Death by Divorce (3 page)

“You’re right, Dalia,” Cindy said, “deep down, a wife always knows.”

Cindy looked up from her notes. It was almost noon and the sun had grown hot overhead. They’d been out on the patio for a few hours, and Cindy was feeling restless, wanted to look around inside, see what might strike her.

“I’d like you to show me around your home,” she said to Dalia.

“Sure,” said Dalia, a little surprised. “Why?”

“It’s too hot outside now,” Cindy smiled, “and I’d like to get more of a feeling for where Ames lived.”

Dalia stood up, “Of course,” she said, “I was going to show you around, anyway -- the way you said it just sounded so important.”

“It
is
important,” Cindy said. “Everything is important,” and she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulders, as if ready to take on the world. “It just takes one detail to break everything open.”

The space inside the villa was enormous, with winding hallways, adjoining rooms, outside and inside porches, beautiful art work, standing sculptures, framed mirrors, plants everywhere and exotic rugs. The main living room was huge and open, with all glass walls looking over the incredibly languorous waters and sand. It was almost more than Cindy could take in. She felt as if she were at an incredibly elegant, exclusive hotel.

“Ames had this place designed when he was engaged to his first wife, Elizabeth,” Dalia said, as she led Cindy through the rooms and halls. “They lived here for six years together. This is where his son Brad was born. ”

“It must have been hard for her to leave this place when they separated,” Cindy said.

“I guess so,” Dalia didn’t seem too concerned. “She has everything she needs, though. Ames takes wonderful care of her and his son. He set them both up in their own villa, a few miles away. It could be much worse, believe me. ”

Cindy sensed irritation on Dalia’s part.

“You don’t like her?” asked Cindy.

“That’s irrelevant,” said Dalia. “I’m good to her. Ames is good to her. I never get in the way of their relationship or their family. I’m a good person, Cindy, you know that. ”

“Yes, I do,” Cindy said.

Dalia stepped down two small steps and opened the door to her bedroom. A huge double bed, covered with a yellow satin bedspread, was in the center of the room. Matching drapes covered the windows and the chests and tables in the room were made of bamboo. An oak desk stood catty corner on the far side of the room. On the desk was a photo of Dalia and Ames together, arm in arm, framed in black, jeweled onyx.

Cindy went over, picked up the photo and looked at it carefully. Ames was a tall, very good looking guy, with sandy hair that was windblown, dark eyes and a winning smile. He had his arm around Dalia, who was smiling out brightly for the world to see. They looked wonderful together.

“It’s a great photo,” said Cindy.

“He’s a great guy,” Dalia said. “All our photos are amazing.”

Cindy put the photo down, went to the middle of the room, stood in it and tried to get a feel of their life together. “Can I browse around here?” she asked Dalia.

“Of course.”

Cindy then went to the closet and opened it up. To her amazement, it was half empty. Except for one or two pair of slacks hanging there, most of his things were gone. She then went back to the desk and pulled open the drawers. They, too, were empty. Cindy was shocked.

“This was his desk?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“The drawers are empty,” Cindy said, unsettled. “Not only is the desk -- the closet half empty, too.”

She turned and stared at Dalia.

Dalia shrugged. “There’s plenty of his stuff around. He was always packing his things up, taking them here and there, then bringing them back and unpacking them again. ”

“What do you mean? Where did he take them? ”

“He’d take stuff on trips when he went sailing, even for a day. He’d take his clothes to the tailor to be fitted. Some of his things are stored at Elizabeth’s villa, in the basement. He liked to keep cleaning out his drawers, throwing things out, giving them away. Ames didn’t want to be weighted down. ”

Cindy wasn’t sure what to make of this. She found it to be strange behavior. None of it seemed to bother Dalia much.

“Still, I find it odd,” said Cindy. “Was the closet always this empty?”

Dalia paused, thinking, her brow furrowed. “I supposed not,” she finally said. “But that doesn’t mean he left or anything. I mean, one can’t jump to conclusions. ”

Dalia sat down on the edge of the bed then and ran her hand over the satin bedspread. “Ames doesn’t much like this bedspread,” she said, “thinks it’s too fancy, but he lets me have it anyway. He’s rugged, born in Amsterdam, lived there for a few years and then mostly raised in the US. He’s different, Cindy. He has a mind of his own – lives life the way he sees it. ”

“Interesting,” said Cindy.

“He loves me,” said Dalia.

“I’m sure he does,” Cindy said, went and sat down next to Dalia and put her hand on her arm. “I’m really sorry you have to go through this.”

“Thank you,” said Dalia, “I know you are. You’re the only one here who knows how it feels. You can’t know that unless you’ve been through it yourself. ”

“That’s probably true,” said Cindy.

“Are you okay about Clint?” Dalia asked then. “Does the pain ever go away?”

Cindy realized at that moment that she’d become so absorbed in helping Dalia that this was the first time in a long time that she had not dwelled on the horrible pain of his loss. She couldn’t say that it was easy though, or that the pain would go away completely.

“It takes time,” Cindy said. “Things change. The pain changes too. ”

“But it’s different for me, than for you,” Dalia flipped her head back and tossed her hair to the side. “Because I know Ames is alive. And that he’s coming back. ”

“I hope so,” said Cindy.

“I
know
so,” Dalia retorted. “And I’m sorry that Clint is gone for good. Truly. ”

“It’s okay,” said Cindy. “I’m down here to help you now. I’m sure Clint would want me to do what I could. ” Then she scraped her throat. She had important questions for Dalia, and knew they might be hard for her to hear.

“Dalia, I have to ask you something important.”

“What?” She looked up at Cindy, a bit shaky now.

“Have you considered that Ames might have just packed and left?”

Dalia’s face flushed and her eyes grew angry.

“That’s ridiculous. There’s no way he would do that. I told you, our marriage is great. He tells me how much he loves me every single day. ”

Cindy remembered how important it was to Dalia, even in high school days, to have a guy she could count on, who would love her and tell her so. And keep nothing from her. She’d been practically obsessed with it.

“I’m happy you had that,” Cindy said.

“Have it -- have it,” Dalia started to shiver a little bit. “He didn’t leave me. He never would. I give him every single thing he wants, and more. Much more. ”

“I’m sure you do,” said Cindy, but couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still a possibility that Ames had left of his own volition. She couldn’t imagine such empty closets, otherwise.

Dalia could certainly be in denial. This island was filled with so many people, circuitous paths and exotic possibilities, for all Dalia knew, Ames could be living a whole secret life. Clint certainly had.

Cindy remembered going through Clint’s computer after he’d died, discovering so much about him that she’d had no idea about when he was alive. She wondered for a moment if all men naturally had to keep a part of themselves a secret? Was it a way to preserve their independence and identity - especially adventurous guys like Ames, who chose to live in out-of-the way places like this?

There was a huge amount about him that Cindy needed to know. She couldn’t probe too far with Dalia now, though; it would be too painful for her. She’d let Dalia tell her what she could in her own time.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me about Ames?” Cindy asked quietly.

“Ames loves his work, he loves the ocean, loves business, never hesitates to lend someone a hand. He’s very close to his son, Brad, and doesn’t want any more children,” she said.

“How do you feel about the no children part?” Cindy asked, surprised.

“I’ve learned to live with it,” said Dalia. “He’s worth it to me. My art gallery is my child. He helped me open it, The Green Fox. That was a lifelong dream. It does great, too. We sell paintings, local artifacts, pottery. I’m proud of it. It keeps me busy and I have wonderful help, a lovely young woman Nina, who takes care of the day to day work, so I can still get away when I want to. ”

Cindy remembered that Dalia had always loved art. She thought it was wonderful that she had a gallery of her own now, and that Ames had helped her set it up. “How did the two of you meet?” Cindy was curious how Dalia and Ames got together, coming from different parts of the world.

Dalia smiled. “I came down here for a vacation after I broke up with my second husband, Hal. It was a short marriage, I was on the rebound from my first husband, who cheated on me with a good friend. ”

“I’m sorry,” said Cindy.

“Well, I always chased the wrong guys,” Dalia said. “Remember?”

“I certainly do,” said Cindy.

“I thought I’d get my first husband back by marrying Hal, so fast. What a mistake. Hal was a psycho, checking up on me wherever I went. He practically stalked me at the end. I got someone to step in and help and finally, Hal let go. He was rich, and I got a huge settlement. That certainly helped ease the pain. ”

Cindy remembered that Dalia always had always attracted strange situations with men.

“Dalia smiled. “Anyway, after I broke up with Hal, I came down here to Grenada, to the Grand Hotel, to get my head straight and rest up. I heard it was beautiful and secluded, the perfect place for me at that time. The last thing I needed was more trouble, or to start with someone new. The Grand Hotel is only a few miles away. I’ll take you there for lunch one day. ”

“Anyway, when I got there I went to the bar for drinks. It was late in the afternoon, and there was Ames sitting there, suntanned, smiling, blue shirt half opened. The minute we laid eyes on each other, the sparks flew. It was pure electric, and the chemistry never died down. He told me straight away that he was married, to Elizabeth, but very unhappy with his wife and thinking about leaving her. I guess I was the catalyst that made it happen. We made love that night, all night long. ”

Cindy took a deep, sharp breath. The story only made her wonder more about Ames. Was he doing the same thing again, now? “These patterns repeat,” Cindy said, “What goes around comes around.”

Dalia barely heard what she said. “Our relationship was incredible right from the start. And I loved it here. We got married about fifteen months later. There wasn’t even a question about it, and I came right down here to live. ”

“And, what’s it like with you and Elizabeth?” Cindy asked.

“She blames me for everything,” said Dalia. “She’s wrong, though. Ames was done with her when we met. He was lonely and hungry. I never met a guy so hungry. Elizabeth’s cold. She’s the kind of woman who blames everybody else. She doesn’t bother me. I have almost nothing to do with her. Ames sees his son when he wants and Brad joins us sometimes. Elizabeth and I hardly talk. There’s no reason to. ”

Dalia seemed confident about everything. Cindy knew she had to meet Elizabeth and hear her side of the story, and also, Cindy suddenly wanted to hear Dalia’s opinion about what really happened to Ames.

Just as she was about to ask, Cindy glanced through the bottom of the half-open bedroom door, and saw a shadow walking back and forth.

“Who’s that?” Cindy asked, startled.

Dalia looked up. “Nothing, no one, probably just Rosa, doing her chores.”

“Is she listening in?” Cindy was troubled.

Dalia looked perplexed, “My God, for a detective, you’re pretty jumpy.”

Cindy didn’t consider herself a detective, just a friend who came down to help out. “Seems like she was listening,” Cindy said.

“So what?” said Dalia. “Rosa lives here, she’s part of the family. She knows everything that’s going on. “Okay,” Cindy replied, and then plunged forward. “So, Dalia, tell me: what do you think happened to Ames?”

Dalia bolted upright at the question. “I was waiting for you to ask me that. I kept wondering what I would say. First, I’m not sure what happened. That’s why you are here. But still, I have some ideas. They’re just ideas, you need to track down details, see if they pan out. ”

“I’ll track down everything,” Cindy said.

“One possibility: Elizabeth is very jealous of me. She could be giving Ames a hard time, threatening him about something, just to make trouble in our marriage. She makes up all kinds of stories, loves creating chaos. ”

Cindy wrote notes quickly as Dalia spoke. “Ames could have gotten away for a little while to get away from her. But that doesn’t really make sense. He would have told me he was going. He would have told me that she was bothering him. He never said that. Once we were married, he never said a word about Elizabeth at all. I heard about her from other people, friends down here who know her. ”

“You think she’s involved in his disappearance?”

“Maybe, but not sure. Could also be that someone is holding him somewhere. There are poor people here on the island, crooked dealers, people who are jealous of his success. There are also people who get pleasure out of scaring someone. ”

“Has anyone asked you for money?” Cindy asked.

“No one has. I waited for a note like that for a long time. But there were so many police crawling all over the place, that whoever may have him might be too smart to contact me yet. They could be waiting till things quiet down. Ames is worth a lot more alive than dead. There’s no reason why anyone would kill him, but they could want ransom. We have to find out where and why!

She suddenly stood up and started pacing.