Death by Temptation (16 page)

“Don’t jump to
all kinds of conclusions.” Mattheus seemed nervous. “Firstly, you have no idea
who the call was from. Secondly, you don’t know if it had anything to do with
Santos. Or maybe he had someone play a crazy prank on you to confuse things
further, get you off the trail? These guys are snakes, they’re wicked, Cindy.”

“The woman was
in pain, Mattheus, she was in distress,” Cindy insisted.

“God,” Mattheus
breathed. “I had no idea all this was going on.”

“I tried to call
you and tell you,” said Cindy.

“I know you did,
I know,” said Mattheus. “I’m sorry, really sorry.”

“I also got a
lead on Shane’s Facebook page. I found a friend of hers there, Jenna, who left
some messages that were suspicious. She was warning Shane of danger.”

“We’re not on
Shane’s case,” Mattheus repeated softly then. “I know you have a huge heart and
want to help the whole world, but we can’t, Cindy.”

“It’s not about
that,” Cindy insisted. “I strongly believe the two cases are tied together.”

“Based on what?”
Mattheus seemed exasperated.

“Based on a
strong feeling inside,” replied Cindy. “Kara going missing and Shane turning up
dead in the same place is too coincidental. It doesn’t sit well with me. I sent
Jenna a message asking her to contact me.”

“Okay,” said
Mattheus. “You sent her a message, and then how soon after that did this call
come?”

Cindy paused for
a moment. “I sent her the message this evening, before dinner.”

“Wow,” said
Mattheus. “Speak about coincidental. For all you know the call was from her.”

“Why would she
do that? For what reason?” Cindy didn’t buy it.

“There’s lots of
crazies out there,” Mattheus whispered softly. “I don’t know this woman, I
don’t know Shane. But I do know we should take a rest now. I’ll put in a call
to the station and have the call you received traced. We can pick it all up in
the morning. But for now, please come to bed.”

Cindy looked
into Mattheus’s eyes, which were filled with concern.

“Okay, let’s go
to sleep now, Mattheus,” Cindy agreed, as she waited for Mattheus to call the
station. Then they went back into the bedroom, lay down together, and fell
asleep nestled in one another’s arms.

Things felt better between Cindy and Mattheus in the
morning. Both of them had needed to sleep close to one another, wrapped up in
each other’s arms. Cindy slept lightly, waking and dozing alternately,
wondering what in the world would be next for them.

“Please forgive me for everything,” Mattheus
murmured several times during the night as he tossed in his sleep. Even though
he wasn’t awake when he said it, Cindy found

comfort in his words.

As soon as they got up in the morning, Mattheus
ordered breakfast up in the room.

“The family’s booked on a five p.m. flight back to
the States,” Mattheus told Cindy as they ate. “This is their last day here.
Rod’s incredibly jittery. After that, I’m all yours.”

Cindy drank down what was left of her coffee. “It’s
completely fine,” she said and meant it. She wanted to spend time with Alfred
that day and also check further into Shane’s background. “Just keep in touch as
the day goes by,” she added. “That would mean a lot to me.”

“I definitely will,” said Mattheus, “and it means a
lot to me as well. And promise me you won’t go back down to the drug ring
alone. I’ll go with you next time. I want to meet Santos anyway.”

“You want to meet Santos, or you’re doing it to look
after me?” Cindy wanted to be sure.

“Both,” said Mattheus. “Once the family leaves my
head will be clearer and I’ll be able to help you come to peace with
everything.”

That was a tall order, thought Cindy. She didn’t
need to come to peace with everything either. She just wanted to find out as
much as she could about Shane’s untimely death. That would give her peace
enough, for now.

Mattheus gave her another hug then, promised they’d
talk soon, and walked out the door. “The minute I hear from the police about
the call they’ve traced, I’ll let you know,” he promised. “Don’t worry about
it, though. Chances are mostly it’s some kind of a prank.”

Cindy didn’t think it was a prank, and was eager to
hear more. “Thanks, Mattheus,” she said. “I’ll be waiting to hear.”

After he left, Cindy planned to go back to her
computer to dig deeper into Shane’s life. First she went to the bathroom to
wash up, put on makeup, and slip into an easy summer lime green print dress
that always lifted her spirits.

Once freshened up, Cindy went to get the computer to
take out on the patio when a stiff knock on her door stopped her cold. She
wasn’t expecting anyone. Probably housekeeping, she thought, and debated about
whether or not to answer.

The person knocked again swiftly, this time harder
than before.

“Yes?” Cindy called out, initially reluctant to open
up and be disturbed.

“I’m here, open up,” a woman’s voice answered on the
other side. “Let me in.”

The voice was not familiar, but the urgency in it
made Cindy go straight to the door and open it.

To Cindy’s shock, Jenna stood there. Cindy
immediately recognized her from Shane’s Facebook page. She was petite and
pretty with a fierce energy about her.

“You messaged me yesterday,” Jenna announced,
nervous to be standing there.

“Please come in,” said Cindy.

Jenna nodded abruptly, entered the room, and took a
second to look around. “Incredible suite!” she exclaimed.

“Thanks,” said Cindy, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Are you really?” Jenna looked relieved. “I was
totally freaked out about coming. Alfred said you were great and it would be
okay, but I was still totally freaked.”

“Why?” asked Cindy, surprised.

“I’m totally freaked out in general by what happened
to Shane.” Jenna spoke rapid fire. “She’s been my best friend for years.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Cindy.

“Yeah, that’s what Alfred said, that you would make
it easy for me to talk to you,” Jenna continued.

Cindy greatly appreciated Alfred’s encouragement.

“I came down right away when Alfred told me what
happened.” Jenna spoke rapidly. “He found me on Shane’s Facebook page and I’ve
been here for a couple of days. The minute I heard the horrible news I flew
down to help. Can we go outside and talk on the patio? I’m totally
claustrophobic inside.”

“Of course,” said Cindy, leading her out into the
beautiful sunny day, where puffy, white clouds were streaming across the sky,
making it feel as though everything was well with the world and always would
be.

“Oh God, is this true? Am I dreaming?” Jenna kept
muttering, as she tossed her large pocketbook onto the patio table.

“Sit down on the lounge chair, Jenna,” Cindy
suggested.

“Do you want to hear the craziest part of it,
though? I always knew something awful would happen to Shane,” Jenna said as she
sat down on the edge of the lounge.

“Why?” asked Cindy, fascinated.

“Because Shane loved trouble, she lived off danger.
There are women like that, you know.” Jenna threw a long look at Cindy.

“Yes, I know,” Cindy answered as calmly as she
could.

“I tried to warn Shane over and over,” Jenna continued.

“I know you did,” said Cindy. “I saw messages from
you on her Facebook page.”

“But what good did it do?” Jenna asked, staring at
Cindy painfully. “Shane couldn’t hear a thing I said.”

“It sounds as if you were a wonderful friend to her
while she was alive.” Cindy wanted to say something helpful.

Jenna stood up briefly and then quickly sat down. It
was difficult for her to rest or unwind.

“Look, I brought you something that might be of
help,”” Jenna went on, without any more ado. “Alfred told me that you needed
this when I showed it to him.” Jenna went over to her pocketbook, opened it up,
and drew out a large envelope. She opened the envelope quickly and put a stiff
sheet of paper in Cindy’s hand.

“What is it?” asked Cindy.

 “It’s a photo. Look,” said Jenna.

Cindy looked. Then she gasped, unable to believe
what she was seeing. Shane and Kara were standing together in the photo
smiling.

“Shane and Kara?” Cindy could barely mouth the
words. “They knew each other?”

“Very well,” said Jenna. “Shane lived at the shelter
where Kara worked.”

“My God,” breathed Cindy. “This is a total game
changer.”

“Shane loved Kara, thought she was great,” Jenna
continued.

Cindy was riveted to the photo. This turned
everything upside down. Cindy had been right all along, the cases were
intertwined. Was it possible that Rowley knew Shane, too? Had he lied to the
police? Jenna was a gold mine of information that had been sent right to
Cindy’s door.

“Did you know Kara?” Cindy quickly asked Jenna.

“No, but I heard a lot about her from Shane,” Jenna
responded.

“You know that Kara went missing on her honeymoon
down here?” Cindy looked at Jenna carefully, wondering how much she really
knew.

“Alfred told me what happened to both of them,” said
Jenna. “There’s no question the cases are connected. None of at all.”

“How are they connected?” asked Cindy, her breath
starting to come quickly.

“There’s a hundred possible ways,” Jenna spoke
pointedly. “I know Shane had access to drugs in the shelter. For all you know
Shane got drugs for Kara, too.”

“I need proof of that.” Cindy’s heart was beating
fast. “I need definite evidence.”

“I don’t have proof,” Jenna replied, “but some
things are obvious.”

“Obvious isn’t good enough in a criminal
investigation,” Cindy replied. “Do you know for a fact that Kara did drugs?”

“Everyone does drugs sooner or later, don’t they?”
Jenna looked at Cindy as though she lived on the moon.

“Is there anyone who would be aware that Shane
provided drugs for Kara?” Cindy stayed on point. It was of the utmost importance
to nail this down.

“Talk to the woman who runs the shelter, Margaret
Day,” said Jenna. “She knows everything that goes on there. Shane hated her,
though, said she was as cold as you can get, and slippery. That woman didn’t
have any real compassion for anyone there.”

     “I spoke to Margaret Day,” Cindy responded.
“She said that drugs were absolutely forbidden at the shelter.”     

    “Of course she said that. It’s the party line.”
Jenna bit her lower lip hard. “You can’t possibly believe that none of the
women there smuggle some drugs in, can you? Lots of the ladies are serious
addicts, they can’t go without drugs for long.”

“Margaret Day won’t give me any specific
information,” replied Cindy. “She’s legally bound not to.”

Jenna guffawed. “So what? There are still ways you
can find out about how Kara and Rowley got their drugs.”

“Rowley, too?” Cindy was alerted.

“Look, if one partner does drugs are you telling me
the other doesn’t?” asked Jenna.

Cindy wanted to keep on solid ground. “But we
haven’t definitely determined that Kara did drugs. All we know for sure is that
the two women knew each other.”

“Yeah, so what?” said Jenna. “You know what I heard?
I heard that Rowley told the police that he and Kara didn’t know Shane. He lied
about that. What else is he lying about?”

“Even if Rowley did drugs, it’s entirely possible
that he didn’t know Shane.” Cindy stayed focused. “He didn’t personally meet
everyone Kara knew or worked with.”

Jenna looked disconcerted. “Whose side are you on?”
She became flippant.

“I’m on the side of the truth,” said Cindy. “As a
detective I have to lean on the facts.”

Jenna got up, irritated, and walked to the patio
door. “Lean on anything you like,” she said sarcastically. “Facts can also be
used to hide from the truth. But Alfred’s determined to find out what happened
to both Kara and Shane. I really like him. He’s not hiding behind anything.”

“And what about Vinny?” It suddenly struck Cindy
that very little had been said about him.

“Vinny’s not the sharpest tack in the shed,” said
Jenna. “He just keeps saying he’s gonna kill the guy who killed Shane with his
own, bare hands. Alfred’s the brains here and Vinny tags along.”

“What did Shane see in a guy like that?” asked
Cindy, curious.

“Who the hell knows?” Jenna shot back. “Shane said
he was good-looking and sexy. He didn’t care what she did, was fun at night.”

Cindy shuddered. What did that say about Shane? Who
was she really?

“I’ve got to go now,” said Jenna.

Cindy didn’t want her to go. “Before you leave tell
me one thing, Jenna. Why was Shane living in the shelter? Who was she hiding
from? Where is that person now?”

Jenna suddenly looked glum. “Shane was in love with
a guy named Frank. They were living together, about to get engaged,” Jenna
said. Then she stopped abruptly.

“Go on,” said Cindy.

“I don’t really want to talk about this now.” Jenna
pulled back. “I don’t want to say anything about Shane’s lousy relationships, I
don’t want to say anything bad about someone who just died.”

“You’ll be helping her, Jenna.” Cindy put her hand
on Jenna’s arm, holding her there.

“Could this guy Frank be involved in Shane’s death?”

Jenna shook her head definitively. “He’s not
involved,” she said sadly. “He’s in jail for

assault. He beat Shane regularly.”

Cindy felt upset. “That’s why she was in the
shelter?”

“Yeah, she tried to break up with him again and
again, but couldn’t,” said Jenna. ”When things got too bad she’d go to the
shelter for a while and then she’d miss him and go back. It drove Kara crazy.
Kara did everything in her power to help Shane stay away. I always thought if
Shane died it would be Frank that did it.”

“You’re sure it wasn’t?” Cindy felt edgy

“I’m positive,” said Jenna. “Before I came down to
St. Lucia I got in touch with Frank and told him what happened. He was so
shaken he couldn’t stop crying, kept swearing that when he got out of jail he’d
find the person and tear them limb from limb.”

“Like Vinny,” said Cindy.

“Yeah,” said Jenna sadly, “I guess Shane always went
for the same type of guy.” Jenna was done talking then. She held up her hand as
if to say, enough.

“You need to go now, Jenna?” Cindy was thankful that
she’d come at all.

“Yes, I have to for now,” said Jenna. “But I’m
leaving the photo with you. Now it’s your turn to do your job.”

*

After Jenna left, as Cindy looked at the photo she
was holding, her hands trembled. Now everything was up for grabs. Cindy had to
let both Mattheus and the police know about this immediately. And there was no
way the family could leave the island tonight. For all they knew Shane’s death
would now lead them directly to Kara.