Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series) (19 page)

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.”

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 with 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 to 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.”

Mattheus
looked at her deeply grateful and humbled. “Thank you, Cindy, thank you so very
much,” he said.

“You’re
welcome,” Cindy replied, slowing down.  “I’m completely exhausted with all
this. You go get the car and meet me at the road over there. It’s only a few
feet from here. I don’t want to walk any further.”

“Fine,”
said Mattheus, “it’s a deal.”

*

Cindy sat down under a tree and watched
Mattheus go for the car in the valley. She put her head back against the tree’s
strong bark, and as soon as he was out of sight, took out her phone and quickly
called Sean, giving him every detail. As she was finishing the call, Cindy
looked to the side and suddenly saw a long shadow creeping closer to her on the
grass.

“Who’s there?” she jumped up,
frightened.

“It’s me,” Jared said as he rounded the
corner, grabbing her and flinging himself upon her.

“Get away from me,” Cindy struggled.

“I heard every word you said,” he
uttered. “How dare you call the police on us? My mother told you not to. You
disobeyed my mother! You know what happens to people who disobey my mother?”

“What happens to them?” Cindy said,
wriggling hard to get from his surprisingly tight grip.

“They get what they deserve,” Jared said
digging his chin into her shoulder.

“Get away from me, Jared,” Cindy did her
best to thrust him off her, but couldn’t.

“You’re stupid, you’re stupid,” he
started yelling then. “Now my mother will have you killed to protect me. She
won’t let anything bad happen to me, ever. That’s a real mother for you.”

“Jared, get away,” Cindy tried to thrust
his wiry body off her, but could not.

“My mother knows I killed Cain, but so
what? I did it to save Andrea. What’s so bad about that?”

“Let me go, let me go,” Cindy started
howling as he grip tightened and his hands crept up around her neck.

“First tell me what’s so bad about my
killing a beast who beat the girl I loved every day of her life?”

*

Mattheus
arrived in the car to pick up Cindy, but she wasn’t there.  A gnawing pit
swirled in his stomach as he scanned the area.  Something was definitely wrong!
He knew it!

Mattheus
jumped out of the car, slammed the door shut and raced up to the place where he’d
left her. As he got closer he heard Cindy yelling, then saw her squirming in
Jared’s arms.

“Cindy,
I’m here, I’m here,” Mattheus shouted, re-doubling his speed and racing over to
her.

Startled
by the sound of Mattheus’s voice, Jared swerved and slightly loosened his grip.
A second later Mattheus jumped on him, wrenched Cindy out of his arms, and pinned
him down to the ground.

“You
son of a bitch,” Mattheus practically spit in Jared’s face as he stood there
with his foot on his chest.

“Jerk,”
Jared yelled,” she asked for it. It’s her fault. “

Mattheus
pressed his foot harder.

“Ow,”
Jared yelled. “Stop. My mother told her not to call the police! She didn’t
listen.”

“Called
the police?” Mattheus shifted a second and looked over at Cindy.

“Of
course I called the police,” said Cindy, quivering near a tree stump. “A killer
is on the loose.”

“If
the police get me and I go to jail, my mother will make sure it’s the end of
Andrea,” Jared’s face was red from the pressure of Mattheus’s foot on his
chest.  “You want that?”

“Who
the hell does your mother think she is?” Mattheus shot back.

Jared
bared his teeth. “Ask anyone on the island who she is! They’ll tell you. Nobody
disobeys my mother!”

“I
do,” Cindy called back, taking a few steps closer.

Jared
looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Then he looked up at Mattheus.

“It’s
either Andrea of Cindy. You choose,” said Jared. “If you let me kill Cindy now,
your daughter goes free. We’ll make it look like an accident. No one will ever
know, or care.”

“I
care,” Mattheus thundered.

“What
do you care more about your daughter or Cindy?” Jared was drooling.

Suddenly,
Cindy heard the sound of feet running towards them and Jared’s mother arrived
on the scene.

“Take
your foot off my son,” she commanded Mattheus in a cold, calculating tone.

Mattheus
stood there unmoving, staring at her.

“I’ve
got plenty of people to do my bidding,” she insisted.  “Let Jared stand up.”

“I
can’t do that right now,” Mattheus answered in an equally cold voice. “When I
got here, he

was
choking Cindy to death.”

“He
was being playful,” his mother insisted.

“One
man stabbed to death, and now Cindy choked on a hill?” Mattheus turned to her
directly.

“If
Cindy lives, Andrea dies,” she responded methodically. “And it will happen quickly.
 I already have people alerted.”

Beads
of sweat poured down Mattheus’s face.

“As
we speak, my men are surrounding your daughter,” the mother’s voice grew
harsher. “Choose, you idiot! Andrea lives or Cindy?”

“Cindy
lives,” Mattheus uttered in a voice that sounded as if it were echoing through
caves and chambers, as though it came from a different realm. “Cindy lives.”

Cindy
felt as though she were swimming in the dark, deep ocean. Mattheus’s choice
struck a primal chord throughout her entire body. Nobody should ever be asked
to make a choice like that.

 As
if hit by lightning, she straightened up and rushed over to him. “And Andrea
lives as well,” Cindy yelled.  “We both live, justice is done!”

 “Oh
yeah,” said the mother, “just wait and see.”

“You
wait and see,” said Cindy as the rustle of footsteps running towards them came
closer. To Cindy’s delight the police were arriving, with Sean leading the
group.  

“Don’t
move, game is over,” Sean shouted, a gun pointed at them all.

“We
have a confession from Jared,” Cindy called over the fray, “he killed Cain. And
the mother’s involved in obstructing justice!”

“There’s
no proof of anything, let her say what she wants,” the mother shouted bitterly.

“I’ve
taped every word,” Mattheus suddenly proclaimed. “It’s over for both of you.”