Death by Jealousy Read Online Free PDF Page A

asked immediately.
    “I’d
been down in worse conditions,” said Peter quickly. “Allie and I love diving,
and we needed time alone together, badly. You can’t imagine the pressure that
was building! There were so many people, plans, arrangements. She was getting really
nervous and so was I. We’d barely gotten to see each other since we got down. It
was becoming overwhelming for Allie.”
    “And
how about you?” asked Mattheus.
     “I
wouldn’t say I was overwhelmed,” said Peter slowly, “but I knew we needed to
get away for a while. I didn’t like seeing her nervous like that. She kept
saying strange things like we should have eloped. Once she even asked if I
wanted to run away from her? I told her I didn’t. I promised her I never would.”
    “Weddings
can certainly become crazy,” said Cindy. She remembered her own wedding with Clint,
how little time they’d had alone before it, how she’d hungered for the honeymoon,
when they’d be away from it all.
    “Why
did Allie ask if you wanted to run away from her?” Mattheus zeroed in. “Was the
relationship shaky?”
    “Not
at all,” said Peter, “but sometimes she thought it was. I always had to
reassure her.”
    “And
you did?” Mattheus was focused.
    “Of
course,” said Peter, “all the time.  Actually, a friend suggested to Allie that
we go for the dive to unwind. She thought it was a great idea. We always got
closer under the water, playful, relaxed. Heck, there’s the no way you can
think of your problems when you’re swimming near coral reefs and fishes.”
    “Sounds
beautiful,” Cindy murmured.
    Peter’s
eyes lit up momentarily.  “Beautiful is putting it mildly,” he said. “There was
no reason not to go. The wind didn’t start getting rough until about an hour
before we left. I really didn’t think it made such a big difference.”
    “Who
suggested that you two go for the dive?” Mattheus asked intently.
    “I
have no idea,” said Peter.
    “Allie
didn’t tell you who?” Mattheus wouldn’t let it alone.
    “No,
she didn’t, and I didn’t ask her,” said Peter, “what difference does it make?”
    “Everything
could make a difference,” Mattheus replied, “any little detail. You never know
what.”
    Peter
grabbed the glass of water on the table and drank it down quickly.
    “You’re
an experienced diver?” Mattheus went on.
    “Very,
and so was Allie,” Peter replied.
    “You
both checked your equipment before the dive?” Mattheus continued.
    “Absolutely,”
said Peter. “It was perfect. We were all set to go.”
    Peter
seemed clear and steady as he spoke, even with all the pressure he was
obviously feeling.
    “You
heard that they found trouble with the air gauge?” Mattheus wasn’t holding
back.
    Mattheus
was being combative and Cindy didn’t understand why.
    “I
just heard about the air gauge a little while ago,” said Peter, shaking his
head. “I don’t understand it. That never happened to me before. Everything
looked like it was in perfect order. Look, I loved Allie. There was no reason
in the world for me to do anything to her. None at all. I spent all my time
trying to make her happy. Anyone here can tell you that. Look at the gifts I
gave her, she had the most beautiful jewels of all her friends.”
    Mattheus
looked down at the floor as he rubbed his foot back and forth. “That’s not
necessarily the way to make a woman happy,” he said.
    Cindy
flinched at Mattheus’s bitterness.
    “I
made Allie happy in all kinds of ways,” Peter insisted, “we loved each other or
things would never have gotten this far. I never would have married her.”
    “You
didn’t marry her,” Mattheus reminded him sharply.
    Mattheus
was being cruel. It wasn’t necessary. Cindy didn’t like it.
    “We
were as good as married,” Peter fought back. “You can talk to anyone of her
bridesmaids, they’ll tell you how happy she was.”
    Mattheus
shook his head slowly. “Women are strange creatures,” he said