Fatal February (21 page)

“I promise you, Mary, I will bring my office up to speed. I hope we can still be friends. Thanks for letting me vent some steam.”

“I’m glad you did. I feel better too.” I gave Jason a peck on the cheek. He smiled. The cloud lifted from his face.

I left the courthouse by the side entrance and got to my car without talking to the reporters. I could forego my mother’s phone call telling me how nice I looked on the TV news, but why didn’t I do something about my hair.

I sped over to the steak house on Brickell Avenue where we indulged in a celebration. Sherry and Brett, Catherine, Carlos, and Jonathan were already into their second round of toasts when I arrived. Carlos ordered champagne and copious bottles of Argentine wine along with thick steaks. We ate and drank and laughed until my sides ached. And Lillian insisted on footing the entire bill.

After dinner, Carlos followed me home. I hugged Sam who celebrated that someone had finally come home to feed him. Then Carlos and I fell into bed and indulged in the best sex I can ever remember, in spite of the cast on his arm, and probably because of the champagne bubbles in my brain.

The next morning I actually slept until eight o’clock. Carlos was not in bed. I smelled coffee and found him struggling in the kitchen with his one good arm. The world looked magnificent. The sun glistened on the rosy ixora blossoms. Wild green parrots chattered at my bird feeder, undisturbed by Sam who was galloping around the backyard. The dog and the birds
had learned to live in harmony, a sort of animal pact to keep to their own territories. I guess if people did that there would be no need for lawyers.

Carlos kissed the back of my neck, as I took over the breakfast preparations.

“We can take our beach weekend anytime you say,” he said.

“When does your cast come off?”

“Next week sometime. And my parents’ beach house will be empty for a few weeks. They are in Argentina visiting my brother. We can take Sam with us.”

“So next weekend sounds perfect. I can’t wait, but right now I have to get to work.”

“Work? Today? I thought you’d take a day off.”

“I need to catch up on all my other clients’ cases, and I need to do some follow-up with Bob Rose.”

“What do you mean follow-up? Lillian’s case is over.”

“There are some things that don’t add up. I need to answer some questions, just for myself.”

“Don’t poke around too much. My grandmother always said ‘What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your mouth.’ I think it’s a Spanish proverb, but it doesn’t translate too well. You know what I mean. Don’t second-guess yourself,” Carlos said.

Catherine and I arrived at the office at the same time. She looked more disheveled than usual as she squinted in the broad sunlight. “I don’t know about
you, but I have a humongous headache. But I have brought my remedy with me, if you need it,” she said.

“What kind of remedy?” I asked.

“Two parts tomato juice, one part club soda, one part bacon drippings, and a dash of Tabasco.”

“I felt okay until I heard that recipe,” I said. Some day soon, I just had to hear Catherine’s story.

“Catherine, call Bob Rose right away and see if I can go see him some time today.”

“What’s up? Are you hiring him in another case?”

“No, I want him to set my mind at ease about this case. I want to know where Maddie Rodriguez is and how she managed to get away from here, among other things.”

“Gee, Mary, I thought we were done with all this. I can’t wait to hear what else is on your mind. This job is better than three soap operas.”

“That’s what I like, a happy employee. I was going to give you a bonus after this case, but maybe the soap operas are reward enough.” We both laughed.

Catherine held out her hand. “I’ll take the bonus. You are the best boss I’ve ever had.”

I met with Bob Rose that afternoon. He promised to get right to work on the questions I raised, and promised to work as fast as possible before more time faded any leads to Maddie and to whatever else surfaced about the Yarmouths.

I fell back into my familiar schedule of court dates, depositions, jail visits, workouts at the gym, and, of course, Carlos. He was becoming a permanent fixture in my life.

The anticipation of our beach weekend was better than the weekend itself. For starters, I was nervous about Sam destroying any of Angelina’s crystal vases that adorned every table, or getting muddy paw prints on her white carpet. I thought I would die when Sam crawled up on the white silk sofa next to me, his shedding black coat leaving a jigsaw puzzle design.

Carlos kept assuring me that the cleaning crew would fix everything as soon as we left, but it was still hard to relax.

On Saturday evening, Marielena suddenly appeared
at the door, which we had failed to lock. We were lying on the floor, arms and legs entwined when her bird-like trill startled us.

“Well, look at you lovebirds. I saw lights up here and thought your parents were back, Carlos,” she said. She took a seat on the sofa, glanced at the dog hair, and wrinkled her nose. “Mary, we read all about your exciting case. Aren’t you the clever girl, but don’t you think she murdered her
esposo
?”

Carlos’s face turned angry. “Mother told you that we would be using the beach place, didn’t she? And Mary proved that Lillian was not guilty of any crime. Can I get you something, or are you on your way out somewhere?” He got up and took her by the arm toward the door.

“Oh, of course, I’m on my way to the club. I’ll leave you two alone. Good-bye, darling boy,” she said as she gave Carlos a kiss. She said nothing to me.

Carlos returned to the living room. Our mood was shattered. “I want to talk to you about Frank,” he said. “Marco told me what happened at your house. I want to know why you couldn’t tell me this yourself. Why do I have to hear from my cousin that you are in danger? I could kill that Wasp, Gringo Frank.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. I don’t need you getting in trouble because of your Latin temper. I’m a big girl and I took care of things.”

“Maybe you’re still in love with that jerk, and that’s why you didn’t tell me.”

“Oh, sure, Carlos, I’m in love with Frank, but I’m having sex with you every chance we get. Use your head. You know how I dislike Frank, and you know how I feel about you.”

“If this is so, let’s get married.” Carlos sat across the room glaring at me.

“What a romantic proposal. You look like you’d like to slap me.”

“I’m sorry, Mary. I want to make this relationship permanent.”

“Carlos, it’s just too soon. We are still getting to know each other. Some day this may be right, but not yet.” I tried to sit in his lap, but he stood up and went to open a bottle of wine.

We came back to Miami the next morning. I dropped him at his house, and Sam and I went home.

Monday morning when I returned from court, Bob Rose was waiting for me. He and Catherine were at her desk drinking coffee and looking at an album of photos of wolves, a new addition to Catherine’s collection.

“This is a nice surprise,” I said as Bob and I shook hands. “Come into my office.”

Bob settled across from me and opened his briefcase. He pulled out a folder and handed it across the desk. “You can read this when you get time. It’s as much as I could find out. I’ll give you the gist of it now, in case you think of anything else I can do for you.”

I glanced down at the first page, which was titled “Information on the Disappearance of Maddie Rodriguez.” I looked up. “Go ahead, Bob.”

“Okay. I started at the Omni personnel office. The human relations director was reluctant to give me any information other than the fact that Maddie worked her last day on the Friday before your Monday hearing. However, I told her that the state attorney planned to subpoena all of their records as they were investigating
Maddie as a person of interest in a murder. Somehow, I guess she thought I was an investigator with the State.”

“My goodness, I wonder how she got that idea,” I said. We both smiled.

“She said that Maddie had asked for an extended leave of absence; that she had a sick relative in another country, and had to leave immediately. Omni pulled her last pay check together quickly and she picked it up Friday afternoon and cleared out. The human relations gal thought maybe she had to go to Cuba, because she was so secretive.

So I sent one of my investigators, a good-looking young guy, over to the hotel where she had been working. He nosed around, pretending to be one of her boyfriends. The room clerk told him that Maddie said she came into some money and was going on an extended vacation. She tried to sell him her car, but he wasn’t interested.

“Did he say where she got this money?”

“She told him that she made a good investment.”

Just then Catherine appeared in the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you. Carlos is on the phone and he says it’s important.”

Bob nodded and stood up. “I’ll go talk to Catherine for a few minutes,” he said, and closed the door on his way out.

I picked up the phone. “What is it Carlos? Are you okay?”

“No, I feel terrible. I acted like a jerk. I just want to say I’m sorry. Can I come over later tonight?”

“Yes, of course. But right now I’m in the middle of a meeting. I’ll see you at my house later.” I hung up and retrieved Bob from the waiting room.

“Okay, we had just finished with what the room clerk had to say,” he said as he glanced at his notes. “Next we searched the transfer of automobile titles at the DMV. We found a transfer of the BMW from Maddie to a Hilda Malaga. She lived in the building where Maddie had lived. Oh, we had already checked with the rental agent who said Maddie had broken her lease and paid the penalty of two months rent and forfeited her security deposit without blinking an eye; no argument at all.

“Hilda actually drove up in the BMW while we were knocking on her door. She said Maddie wanted to leave town right away and was willing to take a very reduced price for the car if it was cash. Hilda borrowed ten thousand dollars from her boyfriend, and Maddie turned over the car. She said Maddie didn’t even take her junk out of the car and Hilda had to clean it out. She had the stuff in a shopping bag, which I took off her hands.”

“Anything of interest in the bag?”

“Most of it was the usual, gas station receipts, a sweater, some earrings. Then we found a piece of paper which said ‘meet L.Y. at eleven, fifty-eight-oh-one Collins Avenue, penthouse two, fifteenth floor.’ That
led me to look back to my original report to Gary Yarmouth. Remember when we followed Maddie to a condo building on Miami Beach, and someone let her in? She stayed almost two hours. It seems L.Y. could be Lillian Yarmouth. I always thought she might have met Gary there, or someone he sent to pay her off.”

“Oh, my God. Remember when you saw Maddie put something in the mailbox at the Yarmouths? It was in the report you gave Gary. Well, Lillian told me she received an anonymous letter tipping her off that Gary was having an affair. I asked to see the letter, but she told me she threw it away. Is there more in the report?”

“We checked the airlines and found that Maddie left on Sunday before the Monday hearing on a flight to Madrid. She was using a passport from Spain. Is that a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S.?”

“I don’t know. I’d have to research it, but she could go anywhere from there. We may never know where she finally lights. I appreciate your doing this work so quickly. This report is confidential, isn’t it? Just between you and me?”

“What report?” he said. I’m giving you the only two copies. I don’t know what it all means, and I’m not sure I want to know.” Bob closed his briefcase, and dropped his bill and some of his cards on my desk as he left.

I couldn’t concentrate on anything after Bob Rose left. My mind whirled like a Cuisinart, grinding out one
scenario after another. Finally, I packed my briefcase and left. I stopped at the market and picked up steaks and salad fixings. It had been a long time since I’d had the time or the inclination to cook. I even decided to splurge for the ingredients to bake a chocolate cake. Maybe it would be therapeutic.

By the time Carlos arrived, I had fixed an appetizing salad and marinated the steaks. The cake was another story. I ended up calling my mother to talk me through her recipe. She was ecstatic. Her daughter was cooking instead of visiting a jail. And she was cooking for a good-looking man. The cake looked a little weird, listing to the side, but it tasted good. I ate a slice just to make sure it wouldn’t poison Carlos.

Sam announced Carlos’s arrival by throwing himself against the front door. When I opened it, Sam almost knocked him over. I gave Sam a swat and Carlos gave me the kind of kiss that makes me forget about dinner.

Much later in the evening, Carlos grilled the steaks on my grill while I held the flashlight so he could see. We dug into the food without even polite conversation.

“What’s on your mind? You’re very quiet. Are you still angry at me?” he asked.

“No, it’s not that at all. It’s a worry about Lillian and the murder.”

“I thought you were done with that. Don’t tell me the State is filing new charges.”

“No. It’s what I found out today. I need to talk about this. In fact, I need your insight, but you can never tell any of this to anyone.”

“Of course, I won’t.” Carlos looked pleased that I was confiding in him, and I felt it was a big step in our relationship. I had never discussed a case with anyone other than another lawyer.

“I asked Bob Rose to look into the disappearance of Maddie Rodriguez. She skipped out of town the day before the hearing on a plane to Spain, carrying a Spanish passport. She told one friend that she had come into money and was going to travel. She even sold her car for next to nothing.”

“Sure she split in a hurry. She murdered her boyfriend,” Carlos said.

“It’s more than that. She left a letter in the Yarmouth’s mailbox a few days before the murder. The Rose investigators saw her. When I told Lillian about Gary’s affair the week before her hearing, I expected tears, shock, and anger. Instead she was calm and matter-of-fact. She said she knew about it; that someone had sent her an anonymous letter. She also said that this wasn’t the first time he strayed from the home and hearth. But she said she loved him and knew he would never leave her because she was the one with the controlling stock in Elite Wines. Her father left her the biggest share of the stock.”