Death by Jealousy by Jaden Skye Page B

Mattheus said. “How do you know
the killer isn’t a local? How do you know there’s not a deeper reason someone
wanted to make sure Allie was dead? We’ve got to open up to all possibilities.”
    Cindy
felt startled, though she knew he was right. They hadn’t explored who might be
living and working on the Island who might benefit from Allie’s disappearance.
    “At
this moment, there’s no one and nothing that isn’t under suspicion,” Mattheus
gritted his teeth.
    Mattheus’s
determination to find Allie’s killer was commendable, but there was also a
quality about him that now frightened Cindy - desperation and a sense of personal
revenge. That’s what had caused Cindy to leave after they’d started living
together a few months ago. Even though, they were supposedly on a vacation, the
minute a call for a case came in, Mattheus became consumed with finding the
killer. He’d dropped their plans, couldn’t allow himself to have a life of his
own. It seemed as if with each case they worked on, the compulsion grew
stronger, like a strange addiction of some kind.
    Now,
once again Cindy felt as though the relationship between them that had been so beautiful
in the beginning of their outing, had taken a back seat. She wanted to take his
hand and say I love you, Mattheus. I’m here for you. We can have a life
together, too, but she couldn’t. He frightened her.
    Mattheus
was going over their next steps as they returned to the hotel. “As soon as we
get back I’m going to research the company and get clearance to go into Peter’s
email accounts. You go talk to Vivien and Tad, and anyone else you want to. When
we’re done, we’ll catch up back at the hotel room and fill each other in.”
    “First
I’ve got to talk to Nora,” Cindy mentioned.
    “Who’s
Nora?” Mattheus perked up.
    “She’s
one of the bridesmaids,” Cindy replied. “Nora’s devoted to Allie and the girls
think she’s a bit paranoid. Maybe she is, but I came across some emails between
her and Allie that surprised me.”
    Mattheus
stopped walking. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
    “I
didn’t have a chance,” said Cindy, “I found them in the middle of the night.”
    Mattheus
looked momentarily confused. “Last night?”
    “I
couldn’t sleep so I went out on the patio,” said Cindy. “I opened my laptop and
went into Allie’s email account. I have the password, it wasn’t a problem.”
    “Sorry
you couldn’t sleep,” Mattheus said more softly. “I didn’t sleep so well myself.”
    “Sorry,”
said Cindy.
    “We
do much better when we sleep together,” Mattheus said, looking at her out of
the corner of his eye.
    “I
know,” said Cindy, not wanting the conversation to go in that direction again.  “Anyway,
I found a few emails where Nora warned Allie that there could be trouble if she
kept something up.”
    Mattheus
sprung to attention. “Kept what up? That’s important.”
    “It
is,” said Cindy, and “I ‘m going to speak to Nora about it today.”
    Mattheus
nodded, “You’re a fabulous detective, Cindy,” he said.
    Cindy
was surprised how good it felt to hear that. For a second she had her old
Mattheus back with his support and acknowledgment.
     “You’re
not so bad yourself,” she replied.
    “I’m
proud to be working with you,” Mattheus turned to her then and flashed his old,
warm, beautiful smile.

CHAPTER 10
     
     
    As
soon as they returned, Mattheus and Cindy went their separate ways. Cindy
decided to speak with Vivien first, then Tad, then Nora. She phoned upstairs to
the Interrogation room, where the police were stationed. They had agreed to put
her and Mattheus in touch with whomever they needed when they needed it. Cindy
asked to speak to Vivien.
    The
police called back in a few moments and told her that as luck would have it,
Vivien and Tad were together at the moment, downstairs at the pool. They’d been
notified that she wanted to speak to them and were waiting for her