Death by Devotion (Caribbean Murder #9)

“The young woman on the wall is my daughter,” Mattheus responded.

The woman laughed. “Yes, of course.”

“These people are Andrea’s friends,” Jared tried to intervene.

His mother turned on him with fury. “Shut up,” she demanded, then turned to Cindy.

“Who let you in? What do you want here?”

Cindy knew that the only way to handle a woman like this was with complete straightforwardness.

“We’re detectives,” Cindy said plainly. “We’re investigating the murder of Andrea’s stepfather and need to talk to your son.”

The shock of Cindy’s statement registered on Jared’s mother immediately.

“There’s absolutely no reason in the world why you should talk to my son about the sordid life of that girl. Yes, of course, he took pictures of her, but it doesn’t amount to a thing. It was a purely artistic endeavor on his part, mistaken though it was.”

“There was nothing mistaken about it,” Jared couldn’t bear her words. “Every moment together was beautiful. Andrea made me happier than I ever was before. She means everything in the world to me. She’s an amazing, fantastic, sensitive person. I miss her so much.”

“Jared, shut up,” his mother’s voice grew louder. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying. Except for taking some photos, he would never have anything to do with the riff raff on the other side of the island.”

Jared grew enraged. “How dare you talk about my love like that?” he shot back. “Andrea’s gorgeous, just look for yourself. I love her and I’ll do anything in the world to take care of her. You think I’m like her dad? You think I’d abandon her? Andrea begged me for a long time to protect her from Cain and I’m so sorry I didn’t at first. But I made it up to her, finally.”





“Jared, if you don’t shut up,” his mother’s face was flushing.

But Jared couldn’t quiet down. He was on a roll. Maybe it was meeting Mattheus that triggered him, but whatever it was, he now had to talk.

“When Andrea’s real dad came down, she told me he wanted Cain out of the picture. I couldn’t believe it, I asked her why? She said it was so she, her dad and mom could all be a family again. Is there something wrong with that? Doesn’t she deserve to have a real family?”

“She’s a slut, Jared,” his mother trembled. “She deserves just what she got.”

Jared gasped. “You’re awful, horrible,” he stared at his mother. “Andrea always told me you were and I never believed her. Now I do. She told me if I got Cain out of the way for her, she and I could be together. She thought that once her real dad was here, you would see he wasn’t so different from me and maybe be you and Petra would accept us.” Jared’s lips trembled terrifically as he spoke.

“This is total insanity,” his mother breathed.

“Did you get Cain out of the way for Andrea?” Mattheus took a step closer to him.

“Shut up, Jared, shut up,” his mother started screaming.

“You shut up,” he yelled back. “I did it and I’m proud of it. “I stabbed him over and over,” Jared howled. “It was nice, it was easy.”

“Was Andrea there when you did it?” Cindy jumped in.

“No, just me,” Jared breathed. “She didn’t even know I was doing it. It was a surprise for her, a present.”

At that Jared’s mother spun towards Cindy and Mattheus. “If a word of this gets out to anyone, both of you are dead,” she hissed. “And so is your precious Andrea.”

Mattheus blanched.

“If you keep your mouth shut, I swear to you, I’ll get Andrea out of jail, and you can take her with you off the island. It’s the only way you can keep her safe.”

Cindy and Mattheus shot each other a quick glance.

“I can free your daughter,” Jared’s mother continued, “I have the contacts and the money.”

“We can’t make a deal like that,” said Cindy.

Mattheus reached his arm out for her, “We can,” he exclaimed.

“That’s smart,” said the mother, “damn smart. My son isn’t totally in his right mind. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

“Go to hell,” Jared squealed.

“You want Andrea alive?” his mother turned on him then. “You want to take more pictures?”

“Of course,” Jared started whimpering.

“Then you listen to me and keep your mouth shut,” she said before turning back to Mattheus. “If for any reason anyone finds out about this, your daughter will be found dead, immediately. I have people all over the island who will take care of it. And it won’t be pretty.”

“I heard enough,” said Mattheus.

“And I want the two of you off the island by first thing tomorrow,” Jared’s mother continued, “You’ll be watched closely until you go.”

“I won’t go without Andrea,” Mattheus was shaken.