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

The car Cindy and Eric were driving in pulled up under a row of low laying, heavy trees. Eric leaned forward and said something to the driver, who grunted in return.

“We’re here,” Eric said to Cindy. “Take it slow, it’ll all turn out fine.” Then he opened the car door, and gave Cindy a hand out.

Cindy stepped out into the shade of the overgrown trees and looked around. A row of shaky huts stood beside one another on a narrow street. The entire place was empty and oddly quiet for this time of day. Cindy felt as though she’d landed in a hidden basin of the island that was disconnected from everywhere else.

“Where are we?” asked Cindy, looking around.

“It doesn’t matter where,” Eric responded quickly as he took her elbow and led her along the narrow street.

“This neighborhood is a hideout?” Cindy asked as they walked and wondering how Eric knew about it, what connections he had down here.

Eric only smiled. “Taylor is holed up in that small shack at the end of the block,” he said, “he’s expecting us.”

“Exactly what kind of threat he received?” Cindy asked, confronting Eric face to face.

“Taylor will tell you himself,” Eric responded, as they approached the hut. “Actually, he said he’s looking forward to seeing you.”

That surprised Cindy. “Really?”

“Taylor likes and respects you,” replied Eric, “I told him I could certainly see why.”

“I respect him as well,” said Cindy, “He’s going all out for his brother and I’m sure it gets lonely when you end up in hiding.”

“It gets lonely whether or not you’re hiding,” Eric replied, tossing a quick, searching glance at Cindy.

Cindy didn’t respond to Eric’s questioning glance. Instead, she walked more quickly up to the front of the shaky door of the hut Taylor was in, and knocked.

Taylor opened up quickly. “Come in,” he said, excited to see them and looking more pulled together than Cindy had ever seen him before.

Cindy and Eric walked in to the small space inside, which was surprisingly neat and tidy. She guessed Taylor’s time down here alone had been valuable for him in many ways.

“Sit down,” Taylor went on, “thanks so much for coming.”

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through these threats, Taylor,” Cindy started.

“I’m not,” he grimaced. “The idiots are all coming unraveled now. Let them threaten me all they like. It’ll just blow the case wide open and help us solve it faster. I’m not staying here long anyway. It’ll all be over soon.”

“Yes, it will,” Eric agreed. “You made a huge find, and as soon as the pieces are tied up, you’ll walk out of here a safe man.”

Taylor looked at Eric gratefully. He and Eric had obviously built a warm relationship and Cindy was touched by that.

“Who threatened you, Taylor? What did you find out that scared them?” Cindy couldn’t wait for details.

Taylor threw his head back and laughed for a second at Cindy’s rapid, gunfire succession of questions.

“I’m guessing it’s either someone from the real estate company or the place where Pete worked. The two places are linked, there’s a connection between them.”

Cindy sat on the edge of her seat. “Like what?”

“When I dug deep into the books I found lots of money siphoned by Pete from his company to Val. He gave it to him under the table but there are always traces if you know how to look.”

“Pete was stealing from the company he worked for?” Cindy was genuinely surprised.

“I would call it stealing, but Pete could have thought of as making a silent investment, if you know what I mean?”

“My God,” breathed Cindy. “And what did Pete get back for doing it?”

“Plenty,” Taylor mumbled.

“Do you have a specific trail?” asked Cindy.

“Sure I got a trail, I got all kinds of information,” Taylor became smug. “And from where I sit, the hundred thousand dollars down payment Val said he couldn’t find was probably only part of it.”

“No, it wasn’t. Pete never gave anyone a hundred thousand,” Cindy stopped him. “Loretta was the one who gave that money to someone else there, a guy named Lou Gran..”

Taylor looked surprised for a minute and then guffawed. “Tell me another,” he said. “You can’t believe what any of them say.”

Cindy felt aghast, wondering if it were true what Loretta said, that she never gave the money to Lou Gran?

“That hundred thousand came from Loretta’s father, so for all we know, both Pete and Loretta could have been stealing from Henry, too,” Taylor went on. “But it doesn’t matter a damn what happened to the hundred thousand. Actually, Pete was just about to sign papers for the condo with any down payment at all. It was a freebee the company was giving him, probably in exchange for all the money Pete had siphoned off to them.”

Cindy needed time to process this. “Pete was getting the condo without a down payment?”

“Yup,” I have copies of the papers. “And, in his name only, to boot.”