Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) (20 page)

“I can see why Roger was so stressed.” I said.

“Roger needed to get the original transfer document back. Actually, he needed to get the entire file back from Jackie. In addition to outright ownership of the Saguaro Sky, there were documents in the file showing her as partial owner of five other resorts and several undeveloped properties scattered around Scottsdale. I know Roger casually mentioned it a few times to Jackie, trying not to raise her suspicions, but she kept referring him back to her lawyer. Finally, I got the idea if we could somehow find out where she kept the document, we could go in and take it.”

“What was your plan?”

“I knew Jackie had started hanging out in nightclubs and she had turned herself into some sort of sex cougar. I asked Terry if he’d start dating her and find out where she kept her documents. Since Terry and Jackie had never met before, I didn’t think he would mind dating the wife of my business partner. Terry discovered Jackie kept her documents in a fireproof file box in her bedroom. He said he’d looked for it but wasn’t able to find it.”

“Sorry dad,” Terry said. “I searched her bedroom the best I could but I didn’t see anything that looked like what you are talking about.”

“I understand,” Howard said. “It was a longshot. You tried and it didn’t pan out. I’m sorry I got you involved in this. I never thought it would go beyond getting the file from Jackie’s house.”

I saw Terry nodded his head. He seemed to accept this wasn’t his fault.

“Two weeks ago,” Howard continued. “Carlos called us in for a meeting. Roger and I went and told him where we were in getting the document from Jackie. He flew into one of his rages and said he knew how to get Jackie out of her house, and then we could go in and take the file. He drove down the street to a payphone, called her up, and threatened her. Later that night, the three of us drove over to Jackie’s house and turned the place upside down to find the documents. We found a small file box in her bedroom but it didn’t have anything inside except for the deed to her house and a few tax documents. Carlos called up a couple of his men and we all spent the rest of the night tearing up Jackie’s house looking for the damn thing. We even started ripping into the walls to see if she had hidden the file there. But even though we turned the house inside out, we didn’t find a thing.

Finally, we went back to Jackie’s bedroom to look one more time. We had
flipped over the mattress and gutted it when Carlos flew into yet another rage. He screamed at us how we weren’t even trying to find the document. He then took a gun we had found in the nightstand and shot Roger three times in the chest. He told me if I didn’t find the document soon, he’d kill me too.”

“What happened then?” I asked.

“Our next step was to kidnap Jackie and make her give us the document. It wasn’t my idea and I didn’t want to be involved but Carlos was now in control. Unfortunately, after Carlos had threatened her, Jackie had bolted out of Scottsdale and we didn’t have a clue where she went. They’d already put a tracking device on Jackie’s Jaguar but they lost her when she started driving in the deserts where there’s no cell service. While we waited for Jackie’s signal to reappear, Carlos had his men out searching for her but that got us nowhere.

I needed Jackie to be found, quickly. I called up my shyster friend Lenny Shapiro. I knew he had people who could find her and get her back without involving the police. I didn’t think it would be hard to track her down since she always uses credit cards for everything. I didn’t think she’d be smart enough to live off of cash for a week.”

“If I hadn’t talked to her friends,” I said, “it would have been impossible for anyone to find her until she decided to come back.”

“Well, I heard you had found her in Mexico and she’d come back into Arizona. Carlos was again able to track Jackie’s car, first to her house, and then to her friend Pam’s house. They then kidnapped Jackie when you dropped her off at Pam’s on Friday afternoon.”

Howard hung his head and spoke in almost a whisper, “I believe after Carlos gets what he wants from Jackie, he’ll probably kill her. I’m sure I’m on that list too. I know too much.”

He stopped and drained the rest of his beer.

“There it is. I’ve been hiding up here since right after the kidnapping. I thought I’d be pretty safe up here. I didn’t think anyone knew about this place. Plus, I figured even if someone remembered my family once had a cabin in the woods, I didn’t think anyone would actually be able to find it. You must be pretty good to track me down in only three days.”

“You’ve got to go down to Scottsdale and tell the detectives what you know,” I said. “They’re not even convinced this is a real kidnapping. They think Jackie murdered her husband and then ran. We are going to need the police’s help if we want to get her back.”

“I know,” he said. “But when I do, I’ll become a sitting duck for Carlos and his men. I’m sure they’re already looking for me. If the police arrest me, there’s no way they can protect me in jail. Carlos’s boss is the leader of the
Black Death
and he has a strong relationship with the Mexican prison gangs.”

Howard sighed and drained the rest of his beer.

“Anyway, I’ll go down and talk to the police. But the reason I’ll do it is because Jackie was always nice to me. Besides, it’s partially because of me her husband is dead and she was kidnapped. I screwed up big time but maybe this way I can get back some of my honor. Maybe it isn’t so important anymore, but it is to me.

“It’s too late to drive down to Scottsdale tonight,” I said. “I’ll make some phone calls and we’ll go down first thing in the morning.”

~~~~

My first call was to Lenny to let him know what I’d found out.

“OK, that’s good,” he said after I gave him the summary. “Get Howard down to the district station as soon as you can, before he changes his mind. Make sure he is open and candid with the detectives. With his statement, the DA will be less likely to charge anyone with obstruction when Jackie doesn’t show up for her interview tomorrow.”

“And then maybe the police will work harder to find Jackie and get her back?” I asked.

“Yeah, that too. We need to get our client back.”

I then called Reno to have him let everyone in the department know what was going on.

“Reno, I’ve found Howard Spencer.”

“What? How did you find Howard Spencer?”

“Long story. Call the lead detective and let him know Howard is coming into the Foothills district station first thing in the morning to make a statement. Jackie didn’t murder her husband, it was a Mexican national named Carlos, AKA Carlos the Butcher.”

“What? How do you know Carlos the Butcher killed Roger Wade?”

“Like I said, it’s a long story. I also know for sure Jackie was kidnapped and is being held by Carlos.”

“What? How do you know Jackie was kidnapped by Carlos?”

“Are you going to question everything I say or are you going to get things moving?”

“Fine, I don’t know how you always end up in the middle of these things. I sometimes wonder why Scottsdale even has a police department since you’re out there doing everything for them.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault. I’m just doing my job.”

“Alright, I know. But speaking of jobs, when are we going to get together? You still owe me big time and I’m starting to throb.”

“Soon.”

“You always say soon. I’ve had the entire weekend off and you’ve spent the entire time working.”

“I know, it’s been kinda busy. Maybe I should have come over and taken care of you this morning rather than us going out to breakfast.”

“Really? That was an option? Sure, now you tell me.”

“I’ll make up for it. I promise.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

~~~~

We all woke up early and I made everyone a quick breakfast from the things Howard had brought up to the cabin. Fortunately, he had brought up coffee and I found a working coffee pot. It was one of the old percolator types. It was slow, but it worked well enough. When I drank the boiled coffee, I got a flashback to my grandparent’s house in Phoenix and the way their coffee tasted when they let me sip it as a kid.

Terry agreed to ride down with his dad to the police station in Scottsdale and also to be there when Howard gave his statement. I said I would follow behind them and help out if I could.

We arrived at the district police station about nine-thirty. Howard, Terry, and I were each interviewed by a separate detective for about an hour. We were then asked to wait while the detectives met to discuss what they had heard. Our stories must have matched up OK, because Terry and I were told we were free to leave. They wanted to interview Howard again to see what else they could learn, but the detective in charge thought he would probably be done later in the afternoon. Terry said he’d come back and pick up his dad.

~~~~

I drove back to the office. Sophie finished running all the quick checks on Carlos the Butcher. As expected, all that came back was a grainy photograph and a single paragraph saying Carlos, also known as Carlos the Butcher, was a prominent leader in the Muerte Negra, or Black Death syndicate. They listed his last name as unknown, his age as unknown, his residence as unknown, his birthplace as unknown, his relations as unknown, his education as unknown, and the only known associate of Carlos was the head of the Muerte Negra, a vicious looking man named Escobar Salazar.

“This isn’t what we need,” I said. “Can we use the magic software on him?”

“Well, OK. But it’s starting to give me the creeps whenever I use it. I keep expecting the men-in-black to bust through the door whenever I run it. You know, I sometimes want to type my own name into it, just to see what the government knows about my family and me. So far, I haven’t gotten up the nerve.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said. “It would make me sick to find out a close relative was a wanted felon. On the bright side, maybe a relative is actually a rich criminal mastermind and you could hit them up for a loan.”

“So far I’ve been OK with not knowing. If times get tough, maybe I’ll change my mind.”

My cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it was a call from a phone with a Phoenix area code. I wasn’t expecting a call and I didn’t recognize the number. My heart sped up as hope sprang into my chest. Could this be Jackie? Maybe she had escaped. I answered and tried to ask three questions at once.

“Jackie is that you? Where are you? Are you alright?”

“No,” a man’s voice slowly answered back. With one word, I got a horrible feeling in my stomach and I felt like I was going to throw up. I told myself to breathe and tried to keep myself together.

“Who is this?” I asked. I had a bad feeling I already knew the answer.

“You may call me Carlos.” He spoke slowly and distinctly with a heavy Spanish accent.

“Where’s Jackie. I need to speak with her.”

“Jackie is with me. She is safe, for the moment.”

“I need to talk with her.”

Suddenly the voice on the phone became livid.

“What you need to do is shut up!” the man screamed. “If you ever want to see your friend alive again you will do exactly as I say! Tell me you understand!”

His fury was so strong I could envision his face turning red and his body shaking with anger.

“OK, OK, I understand,” I said, trying to calm him down.

There was a pause for almost thirty seconds. I heard him breathing hard and trying to calm himself.

“First of all,” the voice said, now in a more normal tone. “If you go to the police, your friend will die. Even if you do everything else I tell you to do. If there is even the hint of police involvement, I will kill her first and look for explanations later. Tell me. Do you know I’m telling the truth on this?”

“Yes,” I said. “I know you’re telling the truth.”

“She says you are clever. So by now, you must be fully aware who I am and what I am looking for. I want a paper Jackie has signed. You know the one I mean, yes?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Ah, so you are clever. That is good. Now listen carefully. She lied when she told Howard’s son she kept her papers in her bedroom. She had only the unimportant ones there. The paper I need is located in a safety deposit box at her bank. The key to the box is still at her house. The house has a police guard on it. I need you to get the key from her house. I need you to go to the bank and get the paper. Then I need you to bring the paper to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I said. I was trembling all over. “But, where is the key? You searched the entire house.”

“Yes!” he started screaming again. “But we were not looking for a key! We were told the paper was in the house! We walked right past the key, many times!”

There was another pause and I could hear him breathing heavily and again trying to compose himself.

“The key is in plain sight in the kitchen,” he finally said, with the normal tone. “There is a wall hanging with many keys on it. The key you need has a Scottsdale National Trust Bank key ring on it. The key ring is blue and you will know it’s the right key because it looks unusual. You will need to sign papers at the bank to get to the safety deposit box and the signatures must match exactly. You are a clever girl so I know you can do it, no?”