Death by Seduction (16 page)

Cindy
knew that as soon as she returned to the hotel she had to see Loretta and make
sure she was okay.  It was also time to confront her with the fact that Pete
had been Charma’s customer and find out about the reality of their marriage.
Taylor had not as yet returned Cindy’s call and she imagined that he was still
knee deep in the money trail. Cindy was glad he was tracking it, too. There was
obviously a lot hidden about Pete’s life and no matter who was frightened by
it, it was time for it to surface.

Cindy
knew she first had to repair her relationship with Loretta and re-gain her
trust before trying to learn more about her personal life. She decided to call
and invite her on an outing. It would be good for Loretta to get away from her
room, which was now being guarded by hotel police. Once out in nature she and
Cindy could enjoy the incredible beauty of the island and hopefully put their
differences behind them.  

Cindy
put a call into Loretta right away. “I have a great idea,” Cindy said the
moment she picked up the phone. “Let’s take get away from the hotel and some
time at the waterfalls together this afternoon.”

Loretta
didn’t respond so quickly. “Why?” she asked finally.

“I’d
like to work things out between us, Loretta,” Cindy went on, “we need a chance
to talk.”

“Well,
that’s gutsy of you, anyway,” Loretta seemed  impressed. “As least you’re
admitting you’ve done something wrong.”

Cindy
wondered exactly what Loretta thought she did wrong? She decided to go along
with it, however. “I’d like to talk it over,” Cindy repeated.

“Alright,”
Loretta finally agreed, “but why the waterfalls?”

“I
heard it’s beautiful there with crystal clear water and the rainforest above,”
Cindy felt encouraged. “It’s a good place to unwind, isn’t it?”

“Sure
it’s beautiful” Loretta went along, “but how am I going to unwind until this is
all over and you find the killer? How do I know someone won’t throw another
rock at me tomorrow?”

“The
police are there now, they’ll protect you,” Cindy answered plainly. “What good
will it do you to stay tied up in knots?” 

“None
at all,” Loretta sighed. “And I am completely in knots. Okay, we can just go
and look at falls. I’m not taking the jumps, though. There’s a hike of about
forty minutes to the top of the falls where you can jump and slide your way
back down. I don’t want to do that right now.” Loretta stated.

“No,
of course not,” agreed Cindy.

“But
I’ll go for the hike, just to look at the falls,” Loretta continued. “Should I
invite Angela to come, too?”

“How
about just you and me for now?” Cindy wanted Loretta to herself, she needed to
distract her and create a situation where Loretta could talk freely.

“I
guess you don’t want Angela to hear you apologizing to me,” Loretta declared.

“I’d
rather we had some privacy,” Cindy agreed. “When can we leave?”

“I’ll
meet you downstairs in half an hour,” said Loretta.

*

The
ride to the falls was tense and brittle, with Cindy and Loretta making
meaningless small talk .Cindy thought Loretta might be  waiting for an apology
before she would open up. After they got out of the cab, before they started
the hike, they paused at the waiting station at the foot of the trail. It was
private and hidden, surrounded by trees and rocks,  a perfect spot to clear the
air between them.

“I’m
terribly sorry if I offended you, Loretta,” Cindy started, as they sat on two
small, carved, wobbly chairs.

“You
did offend me,” Loretta snapped back.

“That
was never my intention,” said Cindy.

“You
specifically ignored my requests,” Loretta lashed out, “you spent time with
Taylor, who I detest and who detests me. I’m sure he’s filled your head with
all kinds of lies about me. You also met with, that guy Eric, a lawyer, without
saying a word to be about it.” Loretta was getting herself more and more upset
as she spoke.

“My
goal was to help you,” Cindy tried to calm her.  “And Taylor didn’t fill my
head with lies. He just said that things always were tense between the two of
you.”

“Tense
isn’t the word for it,” Loretta shot back. “He always tried to turn Pete
against me, couldn’t stand me, thought I was weak. What kind of brother in law
would do that?”

“Not
a very good one,” Cindy agreed.

“You
can say that again,” exclaimed Loretta. “And, there’s more. You said you were
working
for
me, but not
with
me!” Loretta was savoring every
moment that hurt.

“I
put that wrongly,” Cindy acquiesced, “I just meant that although I cared about
you and was working for you, I couldn’t allow you to direct the investigation.”

“Why
not?” Loretta didn’t understand.

“That’s
just routine procedure,” replied Cindy.

“You
say over and over it’s routine procedure, but it doesn’t mean a thing to me,” 
Loretta insisted.

“It
means that when you’re on an investigation, it’s important to walk down all
kinds of strange roads and meet unexpected people. When you do, you have to
keep quiet about what you’re looking for,” Cindy explained.

“Even
from me? Why?” Loretta wasn’t getting it.

“Say
I told you something about the investigation that bothered you,” Cindy replied,
“it’s possible you might repeat it to someone else. You would do it because you
were upset and in a vulnerable position, but you never know who that person
would comment to. Before you know it things get distorted, others find out and
doors begin to shut in your face.”

“That’s
crazy,” Loretta finally took it in. “Why in the world would you even do a job
like this, Cindy?”

“I
do it to help people who are in the same situation you’re in right now,” Cindy
said so deeply that Loretta felt it.

“Well,
you shouldn’t stay in it forever,” Loretta took a step back. “You deserve a
better life, you really do.”

“This
work is meaningful to me,” Cindy responded.

“But
it’s weird and dangerous,” Loretta insisted, looking over at some tourists who
were about to embark upon the hike. “You weren’t like this in college. No one
would ever have thought your life would turn out this way.”

Cindy
followed her glance. Despite the conversation they were having, the day was
normal, with happy tourists lining up to have a good time.

“Want
to take a walk up to the top of the waterfalls now?” asked Cindy, taking a
moment to breathe the delicious, salty air and listen to the wind in the trees
below.

“Yes,
of course I would like to, let’s go,” said Loretta.

They
got up then and walked over to the foot of the trail.  It was good to be back
in nature, walking. It felt good that Cindy and Loretta had also cleared the
air between them..

“Thank
you, Cindy,” Loretta said as they stepped onto the bumpy road. “I love it here,
it’s beautiful. And I’m grateful to have you back as a friend.”

*

The
walk up to the top of the falls was exhilarating and life giving. Endless birds
accompanied them, as the series of spectacular waterfalls  roared with majesty.

“Once
people get to the top, they jump in, slide down, swim their way back down,”
Loretta repeated. “Some also just stand there and watch.”

“Rather
watch,” said Cindy as Loretta laughed.

Once
at the top they watched a few people jump in, calling out with delight once in
the rolling water.

“When
we get back to the states,” Loretta called to Cindy, “I’m taking you under my
wing.”

Cindy
smiled at that comment, wondering what Loretta had in mind.

“I
know at least three great guys to introduce you to,” Loretta continued. “You
may have come down here to help me,  but I’m going to help you right back.”

Cindy
felt grateful for Loretta’s thoughtfulness. It was also a perfect moment to seguey
into Loretta’s relationship with Pete.

“That’s
kind of you, Loretta,” said Cindy. “If anyone knows a good guy it’s got to be
you. All of your work revolves around marriage.”

“That’s
true,” Loretta felt proud of it. “I meet all kinds of fantastic people, too,
through the boutique.”

“And
your marriage to Pete meant so much to you,” Cindy said then softly.

“Yes,
of course, it did,” Loretta talked faster. “A good marriage defines a woman.
It’s who she is. It’s how people see her. Starting with the wedding, of course.”

Cindy
smiled then, thinking of the wedding venues she and Mattheus had been looking
at.

“You
had a good marriage to Clint after all, didn’t you?” asked Loretta.

“Yes,
I did,” Cindy responded, startled by the mention of it. “Even though our time
together was so brief.”

Loretta
stretched a bit and sighed then. “Brief or not, at least you were married. Some
marriages are great at the start and then things start to dwindle.”

That
was an interesting way of putting it, thought Cindy. “Did that happen with you
and Pete?” she asked quickly.

Loretta
plopped down on the ground then, hugging her arms around her legs. Cindy quickly
joined her.

“Pete
and I adored each other,” Loretta started, “we respected each other so that was
fantastic. We didn’t exactly have the same interests though, and that was hard
sometimes.”

This
was the first time Loretta had suggested there had been any difficulty between
them. “I’m sorry,” said Cindy.

“Nothing
to be sorry about,” Loretta quickly backtracked. “We ended up having a good
marriage anyway because we gave each other lots of space.”

Cindy
quickly wondered how much space Loretta and Pete had to give each other?  “A
lot of space?” asked Cindy.

Loretta
laughed at Cindy’s tone. “Well, yes, I gave Pete tons and tons of space and he
gave it to me. I was very busy with the boutique and he not only loved exotic
travel, but worked down here on the island a lot. More and more as time went
by, really.”

“Did
that bother you?” asked Cindy.

“Sometimes,”
Loretta mumbled, “that’s why we were buying a condo down here for the two of
us. We needed more quality time together, I won’t hide that. But when Pete went
away, I know he missed me.”

“How
do you know that?” Cindy asked.

“He
always brought me back the most beautiful bracelets,” she said, thrusting out
her arm proudly, displaying a ruby bracelet she was wearing at the moment.

“It’s
gorgeous,” said Cindy, impressed.

“Yes,
it is,” said Loretta proudly, “and he got me a few like this one, one in amber
and one in pearl. They all have my names engraved on the inside.”

“That
must have made you very happy,” said Cindy.

“Of
course it did,” Loretta tilted her head back. “It showed me how much he loved
me.”

“So,
there was no worries when he travelled then?” Cindy quickly picked up on it.
You trusted him completely?”

“Definitely,”
Loretta insisted, the wind blowing her hair around. “Pete swore to me that he
would never make me ashamed. He swore it.”

Cindy
shivered, thinking of what she knew about Pete’s life. Of course she could not
mention it to Loretta right now, Loretta would feel Cindy was attacking her and
see her once again as an enemy.

“How
did you handle so much time alone?” Cindy asked instead.

 “Well,
if truth be told, a glass of wine now and then did wonders,” said Loretta.

“Now
and then?” asked Cindy playfully, wondering if it were true that Loretta had
developed a drinking problem.

“What
else does one do on lonely nights?” Loretta mused. “A good marriage doesn’t
mean everything’s perfect, that you’re together twenty four seven.”

“No,
of course not,” Cindy went along. “You just have to learn how to deal with the times
of loneliness, I guess.”

“Right,
you got it!” agreed Loretta. “You have to learn how and I did. And then Pete
would always return with those gifts, saying he loved me. And I trusted him
completely.”

“No
question about that,” Cindy echoed and Loretta seemed happy that Cindy understood.

The
sound of the waterfalls became almost deafening then. As Cindy listened to them
and watched the floods of water relentlessly pour to the ground, she was struck
with great sadness for Loretta. Loretta seemed so helpless sitting there, hugging
her arms around her knees, completely lost in her dream.

*

By
the time Cindy and Loretta returned from the falls, evening was almost
approaching and Loretta suddenly became listless and sad.

“I
was supposed to have dinner with Angela tonight,” she said to Cindy, “but I’m
tired now. I just want to go to bed. Will you fill in for me?”