Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

“But you didn’t go down with them this time.” Mattheus interrupted. “Why?”


“It was right before their wedding. They wanted to be alone, I could understand that,” said Jared. “Besides, the dive was a last minute thing. I took them out as a favor. Tad arranged it as a surprise. I guess he thought it would make them happy. They both seemed pleased about it.”

“Tad arranged it? We hadn’t heard that before,” said Cindy.

“Tad’s a great guy, their best man. Guess he wanted to do something special for them.”

“Why hadn’t we heard about that before?” asked Mattheus.

“An insignificant detail, if you asked me,” Douglas quipped. “Tad works down here with Peter. They’re best friends, it’s his best man. Perfectly appropriate for him to arrange this outing.”

“Who wanted to dive alone, Peter or Allie?” Mattheus took a different tack.

“Allie kept saying she was happy they were going to finally be alone together. I remember that definitely,” Jared said. “Peter was fine with it. There wasn’t a problem. Neither of them wanted me to go diving with them.”

“You’re positive?” asked Mattheus.

“Hell, what are you getting at?” Jared had enough. “What the point of this?”

“What is the point of this? “Douglas stepped in on Jared’s behalf.

“I think Jared may have heard something that will help us a great deal,” Mattheus said definitively.

“Are you suggesting that Peter was involved in what happened?” Lance pinned Mattheus down on the spot.

“Not necessarily,” said Mattheus, “but the exact conversation between Peter and Allie can give us a clue about someone else. Another name could have been mentioned?”

“Like who?” Lance demanded.

Jared began scratching his head then, “Heck I thought this would just take a few minutes. It’s a busy time now – people here for the festival, they’re also gonna want to dive.”

Cindy took a step closer to him. “You’ve got to remember every word you heard between Peter and Allie. You were one of the last ones to see her alive.”

Jared shuddered. “Listen, I’d had a drink or two before taking them out. My head wasn’t as clear as it could have been.”

Mattheus bristled. “A couple of drinks, that’s it?”

Jared stood straighter and glared at Mattheus. “What are you implying by that?”

Cindy knew Mattheus was wondering if Jared was drunk that night? It suddenly also struck Cindy at that moment, that perhaps Peter or Allie might have been drinking as well.

“Were Peter and Allie drinking as well?” Cindy asked.

“Hell no,” said Jared.

“You certainly have to have your wits about you in a night dive,” she continued. If they were drinking it certainly could have contributed to what happened, thought Cindy.

“Allie was fine when she went down,” Jared insisted. “She wasn’t any different than plenty of other times. After she and Peter got separated, something happened. Who knows what for sure? But we found her vest and tank down there. Looked like she ripped them off.”

“Why would she do that?” Cindy demanded.

“When the air gets too low they can panic, especially if the visibility’s bad and they can’t find their buddy. They get confused, don’t know what they’re doing, sometimes they rip everything off.”

“Jared,” Cindy addressed him bluntly then, “This is terrible, it’s serious. You have to answer me truthfully. You were there the night she died. Were Peter and Allie in love?”

Jared took a few steps back then as if punched directly in the gut.

“Are you sure she died?” he grew pale.

“What do you think?” Mattheus joined in.

“Allie was in love with Peter,” Jared finally said slowly. “But she wasn’t the easiest woman to be engaged to. Even though Peter never said so, she gave him a hard time. I felt sorry for the guy.”

A silence fell over all of them then. It was good to hear words of truth finally spoken.

“What kind of hard time?” asked Cindy.

“Jesus Christ,” Jared mumbled, “it was never enough for her, Allie always wanted more and more.”

“How do you know that?” Douglas asked tartly.

“I heard them talking lots of time. She was always complaining that she wanted more time together, more attention, that the bracelet he got her was pretty but there was another one she liked better.

Mattheus let out a long, slow whistle. “That kind of woman drives guy nuts.”

“Listen, when she got Peter, Allie caught herself a big fish,” Jared went on. “She reeled him in slowly and if you ask me, he couldn’t get off the hook.”

“He tried?” asked Mattheus.

“He squirmed a lot on the hook. You see it all the time in fishing. The poor fish’s stuck there but the more he squirms, the tighter the hook goes into him.”

“That’s an awful image,” said Cindy breathless.

“Maybe it is,” said Jared flushing, “but you asked me a question and that’s my answer.”