Murder on the Equator Box Set

by Becca Bloom

  Mimicking Abuelita, I tossed the rest back and tried not to internally combust. My eyes watered and my throat lit on fire, but I managed to make my cough sound more like a clearing of the throat. It earned me a round of applause from Dario and a group of curious onlookers, one of whom ordered me another round. Great. Just great. Five minutes inside the bar and my grand plan was washed away in vodka.

  I raised my newly poured shot up to thank whoever it was who had bought it and Tia Rosa leaned into me. “Change plan. I watch bottles; you talk to Christian.” She pointed to someone behind me. Someone who winked at me while squirting his mouth with breath spray.

  Tia Rosa patted my leg as she crawled down from her barstool. “Is okay, okay? I tell Bertha new plan. I return soon. You talk nice with Christian.” She wiggled her eyebrows, then headed toward the plant where Abuelita still hid.

  If she thought I could “talk nice” to a guy, Tia Rosa still had much to learn about me. I flirted about as well as I drove.

  “Hey, girl,” said Christian, who bore no resemblance to Ryan Gosling (more was the pity), when I turned around. He held his hand out and leaned forward to kiss my cheek, bowling me over with his minty breath and hair gel. “What’s your sign?”

  Did guys still use that line? I leaned back and shook his hand. One way of greeting was more than enough.

  “I’ve been touched by an angel,” he said, raising my entrapped hand to his mouth. I pulled my hand free just before he kissed it, leaving him with puckered lips and nothing to slobber on.

  He grinned, smoothing back his long hair. “Ah, you play hard to catch. I like that!”

  I breathed a huge sigh of relief. He appeared to be the type of person so assured of his allure, nothing I did or said would discourage him. For my purposes tonight, it felt like a gift in a night of successive failures.

  Ignoring his lame pick up lines, I asked, “You’re Christian, right?”

  “You know my name already? I am flattered.” He puffed out his chest. There wasn’t much to puff, him being of a tall, lanky build. “What is your name?”

  “Jessica.”

  “You are new in town, yes? I would love to show you around.”

  “I bet you would.”

  “I drive a Trans Am.”

  “Good for you. I understand you’re the man to go to for good, imported liquor.” No sense beating around the bush.

  “Where did you hear that?” he asked, obviously pleased.

  “Dario told me. I met him two days ago at Maria Guzmán’s house.”

  Christian sat down on the empty stool next to me. “That was sad. I had seen her just before it happened. You were there, yes? I had to defend a friend of mine from her attacks. She was not a nice person, but I was still sad to hear she’d been murdered.”

  Christian’s heroic memory of his involvement in the altercation was vastly different than mine.

  “You didn’t see her after that?” I asked.

  He pointed to my drink. “You drank that fast. I didn’t even see!”

  Sure enough, my shot glass was empty. I looked over at Tia Rosa, who had returned from her consultation with Abuelita. She whistled and looked away.

  “What can I say? I love vodka.”

  “Dario! Pour my friend, Jessie, another!” Christian shouted down the counter.

  Tia Rosa sat with her unblinking eyes fixed on the bottles behind the bar. Without taking her focus off her target, she said, “Keep coming the vodka. I help and you act drunk.”

  Dario set the drink in front of me. “You can hold your liquor.”

  “No more than most. I can’t taste anything after three.” I added a giggle for good measure. Hopefully, he’d take my hint and switch to José’s mixture for the next one. Then we could beat it out of here before Christian’s breath spray burned a hole in my sinuses.

  “Three is your max? We’ll see about that. Keep them coming, Dario.” Christian slipped a fifty over the counter. Gracious, how much did he expect me to drink?

  Dario stuffed it in his shirt pocket, saying, “I know what you’re doing, and I’m willing to talk later.”

  Christian turned back to me. “Wow, that was fast.”

  I looked where he did and saw my empty shot glass. I didn’t know how Tia Rosa had managed it, but the drink was gone. Without losing a beat, Dario poured another and stretched over to hand it to Christian.

  “You’re right. I should slow down.” I fiddled with the glass, turning it in circles on the counter and pretending to sip on it. “What did Dario mean? Do you guys do business together?”

  Christian zipped the horseshoe pendant back and forth across his gold chain. “I’m the sole proprietor of a successful import business. I specialize in imported alcohol.”

  “You supply for Dario’s bar?” I asked again.

  “We’re in negotiations. My products are better than his current supplier.”

  “Who is that?”

  “José. He doesn’t have access to the best like I do. It was only a matter of time before he begged to work with me again.”

  Martin had told the truth. There was a connection between José, Christian, and Dario. Now, all I needed was a sample of the bad liquor to hand off to Agent Vasquez, who could then use it to find the real killer. “Really? I wonder why Dario does business with him if José’s products are inferior?” I hiccupped when I saw Dario look our way and made a point of steadying myself against the counter.

  A large group of rowdy male tourists, who looked like they had recently graduated from high school and were taking advantage of the country’s younger drinking age, entered the bar. Dario was quick to pour their drinks. They appeared to already have had a few.

  I tried to pay attention to Christian’s reply, but with the added noise, I only caught a few words.

  Tia Rosa whacked me on the arm with a force worthy of Abuelita, who had disappeared from behind her plant. “He change. He switch for the boys.”

  With the eagerness the young men accepted their drinks, they’d be gone in seconds and I had nothing to offer in exchange. My glass was empty thanks to Tia Rosa’s enthusiastic assistance.

  Time slowed to a crawl as everything happened at once.

  Tia Rosa practically fell off her barstool to get to the nearest underage drinker just as Agent Vasquez walked in the front door with a direct view of her. And so he saw her snatch the drink away from the boy and walk to me as quickly as her altered steps allowed. I only needed one guess to know how she’d made my drinks disappear.

  Abuelita hustled out from the general direction of the bathroom. “Agent Vasquez here….” she said, her warning dying on her lips as she saw the man glaring at us with his arms crossed.

  “Hey, that old lady stole my drink!” the kid complained, to which Tia Rosa giggled.

  “He so slow, old lady steal drink,” she laughed.

  I looped my arm through hers before she fell over and took the shot glass away from her before she spilled it or worse … drank it.

  Chapter 20

  Unfortunately for the drink-less young man, his friends found his predicament as funny as Tia Rosa did. Christian, no doubt feeling the need to show his heroic side, shoved the boy. And that’s how it all started. Fists flew, beer bottles swung, stools broke over heads, shouts drowned out the music, and we were in the middle of it.

  I swore I saw Abuelita get a few punches in. Tia Rosa, with the luck of the tipsy, walked harmlessly through the masses and out the door without a knick or a scratch on her body.

  Adi came out of the bathroom then, her skin the same green as the Incredible Hulk. I ducked, cradling the drink between both hands to protect it until we could get outside, and made a run for Adi. There was no way we could get through the bar. Pulling her further down the hallway, I barged through a door marked for employees only.

  The brightness of the fluorescent lights blinded me and I saw splotches of colored blobs in front of my eyes until I grew accustomed to the light. It smelled like old frying oil. />
  A worker in a white apron approached me, saying something I did not understand. Bummer. Caught already.

  He pointed his finger out the door and spoke in a harsh tone, unhappy we had invaded his kitchen. Looking around quickly, trying to give the impression of being lost, I noticed two refrigerators, a large freezer, and crates of beer stacked along one side of the room. No mysterious boxes or crates with designer bottles…. Oh well. At least I still had the drink hidden in my hands. It would beat all if the cook saw it and took it away when we were so close to freedom.

  Adi said something to the cook and he grudgingly showed us out a back door which took us to an alleyway behind the bar. Dario’s big, black car blocked one side of the alley, so we ran down the other.

  Adrenaline and excitement coursed through my veins as Adi and I made our way down the gravel lane and around the corner.

  Agent Vasquez already had Abuelita and Tia Rosa cornered just outside the door of the bar. He was not pleased to see us. I wasn’t too pleased to see him at that moment either. If only that made us even.

  “I thought I told you to stay away!” he said.

  Tia Rosa pushed her horn-rimmed glasses up from where they had slipped down her nose. “You make me sad, Agent Vasquez. I drown my sad in vodka.”

  Adi, who had lightened to a paler verdant shade, said saucily, “What, we’re not allowed to go out for a drink?”

  Abuelita nodded. “I like whiskey.”

  Agent Vasquez glared at us. “I bet you do. Now, tell me, why are you really here?” He looked directly at me, apparently deciding I was the weakest link.

  “We have evidence that José is involved in a bootleg operation.” I held up my glass. “And this is our proof.” I held it out to him just as the door of the bar swung open. Next thing I knew, the shot glass flew out of my hands, and I watched helplessly as the liquid inside doused the front of Agent Vasquez’s polo shirt.

  "My proof!" I froze in place, too horrified to move.

  "Your proof?" Agent Vasquez flicked the moisture off of his shirt.

  "Can you still run tests on it from your shirt?"

  He looked at me like I was crazy.

  "José has figured out a way to manufacture counterfeit liquor. He sells it to Dario, who then serves it to his customers after they’ve had enough to dull their taste buds. They’re making a killing! Did you know that only this afternoon, we saw José buy a small fortune-worth of electronics from the store? Those things don't come cheap!"

  Now looking completely annoyed, Agent Vasquez crossed his arms and appeared to be counting in his head. Knowing it better to remain silent until he had finished, I waited.

  Abuelita, however, knew no such restraint. Stepping so close to him, the front of her heels touched the toes of his boots, she jabbed her finger at his chest.

  "I learn José to be here tonight. Dario angry because he no show."

  "And how much of his fake booze did you drink tonight, Señora Jimenez? You smell like a brewery."

  Abuelita ignored him, but when he took a step away from her, she had sense enough to stay put.

  "The point is, we have several proofs against José. He likes easy money and, with Maria out of the way, he’d avoid having to split everything with her in a divorce. Or maybe she knew his plans and threatened to expose his secret, thus implying his buyers as well. He comes off like bandit with her dead."

  Agent Vasquez looked at me gravely.

  I continued, "Wouldn't a man desperate to save his extravagant lifestyle murder his harpy of a wife to ensure her silence? He had a motive and he definitely had the opportunity to kill his wife. You can’t really believe that he was enjoying a peaceful nap inside the house when his wife was murdered in the garage."

  "What are you talking about?" he had the audacity to ask.

  Now it was my turn to feel frustrated. Wasn't it obvious? "José murdered his wife. Everyone knows he was unhappy with her and he is already involved in another illegal activity."

  "That's it? Because he illegally adulterates liquor, he must also be a murderer? Do you honestly think I didn’t know about his little side business?”

  Abuelita, who now helped Adi hold Tia Rosa upright, waved a hand in the air. "José guilty. You arrest him."

  Agent Vasquez balled his hands into fists and set them on his hips. Looking around us and leaning in, he said in a low growl, "I don't care what your suspicions are. You have no clue what's really going on. Because of your interference, I now have to babysit four inept individuals instead of gathering evidence for my investigation."

  To me, he said, "I had thought you possessed more sense."

  His criticism stung, but had I the chance to live this evening over again, I would still have done the same thing. Tia Rosa was my friend, and it went against my nature to sit idly by while she was accused of a horrible crime.

  Turning away from us, Agent Vasquez waved for us to follow him. "Come on. Let me see you safely home."

  We all objected in unison.

  "I am concerned about the safety of the other residents of Baños with you four on the loose. I will feel better if I see you home."

  His giant, black SUV was parked nearby. None of us wanted to sit in the front with Agent Vasquez, so we piled into the backseat and rode to the restaurant like a bunch of felons. Tia Rosa snored.

  "Is Sylvia working? I would like to have a word with her," Agent Vasquez said as he parked alongside the square by the restaurant.

  “She busy. You talk with Sylvia other day,” said Abuelita, looking alarmed.

  Tia Rosa snorted. “Sylvia not too busy for talk to handsome man.”

  “My Sylvia no think he handsome. You drunk.”

  “She tell me she think he handsome. And I not drunk, okay?”

  Agent Vasquez was very quiet in the front seat.

  Abuelita flung her door open. “You no drunk? You prove it.”

  Tia Rosa pulled a Gatorade bottle out of her plastic bag. It was half-full of a clear liquid. “Adi ask for vodka. I save vodka for recipe, okay?”

  Adi kissed Tia Rosa on the cheek. “Ay, Tia, thank you.”

  “Why you act drunk?” asked Abuelita.

  Tia Rosa looked up at Agent Vasquez, who now stood towering over her. “I hope escape trouble. But it no work.”

  Agent Vasquez looked between the two elderly sisters. “Do you even know how to stay out of trouble or does it always follow you?”

  Smiling up at him, Tia Rosa said, “Is okay. You good man. I trust you no put me in jail.”

  His face gave nothing away. Without another word, he crossed the street to the restaurant.

  Sylvia stood smiling at the cash register. To her credit, her smile did not fade as we got nearer.

  Before Agent Vasquez could voice any of his complaints against us, Sylvia motioned for us to follow her into the kitchen. Pulling five mugs out of the cupboard, she silenced any attempt at speech until she poured the coffee and a glass of mineral water for Adi. It was a smart move. She was the boss in the kitchen. She called the shots. Even Agent Vasquez relaxed his normally stiff pose. You know, he really wasn't a bad looking man. He was obviously a hard worker and possessed more sense than I had given him credit for. He had known about José.

  Taking a sip of her coffee and setting her mug down on the middle of the island we had gathered around, Sylvia placed both of her hands palm down on the surface and said, "Okay, you may speak now. What happened?" She looked directly at Agent Vasquez for answers.

  He cleared his throat and I got the distinct impression he was nervous. Knowing he had a crack in his armor brought a smile to my face.

  Unfortunately for me, Abuelita saw my changed expression. "Why you smile? You estúpida? We in trouble," she grumbled.

  Tia Rosa winked at me and nodded.

  "These four caused a bar fight at The Lava Lounge," he began.

  Raising her arms, Sylvia rushed around the island to alternately pat Adi’s and my hair, run her fingers over our faces while her ey
es searched for injuries, and generally act very much like a concerned mother between glares at her mother. "Ay, you poor things! How did it happen? You are not hurt, are you?"

  Agent Vasquez attempted to interrupt her ministrations, which only earned him a glare stronger than the one she had given her mom.

  Adi answered her. "We’re fine, Ma."

  Turning to address Sylvia, Agent Vasquez continued, "Señora Jimenez—"

  "Sylvia," she interrupted. “Do not make me remind you again, Agent Vasquez.”

  "Very well, Sylvia. I realize that what I am about to ask might be impossible, but I must ask it before anyone is hurt. There is much more to this investigation than meets the eye and I missed out on an important opportunity to discover new information tonight because I had to get these ladies off the premises. Can you please keep them out of my investigation?"

  Without hesitation, Sylvia said, "About that. The day Jessica arrived and she accidentally left her stuff in the back of Maria's car, I called Maria to see if she could swing by and drop it off. I mentioned it to my family, but I feel foolish for not thinking of mentioning it to you before. They are such a volatile family, it didn't strike me as odd at the time."

  Agent Vasquez pulled out his notepad, ready to write. "What did you hear?"

  "There were two men fighting in the background. I had to wait for Maria to go inside so that she could hear me. They were yelling and I heard a sound like they were struggling. Like feet scuffing over gravel."

  "Could you identify the voices?" Agent Vasquez asked.

  "No, but I took the liberty of calling Martha this evening to ask if she remembered seeing anything. Unfortunately, she and the kids were at the back of the house doing laundry at the wash tank."

  Adi added, "Even if she heard something, she probably wouldn't think to look. José and Maria have had the police called on them more than once during their shouting matches."

  Abuelita piped up. "Maybe Maria have other man. She dump José. He get angry and he kill her."