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

“No, of course not, why would I?” Taylor looked at her strangely, with an edginess that made Cindy uneasy.

“You were close to Pete, so I thought maybe the two of you spent time here together,” Cindy commented as they stepped onto a small, winding trail between thorny bushes.

“Yeah, we were very close. Pete was the greatest guy,” Taylor muttered. “I’m going to make this up to him somehow.”

“How?” asked Cindy, surprised by his determination.

“I’m going to find out what happened to him before anyone else does,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “Even before you.”

“I hope you do,” said Cindy. “No one would be happier than me to have the truth come out.”

Taylor stopped walking and looked at Cindy piercingly. “You mean that?”

“Absolutely,” said Cindy.

“I thought you were down here to hold up Loretta, make her look good,” Taylor said, dripping with scorn. “Loretta’s always got a trail of people around her, making her look good. That’s what her life is about, how she looks to the world.”

Cindy returned Taylor’s gaze unconditionally. “I’m not one of Loretta’s PR people. I’m here to uphold the law,” she declared. “And Loretta hired me to find out who killed Pete.”

Taylor looked at Cindy with fleeting respect. “You’re here alone?” he asked.

“For now,” said Cindy, why?” She was getting tired of all the questions about where her partner was. She could do this on her own and didn’t like the fact that so many people didn’t get that. “I can do this on my own,” she reiterated in a harsher voice.

“Hold on,” Taylor seemed to enjoy her fiery manner. “I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t. Just wondering if there were more hands here helping out?”

“I’m it for now,” said Cindy.

“I’m it, too,” Taylor insisted.

“Good,” said Cindy, “I’m happy for any help I can get.”

“There’s another guy who can give us a helping hand, too,” Taylor continued. “He and Pete knew each other. Pete mentioned him to me a few times.”

Cindy wondered if it was a co-worker. “Who?”

“The guy’s name is Eric,” Taylor mumbled. “I met him down here a few years ago. He’s a big lawyer, smart as hell. Pete liked him and I like him, too.”

Cindy shivered. Who else could it be but the Eric she’d met and had dinner with? Charma’s chief customer?

“I’ll get you his number,” Taylor offered.

Cindy didn’t want to tell him she knew him, had already met him and they’d even had dinner.

“We’ll need a lawyer on this case,” Taylor was brooding. “ I’ve been digging into the real estate company. There’s one claim after another against them. They’re corrupt as hell and not only that, they have plenty of police connections. Seems like a bunch of big wigs at the police station got themselves condos there, real cheap.”

“That’s doesn’t exactly prove anything,” Cindy wondered if she should tell Taylor that they had no record of Pete’s down payment? She decided to wait to know him better first.

They’d reached the end of the trail and stood there under the trees, sizing each other up.

“There’s a bench at a pond around the bend. Let’s go there and sit down,” said Taylor as though Cindy had passed the test.

Cindy followed his lead to a beautiful alcove with several benches around a pond. It was an idyllic spot to get away from everything.

Pete told me about this place,” Taylor offered after they sat down.

“Did Pete come here with Loretta?” Cindy asked, probing to know more about Pete’s personal life.”

“Hell, I don’t know if he went anywhere much with Loretta,” Taylor grunted. “Thankfully, she didn’t come down to the Dominical Republic much. This was a place for him.”

“Thankfully?” Cindy was taken aback.

“Thankfully Pete could get away for breaks,” Taylor continued. “His marriage was the worst thing that ever happened to my brother and it got worse with time. Loretta’s rotten father dominated their lives, always throwing money in her lap. And Loretta always threw it in Pete’s face, too. Pete couldn’t ever live up to her father, no matter how much he made.”

Cindy shuddered. “That’s awful.”

“That’s only the beginning,” Taylor was on a tear. “Everything about the little lady looks so perfect, but did you know she had a drinking problem?”

“I didn’t know that,” said Cindy, wondering if it were true? She hadn’t seen Loretta drink at all throughout her ordeal down here.

“Yeah, it drove Pete nuts,” Taylor reported. “But what could he do? He had to get away now and then, so thankfully he came down here to work and have a little play time too.”

“Play time? With Charma?”Cindy jumped right in.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Taylor flung back. “With her and others, too. It was good for him, he needed it.”