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

Cindy lifted her hand then to wave away a small fly that kept buzzing around.

“Why is this even relevant, Eric?” she suddenly had enough.

“Because I have feelings for you, that’s why,” Eric replied, “and I’ve been making that clear, over and over. I thought it was possible that we could have a new lease on life together.”

“I’m very sorry,” Cindy closed her eyes, “I thought I was trying to keep it all business. I hadn’t been aware of the extent of your feelings.”

“No, you haven’t,” said Eric.

“I thought I made my intentions clear,” Cindy insisted, opening her eyes again.

“You made them clear alright,” Eric agreed, “but you didn’t let me know that you were still involved with someone else.”

Cindy looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry, Eric, I really am,” she said. “Mattheus and I just broke up. Neither of us have discussed it fully. These things are complicated, they take time.”

“How well I know that,” Eric mumbled.

“And you still seem quite involved with Charma, anyway,” Cindy flashed on the time she’d seen them together. “And certainly, Charma’s still involved with you.”

That quieted Eric. “It’s true,” he replied.

“So you’re not available, either!” Cindy exclaimed.

“I could be though, Cindy,” Eric said softly.

“Could, would, it doesn’t mean anything,” Cindy felt like flying off the handle.

“No, you’re wrong, it means a great deal,” Eric flared up as well. “The difference between us is this – I’m not in love with Charma, but you still seem to be in love with Mattheus.”

Cindy had no idea what lead him to say that. “I’m not sure,” she replied, honestly, “in love is one thing anyway, living a life together is something else.”

*

The waiter brought dinner and Cindy and Eric ate quietly. Cindy was truly distressed by the course events had taken and felt it was best to say nothing more. Was this the reason Eric had invited her to dinner? Was this his idea of progress on the case?

“Val will be joining us soon,” Eric said finally, almost as they were about to have desert.

“Val? From the real estate company?” asked Cindy.

“Right,” said Eric. “Loretta’s father has been putting tremendous pressure on the company, including involving the police. He wants his deposit back, naturally. Taylor’s also been digging deeper into Pete’s finances and Val’s getting hell from everyone. The guy’s nervous.”

“Sounds like complicated dealings, all around,” Cindy mumbled.

“These real estate offerings aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be, “Eric agreed. “People leave deposits that get lost, property is never handed over, places that are supposed to be ready to live in can take years to get complete.”

“Scams?” Cindy murmured. “Is that why Val’s meeting us here and not at the office?”

“Something like that,” Eric said. “There can also be mortgage companies that are false fronts, all kinds of things.”

“Is it looking more and more like that’s what happened to Pete,” Cindy asked, “that he got caught in a scam and made a fuss about it? Maybe the person who had to shut him up also threw the rock through Loretta’s window warning her to back off, too.”

“I’m not sure,” Eric replied, as Val suddenly approached their table.

Eric stood up to greet Val, but Cindy did not.

“Good to see you, Val, here take a seat,” said Eric cordially.

Val looked over his shoulder quickly before he sat down. “We got to get this over fast,” he said directly to Eric.

“For sure” said Eric, “sounds like things are really heating up.”

“You can say that again,” Val, finally threw a cursory glance at Cindy. “I heard your partner’s here and is in tight with the cops,” he remarked off handedly.

“Mattheus is in tight with the police all over the Caribbean,” Cindy responded, “he’s tremendously respected.”

“Good for him,” mumbled Val. “Is that why you called him down?”

Cindy saw Eric watching her closely when Val asked that. She had no intention of letting them know that in fact, she hadn’t asked Mattheus down, that he’d taken this on by himself. It was none of their business.

“All the help we can get is good help,” Cindy replied.

“Okay, so what’s up, Val?” Eric took over.

“Listen,” Val gathered himself together quickly, “I didn’t lose the down payment from Pete. There’s a reason I couldn’t find any record of it. Pete never gave me a down payment for the damn condo. This was supposed to be hush hush, but it was Loretta who dished over the cash.”

“Loretta?” Cindy was stunned.

“Yeah, she gave the cash to another guy at the company, Leo Gran.”

“You’re positive about this?” Eric was amazed.