Death by Betrayal (Book #10 in the Caribbean Murder series) (20 page)

Despite
herself Cindy started sobbing, “My God, my God, do you think Frank did it?”

“I
didn’t say that,” said Charlie, “I have no idea. I only know where he is.”

Cindy
ran over to him and threw her arms around him. “Thank you, thank you for coming
to tell me.”

“You’re
a brave woman, Cindy, you can find out the truth,” he went on.

“Does
my mother know you’re here?” Cindy asked haltingly.

“No,
she doesn’t know I’m here,” Charlie answered, “and she doesn’t know where Frank
is either.”

Cindy
was stunned and relieved to hear that at least.

“Your
Uncle Ben knew all the time though, and he finally told me,” Charlie continued.
“I figured it would be better off for everybody if I told you.”

“Thank
you, thank you,” Cindy murmured. “You’re right, so right. I’ll go see him
immediately.”

“I’ll
go with you if you want me to,” Charlie offered.

Cindy
would have loved that, but it wouldn’t work. Frank was going to feel exposed enough
as it was when he saw Cindy. She’d have to do it alone.

“Where
is he?” Cindy asked, breathless.

“In
a small boarding house on the edge of the Island,” Charlie replied. “He wanted
to get away from everyone.”

“Give
me the address,” said Cindy trembling.

Charlie
handed her a piece of paper that was half wrinkled, half smooth. “I’m sorry to
put you through this, Cindy,” he murmured.

“No,
just the opposite,” she said, grabbing the paper tight in her hand. “You’ve
given me a way to do what has to be done carefully. You’ve made it easier for
everyone. Don’t breathe a word of this though. Keep it secret. I’m going right
now, on my own.”

Charlie
flushed a little and shook his head. “Anything I can ever do to help, I’m right
nearby.”

Cindy
flew downstairs without a moment’s hesitation, grabbed a cab and headed down to
the edge of the Island where Frank was holed up. She’d be the last one he’d
expect to see and Cindy knew she had to approach him carefully.

The
trip took awhile and Cindy was grateful for that. It gave her time to compose
herself and her thoughts. Her interview with Ronnelle had disturbed her. At
first it was the opposite of what Cindy expected, she liked Ronnelle and
believed her completely. Then when she’d learned that Ronnelle was from
Wisconsin, a sense of dread filled Cindy’s bones. Could Ronnelle be a charming
psychopath who lied naturally with great ease?

The
taxi left the main road and went down through narrow streets, and across vacant
fields.

Finally,
it arrived at a juncture, turned left, climbed a hill and then found a street
of small houses packed close together. Most of them had little porches in the
front. A large Wisteria tree stood in front of one of the houses and Cindy
immediately knew that was where Frank was hiding.

“That’s
the one,” she pointed to the taxi driver without even looking at the address.

“Okay,”
he said, pulling up in front of it.

Cindy
checked the address and she was right on. “Thanks,” she said giving him the fee
plus a good tip and then watching him drive away. Cindy stood there alone for a
few moments before going up the front steps of the house and knocking on the
door.

“Come
in, it’s open,” a voice called from inside.

Cindy
pushed the creaky door open and walked into the small, dark place.

“Be
with you in a minute,” the voice kept calling. “Just take a seat and wait.”

“I’m
here to see Frank,” Cindy called back then.

“Who?”
a tall, Caribbean man walked into the room there, looking carefully at her.

“I’m
Frank’s sister in law,” said Cindy quickly.

“Oh
I see,” the man felt better to hear that. “He’s resting in the hammock in the
back, like usual,” he said to Cindy. “Come say hello.”

Cindy
was grateful for his sweetness and trust in her as she followed him to the back
garden.

“Frank,
man, you got company,” the guy said in a lilting tone.

Frank,
who was indeed resting in the hammock, opened his eyes quickly and then jumped
up and crouched like a frightened animal.

“What
in hell are you doing here?” he exclaimed.

“It’s
okay, Frank,” Cindy said softly, drawing closer. Then she turned to the
Caribbean guy. “We need to be alone for a little while,” she remarked.

“Sure
thing,” he answered, turning to leave. “See you both later on.”

“What
are you doing here? What?” Frank looked flushed and belligerent.

“I’m
on your side, Frank,” Cindy softly replied.

“Like
hell you are. You’re working with the cops,” he shot back.

“I
know you didn’t do it, Frank,” Cindy replied.

At
that he stopped dead on in his tracks. “How do you know that?”

“I
just do,” said Cindy. “I’ve known you all my life.”

His
head hung down then.

“But
you got to help me,” she went on. “You’ve got to trust me.”

“But
I don’t,” he mumbled.

“You
have no other choice,” Cindy’s voice got louder. “The police are looking for
you.”

He
trembled at that. “They know where I am?”

“No,
I haven’t told anyone. I want to speak to you alone,” Cindy said. “Why are you
here, anyway?”

“I
couldn’t take it,” Frank’s voice suddenly fell. “Oh God, oh God, I needed some
peace.”

Cindy
could understand that.

“First
Ann killed and then they think it’s me,” he moaned.

“Horrible,”
Cindy echoed.

“Better
believe that,” Frank agreed.

“So,
talk to me Frank,” Cindy took a tiny step closer. “Tell me about your life down
here. The police found your hidden cell phone number – they found your account
with Beggio.”

“Okay,
okay, is it so terrible?” he moaned louder. “Lots of people have these lousy
off shore accounts. I wanted more money to make Ann happy.”

“Ann
didn’t need lots of money,” Cindy quickly chimed in.

“So,
I needed more money anyway,” his voice got louder.

“You’ve
got to be honest with me, Frank,” Cindy’s voice grew tough.

Frank’s
head suddenly shot up like a cornered animal. “I needed more money for something
else,” he blurted out.

 “Another
woman?” Cindy’s heart stopped for a second.

Frank
started to sob. “God forgive me, yes. I got involved with someone,” his voice
sounded like a bleating calf. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to. I never
stopped loving Ann.”

“Someone
named Ronnelle?” Cindy stepped in quickly.

Frank
looked scared. “How do you know?” he barely got the words out.

“You
defriended her from your Facebook page, the day before Ann was killed,” Cindy
said.

Frank
suddenly looked dizzy, struggling to remember the chain of events. “Did I do
that a day before the murder?” he asked.

“Yes,
you did,” Cindy filled in.

“Oh
my God, my God,” he started sobbing again.

“Talk
to me, Frank, this second,” said Cindy.

“You
won’t tell anyone, will you?” be begged, crawling closer. “I couldn’t stand to
live if anyone knew.”

“Don’t
tell anyone what?” Cindy started trembling.

“I
met Ronnelle at a business lunch in the States. I knew it was wrong, but I
couldn’t help it. I needed something, I was getting old. I couldn’t stand
looking in the mirror. She was young, she was beautiful. Why the hell did she
like me?”

Cindy
felt like throwing up.

“First
it was just a drink or two together, then more,” his voice became garbled.

“You
slept with her?” Cindy could barely get the words out.

“I
didn’t mean to, believe me,” Frank seemed totally devastated. “One thing led to
another. She came down to Bermuda for work and so did I. What the hell, I
thought, a passing affair. Who would know about it? Who could it hurt?”

“What
about Ann?” Cindy couldn’t keep from shouting.

“I
still loved, Ann, I promise,” Frank shouted. “Ronnelle was just something on
the side to make me feel better - like a good drink when you’re thirsty.”

“Did
Ann ever find out?” Cindy felt the veins in her neck protruding. She couldn’t
bear the thought of her sister suffering like that.

“At
the very end, she suspected” Frank broke down crying again. “I didn’t tell her
all of it, but she knew there was someone in my life.”

“My
God, my God,” Cindy whimpered, “poor Ann.”

“But
it wasn’t like that,” Frank perked up suddenly. “It just made me realize how
much I loved Ann - that I couldn’t and wouldn’t ever live without her. I told
her that. I swore it was true. She believed me.”

“That’s
why you came down here with Ann for a vacation?” Cindy bristled.

“To
reconcile,” Frank bleated loudly. “It was supposed to be a second honeymoon.”

Cindy
shivered at that deeply. “Honeymoons down in the Caribbean seem to end in
disaster,” she muttered.

“Oh
God, I’m so sorry,” Frank kept pleading.

“How
did Ronnelle take all this?” Cindy shot out.

“I
told her that I was coming down to Bermuda with Ann this time. She was
surprised,” Frank said. “She said she thought what we had was stronger than
that. I said I didn’t know what she was talking about.”

A
huge welter of feelings rose up in Cindy. “What do you mean you didn’t know
what Ronnelle was talking about? You sleep with a woman and she always wants
more, always thinks that you love her.”

“I
never told her I loved her, not once,” Frank defended himself crazily, flailing
his arms up over his head. “It was Ann I loved, always.”

“Did
you tell Ronnelle that?” Cindy demanded. “Did you say it’s my wife I love even
though I’m sleeping with you?”

“Of
course not,” Frank mumbled.  

Cindy
wanted to slap him in the face, wake him up, make him realize. “Then why did
you defriend Ronnelle?” Cindy continued.

“Ann
and I were reconciling,” Frank spoke slowly. “I wanted to put Ronnelle in the
past.”

“You
think with a click of a button you put someone in the past?” Cindy kept at it,
feeling more and more sickened with each word Frank uttered. “Did you tell Ronnelle
she was being defriended?”

“No,
of course I didn’t tell her,” said Frank. “I only told her that Ann knew
something was wrong and we were coming down here to reconcile.”

“Oh
God,” breathed Cindy, a sharp pain stabbing through her head. “Then what
happened to Ann? What happened to her, Frank?”

“I
have no idea,” Frank mumbled. “I’ve thought about it every day. I think about
it constantly. Maybe one of the guys who did the hotel murders came after Ann
by mistake. Maybe they thought I was a big hitter. I wasn’t. Maybe somebody
told them I was.”

“Why
would they do that? Who would tell them?” Cindy was unstoppable.

Frank
dissolved onto a chair then and started sobbing again, “Believe me, believe me,
I have no idea.”

To
her deep consternation, Cindy believed him.

“What
do I do now?” Frank asked, a little boy suddenly.

“The
police are looking for you,” Cindy said quietly.

“They’re
pinning it on me?” he was beside himself.

“They
want to, but they don’t have enough direct evidence,” Cindy said. “They’ll need
a confession.”

“But
I didn’t do it,” Frank wailed again.

“I
know, I know,” said Cindy both wanting to soothe him and hating him at the same
time.

“Let
me go back and talk to Mattheus about this. The best protection for you will be
for us to find the real killer.”

Frank
looked up at her gratitude shining from his bloodshot eyes. “I never thought
what I did would lead to this ever,” he mumbled, “you’ve got to believe me.”

“I
do,” Cindy said.

*

Cindy
was tremendously relieved to find Mattheus waiting in her room when she got
back to the hotel. It seemed like forever since they’d caught up.

“Where
were you?” Mattheus seemed agitated when she walked into the room. “I expected
you here long ago. How long could it have taken to get back from the Cricket Match?”

The
Cricket Match seemed like years ago to Cindy.

“You
haven’t told any of us what you felt about your talk with Ronnelle yet,”
Mattheus proclaimed. “Everyone’s waiting to hear your take on it.”

“You
mean the police?” asked Cindy.

“Of
course the police. Who else?” asked Mattheus.

Cindy
had been so caught up with her interview with Frank she’d completely forgotten
to call into the police about her talk with Ronnelle.

“I
got distracted,” she said to Mattheus now.

He
looked at her strangely.

“Right
after I spoke to Ronnelle, I went to talk to Frank,” she proclaimed.

“What?”
The hairs seemed to stand up on Mattheus’s neck. “Where is he? We’ve been
searching high and low.”

“Calm
down, Mattheus, listen to me,” said Cindy.

But
Mattheus was having trouble taking it in. “How the hell did you find him? Why
didn’t you call me immediately and let me know?”

“I
wanted to see him alone,” said Cindy. “It would be less threatening for him
that way.”

“We’ve
been searching for him high and low,” Mattheus repeated.

“I
know, but I needed to see him alone,” Cindy’s voice got louder.

“You
should have told us where he was anyway,” Mattheus insisted.

“Not
at all,” Cindy declared. “He’s my brother in law.”

“You’ve
withheld important information from a murder investigation,” Mattheus sounded
grim.

“What
are you going to do now? Lock me up?” asked Cindy, upset by his response.

“Tell
me about both interviews,” Mattheus was forcing himself to calm down and
listen.

“Do
you really want to hear?” asked Cindy.

“Of
course I do, how could you ask me that?” said Mattheus. “I was just worried
about you. No one knew where you were.”

“My
interview with Ronnelle yielded nothing at first,” Cindy decided to get it all
out. “She’s charming, delightful -.”

“How
well I know,” Mattheus chimed in.

“You
know?” Cindy flinched and continued. “Ronnelle told me again that she had no
idea who Frank was. I told her he defriended her on Facebook and she just
shrugged it off and laughed and said she didn’t even know she’d been defriended.
The police heard all this on the recording.”