Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) (22 page)

“Yeah, umm, this is sort of a delicate question.” I leaned close to Max and my voice dropped almost to a whisper. “Umm, do you have anything in terms of a big shipment of, anything, coming into the country tomorrow, specifically into Scottsdale?

“Why do you ask?” His voice had also gone down almost to whisper level.

“Gina is working on an assignment and she’s stumbled into a large shipment of, something, coming into the country from Mexico. If it’s not yours, we’ll probably need to go to the police. If it were yours, well, we’d need to reconsider. It somehow ties into Jackie Wade’s kidnapping and things are starting to get complicated.”

“About Jackie and the kidnapping,” he said, sitting up and talking just a little louder. “We still have enquiries out on Carlos. I told you we picked up a rumor he’s with one of the local drug gangs. So far, he’s only a name. Like Keyser Söze in the movie
The Usual Suspects
. The only new thing we know about him for sure is he drives a flashy red sports car.”

“I’ve got more to add then. His name is Carlos the Butcher. He’s the local leader of a drug cartel from Mexico called the Black Death.”

“Really? You seem to have better sources than we do. We’ve heard of the Black Death over the last few months. But about all we know about them is they’re one of a growing number of groups running drugs up from Mexico. So far, they’ve kept a low profile and no one knows a lot about them. We don’t know how big the group is or exactly what they’re doing here. We assume it’s small time drugs, but who knows.”

“Small time? With a name like the Black Death? It sounds like they’re pretty nasty.”

“Oh, they all have names like that. When you deal in drugs and guns, no one would take you seriously if you said you were from the
Fluffy Kitty
drug cartel.”

“I suppose you’re right. Well? Tomorrow?”

“No, tomorrow isn’t anything we are involved in.”

“OK, thanks for letting me know. Although, I’m not sure if that helps me or not. Jackie’s been kidnapped by Carlos and we think he probably has her in the same old grocery warehouse in south Scottsdale where the shipment will arrive. He said if we involve the police he’d kill Jackie and I believe him. I’ve talked to him and the man seems to have a lot of issues.”

“Well, we’re not the police. Do you need any help with this?”

“Umm, thanks. But, probably not. Yes, we need all of the help we can get, but I hope you understand I can’t get actually involved with your group or what you do. That would be crossing a line I don’t think I can do.”

“We’ve had this conversation before,” he said. “And of course I understand. You’re a nice girl and you’re probably right to stay away from the business side of what we do. But, it’s there if you need it.”

“Thank you Max. It’s nice knowing I have a friend out there.”

“Just a friend?”

“Well, for now anyway.”

We finished the drinks and I said I had to leave. We walked out of the lounge and down the stairs, with Max going first. Halfway down he stopped and turned. Since I was still a step above him, our height was now about the same and I found myself looking directly into his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned in for a kiss. I hadn’t been expecting this but I instinctively responded by wrapping my arms around him and kissing him back.

Unlike some of Max’s previous kisses, this one didn’t drive me toward an immediate orgasm. This one was more about affection and romance. It was a slow deep kiss, one I wanted to go on forever. It was a nice change and I couldn’t wait to see what the next kiss would bring.

I’ll probably burn in hell for this.

~~~~

I walked back to the office. Gina and Sophie had gone for the night. Lenny was still in his office working through a stack of papers.”

“Well?” he asked as he heard me walk into reception.

“Well, Max says they don’t have anything to do with it, even after I told him we were going to go to the police.”

“Alright,” Lenny said. “That settles that. If and when we contact the authorities, we’ve given DiCenzo fair warning. I hope he remembers that if things turn to shit.”

Even though it was starting to get late, I still didn’t want to go home. The thought of meeting Carlos in the morning was playing havoc with my nerves.

I started thinking I should learn as much about him as possible before the meeting. I went back to my cubicle and reread the official printout on Carlos. Sophie had said she left the new report on my desk in a folder. I found the folder and opened it.

Even with the magic software, there wasn’t much in the file. As in the standard report, everything they knew about Carlos fit on a single page. But at least there were three recent pictures. Two were even in color.

Looking at the pictures of Carlos the Butcher made me shudder. Carlos looked big, mean, and his eyes looked a little insane. I started reading the report and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. My heart sped up and I broke out in a sweat.

Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

My hand was shaking as I took the piece of paper and slid it back into the manila folder. I then took out my cell phone and dialed Max. He answered on the third ring with his usual confident and powerful voice. I felt like crying.

“Well, that was quick. Change your mind about dinner?”

“Max?” I said. I knew that my voice was trembling.

“Laura, what’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to Tony. Right away. It’s important.”

Max grew serious. “I assume this is about business?”

“Yes.”

“OK, keep by your phone. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

~~~~

Less than ten minutes later, my phone rang. When it started playing the theme from the Love Boat, I knew it was Max.

“Tony’s working in his office at the Tropical Paradise tonight. He said he‘ll meet with you. I’ll meet you in the lobby and take you up. Maybe thirty minutes?”

~~~~

I tried to stay focused as I drove up Scottsdale Road to the Scottsdale Tropical Paradise. It was one of a handful of high-end resorts Tony DiCenzo owned outright and I’d been there several times before.

As resorts go, the Scottsdale Tropical Paradise is amazingly beautiful and one of the best in Arizona. It’s one of the original mega-resorts constructed in the early eighties along the north part of Scottsdale road. The Tropical Paradise has two of the finest golf courses in Arizona and has hosted dozens of PGA events over the years.

Even as distracted as I was, I couldn’t help but be impressed as I drove closer to the resort. Surrounding the resort’s golf courses is some of the most expensive and desired real estate in Scottsdale. The area is particularly prized by young Silicon Valley dot-com millionaires, all of who had made their fortunes in California then decided to retire in Arizona.

I turned into the main entrance and drove past the resort’s huge tropical themed fountain. I then drove up the twisty road to the largest of the ornate buildings on the top of a small hill. I knew this building contained the main lobby, reception, several high-end shops, an art gallery, some outstanding restaurants, and day spa. It also apparently contained an office for Tony DiCenzo.

Without thinking, I pulled up to the main entrance. A man in a red uniform opened my door and helped me out of my car. Now, I never use valet. First, I can’t afford it and second, I always need the exercise I get from walking in from the parking lot. But tonight, I didn’t even think twice. I let the man hand me a claim token and I walked into the lobby.

I briefly registered the beauty of the huge indoor space of the main reception area. It had a tropical theme, of course, but was done in a skillful; and stylish way, giving you the feeling you were on a tropical island in the middle of the south Pacific. The center of the space consisted of a large waterfall splashing down into a lava rock basin. Several huge fish tanks, filled with thousands of colorful tropical fish, were imbedded in the lava rock making up the room’s walls. Most of the tanks were eight or ten feet high and one was built with a tunnel you could easily walk through. Vines and lush tropical plants seemed to cover every inch of the lava rock walls.

Max was near the front reception desk talking with one of the hotel employees, a woman with a red pants suit. I noticed the woman was rather pretty. I was somewhat surprised I felt a twinge of jealously at how pretty she was.

So, what’s up with that?

Max saw me walking toward them. He lightly touched the woman’s shoulder and softly told the woman he would talk to her later. Again, there was the slightest twinge of jealously.

Stop with the jealously, you have a boyfriend. Don’t you?

“Are you OK?” Max asked as we walked across the lobby.

“Not really but I have some information Tony needs to hear. I won’t be able to sleep until I pass it on.”

Max didn’t press me for more information. As always, I was impressed he let me work through things in my own way.

Max led me up a wide curving stairway that went up to the second floor. We went past several ballrooms and conference rooms. At the end of a wide hallway there was a large pair of glass doors with
Scottsdale Land and Resort Management, Inc.
stenciled on the doors in large gold and black letters.

On either side of the doors was a security podium, each with a beefy, armed, and uniformed guard. As I got closer, I saw each had an ASE patch on their shoulder. I had some experience with Arizona Security Enterprises before and I inwardly smiled at the memories.

We went through the glass doors and into what was a large and luxurious office reception room. Max then led me down one of the hallways branching out from reception.

Although it was getting to be later in the evening, a few people were still working in various offices and cubicles. We walked by the finance department, the purchasing department, and the resort operations department.

We turned a corner and went down a long hallway that was much nicer than the rest of the offices. We passed several large offices, each the vice president of some department or another.

At the end of the hallway was a living room like setting, complete with black leather sofas. In this reception area was a large and beautiful wooden desk. On the wall, there were several original oil paintings, all of which had a southwestern theme. Past the desk was a large and ornate door, which seemed to lead into yet another inner office.

Even at this late hour, a secretary was at her desk, typing some memo into her computer. As we walked past her desk, I saw it was neat and organized but still appeared to be very functional. The secretary was in her thirties and tall, with long black hair. She turned her head and I suddenly saw that it was Gabriella. This was the first time I had seen her dressed in anything other than skin-tight leather. Apparently, she had duties in addition to being Tony’s personal bodyguard.

As we walked by her desk, she glanced up at us. I saw and felt her eyes looking directly at me. As always, her eyes gave me a cold chill. They were the cold and unemotional eyes of a shark. I then saw her reach under her desk and push a button. When she did, there was a faint click in the door. Max pushed open the heavy door and we went inside.

The office we walked into was huge and the first thing I noticed was the floor to ceiling window. It looked out over the lobby of the Tropical Paradise. Two things struck me as unusual about it. The first was from the angle of the office, you couldn’t see many of the people in the lobby. What you got was a great view of the waterfall, the fish tanks, and the lava rock walls, all covered in tropical vines and flowers. It was as if Tony had a private window onto a tropical island. The other thing I noticed was when viewed at an angle, the window distorted everything in the lobby a little bit. It was like a window at the drive-up teller at a bank. It must have been several inches thick and bulletproof. Maybe even more than bulletproof.

Tough Tony DiCenzo was seated behind an enormous desk. He had several papers in front of him and was in the process of signing one when we walked in. Tonight he had on a white button down shirt and he was wearing a pair of black rimmed reading glasses. It made him look less like a gangster and more like a businessman.

DiCenzo looked up as we came further into the room.

“Laura Black, please take a seat.”

I sat in one of two wooden chairs in front of Tony’s desk. As with the chairs in front of Lenny’s desk, these chairs were rather short and uncomfortable. The word hot-seat
went through my mind. Max sat a respectful distance away on a black leather couch.

“Max says you have something you’d like to discuss with me. But, before we start, how is your friend? I hear she is being held by a man called Carlos the Butcher. I believe Max told you we know almost nothing about Carlos or his group. If there’s anything we can do to help, please let Max or myself know.”

“Actually, it’s Carlos I need to talk to you about.”

I took the folder out of my purse and handed it to Tony. He opened the folder and held up the single page of paper. He scanned it for about ten seconds and then his eyes opened wide. He continued to stare at the paper for a good minute before he sat it down. When he spoke, his voice had taken on an overly polite tone with undertones of anger. It was more than a little unsettling. I’d never heard him talk like that and it scared the willies out of me