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

“What happened?” Cindy was totally on the alert. “Why didn’t the deal go through?”


Taylor stood up, stretched slowly and threw Cindy a knowing glance. “There was a

sudden glitch. The real estate company reneged, the deal got called off and the next day Pete got killed. I got it all in black and white. I found a record of every single thing. Charma had nothing to do with it all.”

“God bless you for getting this,” Eric spoke heavily.

“Did you give this to the police?” Cindy was on edge.

“Every bit of it,” said Taylor and they just laughed in my face, “said it was conjecture and rumor and wouldn’t stand up in court.”

“Did you tell them you had it in writing?” Cindy grew irate.

“Sure,” said Taylor, “and the next day I got the death threat. I was warned I’d be

killed if I gave the police the papers I had. But sooner or later the police going to have to get it, and as soon as they do, case closed.”

“Why are the police refusing?” Cindy was stunned.

Taylor’s face grew tough. “It’s hard to let their main suspect go. Makes them look pretty dumb, doesn’t it? Once they see what I’ve got they’re going to have to take on the real estate company and Pete’s company as well. That’s lots of red tape to wind their way through. There’s got to be people at both companies paying these cops off, real good, too.”

Cindy saw the depth of corruption that paved the paths on the Island.

“It’s okay,” Taylor went on. “Eric’s got some people on it now, tracking down the guy who threatened me. As soon as we find him, the case is finished.”

“I’d say the case is finished now,” Cindy stood up, restless.

“It’s still circumstantial,” Eric objected. “I want definite proof of who made the threat.”

“They’ve nailed people with less circumstantial evidence than this,” Cindy replied, turning to Taylor then. “Is there anything else you have in writing to back this all up?”

“I do,” Taylor went on, “I have letters I found to Pete from Loretta’s father, Henry, demanding his money back.”

“So, Henry knew about everything that was going on?” Cindy murmured.

“Of course he did,” answered Taylor. “I could have told you that before I came down here. Henry’s letters to Pete went on for a couple of years and then stopped a few days before Pete was killed.”

“Oh my God,” gasped Cindy, “do you think Henry was involved in Pete’s murder?”

Taylor grinned strangely, “No, not at all. Henry was just another victim of Pete’s stupid scams. But recently Henry had enough of it. When he couldn’t get what he wanted from Pete, seems like he went to the people in the real estate company and threatened to blow the whistle on them all. He ruffled feathers big time and even struck up a relationship with one of Charma’s tricks, John Burnd.”

“Henry knew Burnd?” Cindy was horrified.

“Yeah, and Henry met Burnd at the whorehouse, when Henry was tracking Pete down. He told me no one knew more about what went on than Burnd. He was definitely Charma’s main man.”

Cindy threw a quick glance at Eric, but his face was unruffled, showing no response.

“I want to talk to Burnd again immediately,” Cindy declared suddenly.

“There’s no reason for it,” Taylor insisted .

“Yes, there is. Burnd knows more than we realize,” Cindy felt it deeply.

“A waste of time,” Taylor shook his head. “Val’s the one to track down. Whatever happened, he engineered it. The money trail from Pete leads straight to him.” Taylor turned to Cindy then and stretched out his hand. “You’re a brave woman, Cindy, you’ve done a great job.”

Cindy didn’t feel as though she hadn’t done much of anything.

“Most people wouldn’t come down here to see me, either,” Taylor continued.

“Cindy’s definitely not most people,” Eric agreed.

“Great to see the two of you working together,” Taylor spoke confidentially.

“We’re not exactly working together,” Cindy stopped him.

“So, what are you doing then?” Taylor chided her. “When you see a good man, grab him, honey. There aren’t too many of them around.”

Before Cindy had a chance to answer, there was a sudden knock on the door.

“Who’s that?” she asked startled.

Eric and Taylor looked at each other confused.

“You came in a dark car, right?” Taylor asked Eric, becoming nervous suddenly.

“Of course,” Eric mumbled.

The knock on the door came again, louder this time.

“Somebody trailed you down here,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “They got you covered.”

“No one trailed us,” Eric insisted. “I was watching in the rear view mirror the whole time.”

Cindy’s heart began pounding. Immediately she sensed that not only were the police outside, but it had to be Mattheus who’d brought them here.

“What are we going to do?” Taylor became shaky.

“Take it easy, it’s gonna be alright,” said Eric. “Let’s just open the door and see who it is.”





Chapter 23