Death by Desire (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 4) (10 page)

“Like protecting the environment?” said
Mattheus.

“Yes, the Senator fights for popular, foolish
ideas like that,” Petrovich said.  “I have tried to tell him that the
environment is here to serve us, not the other way around. The casino will
bring jobs, money, tourists to the island. It will put money in people’s
pockets. What idiot wants to stop that? Why? To save a couple of lizards?”  He
laughed.

“Is the Senator making it harder for you?”
asked Mattheus.

“A little, but I always find ways to get what I
want. Ultimately, he’s no more than an irritation – a mosquito on a summer
night.” Petrovich laughed and looked at Mattheus directly. “What about you?
What do you think of his cause?”

“My job is to find out about who killed his
daughter,” Mattheus answered, non-committal.

“And to get a beautiful woman to desire you
instantly,” Petrovich lifted his eyebrows approvingly.  “You’re good at it,
too. Obviously, you have a taste for women.”

Mattheus smiled. “Not really,” he said.

“You lie to yourself,” said Petrovich.

 Petrovich was playing with him like a child’s
toy, but Mattheus was fully aware of what was happening.

“Tell me, how long has it been since you’ve had
a woman as beautiful as Alana?” Petrovich continued.

Mattheus couldn’t remember. It had been a long
time now though since his wife had died. He was strangely silent.

“You can’t remember?” Petrovich said. “You
never married?”

“I was married,” Mattheus replied, despite
himself.

“It’s the old story, you grew to hate her and
she grew to hate you?” Petrovich cocked his head to the side. Clearly, Mattheus
had caught his interest.

“She was murdered,” Mattheus said somberly.

Petrovich was taken aback. “That’s bad news. And
this is why you became a detective?”

“Maybe,” said Mattheus.

“You could have a bigger, better life,”
Petrovich said, then. “You don’t have to work for the little Senator. If you
like, you can work for me. I need intelligence about many things.”

Mattheus wasn’t sure what he was hearing. “You’re
offering me a job?” he said.

“I’m offering you a job with me, and I’m also
offering you Alana, for starters.”

Mattheus was shocked. “Is she yours to offer?”

“She does what I want,” said Petrovich. “So do
the other women here. Look around, see which one suits your fancy.”

“I have a partner,” Mattheus blurted out
suddenly.

Petrovich was surprised. “What kind of partner?”

“A partner I work with, Cindy Blaine.”

“A woman?” asked Petrovich.

“Yes.”

“And is she beautiful?” his eyes dug deep into
Mattheus.

“Yes, she is,” Mattheus said, trembling. He had
no idea how the conversation had gotten off to this tack. “Very beautiful,
actually.”

“Then why isn’t she here at your side, if you
love her?” asked Petrovich.

“I didn’t say I love her. I work with her.”

“She’s also a detective?”

“Yes,” Mattheus nodded.

“A woman detective?” Petrovich laughed. “Listen,
forget about all this nonsense. I like you. Come on board with us and help us
get the casino built. You’ll find out about who is stopping it and let us know
what they’re planning before they do it.”

“I’m working for the Senator now,” Mattheus
replied. “Cindy and I have been hired to find out about who killed his daughter
and why. Can you help with that?”

“I can help with everything,” Petrovich said, “but
first you have to be on my side. We have to make a deal.”

“You know who may have killed her?” Mattheus
asked.

“I don’t,” Petrovich said plainly, “but I can
find out. I have tentacles all over the island.”

This was one hell of a powerful guy, Mattheus
thought, wondering if he could actually find out who killed Tiffany, and why he
wouldn’t just do it if he wasn’t involved?

“Seems like it’s something you should do, no
matter what,” Mattheus said. “An innocent girl has been killed.”

Petrovich was getting bored with the
conversation. “As I see it,” he said, “no one is truly innocent. In one way or another,
everyone deserves their fate. And, I don’t do anything unless it’s clear what’s
in it for me.”

Mattheus got that.

“You come to work for me and I’ll pay you
triple what the Senator pays.”

“Why do you want me working for you so badly?”

“You’ll be a valuable asset to my organization.
I have a nose for this kind of thing. I’m never wrong and I always get what I
want.”

“And you don’t want me working for the Senator,”
Mattheus said. “You want to take away his support?”

“That’s part of it,” said Petrovich, “but just
part. “This Senator isn’t as great as he sounds. There’s lots of people around
who can’t stand him.”

“Tell me more about that,” Mattheus said to
Petrovich.

“If you ask me, he’s a self-righteous little
skunk,” said Petrovich. “The guy thinks he’s God gift to the people, but you
should see the way he treats others, especially his wife.”

Mattheus noticed it. He didn’t like that,
either.

“And look how I treat my women, shower them
with gifts, champagne, roses, all kinds of parties and handsome men. You know
how you can tell the worth of a man? See how happy he makes the women around
him.”

Mattheus smiled. This guy was larger than life
and yet down to earth at the same time, generous to a fault.

“I’ll think it over,” said Mattheus, playing
for time. He didn’t want to cut the cord with Petrovich, wanted to keep all
doors open.

“Good, you think about it,” Petrovich said, “and
next time you come over, bring your beautiful partner along.”

Mattheus’ stomach lurched at the idea of
introducing Cindy to Petrovich. He wouldn’t do it. There was no way he would
share her with him.

“I see you don’t like that idea,” said
Petrovich grinning, and motioning for Alana to return.

“We’ll see,” said Mattheus.

“Could it be because you’re in love with this
partner and don’t even realize it?” Petrovich egged him on.

Once Alana got the high sign from Petrovich, she
quickly returned, cozied up to Mattheus and and ran her arms up and down his
back.

“Darling, I missed you,” she cooed softly.

Mattheus momentarily enjoyed the warm touch of
her hands, and then quickly wanted to shrug her away.

“It’s been nice meeting both of you,” Mattheus
said as he pulled himself together, “but I have to leave now.

“So early? That’s terrible? You’re leaving me? “Alana
pouted. “We’ve only just met.”

“He has an appointment,” Petrovich soothed her.

“With who?” she asked petulantly.

“Go tell Scanda to call for a taxi,” Petrovich
ordered her.

Alana obeyed. She smiled wanly at Mattheus and
turned to go.

“Don’t forget me,” she whispered as she was
leaving.

“No one can forget you,” Petrovich assured her,
“now, go.”

She left.

Mattheus shook his head. “You run some
operation here,” he said.

“Remember, I like you,” Petrovich answered,
holding him there another moment.  “And, I’ll be waiting to hear your reply to
the offer I made.”

 “Fine,” Mattheus said, “I’ll be back in touch.”

Then he shook hands with Petrovich, turned
swiftly and went to the front door.

*

The taxi was waiting in front of the entrance.
Mattheus got in and undid the front buttons of his shirt. The night had been more
than he bargained for. Despite himself, Alana had stirred him and Petrovich was
a force to contend with. Mattheus had to figure a way to get more information
from him. 

As the taxi drove back to the hotel, Mattheus
looked in the rear view mirror and saw that he was being trailed by a car, no
doubt Petrovich’s security force. This guy was a snake, no question about it. He
trusted no one and no thing. Mattheus wondered if he himself was personally
involved with the murder. He certainly had it in for the Senator, wanted to
take his support out from under him. Petrovich’s connection to the crime couldn’t
be ruled out.

To Cindy’s surprise, Mattheus wasn’t there when
she went down to the restaurant for breakfast this morning, as he usually was.
They’d made a habit of meeting for breakfast around eight o’clock every
morning. It was still early, and the restaurant was partially empty at that
hour, so they could eat quietly and talk. If they got there later on, the place
was noisy and packed.

Cindy sat at a table waiting for Mattheus to arrive.
When he didn’t show by eight thirty, she ordered some eggs and coffee for
herself. Had he gotten in late from the party at Petrovich’s party last night,
she wondered? How did it go? As she ate her breakfast, she began to feel queasy
as different thoughts crossed her mind. Cindy had read about Petrovich’s
parties when she’d researched St. Bart’s. They had a reputation for being
incredible, filled to the brim with beautiful women, famous models, actresses,
heiresses. Had Mattheus met someone? He was an extremely good looking, rugged
guy and Cindy could easily see how the women would be drawn to him.

Cindy was shocked at the wave of anxiety that came
over her at the thought of Mattheus meeting a woman he liked. She was startled
to realize how disturbed it made her feel. Of course, Mattheus had every right
to spend time with anyone he wanted. She and he were working partners, that’s
all. Was she becoming more attached to him than she’d realized? She’d have to
guard against it.

It was still a little early to go into town to
meet Tiffany’s sisters Wynn, Rori and the other friend. They had a date to meet
at eleven.  After breakfast, Cindy went back up to her room to wait. As she sat
out on the patio, she looked up at the soft clouds that drifted by unknowingly,
unaware of the suffering down in the world below. Was Mattheus in his room sleeping,
or had he slept somewhere out last night? The question gave Cindy chills. Despite
her better judgment, she pulled out her phone and dialed his room.

A groggy voice answered, “Yeah?”

“Still sleeping?” Cindy asked sheepishly,
tremendously relieved that he hadn’t slept out last night.

“Jesus Christ, what time is it?” Mattheus
rallied.

“About nine thirty,” Cindy said.

“Oh boy,” said Mattheus.

“Stay out very late?” she asked, lightly.

No answer.

Cindy sensed he didn’t like the question.

“Alright,” she said lightly, about to get off
the phone, “just checking in to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Mattheus answered
defensively.

Cindy’s heart sunk. He was covering something.

“What you’re really calling for is to find out
is how the party went,” Mattheus mumbled. “You’re checking up on me.”

“Anything wrong with that?” Cindy asked. “We
usually have breakfast around eight o’clock. This morning you weren’t there.”

Mattheus got quiet again. “Nothing’s wrong with
it,” he said. “It’s just not a reason to wake me up.”

Cindy wanted to get off the phone quickly.  This
had gone further than she wanted it to.

“So, go back to sleep then,” she said, in a
business like tone. “I’m going into town in a little while to meet Wynn, Rori
and another one of Tiffany’s friends.”

Mattheus was taken by her change of tone.

 “Okay, we’ll catch up later after your
interview. I want to hear what they have to say,” he said.

“Fine,” said Cindy and hung up abruptly, her
heart pounding.

This wasn’t good. Obviously, he’d stayed out
late last night and clearly, it was no business of hers. She got up, changed
outfits, put on a pretty, lemon, linen dress, brushed her hair and shook it
out. Mattheus had every right to live his life and so did she. This was a
delicate balance between them. She had to be careful about it.

Cindy took a cab into town, which was as charming
and civilized as she could have imagined. The streets were lined with upscale
clothing boutiques, jewelry shops, gift and wine shops, florists and cafes. The
same beautiful, slim, tanned people were everywhere, milling around. Cindy felt
as though she could have been walking along a street in Paris, rather than on
an island out at sea.

She went to the café Wynn mentioned, and sat
down on a bench outside to wait. It was still a little early, but she felt
better being away from the hotel, getting distance from Mattheus, focusing on
her work. It had been a long while since she’d been involved with a man and had
forgotten the strange mixture of feelings that could come over her.  It had
been mostly easy with Clint, though. He’d never given her a reason to feel
nervous or insecure. She was horrified to feel this way with Mattheus, now. It
could mess up their entire relationship.

As Cindy sat there wondering how to proceed,
she saw Wynn walking down the block, accompanied by two young women. Cindy
stood up to greet them, and was startled as they got closer.  Rori was the
spitting image of her dead sister. It felt almost as if Tiffany had come back
from the grave.

“Thanks so much for coming,” Wynn gave Cindy a
hug.

“It’s my pleasure,” said Cindy.

“I think you’ve met Rori,” said Wynn, “and this
is Tiffany’s best friend Alma.”

Alma smiled nervously and Rori looked Cindy
right in the eye. Her glance had a flicker of challenge in it, as if to say, I
have a right to get off the boat and move on with my life no matter what anyone
says.

“I’m glad you could come into town,” Cindy commented.

“We had to get off the ship,” Rori answered.  “It’s
getting to be a nightmare no one can wake up from. What’s the good of all of us
going crazy?”

“No good at all,” said Cindy.

Rori seemed to appreciate that.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Rori continued,
flippantly. “I’ve had it with sitting in one place.”

Rori started strolling along the street and the
others joined her. Clearly she was the ring leader.

“Oh my God, here’s Winstons,” Rori squealed, as
they approached an expensive boutique with huge glass windows, decorated with
Christmas wreaths.  “I absolutely adore their clothes. Let’s look.” And with
that, she plunged inside.

Cindy stood back, but Alma shrugged and
followed her in.

Wynn gave Cindy a knowing look.

“It’s a distraction for Rori,” Wynn covered for
her. “We all have to do something to get Tiffany off our mind. Rori’s a great
shopper. Come on, let’s join them.”

Winston’s was a high end boutique with designer
label clothes. Like every place else on the island, it was filled. Young and
old women drifted around, inspecting the dresses, skirts and silk blouses. This
was serious business, the dresses started from seven hundred and fifty dollars
and up. An older woman that Cindy had seen at the hotel, accompanied a sales
person who brought four dresses to the checkout counter. All together the
dresses must have gone for at least five thousand dollars. The woman handed
over her credit card without blinking an eye.

“This dress is perfect,” said Rori, pulling a
green, silk dress off the rack. “And just my size. I’ve got to try it on.”

It was hard for Cindy to imagine how Rori could
enjoy shopping for clothes so much when her twin sister had just been killed.

As if reading her mind, Wynn said quietly, “Rori’s
a lot like our dad. She forges ahead, doesn’t let things knock her over.  She’s
dealing with the loss her way. She’s been on the phone all night with friends. Shopping
is an outlet for her, a release.”

Alma joined Rori, inspecting different shirts.

“And Alma’s latched onto Rori now that Tiffany’s
dead,” Wynn continued. “Alma was always lost without a best friend to latch
onto.”

“Do either of them have any idea who might have
done this?” Cindy asked.

“We’ve all been talking about that constantly,”
said Wynn.

Rori turned around and looked at Cindy and Wynn
before she went into the dressing room.

“You girls talking about us behind our backs?”
she asked.

“Why would you think that?” said Wynn,
perturbed.

“Because you are,” said Rori, disappearing
behind the silk sheets of the dressing room.

“Are the two of you close?” Cindy asked, as
Rori went in to try on the dress.

“I can’t say so. I’ve tried with her over the years,” said Wynn.
“It just never worked. It was

different with Tiffany, she
was everyone’s dream. Rori was the rebel. It was how she got attention, by overpowering
everyone else.”

Rori came out looking stunning in a tightly fitted, very
short bright green silk dress, with a halter

top, that was backless.

“I’ll take it,” she said, turning around in
front of the mirror.

“You look beautiful,” Cindy said and meant it.  Rori
was stunning, even though she had an edge about her, marked by a tattoo of a
butterfly perched on her left shoulder.

“Thanks,” said Rori surprised.

“Come sit over here a minute,” said Cindy,
motioning to the bench she was sitting on.

Rori came and sat next to her. Then Alma
followed close behind.

“We need time to talk,” said Cindy.

“We have plenty of time. Right now all we have
is time. We’ll all go out for coffee after I get what I need,” said Rori. Then
she got up to go try on another dress. “I want that dress over there in red,” she
said and started to grab it, as if there had to be something to make up for the
loss of her twin sister. “And I want that red necklace, too.”

Alma didn’t join Rori, but stayed behind with
Cindy.

 “Rori isn’t the most polite,” Alma started. “People
get insulted - take her the wrong way. I even heard a few people say that the
killer may have killed the wrong twin by mistake.”

“That’s horrible,” Wynn’s face puckered. “Don’t
you dare let Rori hear you say that.”

“She’s heard it herself,” said Alma. “She just
laughed and said, “it’ll be a cold day in hell before anyone gets me. I’m not
weak, like Tiffany.”

Cindy turned to Wynn. “Is there any truth in
that? Was someone aiming for Rori?”

“Of course not,” said Wynn. “People may be put
off with her, but no one would want to kill her. Nothing ever got that far.”

“And what about Tiffany?” Cindy asked, “how was
she weak?”

“Tiffany let her mother drag her around by the
nose,” Alma continued, “Rori hated that. It made her nauseous.”

“Rori and Tiffany weren’t close?” Cindy asked.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Wynn interrupted. “People
can have disagreements and love each other.”

“What do you say, Alma?” Cindy asked.

“I don’t know for sure. It really bothered Rori
though that their mother loved Tad so much. She often said that it was her
mother who was making Tiffany marry Tad. Or, that Tiffany was doing it to be a
good girl.”

“Rori didn’t think Tiffany loved Tad?” Cindy
was startled.

“Tiffany loved Tad,” Wynn insisted.

“Rori wasn’t sure,” Alma continued. “But Tiffany
did love making her mother happy and Rori hated it. She wouldn’t take any of
her mom’s crap.”

“What kind of crap?” asked Cindy.

“Her mom can be pretty willful and dominating.”

Cindy suddenly felt afraid for all of them. “With
fits of depression?” Cindy added.

“That’s putting it mildly,” said Alma.

“Enough,” Wynn broke in. “My mom’s done as good
a job as she’s capable of. She’s loved all her daughters, whatever Rori thinks.
Rori plays the devil’s advocate. She always has.  You say night, she’ll say
day.”

“I never said their mother didn’t love them,”
said Alma, nervous.

Just then Rori came bopping over, her arms
filled with two dresses, a necklace and a shirt.

“Not a bad day,” she said lightly, tossing a
look at what Cindy was wearing. “Why don’t you get yourself a few things, too?”
Rori asked, pointing to a part of the store filled with colorful, gauze,
flowered dresses. “You’re actually very pretty. If you’d upgrade your image,
you’d really be something else!”

Cindy was stung, despite herself.

“Come on, I’ll look with you,” said Rori.

Not only didn’t Cindy want to buy anything, she
doubted if she could even afford a shirt here.

“You never know who you’ll meet on the island,”
Rori continued. “Lots of great guys come down during holiday season. For all
you know, the perfect guy for you will appear right at your hotel.”

“I’ve already had the perfect guy for me,”
Cindy said sharply, offended.

“Really?” said Rori, taken aback.

“He died on our honeymoon,” Cindy continued.

All of them fell silent.

“I’m so sorry, Cindy,” Wynn said then, her face
flushing. “Really, that’s awful.”

Cindy moved away from them and looked over her
shoulder for a moment. To her surprise she saw two of the gendarmes, Marc and
Tomas, standing outside the boutique, looking in. They were watching her
closely.