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

“Loretta’s father gave her the money for the down payment,” Cindy informed him.

“Probably gave her money for a lot of things,” Mattheus commented.

“Right,” Cindy quipped. “That’s what her friend Angela told me.”

Mattheus began to calm down as he and Cindy went over the facts, falling into their familiar rhythms. “Tell me about Loretta’s father?” he asked.

Cindy told Mattheus all she knew and in a few minutes they’d covered lots of ground. It was as if no time had passed between them then, as if they’d always been on the case together, working hand in hand.

“Wow, I see why you’re considered such a fabulous detective,” Eric said to Mattheus as he and Cindy paused.

“I’m not a fabulous detective myself,” Mattheus countered, “it’s Cindy and I. We know how to work together, we’re a fabulous team.”

Cindy watched a strained smile cross Eric’s face.

“What more information can you and the police give us?” Cindy asked Mattheus, wanting to break into the tension.

“Pete was deep into the life on the streets,” Mattheus started solemnly. “There were a bunch of girls he did business with and liked a lot! “

“How did you find this out?” Cindy was shaken at the depth of Mattheus’s knowledge.

“Two sources,” Mattheus replied, “Pete’s brother Taylor and also a weird guy, John Burnd. The police introduced me to both of them.”

“Where are they now?” Eric asked quickly. “I spoke to Taylor earlier this evening, but when I called him later on he wasn’t answering his phone.”

Eric hadn’t mentioned that to Cindy, and she wondered why.

One of the cops raised his large hand then, as if to motion to Mattheus to be still.

Mattheus paid no attention, though. “From what we know, Taylor’s in hiding right now,” Mattheus replied.

“Hiding?” Eric looked alarmed. “Has he been threatened? Did he dig too far, find out too much?”

“We assume something like that,” said Mattheus.

“This isn’t the time to talk about it,” the policeman joined in. “Taylor’s safe where he is and we’re aware of what’s happening.”

That was a familiar phrase Cindy heard over and over from the police in the Caribbean. They said they were aware of what was happening, as if that took care of everything. But it didn’t. If Taylor was in hiding, he’d hit a strain of gold. Cindy wanted to know more about it, and also more about what Mattheus had learned about Pete.

“Tell us more about what you found out about Pete,” Cindy directed the question to Mattheus. “Which girls was he involved with?”

Mattheus smiled, “Plenty of them, from what I could tell,” he replied. “Pete couldn’t get enough, seems like he even gave expensive bracelets to them all.”

Cindy shivered, remembering the ruby bracelet he’d given Loretta that she’d been so proud of.

“Pete even had the names of each girl engraved on the back of her bracelet,” Mattheus went on.

One of the cops laughed out loud then. “Some crazy guy,” he cawed, “dishing out pearls to the dogs.”

Eric flushed noticeably. “Did Pete give one of those bracelets to Charma?” he asked immediately, offended.

“Don’t have any idea about that,” the cop replied.

“Sounds like the guy lived with romantic fantasies,” Eric said slowly.

“Or maybe he enjoyed playing with the girl’s heads,” Cindy shot back. “Maybe one of the girls got jealous of another and had Pete killed?”

“No,” Mattheus was definite. “Don’t kid yourself. That’s not how these girls operate. It’s business to them, that’s all.”

“How would you know that?” Cindy asked, so indignantly, that all of them broke into laughter.

“It’s not just business for all of them,” Eric wasn’t laughing, though. “Feelings can develop between the girls and their patrons. Sometimes they even fall in love.”

Cindy was struck by the plaintive tone in Eric’s voice.

Mattheus wouldn’t go along. “Never,” he insisted, maybe these girls act like they care about the tricks they turn, but, believe me, they don’t, ever! They’re just using these guys for their money.”

“It’s not true,” Eric resisted.

Mattheus looked at Eric more closely. “What are you saying?” Mattheus asked.

“I’m saying it’s a mistake to lump all the girls together,” Eric’s voice rose. “There are some who definitely have feelings, who want the closeness and love.”

“That’s what tricks always like to imagine,” Mattheus responded, “but that’s a dangerous fantasy, like a drug. It keeps these guys hooked to the girls and sooner or later both the guys and their money go down the drain.”

“Who are you, an expert on this or something?” Eric’s face was gnarled.

Mattheus looked at Eric slowly again and relented. “No, of course I’m not an expert. Hell, what do I know? What do you think happened to Pete, Eric?” Mattheus graciously changed the topic.