Pleasure Cove: Where love is hot on the beach! (14 page)

Chapter 21

By Friday afternoon, the café and bar were busy. Jose looked around and out at the palapa.
I should turn up the music
, he thought. 
Let’s get this party started
.  He told the waitress to make sure everyone had chips and salsa. He knew it made them thirsty for more margaritas.

Later that evening Jose was taking a break with his feet up on his desk when an employee came running into the office. “Someone’s sick, you better come to the front desk,” she said.  Jose jumped to his feet following her to the young woman standing at the front desk holding her stomach and her face was very pale.

“Is there a doctor close by?” she asked, “I think I have food poisoning. My head is throbbing.”

“No, we do have a nurse in the village. When did you get sick?” he asked. 

“It started about an hour ago. I felt nauseous and started throwing up.”

“Did you drink any local water from the tap?” Jose asked.

“No, I knew to stick with bottled water. I had chips and salsa at the bar along with a margarita. Then I just had a salad for dinner. This has never happened to me in all the years I've come to Pleasure Cove.”

“The nurse can make you a mixture of apple cider vinegar, powdered charcoal and applesauce. It will coat your stomach and stop the retching,” Jose assured her. “We have tried many remedies and this is the one I use with my own children. It will make you feel better within an hour.”

Jose walked to the phone and called Marta to mix up the remedy. He ran to the bar and grabbed a bottle of club soda to get her through the night. Stopping at the buffet table, he threw some saltines in his pocket.  In just a few minutes, he had quieted the guest in her room. Now, he had to figure out how this happened.

As he returned to his office, Juanita stopped by to sign out for the night. She had been following Miguel for the past four hours. “Hey, you look bushed,” she said, “Is everything OK?”

“Someone got sick tonight. I don’t think it was from the water, though. You told me Miguel was up to something. Well, it’s happening now.”

Juanita paused and stepped inside the room. “He was nowhere near this motel, Jose. I was watching him all night. We need to trace it back – tell me everything that happened.”

“The guest said that she only drank bottled water. She ate chips and salsa at the bar and drank a margarita before having salad for dinner.”

“Okay, so we have chips and salsa, and we have salad,” repeated Juanita. “What’s common to those dishes? It could be cilantro, tomatoes or onions. Has anyone else gotten sick, yet?”

“No one else has reported problems.” A pounding on the door jolted them both to attention. When Juanita opened it, the bartender stood panting. “I need your help someone is sick in the men’s bathroom.”

“It’s going to be a long night,” Jose sighed and headed down the hall with Juanita following closely.

Acrid smells wafted in the bathroom as Jose entered. A young man was heaving over the sink. Jose waited for him to finish before he approached. “I’m here to take care of you,” he began. While Jose gave him sips of club soda, he questioned him about what he had drank and eaten. The story had a familiar ring – chips and salsa at the bar with a couple of beers. He had followed with some tacos in the palapa.

Juanita casually quizzed people in the bar while she waited for Jose. None of them were feeling badly and most of them had eaten the Mexican buffet.
So, it must be something at the bar, she thought.
She’d compare notes with Jose when he was done.

As they gathered in the office after the bar closed, both of them agreed the bar seemed to be the common factor. “Is the salsa at the bar the same as the salsa at the buffet?” asked Juanita as she stood by Jose’s desk.

Jose looked up at her sheepishly, “No, just a little difference. I tell them to add more peppers on the weekend so we can sell more liquor. They do keep it separate so the bartender can do refills.”

“Then, we need to pull the salsa made for the bar. Have the cook throw it away after I take a sample. We may need it as evidence later. Food tampering is a felony in the US. I don’t know how the local police would handle it, do you?”

“If more people get sick, they would come out and take the evidence and maybe check fingerprints in the kitchen. I’ll call Alfredo in the morning to see what he thinks. He looked down at his hands before continuing, “I’d consider it a favor to me if you didn’t tell Bob about the extra peppers in the bar salsa.”

Juanita smiled slowly. “I don’t think extra peppers are worth reporting, Jose. You’ve left me alone so I could do my work. This is my way of saying thanks, OK?” She stuck out her hand so they could shake on it and Jose responded quickly.

Lifting the phone shortly after midnight, Jose called Marta to report the third case of food poisoning. This time it was a couple who had chips and salsa at the bar. He decided to sleep at the motel so he would be prepared if another case happened. Juanita was sleeping on a cot in the kitchen so she could stop anyone who tried more food tampering during the night.

Jose said a quick prayer the next morning over his first cup of coffee. No more sick people had been reported. He called Alfredo at home to share the night’s events and listened as his cousin reacted, “If this were me, I would print out a discount to each person who got sick and personally deliver it to them today. If you show concern and make an effort to apologize for their difficulty, they will enjoy the rest of their weekend. We need repeat customers, Jose.”

“Juanita kept a sample of the salsa. Should I call the police and ask them to test it for food poisoning?” Jose asked.

“I would talk with the kitchen staff first to see if anyone new wandered through the kitchen yesterday. Let’s see if we can figure this out ourselves. On a holiday weekend, the police are busy with drunk drivers. They would make this a low priority.”

Grabbing his calendar to check his schedule, Alfredo continued, “Is Miguel still around?” I’m looking at my day, and it’s possible that I could drive down this afternoon with my friend in his police car. An official visit from the law might scare Miguel.”

“Yes, Juanita has followed him every night. He did come to the back of the motel but ran away when he saw the security guard with a gun.  She also reported that he made a quick visit to Mary’s house two nights ago.”

Alfredo nodded his heading thinking, “Keep a very close watch on him today. He won’t be able to resist seeing the havoc he’s caused. If he steps one foot on motel property, get him for trespassing. I’m going to make a quick phone call and see if we can arrange a police visit later this afternoon.”

“Are you going to call Bob? He might have an idea we haven’t considered,” concluded Alfredo. “We need to keep him in the loop for now.”

“Maybe I’ll have Juanita call him later this morning,” Jose replied, “After I’ve talked with the cook so we know if anyone new has been in the kitchen.”

Chapter 22

Jose made a note to alert his security team about the police arrival before he walked back to the kitchen. He saw the head cook working at the stove. “Has anyone new been in the kitchen this week?” Jose asked walking up beside her.

“No,” replied the cook, “Just my niece who helped out yesterday chopping vegetables for the salsa. I made extra for the long weekend.”

“We had three cases of food poisoning last night,” Jose continued, “And we think it was caused by the salsa in the bar.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she shook her head. “I will throw the bar salsa away and make fresh this morning.”

“Did your niece have any visitors while she worked? She’s a teenager, maybe one of her friends dropped by.”

“No, senor, no guests are allowed in the kitchen.”

“OK,” Jose replied calmly as he raised his hand. “I’m trying to figure out what went wrong so it doesn’t happen again.”

“She is young but she worked hard. It’s possible that she didn’t recognize if a tomato was bad. We served over fifty people at the buffet last night. Were any of them sick?”

“No, that’s what makes me think it had to be the bar salsa. So, throw it away and make fresh. I'd appreciate it if you would do it so we have complete control on the ingredients. Put it in a different container, and we will keep it at the bar this time.”

Juanita was just finishing breakfast in the bar when Jose returned. She looked up as Jose approached, “Did you get any sleep?” she asked.

“Enough,” Jose nodded. “I need you to call Roberto this morning and tell him about the food poisoning. We need to keep him informed since this could be sabotage. The head cook thinks it could have been a couple of rotten tomatoes that got missed by a younger worker.”

“Sure, I’ll call him right away. Then, I have to go shadow Miguel. He’s got to be getting antsy. Maybe he’ll do something stupid,” Juanita yawned and drank more coffee.

Lifting his hand to count off his thoughts, Jose said, “Tell Bob it was only three guests, everyone is OK, we gave them all discounts for the day, and we don’t think it’s one of our employees; maybe a young helper who didn’t recognize a rotten tomato.”

Rubbing her hand over her face, Juanita waited for Bob to pick up the phone.  “Hola, Roberto,” she said calmly.

“Juanita, how are things at the motel today?” Bob asked.

“We had a busy night,” began Juanita, as she covered the points that Jose had laid out.

Bob listened carefully and made notes as Juanita talked. He studied the list and thought for a minute. “Sure sounds like you guys did a good job, Juanita. That was very good detective work to focus on the salsa at the bar. I only have one suggestion to add: Wipe down the bar, the buffet and the work spaces in the kitchen with disinfectant. If something rotten was cut on the boards, we don’t want the germs to spread.”

Juanita pulled out her notebook and scribbled a note for Jose. “I have to go follow Miguel. We hope he comes snooping around so we can get him for trespassing.”

Bob nodded in agreement and ended the conversation with a word of caution, “Please take some pepper spray or some form of protection, Juanita.  We are certain he will take off if he suspects we are onto him. He has run out of friends in Pleasure Cove. Get a security guard to cover the back of the property by the mango orchard. You need someone hidden in the trees.”

After a hot shower, Juanita felt energized, stuffed her backpack with energy bars and water to camp out in the shrubs behind Pedro’s house.  She was ready for a long day and had her team in place so if he made a move, they could detain him.

Chapter 23

Just before lunch, Miguel pulled on more of Pedro’s clothes and walked out the back door. He wanted to see if there were taxis at the motel taking people back to the airport. If so, he knew he had done his job and scared them away.

Crossing through the fields, he stayed off the main road and walked to the beach so he could stroll toward Pleasure Cove to see what was happening. He pulled out his binoculars and focused on the motel entrance. Everything was quiet. He scanned the palapa looking for a familiar face but did not recognize anyone. Casually walking up to the bar, he ordered a beer and looked around.  “Where is everybody?” asked Miguel, “I thought this place would be hopping on a holiday weekend.”

“Most of the guests left on a boating trip to go snorkeling at El Cardonal,” replied the bartender who offered Miguel some chips and salsa.

“Oh, no thanks," Miguel replied as he pushed them away, “My stomach has been a little queasy. Anybody here complaining? I wondered if there was a flu bug going around.”

“No, everyone here is having a good time, Miguel,” replied Jose as he walked up to stand directly behind him. “I’ve wanted to speak with you. Mary called me from San Diego and she’s been delayed. Come on back with me to my office. I’ve got her notes there.”

“Sure,” Miguel said cordially, “How’s she doing? I’m surprised she hasn’t called.”

Jose waited for Miguel to start walking into the bar then followed closely behind him. Miguel looked around as they passed the café and noticed guests eating lunch.
What the hell happened?
He thought to himself as he headed down the hallway to Jose’s office
.  I thought there would be three or four sick people by now.
  Opening the door for him, Jose brought him inside pointing to a chair.

Quietly locking the door before heading to his desk, Jose said, “Just let me take care of one little detail, Miguel, and I’ll be right with you,” stalled Jose. Picking up his phone, he called the front desk and asked that security drop by his office.

Turning to Miguel, he kept a solemn face and said, “Mary has been delayed in San Diego. Her doctor wants to run more tests so she has asked me to close up the house for her and ship a few items to her there.”

Miguel looked surprised. “I can do that for her,” he insisted.

“Actually, she thought you’d be in Mazatlán with your family. I believe that’s what you told her when she left.”

Miguel smiled and leaned forward to Jose. “You know how we have to keep our ladies happy,” he said spreading his hands. “I really needed to stay here and earn some money working on the fishing boats.”

When a knock came at his door, Jose stood opening it to allow the security guard in. Jose took the man’s gun from his shoulder.  He turned back to Miguel and said, “We hear you’ve been earning money spying on our motel. I have the police on the way to question you and I will personally shoot you in the kneecaps if you give me any more trouble.”

Miguel leaned back in his chair and stared at Jose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.

“Maybe you’d like to see the computer files that show the sabotage you’ve done here for the past month. Would that refresh your memory?” accused Jose.

“What computer files?” Miguel asked defensively.

“The ones we found on Mary’s computer. The ones you deleted but were still in the system, you stupid carbon,” spat Jose as he walked forward to loom over Miguel’s chair.  Miguel refused to look up at him. Staring forward, he sat with his hands on his legs.

“Nothing to say for yourself, Miguel?” taunted Jose. “Who is your friend at The Spa Motel? Is he your contact at the timeshare company?” Jose threw the photo Juanita had taken onto his desk and watched as Miguel looked at it.

“Yes, we know all about your little plan to help the timeshare company buy us out. What did they promise you for helping them – a job running this place?”

Looking down at his hands, Miguel clenched his jaw but said nothing. “I knew it,” Jose said sarcastically, “And you promised a job to Pedro to get him to help you.”

That brought Miguel’s head up glaring at Jose. “Where is Pedro? He hasn’t been home.”

“Oh, he is gonna be our star witness against you.” Jose pointed his finger into Miguel’s chest.” Did you know food tampering is a felony? It’s a Tiajuana jail for you with all the trouble you’ve caused.”

“Wait. Wait!” he repeated opening his arms in a pleading position. “Can’t I make a deal? I’ll tell you everything I know. You can stop them from ever bothering you again.”

“I can find that out for myself, young man. I’d rather see you rot in jail,” Jose said with a smirk on his face. He looked at the security guard and returned his gun to him. “I want you to stand right here and shoot him in the leg if he even moves.”  Jose turned back for one last nasty look at Miguel before he stalked out of the room.

With his blood pumping from anger, Jose walked outside to calm down. He hoped Alfredo did arrive in the police car. Let the officer intimidate Miguel next. He could probably get a full confession. He had more important things to do, and the first was letting the security team know they had Miguel. Walking to the front desk, he made the necessary phone calls. Just as he was hanging up, Juanita walked into the motel in her maid’s uniform.

“Everything OK?” she asked. “When I saw Miguel leave with you, I figured you detained him. He walked right into our trap, thank goodness.”

“Yeah, we’ll just let him sweat for a while. I’ve got him guarded and locked away till the police get here. My next call is to Alfredo.”

“I’ll call Roberto and let him know,” Juanita countered, “And then I’m heading home for a long nap. By the way, I did some computer searching on the email address for the time share company. Miguel has been dealing with Felix Jacada, who is a cousin in the Jacada Construction family. They build resorts for Royal Hacienda, the largest timeshare company in Mexico. Alfredo needs to know this information. If we threaten to turn Miguel over to the Jacada family, he’ll start talking. Can you imagine what those construction workers would do to him?”