Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

“The wedding guests aren’t allowed to leave the hotel grounds,” said Cindy.

“That’s assuming the murderer is one of the guests,” Mattheus said. “How do you know the killer isn’t a local? How do you know there’s not a deeper reason someone wanted to make sure Allie was dead? We’ve got to open up to all possibilities.”

Cindy felt startled, though she knew he was right. They hadn’t explored who might be living and working on the Island who might benefit from Allie’s disappearance.

“At this moment, there’s no one and nothing that isn’t under suspicion,” Mattheus gritted his teeth.

Mattheus’s determination to find Allie’s killer was commendable, but there was also a quality about him that now frightened Cindy - desperation and a sense of personal revenge. That’s what had caused Cindy to leave after they’d started living together a few months ago. Even though, they were supposedly on a vacation, the minute a call for a case came in, Mattheus became consumed with finding the killer. He’d dropped their plans, couldn’t allow himself to have a life of his own. It seemed as if with each case they worked on, the compulsion grew stronger, like a strange addiction of some kind.

Now, once again Cindy felt as though the relationship between them that had been so beautiful in the beginning of their outing, had taken a back seat. She wanted to take his hand and say I love you, Mattheus. I’m here for you. We can have a life together, too, but she couldn’t. He frightened her.

Mattheus was going over their next steps as they returned to the hotel. “As soon as we get back I’m going to research the company and get clearance to go into Peter’s email accounts. You go talk to Vivien and Tad, and anyone else you want to. When we’re done, we’ll catch up back at the hotel room and fill each other in.”

“First I’ve got to talk to Nora,” Cindy mentioned.

“Who’s Nora?” Mattheus perked up.

“She’s one of the bridesmaids,” Cindy replied. “Nora’s devoted to Allie and the girls think she’s a bit paranoid. Maybe she is, but I came across some emails between her and Allie that surprised me.”

Mattheus stopped walking. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I didn’t have a chance,” said Cindy, “I found them in the middle of the night.”

Mattheus looked momentarily confused. “Last night?”

“I couldn’t sleep so I went out on the patio,” said Cindy. “I opened my laptop and went into Allie’s email account. I have the password, it wasn’t a problem.”

“Sorry you couldn’t sleep,” Mattheus said more softly. “I didn’t sleep so well myself.”

“Sorry,” said Cindy.

“We do much better when we sleep together,” Mattheus said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“I know,” said Cindy, not wanting the conversation to go in that direction again. “Anyway, I found a few emails where Nora warned Allie that there could be trouble if she kept something up.”

Mattheus sprung to attention. “Kept what up? That’s important.”

“It is,” said Cindy, and “I ‘m going to speak to Nora about it today.”

Mattheus nodded, “You’re a fabulous detective, Cindy,” he said.

Cindy was surprised how good it felt to hear that. For a second she had her old Mattheus back with his support and acknowledgment.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she replied.

“I’m proud to be working with you,” Mattheus turned to her then and flashed his old, warm, beautiful smile.





CHAPTER 10


As soon as they returned, Mattheus and Cindy went their separate ways. Cindy decided to speak with Vivien first, then Tad, then Nora. She phoned upstairs to the Interrogation room, where the police were stationed. They had agreed to put her and Mattheus in touch with whomever they needed when they needed it. Cindy asked to speak to Vivien.

The police called back in a few moments and told her that as luck would have it, Vivien and Tad were together at the moment, downstairs at the pool. They’d been notified that she wanted to speak to them and were waiting for her there.

Cindy went straight out back to the sprawling pool at the side of the hotel. It was surrounded by beach chairs, umbrellas and small wooden tables, where waiters came regularly, serving drinks. The day had grown cloudier and cooler and Cindy wondered why Vivien and Tad had chosen to spend time there. Most of the chairs at the pool were empty and it was easy to see them sitting close together, towels around their shoulders, waiting for her.

When Cindy approached the two of them stood up and faced her. Vivien wore a black bikini with a net cover up, and her long, red hair hung down to her shoulders. Mattheus was right, she was a total knockout, with huge green eyes and a sensual energy that wove a web around her.

Vivien ran her hand through her hair as Cindy got closer.