everyone else’s back.”

“There’s
a web down here and all these guys are involved in it,” Mattheus muttered. “I
happen to like Grenfield myself, and you seem to like Price.”

“I
wouldn’t say that I like him,” Cindy interrupted. “But he feels solid to me. He
wants to help us, but I realize he also wants those hotel murders solved. They’re
casting some kind of shadow on him, even if he’s not directly involved.”

“How
do you know he’s not involved? He could be,” said Mattheus. “And I thought you
said he didn’t think that Ann’s death had anything to do with those murders
anyway.”

“He
said that,” said Cindy, “and I agree. But it also seems as if Beggio was
involved with those murders and that Ann could have inadvertently gotten caught
in Beggio’s web.”

“How
exactly?” asked Mattheus.

“I
don’t know, I’m not sure yet,” said Cindy.

“Well,
Grenfield is close to Beggio,” Mattheus remarked. “He’s by far the best lead
we’ve got so far. If there’s any connection between Frank and Beggio, Grenfield
will help me find it.”

Cindy
suddenly grew very quiet. The direction they were heading in seemed circuitous.
She felt as though they were walking around in a maze. Mattheus grew quieter as
well as they approached the long line of taxis waiting for customers.

“Our
number one focus now is to talk to Frank,” said Mattheus.  “And, at the very
least, we’ve got to get into his computer and see what’s doing.”

“Easier
said than done,” said Cindy.

“There’s
got to be a way we can break in,” Mattheus started ruminating. “Worse comes to
worse we can brainstorm and figure out his password.”

Cindy
liked the idea. She’d rather get into his computer surreptitiously without
Frank finding out.  Then they’d see for themselves if there was even a reason
to grill him any further. Her guess was that there would be nothing much on it,
it would clear him, ease things up.

“I
like that idea,” Cindy perked up instantly, “Let’s go for it.”

“Great,”
Mattheus was right on board. “Let’s start with the password to Ann’s computer.
Do you happen know it? What was it?” he asked.

“Sunshine10,”
Cindy suddenly remembered, filled with sadness.