Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (16 page)

Their coffee had
gone
cold a while back. Mina was the first one to leave the table. She rinsed her mug in the sink, turned to Diego, “Okay, I’m on my way to the mystery room.”

“Right behind you,” he said. “By the way, we need to leave at noon while the maintenance crew is at lunch so we won’t be seen using the service exit.”

“No problem, I’m wearing everything I brought with me.” Mina headed down the hall. “
DeFiore
said you were going to tell me about Barbara
.
” She wasn’t really interested in the second bedroom, but keeping busy kept her from analyzing events she’d rather ignore.

“Why do you need two computers? I don’t even have one. I use the one at the office sometimes, but only if I need to type something. My handwriting is bad, not like yours.” She slid open the closet doors and found men’s cloth
ing
neatly organized and covered by plastic bags. “You have more clothes than I do
.
”

“That’s because I’m older, had more time to acquire them.” He didn’t sound too entertained by her comments.

“What’s this? A McDonald’s uniform? Wait, a
T
riple A shirt? Why does it say Joe S. on the
nametag
? How many jobs have you had? But your name is not Joe—“

Diego walked up and slid the closet door shut. “About Barbara—“

“Oh, yes. Have they found out something new? Is Ginger back in town?”

“Mina, sit down and pay attention.” He pushed the office chair by the desk in her direction. It was the only chair in the room.
She sat while he stood beside it.

“Bosom Bodies was used to launder money, and Barbara Spencer was the facilitator. She
siphoned off
a
small
percent
age
of every dollar she ran through the books. But she got greedy. She stole
three quarters of a million dollar
from people who are not very forgiving. She invested that money into something else that was meant to double the amount within a week.” He sounded like he was reading from a script.

“Oh, how smart. So she was going to pay back the
seven hundred fifty thousand
and still have a lot of money left. Clever woman.”

“She got killed, Mina. How smart is that? Anyway, the Feds were onto the scam and getting ready to shut down the operation when she died. She didn’t know I was there to collect evidence the same way she didn’t know the people she worked for had grown suspicious and placed Angelina there to keep an eye on things.”

“Damn. This is like a movie. But where do I come in? Why did Ginger and Barbara want me to pretend I was Ginger and work at Bosom Bodies?”

“That’s the
one point five million dollar
question. You
’
re somehow unwillingly tied to the
seven hundred fifty thousand dollar
investment. Barbara had a
one-way
ticket to New York. She was scheduled to catch the red
-
eye on Monday night. Monday was your last day at Bosom Bodies. We know Ginger was already in New York.”

“Ginger didn’t go to Vegas to be married? This is confusing and is making me very sad. I hardly knew Barbara, but Ginger is a very sweet, caring person. She always volunteered at the animal shelter and was getting certified to work with handicapped children in some foreign country. What was she doing in New York and
…? W
ait. You are saying they lied to me? They used me? For what?”

“Your car was used to bait Barbara.
You found the flat tire after work
.
Angelina probably let the air out of it. When we left, they used your car to approach Barbara. She wasn’t going to walk up to a stranger’s car late at night on a deserted stretch of road. Your car is easily recognizable. Forensics found no trace she ever was inside your Volkswagen. By the way, I bet you
’ll get
your car back when you
see
DeFiore
.”

“It’s about time. But it will never feel the same knowing my car was instrumental in Barbara’s death.”

“Get a lock on that car
,
and you’ll be fine. Barbara wasn’t run over by a car, she was beaten to death in her own apartment. The killers drove her there
,
beat her to get information, then drove her body back to where her car was parked and left her on the beach below to be found the next day.”

“Oh, my God. How c
ould someone
do that to another human being? Diego,
did
the people who killed Barbara br
eak
into my condo?”

He nodded. “Mina, they aren
’
t stupid. Angelina is a small fish. They’ve figured out you
don’t know
you
’re
the keeper of whatever Barbara’s investment is. Hurting you would not solve their problem. They
’
re hoping sooner or later you will take them to the stolen money investment. After that, they
won’t
need you. That’s why you
’
re here
.
DeFiore
is determined to keep you safe. Can you think of anything special Barbara or Ginger
asked you to keep for them?”

“This is not good. Neither one gave me anything. Maybe they invested in real estate, or antiques. Why can’t
DeFiore
arrest the people doing all this? You must know who they are
. W
hat are you waiting for?”

“I don’t arrest people, good or bad. How can I explain? Picture an iceberg. Barbara, Angelina and her accomplices are the tip of the iceberg everyone can see floating. But the most important part is what you can’t see, the large mass underwater keeping the top afloat. I swim under the water, trying to find a way to take down the whole iceberg. Does that make sense?”

“You scare me,” she said, got up and
headed for
the bedroom.

“Mina. Stop it. You know I could never hurt you.
Look. The only way to find an answer is to
revisit everything you did with Barbara and Ginger
, or said to them,
during the last
three
weeks.”

She turned to face him. “I have a better idea. How about you and
DeFiore
beat the hell out of Ginger until she tells you where this precious investment is? I’m sure you both know how to make people talk.”

“I wish I knew how to make some people shut up.” Diego said.

They looked at each other. Mina could feel the electricity between them.

If this
were
a movie, we would kiss.

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t move.

“It’s okay. I understand. Cabin fever.” He smiled. “It will all be over soon.”

“How do you know?”

“It always is.” He sounded sort of sad. “New icebergs surface all the time. Then I get the call.”

Mina used her key to let herself into West Coast Software. Inside, she found Paco’s office door open. It was a Saturday and there wasn’t much going on in the building.

“Oh, there you are.” Paco came from the warehouse. “Adams called. He
’
s on his way. Mina, you haven’t been around for a while. Come, sit down, let’s talk.”

He sounded
quite
animated. What was going on? She followed him. Before closing the office door
,
she turned to glance through the
front window
. Diego was nowhere in sight. True to his word, after delivering her to West Coast Software, he left.

“Brian has been calling here saying you never answer the phone and he is concerned.”

“I spoke to him last night.” She wasn’t about to discuss their lovers’ quarrel with Paco or anyone else for that matter. “There is—was a problem with my phone, and I couldn’t call in or out. By the way, how is Margo?”

“Margo had food poisoning. She
’s trying to figure it out,
said you both ate at the same place yet you
’
re fine. She should be back at work by Monday. How about you? You
’ve been
different since you moved into that swanky side of town. Are you okay?”

Mina felt herself blushing. The mere mention of her condo had her thinking about Diego and her yearning to be with him.

“I don’t care much for the place. I’m going to talk to Adams about getting me out of the lease.
Is there
any news about the
merger
or the sale of our business
?”

He shook his head and sighed.
“I’m not sure I understand what these investors are up to. First they acted like they were in a big rush, now they
’
re dragging their feet, asking for more concessions. Adams is putting together a final proposal. After that it will be take it or leave it. They initiated the deal, not us. I’m perfectly happy to keep on doing what I’ve been doing.” He
s
wiped
at
the clean desk with his hands. Paco
tended to
clean imaginary d
ust when he was in deep thought
.
“I guess we’ll see.” He shrugged.
“
You know, I think I
forgot
to lock the back door. I’ll be right back.”

He walked out and
Mina found herself alone in the quiet office her mother once occupied. Silence, even in these familiar surroundings, made her question every sound, every sight. Fear had become her constant companion since Diego explained she was the guardian of something many
bad
people seem to covet. Her mind explored horrific scenarios of people kidnapping her, inflicting her
physical pain. All because of answers she didn’t have. In spite of all of her excuses, she only felt safe when she was with Diego.

She went back to the lobby, and dialed Margo’s number.

“Hello?” Margo sounded half
-
asleep.

“Hey, Margo, it’s me, Mina. How are you doing? My phone is not working, that’s why I couldn’t call you. Did you see a doctor?”

“Shit, Mina, never again. I’m never, ever going to eat at that place again. Yeah, I’m better, was able to drive myself to the doctor and back. Probably lost ten pounds, but not in the right places.”

“Glad to hear you haven’t lost your sense of humor.” She wasn’t going to tell Margo about the break-in,
or Sarajevo. N
othing anyone could do about it anyhow. “I forgot the super glue and the dumbbells in your car. Did you find them?”

“They are probably still where you left them. I managed to get in and out of the car keeping my eyes focused ahead or I would’ve thrown up. I’m much better, and I’ll be at the office Monday. Why don’t you stop by and get your stuff then? And no, we are not doing lunch.”

Mina saw Adams’
s
Lincoln pull up
outside
. “Adams is here. We have to go talk to
DeFiore
again, and this time he better give me my car.”

“Say hi to
DeFiore
for me, okay?” Marg
o sounded energized at the mere mention of
DeFiore
’s name.

“Of course.” Mina hung up and headed for the front door. Paco must have gone out through the warehouse, as he was already hunched over the passenger side window talking to Adams. When he saw Mina he stepped back and opened the car door for her. She got in and waved good
-
bye.

“That condo is not working out for you, is it?” Adams
brought it up
before she had a chance to start complaining. “I’m working on getting you out of the lease without penalty. The break
-
in should be enough. But, Mina, where do you go from there? I’m not talking location
.
I’m asking you on a deeper level. What do you see yourself doing in the coming years? There must be something you feel passionate about. Whether or not you plan on spending the rest of your life with Brian, your own life should have a purpose.”

The question hovered, Mina felt overwhelmed by mixed feelings. Adams had a way of bringing clarity to her muddled emotions
. S
he didn’t want to dig into her so-called passions of any kind
right now
because regardless of the questions, only one answer kept popping up—Diego.

Nothing escaped Adams. She recognized that. He might not know the name or face behind her hesitation, but he must have figured out something was brewing
. It was almost a certainty
Brian had phoned Adams when he was unable to reach her. Maybe even after their last sparring match.