Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

Peter’s calling me in for an emergency meeting, said Tad. Stay alerted.

Damn it, answered Ned. That guy has his tentacles all over the place.

Stay alerted, Tad replied immediately.

Mattheus’s heart started to pound. What was Tad alerting Ned to? There were no other emails to or from Ned. Mattheus wondered what had happened in the meeting with Peter? What did Peter want to talk about?

Mattheus picked up the phone and dialed Tad’s extension. He wanted to talk to him about this right away. No one answered.

Mattheus spun back into Peter’s email account immediately. Was there something there he’d overlooked? What kind of emergency had Peter been dealing with?

Peter’s business email accounts showed nothing. Mattheus decided to check further into his files. Mac had given him the overall password that could get into anything. He opened Peter’s business files, began to scan them and immediately saw one file had recently been deleted. Two other files had been scrambled. It happened the day before Allie died.

Mattheus tried Tad’s phone extension again. Still no answer. Then he decided to call Peter at the hotel.

Peter picked up immediately, “Yes?” he responded.

“I’m checking things at your office,” Mattheus said to Peter immediately.

“Thanks,” Peter replied.

“I need your help, Peter,” Mattheus was blunt.

“Of course,” said Peter, “whatever you need.”

“Can you come right down to the office and meet me here?”

“Why? Did you find something?” Peter sounded agitated.

“Just come as soon as you can,” Mattheus replied.

“I’ll be right over,” Peter said.

*

Mattheus drank another cup of coffee while waiting for Peter to arrive. Something was brewing, but he wasn’t sure what. Peter sounded nervous, but he also sounded relieved. Mattheus instinctively knew that his meeting with Peter was going to open a whole new door.

When Peter walked in he was dressed casually in khaki slacks and an open shirt. He looked tired and upset, but also glad to be there. For a long while he stood in the center of the office and looked around as if trying to ground himself in the reality that even after tragedy, life goes on.

“It’s good to be here, even for a little while,” said Peter, as he sat down. “I’m happy to see you.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Mattheus, before going into anything.

“Thank you,” said Peter, somberly. “I don’t know how I’ll go on without her. Everyone tells me somehow I will – in time.”

Mattheus was touched by the raw emotion Peter was feeling. It permeated the room.

“You will go on,” Mattheus tried to encourage him. “It takes time, but things change. You can’t see how they will at the moment, but they do, all by themselves.”

Mattheus looked at Peter directly then. Peter had a straight forward manner, combined with an old fashioned manner that was striking.

“I hate to bother you with all this now, “Mattheus went on, “but it’s important. There are things I have to know about.”

“Me, too,” said Peter, “I also have my questions. Ask me anything you like.”

Mattheus leaned closer to him across the desk.

“I saw an email you sent to Tad asking to come to your office right away for an emergency meeting.”

Peter’s brow wrinkled. “Yes,” he said, “that’s right.”

“What was the emergency?” asked Mattheus plainly.

Peter glanced at the door, which was half open.

“Do you want me to shut the door?” Mattheus asked.

“No, it doesn’t matter now,” said Peter. “There are no secrets anymore.”

“Was that a secret?” asked Mattheus.

“Not a secret, I just wanted to be careful and sure. I found something irregular going on in the company,” Peter started talking abruptly, “there were large sums of cash being deposited in some accounts, and being withdrawn in odd ways.”

Mattheus bristled. “Money laundering?”

“It could be construed that way, “said Peter, “but I don’t know, I’m not sure.”

“Who was doing it?” Mattheus asked.

“I have no idea,” said Peter. “Whoever was doing it was clever. The deposits were made anonymously. After I first caught it, I waited to see if it continued. It did. So, I was getting ready to tell the Principals about it and take it the next step.”

“Your father and Mac?” asked Mattheus, to be sure.

“That’s right,” said Peter in a suddenly clipped tone. “They were the ones I had to report it to.”

“You were getting ready? You didn’t tell them?” Mattheus was confused.

“I told Tad about it,” said Peter. “He’s my right hand guy. I wanted to talk it over with him first to make sure he agreed. Heck, this is not something you do lightly. My dad and Mac would have been horrified, turned the place upside down. I wanted to make sure first, see what Tad thought.”

“That was the emergency you called Tad into discuss?” asked Mattheus.

“Yes,” said Peter.

“What did Tad say?” asked Mattheus.