Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (10 page)

“Nobody
walks into that world on their own,” Sean insisted.

“And
I want to talk to Andrea’s friends,” Cindy continued. “I heard that she spent a
lot of time with them the day Cain was killed.”

Sean
was silent.

“Did
she tell the police that?” Cindy wouldn’t let up.

“Yes,
she said something like that,” Sean replied. “I wouldn’t put too much stock in
what she says though. Her story changes minute by minute.”

“She
has a right to have her alibi investigated,” Cindy answered sharply.

“Of
course she does,” Sean quickly agreed.

“Do
you know who her friends are?” Cindy asked. “Will you give me their contact information?”

“Sure,”
Sean agreed, half hesitantly. “I just don’t know how much good it will do you.
I don’t want you wasting your time and energy.”

It
was a strange reply and Cindy wondered about it. What did Sean know that he
wasn’t saying? Why would this be a waste of time? Was he going to give her the
names of the right people?

“It’s
okay,” said Cindy, “thanks for caring, but I’d love whatever information you
have.”

“I’ll
email it to you right away,” Sean agreed. “Oh, and one more thing, Cindy.” He
paused.

“What?”
she asked curious.

“I
asked Mattheus if he was still in love with you.”

Taken
aback, Cindy breathed in swiftly.

“You
know what he answered?” Sean continued.

“What?”
Cindy cringed.

“He
asked me if
I
was?”

Despite
herself, Cindy laughed.  “And what did you say?”

Sean
laughed as well. Mattheus left before I had a chance to tell him that I could
see how something like that would be a definite possibility later on.”

*

Cindy
hung up the phone disconcerted.  On the one hand it was nice having a light
laugh with Sean, on the other she wondered what he was really saying to her. If
Mattheus had really asked Sean if he was in love with her, then Mattheus had
definitely gone off the deep end.

 
Sean was right
on top of everything.  Cindy received an email immediately from him with the
names and contact information of Andrea’s friends. 
It’s a good idea to talk
to them,
he wrote in the email
. Let me know what they have to say.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon and catching up on everything.

Cindy
felt both relieved and anxious when she read Sean’s email. He was definitely
there to help her investigate, but she also felt the personal edge. It wasn’t
exactly fair to Mattheus, either, she thought. The two of them had just barely
broken up and here Sean was actively making a move.

Cindy
decided not to answer back right away, just take the information and see where
it lead.

Before
she went to make the calls, Cindy noticed another email, right below Sean’s. It
was from her sister Ann.

How’s
it going, Cindy? Please let us know. Everyone back here’s talking about it. Al’s
worried if you’re safe enough, and his friend at the paper called twice to let
us know he’s holding the job writing the column for you.

Cindy
blanched. She didn’t like having people back home involved with a case she was
on. It was none of their business, and she had thought the job possibility was
long gone.

And
, Ann continued,
Marge keeps calling as well. Her ex husband Ralph is back in the picture and,
if you don’t agree to sell the house to them, they’re definitely planning to
sue.

This
was the last thing Cindy needed to be concerned with now. She didn’t see any
way they could take the house from her, but the annoyance value was great. And
if they made it as unpleasant as possible, they must have felt, she’d be glad
to sell it and get away. They were wrong. Cindy loved that place and she had no
intention of buckling to them.  She had no intention of buckling to anybody.

Everything’s
good, I’m safe,
Cindy wrote back quickly.
No worries at all. Am right in the middle of the
investigation. Thanks for letting me know about the job.
Cindy was
surprised to see that she wasn’t so quick to turn it down now, especially with Mattheus
in the state he was in.
And, there’s no way Clint’s family’s taking the
house from me. I’ll deal with all of that later on, she continued. I’ll write
when I can. Love to all, Cindy.

*

Sean
had emailed a list of names of Andrea’s friends along with their contact
information. Before actually contacting them, Cindy went online and looked
through their Facebook pages. They all seemed nice enough, happy, lively, ready
for fun.

Cindy
decided to start contacting the names on the list. She started calling, left
phone and email messages and sent lots of texts. Then she went outside to the
tiny patio in her room. It was tiny and narrow, barely large enough for one
chair. Cindy sat down on the chair, and began wondering what would come of all
this? Was the evidence against Andrea too damming?  Was Cindy just spinning her
wheels?  Was Mattheus going to get pulled into the web of trouble? Rather than
simply checking on Andrea’s alibi, and finding out more, Cindy knew that the
next person she should be talking to was Petra. Petra had to have a fund of
information that would set Cindy and Mattheus on the right path. But did Petra
even want that? Was it more to her liking to see them fumbling around? Why did
Petra hate Mattheus so much? Was there something that had gone on between them
that Cindy knew nothing about?

Cindy
picked up her phone to call her, but then wondered if Petra would even consent
to see her again?  She put the phone down then and decided to speak to Andrea’s
friends first. She needed to find out more about Petra, too, before going to
her home to confront her.

By
now it was mid-afternoon, and Cindy wondered about dinner. Mattheus hadn’t said
a word about it and neither had she. Would she be eating alone, while he was
rummaging around, finding out more about the underworld? There was no reason,
of course, they should have dinner together, but the prospect of eating alone
and spending the evening in this room made her feel sad. An odd kind of
bleakness came over Cindy, as the phone rang.

“Is
this Cindy Blaine?” it was a young woman’s lilting voice on the other end.

“Yes,
who is this?” Cindy was quick to respond.

“It’s
Andrea’s friend, Natalie, you just contacted me,” the voice replied.

“Thanks
so much for getting back to me, Natalie,” Cindy was delighted.

“No,
thank you for coming down here and helping my friend,” the young woman promptly
replied. “Andrea doesn’t deserve this.”

“Natalie,
can we get together and talk about Andrea in person?” Cindy felt a huge hunger
to see her now.

“Any
time,” said Natalie, sounding relieved as well. “I can get to Johnson’s Pub in
half an hour,” Natalie replied. “A bunch of our friends are meeting there a
little later on. We can talk before they come.”

“Great,”
said Cindy.”

 “I
can’t wait to meet you. Hurry,” Natalie responded. “It’s only a few blocks away
from where you are.”

*

Cindy
changed into light, linen summer slacks, put on a loose green printed top and
decided to walk to the Pub and in the vibes. The narrow, crowded streets were
filled mostly with locals, and it was refreshing and relaxing to be among them.
As Cindy walked along it struck her that she hadn’t told Mattheus where she was
going. But what difference did it make?  They weren’t working together as a
true team now, just dividing up the tasks and filling each other in as best
they could.  Cindy had to admit that Mattheus now actually seemed a little
scary to her. She’d never felt that way before, but at this point his jealousy
seemed crazy.  And his asking Sean if he was in love with Cindy was way over
the edge. She was embarrassed and shocked by it and wondered what would come
next.

Johnson’s
Pub was a long, open building, filled with tables, chairs, music, verandas, people
meeting and noise.  It was half full when Cindy walked in, and she could just
imagine how it would be as the evening went on. Crammed to the gills.

Cindy
walked to the bar and immediately spotted a lovely young Caribbean woman, about
sixteen or so, dressed in jeans, orange T shirt, with a large, red medallion
around her neck. As Cindy walked closer, the young woman looked up, smiled and
started waving.

“Over
here, over here,” she recognized Cindy immediately, probably from her photos in
the paper, Cindy thought.  “I’m Natalie, “the young woman said, popping up off
her bar stool.

“Hi
Natalie,” Cindy liked her immediately.  She was lively and refreshing.

“It
is so great that you got here so quick,” Natalie breathed, taking Cindy’s wrist
and tugging her to the bar, to sit next to her.

“It’s
great to be here,” said Cindy, sitting down at the stool beside Natalie.

Natalie
took a glass that was on the bar and downed it fast. “It’s lemonade,” she said
with a little grin. “Drinking laws.”

Cindy
smiled.

“Do
you know Andrea well?” Natalie started talking, as if she couldn’t wait to say
all she had on her mind.

“I
don’t know her at all,” said Cindy, feeling thirsty and wanting something to
drink as well. “I’m her father’s business partner.”

“I
know,” Natalie nodded quickly and ran her hand along the bar. “We all heard
everything about you. Andrea told us when she came back from St. Martin. She
couldn’t believe her real father found her, and actually wanted to see her. It
was like a dream come true.”

“And
she couldn’t stand me,” Cindy quickly filled in. “Did she tell you that, too?”

“Yes,
she did,” Natalie’s voice got lower, as she looked aside. “Are you thirsty or
something?”she said then. “Want something to drink?”

“I’d
love a lemonade like you’re having,” said Cindy, making Natalie laugh.

“You
got it,” Natalie said fast, called the waiter and ordered one.

“Why
didn’t Andrea like me?” Cindy had to know more when Natalie had finished
ordering the drink.

“She
just didn’t want another woman around,” Natalie answered, her eyes rising
slowly to look at Cindy. “I think deep, deep down she was hoping that Mattheus
and her mother would get back together again and that she’d finally have a real
family. Everyone wants that.”

“But
Andrea’s mother was already married,” Cindy remarked, nervously.

“It
was a horrible marriage,” Natalie’s voice dropped lower again. “Cain beat her
and beat Andrea. Her mother kept threatening to leave him every day and Andrea
kept praying that she would.  I guess when Andrea met Mattheus she thought he
was the answers to her prayers.”

“That’s
quite a jump to think that,” said Cindy.

“I
know, I told her to cool it, too,” said Natalie. “I said let things take their
course.”

“And,
what was her reaction?” Cindy was enthralled.

“Andrea’s
not the kind of girl who cools it,” Natalie spoke quickly now. “She goes up and
down in a second, she’s emotional and gets upset. She’s also very attached to
her mother, does whatever she can to take care of her. But she also knows how
to have a good time, if you know what I mean?” Natalie leaned closer to Cindy,
as if she were making sure that no one could hear her.

“What
do you mean?” Cindy egged her on.

“Listen,
there’s stuff about Andrea that everyone knows -.”

“Go
on,” said Cindy so grateful to have met Natalie.

“Andrea’s
big into drugs and dealing,” Natalie looked at Cindy, who showed no reaction. “Lots
of kids who live here do that,” Natalie continued, “it’s not really such a big
deal.”

Cindy
wanted to ask if Natalie were too, but she thought better of it. She was so
wonderful and such a rich source of information, Cindy didn’t want to put her
on the spot.

“What
else?” said Cindy, “lots of sex, boyfriends?”

Natalie
looked surprised at the question. “Well, of course everyone has sex and
boyfriends.”

“Of
course,” Cindy replied as if she were one of the crowd. “But there’s more than
just plain sex that goes on down here, isn’t there?” Cindy thought of the information
she’d received about prostitution and trafficking. Was it possible that Andrea
was involved in that?

Natalie
brushed her hair back from her neck. This was getting intense for her. “There’s
all kinds of sex down here and people get involved in it for all kinds of
reasons, including for pay,” she said. Then she paused for a long time, as if
worried that she may have said too much.

Cindy
quickly jumped in. “It’s alright, Natalie, you’re helping Andrea by telling me.
The more I know the better, right now she’s the main suspect and it doesn’t
look good.”

Natalie’s
eyes grew wide with fear. “I heard that and it terrifies me.  You’ve got to
free her, I don’t want to lose her, she’s my best friend.  And besides, I’m
positive she didn’t do it.”

“Why
are you so positive?” Cindy jumped in.

“Because
I know her since we were kids. Andrea could never hurt anyone. Even when her
stepfathers beat her, she couldn’t raise a hand to fight back. I told her,
fight, Andrea, but she always just said, I can’t.”

“Maybe
she finally had enough?” said Cindy. “Maybe this was one time too many and she
just let loose. It would be understandable, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes,
it would,” Natalie agreed, “but that’s not what happened. She didn’t do it, she’s
innocent.”

“What
do the other kids think?” asked Cindy.

“The
other kids think all kinds of things but one thing they agree on is not to talk
to you. They all got your messages, and decided together that no one’s going to
answer. After Andrea met you and Mattheus she told everyone you were the pits.”

Cindy
shook her head slowly. “She doesn’t know the first thing about me, Natalie. She
has no reason to say that.”

“I
know, I know,” said Natalie quickly. “Andrea’s like that, makes up her mind in
a second and won’t budge. I always just thought that she didn’t want her father
with another woman.”

“Well
it’s lucky for her that he was,” Cindy quipped, “because this woman has come
all the way down here to help solve the case.”

For
a moment Natalie’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s amazing that you’re doing
this,” she whispered.

“Thank
you,” said Cindy.

“Just
amazing,” Natalie went on, “you must love Mattheus very much.”

That
comment stopped Cindy cold. “It’s not that I love him, it’s that there’s real
trouble here and he needs help.”

“That
sounds like real love to me,” said Natalie looking right through Cindy.  “No
woman would risk her life this way if she didn’t really love someone.”

Cindy
took a long, sad breath. Could it be Natalie was right, that she knew more
about her than Cindy knew about herself?

“And
who did Andrea love?” Cindy picked up the thread of the conversation and put it
back where it belonged.

Strangely
enough that question seemed to frighten Natalie.  She jerked backwards and
stopped in her tracks. “Why do you ask that?”

Cindy
was surprised.  “Why not? It’s a natural question.”

Natalie
got up off her stool and then quickly sat down again.  It seemed this question upset
her more than talking about drugs and sex. Her upset fascinated Cindy.

“Was
Andrea in love with someone?” Cindy repeated more insistently. “Who was he?”

“Whether
or not she was in love with someone doesn’t have anything to do with the
murder,” Natalie answered firmly.

“It
might well have,” Cindy was alerted.

“I
mean, Andrea had some Johns, she dealt drugs, that’s where there was trouble,
not because she might have been in love.”

But
Cindy knew that being in love was often where trouble started. It turned things
around, made a person feel helpless. Cindy wanted to know more about it.

“Who
was Andrea in love with?” she repeated, in a low, friendly tone.

“I’m
telling you to look into the drugs and Johns,” Natalie insisted, refusing to
answer the question.

Cindy
backed off and took a new track. “Did Andrea’s mother know about the drugs and Johns?”

“She
knew,” Natalie whispered, nervously. “She knew everything, and she encouraged
it.”

Cindy
was horrified.  “Her mother encouraged Andrea to deal drugs and sleep with guys
for money?”

“Andrea
and her mom were hard off, it was a rough life for them,” Natalie said softly. “It
didn’t make Andrea mad at her mother, though, she did it to help out.”

Cindy
wanted to gag. Her natural distaste for and suspiciousness of Petra grew
exponentially. This was incredibly valuable information and she was glad she had
it before she saw Petra again. A woman who could encourage her daughter to do
this, would be capable of anything.

“You’ve
been tremendously helpful to me, Natalie,” Cindy said softly.

“Thanks,”
said Natalie, “and we have to finish up quick because our friends are coming
soon, and they can’t see me talking to you.”

“I’m
that bad?” Cindy was taken aback.

“You’re
off limits,” Natalie replied. “No one wants you down here snooping around. No
one trusts you.”

“Okay,
I got it,” Cindy replied. “Thank you for trusting me, Natalie. There’s only one
last thing I’d like to know before we finish.”

“What’s
that?” asked Natalie, “I’ll do my best.”

 “Was
Andrea in love?”

Natalie
looked at Cindy suddenly as though she were the enemy.

 “Why
is that such a dangerous question, Natalie?”

“I
told you not to go there,” Natalie’s voice grew sharper. “It doesn’t make a
difference.”

“To
me it does,” Cindy stood her ground.

“I
can’t say a thing about it,” Natalie scraped her stool back from the bench
then. “It would hurt Andrea if I did. I totally promised her I wouldn’t and I
won’t. I refuse.”

Just
then a bunch of kids about Andrea’s age all came in together, looking around
for a table.

“Oh
my God, our friends are here, early,” Natalie breathed. “Make believe you don’t
know me. Look away. I don’t want them to know we were talking.”

Cindy
quickly looked away as Natalie jumped off the bar stool, and greeted them as if
she’d just arrived as well.

One
of the crowd, a guy of about seventeen, with tattoos over both arms, took a
step forward, looked over at the bar and peered at Cindy. It was as if he was
trying to make out where he’d seen her before.  

Cindy
met his gaze as his jaw clenched and his hands curled into fists. She got up
from the bar then and walked past him, to the door, as if nothing at all were
happening. As she walked she felt his hard gaze on her the whole time.