Hot Rocks (22 page)

fifty-five

A cold chill ripped
through me, leaving goose bumps wherever it traveled. It could have re-frosted Bruce’s glass with enough left over for a case of beer. My head snapped around like it was on a mission of its own, carrying my vision along for the ride. I saw nothing although I knew Gerald must be out there with binoculars—or a sniper scope. Otherwise, how could he read my pendant?

I handed the phone to Bruce. “He wants to talk to you.” I hoped my voice was steadier than I felt. I couldn’t let Bruce know the effectiveness of his ploy—damned effective.

“Okay, Gerald. From the look in her eyes, she got the message. Hopefully, this is on the up and up, and we won’t have to leave a corpse for the police. Is Lodo in position?”

He went quiet, leaving me to assume Gerald was briefing him on Lodo. That sent another series of chills around my body. All I could do was wait until Bruce’s melodrama played out. He had control—total control—for now. But worms had turned before. It could happen again.

“Excellent,” he said. “Remember, if any of those homeless types show up, take them out. Nobody’ll miss them. Cops’ll give us a medal.” He flipped the phone shut and looked at me. “I hope you understand how hopeless your situation is.”

I swallowed, attempting to find my courage. I had to counter or the rest of the meeting would be his to manipulate. As I pondered, Monica came to my rescue, delivering my platter. The way she gave Bruce the once over, she thought I had scored big. I was tempted to ask if she would like to spend the afternoon with him. Hey, it was the best I could think of. His play with Gerald had left me befuddled.

“I’ll bring you another beer and a fresh glass,” she purred.

I looked up, but wasn’t surprised to see that her remarks were not for me.

“Thank you, miss,” Bruce said, all charm. He leaned close to her chest. “Monica. That’s a beautiful name. Maybe you could bring me a taco platter also and a fresh beer for my, uh, for the lady.”

I wanted to puke as she melted into his words.

“Oh, yes sir. I’ll get the beers right now and tell them to expedite the platter.”

She breezed away like she was on a mission for the president.

“Attractive young lady,” Bruce said.

“Yeah, if you admire skinny and artificially enhanced.” The moment it left my mouth, I realized what a petty thing that was to say. I was allowing Bruce to turn me into a sniveling, whiny female, rather than the rough-tough PI I had planned to be. That had to stop—and stop that moment.

I rolled my shoulders, which had tightened since his arrival. “Before we move on, a couple of facts. That was a great ploy you used with Gerald and Lodo. However, I’m not impressed. Yes, you can leave me here with a bullet through the heart, but the authorities will be on the three of you before you can have a celebratory drink. On the drive over, I left word with lots of people where I was going and who I was meeting. Among them is one of the most successful attorneys in South Florida. So you see, we’re in stalemate.”

He smiled and tipped his head. “Well said. But you’d still be dead.”

Damn. He had scored again. It was certainly not an entertaining thought. “Enough of the bullshit. We need to talk.”

He gave me a strange look. “You seem worried. Are you expecting reinforcements?”

“I don’t need any. This is a straight business deal. Are you ready to talk, or are we going to play games all afternoon?”

Bruce looked at his watch. “You’re right. We need to move on. What’s on your mind?”

Before I could reply, he added, “But first, tell me about Tomasco? Should I expect him to arrive at any moment?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. For all I knew, Tomasco had contacted Bruce and was the reason he agreed to the meet. On the other hand, my threats might have worked, causing Tomasco to disappear, and Bruce didn’t know why. I opted for the safe way out. “If he or anyone representing him shows up, it won’t be
because of me. When I left him, he was physically healthy.” That was true. His emotional state was another matter.

Bruce stared at me. I got the feeling he was trying to dig behind my eyes. It wasn’t a pleasant state, but I returned the stare. We stayed locked together until he blinked.

“So, if I call him now,” he said, “he won’t have any knowledge of my helping you. Is that right?”

“Your name never crossed my lips. If he knows you were there, it’s because one of the gang members talked, not me or any of my people.”

Again, he gave me a pensive look. I was certain he was debating whether to believe me. There was nothing to do but sit and wait.

fifty-six

The sun pounded down
like a physical presence, cocooning Bruce and me. Sweat trickled in rivulets from under my armpits, down my back, and between my breasts. I suppose it wasn’t all temperature. Bruce’s telephone stunt might have had something to do with it. I feigned nonchalance, pretending to be more interested in my beer than in Bruce’s thought processes. It was a struggle. I’d have preferred to pace the area—or grab Bruce by the throat and choke agreement into him.

After what seemed like forever, he said, “Okay. What’s this meeting about?”

Before I could respond, Monica, our waitress, was back, and I do mean back. I was afraid she’d have an orgasm while serving Bruce’s food. That woman needed a man, and Bruce was her choice for the deed. I waited for her to quit gushing over him while vowing to keep David away from the restaurant.

Finally, she finished setting his platter in
exactly
the right spot, pouring his beer into a fresh frosted glass, smiling until it made
my
face hurt, and left the table. She gave him a
call-me-later
look as she walked away.

“If you’ve finished with your conquest,” I said, “can we get down to business?”

He tore his eyes away from her swaying hips. “Sure. You called the meeting.” He said this while dumping salsa into one of his tacos.

His actions said he found the waitress and his food more interesting than what I might have to say. To hell with it. I plowed on. “I want the guys who laid a frame on me. I suspect they believe they eliminated the link I had to them, their female accomplice. If so, that proves they don’t know about you and me.”

He crunched the taco. “What’s my connection to them?” He looked at me, chewing all the while.

“Oh, come on, Bruce. How stupid do you think I am? You were following the diamonds, and I got in the way. So I’m supposed to believe you disconnected and went home? Not very damn likely.”

“Better eat while your food is hot.”

“Yeah, like it’s going to cool off in this ninety-plus heat.” He was right though, and I was hungry. I prepared my taco and took a bite. Excellent. After taking my time chewing and swallowing, I said, “What do you say? Can we work together to find the diamonds?”

He ate a forkful of refried beans, then sipped his beer. “If, as you believe, I know something about where the diamonds are and who has them, why should I cut you in? I’m confident Gerald and Lodo are more than enough to help me.”

I leaned forward to put more punch in my words. “All I want are the guys who set me up to take a fall. I want them to pay for Jacobs’ death and, at the same time, remove any suspicion from over my head. What happens beyond that is no concern of mine.”

He polished off the last of his taco and pushed his chair back. Looking around, he said, “I could use another beer. Ah, what luck, here she comes.”

He was right. Monica must have been waiting for him to glance in her direction because she came racing to the table. Well, maybe not racing, but hot to trot described her movement. And I do mean it with its sexual connotations.

Bruce ordered another Dos Equis, and I asked about my water, which had not appeared. She promised both and, with another flip of her hair, headed inside.

“If you can quit watching her ass, I’d like to return to our discussion,” I said.

He pulled his eyes back to me. “Discussion? I don’t remember such. You were making some wild guesses about what I might know. Do you have more?”

I sighed. This was not going as I hoped. Why the hell was he being so obtuse? Time to take it back to the top. “Let me try again, Bruce. I’m not interested in the diamonds. They’re yours for the taking. I’ll even help you load them into your car. I want the bastards who set me up. I know you’re on their trail, and I’m here to help. That’s it. That’s all. End of report.”

He propped his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers over his lips. His gaze told me he was deep in thought. I hoped it meant he was considering what I’d said and not Monica’s unspoken promises.

Damn. I shouldn’t have thought of her. She showed up again.

Staring at him in adoration, Monica said, “Here’s your beer and a fresh glass.” She leaned over, giving him a full view of her cleavage, and slowly poured.

His eyes never wavered, drinking in the glory of her offerings.

I waited, wondering how much lower she could go without one or both flopping out. Her top didn’t cover much even when she was in an upright position. I hated the games women and men played—especially when they played on my time. David popped into my mind. The games he and I played didn’t count. They were different.

By the time she left us alone again, Bruce’s mind had abandoned the decision track I wanted him on. Also, I still had no water.

“Well?” I said. “Can we work together?”

“Sorry. I have to get out of here before she drags me behind the dumpster. An invitation is nice but overkill is too much.” He threw two twenties on the table. “Don’t leave this table for five minutes. Gerald will be watching. I’ll be in touch.” He raised his hand and a moment later, the Mercury came speeding up.

“Before you rush off,” I said. “Take this with you. If I don’t hear from you in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll have a long talk with the authorities. I feel sure they will take an interest in Langston Security. Even if they don’t arrest you, you’ll be out of business. Are you ready to abandon this area?”

He hesitated. “You know, Beth, you’re cute. A pain in the ass, but cute. Keep your phone nearby. If I don’t contact you, you’ll need it to call the police.”

The grin he gave me was not reassuring. A moment later, I watched him and Lodo drive away, realizing all I’d accomplished was learning Bruce had standards pertaining to the battle of the sexes. Or maybe he planned to come back later to collect on Monica’s promises. In the meantime, I had gained nothing. On the other hand, I hadn’t lost anything. The bad guys were still there, and Bruce had not said no.

Pushing away from the table, I stood and looked around. “Five minutes, my ass. Pull the trigger, Gerald. I don’t think you’re that stupid.”

I took a couple of tentative steps and when no bullet slammed into me, picked up the pace. I didn’t know where I was going, but I’d had enough of El Toro’s.

My car had heated to bread-baking temperature so after starting the engine, I kicked on the air conditioner and lowered the windows, hoping to blow the hottest of the hot out. The vent blasted into my face and soon it felt good as it dried my sweat.

fifty-seven

A few minutes later,
I raised the windows and pulled out of the parking lot of El Toro’s. While cooling down to a living temperature, I had decided Bruce was still my best, probably only, bet. And, since I wasn’t content with moving at his pace, I wanted to know about him—much more about him. The Internet was a possibility, so I headed for home and my computer.

As I crossed into Coral Lakes, my phone rang. I hit the U-Connect button. “Hello.”

“Beth, it’s Donna, Mr. Bergstrom’s secretary.”

“Yes, I recognize your voice. What can I do for you?”

“I finished transcribing your information and gave it to him. He called me in to talk a few minutes later. We’re worried about you. He said you’d never listen to a man and asked me to call.”

I chuckled. “He’s not precisely correct, but close enough for horseshoes. What’s on your mind?”

“Mr. Bergstrom said you won’t involve the local police, which is what you should do. But have you considered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement?”

“FDLE? Why them?”

“Your problems cross jurisdictional boundaries. They’re statewide, perhaps nationwide. FDLE has the contacts to follow wherever the bad people go. Plus, Mr. Bergstrom knows someone he thinks he could interest in your situation.”

I hesitated, my mind spinning around what Donna said. FDLE was a distinct possibility, one I liked. I had never worked with them, but word among those I knew was they were a competent and honest organization. However, I couldn’t get a handle on what bringing them in might accomplish. I had no evidence, only what I surmised from my ambush and from what Bruce had told me. There was nothing I could produce to prove there was a briefcase full of diamonds that led to Jacobs’ death. There was nothing tangible I could show to verify that Tomasco’s import-export business was a front for illegal activities. And if my invasion of Tomasco’s enclave became known, I could end up in jail.

“Beth? You still there?” Donna asked.

“Sorry. I was thinking through what you said. I think bringing in FDLE is a great idea, but not right now. Tell Sly, uh, Mr. Bergstrom, to keep his lifeline open. I’ll let him know when I have something tangible to pass on.”

“So, your answer is, not now.”

“Yes. That’s what it has to be. As he knows, I just don’t have what I need yet. But when I get it—and I will—I love the idea of dumping it on FDLE.”

“And that’s your final answer? Think about it a moment. Mr. Bergstrom knows lots of people.”

“I know you have my best interests at heart, but it has to be this way.”

“I understand. That’s the position he said you’d most likely take. I’ll pass the word. Good luck.”

Before I could express my appreciation, Donna disappeared. I knew because UConnect said, “Your call is complete.” Donna must have learned her telephone etiquette from Sly.

I had closed another door that might have led me out of my problems. No one had ever accused me of being smart—hardheaded, yes, but smart, never. That left Bruce as my best bet. If I couldn’t convince him to work with me, it was going to be a long, cold winter—figuratively speaking, of course. It’s never cold in paradise.

Pushing Bruce to the back of my mind, I thought of Bob. He had been my rock before. Maybe he had another magic lamp he could rub. Decision time. Go home and research Bruce on the Internet—assuming I could find him—or talk to Bob. The Internet was cold and impersonal and would always be there. I needed to talk to someone. I drove north toward Boca Raton.