Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) (5 page)

“I’m about out of leads on Jackie,” I said. “I know you don’t think she would go down to Mexico by herself but something is starting to feel wrong about this. I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll drive down to Mexico and look for her there. Do you have the address of the house Jackie’s leasing?”

“I’m not sure it has an address, at least not one I’ve ever seen,” Pam said.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Annie said. “I go to college part-time but I don’t have a class tomorrow. I’ll go down and show you where the house is. I’m worried about Jackie and I’d like to help.”

“Perfect,” I said and gave her my card. “Meet me at the office at nine o’clock and don’t forget your passport.”

~~~~

Walking back to my car, it started to bug me I knew both Jackie and Annie from a previous assignment. It almost seemed like too much of a coincidence. I had met them both at a strip club in south Scottsdale called Jeannie’s Cabaret while I was trailing a guy named Alexander Sternwood. Since the club was only about ten minutes away, I jumped in my car and headed down Scottsdale Road to see if I could find out anything.

~~~~

Jeannie’s Cabaret is at the top end of Scottsdale strip clubs. From the outside, the building appears to be an upscale restaurant or a small casino. There’s a big fountain, along with groups of royal palms, lantana, bougainvillea, and sculpted citrus trees. On the inside, it’s classy and clean, at least as far as strip clubs go.

As I drove into the parking lot, I saw it was almost full. Pretty amazing for a Tuesday night. I drove around to the back of the club and saw a familiar blue Porsche 911 parked near the stage entrance. I drove back around to the front of the club and parked in an open space relatively near the main entrance. Standing on either side of the entrance was a huge bouncer. Each was dressed in a black coat and tie. They looked me up and down then let me in.

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the low lighting as I entered the cavernous club. There was a deep red carpet on the floor, the walls were royal blue, and the ceiling was flat black. Both the walls and the ceiling were covered with hundreds of metallic silver stars. The first thing I notice about these places is the music. It is always classic rock and always played loud. As I walked in, Warrant’s song
Cherry Pie
was pounding throughout the club.

The club had five stages, with the main stage attached to a long catwalk that came out from a backstage area. Near the end of the catwalk was a brass pole, currently being used by a tall skinny blonde. Each of the other stages had a woman who was dancing and swinging her hair to the beat of the music. Each stage was surrounded by men, and a surprising number of women. Many of them were holding out a dollar bill.

I looked around and saw my friend Danica Taylor was working as a cocktail waitress. She was dressed in a scant red, white, and blue leather cowboy outfit, complete with long fringe. She was walking back to the bar with an empty drink tray in her hand. I was about ten feet from her when she noticed me walking toward her. Her face broke out in a smile that lit up her face. She squealed and ran over to give me a hug.

I had met Danica a couple of months before when her boyfriend had turned up missing. I helped find him and eventually got him back where he belonged.

“Danica,” I said. “It’s so great to see you. How’s everything going with you and Alex? Everything still OK?”

“Better than OK,” she said as she held up her left hand. On the third finger was a huge sparkly diamond engagement ring.

“Oh my God!” I said and I hugged her again.

“I know I shouldn’t wear it in here, it cuts down on tips, but I can’t help it. Alex gave it to me last week and I don’t want to take it off.”

“How’s Alex doing?” I asked.

“It’s so amazing. He’s going to be a manager at a new resort his grandmother is building in north Scottsdale. He moved in with me last month and that’s working out great. His grandmother even released his trust fund. I’m not sure what all happened, but after Alex was kidnapped he finally seems to have found himself. Thank you again for everything you, Gina, and Sophie did. Things could have really turned out differently.”

“I’m just glad things worked out,” I said. “Actually, I was wondering if you could help me out with a new assignment I’m working on? I’m looking for someone named Jackie Wade.” I pulled out the picture of Jackie on the beach. “Do you know her?”

“Sure, that’s Jackie-D. She likes to hit the dance clubs, usually with her group of cougars.”

When Danica referred to Jackie and her friends as cougars, the light came on in my head and that part suddenly made sense. Scottsdale is famous for its cougars, wealthy and attractive middle age women who hit the clubs and bars to pick up guys half their age. Cougars will typically use the guy for a night, or maybe even a weekend, and then release him and start the hunt for the next one. I wasn’t sure what Annie was doing in that group, since she was only in her mid-twenties.

“Why Jackie-D? Her last name is Wade.”

“It stands for Jackie Delicious. It’s what the bouncers and the guys in the clubs call her. I never knew what her last name was. Cougars usually just go by first names.”

“Have you seen her lately?”

“I saw the group of them about two weeks ago in one of the clubs, Maya, I think. Is Jackie OK?”

“As far as I know, she’s OK. She’s dropped out of sight for a few days and her friends are a little worried.”

“Well, good luck finding her. Jackie-D’s always been nice to me. I’d hate to think she could be in trouble. Let me know if I can do anything.”

“Thanks Danica,” I said. “This is a huge help. Congratulations on the engagement.”

“Tell Sophie and Gina hello. The wedding’s in June. I’ll be sending everyone a wedding invitation in a few weeks. I hope they both can make it, you too. Come back sometime when it’s slower here. I’d love to catch up.”

~~~~

I talked to both of the huge bouncers at the front door and to the two women tending the bar. They all knew Jackie by her picture, but none of them had seen her in the past week.

I went out to my car and drove back to my apartment. I dug around in my junk drawer until I found my passport. I tossed it in my bag, along with a bottle of sunblock. I set the alarm, put on an old t-shirt, brushed my teeth, and collapsed onto the bed.

I woke up to the alarm and rolled over. I had set it for six and for some reason that now seemed way too early. I hit the snooze three times and then had to rush into the shower.

Since I was going into Mexico, I wanted something comfortable and would help me blend in. Of course, I also wanted something that would work in a fun beach town. I settled on white capris and a maroon and gold Arizona State University Sun Devils t-shirt. I slipped on a pair of serviceable sneakers that were comfortable and still looked OK.

I poured a fresh pot of coffee into
The Big Pig,
fed Marlowe, and was out the door. I had purposefully timed Marlowe’s feeding so I wouldn’t have to deal with his morning ritual of eating, throwing up, and then eating again. Even the thought of it made me a little queasy.

~~~~

When I got to the office, it was about eight forty-five. Gina was already there, talking with Sophie at her desk.

“Good morning ladies,” I said.

“What’s happening?” Sophie asked.

“I saw Danica Taylor last night, she’s engaged to Alex.”

“Oh my God, that’s great!” Sophie squealed. “When’s the wedding?”

“Sometime in June. We’ll all get invites. It should be an amazing party. I bet Muffy knows how to put together a celebration. Danica wanted me to thank both of you again for rescuing her and Alex.”

“I’m glad no one on our side was seriously hurt,” Gina said. “We were lucky on that one. How’s your missing person coming along?”

“Slow, Jackie’s been nowhere for a week. Have there been any hits on her credit cards?” I asked Sophie.

“Nothing on any of the cards, although she did take a butt-load of cash out of three different ATM’s in Scottsdale last Monday afternoon. If you ask me, she knew she had to disappear for a while.”

“There’s a chance she’s down in Rocky Point,” I said. “One of her friends will be here in a few minutes and we’re going down to look for her. If either of you would like to come along, the company would be great.”

“Wish I could, but I’ve got a full day ahead,” Gina said.

“Actually, that might work for me,” Sophie said. “We had two depositions scheduled for today but I got a call that opposing counsel has the flu and they postponed. My calendar is clear until tomorrow morning at eleven. As long as you don’t mind I’ll be answering e-mails all day on my tablet, I’ll be glad to go. I’ve been aching for a Rocky Point shrimp cocktail for weeks.”

“Perfect. I’m glad you’re coming. There are some things starting to seem weird about this. Apparently, Terry Lennox and Jackie Wade aren’t as close as he let on. Seems odd Terry would go through so much trouble to find her when Jackie was using him for occasional sex.”

“Maybe it was only sex to Jackie but love to Terry?” Gina asked.

“Terry Lennox,” Sophie said. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“He’s the lead singer for Dog Farts,” I said.

“Of course!” Sophie said. “I knew that name sounded familiar. I love Dog Farts. I’ve seen them a bunch of times. I’ve had their first CD,
Silent Surprise
on my iPod for a couple of years now. I even got their new CD,
Smell of Success
, a couple of months ago when they played at my cousin’s wedding. They signed it and everything. Terry Lennox is a total panty dropper. You could have come with us too, but you were busy being kidnaped by gangsters that night or something.”

I looked over and saw the door to Lenny’s office was closed.

“What’s up?” I asked. Client?”

“Nope,” Sophie said. “He’s doing another admin interview. He did the two yesterday, but I guess he wasn’t impressed. The one yesterday afternoon had a business degree and she’d worked in a law office before.”

“A business degree? So why was she interviewing for an admin job?”

“I guess times are tough.”

“What about this one?”

“Don’t know much about her, Lenny brought her in a few minutes ago. I haven’t seen her resume. He said her name is Amber.”

“What’s she like?”

“Dresses trashy. Looks slutty. Stinks like a farm animal. Nice shoes though.”

“I guess she doesn’t know sexy women scare Lenny,” said Gina. “I can’t even remember the last time Lenny had a date.”

I had been smelling something nasty since I had walked up to Sophie’s desk. The odor now made more sense.

“Amber’s Perfume? Is that what the stink is? Seriously? It smells more like an old cat box,” I said.

“I had a friend who had a ferret and his whole housed smelled like Amber’s perfume
,
” Sophie said. “It got to be so gross people stopped going over there. Smelling it for more than a few minutes made me want to vomit.”

The front door opened and Annie came in. She had on a turquoise knit pullover top and cream cotton shorts. She had on the same brown sandals as before, but this time with blue socks. She had a pair of red plastic sunglasses resting on the top of her head and a big purple beach bag over her shoulder. I made introductions with Sophie and Gina.

Annie looked around the office and made kind of a strange face.

“Don’t worry about the nasty stench,” Sophie said. “I expect the woman wearing it will be leaving the office soon.” She looked over at Gina and me. “She’s been there for almost twenty minutes. It shouldn’t be long now.”

We heard a strange noise coming from Lenny’s office. It was sort of a cross between a pig grunting and a dog whining.

“What was that?” Sophie asked. “It sounded sorta like Lenny.”

The noise happened again, but this time it was louder.

“Yup,” I said. “Definitely Lenny.”

We stopped talking. Everyone was listening for more sounds. When it happened again, it sounded kind of like an angry gorilla making
whooo-whooo-whooo
noises.

“That had better not be what I think it is.” Gina said, sounding a little frustrated.

As a group, the four of us slowly shuffled to Lenny’s office. We got to within about three feet of the door then stopped. Everyone held their breath. All of us were twisting our heads and straining to hear what was going on in the office.

At first, there was nothing but then was the
whooo-whooo-whooo
noise again, only it was louder and more desperate this time. What followed was a loud
aaaahhhhhhhh, aaaaahhhhh, aaaaahhhhhhhh
sound. After that, the office was totally quiet for almost a minute.

We looked at each other and Annie let out a giggle. We suddenly heard the noise of furniture moving then of footsteps. We all took two steps back, trying to look like we weren’t eavesdropping.

The door to Lenny’s office opened and Lenny stuck his head out. His face was red and he was breathing hard.

“I hired the new girl,” he gasped. “Sophie, get the paperwork together.”

He disappeared back into the office and the door slammed shut. We all looked at each other, no one saying anything.

“Interesting place you work at,” Annie said to no one in particular.

“Oh, that’s nothing. It’s been a lot worse,” Sophie said.

“Remember the way the Simpson divorce case ended?” Gina asked.

Sophie started laughing. “Oh my God, I almost forgot about that one. It happened about a year before you got here,” she said, looking at me.

“We had been trying to split up the marital assets for about two hours,” Gina said. “We were all in the main conference room, Lenny, opposing council, Sophie, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, and me. After a while, we were getting nowhere and everyone was just getting pissy with each other. Finally, Mrs. Simpson asked if she could spend a few minutes alone with her husband without the lawyers being present. There was never a history of violence so councils said sure.”

“We were all in the back break room having coffee when we heard a noise up front,” Sophie said. “It kinda sounded like a woman screaming. So, of course, we all ran up to the conference room. When we get there, Mr. Simpson is laid out bare-ass on the conference table, his pants down around his ankles and his legs hanging over the side. Mrs. Simpson is on top, riding him like a cowgirl trying to break a wild horse. She had on a navy-blue skirt and it was bunched up around her waist. I remember she still had her heels on and I was sorta worried they’d scratch the conference table.”

“Now, you have to understand,” Gina said to Annie, now laughing. “That’s the main conference room.” She pointed to the room with a huge table, clearly visible through a floor to ceiling glass wall. “After two or three minutes, Mrs. Simpson looked over and saw us all watching but by then she had gone past the point of caring. We all stood there and took in the show. Nobody knew what to do. I swear it’s like what they say about watching a car crash. We didn’t want to watch but it was like we couldn’t help ourselves.”

“I think it was because of all the moaning and screaming,” Sophie said. “Mrs. Simpson was rocking back and forth, faster and faster. She was really loud and her moans had a weird vibrating sound. It was sort of like watching bad porn.”

“So, after another minute or two, we went back to the break room,” Gina said. “Opposing council was the last to leave. He stood there, watching and sipping his coffee while she moaned and screamed.”

“As far as I know, the Simpsons are still together,” Sophie said. “Go figure.”

Lenny’s door opened. We all turned and watched as a woman walked out. She looked to be in her early twenties and was bone thin. She was wearing a low cut white knit top, no bra, a short see-through Indian cotton paisley skirt, and a pair of nice gold chain sandals. She had limp dishwater-blonde hair hanging down over her face. She had no make-up on except around her eyes, where she had used way too much.

Even as I looked at this train wreck of a girl, the thing that immediately hit me was her perfume. Smelling it quickly made my eyes water and my stomach tighten. It was a cross between burning garbage and stale dog pee. I knew it would have some name like
Summer Musk
and it would cost about twelve dollars a bottle.

We all stood there looking at each other. Finally, Gina held out her hand and Amber shook it limply.

“Hi Amber, I’m Gina, one of the investigators here. This is Laura and Sophie. They also work here. And, this is Annie. She’s helping us with an assignment.”

Annie smiled, then held up her hand and finger waved to her.

“Great, my coworkers,” Amber said with an uninterested tone to her voice.

“What’s your degree in?” Gina asked.

“I don’t have one. Actually, I dropped out of college a couple of months ago. School was such a hassle and my professors were all idiots. I couldn’t see the point of doing all that homework. It’s not like I don’t have a life, you know?”

“Do you have any legal experience?” Gina asked.

“I’ve gotten a butt load of parking tickets, you know.” She said, laughing like a donkey while she elbowed me in the arm.

“Do you know how to use a computer?” Sophie asked.

“Sure, I have an X-Box. I’m excellent at
Skyrim
.”

“Know how to use any of the Office software?

“No, but I’ll probably pick it up pretty quick. Look at all the morons who use that stuff, it can’t be too hard, you know?”

She laughed her donkey laugh and elbowed me again. I had a pleasant vision of grabbing her stringy blonde hair and slamming her face against the top of Sophie’s desk. I thought one slam probably wouldn’t be enough. I’d probably need two or three really good face slams to shut her up.

“Did Lenny tell you what your duties would be?” Sophie asked.

“Oh, I know what my duties will be. And, from what happened during our interview, it looks like it’ll take me about thirty seconds, two or three times a week, for me to do my job, you know?

“Umm, there’s an empty cubicle you can use in the back offices,” Sophie said. “If you want to get started. I’ll be glad to show you the computer and filing systems.”

Amber started to laugh her donkey laugh again. I half expected her to start braying and kicking.

“Filing? You’ve gotta be shitting me. I’m Lenny’s new executive personal assistant. All I’m supposed to do is hang around the office and wait for him to call me. When he goes to court, I’ll carry his briefcase. When he travels, I’ll go along and see to his
personal
needs. I don’t do filing. Sorry, but I have a nail appointment in a half an hour, so I’m outta here. I told Lenny I also need a personal day off tomorrow. He said it was fine with him.”

She turned and walked out the front door. If it hadn’t been for the lingering stench of her perfume, I’d have sworn she’d been a mirage. I looked over at Gina and I saw she was getting angry.

“Where’s my gun?” Gina asked. “I’m gonna shoot Lenny.”

I told Annie to wait while the three of us went into Lenny’s office. He was sitting behind his desk with a dazed and slightly confused look on his face. The nasty odor of Amber’s perfume hung in the air.

“What happened in here?” Gina asked, now sounding a little pissed.