Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) (27 page)

“It was close but we’re OK thanks to you and Gabriella. Would you thank her for me? What about the distraction, what did you do?”

At that question, Max started to laugh. It was the first time I’d heard him really laugh and it was a great sound. Plus, when he laughed, his whole face lit up and he could have been a teenager again, laughing at some joke.

“Yes, well about the distraction. You see, before your news yesterday, about the only thing we really knew about Carlos was the car he drove. It’s a red Ferrari 458 Spider, a beautiful car costing over a quarter of a million dollars. It’s sort of his trademark and he really loves it. He parked it on the far side of the warehouse, away from both the loading docks and the front offices. I guess he wanted to make sure it would be out of the way and wouldn’t get any scratchers. So, we decided to blow it up.”

“You blew up his Ferrari?”

“Actually, it was Gabriella’s idea and it’s harder to do than you’d think. Even after we shot a few holes in the gas tank, it still wouldn’t catch on fire. She finally had to shoot a flare at it. But once it started, it really went up fast.”

“I could see why that caused such a stir. We heard everyone in the offices running but had no idea what had caused the commotion.”

“After everyone had emptied out of the building to see what had happened, Gabriella and I went in and got the two of you. When you both were safe, we went out the way we had come in. Everyone was still out by the burning Ferrari.”

“Did everyone get away OK?”

“Everyone is fine. We just set the whole thing up as a distraction and nobody got overly close to where Carlos’ men were. It turns out I was the only one that took a hit.”

“You got shot?” I almost shouted at him and my voice raised an octave. My heart started pumping as I frantically looked for bandages or a gushing wound.

“I’m OK. It happened as we were leaving the building. I never even saw who shot me. But, after what happened the last time we had our little adventure together, I made sure to wear the bulletproof vest again. I’ve now got two dents in it. Funny thing is I’ve gotten both of them when I’ve been with you. Maybe you’re bad luck?”

“Or maybe I’m good luck since nobody decided to shoot you in the head. Ever think about that?”

We sat and talked for another hour. It was great to be with Max and the more I talked with him, the more things I found we had in common.

“Before I forget,” Max said. “Tony would like to see you.”

What? Shit!

He saw the look on my face. “Nothing to worry about. I think he wants to see for himself that you are OK. Plus, I’ve got to say, you impressed the hell out of him yesterday. I’ve been with him for years and I can count on one hand how many times that’s happened. You were able to dig up the information on Valentino in only a few days when we had tried for months and had come up with squat.”

“When does he want to see me?”

“Any time over the next few days. He said that he didn’t want to inconvenience you. I know he’ll be in the office tonight for at least another two hours.

“Tonight?”

Shit.

“Alright,” I said. “Let him know I’ll be over tonight. Will you be coming with me?”

“Not this time. You know the way and everyone over there knows who you are. You’ll do great.”

I followed Max down the stairs from the lounge and I was sort of hoping he would turn and kiss me again. When he didn’t, I was a little disappointed. I walked him to his car, which was parked on the street half a block down. When he went to get in, I realized he wasn’t going to kiss me or even give me a hug.

“No kiss this time?”

He stopped and looked down at me. “Aren’t you the one with the conflicted emotions about us?”

“Yes, but it’s not as simple as that. Whenever I see you, I seem to lose all control and I only want to be with you. Then I remember you are a professional criminal and I already sort of have a boyfriend. I honestly don’t know what to do when it comes to you.”

He smiled and shook his head. He then bent down and gave me the lightest and softest possible kiss. It had the effect of igniting every nerve in my body.

Wow! How can he do that?

“You work out your thoughts on us,” he said, “and I’ll be glad to give you a better kiss. Actually, I’ll give you a hell of a lot more than just a nice kiss.”

Yum.

FOURTEEN

I drove up Scottsdale road to the Tropical Paradise. As always, I was feeling nervous about meeting with Tough Tony DiCenzo. Sophie was right; spending too much time with him would almost certainly end badly. Unfortunately, I had the feeling I was getting drawn deeper into it. I knew I needed to start fighting against it now, while I still had a chance of getting out in one piece.

I again parked in valet. I recognized the bell captain from the night before and he also seemed to know who I was. I took the stairs from the lobby up to the second floor offices. The guards at the entrance to the offices also seemed to know who I was and one of them opened the door for me.

Since it was getting to be late in the evening, there were only a few people working in their offices or cubicles. It was a rather creepy feeling walking through the mostly deserted office.

I got to Gabriella’s desk and saw she was again working steadily away. She was wearing a white button down blouse and her hair was down. She heard me come into her reception area and she looked up. Rather than buzz me in right away, she looked at me. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, and then I noticed her eyes.

Every other time I had seen Gabriella, her eyes had sent a shiver of fear through me. They were always the dead unfeeling eyes of a shark or the searching eyes of a predator. But tonight, her eyes had softened. For the first time I saw her as being a woman sitting at a desk.

“You did good today,” she said. It was the first time I had ever heard her speak and it startled me. She had a heavy eastern European or perhaps even Russian accent. From the way she spoke, I could tell English wasn’t her first language.

“I did good today?” I asked.

“You did not panic. You did not scream. You helped the other girl. You did good today. You did good last time too, with the diamonds. You saved Tony when I was pushed on the floor.”

“Thanks and thank you for rescuing me today. We were in a tight spot.”

“It’s OK. Tony likes you. Max likes you. I like you.”

I remembered Max said he had gotten shot. I suddenly wanted to know more.

“Today, after you and Max moved us, did you have a shootout with Carlos’s men?”

After I asked the question, Gabriella got an incredibly sad look on her face and her bottom lip stuck out. It was as if she was a five year old who had been denied candy.

“No,” she said, still with the pout. “No men to shoot today. Max got shot in his vest, but we not see who did it. I wanted to go back and find who did it, but Max he say no. But soon, I know he will say yes. Carlos Valentino is a very bad man, but it’s OK. I kill him and his men. I kill them all, no problem.”

As she said the last, she got a big smile. She then moaned with what I could swear was erotic desire.

And I sometimes think I have issues?

Still moaning and smiling, she pushed the button under her desk. The door unlocked and I went into Tony’s office.

As before, he was sitting behind his desk and he again had on his black reading glasses. I couldn’t help but see him as another businessman. He looked up and when he saw me, I thought I got a trace of a smile.

“Laura Black. You’ve had a very busy day today, no mistaking that. I’m about to have a twenty-one year old Macallan scotch, will you take one with me?”

“Thanks that would be great. One ice cube would be perfect.”

Tony got us each a drink then he motioned me to sit in a comfortable leather chair that was part of a set away from his desk. I sat in one and he sat in another. I spent several seconds watching the ice cube slowly dissolve and I took in the subtle aromas of the scotch. Tony took a sip of his scotch and started talking.

“After what you had told Max about the drug shipment and what you told me about Carlos Valentino, it wasn’t hard to put the two together. It didn’t take us long to narrow the drop-off down to the one warehouse in south Scottsdale able to handle that kind of shipment. We didn’t expect to see you anywhere near the place, of course. But we had set up a surveillance on the warehouse and saw you both go in. When you didn’t come back out, we figured you could use a hand.”

“Thanks for getting us out of there. Looks like we’re even again.”

Tony waved his hand in dismissal.

“I went in to get you partially because I owe you, that’s true, but mostly because I needed a solid opening shot in the upcoming war. I wanted Carlos to realize what he’s gotten himself into. He probably thought he could fuck with me and come away clean. I’ve taught him he’s wrong, no bones about it. Besides, Max seemed a little upset you had been captured and Gabriella always likes to be in the middle of things.” As he said that, he gave a small chuckle.

“As things turned out,” he continued, “the police arrived in time to confiscate his shipment of drugs and to arrest several of his guys. Now, getting a truckload of heroin into Arizona no doubt took several months of planning and cost his organization several million dollars. They, of course, had been counting on making many times that when they distributed the drugs. Having the police confiscate the shipment will put a serious dent in their operations for a while. It was unfortunate Carlos was able to get away. My guys were on the lookout for him, but once the police moved in we were forced to back off. But, I’ve known from the first this wasn’t going to be a quick or easy problem to solve.”

“Tony, I hope I didn’t make it worse for you. I was trying to get Jackie back. I didn’t mean to get in the middle between you and Carlos.”

“Not at all. It was the not knowing who the enemy was that was holding us back. Now that we know whom we are dealing with, we can take steps to correct the problem. You have a solid head on your shoulders. I’m glad you’re on my team.”

“Tony, I hope you understand the life you have isn’t for me. I was only there to help get Jackie back and then things sorta snowballed.”

“I understand Laura Black. You’re a nice girl and the life we lead might be somewhat outside your comfort zone. But I do find it interesting this is the second time we’ve had a conversation similar to this. If there’s a third time, I’ll start to wonder if you’re truly not interested in becoming more involved in our little family.”

Yikes!

~~~~

Reno called me back as I drove back to my apartment. I could detect he was still annoyed at me but he sounded sincere when he said he’d been busy all night and hadn’t been able to talk until now. I told him I wanted to get together as soon as he had a night off. He said the first time he knew for sure he was going to off was on Friday, three nights away. Again, he sounded sincere, so I set up a dinner for Friday night at Frankie’s.

~~~~

On Thursday morning, there was a beautiful funeral for Roger Wade. Most of the old money and elite of Scottsdale came to the services, well over three hundred people. Several people spoke about Roger and the exceptional man he had been. Everyone talked about the Wade family and the part they had played in building Scottsdale into what it is today. The mayor and most of the city council came. I saw that both Muffy Sternwood and Tony DiCenzo were among the mourners. In the back of the crowd, I even saw Howard Spencer and Terry Lennox, although they both left as soon as the service was over.

Jackie was there and doing well, considering the circumstances. Although she still seemed somewhat shaken, she was surrounded by her friends and she seemed to draw strength from them. Even though she’d experienced a troubled marriage and she’d been separated from Roger for almost a year and a half, I could see the deep emotions Jackie felt as they laid her husband to rest.

~~~~

After the funeral, I stopped by the office. Lenny had given me several days off but I hated to be out of the loop for so long. Of course, my days off were always subject to a new assignment coming in. I told myself I could only chat with Sophie for a few minutes. Otherwise, I knew Lenny would think up something for me to do out of reflex.

As I walked into reception, Sophie and Gina were both there, still talking about the funeral. When she saw me, Sophie perked up.

“I forgot to tell you,” she said, “but you have a box.”

“I have a box?”

“Yeah, a delivery guy brought it over yesterday afternoon.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s sittin’ on your desk.”

“What’s in it?”

“Don’t know, but it sloshes when you shake it.”

Curious, I went back to my cubicle and found a box, a little bigger than a shoebox. It hadn’t been sent through one of the major carriers. Instead, it looked like a courier service had driven it over from somewhere local. I looked at the box for a minute, wondering if perhaps it had come from Carlos. It made me wish I knew more about mail bombs.

I carefully unwrapped the outer paper and slowly removed the lid. Inside was a bunch of bubble wrap and a wooden box with a card on top. I took out the card and read:

Dear Laura,

I know I told you the other night, but I wanted to thank you again for everything you did for my family and me. I remember the first time we met you seemed particularly to like this. I hope you enjoy it and think about me when you drink it.

Sincerely,

Margret Sternwood

I unwrapped the bubble wrap and opened the box. Inside was a bottle of Balvenie Cask-151 scotch. The hand numbered label said it was bottle fifty-seven of eighty-one.

I remembered when Muffy had first given me a glass of it, she said it was older than I was and even she thought it was expensive. If Muffy Sternwood thought it was expensive, it must really be expensive.

Overcome with curiosity, I went to the computer and looked it up on the internet. I then walked out to where Gina and Sophie were laughing in the reception area.

“What’s up girlfriend?” Sophie asked, slightly concerned.

“Yeah,” Gina said. “You look kind of pale. You get another death threat?”

“And what was in the box?” Sophie asked. “Not another severed body part, I hope. Whenever you get a severed body part, I always feel like vomiting in the nearest trash can.”

“Muffy Sternwood sent me a bottle of sixty year old scotch costing over twenty thousand dollars.”

“What?” Sophie asked. “Are you serious? Holy crap on a cupcake!”

“Is that the scotch you were telling us about?” Gina asked. “Liquid sex?”

“I guess Mrs. Sternwood doesn’t know what a piece of shit car you drive.” Sophie laughed. “If she did, she could have gotten you one of those instead.”

“Oh, I don’t care about my car,” I said. “It was sweet of her to think of me. Let’s wait for a special occasion and open it up. You both should know what liquid sex tastes like.”

“Works for me,” Gina said.

“Me too,” Sophie said. “But don’t wait too long. The thought of liquid sex is starting to turn me on, you know, a little bit.”

~~~~

After making sure it was all right with Jackie, Lenny invited her and her friends over to the office Friday evening for a private gathering. By six o’clock on Friday, the office was closed for the week. Sophie and Annie set up the wet bar and a small buffet in the main conference room. Gina had found some great piano Jazz and was playing it over the office sound system.

By six-thirty, the cougars had already started to arrive. By seven o’clock, they were all there, Jackie, Pam, Elle, Sonia, Shannon, Cindy, and Annie. As always, I was totally impressed seeing them together as a group. Since it was a Friday evening, they were all dressed for a night of trolling for men at the clubs. Perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect shoes, and perfect clothes. As usual, the delicate scent of their mingled perfumes filled the air.

The lone exception was Jackie, she was dressed in a conservative navy blue pants suit, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Everything considered, she seemed to be taking events in stride. Within a few minutes, the room was filled with talk, music, and laughter.

I wore my diamond pendant for only the second time. Sophie had told Gina about it, of course, but this was the first time she’d actually seen it. After they both had a nice laugh at seeing the real thing, Gina broke out in a big grin, held up her hand, and gave me a high-five. When Lenny saw it, he stared for a moment, but fortunately he didn’t say anything or ask any questions. After all, how could a simple investigator at a law office possibly have a real diamond that was anywhere close to being that big and sparkly?

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

After half an hour of eating, drinking, and telling stories about the past two weeks, Lenny called the group together in the big open space in front of Sophie’s desk.

“Everybody, I want to thank you all for coming and to say today is a truly great day. After much delay, today is the day our friend Jacquelyn Wade officially comes into her own. Jackie, if you would, please come up.” He then waved Jackie to the front.

To the sound of everyone clapping and cheering, Jackie walked up to where Lenny was standing. Lenny reached into a folder, which had been sitting on Sophie’s desk. He then pulled out a creased and battered document with several signatures and notary stamps on it.

“This piece of paper has caused us all a lot of trouble,” he said. “This is the document transferring ownership of the Scottsdale Saguaro Sky resort from Jackie to Spencer-Wade Land Development. I’d like to give Jackie the honor of destroying it.”