Free Death by Deceit (Book #5 in the Caribbean Murder Series) by Jaden Skye Page B

old combat buddies, “help me get out
of here. I’m innocent. I didn’t do it. Believe me.”
    “Why should I believe you?” Mattheus pulled
back.
    “You don’t have to believe me. Find out for
yourself.  Go to Rancher’s Bar, it’s a biker bar here in town. My friend who
saw them is the bartender there, Tommy. Go talk to him about it. He was one of
the first friend’s Shelly made when she moved down here. He knew her like the
back of his hand.”
    Mattheus felt his mouth go dry at the thought
of Shelly hanging out at a biker’s bar.
    “Will you do it for me? Will you?” Anthony was
pleading.
    Mattheus looked at the pain etched across his
face.  None of this added up. But one thing was for sure, he didn’t feel like
Anthony killed her.
    “Tell me where you were when Shelly was
killed,” Mattheus wanted to be absolutely sure his hunch was right.
    “When I ran away from Shelly, I went to live
with my cousin Bella across town. There are plenty of people who can tell you I
was living there. They saw me around. Bella’s a user, if you know what I mean.
I told the police when Shelly was killed I was with Bella. And I was. I was at
her house with her, watching TV. I fell asleep while watching. Bella was high
and went out to a club. Someone saw her dancing there and told the cops I
wasn’t with her, that I was lying. I wasn’t lying, I was at her house,
sleeping. I was with her before she left.”
    “It’s a lousy story,” Mattheus mumbled, “doesn’t
prove a thing.”
    “But it’s true. Man, you got to believe me. I
was asleep on the couch. Go talk to Tommy at Rancher’s Bar, I beg you. He’ll
fill you in on Shelly. You’ll find out who she was cheating with. Whoever she
was sleeping with is the guy you got to get!”
    “Why didn’t you give the police this
information?” Mattheus’s mind was spinning in a hundred directions at once.
    “I tried, I really did. But they made up their
mind about me, as soon as they heard my alibi. I never had a fair chance. All I
want is a fair chance.”
    “Okay,” said Mattheus, “You got it. I’m going
to talk to Tommy at Rancher’s Bar tonight.”

CHAPTER 9
     
     
     Rodney and Alex weren’t thrilled with the
interview. There wasn’t anything new in it for them. After it was over Mattheus
joined them in the back room where it was even more airless and humid.
    “Nothing new,” Rodney tapped his foot on the
floor, as soon as Mattheus sat down. “Anthony already told us Shelly was involved
with someone else when she was killed. It’s a convenient story - only problem
is there’s no evidence of it. We checked it out with a bunch of people who knew
her well. No one corroborated it.”
    Mattheus felt shaky. He believed Anthony,
anyway.
    “These kinds of guys make all kinds of things
up,” Rodney said, flipping a pencil back and forth on the desk. “The truth
doesn’t mean a damn to them.”
     “You know him well?” asked Mattheus.
    “Who the hell needs to?” said Rodney. “Guys
like him float around down here all over the place.” He looked both disgusted
and resigned. “I’ve been watching these guys for years - always the same thing
- in and out of jail for minor offenses, doing dope, buying, selling, preying
on all kinds of women. Then they snap - go over the line. You reel them in and
they squirm like fish trapped in a bowl.  It’s always the same excuse too - the
police aren’t giving me a fair shake. They want to wrap the case up. If you
knew how many times I heard that baloney. If only one of them would look me in
the eye, like a man, and admit it – say, I killed her Mister, and I’m damn glad
I did.”
    Mattheus swallowed hard. He’d heard that excuse
himself plenty of times himself, but each person was different, each one
deserved a chance to be heard.
    It was a principle he lived by.
    “What about this guy’s friend at Rancher’s
Bar?” Mattheus went on. “Did you check him out?”
    Rodney scoffed and Alex just looked