Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) (7 page)

“OK,” Annie said. “That explains Terry. But why are you hiding in Rocky Point?”

“And what’s wrong with your house?” Sophie asked.

Jackie’s face became pale and she looked like she had remembered something terrible.

“Because two days after we all went to the Roxy,” she slowly said, “I got a call from a man who said he was going to kill me.”

Annie sucked in air and Sophie’s eyes got big, but neither of them said anything. They both wanted to hear what Jackie was going to say next.

“What happened?” I asked. “Tell me everything you remember.”

“There isn’t a lot to tell. I got a phone call on the house phone,” Jackie said. “It was Monday about noon. When I answered, there was a man on the phone. He said I was a stupid useless bitch and he was going to come over to the house and kill me.”

“You didn’t go to the police?” Sophie asked.

“Sure, I thought about calling the police but then what would I tell them? I got a crank phone call? What do you think their response would have been? I Googled the phone number but it was only a pay phone in Phoenix. It’s not like the police could tell who had even made the call. But to be honest, the death threat was only half of it.”

Sophie and Annie looked at each other and then back to Jackie.

“Well?” I said.

“I think I recognized the voice on the phone. I’ve only met him once and it’s nothing I can prove but I think it was one of the people my husband worked with. I think he’s serious about killing me.”

Jackie paused, visibly shaken. Annie had silently started to cry. By mutual agreement, we all got up and took a break. After a few minutes, Sophie led Annie to the other side of the deck to give Jackie and me some privacy. Sophie knows how I work and she knew a one-on-one conversation with Jackie would probably get more results. I love how she knows me so well.

Jackie and I sat back at the table. I topped up her drink and we started talking.

“A lot of things aren’t adding up,” I said. “I really need to understand what’s going on. Would you talk to me about your marriage?”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Jackie said. “I was working and getting my master’s at ASU when I first met Roger. He’d moved to Arizona from California with his wife Eileen to join his family’s real estate business. When their marriage ended, we got together. I was married to Roger for over fifteen years. I have two wonderful kids from a previous marriage but, fortunately, none with him. It was great at first but over the last few years, Roger started to change. Actually, the serious trouble started when real estate values crashed a couple of years ago. Roger’s entire family buys and sells land. They’ve been doing it in Arizona since Roger’s grandfather moved out from California, back in the 1940’s. We don’t ever discuss business but I know he took some big losses.”

“What happened with Roger? How did he change?”

“At first, he started to drink a lot more than he had been. That was bad enough but then he started to have these mood swings. He’d be on top of the world for a week or two and then he’d spend the next week crying and telling me how his life had gone to shit. After a year of this, he stopped even trying to hide fact he had girlfriends. I’d known about them, of course, but the fact he didn’t care I knew
,
really hurt me. Towards the end, he started to become abusive. Nothing physical, fortunately, but he would love to get drunk, call me horrible names, and then yell at me about whatever he thought I’d done wrong during the day. He also started to get involved with some pretty shady people in his investments. Finally, I’d had enough and I moved out.”

“What kind of shady people?” I asked.

“I’ve only met them a couple of times but these weren’t your normal business people. You see, Roger often would bring in outside partners to develop a property before he sold it. In the past, he’d always been open about who he was working with. In fact, we’d often get together socially with his partners and I’d get to know both them and their wives. But in last few deals, Roger hardly said a word about his partners. Like I said, I only met this one associate of Roger’s once but I’m pretty sure it was his voice on the phone. He was a nasty type of person who made an instant impression.”

“Tell me about him.”

“He seemed to be the leader of some kind of investment group. He was big, arrogant, and always seemed on the verge of anger. In the ten minutes I was in the room with him, he became livid twice, yelling at both Roger and one of the other investors. When he was yelling at the other guy, it was in Spanish. I didn’t understand all of it but I really didn’t need to understand all the words to get the meaning. He struck me as the kind of guy who would offend easily then go after whomever had pissed him off.”

“About how old is he?”

“Maybe mid to late thirties.”

“Do you remember his name?”

“No, we’d need to ask Roger.”

“Would you be able to recognize him from a picture?”

“Sure, you don’t forget that kind of face. He has short black hair, dark bloodshot eyes, and a full black mustache. He also has a big scar on the left side of his face. Like he’d been in a knife fight or something.”

“You got divorced about a year ago?”

“Well, legally, I never actually got a divorce. After I moved out, Roger begged me not to divorce him. He said too many things were in my name and it would take the lawyers forever to get things straight. I’ve never kept track of Roger’s business things but I think he had me down as some kind of partner in his company. I know he was always having me sign papers. Ever since I moved out, I told him I wouldn’t sign any more papers unless he sends them to my lawyer to review first. I don’t think Roger would try to screw me out of anything but I think a girl can’t be too careful. Roger sends me a check every month, which is more than enough to live on. He’s gone his way and I’ve gone mine. I don’t plan on getting married again so it’s never seemed like a big deal.”

“You tell everyone you’re divorced. Doesn’t that cause some confusion?”

“Well, my friends know what’s going on. And honestly, it’s easier to say I’m divorced than to recite the entire story.”

“Works for me,” I said. I held up my glass and Jackie clinked hers against it.

Four

We spent another hour on the deck, drinking and talking. The topics switched to men, then to music, the clubs in Scottsdale, and then back to men. Gradually the mood lifted. Jackie and Annie began to smile and laugh again, no doubt helped by both the sangria and the beautiful view. By late afternoon, it began to seem like a girl’s weekend out.

“I’m starving,” Jackie said. “Anyone up for dinner?”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. “All this talk of being threatened and creepy men really builds up an appetite.”

“Casa del Capitan? Jackie asked.

“Isn’t where we went last time to watch the sunset?” Sophie asked.

“The Captain’s House? I love it up there,” Annie said. “That would be perfect.”

~~~~

I had switched to Diet Pepsi after my second sangria so everyone stuffed themselves in my car and I drove us into town. Casa del Capitan is one of the nicer restaurants in Rocky Point and it certainly has the best view. It’s on a small hill overlooking the downtown shopping district, the fish market, and the harbor. The view extends down the five miles of white sand beach to the mountain-sized rock at the end of the peninsula. The food is the delicious Rocky Point blend of freshly caught seafood and traditional Mexican.

Like a lot of things in Mexico, you need to be told about Casa del Capitan by a local, otherwise you’ll never find it. From the main road, across from a big anchor marking the entrance to the harbor, you need to turn off on a small dirt road. Once on the dirt road, you follow it up as it snakes its way to the back of the restaurant on the top of the hill. A few years back, they put up a small sign for the restaurant at the dirt road turn-off but now the sign is so faded and beat up most people drive right past it.

We drove up the hill, parked in the small lot, and then walked over to the restaurant. The place was packed, but we somehow got an outside table with a great view of both the town and the sea. The restaurant was alive with the noise of over two hundred people, everyone talking, laughing, and eating.

The sun was about a half an hour from setting and people were already taking pictures of the changing colors on the horizon. The air was warm but there was still a light sea breeze coming in. We could see three fishing boats in the distance, slowly making their way back to the city harbor.

We ordered a pitcher of margaritas and the chilled seafood appetizer for four. There is something amazing about eating seafood that has been freshly caught and well prepared. After we spent some time on the appetizer, we all ordered dinner. We all laughed and clapped when Sophie placed her dinner order in rapid-fire Spanish.

As we ate, a three-piece Mariachi band wandered through the restaurant, playing songs tableside for a few dollars each. When they stopped at our table, Jackie asked them to play something cheerful. I’m not sure what the name of the song they played was, but it was energetic and bouncy. By the end of the song, most of the people on our side of the restaurant were clapping and singing along with the band. The lively music just added to the festive feeling.

Five minutes later, a buzz started in the crowd. We looked out and saw the sun was about to set. It was positioned on the sea, to the left of the huge rocky mountain at the end of the peninsula. The few clouds out in the gulf were starting to light up with iridescent yellows and oranges. As we watched, the sun touched the sea then slowly sank below it. We heard the clicking of cameras as everyone got in at least one shot. I saw both Sophie and Annie had their phones out and were taking pictures of the beautiful sunset.

As the last sliver of sun disappeared below the horizon, there was cheering and applause from everyone in the restaurant. The four of us held up our glasses and clinked them together.

A few minutes later, a waiter brought out our dinners and we dug in.

“Jackie,” I said between bites. “I know how you and Annie got together.”

Annie blushed a bright red and we all laughed.

“But, I was more wondering about your group. How did you end up joining a group of cougars?”

“I didn’t start out that way,” Jackie said, waving her fork as she talked. “I’ve known Elle and Pammy for years. After their divorces, they just started seeing younger guys. Not actually dating as much as hooking up for a night or maybe a weekend. I don’t think they originally planned on younger guys, but they had both come from bad marriages and no one was looking for a long-term relationship with anyone. They both occasionally tried to go out on actual dates with guys their own age but it never worked out. Fifty year old divorced guys are sorta clingy and the younger guys are just easier to deal with.”

“And they have those firm little butts that need to be spanked,” Sophie said.

At that, we held up our glasses and clinked them together.

“Yeah, young guys don’t think so much about long term commitment,” Jackie said. “With them, it’s all about the sex. And I’m talking sex all night. There’s no blue-pill problem with these boys.”

It was a lovely image, we couldn’t help it. We held up our glasses and clinked them together one more time.

“When my marriage started to fall apart,” Jackie continued, “I started hanging out with Elle and Pam. At first, I only wanted to get out of the house but we eventually became a regular threesome. We’d go to the clubs three or four nights a week. After I moved out and had a place of my own, I’d sometimes go home with a guy and sometimes not. But the three of us always had such a good time together. Everyone at the clubs knows us and are ally nice to us. Shannon became a regular with our group about a year ago. Cindy and Sonia hang out with us too, whenever they have free time. After I met Annie, we took her on as a puma.”

“What’s a puma?” Sophie asked.

“Oh,” Jackie said. “It’s a cougar in training.”

“We all like men in their twenties,” Annie said. “So we have that in common. I’m just a poor college student by day. But at night, I get to share in the glamorous life. Everyone in the group thinks they’re my big sister and they’re all very protective. They give me advice and steer me to guys when they think I might find a connection. Only in my case, I’m looking for something a little more long term. I wouldn’t even mind getting married.”

We all moaned and I saw Sophie rolling her eyes. But we understood her feelings. A girl should get married, at least once, to help get it out of her system.

~~~~

After dinner, we drove to Jackie’s house and ended up back on her deck. The moon was a little past full and it was casting a beautiful glow over the sea. In the distance, we could see boats slowly moving back and forth over the water.

A hundred yards further down the beach, a group of teenagers was gathered around a bonfire, laughing and shooting off fireworks. We could hear the bonfire making popping sounds and occasionally it would send a shower of sparks into the air.

The fireworks were the big locally made aerial rockets that are for sale on all of the beaches in Rocky Point. Every few minutes, there would be a whoosh and then a trail of sparks, ending in a loud boom and colorful burst of sparks shooting off in all directions. The teenagers shot them over the sea and it made for a very colorful distraction.

Jackie made a pot of coffee for Sophie and Annie. They both had to get back to Scottsdale and we had decided Sophie would take my car. Jackie was driving back to Scottsdale in the morning and she said it was no problem if I spent the night at her place. This was good with me. Now I had found her, I didn’t want to have her disappear again.

I went out to my car and grabbed the small overnight bag I keep in the trunk for such occasions. We made up a bed in one of the guest bedrooms. I then opened the widow and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean.

~~~~

I woke to the sound of sea gulls fighting over some scrap of food they had found on the deck. I was a little stiff from sleeping on the overly hard bed but overall I felt good. The sun hadn’t come up yet, although there was soft red glow on the horizon. I got dressed and left a note on the door saying I was on the beach.

I love taking an early morning walk along the shore. The sky in the east slowly turned bright orange as I strolled down the beach. The smell of the ocean and the feel of the wet sand was wonderfully soothing. An occasional jogger ran past as I enjoyed the solitude of the sea and the gentle pounding of the waves. Before I got back to Jackie’s house, I found a beautiful pink and white spiral shell. It made a nice souvenir of our trip to Mexico. 

Jackie made us a quick breakfast while I was in the shower and then she got ready while I did the dishes. The drive up through Mexico was uneventful and the wait at the border was mercifully short.

As we were driving back, I got a chance to talk with Jackie and learn about her life. She was one of those women who had done everything and been everywhere. Meeting people like Jackie is one of the things that keep my job interesting. It’s also one of the reasons I usually can’t walk into a bar in Scottsdale without running into someone I know.

As we were driving through the Goldwater bombing range, I asked her about the phone call. I hated to upset her, but I needed to find out what was going on.

“The phone call doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why would anyone want to kill you? Do you have any enemies? Even if it was the man you think it was on the phone, did you ever do anything to piss him off?”

“It’s what I’ve been asking myself all week. Truthfully, I’ve been expecting someday to get a call from an angry mother who’s upset I deflowered her twenty-one year old son, but I have no idea where this came from. It was so sudden and he sounded so angry. I just don’t know what to make of it.”

“I agree, staying with your friend will help, but it’s only a short term fix. You can’t hide forever.”

“I know, but I’m not sure what else to do.”

“I work at a law firm run by a guy who has a lot of connections within the Scottsdale bureaucracy,” I said. “If you wanted to have him look into it, maybe he could get the police involved at a higher level. Then they won’t just think you’re a hysterical woman calling in a crank phone call. He’s kinda expensive, but it could be an option.”

“Money isn’t a problem. Roger sends me three times what I need to live on. Most of the money he sends me just goes straight to the bank. Maybe I’ll take you up on it. I’m really not sure what else to do.”

~~~~

We got into Scottsdale about noon. The temperature was in the mid-eighties, there was only the faintest hint of a breeze, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. You gotta love living in Arizona.

“I need to grab a couple of things from the house before I head to Pammy’s,” Jackie said. “Would you mind coming with me? I really don’t want to be alone until we figure out what’s going on. I’ll drop you off wherever you want after that.”

~~~~

We pulled into Jackie’s driveway and she hit the button for the garage door. As the door slid upward, we could see the garage floor was littered with open boxes and piles of smashed and broken stuff everywhere.

Jackie let out a loud gasp, bolted from the car, and ran into the house through the garage entrance. I was right behind her and almost ran into her when she came to a sudden stop, three steps into her living room.

We both stood there, mouths open, our eyes refusing to accept what we were seeing. Jackie then made a strange high-pitched noise. I couldn’t tell if it was a scream or the start of choked hysterical laughter.

Shit.

The house had been trashed. The living room was a shambles and from what we could see, the kitchen was too. Everything from the bookshelves had been tossed on the floor, the cushions from the couches were shredded, the lamps were broken, and everything was overturned. There were even a couple of large holes bashed into the walls.

Shit.

Unfortunately, I’ve had experience with this. I told Jackie to go outside while I looked through the house. Odds were whoever had done this was long gone, but there was always the possibility they were still waiting for us upstairs. Since we had just come up from Mexico, I wasn’t carrying my 9-mm Baby Glock. Instead, I went out to the garage and grabbed a five-iron from a set of clubs emptied out onto the garage floor.

I first went into the kitchen and saw every cabinet had been opened and everything had been pulled out and thrown on the floor. The contents of the refrigerator and freezer had been tossed and everything had been ripped open. The sink was full of rotting hamburger, vegetable medley, snow peas, carrots, milk, and orange juice. A putrid stench of rotting meat was wafting up from the sink and there were dozens of tiny fruit flies circling the pile of rancid food.

I looked through the rest of the first floor but didn’t find anything other than destruction. I went back into the living room and slowly climbed the stairs.

The upper floor consisted of an open game room with a sewing table and an overturned big screen TV. From here, bedrooms and bathrooms branched off in all directions.

Whoever had made the mess downstairs was just as destructive upstairs. Everything that could be pulled off the bookshelves had been pulled off and ripped open. Every piece of furniture was turned over and gutted. As with the rooms downstairs, it looked like someone had taken a crowbar to the walls.