Death by Desire (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 4) (22 page)

Cindy did her best to calm her mind, gather her
thoughts, try to find a way she could save her life.

“Maybe Tiffany deserved to die,” Cindy, cried, hoarse
with pain, “but I don’t,” Tad. I deserve to live.”

Tad stopped and stared at her.

“I haven’t lied, I haven’t tricked you!”

“All you bitches are the same,” Tad growled. “You’re
all disgusting flesh pots. My father told me that a long time ago. And he was
right.”

“Not me, I’m different,” said Tiffany.

 “Then prove it to me,” said Tad, and loosened
his grip just a bit.

It felt wonderful having her throat freer,
easier to breathe.

“I can prove it to you,” Cindy promised.

“How?” asked Tad, his eyes flashing.  His face
was close, a few inches from hers and he was staring down at her.

At that moment there was a loud cracking noise,
as if a tree were falling, or a clap of thunder approached in the distance.
Both Cindy and Tad jumped back, startled by the sound.

A loud voice called out. “Don’t make a move.
Stay right where you are.”

Then Mattheus burst into the room, his gun
drawn, his body taut.

“Mattheus,” Cindy called out desperately.

“See, you lied, you lied,” Tad tightened his
grip around Cindy’s neck again.

“You let her go or I’ll shoot you on the spot,”
Mattheus came closer, zeroing in.

Cindy felt Tad trembling.

“You’ll lie there in a pool of blood, just like
you left Tiffany,” Mattheus voice was fierce with rage.

Tad suddenly let go of Cindy, spun and fled
like a wild, crazed deer out back through the trees, and disappeared in a
flash.

Cindy ran into Mattheus’ arms and began to sob.

Mattheus held her for a long while.

“How could this have happened again?” he
murmured.

“It was different this time,” Cindy could
barely get the words out. “Tad did it. He’s the killer. We have all the proof
we need right here.”

Mattheus grabbed his phone and called the
gendarmes.

“Get the guy,” he said. “He flew out of here
about three minutes ago.”

Then Mattheus called the Senator with the news.

 “Cindy and I are on his trail,” Mattheus said.

“Where the hell could he go to?” the Senator
screamed.

“We’ll find him and let you know.”

Cindy went to the back to get her cell phone
and then came closer to Mattheus again.

“We’ll get in the car and hunt him down,” said Mattheus,
his eyes gleaming.

At that moment, Tad’s sister, Cissy, wandered into
the room, looking disheveled and confused.

“I heard noise?” she said, as if she’d been
sleeping. “I heard someone screaming?”

Mattheus turned to her point blank.

“Your brother killed Tiffany,” he said. “We
have all the evidence we need. Now he’s on the run.”

Cissy turned white. “My God, I was afraid of it,
I was afraid.”

“You were afraid of it?” Mattheus said, his
face contorting, “and you didn’t say a word?”

“I couldn’t, I couldn’t,” Cissy was trembling.

“And what if he killed someone else?”

“He wouldn’t, he wouldn’t,” Cissy kept
trembling.

“Once they get a taste of blood, they’re gone,”
said Mattheus, “they do it again and again.”

“Not always,” Cissy tried to defend him.

“He just tried to kill me,” Cindy edged in
between. “He was going to choke me to death.”

Cissy looked as if she was going to faint.

 “Where would your brother go if he’s on the
run?” Cindy demanded.

“I’ll show you,” said Cissy, the blood draining
from her face. “I know his favorite spot on top of a mountain. He goes there
when he’s upset. He goes there when he’s lonely. He goes there when my father
is hating his guts.”

“Take us there this second,” said Mattheus.

“I will,” said Cissy.

Their car flew over the roads, up the hills,
across a little bridge that covered a ravine and straight up a hill then,
leading to a mountain top. On the way there Cindy called the police to let them
know where they were headed. They’d already mobilized and were on the way.

“We’re on it! Full point alarm out,” Tomas
said.

“Full point alarm out,” Cindy repeated, so
Mattheus could know what was going on.

“He’s done,” muttered Tomas, heatedly then. “This
guy hasn’t got a chance. Bulletin out. It’s a manhunt! We’re circling the
mountain.”

Cindy gasped. She felt terrified for Tad and for
all of them, hunting a person down as if he were an animal.

“They’re all on the way,” Cindy whispered
hoarsely. “He hasn’t got a chance.”

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Cissy started sobbing. “My
brother couldn’t help it. Give him a break. He was driven to it. My father wouldn’t
let up. He kept saying she was a whore.”

“What break did he give Tiffany?” Mattheus
barked, as he drove single mindedly, obsessed.

“She was sleeping with Frances,” said Cissy.

“Does that mean she deserved to die?” Cindy
asked.

“Should I call my parents?” Cindy started
sobbing again.

“Not yet,” said Cindy, putting her hand on
Cissy’s arm.

“I bet this wasn’t the first time your brother
killed,” Mattheus commented as he drove fiercely to the destination. “The
murder was too carefully planned – no fingerprints or evidence of any kind.”

“What are you saying?” asked Cissy, trembling.

Mattheus stared her for a second and then
turned right back to the road.

“I’m betting your brother killed before,”
Mattheus was cornering her.

Cissy got stone silent.

“You keep something from us,” Mattheus was
furious, “and you’re an accessory to the crime.”

“He killed little animals when he was little,”
Cissy said in a tiny voice. “He and my dad would bury them in the backyard. My
father said Tad had been hunting, but it made me nauseous. He killed people’s
pets. I always begged him never to do it again.”

Cindy’s body trembled from head to foot.

“Your mother knew about it?” asked Cindy.

“Yes,” Cissy answered blankly. “She knew about
everything but didn’t do a thing.”

“So, who’s the real killer here?” Cindy said,
shaken. “It’s complicated, it’s complicated.”

“Not as complicated as you think,” muttered
Mattheus. “I’m gonna get this guy if it’s the last thing I do.”

They were there a few feet now from the top of
the mountain. The car slowed down, drove up and parked behind a cluster of
trees.

“Okay,” Mattheus got out and yanked on Cissy’s
arm.

 “Show us exactly where your fantastic brother
goes to hide.”

They walked a few feet up a hill which led to
the top of the mountain. It had gotten a little cooler, with a small breeze
that arose. Tad was there on the highest plateau, standing with his arms out in
the air. The gendarmes and two other cops had gotten there already. Cindy was
startled to see Hanuah among them. All of them were circling the mountain, and
Tomas had a megaphone. There was no way Tad could ever escape. 

Cindy, Mattheus and Cissy arrived and stood
beside them. A few minutes after that, the Senator arrived with Rori.

“Alright, you’re cornered,” the megaphone
shouted. “Come down peacefully, or we’ll shoot.”

“Don’t let them shoot, don’t let them shoot,”
Cissy was clinging to Cindy.

“Come down now, or else,” the megaphone
insisted.

Tad stood there, as if made of stone. He tossed
his head back as they spoke, letting the breeze wash over him.

“Are you coming down?” the megaphone called
mercilessly.

“Never!” Tad finally shrieked back.

“Help him, please,” Cissy begged.

“We’re coming up then,” the megaphone shouted.

Cindy walked over to the cops. “Give me a crack
at this,” she said. “I know him. I can talk him down.”

Hanuah looked at her between half closed eyes,
unable to meet her gaze. He must have been involved in my mugging, Cindy
thought. I could have died like Tiffany. He’s no better than Tad.

“Give me the megaphone,” Cindy demanded,
furious then. “I got him to this point, and I have a right to talk him down off
the mountain.”

Tomas handed the megaphone over to Cindy.

She put it to her mouth immediately.

“Tad, this is Cindy. “Come down. You’ll be
taken care of.”

“You lied to me,” he shrieked. “You lied! All
of you bitches, bitches, roll a man over in bed and then throw him into the
mud.”

“I never lied to you, Tad. You lied to me.”

“That’s all you bitches live for, throwing a
guy into the mud.”

Cindy shook her head slowly. “I’ll make sure
you’re taken care of Tad.”

She heard Cissy sobbing in the background.

“Your sister’s here too, she wants you to come
down.”

“My sister’s a pig, like the rest of them,” Tad
shrieked back. “You want me to come down? Alright, I will,” and in a suddenly
flash, he raised his arms higher like a terrified bird and flung himself down
off the mountain, spinning through the air and then crashing heartlessly onto
the stone below.

When they got to him, he was face up, in a pool
of blood, unmoving, staring mindlessly into the hot, empty summer sky.

Cindy and Mattheus’ plane left for the States
without them on it. No one would let them leave. Along with the shock and grief
caused by the suicide, there was great relief that the killer had been found.
Cindy and Mattheus were thanked, honored, congratulated, not only by the
police, but the Senator, his family and even Petrovich joined in. They had done
incredible work, all agreed. A dinner on the Senator’s yacht was planned to
officially honor them.

Before the dinner, the Senator pulled Mattheus
to the side.

“Before you go home,” he insisted, “you and
Cindy have to take a few days as my guest, anywhere you like on the island. You
need to time to relax, rest up, enjoy.”

Mattheus had accepted the invitation
immediately, and the Senator had arranged for an adjoining suite for them at a
luxurious, private villa-hotel, on a secluded beach.

“We can use a few days to unwind,” Mattheus said
to Cindy, when we told her about the invitation.
Cindy agreed. She certainly needed to relax and process everything that had gone
on. The sight of Tad jumping and then laying there dead on the ground would
never leave her mind. She thought about it over and over. Was there anyway she
could have prevented him from jumping? What could she learn from this? Would
any of it ever make sense?

During the dinner on the yacht, the Senator,
his family, and Petrovich made little speeches, offering thanks.

At the end, Mattheus stood up to talk.

“All of our success was only due to Cindy’s
amazing bravery,” Mattheus said.

Public acclaim as last thing Cindy wanted at
the moment. Not only was she exhausted, she was heartsick at how it had all
come to an end. There were no winners, here, Cindy felt. There was only the
satisfaction of knowing she’d prevented another killing from taking place.
Someone else’s life had been spared.  

After the dinner was over, the Senator arranged
for a car to take Mattheus and Cindy from the yacht to their new hotel.

Once in the car, Mattheus put his arm around
Cindy.

“I don’t know what I would have done if
anything happened to you,” he said.

Cindy put her head back on his shoulder. It
felt wonderful resting there. His shoulder was strong and comforting.

“You’re the most important woman in the world
to me,” Mattheus whispered into her ear.

Deeply touched, Cindy lifted her face and
looked into his eyes. They were warm, open and filled with a depth of caring
she’d never seen before. She moved closer to him then, turned her face upwards,
and suddenly, their lips met. The world spun around and Cindy melted into a
moment more beautiful and fulfilling than anything she’d ever expected or hoped
for.

“We belong together forever,” Mattheus breathed
as they drew apart.

Cindy looked up at him, her eyes filled with
tears.

“What does forever mean?” she whispered.

“Forever starts right where we are,” Mattheus
smiled, “and means we walk together through all the years.”

Cindy smiled. She loved the way he had of
putting things.

He smiled with her, looking boyish and playful,
filled with anticipation.

“Can’t wait to get to the hotel,” he murmured.

Neither could Cindy.

“Let’s forget about the adjoining rooms,” she whispered,
as they drew together in a passionate embrace, one that both of them had been
waiting for, longer than they’d realized.