Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

“I never gave Peg anything like that at all, Henry said softly. “I gave her what mattered. I gave her love. I stayed close to her no matter what happened. I never, ever left her side. But I couldn’t do the same for my daughter, could I?” Tears welled up in his eyes.

Henry was a beautiful man and he touched Cindy deeply. She thought of how she had run away from Mattheus back on the island. She thought how hard it was for her to stay at Mattheus’s side now. She certainly didn’t love Mattheus the way Henry loved Peg. Maybe Cindy never really loved him at all? Maybe she couldn’t love anyone?

Mattheus and Cindy looked at each other for a quick moment as Henry spoke. Cindy wondered if Mattheus was having the same thoughts as she was.

Mattheus just tossed his head for a moment and turned his attention back to Peg.

“You didn’t hear anything specific about Peter’s financial dealings from Allie, did you?” Mattheus was back hunting for new facts.

“Of course not,” said Peg. “Allie became a stranger to me the longer she was with Peter.

My own daughter a stranger - and look what happened to her now! She’s not even a stranger anymore, now she’s completely gone.”

An odd silence filled the room as they all looked down at the rug, took in the reality and sunk into their own reveries. Allie’s absence suddenly became a strong presence in the room. Cindy could almost feel her among them, moving the investigation along.

“What else can you tell us about Allie?” Cindy asked after a while.

“Investigate the others, “Peg answered. “Why focus on the victim?”

“Did you know that your daughter was a drug addict?” Mattheus broke in, clearly not caring about the mother’s reaction to that tough question.

“What are you talking about, a drug addict?” Henry jumped up. “Allie smoked a little pot like everyone else.”

“More than a little,” Mattheus exclaimed. “She was addicted to it, went to a dealer down here to get a big stash.”

Henry turned white.

Peg looked straight at Mattheus and smiled an odd smile.

“I knew all about it,” Peg said stridently, “and I tried my best to get her to stop. I even threatened to call the cops on her. Wish I had done that, now. I blame Peter for that. I blame their lousy, greedy relationship. He’s a self-centered guy who drove her to it.”

“Peter’s a lovely young man and he’s devastated,” Henry cut his wife off. “He comes in here and cries every night. He feels closer to Allie when he’s with her family. But Peg won’t give him the time of day.”

“I never liked him,” said Peg, “and I don’t like now. He can cry all he wants, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Henry shook his head and looked at Cindy and Mattheus apologetically. “Peg’s in terrible pain. I’ll hope you’ll forgive the way she’s talking to you.”

“She can talk anyway she wants,” said Cindy. “We need to hear whatever she says. It’s not up to us to forgive anything.”

Cindy and Mattheus spent a little while longer with Henry and Peg and then left, exhausted and even more shaken than when they’d arrived. It was time to go back to their room, order dinner in, unwind. They would pick up the investigation where they left off, in the morning.

“Nothing is leading anywhere solid,” said Cindy agitated, as they left Allie’s parent’s room. “Everyone is distraught and spilling their guts, but we have nothing to pin a case on.”

Mattheus suddenly put his arm around Cindy’s shoulder, trying to soothe her.

“It’s okay,” he said, “we’re doing fine. We’re building the puzzle one piece at a time.”

It felt wonderful to have his arm around her and Cindy moved closer to him. She longed to put her down head on his shoulder for a moment, but didn’t dare.

“Remember, I taught you that the pieces keep falling into places even when you don’t know they are,” Mattheus went on softly, pulling her closer still. “Suddenly, it all comes together and everything makes perfect sense.”

Cindy remembered the early days of their working together, when he’d taught her that. Mattheus had taught her everything she knew about being a detective. She’d looked up to him tremendously then, loved his warmth and tenderness mixed with rugged strength. What had happened to them?

“Remember?” Mattheus was suddenly caring.

“I do remember,” said Cindy in a hushed tone.

“It’s gonna be the same with our relationship,” Mattheus suddenly pivoted towards her. “We both need patience, lots of it. Then, all of a sudden it will all fall into place again.”

Then he pulled her closer to him in a long, long hug.





CHAPTER 13