Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“Warned her about what?” Cindy quickly jumped on it.

“I warned Tara over and over that Owen had something going on,” Veronica insisted. “She refused to believe me. She said I was crazy, that I liked making trouble in everyone’s marriage.”

“Was that true?” asked Cindy straightforwardly.

“Sure, I like pointing out bullshit, if that’s what you mean,” Veronica answered directly. “If you don’t point it out up front, if you don’t give people warnings, stuff like this can happen later on. You know how many women get killed by creepy husbands?”

“What made you think Owen had something going on?” Cindy continued, shaken.

“Nothing definite,” Veronica continued boldly. “But Owen’s a sexy, rich, charming guy, and Tara became more and more boring every year. She was stupid too, took him completely for granted, didn’t even dress up much anymore. A few times we were all out together, I saw Owen looking at other women, big time.”

“Most men look, don’t they?” asked Cindy. “What’s the big deal about that?”

“Yeah, they look,” agreed Veronica, “but Owen felt like he was on the prowl. This was one, hungry man.”

“Did you want Owen for yourself?” Cindy wanted to test and unnerve her.

Veronica guffawed. “Not really,” she said, “though it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. I could have made him happier than Tara, for sure.”

“Owen says they were happy, had a great marriage,” Cindy insisted.

“Yeah, yeah,” Veronica tossed it off, “guys say everything to cover up, don’t they? But where was the fire between them? Where was the spark? Completely gone, if you asked me.”

They talked a while longer and Cindy hung up from the conversation feeling more out of sorts than before.

“Veronica’s a smart woman,” Loretta jumped in as Cindy put her phone away. “She’s got it going on.”

“Thanks for telling me about her, Loretta,” said Cindy.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Loretta wasn’t letting it go. “She told you about my mother and Owen?”

“She told me what she thought,” said Cindy.

“Owen was released from jail too quickly, it’s not right,” pouted Loretta.

Cindy knew that Loretta had it in for Owen, and had to take all this with a grain of salt.

“Don’t leave the island so fast, please,” Loretta pleaded. “My mother deserved better, her whole life long.”

“Alright,” Cindy capitulated. “I’ll stay in Jamaica a little while longer and see what else comes up.”

“Thank you,” Loretta leapt over and hugged Cindy. “It will be worth your while, I know it will. Don’t they say the truth reveals itself if you wait for it?”

Cindy hadn’t heard that saying, but at the moment, it felt right on.





Chapter 21



“Are you ready to go now?” Mattheus called out as soon as Cindy returned to the hotel from her interview with Loretta.

Cindy looked around and saw Mattheus taking in the sun and breeze out on the balcony. “I’m back, Mattheus,” she called out.

“It was great of you to go speak to Loretta,” Mattheus called back, “and hear what she had to say. Ready to go now?”

Cindy replied as she came out and sat on the edge of Mattheus’s chair. “I’m less ready than ever to leave now,” she said.

Mattheus shook his head. “Okay, let’s have it. What did she say?”

“Loretta gave me the number of a woman named Veronica, her mother’s friend. I called and spoke to her right away. Veronica told me that Owen and Tara’s marriage was nothing like he told us. She said that he was on the prowl.”

Mattheus made a sour face. “People say all kinds of things. What good is this information going to do us now? Owen’s been released, Cindy. It’s over.”

“I want to go back down to the dock and onto the boat they rented one more time,” Cindy went on. “Something tells me to do it.”

“It’s overkill and guilt,” Mattheus replied. “You’re blaming yourself for Alana’s death. It wasn’t your fault. You’ve got to move on.”

“I want to go anyway,” said Cindy.

There’s no point in it,” Mattheus insisted.

“But I’m going,” Cindy replied.

Mattheus seemed irritated. “Go if you want to, I’ll wait for you here. When you’re through give me a call and I’ll book our flight home. Okay?”

“Okay,” Cindy agreed. She knew she had to let go at some point, was just satisfying one last urge.

Mattheus put his arms around Cindy then, and pulled her to him. “Just one thing I have to ask before you go,” he said. “What exactly do you expect to find at the boat? What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know,” Cindy felt comforted in Mattheus’s arms. “I know it totally doesn’t make sense, but something is drawing me there. I have to trust that.”

“Yes, you do,” Mattheus agreed. “I respect your intuition, Cindy. I’ll be here waiting to hear what you find.”