Death by Seduction (Book #13 in the Caribbean Murder series)

“Val,” Cindy tried to break through his well constructed performance, “I need to know exactly why Pete was buying the condo?”


Val quieted a moment. “I checked all the records before our meeting carefully,” he looked at Cindy plainly. “I have a bit of a surprise for you actually. Certainly, Pete and I were in negotiations, and even though his name is all over the papers, I’m sorry to say that he hadn’t yet left a down payment. So, officially, he hadn’t bought the condo. So, I really can’t stay why he wanted to buy it, or if he even was going to complete the deal.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Cindy held up her hand. “I heard that Pete left a huge deposit on the condo, one hundred thousand dollars.”

Val looked startled. “Where did you hear that from?”

“It doesn’t matter here, said Cindy. How can it be you don’t have a record of that?”

Val quickly flipped open the folder on the desk and began rummaging through the pages.

“There’s no sign of any deposit here,” he insisted, “nothing at all. As far as I heard we’ve been waiting for it.”

Something was deeply amiss here and Cindy was alerted. Loretta’s father had said he’d given Loretta and Pete one hundred thousand for the deposit. Where did that money go? Who had it?

“Can you check one more time, please,” Cindy asked abruptly. “I have to be absolutely certain about this.”

“Of course you do,” Val replied, tapping his knuckles on the desk as he scanned the papers carefully once more.

Cindy wondered if the hundred thousand had been passed to someone secretly under the table. Was there a silent deal going on? Is that why Pete turned up dead?

“Do you recall hearing anyone in the company say anything about Pete or what happened to him?” Cindy asked swiftly.

At that Val closed the folder on his desk. “Everyone said it was a damn, rotten, lousy shame,” he answered. “We were all shaken. Val ran his hands up along his temples then. “There’s always trouble at those rotten pit stops.”

“The brothels?” asked Cindy.

“Yeah, call it that if you like,” Val stood up. “Most of the folks who come down and buy our homes aren’t headed there, believe me. They don’t need them, do they?”

“You never know, do you?” said Cindy bluntly.

“No, you’re right,” Val met her eyes directly. “You never do know who you’re really dealing with.”

Val suddenly seemed uneasy with this aspect of the conversation. He shifted in his chair nervously, obviously, ready to go. But Cindy wasn’t finished though.

“Has anyone else interviewed someone at the company about Pete’s death?” Cindy pushed on.

“You mean have the cops spoken to us?” asked Val.

“Or anyone in law enforcement,” said Cindy.

Val closed his eyes a second, trying to remember. “The cops did not speak to us, “he finally said. “But I heard that Pete’s brother Taylor came down here once, asking questions and rummaging around.”

“When was that?” asked Cindy startled.

“A couple of days ago, I think,” said Val. “He spoke to a guy I work with Frank. Frank mentioned that Pete’s brother was nothing like him, kind of a messy guy who just kept asking one question after another. He wanted to know everything about the condo Pete was buying, the price, financing arrangements, the works.”

“Why did he want to know that?” asked Cindy.

“Beats me,” said Val. “Seems like he was trying to get a feel for his brother’s life here. Frank mentioned to me that he asked the brother if he wanted to complete the purchase? I don’t know exactly what the brother said. Why don’t you go speak to him about it yourself? He’ll tell you what he’s thinking.”

“Good idea,” said Cindy, “I will. And thanks for your time.”

“Sure, no problem,” said Val. “If you need to know anything more, just give a call.”





Chapter 13


You’re not answering my texts or emails, or even letting me know that you’re alright. Is this some kind of weird punishment? Doesn’t what we had together deserve more respect than that? Just let me know you’re okay. Is that too much to ask? Mattheus.




The text from Mattheus arrived at a low point for Cindy, just after she returned from speaking to Val. Cindy was about to call Loretta to tell her about the missing down payment, something she was definitely not looking forward to doing. The message from Mattheus was a welcome distraction and she read it a few times more, mulling it over. Was she trying to inflict some kind of punishment on him? She never thought of it that way, just felt that she’d been respecting herself, protecting her own boundaries.

I have no desire to punish you, Cindy texted back. I am fine, in the midst of the case. What we had does deserve respect. I can’t say I respect the way it ended though, how you just took off and fled.