Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“Best case scenario,” Cindy agreed softly, “but how likely is it?”


“Very likely, I think,” said Mattheus, surprising Cindy. “The whole situation down here is fluid, with loopholes everywhere you turn. For all we know, the killer could be one of the workers at the hospital who felt it was cruel to leave Tara laying between two worlds. It shouldn’t be hard to smoke them out, either. There are lots of religious people down here who believe euthanasia’s a sin. One of those might be willing to speak up and say something about what they’ve seen.”

Cindy suddenly felt sad. “I don’t know why I feel discouraged,” she said.

“This is a strange environment to be working in. It it can play with your mind,” Mattheus pulled his chair closer to Cindy. “But there’s an answer waiting for us, and it’s got to be nearby.”

Cindy was pleased to hear that. She was so grateful to have Mattheus working beside her. When one of them felt low, the other always picked them up again.

The phone rang sharply then, interrupting the quiet that had descended upon them.

“It’s that guy we met at the hospital party, Todd,” said Mattheus, looking at his phone.

“Do you want to take this, or should I? He seemed to want to talk to you.”

“I’ll take it,” said Cindy, propping herself up and reaching for the phone.

“Cindy, this is Todd,” a high, nervous voice greeted her on the other end.

“Hello,” said Cindy, as brightly as she could, “nice to hear from you.”

“You remember me?” Todd sounded pleased.

“Of course,” said Cindy, “you wanted to talk.”

“Precisely,” said Todd. “Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow at Cave River, Rat Bat Hole? It’s a beautiful spot and private! No one will see us there talking.”

“Sure,” said Cindy, “you name the time, and I’ll be there.” When she hung up the phone, Cindy noticed Mattheus watching her. “I’m meeting Todd at Rat Bat Hole for lunch tomorrow,” she said.

“Good,” Mattheus nodded. “I’m going to make an appointment to speak to Dr. Padden next, the one in charge of Tara’s care. We need more facts to ground us now. There are too many possibilities floating around that can just lead us to dead ends.”

Cindy couldn’t have agreed more. She was delighted that Mattheus would meet Dr. Padden while she heard what Todd had to say.





Chapter 10



Rat Bat Hole was a well-known tourist spot in Jamaica, located at the opening of an underground cave system that extended for several miles. Unfortunately, as the name suggested, it was filled with bats. Cindy stood at the entrance of Rat Bat Hole listening to the harrowing sound of bats flapping around inside. Unwilling to step in, she decided to convince Todd to walk with her in the opposite direction. Noisy Water Cave, another attraction, was only a mile away.

As Cindy stood there, shaken by the sound of the bats, she heard footsteps come up from behind.

“Hello, hello, you got here early,” a high, nervous voice exclaimed.

Cindy turned around and saw Todd, looking at her expectantly. He wore a plaid shirt with an open collar and khaki slacks.

“Hi, Todd,” Cindy said relieved as she took some steps away from the underground cave.

“Quite a spot, isn’t it?” Todd grinned, exposing small, perfect teeth.

“Not a place I’d choose myself,” Cindy smiled back.

“Of course we don’t have to go into the cave,” Todd chuckled, reassuring her. “I just wanted to meet you here so no one at the hospital would see us talking. It’s the last place they would come to.”

“I understand completely,” said Cindy, wanting to put him at ease.

“If we walk towards Noisy River Cave, there are a few benches we can sit on,” Todd suggested it himself. “We can watch the water trickle down over the limestone rocks. It’s actually beautiful.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Cindy, as they turned and made their way along thick, lush vegetation and beautiful trees.

“Well, I’m extremely excited to talk to you,” Todd remarked as he and Cindy moved along. “You and Mattheus are famous down here in the Caribbean. I’m impressed that you came down to work with us.”

“Thank you,” said Cindy, waiting to hear more of what he really had on his mind.

“You deserve to get the real scoop,” Todd picked up his pace, half talking to Cindy and half to himself.

“I appreciate that, Todd, I really do,” said Cindy, keeping up. “A man’s life is at stake.”

“Lots of things are at stake, including the hospital itself,” Todd retorted as they approached a bench that waited in the distance under a huge, sheltering tree.

“Let’s sit there,” said Cindy.

“We definitely will,” Todd agreed, pleased at the privacy surrounding them.

“You have a very important job,” Cindy said as they sat down. “Assistant to the hospital administrator is no small matter.”