Jaden Skye: Death by Honeymoon

The first box was filled with papers, filed carefully. No key.

She opened the second box. In the back of it she saw a sealed envelope. Cindy ripped it open. There it was. She held up the key and stared at it. Then she slipped it into her pocket. This was the prize. There was no doubt about it.

Cindy knew she should get out of there immediately, but, unable to contain her curiosity, she decided to rummage through the second box. Who knew what else Clint had buried in them? Time passed as she sat there, engrossed, reading his older presentations, and she didn’t hear the footsteps that came down the stairs.

Lights flashed on suddenly, shocking her. She screamed.

“Who the hell is down here?” a rough voice boomed.

Cindy jumped, terrified.

“Don’t make a move,” a person came closer.

Cindy looked over. It was Ralph. She was both relieved and distraught.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he came right over, up close, to her.

“I needed to get something that belonged to Clint,” she answered swiftly.

“Like hell. You’re looking for the money.”

“Look,” she motioned to the boxes,” they’re his business files.”

“You think I was born yesterday, Cindy?” His face was flushed and his mouth drawn tight. Cindy had never seen him like this before. “How did you even get down here? Who said you could come in?”

“Those boxes are Clint’s property,” Cindy stepped back a few feet. He was too close, breathing heavily on her.

“You got a lawyer? He told you to do this? Breaking and entering?”

For a quick moment Ralph seemed consumed, insane.

“I’m trying to find out who murdered Clint,” Cindy said. “I don’t care about your money.”

Ralph guffawed. “Who killed him?” He was mocking her, “You probably killed him for the insurance yourself. I got it figured out. You put something in his food, so when he went surfing, he wouldn’t be able to handle the waves. Then the insurance would be all yours. Now you’re trying to find the killer. Very smart, blaming it on someone else.”

Ralph was paranoid and terrifying, There was no reasoning with him .

“You know we tried to stop this marriage before it even took place,” he went on. “Clint wouldn’t listen. Damn guy was headstrong, and it cost him his life.”

“Who exactly tried to stop it?” Cindy was on the alert. “You and who else?”

“Clint’s best man, Al.”

Cindy was shocked.

“He took Clint out of town and talked to him about it all day long. He never liked you. He didn’t like that Clint was tying the knot in only a year. All Clint could say, over and over, was that he’d never let you go. Nobody understood why.”

Hot, stinging tears filled Cindy’s eyes. That explained his day in Boston with Al.

“I loved him, too,” she said, filled with pain. “I never would hurt him in anyway.”

Ralph sneered. “You loved him, huh? Did you know Al had a photo of one of Clint’s girls. The two of them had a kid together.”

Cindy felt devastated . “How did he know?”

“He saw the kid. He told me. He’s a dead ringer for Clint.”

Cindy breathed a little easier. That explained it.

“Clint didn’t know the first thing about the kid, for a long time,” Ralph went on. “But at the end, before the wedding, he knew. Al sent the photo to him. It was a last ditch effort to wake him up.”

Ralph didn’t know that Clint never received the photo in the mail.

He laughed. “I bet he didn’t tell you a thing about it?”

There wasn’t any length they’d go to, to rip her and Clint apart. Even after he was gone. But it wouldn’t work.

“He never got the photo, Ralph.”

Ralph coughed.

“I found it. After he died.”

“Well, he was damn stupid. And don’t think that woman isn’t going to come and claim insurance money for the kid as soon as she finds out. All you women - .”

All of a sudden he grinned. He had tiny teeth all crunched together. “Finding you down here like this, proves my theory,” he said. “Why in hell would anyone crawl down into the basement, if they weren’t out to fleece us? But whether you know it or not, we’ve got the Will and insurance policy. The insurance wasn’t signed right - and honey, there’s no mention of you in the will. He never bothered to change a word of the Will after he met you.”

Why would he, Cindy thought? They were young and healthy . And as for the insurance policy, she’d get a lawyer to straighten things out. And she’d be happy to give a nice chunk of it to Clint’s son. For now, she only wanted to get out of there.

But Ralph had other ideas. He closed in.

“Clint’s dad is coming to the end,” he said. “Marge knows it. There’s a lot of money that’s going to be passed around.”

He was too close, breathing in Cindy’s face again. Then he rubbed her shoulders with his hands.. She tried to shake him off, but he only came closer.

“I always thought you were a pretty lady,” he said, “much prettier than Marge.” Cindy felt like throwing up.

“Get away from me,” she said, and twisted her shoulders to get free of him . She couldn’t. He pressed them tighter, pulled her to him and pushed himself up against her. Sick to her stomach, she struggled to toss him off her. She couldn’t.

He reached up for her face. She spun it to the other side. God knows what he was planning to do.

“Are you crazy?” she breathed. “I’ll have you locked up.”

He guffawed again. “By who?”

His wet mouth was all over neck.

“I know every move you make.” Then he pulled at her face, so he could kiss her. She yanked her head the other way.

“You’re sick,” Cindy breathed, “When I tell Marge -”

He grabbed her tighter. “Honey, you tell Marge about this, and you’re as good as finished.”

Cindy was enraged. She felt a surge of strength she never knew she had, and with all her power took both her hands and shoved him away. Taken by surprise, he tipped backwards and slid on the floor.

In that precious second, Cindy flew upstairs, through the open front door, and ran into the night like a criminal, speeding away. Ralph was a monster. She never wanted to lay eyes on him again. But, at least she had the key. All the rest was garbage.

Cindy flew home and went straight to Clint’s study. The run home had been fast and furious and her body was shaking.

She ran to Clint’s study, pulled out the key, put it into his safe’s lock, and turned it. The safe opened instantly.

Cindy had expected to see the safe packed with papers, valuables.

But to her surprise, it was nearly empty. There was only one, tiny thing sitting inside it: a thumb drive.

She held it up and stared at it, wondering what could be on it. Then she hurried over and inserted it into his computer.

Up came a message. Directory access was locked . Password protected.

God, help, please , she cried out . Cindy was so muddled and exhausted, she couldn’t remember what some of his passwords might be.

She tried entering a few that she knew Clint used regularly. Neither of them opened the file.

She switched around some letters and tried again.

None worked.

You’ve got to help me, Clint , she thought .

Her head cleared a little. Then, from nowhere, it struck her to try her name.

She typed in Cindy.

To her amazement, the directory opened.

Thank you, Clint , she thought. Thank you.

She quickly scanned the contents. –It was there. The Tearwall Project Report. A huge burst of energy came over her. Cindy immediately opened it and started reading,