Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1) (26 page)

“Oh, I know and it’s tempting,” I said, “but I can’t. I don’t want to spend my life on the run, no matter how much money I get out of it.”

“Maybe we could each take just one then?” Sophie asked. “They’d never miss a couple of little ones.”

“It would be the same thing as taking the whole lot.” I said. “I’d never be sure who knew I did it, or who might want to get even someday. If I’m going to do this, it’s with a clean conscience.”

“You know,” Sophie pouted, “sometimes I really hate that conscience of yours.”

I grabbed the phone on Lenny’s desk and called Max. He answered on the first ring.

“Max, I have the diamonds. What do you want me to do with them?”

“Lock the doors and stay put. Milo and I will be down in ten minutes.”

“You already know where I am?”

“Of course.”

“Then you already knew I had the diamonds?”

“Not exactly knew, but yah, I suspected. Tony got a call about twenty minutes ago from the Consortium brothers, Smith and Jones. They’ve got your friend, Danica.”

“
Oh my god!
Danica? Is she all right?”

“She’s OK, for the moment anyway. They apparently picked her up just after she visited a friend of hers who also works at the club.”

My voice dropped to a whisper. “That would be Christy,” I said, becoming very afraid for Danica. “She thought Christy might have the bag, but it was still in her locker at the club.”

“Well, after the brothers kidnapped your friend they apparently slapped her around some. They threatened her with worse violence unless she talked. She told them all she knew about the bag in her locker and that you were on your way to get it. The brothers are convinced you’ve recovered the diamonds. They’re demanding the exchange take place at three o’clock, that’s a little over an hour from now. Tony agreed, on the condition you’ve actually been able to locate the diamonds. I’ve called Reinhardt and the Russians and told them to stand by. I also told the Russians to make sure they bring Alexander Sternwood with them. The exchange will take place at a secure location in north Scottsdale.”

On the phone I heard the muffled sounds of Max telling DiCenzo it was me on the phone and I had the diamonds. I then heard DiCenzo giving orders to several men, one after another. After a pause, he took the phone from Max.

“Laura Black, this is Tony DiCenzo. Maximilian tells me you’ve found the diamonds. Is this true?”

“I’ve got them right here. Milo and Max are coming to get them.”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea not to have you or the diamonds unprotected from here on out. You’re at your place of employment I hear? That’s good. You’ll be safe there until they arrive. Then we’ll all head to the exchange.”

“Tony, are you still having me followed?”

“Yeah, I’ve got two of my best guys on you. They’re very discreet, but per our agreement they’ve been told to give you a hand if you need one. They’re parked down the street, keeping an eye on things.”

“Tony,” I said, starting to get upset. “If you knew I already had found the bag, why didn’t you just come get the diamonds?”

“Because I didn’t know for sure. Besides, that’s not how I operate. You’re on my team. I knew if you had the diamonds, you’d let me know.”

“Yes, but how could you be sure? What if I just found the diamonds and took off?”

There was a pause at other end of the phone.

“You seem like a nice girl, Laura Black. Let’s not even joke about that, OK?”

Yikes!

“One last thing,” DiCenzo said. Is there anybody with you but your two coworkers, Miss Rondinelli and Miss Rodriguez?”

“No, it’s just the three of us. How did you know?”

“How I know is not important. If you will, put me on the speaker phone.”

I hit the button so Gina and Sophie could also hear DiCenzo. Sophie crossed herself.

“I have some information about your friend Danica. The brothers are keeping her in the same abandoned print shop they took you a few days ago. I assume you remember the one I’m talking about? The brothers will be leaving there shortly to come here for the exchange. From the way they talked, they’ll be keeping Danica around for a celebration party afterwards. To be honest, it didn’t sound none too pretty for your friend.

Now, normally I wouldn’t interfere in something that wasn’t none of my business. But, since you helped me recover the diamonds, I feel I owe you. Besides, those two fuckin’ guys give me the creeps.”

“Tony,” I yelled at the phone. “You don’t know what they’re going to do to her. We’ve got to get her out of there!”

“Oh, I gotta pretty good idea what they’re gonna do to her, but no, Laura Black, I need you up here with me. Besides, I can’t be directly involved. I’m officially neutral in all of this, but perhaps one of your friends would be willing to help her?”

“Mr. DiCenzo,” Gina said. “I’ll get her. After what they almost did to Laura, I wouldn’t want them to have another chance to do that to somebody else.”

“That’s Miss Rondinelli speaking, isn’t it?” DiCenzo said. “Good. I’ve also heard good things about you. Please, call me Tony. Maybe you and I can do business together someday.”

“Sure Tony,” Gina said. “Maybe we can.”

“OK, Laura Black,” DiCenzo said. “You’ve done real good so far, but don’t let your knees get weak. Milo and Max will be there to get you in a few minutes. We still got a shitload of stuff to do, and trust me, this is gonna be an interesting day.” With that DiCenzo hung up the phone.

~~~~

I went into the bathroom and found a metal bandage box in the first aid kit. I dumped out the bandages and walked back into Lenny’s office. Sophie helped me scoop the diamonds into the box. Then I pushed the box into the front pocket of my jeans. There was a bulge in my pants and the box barely fit, but it was unlikely I’d lose them.

Sophie and I walked back to the cubicles and found Gina getting into her combat gear. She had just fastened on a bulletproof vest and was in the process of strapping on a Velcro web belt, complete with her Beretta, handcuffs, stun gun, and pepper spray. Watching Gina gear up I began to realize just what I had gotten myself into.

“Sophie,” I quietly said. “You gotta come with me.”

“Me?” Sophie asked. “Oh no, no way! Tony DiCenzo didn’t say nothin’ about bringing me. Take Gina, she would be way better than me. Too many guns give me the diarrhea. Those two brothers are just nasty, not to mention those Russians who tried to shoot you. I don’t want to be anywhere near any of them. Just look at Gina here, she lives for this shit. Take her instead.”

“Gina’s going to get Danica and I can’t wait for her to get back. Please Sophie, I need you. I can’t do this alone. Besides, if you don’t go you’ll be cranky for weeks because you missed everything. Remember the last time?”

Sophie nodded her head then gave an exasperated sigh.

Gina opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a chrome-plated .32 caliber semi-automatic. “You’ll do great, but you may need this.” I saw Sophie look at Gina, then at the gun.

“Well, all right, I’ll go,” she said. “I’ll use my own gun though, not that little pea-shooter. But Laura, I swear, if I get shot, I’ll be
so
pissed at you.”

We followed Sophie out to her desk where she opened her bottom drawer and took out her bag. She reached in and pulled out a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum.

“
Holy shit,
that’s a Dirty Harry gun! Where’d you get that?” Gina asked.

“It’s my brother’s. There was some trouble back home last week. I’m holding it for him until things settle down.”

“Well,” said Gina. “That should do the job.”

Outside we saw a black BMW sedan pull up. Milo was driving. Max got out and stood next to the car. He was dressed in a white linen suit with a black collarless shirt. A black Town Car pulled out from where it had been parked, halfway down the block, and slid into place behind the BMW.

“Well girls,” I said. “It’s show time.”

~~~~

We drove in silence toward the resorts of north Scottsdale. Sophie sat up front with Milo. I was in back with Max. As if my heart wasn’t already beating hard enough from outright fear, sitting next to him had kicked it up a couple more steps.

Other than questioning me with a raised eyebrow, Max didn’t object to Sophie coming with us. For her part, Sophie seemed be handling the situation as well as could be expected. She had smashed herself against to Milo, but in her case it wasn’t because of her libido. She had the fingers of her left hand embedded in Milo’s thigh while her right hand was fingering some rosary beads she had pulled out of her purse.

Damn, I could really use a smoke.

We drove north until we came into the heart of the resort district. Instead of pulling into a resort, we turned down a side street, then another, and then another. We ended up on a dirt road that wound through a desolate desert area near the back of a golf course.

After half a mile, the road ended in a dirt parking lot in front of a large blue metal building. The parking lot was at least an acre in size and was surrounded by dozens of half-dead fan palms and stunted orange trees. Parked in the dirt lot were several pieces of golf course maintenance equipment, all in various states of repair. There were lawn mowers, tractors, and carts full of irrigation supplies. The large metal building looked to be the garage and workshop for the bigger pieces of equipment.

Max collected our guns and put them in the glove compartment. He smiled as Sophie handed over the magnum. Sophie and I just looked at each other and shrugged.

We got out of the car and walked toward the building. Sophie grabbed my hand and held it in a death grip. She was so scared I could hear her teeth chattering.

Standing in front of the large open doorway was Tough Tony DiCenzo. Flanking him on either side were two beefy guys, each dressed a blue sport coat, each holding an assault rifle.

Although DiCenzo was dressed casually in slacks and a Polo shirt, the look on his face was far from casual. The look on his face was all business. I’d sometimes seen the same look on Reno. I’d always thought of it as his cop face. This face would give nothing away.

DiCenzo stood like a bull in the center of the doorway, his eyes intent and narrowed. He glanced toward Sophie, then to Max. I saw Max give a barely perceptible nod. With this, Tony’s face softened slightly. We reached the doorway and Tony held out his hand to Sophie.

“I’m Tony DiCenzo,” he said. “I take it you are Sophia Rodriguez?”

Sophie put out a shaky hand. She opened her mouth and let out a small squeak we all took for a
yes
.

“The others will be here shortly.” Tony said to all of us. “Come on back to the office and have a seat.”

We followed DiCenzo into the building. The interior of the building was a large open room with an oil-stained concrete floor. It smelled of gasoline and freshly-cut grass. A half-assembled tractor was sitting off to the side. Against the left wall was a machine shop with various industrial tools. The entire right side of the building consisted of a single enclosed office. This is where we headed. The two goons with the guns stayed at the main door.

We had almost reached the office when we heard the sound of an approaching car. DiCenzo told us to go in the office and wait. He then went to welcome the newcomers.

The interior of the office consisted of a beat-up couch, some metal chairs, a large wooden table, and a couple of green Formica-topped desks. Last year’s calendar was nailed to the wall. It featured a bikini-clad brunette straddling a muffler. Against the back wall was a row of mismatched metal filing cabinets. From the fresh scratch marks on the floor, I could see the furniture had been moved around recently. There were windows looking both into the interior of the building and into the outside yard. The air smelled of oil and cigarettes.

In the back corner of the room was a portable bar, along with four black bar stools. It looked so out of place I assumed it was brought here just for our meeting.

Behind the bar was the woman I had seen at Junior Brown’s, two nights before. Max had said her name was Gabriella. He had also told me she was only used in emergencies. She was dressed in black leather pants and a red leather shirt. Her shirt was open to expose an eyeful of cleavage. Her long black hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She was just as beautiful, and just as dangerous, as I had remembered from seeing her that night in the club.

Ingrid Shanker, the pinched-faced woman from the art gallery in the Tropical Paradise, was sitting behind a desk and table that had been set up near the side of the room. She was typing on the keyboard of a notebook computer. The table was partially covered with a large piece of black velvet. The cloth was positioned so it sat in a shaft of sunlight coming in from the window. Next to the computer was an expensive-looking digital scale.

~~~~

We heard the opening and closing of car doors, and then the muffled sound of DiCenzo talking to two men. After moment, DiCenzo came into the office. Following him were Boris and Ivan, the two Russians. Held between them was Alex Sternwood. He looked terrible. His hands were cuffed behind him and he was having a hard time keeping up with the Russians. His face was a mass of angry red and purple bruises. His nose was bent to one side. Both of his eyes were blackened and one of them was swollen shut. The Russians stopped and flung him to the floor in front of Sophie and me. Alex tried to get up, but then collapsed. If it weren’t for his moaning, I would have assumed he was dead.

I started to take a step forward but DiCenzo held up a hand to stop me. He spoke to the Russians in a firm, but courteous, voice: