Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

“Was Allie in love with Peter? Or was she in love with the jewels?” Cindy asked.

Nora gasped, and Laura flushed beet red.

“That’s a horrible question to ask,” said Laura. “Why would you want to put her down, just like her mom did?”

“I’m not putting her down,” said Cindy, “my job is to search out the truth. The truth can save her, or at least, find out what happened. She deserves that, doesn’t she?”

“Of course she deserves it,” said Elizabeth, “but I told you, I never saw Allie as happy as when she and Peter met.”

“Their happiness lasted?” Cindy wouldn’t let go.

“Their high times came and went,” Robyn jumped in. “Of course Allie and Peter had their conflicts, like everyone else. But basically, they were good.”

The girls were presenting a united front, but Cindy had the strong feeling there was something else going on. She couldn’t get at what and decided to try a different tack.

“How about Allie’s other interests, her job, the people in her life?”

“Allie was an account manager at an ad agency,” Elizabeth spoke up. “She liked her job, and had lots of friends. The gals in the wedding party are the ones she was closest to. We’ve all known her for years. She had different sides to her, too. She loved shopping, fashion, dancing. Allie was a terrific dancer. Peter loved that about her, how she loosened him up. Her other real hobby was diving.”

“That’s odd,” said Cindy. Scuba diving didn’t really fit the picture of the woman they were painting.

“What’s odd it?” asked Robyn. “She’d been a model and liked posing underwater, loved the scenery down there. Most of all, being close to Peter. I’ve seen lots of photos of the two of them underwater.”

Cindy wanted to see those photographs. “Are there photographs of the two of them down there the night she disappeared?”

The girls looked at each other surprised. “I doubt it,” said Elizabeth.

“Allie also liked danger, if you ask me,” Nora piped up then.

That comment hit a chord with Cindy, “How so?”

“Anyone who goes diving at night is asking for trouble,” Nora’s voice grew high. “I told Allie many times not to do it. She said I was totally paranoid and that’s what she loved about me. I said I can be paranoid and still be completely right. Why does someone in their right mind go diving in the night with poor visibility? You tell me!”

All the girls took a deep breath and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“Nora is overly cautious,” said Elizabeth.

“You can’t be overly cautious when your life is at stake,” said Nora. “Look where we are! Sitting at the beach with a detective and Allie has disappeared. Now she’ll never have a chance to be a bride.”

That stopped all of them cold, took the energy right out of the conversation. They all grew silent and looked out at the evening sky, which slowly grew darker.

It was definitely getting late and Cindy glanced back towards the hotel, wondering how long they should continue talking. To her surprise, she saw a man standing at the edge of the beach, watching them. The wind blew his shirt and hair. Startled, Cindy realized it was Mac.

The girls followed Cindy’s glance to where he was standing.

“That’s Mac,” Elizabeth commented. “He’s like an uncle to Peter, and also Peter reports directly to him at the company.”

“What does the company do, exactly?” asked Cindy.

“Trading, finance, worldwide banking,” Elizabeth responded. “Mac is great, he brings a fun touch to everything. Right now he’s probably wondering what we’re all talking about down here. He doesn’t like to be left out of anything.”

Cindy looked over at him once again. He waved to her and she waved back.

“He’ll be a good person to talk to,” Robyn offered, “he’s extremely involved in Peter’s life and knows everyone on the Island.”

Cindy took a deep breath then, and the girls all followed suit. This seemed like a suitable breaking point for now.

“I really appreciate the time you’ve spent with me here,” Cindy said, “and I hope we can talk more as things go forward. If there’s anything else anyone of you remembers, or wants to tell me privately, I’ll give you my cell phone and hotel room phone number.”

“Great,” the girls seemed relieved.

As Cindy wrote out the information to give to each them, she felt Mac approaching on the sand.

“Hi gals,” he said light heartedly, “hope this has been useful for all of you.”

“It’s been terrific, “said Robyn. “I feel so much better now that Cindy’s on the case.”

“We love her,” Elizabeth added.

“You’ve got good taste,” Mac chimed in.

“Thanks,” said Cindy, finished writing and started handing her contact information to the girls.