Death by Devotion (Caribbean Murder #9)

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.