Fernando smiled grimly but still remained silent. I aimed my next words at him. ‘Fernando, if she was OK with killing her own brother, think what she might do to you.’
I didn’t get any further.
Maria’s slap across my face made my brains feel like they were sloshing around inside my already woozy head. It made me mad, though, madder than I’d been in a long time. Well, if you didn’t count how mad I’d been at David, that is. I had been pretty ticked off at him.
I peered around Maria, locking my eyes on Fernando’s expressionless face. ‘I mean it! You can get out of this now.’ She sent another blow my way, this one stinging my cheeks and wrenching my neck sideways. The woman was definitely strong, probably from lifting all those trays she’d carried to my room.
‘C’mon, Fernando, untie me.’ This time I was ready for Maria, rolling onto my side and catching her hand on my shoulder. I’d had enough of the cuffs to my head.
Fernando, to my amazement, stepped forward one tiny, tentative step. It was obvious now who was the leader in this relationship; size was definitely no factor here. Maria, sensing Fernando’s movement, swung around, hand raised as if to hit him as well. He shrank back, but didn’t take his eyes off of her.
I gave it one more try. ‘Fernando. She’s going to let you take the fall for all of this, she’s going …’ I broke off to concentrate on avoiding another blow.
Fernando moved around Maria so that he was in my line of sight. The look on his face was one of confusion; maybe my words had hit a target.
‘Maria,’ he began, speaking softly. ‘Does she speak the truth?’ He had directed the words at her but kept looking at me.
Now Maria’s anger was directed at him. Hands on hips, the small woman appeared to grow right before my eyes. She’d make an efficient mom one of these days, I thought with grudging admiration. She had the technique down already.
‘Fernando, with all we have been through together, you and I, how can you even believe something this gringa says?’ She spat the words out as though they had a foul taste, turning her head to shoot a venomous look at me. I stared back, my heart and hope sinking. There was no getting through to her.
I felt, rather than heard, the explosive movement. The door behind Fernando flew open, two uniformed officers on either side of a battering ram and a short figure behind them.
‘Did someone call for room service?’ Sal Bacon, cavalry and all, had come to the rescue.
The Epilogue, or How the Entire Ugly Episode Ended
In case you’re wondering, Sal is not equipped with superpowers of the heat-seeking kind. The woman, I will have to admit, is canny beyond belief. She’d taken the liberty of outfitting my cellphone and Ellie’s with a tracking device, thinking that it might come in handy if we were to get separated. Boy, did it ever.
Once it had occurred to her that my position seemed odd, that I hadn’t moved for quite a while from an area of the resort where I shouldn’t be, Sal had alerted the San Blanco Police Department. Her reputation there was legendary, so there was no fuss when she’d asked for backup. And although I hadn’t seen her right away, Annie was standing right behind her aunt, ready to take on my kidnappers single-handedly if she needed to. Although with an aunt like she has, I don’t know why she’d even think that.
Ellie was nearly in tears when we were finally reunited in the resort’s main lobby.
Stan West, looking as inefficient as always, stood watching the scene with mouth hanging open. I wanted to go over and shut it for him.
The upshot of the entire sordid story was this: Maria’s uncles, the infamous Martinez brothers, had made the mistake of talking too freely in front of her. She’d demanded a piece of the action, threatening to turn them in if they didn’t. One had refused – that would be Israel, whose body was buried near the resort. The other uncle, Danny, realizing that this chick meant business, persuaded the other three to let her take Israel’s place in the group and take his cut of the profits.
Her brother, the feckless Miguel, had tumbled to the scheme and told Emmy. The list we’d found in the Palo Verde suite was one that Miguel had written out for her. He’d given her the original and had kept the sheet of paper that lay beneath the one he’d torn off, knowing that the writing could still be read. Angry at his sister, he left his position at the Miramar, probably thinking that distance would equal safety.
Emmy, angry at the whole set-up, especially since it was being conducted at her beloved Miramar, confronted Maria. She’d shown her the list, effectively sealing her fate. A swift blow to the side of her head ended her life as well as the immediate threat of exposing Maria for the killer she was.
‘Finding the letter’, as Maria had claimed to do, was nothing but a phony put-up. She’d written it herself, hoping to steer all suspicion away from her. It had almost worked, too, until Danny was unsuccessful in getting rid of me and Ellie; he’d told Maria in no uncertain terms that he was not about to take the fall alone.
When Baird, Maria’s PD stooge, wasn’t able to finish the job, she’d gone into hyper-drive, convincing Stan West to call me to ask for my help. Little Maria, it would seem, had her fingers in every available pie. With that maneuver accomplished, it was just a matter of time.
I was just glad for everything to finally be over. I was more than ready to get the heck out of Dodge and head for them thar hills, as Daniel Boone might say. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with my family that a little time can’t fix.
Or maybe not. In any case, I was on my way back to where I belonged, where everyone knows everyone else and their kids, and where I felt loved. Yes, I even missed seeing my goofy family and all the equally nutty relatives. I checked the calendar on my phone. If Ellie and I left tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I’d make it there for the last day of the Burnette Family Fiasco.
And after what I’ve just been through, talking and eating with a few nutcases sounds pretty nice. I’ll take a roomful of Burnettes over any number of Marias and dimpled ex-detectives any ol’ day. My family may not be perfect, but they’re mine.
I just need to get a story together, though. They’ll never believe what happened at the Miramar, chalking it up to my over-active imagination. I wonder if I can get Sal to … nah. It’s better to end this right here and now. As my mother often says, ‘Silence is a virtue.’
And I’m beginning to feel quite virtuous …
Also by Dane McCaslin
Becklaw’s Murder Mystery Tour
For more information about Dane McCaslin
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Murder at the Miramar
Published by Accent Press Ltd – 2014
ISBN 9781783755752
Copyright © Dane McCaslin 2013
The right of Dane McCaslin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Accent Press Ltd, The Old School, Upper High St, Bedlinog, Mid Glamorgan, CF46 6RY.
Murder at the Miramar (Augusta Burnette Series) Page 19