Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series) by Jaden Skye Page A

breathed.  “I just don’t trust Sean, not for a second.”
    “You
don’t have to trust him, I have to,” Cindy remarked.
    Mattheus
looked up then, and as they stared at each other, he calmed down.
    “What
did Sean say about the underworld here?” Mattheus asked suddenly composed.
    “He
said it’s one of the most twisted and dangerous underworlds around, drugs, sex,
trafficking. And that I shouldn’t go down to their haunts alone.”
    “Okay,”
Mattheus suddenly stood back up on his feet. “I’ll tackle the underworld down
here. I’ll look into who they are, and Cain’s connection to them. You go talk
to Andrea’s friends, find out who they are and what she was doing that
afternoon.”
    “And,
what she’s hiding,” Cindy quickly added. “When we find what’s she hiding, we
may have the key to who killed her stepfather.”
    “I
hope so,” said Mattheus.
    “And,
there’s one more door we have to walk through,” Cindy continued.  “Petra’s got
a lot of information that will blow the case wide open.”
    Mattheus
blanched. “You’re right.”
    “She’s
hiding a lot from us, as well,” Cindy continued.
    Mattheus
couldn’t help but agree. “And that guy she was with,” he went on. “Who is he?”
    “Why
is he such a big deal?” Cindy asked. “He could be a friend or neighbor -.”
    “No,
he’s more than that,” Mattheus insisted. “I could see right away that they’re an
item.”
    Cindy
stopped and stared at Mattheus hard. “And does that bother you?” she asked definitively.
    “Of
course it does,” Mattheus shot back. “Her husband’s been killed a short while
ago and here she is with someone else. For all we know that guy’s involved in the
killing. Maybe he’s the one who pushed Andrea to do it?”
    “Possible,”
Cindy murmured. Then she looked at Mattheus again. “Is that why it bothers you
so much?”
    Mattheus
looked over at the windows then, and through them to the sky. “I’m upset for
Andrea,” he said in a throaty tone.
    “You’re
not upset that Petra’s lost her husband?” Cindy couldn’t stop questioning him.
    “No,”
Mattheus came back and looked at her directly. “Not a husband like Cain.”
    *
    After
Mattheus left to go to his room, rest, and then dig into the underworld, Cindy
went to the phone and immediately called Sean. She needed the names of Andrea’s
friends and also wanted facts about the police’s evidence.
    Sean
picked up immediately. “It was great getting to know you,” he said right away.
    “Thanks,”
said Cindy. “I really appreciate your help. I need it.”
    “Of
course,” said Sean warmly. “This is not a job for a woman, alone.”
    Normally,
Cindy would have reminded him that she was here with Mattheus, but this time
was completely different.  Mattheus wasn’t really a trusted partner in the
case. The police were right, he was way too involved in lots of aspects of it.
Cindy wanted Sean to feel as though the two of them were working closely
together.  He might be more willing to give her the information she needed
then, and share details he ordinarily might not have.
    “I
just spoke with Mattheus,” Cindy said to Sean then, filling him in.
    “So
did I,” Sean quickly added. “He’s something else.”
    Cindy
didn’t know what Sean meant by that and didn’t want to ask right now.  “He’s
determined, to solve the case,” she replied.
    “Okay,”
said Sean, non-committally.
    “It’s
too bad he can’t work along with you,” Cindy continued.
    “That’s
not up to me,” Sean replied.
    Even
if he’s not working with you guys, he has a right to investigate, and he needs
to,”
    Cindy
continued.
    “He
can do what he wants, as long as he doesn’t step on our toes, or get in the
way,” Sean replied, waiting to hear more.
    Cindy
wanted to ask him exactly what the police were doing, who they were
investigating and how Mattheus could get in their way, but she held back. She
didn’t want to put Sean on edge