Death by Jealousy (Caribbean Murder #6)

“My God,” said Nora, a bridesmaid with very curly hair, “no one told us you were coming.”


“Hi guys,” Cindy tried to be upbeat.

Some of the girls moved a bit to make room for Cindy and Dana to sit down.

A tall young man, with sandy hair, leaned towards Cindy. “Welcome,” he said, extending his hand.

“This is Tad,” Dana introduced him, “Peter’s best man, his rock of strength.”

“Pleased to meet you, Tad,” said Cindy.

“Thanks,” said Tad, “but why a detective? Have they decided it was a crime?”

“They’re not sure,” Cindy replied.

“No one’s damn sure of anything down here in this place, are they?” It was a groomsman with broad shoulders, dark hair and furrowed eyebrows. “I’m Bernard,” he added.

A lovely, frail young woman with blonde hair, sitting to the right of Cindy, trembled and began crying.

“Stop it, Laura,” another bridesmaid burst in. “Laura’s the Maid of Honor,” she said, “And I’m Elizabeth.” Elizabeth was taller, with straight chestnut hair, dark eyes and a firm manner.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Laura kept crying, “and to have a detective down here with us, too. It only makes it worse.”

“Makes it better,” said Elizabeth. “We don’t know for sure that Allie’s gone. We need help searching. For all we know, she ‘ll turn up soon.”

“She’s not turning up,” Laura’s crying got louder. “I know it.”

At that the whole group fell silent and grim.

“We’ve all been a mess since this happened,” Tad turned to Cindy, “not to mention Peter, even though he continues to hold onto hope.”

“Why shouldn’t he hold onto hope?” another groomsman, with short clipped hair, interjected.

“This is Roger,” Elizabeth introduced him.

“I keep telling Peter that Allie’s gonna turn up fine,” Roger continued.

“There’s no reason to say something like that,” Bernard was upset. “You’re raising his hopes for no reason. After all this time, she’s not turning up alive.”

“Hey, man, you don’t know that for sure,” Roger bit his bottom lip hard.

“It’s the waiting that’s the worst of it,” said Bernard.

“I know it is,” said Cindy, remembering how she’d waited to find out what happened to Clint after he disappeared on their honeymoon. It was the not knowing that was most brutal.

“We all feel we should be out there personally searching the Island,” Bernard continued, “but the cops won’t let us leave the hotel grounds.”

“We’d only get in the way,” Elizabeth insisted, “they’ve got it all covered.”

“You don’t know that,” Bernard shot back. “If you ask me, the cops just don’t want more trouble to deal with, don’t have the man power to follow all kinds of leads.”

“Maybe they just want to protect us,” said a regal looking bridesmaid who threw her head back as she suddenly stood up and then sat down again. “I’m Robyn, Allie’s oldest friend,” she said to

Cindy.

Cindy nodded at her. “Investigations are complicated,” she replied. “It’s important to keep them under control.”

“We’re all in danger, aren’t we?” Nora piped up.

“There’s no reason to think that,” said Cindy.

“And there’s no reason to think we’re not in danger,” Bernard retorted.

“That’s why I’m here,” Cindy replied, “to figure it all out. And I’d love to speak to each of you personally in greater detail.”

“Each of us? About what?” Bernard looked agitated.

“I need to find out as much as I can about Allie and Peter, and their relationship,” Cindy spoke calmly and clearly.

Tad stood up. “Listen, you’re way off track if you think that Peter had anything to do with Allie’s disappearing.”

Cindy stood up and faced all of them. “I don’t think anything yet, just have to find out. Each of you can be holding a piece to the puzzle you don’t realize you have. When we talk you may remember a fact that doesn’t seem like anything, but leads us to whole new trail.”

Robyn didn’t like it either. “This has nothing to do with Allie and Peter’s relationship,” she chimed in. “Peter and Allie were happy, they were fine. Allie was excited about the wedding and especially having it here. There are over a hundred guests who came down for it.”

A hundred guests - Cindy wondered if they’d all been interviewed. Probably not.

“Money was no object either,” Bernard, interjected. “We were all set for a fantastic time.”

“I want to go home,” Nora piped up. “I want to see my parents. “How long are they keeping us down here?”

“You’ll all be allowed to leave as soon as we know more,” Cindy tried to reassure her.

“But it’s not safe to go now, is it?” Nora continued. “For all we know there’s someone loose on the island who wants to kill us all?”