by Jaden Skye
“You’re setting her up?” Mattheus asked somberly.
“I have to,” said Cindy.
“I get it,” said Mattheus. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you so much,” said Cindy. “It’s a last ditch effort.”
“Nothing to lose, I guess,” Mattheus answered.
CHAPTER 18
As Cindy approached Raina’s hotel room, she felt her there inside, packing. What if Cindy’s plan didn’t work? Barging in like this could be considered trespassing. Cindy felt encouraged though by Mattheus’s last minute support. She told him in detail what she’d planned to do, he’d listened carefully and seemed to like it.
“You’re incredibly gutsy, Cindy,” he’d said.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Cindy’d answered.
“Yes, it is,” Mattheus had suddenly agreed. “Go for it. I’m on your team.”
As Cindy walked down the corridor she thought once again about Tara, and the life she would never get to lead. Tara deserved more than a quick resolution to a case that had so many loose ends. Cindy remembered how Tara had asked her to stand at her side. Maybe she hadn’t been able to prevent the murder, but she certainly could stop the case from getting closed before they were absolutely certain about who was responsible. Cindy gathered her resolve as she stood outside Raina’s door. Then in a flash, she lifted her hand and knocked hard.
“Who is it?” a shrill voice answered from inside.
“Important! Open up!” Cindy said in a deep voice. Then she knocked again emphatically.
Raina came to the door, flung it open and stared at Cindy alarmed. “What in the world are you
doing here? I told Mattheus you couldn’t come.”
“It’s crucial, Raina, I have important news,” Cindy put her foot in the doorway.
“What’s crucial?” Obviously Cindy took her by surprise.
Cindy put another foot in and stepped inside.
“Glad to see you’re making yourself at home,” said Raina. “Of course I can call the hotel police here in a minute and get you thrown out on your ass.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” said Cindy grimly.
Raina put her hands on her hips, “Oh no? Exactly why not?” Something in Cindy’s demeanor obviously got to her, though. She calmed down and waited to hear more.
“Please sit down on the couch, Raina,” Cindy took command.
To Cindy’s surprise Raina walked to the couch and sat down.
Cindy followed along. “Getting ready to fly out tomorrow I hear,” said Cindy.
“Yes, I am,” said Raina, definitively. “Something wrong with that?”
“Is Lynch going with you?” Cindy asked.
“Of course he is,” said Raina, chagrined. “Hasn’t he been through enough? It’s high time for him to get out of here.”
“Tara’s not getting out of here, though,” mused Cindy, “and from what I hear neither is Aldon. He can barely get up out of bed.”
“Okay,” Raina barked, “enough of this charade, what’s going on?”
“I need to talk to you,” said Cindy.
“Oh really?” said Raina, “the last time we talked you promised that news would not get out about Lynch’s son. It’s all over the place now.”
“That wasn’t in my control,” said Cindy.
“Do you even begin to realize how this news is going to affect our business and family?” Raina snapped at her.
Once again Cindy noted that Raina was more concerned with her business and family than she was about the murder. “What about Tara?” Cindy replied. “I haven’t heard a word of concern for her from you.”
Insulted, Raina flung her head back. “And why should I feel concern for her? Did she feel concern for me? Did she really care about Lynch or our family? Do you know how much time and money I spent preparing for this wedding? And she was ready to throw it over in a minute flat. She didn’t care for a second who she humiliated.”
“She wasn’t thinking about it that way,” Cindy tried to defend her. “It was her whole life at stake.”
“And what about mine?” Raina’s voice grew louder and grating. “And look what’s happened to her whole life now!”
Cindy shuddered. “This is a tragedy,” she said softly.
“And I’m sure her stupid father Aldon had plenty to do with it, too,” Raina came back at her.
“You can’t stand him, can you?” asked Cindy, wanting to egg her on.
“That’s putting it mildly,” Raina’s back arched and she smiled strangely. “I don’t know who he thinks he is. Nothing is ever good enough for him, especially our family. He finds fault with every little thing we do.”
“That must have hurt,” said Cindy.
Raina laughed in a raucous way. “Aldon hurt me? I wouldn’t say so. The moment we met he took a dislike to me, and also to Lynch. Then when he heard about Lynch’s son, that really gave him ammunition. Deep down I know he was happy about it. He tried to pin me down and talk about it, but I wouldn’t give him the time of day.” Raina laughed loudly again. “But when he started calling Lynch, that was too much. I got on the phone and told him straight to bug off.”
“How did he take that?” Cindy was stunned.
“He didn’t like it, but who the hell cared. I told him the wedding was going on no matter how he felt. He didn’t matter, he was a bystander.”
“The father of the bride a bystander?” said Cindy appalled.
“That’s all he was, a wicked bystander,” Raina repeated. “I’m sure he got through to Tara though. After she found out about the boy, she got more and more nervous and decided she couldn’t go through with the wedding. That was just unacceptable. It was a side of her I never saw. I begged her not to call it off, but she wouldn’t listen to a thing I said. Imagine that! She just wanted have her way, no matter how it affected everybody. She even told Lynch that it was their decision and had nothing to do with me.”
“Wasn’t that true?” Cindy tried to intervene, but Raina was on a roll and couldn’t hear a thing.
“People like that bring a terrible fate on themselves,” Raina’s breath came quickly now.
“You’re saying Tara deserved to die?” asked Cindy, appalled.
“Don’t twist my words,” Raina rolled right over her. “I’m saying the beautiful bride was creating a power struggle about who was most important to my son.”
“How did she do that?” Cindy picked up on it.
“Lynch was backed into a corner and finally told me.” Raina wiped her hands on her slacks. “Finally, he was backed into a corner and told me that Tara was always complaining to him about me. That didn’t sit well at all. She was trying to get him to hate me. I warned him not to listen.”
“What did he say?” asked Cindy.
“He begged me not to make him choose between the woman he loved and me. He said he couldn’t bear to lose either of us. That didn’t surprise me. Deep down Lynch always was very sensitive. Of course I had no desire to make him choose. It was her poisoning him, not me.”
“The situation must have been unbearable for him,” said Cindy.
“Terrible, awful,” Raina said, “it kept him up at night.”
“Maybe that’s why he had no other choice but to strangle Tara and dump her into the Cove,” Cindy continued softly.
Raina froze on the spot and looked at Cindy stunned, unable to believe what she was hearing. “What’s that you said?”
“There’s new evidence, Raina,” Cindy zeroed in on her.
Raina shivered. “No, there isn’t. I’m up to date on whatever they have. It’s in the police’s interest to keep me informed. Lynch is no longer a person of interest. Two eye witnesses have identified Bala’s creepy brother Dawl. They saw him lurking around the Cove at the time Tara was murdered. There was absolutely no reason for him to be there, and the guy has plenty of motive, too.”
“That’s just circumstantial evidence,” Cindy tossed it off, trying to throw Raina off track.
“The new evidence that’s just come in is absolutely solid. A new witness, a tourist taking photos, spotted Lynch at the Cove when Tara was killed. He caught a shot of him there, with blood all over his hands.”
Raina’s face flushed and her eyes narrowed. “That’s crazy. Blood on Lynch’s hands? Who’s this witness? Lynch has never had blood on his hands for a second. Somebody’s framing him! They can do all kinds of things with photography these days. Someone’s out to get my son!”
“The photos speak for themselves,” said Cindy, “and the fingerprint analysis is also in. The prints on the body don’t match Dawl’s.”
Raina became irate. “Who the hell cares? The body was a mess, you can’t be sure of anything.”
“And, new evidence has been gathered from the site,” Cindy continued methodically. “It has Lynch’s DNA on it as well. All roads are pointing in only one direction – right to Lynch.”
“What are you telling me?” Raina’s hands clenched at her sides.
“They’re taking Lynch in as we speak,” said Cindy.
“No, they’re not,” yelled Raina.
“Yes, they are,” Cindy insisted.
Raina fled to the table, picked up her phone, dialed and waited. “Where are you Lynch? Pick up,” she demanded.
“He can’t answer. He must be at the police station now,” said Cindy. “I wanted to come here and tell you myself.”
“Why you?” Raina practically spit on her.
“This is your son,” said Cindy, “it’s something a woman understands.”
“Get out of here! Go to hell,”Raina yelled more loudly. “Nobody’s taking my son from me. And they can’t take him, because he didn’t do it!”
“All the evidence says he did,” Cindy repeated.
Trembling, Raina yelled, out of control, “He didn’t do it, he didn’t do it.”
Cindy got into her face. “How do you know?”
“Because I did it,” shouted Raina. “I hired those guys to get rid of her!”
“What guys, the witnesses? They work for you, don’t they?” Cindy demanded.
“Yes, they work for me,” Raina growled, suddenly empowered. “I have a right to hire anyone I want.”
“The eye witnesses lied to the police,” Cindy uttered.
“So what? “ Raina went on. “These guys listen to me like their lives depend on it. And they’re good at what they do. It wasn’t difficult either. They grabbed Tara at the hotel and took her to the Cove. I heard she begged for her life the whole way there,” a slow smile crept across Raina’s face. “What did she expect anyway? That she’d take down our family, and I’d sit back and let her do it? Did she think I’d sit there and toast with champagne after she turned into my enemy?”
“Tell me more about happened at the Cove?” Cindy asked chilled to the bone.
“Routine business, nothing special, they put on gloves and finished her off.” Raina panted.
Cindy felt the ground beneath her open. “That’s horrible, awful,” she wailed.
“There was nothing horrible about it,” Raina became stony. “When Lynch told me he promised Tara that they’d take his son in after the wedding, I knew it had to be done. There was no way that boy could be part of my life. I wouldn’t let it happen.”
“Is the boy in danger now?” Cindy was suddenly frightened.
“He could be,” Raina looked at Cindy darkly. “If the police don’t let go of Lynch, all bets are off. My company’s got a big reach on the island. The boy’s life will be worth nothing. You understand? You’d better honey, because your life won’t be worth much either if they don’t let Lynch go free.”
Thankfully, just at the moment, there was a loud knock on the door.
“Who’s there?” Raina yelled as two policemen shoved the door open. Raina flinched, alarmed. “What’s going on? Get out of here.”
“Mattheus had us stationed outside, listening in,” one of the cops said. “Everything’s been recorded.”
“Go to hell, go to hell, “Raina kept yelling, as Mattheus walked in behind them with Lynch.
“Mom, mom,” Lynch looked as if he were about to faint.
“I did it for you, Lynch, I did it for you,” Raina kept shouting, as the police grabbed her shoulders and held her back against the wall.
“Did what?” Lynch was dazed, confused. “What did you do? What? What?” None of it computed for him.
“Your mother had Tara murdered,” said Mattheus. “She hired those two guys who were eye witnesses to do the job.”
“Because I loved you, Lynch, because I loved you,” Raina kept calling as more police entered the room and carted her away.
*
When the room was empty, and Lynch had gone off to the police station with his mother, Cindy and Mattheus took a deep breath.
“You did it again,” Mattheus murmured, looking at Cindy in awe.
“I never liked that woman,” Cindy uttered. “She’s awful, evil. What’s going to happen to Lynch now?”
“He’s got a big family and plenty of money,” said Mattheus slowly.
“How can he ever get over this?” asked Cindy mournfully. “He lost both of them, his mother and Tara.”
“Time is good,” Mattheus murmured, “time heals.”
Mattheus’s phone rang then and he picked it up.
Aldon was on the other end, babbling wildly. “I just got a call from the cops. Is it true? Is it possible?”
“Case solved,” said Mattheus slowly.
Aldon started to sob uncontrollably. “She’s a monster.”
“I would say so,” said Mattheus.
“I knew it all along,” Aldon whimpered. “She should be killed herself like she killed my daughter. Life in jail is too good for her.”
“Her life in jail will be anything but good,” said Mattheus.
“I want her killed, I want her dead,” Aldon kept sobbing.
“It’s over, we got her,” said Mattheus.
“But what good does it do?” Aldo kept whimpering, “It won’t ever bring Tara back, will it?”
*
On the way back to their hotel in the taxi, Cindy put her head on Mattheus’s shoulder.
“At least we gave Aldon some measure of comfort,” said Mattheus.
“Who knows?” Cindy shrugged. “There’s lots of ways of looking at it. If he hadn’t hired us to dig up dirt on Lynch, he’d have his daughter alive right now.”
“That’s why it’s best to let things rest, sometimes,” Mattheus agreed.
Cindy knew he was talking about his meeting his daughter. He didn’t want to see her again and also wanted Cindy to forget about it. Cindy looked up at him and smiled. “You’re referring to your daughter, aren’t you?” she murmured.
“Yes, I am,” said Mattheus.
“And what if she turns up suddenly, later on in our life?” asked Cindy.
“We’ll deal with it then,” Mattheus proclaimed. “You can’t live your life based on what ifs!”
“But I do live my life that way,” said Cindy. “That’s how this case got solved.”
CHAPTER 19
The shocking news spread quickly and once again Cindy was hounded by reporters for interviews. No Winners In These Shocking Turn of Events the headlines screamed. Once Again Cindy and Mattheus Save the Day!
After a long afternoon of speaking to the press, Cindy and Mattheus sunk back into the sofa in their hotel room. There was a long list of people still wanting to see them, including Bala, who had returned to the island with gifts.
“Are she and the boy truly safe here?” Cindy asked Mattheus after he spoke with her. “Will someone else in the company still want to take them down?”
“That’s over now,” said Mattheus. “Lynch has complete control of the company now. And, he’s already contacted Bala twice, asking to see the boy.”
Cindy perked up, she hadn’t heard that. “Really? That’s a huge development.”
“It’s Lynch’s way of honoring Ta
ra and her wishes,” said Mattheus, “I talked to him about it.”
Cindy felt wonderful hearing that. It was heartwarming.
“Lynch’s not the cad you once thought,” Mattheus went on. “This is a fine young man who has been dealt a horrible blow.”
“And he’s doing the honorable thing now,” said Cindy.
“Yes, he is,” Mattheus agreed.
“And how about Dawl? How does he feel about Lynch seeing the child?” asked Cindy.
“Dawl’s thrilled,” said Mattheus. “Lynch’s testimony about what his mother said helped Dawl get out of jail. And, Lynch assured him he’s not taking the boy away. Who knows? One day they could even become friends.”
Cindy felt herself about to cry, as Mattheus reached out his hand to her.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered.
“I’m so touched,” Cindy said.
“Then, I suppose this is the perfect moment to tell you something,” Mattheus went on softly.
Cindy felt shivery, not knowing exactly what he had in mind. “What?”
“I’ve contacted my daughter,” said Mattheus. “We’re going to meet her together for the first time at the Aupres Hotel, later this afternoon.”
Cindy stared at him astonished, not able to take in what she was hearing. “Meet your daughter later today?” she finally whispered.
“It’s all set,” Mattheus replied.
“Mattheus, Mattheus,” Cindy threw her arms around him.
“I know, I know,” he replied quietly, putting his arms back around her. “When I heard that Lynch was going to see his son, I knew immediately how much that would mean to you. And then I thought about myself and Andrea.”
“Your daughter’s name is Andrea?” Cindy whispered.
“Right,” Mattheus went on. “I finally saw how right you were. There’s no way we could go forward in our relationship and get engaged without our both meeting her.”
Cindy shook her head back and forth unbelievingly. Dreams did come true, prayers were answered, she thought silently, people you cared about suddenly opened their eyes and grew ten feet tall. “I am so proud of you, Mattheus,” Cindy whispered.