Read Online Death by Devotion (Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder Series) by Jaden Skye - Free Book Online Page B

demanded.
    “You
also had plenty of motive as well, didn’t you, Petra?” Cindy countered. “It couldn’t
have felt good to be beaten by the man you loved.”
    “Get
out, get out,” Petra raised her fists and came after both Cindy and Mattheus
then, on a rampage, sweeping them out the door.
    *
    Once
outside, it was hard for Mattheus to even take a few steps down the street. “I
can’t believe she turned on me to the police,” he finally said.
    “What
did you expect of her?” Cindy asked. She knew that Mattheus had rescue
fantasies about Andrea. Now she wondered if he’d also had fantasies about
getting back with Petra, becoming the happy family they never had been. “Did
you expect Petra to be the person you knew years ago?”
    “I
don’t know what I expected,” Mattheus said, honestly. “But it’s crazy of her to
point the finger to the police at me.”
    “Crazy
like a fox,” said Cindy. “You’re the perfect foil got her and she’ll do
anything she can to get free.”
    “You
mean so she can free Andrea?” Mattheus asked.
    “No,
I mean for her to get free.  Who knows how she fits into this scenario?” Cindy
was shocked that Mattheus couldn’t see what was in front of his eyes.
    “Poor
Andrea, living with a mother like that,” Mattheus said softly then.
    “Don’t
be so quick to feel sorry for Andrea, either,” Cindy was on a war path. “You
don’t really know the first thing about either the mother or the daughter.”
    Mattheus
stood taller then as if he’d suddenly woken up.
     “You’re
right,” he murmured, strangely. “But they finally said I could speak to Andrea
alone in jail tomorrow. And, I’m going to find everything out.”
    “You
haven’t seen her in jail yet?” Cindy was astonished
    “No,
I haven’t,” said Mattheus.
    “Do
you want me to come with you?” asked Cindy.
    “Not
yet,” said Mattheus. “This is the first time I’ll have to myself with her. It
will be better if you’re not yet around.”

Chapter 8
     
     
     
    The
hotel Mattheus had booked was almost walking distance from Petra’s home.
    Rather
than looking for a cab, Cindy and Mattheus decided to walk there together in
the dark, with only the sliver of a new moon giving them light.
    “We’ll
go over things in the morning,” Cindy said as they moved along. “It’s best for
both of us to get a good rest tonight.”
    “Who
says I can ever rest again?” Mattheus responded.
    “Mattheus,
this isn’t your fault,” Cindy stopped walking a moment and turned to him. “All
this has been going on down here long before you ever met your daughter.”
    “No,
that’s not true,” Mattheus wouldn’t have it. “I came into the picture and
rustled things up. I let Andrea think she could have a new life. Maybe I gave
her the courage to do what she did?”
    That
startled Cindy. “What did she do? Kill her stepfather?”
    Mattheus
stared at Cindy a long time. “It’s possible, isn’t it?” he finally answered.
    “You’d
have to be a fool not to see that.”
    They
continued walking in silence. Cindy wasn’t sure why Mattheus’s comment disturbed
her so deeply.
     
“You asked me to come down here to prove Andrea’s innocence,” Cindy finally
said.
    “I
asked you to come down here to find the truth,” Mattheus responded.
    Cindy
nodded. “Once the truth is found, will that help you go on? No matter what it
is?” she asked him.
    “I
don’t know,” said Mattheus somberly. “At the moment, I have no idea what going
on even looks like. Do you?”
    Cindy
wondered if that wasn’t an allusion to their relationship.  If it was, it didn’t
matter. She was not down here for that, had no intention of taking the bait.  She’d
come down here for one reason only, to help Mattheus in a crisis.
     “I’m
staying totally focused in the present,” she said quietly. “I only came down
here for one reason, to help you. Let’s just find the truth and then see where
it leads.”
    *
    The
hotel they