Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1) (9 page)

I seemed to enter into a dream world. The music faded into the distance and the lights seemed to dim. The only thing I could see was this man walking towards me. My libido, which had been awakened by my meeting with Reno, now kicked into high gear. The fluttery feelings in my stomach had now traveled south.

Who is this guy?

He stopped in front of me and looked down into my eyes. His face was calm, betraying no emotion. My face was hot, my breathing fast. He paused for a moment, then bent down and pressed his lips against mine.

You bastard!
I inwardly shouted. But then my outrage was slowly replaced by a wave of pleasure starting from his lips and washing over my entire body. My breathing stopped, the whole of my being was taken over by the mounting excitement. My lips took on a mind of their own as I began to kiss him back. He curled his arm around my waist and gently pulled me toward him. All thoughts of who might be watching faded as I slowly pressed myself against him. Even through the layers of clothing, I felt his body responding to mine. His tongue worked to seduce me, I felt helpless. The heat from his body was intense, taking me to a point I hadn’t experienced with a man in way too long. I was floating on a cloud of erotic passion. I didn’t even try to stop it. I let the sensations take me closer and closer, until I knew the moment was at hand.

How could this happen with just a kiss?

Then, just as I felt myself start to let go, he withdrew his lips and loosened his grip around my waist. A feeling close to panic set in.

No, no, please, not yet!

But his lips were already gone. He gently released me, holding my waist without pressing against me. My face contorted and my body shook with desperation. Tears of frustration came to my eyes.

Oh, damn it!

I looked up into his eyes but was unable to speak. He regarded me for a moment, then reached out and touched my cheek with his fingertips.

“Who are you?” I managed to croak out.

He again cracked a small smile. “Later, gorgeous,” he said in a voice that was soft but deep and powerful. He then turned and walked out of the office.

I turned to see Gina and Sophie staring at me, mouths open, stunned. Sophie was the first to come out of it.

“Damn girlfriend, did you just do what I think you did?”

“No,” I gasped. “But I was so…damn…close.” The truth was I was still close. My body was still shuddering with short spasms of desire.

Damn all men!

“Who was that guy?” Gina said.

“Well, whoever he was, why didn’t he come over and do the same thing to me?” Sophie said. “I’m pretty sure I could use a standing O too.”

“So why did he just
do
that?” I wondered aloud.

Gina started laughing. “Laura, you were giving him bedroom eyes and staring at him like he was a piece of meat. A guy like that? You didn’t give him a choice. He had to do it.”

Lenny heard the laughing and stuck his head out of his office.

“Hey Lenny,” Gina called. “Who was that guy?”

“Forget it,” Lenny called out. “He’s out of your league.”

“What do you mean, out of our league?” Sophie said. “Three fine ladies in their prime like us? He only wishes he was in our league.”

“His name is Maximilian,” Lenny said, walking up to us. “He runs with the big money out of the DiCenzo resorts.”

“What would a DiCenzo goon want with us?” Gina asked.

“He’s hardly a goon,” Lenny said. “He seems to be more in the finance side of the family rather than in the leg-breaking side.”

That didn’t exactly boost my opinion of him. But to be honest, all I was thinking about was my next date with the shower massager.

Gina and I followed Lenny into his office. He waited for us to come in, and then closed the door behind us. Gina took one of the seats in front of his desk. I took the other.

“For some reason, the DiCenzo goon wanted you to take this assignment,” Lenny said, pointing at me. “I told him Gina has more experience in this sort of thing, but he still wanted you. I finally told him you were on assignment already and couldn’t be the primary, but you could act as a back-up investigator to Gina. After that, he seemed satisfied with the overall arrangement.”

“Way to go girl!” Gina said, giving me a high five. “Looks like you’re getting a reputation out there as a real bad-ass.”

“To get on with it,” Lenny said. His eyes flicking back and forth between us. “There was a theft last week over at the Scottsdale Blue Palms
resort
.
A very wealthy Russian businessman has had a piece of luggage stolen, or more correctly, it appears his bag was switched with a look-alike bag. The original bag apparently contained not only a substantial amount of cash, but also several sensitive papers and computer disks they are very anxious to retrieve.”

“How do they know it was a switch?” Gina asked.

“They didn’t until a few days ago,” Lenny said. “The bag was reported stolen to hotel security last Tuesday afternoon. The hotel first thought someone had merely stolen the contents of the bag, but from the first the Russian was insistent the bag itself was switched. It took hotel security several days of reviewing the tapes for them to have a guess at how it was done.”

In the corner of Lenny’s office was a big screen TV with a DVD hooked up to it. Lenny hit the button on a remote control. The TV flicked on and the DVD began to play. What I saw was the main lobby of the posh Scottsdale Blue Palms resort. As resorts go, the Blue Palms is one of the best. The year before,
International Resort Traveler
had listed it as one of the 50 best golf resorts in the world. The ownership of the resort by Arizona’s largest crime family apparently didn’t enter into the voting one way or the other.

The black and white image on the screen was grainy and jumpy. The DVD was probably a copy of a hotel security tape that had been recorded on too many times. The camera showed about half of the cavernous main lobby. Groups of people came and went. Knots of people stood talking and bellboys walked by with luggage piled high on carts.

“Look at this group here.” Lenny said as he pointed to a group of three people standing near a grand piano. From the angle and distance of the camera, I could make out they were men dressed in dark suits. I couldn’t see a lot of detail. I could see there was a short and slender man standing between two enormous men, apparently bodyguards. The large man on the right was carrying a suitcase in each hand. The large man on the left was holding a bag with one hand while another bag hung on a strap from his shoulder. The short man in the middle was only holding a small black bag.

As we watched, there was some sort of commotion off camera to the right. The big man on the left pointed and I could just make out all three heads turned to look, but with the quality of the video it was sort of hard to tell. The man in the middle and the man on the right set down their bags. The man on the right took two steps to the right, stopped for maybe five seconds, then returned to the group. The men picked up their bags then walked off to the left, out of camera range. The scene went on for maybe half a minute longer, and then it ended.

“Did you see anything unusual?” Lenny asked.

“No,” I said. Lenny looked at Gina, but she just shook her head.

“I didn’t see it the first time either, the DiCenzo goon had to show me,” Lenny said. “I’ll slow it down. Look closely at the black gym bag the little guy in the middle is holding.”

Lenny then went frame by frame. As the big man on the left man pointed to the commotion, the other two put down their bags. The big man on the right took one step then another, in jerky slow motion. I then noticed a new man walk behind the group of three men. He didn’t seem connected to the group and I had ignored him until now. He was medium build and medium height, meaning he could have been anybody. He was also carrying a small black bag. He passed behind the group of men and went on. The big man on the right came back to the group. Then all three gathered their bags and walked in jerky slow motion to the left.

“Let me have the control,” I said.

With an annoyed sniff, Lenny handed me the remote.

I rewound back to when the commotion started. I then went forward, frame-by-frame, to the point where the new man passed behind the group. As he passed, I looked at the position of the small black bag the small man in the middle had set on the ground. It moved as the new man walked by. It wasn’t much, but it was a definite move. At the same time the bag moved, the new man seemed to duck or maybe trip slightly.

“Either the new guy kicked the bag as he walked by, or he somehow switched it with the bag he was caring,” I said.

“That’s exactly what security at the Blue Palms thinks too,” Lenny said. “They think the bag was switched as part of a scam last Tuesday. They want it back.”

“Why don’t they go to the police or look for it themselves?” Gina asked. “They have plenty of people at their disposal.”

“The DiCenzos wouldn’t go to the police on general principle,” Lenny said. “And from what the DiCenzo goon Maximilian said, they have been looking for it with their own people with no luck. They need outside help.”

“OK,” Gina said, “I’ll get on it.”

“Call me if you need help,” I said.

~~~~

I left the office at about 4:30. Before I left, I downloaded everything I had on Alex to Sophie. I love the way she can take my rambling story and turn it into a crisp report for Lenny.

I got back in the car and went home to feed Marlowe. As he ate, I told him everything that had happened during the day. I told him I was worried about Alex and whatever he had gotten mixed up in. But I don’t think Marlowe heard much of what I said, over the noise of his chewing and swallowing.

Next, it was back out to my Honda to try and pick up Alexander’s trail again. Closest, and first on the list, was Jennie’s Cabaret. Alex’s car wasn’t in the lot and the bartender said Danica wasn’t working tonight. Next was Alex’s apartment. Same story; no lights, no black Jaguar, and no Alex. I cruised the valet lots of the downtown clubs without success. At about 11:00, I drove back up to Danica’s neighborhood at Gainey Ranch.

Bingo.

There was the Jaguar sitting in Danica’s driveway. The lights were on and I saw movement inside the house.

I parked on the street, two doors down from Danica’s driveway. I got out of the car, walked up to the house, and rang the doorbell. After maybe a minute, I heard footsteps approach. I saw the peephole go dark as someone looked through it. A moment later the door opened to the length of a thick security chain. Danica was visible just beyond, dressed in a red silk robe belted at the waist.

“I’m Laura Black,” I said to her through the crack in the door opening. “My employer is having me look into Alexander’s activities at the request of his grandmother. I hadn’t planned on talking to him but something’s come up and I need to speak to him.”

She stared at me for a moment with a puzzled look on her face. Without a word, she turned and closed the door. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. I stood there, not knowing if I should ring again or not. I heard voices in the back of the house, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. The voices grew louder as they came closer to the front. The door opened again but this time it was Alex behind the chain, dressed only in long navy blue silk pajama pants.

“My grandmother sent you to spy on me?” Alex asked. The tone of his voice was half anger, half disbelief.

“She’s worried about you,” I said. “And to be honest, I’m starting to get worried too. I have some information you may be interested in. I’d like to come in so we can talk about it.”

From the look on his face I didn’t know if he was going to open the door or slam it in my face. Finally, he slid off the chain and opened the door.

The inside of Danica’s house was as beautiful as the outside. In the typical Scottsdale southwest style, the ceilings were high and the rooms were open with wide archways. The walls were off-white and the windows were fitted with white plantation shutters. Bright original oil paintings and tropical plants provided splashes of color. A shorthaired black cat was laying on a white leather love seat. He looked at me with bright gold eyes while his tail flicked from side to side. Joni Mitchell’s
Blue
album played quietly in the background.

Alex led me out to the back yard. The landscaping in the back yard was as nice as the front, done up with queen palms, royal palms, orange trees, and flowering lantana, all surrounding a large swimming pool. Near the pool was a small patch of grass that had been recently mowed. The pool itself was inviting. There was a noisy little waterfall and a fiber optic lighting system that changed the color of the water every few seconds.

Alex motioned me poolside to a white picnic table. He sat on one side. I sat on the other. Next to the picnic table was a brass fire pit with a crackling fire in it. Danica was pacing back and forth on the far corner of the patio, a half empty drink in her hand. As we sat down, she took a few steps closer. She hovered and paced near the fire, not sitting down, but still within easy listening distance.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as we each waited for the other to speak.

“We haven’t been introduced,” I said. “I’m Laura Black. Yes, I’ve been following you at the request of your grandmother. After you quit your job she became worried. It’s also been noticed you’ve been spending some serious money. I’ve been asked to look into things to make sure everything is OK.”

“Well,” Alex snapped. “Now you’ve spent your time spying on me, what is your assessment? Is everything OK? Do my activities measure up?”

“Look, I usually don’t talk to the people who I investigate. It’s not very professional. It’s none of my business what you do with your life. But, I know you no longer have a visible source of income. I know you’re spending a lot of money. I also know you have been fencing things all over town with some pretty nasty people.”

Alex flinched when I mentioned the fencing. I looked over and saw Danica had stopped pacing. Her intense gaze was shifting between Alex and me.

“So I have money,” Alex said, now more boisterous than angry. “What’s the big deal? Hell, my family has more money than most developing countries. OK, so I’ve spent some of it recently, and sure I quit my job. Who cares? I’m no longer required by the state to be employed. You did know I just got off parole, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I said, “and to be honest, I could care less about your money or how you got it.”

Alex stopped and looked at me. I could tell my remark had puzzled him. “So, why are you here?”

“Do you know you are being followed? Not just by me, but by a couple of seriously mean guys.”

“Followed?” Alex asked. A wave of initial shock, then fear, passed over his face, replaced quickly by a forced look of casual unconcern.

“Yeah,” I said. “They picked you up outside the Tropical Paradise yesterday afternoon after you fenced whatever it was with Albert Reinhardt and Ingrid Shanker at the art gallery there. The reason they aren’t parked across the street right now is you lost them in traffic today. You put them temporarily out of commission, accidentally I assume. I only knew you’d be here because I’ve been following you since Monday.”

While we were talking, Danica had been inching closer to the table. When she heard about the tail, she came over and slid on the seat next to Alex. She was looking at me, her eyes wide.

“There are men following Alex?” she asked. Genuine worry and panic crept into her voice. She then turned to Alex. “What is she talking about?”

I expected some sort of reply from Alex, but instead something weird happened. After I told Alex about the tail, a change seemed to come over him. His head cocked a bit to the side and he got a knowing little smirk on his face. As soon as he spoke, it hit me; Alex had just gone into his car salesman mode. Maybe that was his way of handling stress? All he needed was a lime-green plaid jacket and the transformation would have been complete.

“Well, I tell you what, Laura Black, if that’s even your real name,” he said in his smooth salesman’s voice, “I wouldn’t worry about anybody following me. I’m sure you’re either mistaken, or more likely my grandmother has hired two or maybe even three firms to check up on me independently. It really wouldn’t surprise me.”

I gave him a look of mild disbelief. There is a fine line between being thick-skinned and being stupid and I think Alex just crossed it.

“I don’t think you understand the situation,” I said. “These guys could have picked you up at any time. They are following you to see where you go and what you are doing. They’ve also seen the two of you together. It’s obvious you two are more than just friends. It’s only a matter of time before they’ll come over here looking for you. When they find you, they might want more than a friendly chat.”

“No,” he said. “I think you are the one who doesn’t understand the situation. You don’t know my grandmother. It really would be her style to have more than one group looking in on me. She’s done it before, mainly out of guilt over what she’s done to me the past few years. So sure, keep following me if you need to, if it’s your job. But I can assure you I can look after myself and my girlfriend.”