Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series)

by Jaden Skye

  “Just business,” said Mattheus to allay her fears. “But serious business and I need to be there.”

  “Yes, you do,” agreed Cindy. “Let’s go.”

  *

  It was actually a balmy, beautiful day and the ride over to the East side of the island was pleasant. Fortunately, Mattheus seemed calm and rested and resumed a low key, professional manner as they drove along. Cindy appreciated that. She needed to maintain focus and so did he. Mattheus probably sensed how dire the situation was and didn’t want to allow anything to get in the way.

  “Just fill me in a little more about who this guy is supposed to be?” Mattheus said as they drove over the bridge onto the better paved roads, and beautiful homes that lined them.

  “Andrea told Natalie that there was someone who loved her,” Cindy repeated quietly. “This has been top secret and Natalie insists we keep it that way.”

  “Why?” Mattheus asked surprised. “Usually girls tell everyone when they have a boyfriend.”

  “Your daughter doesn’t live that kind of life, Mattheus,” Cindy said quietly. “This relationship is top secret for her.”

  “Then how could she let herself be seen with him at Magenta’s Tavern?” Mattheus asked.

  “It’s on another part of the island,” Cindy retorted, “people don’t know her here.”

  “You mean they don’t know that she’s a prostitute?” Mattheus answered, suddenly edgy again.

  Cindy could only imagine how hard it must be for Mattheus to say this about his daughter.

  “Maybe?” Cindy mused.

  “What else could it be?” Mattheus’s voice got steely.

  Cindy wanted to comfort him as she usually did, but, this time, didn’t. “I don’t know exactly why else it’s top secret,” she replied. “Natalie mentioned that the guy’s from a rich, prominent family, who wouldn’t take well to Andrea.”

  “So, you’d think he’d take her out somewhere else then, not right under his family’s nose,” Mattheus was brooding.

  “You’d think a lot of things,” Cindy agreed, “but we’re almost here and soon we’re going to find out for ourselves.”

  Cindy opened the paper in her pocket again and read out the address where he lived. It was a few blocks away, located on a long road overlooking the ocean. As they turned onto the road they saw two luxurious villasapart set far apart from each other, on top of a hill. A lush valley spread out beneath them.

  “Wow,” said Mattheus as they turned down the street. “Far cry from Petra’s house.”

  “Speak about trading up,” Cindy smiled.

  They drove slowly along as the road curved. As they turned the bend they saw the address they were looking for. It was a gorgeous villa, surrounded by trees and beds of orange and red tropical flowers that occupied the entire block. The place had an isolated, distant feeling, though.

  “Wait a second,” Cindy said as Mattheus was about to park. “I don’t think we should drive into the driveway. They’re not expecting us and we could scare someone off.”

  Mattheus agreed. “I’ll park down at the bottom of the hill, in the valley, and we’ll go on foot to their door. You’re right, it’s more casual.”

  Cindy nodded. It was good to be back working in synch with Mattheus again.

  *

  They drove down a steep road and found a spot for the car under a group of trees. A silence descended upon them as they got out of the car and climbed back up on foot. Soft, fresh breezes from the ocean wafted over Cindy as she swept her hair back off her face, and straightened her clothes. As they came closer to the top of hill, they walked to the villa’s door. Cindy was glad Mattheus was with her, too. The place was set away from everything, and it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to come here alone.

  As Cindy and Mattheus stood before the beautiful, ivory, trellised door, Mattheus reached out and rang the huge, brass bell. A lovely sound of chimes drifted out. They waited a moment and impatient, Mattheus rang the bell again.

  All at once the door opened slowly, just a crack at first. No one could be seen though.

  “Is someone there?” asked Mattheus, taking a step in.

  “Who’s there?” a young male voice responded.

  Cindy put her hand on Mattheus’s arm to stop him. It would be better for her to answer, definitely less threatening to whoever was behind the door.

  “It’s Cindy,” she said in a light, easy tone.

  Silence at first and then the door opened just a little bit more.

  “Andrea sent us,” Cindy continued, taking a chance.

  The door flung open then and a young man of about seventeen, tall, lanky and nervous stood in front of them, perfectly dressed, in expensive jeans and a t shirt, his dirty blonde hair, ruffled.

  “Andrea sent you?” his eyes darted back and forth.

  “Yes,” Cindy said in a kind tone.

  “Why? Who are you?” his words came quickly.

  “We’re Andrea’s friends,” said Cindy.

  At that he stopped. “Andrea doesn’t have any friends,” his voice got louder and clearer. “No one on this earth. Just me.”

  Mattheus shuddered.

  “Can we come in?” asked Cindy, softly.

  “Sure, come in all you want,” the young man flung the door open even wider. “Why not? Any friend of Andrea is sure a friend of mine.”

  Chapter 20

  Cindy and Mattheus walked into a magnificent, elegant, flowing room, with marble floors, huge glass windows, designer furniture perched on antique throw rugs and world class art everywhere.

  “Magnificent,” Cindy breathed, looking around.

  The young man kept his eyes glued to both Cindy and Mattheus.

  “You live here?” asked Mattheus, almost in awe.

  “You could say that,” the young man retorted.

  Cindy felt disoriented. What could this boy possibly have to with Andrea? “Who do you live with?” she asked. “You don’t live here alone?”

  “My mom and I live here together,” the young man remarked. “By the way, my name is Jared.”

  “Hi, Jared,” said Mattheus slowly.

  “Who are you?” Jared was on edge. It didn’t seem as if he often had visitors.

  “I’m Andrea’s father,” Mattheus responded bluntly.

  “What?” Jared’s eyes narrowed. “Is this some kind of stupid joke?”

  “No, it’s not,” said Mattheus, put off. “I’m her father.”

  “Oh yeah? The long, lost dad?” Jared sneered. From the sarcasm in his tone it seemed as though Andrea had filled him with awful stories about Mattheus.

  “Did Andrea tell you that I was coming down to get to know her?” Mattheus spoke in a nervous tone.

  “She told me a lot of things,” said Jared.

  “How did you meet my daughter?” Mattheus interrupted.

  “Your daughter? Give me a break,” Jared’s voice raised a pitch.

  “You give me a break,” Mattheus retorted, not backing off.

  Jared took a step closer to him. “You got a reason to claim Andrea for your daughter? I don’t think so, Mister. You gave Andrea pretty big hopes, and look what they came down to. Now she’s stuck in jail.” He suddenly became more agitated thinking of it. “Listen, I’ve seen enough of you two. I’ve got to go back to work.”

  “What kind of work?” asked Cindy, unwilling to let him go.

  “I’m preparing a show of my photos,” he grinned strangely. “My workshop is in the back.” Jared seemed a strange mixture of calm assurance and a quagmire of explosive feelings.

  “Can we see your photos?” Cindy asked warmly. “I’d love to see your work.”

  “How about him?” Jared spun towards Mattheus. “Does he want to see them too?”

  “Sure,” said Mattheus, getting a second wind, trying to re-group.

  Jared looked at Mattheus oddly for a second. “Oh yeah? Okay, then, come with me.”

  Cindy was thrilled to have a chance to go wit
h Jared, see his work, talk to him more. She and Mattheus followed him out the back door of the villa, to a low cottage in the rear.

  “Come in,” said Jared, suddenly grinning at Mattheus. “You want to see what it means to care for someone? You want to see what it means to be a friend?” He flung the door to the cottage open.

  They walked in, and Cindy shuddered. All over the walls, were photos of Andrea. There were head shots, full body shots, shots of her smiling, or looking sad. Obviously Jared was obsessed with her.

  “Jesus Christ,” Mattheus groaned.

  “Jesus Christ, what?” Jared snapped. “You never cared about someone like this? You never wanted to see them all the time, wanted their picture everywhere?”

  “These are incredible photos,” Cindy responded, trying to de-fuse the tension. “Are

  these photos in your show?”

  “That’s right,” Jared continued, “did you ever see anything so beautiful?”

  “Jared, Jared,” a loud woman’s voice suddenly pierced the atmosphere. “What’s going on here, what’s the commotion?”

  “Who’s that?” Mattheus was jarred.

  “It’s my mom,” Jared answered swiftly, as footsteps grew louder moving in their direction.

  “Jared, are you in the cottage again? Didn’t I tell you not to?” the voice was close.

  In another minute, a tall, beautiful, perfectly coiffed, ash blonde woman, swept into the cottage and stood there disconcerted, looking around.

  “Who are these people?” she said, appalled, spotting Cindy and Mattheus. “You know you can’t have visitors, Jared, unless I say so.”

  “I beg your pardon?” asked Mattheus.

  The woman paid absolutely no attention to him, but charged on. “And what are you doing back down in the cottage, staring again at that rotten slut?”

  At that Mattheus became activated. “Excuse me, but my daughter is not a rotten slut.”

  The woman spun and stared at Mattheus. “Your daughter? Are you nuts?”

  “The young woman on the wall is my daughter,” Mattheus responded.

  The woman laughed. “Yes, of course.”

  “These people are Andrea’s friends,” Jared tried to intervene.

  His mother turned on him with fury. “Shut up,” she demanded, then turned to Cindy.

  “Who let you in? What do you want here?”

  Cindy knew that the only way to handle a woman like this was with complete straightforwardness.

  “We’re detectives,” Cindy said plainly. “We’re investigating the murder of Andrea’s stepfather and need to talk to your son.”

  The shock of Cindy’s statement registered on Jared’s mother immediately.

  “There’s absolutely no reason in the world why you should talk to my son about the sordid life of that girl. Yes, of course, he took pictures of her, but it doesn’t amount to a thing. It was a purely artistic endeavor on his part, mistaken though it was.”

  “There was nothing mistaken about it,” Jared couldn’t bear her words. “Every moment together was beautiful. Andrea made me happier than I ever was before. She means everything in the world to me. She’s an amazing, fantastic, sensitive person. I miss her so much.”

  “Jared, shut up,” his mother’s voice grew louder. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying. Except for taking some photos, he would never have anything to do with the riff raff on the other side of the island.”

  Jared grew enraged. “How dare you talk about my love like that?” he shot back. “Andrea’s gorgeous, just look for yourself. I love her and I’ll do anything in the world to take care of her. You think I’m like her dad? You think I’d abandon her? Andrea begged me for a long time to protect her from Cain and I’m so sorry I didn’t at first. But I made it up to her, finally.”

  “Jared, if you don’t shut up,” his mother’s face was flushing.

  But Jared couldn’t quiet down. He was on a roll. Maybe it was meeting Mattheus that triggered him, but whatever it was, he now had to talk.

  “When Andrea’s real dad came down, she told me he wanted Cain out of the picture. I couldn’t believe it, I asked her why? She said it was so she, her dad and mom could all be a family again. Is there something wrong with that? Doesn’t she deserve to have a real family?”

  “She’s a slut, Jared,” his mother trembled. “She deserves just what she got.”

  Jared gasped. “You’re awful, horrible,” he stared at his mother. “Andrea always told me you were and I never believed her. Now I do. She told me if I got Cain out of the way for her, she and I could be together. She thought that once her real dad was here, you would see he wasn’t so different from me and maybe be you and Petra would accept us.” Jared’s lips trembled terrifically as he spoke.

  “This is total insanity,” his mother breathed.

  “Did you get Cain out of the way for Andrea?” Mattheus took a step closer to him.

  “Shut up, Jared, shut up,” his mother started screaming.

  “You shut up,” he yelled back. “I did it and I’m proud of it. “I stabbed him over and over,” Jared howled. “It was nice, it was easy.”

  “Was Andrea there when you did it?” Cindy jumped in.

  “No, just me,” Jared breathed. “She didn’t even know I was doing it. It was a surprise for her, a present.”

  At that Jared’s mother spun towards Cindy and Mattheus. “If a word of this gets out to anyone, both of you are dead,” she hissed. “And so is your precious Andrea.”

  Mattheus blanched.

  “If you keep your mouth shut, I swear to you, I’ll get Andrea out of jail, and you can take her with you off the island. It’s the only way you can keep her safe.”

  Cindy and Mattheus shot each other a quick glance.

  “I can free your daughter,” Jared’s mother continued, “I have the contacts and the money.”

  “We can’t make a deal like that,” said Cindy.

  Mattheus reached his arm out for her, “We can,” he exclaimed.

  “That’s smart,” said the mother, “damn smart. My son isn’t totally in his right mind. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

  “Go to hell,” Jared squealed.

  “You want Andrea alive?” his mother turned on him then. “You want to take more pictures?”

  “Of course,” Jared started whimpering.

  “Then you listen to me and keep your mouth shut,” she said before turning back to Mattheus. “If for any reason anyone finds out about this, your daughter will be found dead, immediately. I have people all over the island who will take care of it. And it won’t be pretty.”

  “I heard enough,” said Mattheus.

  “And I want the two of you off the island by first thing tomorrow,” Jared’s mother continued, “You’ll be watched closely until you go.”

  “I won’t go without Andrea,” Mattheus was shaken.

  The woman quieted down. “Yes, of course,” she responded, oddly rational now. “It would be good for us too, to get Andrea out of here. I’ll see to it that she’s taken from jail, and goes with both of you. But if she ever steps back on the island, she’s a dead woman walking.”

  Cindy couldn’t move or say a word. She was both horrified and fascinated. This woman obviously had tentacles all over the island and Mattheus was ready to succumb. On the one hand it made sense to save all of them. On the other, a murderer was being left loose and his mother knew it. Jared could easily kill again. Who knows what he’d done before? Cindy couldn’t and wouldn’t go along with any of it.

  “Alright,” said Mattheus, “it’s settled then.”

  “I’ll have Andrea brought to the airport, 7:30 tomorrow morning,” the woman said. “Meet her at Hangar A. I’ll book tickets on a plane for the three of you.”

  “We’ll be there,” said Mattheus.

  “Your every move will be watched until then,” she continued.

  “Fine,” said Mattheus.

  Sensing something the woman suddenly turned t
o Cindy. “Fine with you as well?”

  Despite herself Cindy glared at her. How dare she make a deal like this? Who was she, anyway?

  “Of course it’s fine with her,” Mattheus intercepted, “she has absolutely no choice.”

  “Go now,” the woman pointed to the open door. “Both of you - get out of here immediately.”

  *

  Cindy walked beside Mattheus, shaking from head to toe. They walked down to the front of the estate slowly retracing their steps towards the car below. As they walked Cindy yanked her cell phone from her pocket to call the police.

  Mattheus grabbed it out of her hand, instantly. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Calling the police,” Cindy spit out. “They’ve got to know.”

  “They can’t know,” said Mattheus.

  “You’re siding with the enemy, obstructing justice?” Cindy was alarmed.

  “I’m being sensible,” Mattheus replied as Cindy grabbed the phone back.

  “Sensible, or criminal?” Cindy shot back.

  “Accusing me will get you nowhere,” Mattheus flung out at her. “You rather get killed? We will get killed.”

  “The police will protect us,” Cindy insisted.

  “Fat chance of that,” Mattheus scoffed. “This woman has obviously got them in her pocket. Or, maybe your sweet friend Sean will jump in and protect you?”

  “Cut that out, Mattheus, right now,” Cindy demanded. “We’ve just heard a confession. We have to report it.”

  “Cindy, wake up,” Mattheus growled. “The police couldn’t care less about our wellbeing. We’re a thorn in their side. They’d be thrilled to see us killed off.”

  “That’s what you think!” Cindy retorted.

  “That’s what I know,” Mattheus snapped. “I know it for a fact. You call the police and you’re finished. There won’t be anything I can do.”

  “If I give in to these killers, I’ m finished as well,” said Cindy. “If I cover up a crime, how can I live with myself?”

  “Cindy, look at me, please,” Mattheus insisted. “We’ve got to be practical. Not only is our life at stake, but Andrea’s as well.”

  Cindy took a deep breath, there was no arguing with that. She couldn’t win. “Okay, okay,” she said then. “We’ll play it your way this time.”