Murder on the Equator Box Set

by Becca Bloom

  Washo wiped his fingers, then took his plate over to the sink where an employee took it away from him before he could wash it. His effort received a smile from Sylvia and an approving nod from Abuelita. Tia Rosa poured him another glass of juice. The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach, but it was clear for all to see that the way to a Jimenez woman's heart was by doing the dishes. Major points for Agent Vasquez!

  He looked at me intently as he slowly rotated his glass in a circle between his thick fingers. "I’ve heard some things about you. Are they true?"

  I wasn't about to admit to anything I didn't understand in front of the detective. "What's true?"

  "A little birdie told me that you challenged General Bolivar’s entire Cold Case Team, claiming you could solve the case before his team even arrives in Baños." He folded his arms in front of his chest and considered me through eyes that undoubtedly noticed how my heartbeat pounded against the fabric of my t-shirt.

  I wanted to fidget and lower my gaze, but I knew better than to show any fear in front of him. Keeping my eyes level with his, I said, "That's not exactly how I remember the conversation, but I was given authorization to find out what I could. If we find Sophia's killer, who for all we know is in town this weekend for a special event, then Tia Rosa can remodel her property and Adi can run her new business properly."

  Just in case he didn't hear the first part, I repeated, "I was given permission from the general himself."

  Washo let me sweat it out long enough for me think I had made my last mistake and would soon find myself locked up in a foreign jail. I'd come close enough to it too many times in the past month to count, and I knew that Agent Vasquez had shown a grand amount of tolerance where I was concerned. Had I finally crossed the line?

  A smile cracked his serious demeanor and he chuckled. "All the guys in my department got a huge kick out of how easily a tourist girl managed to bend the great general to her will." He leaned forward against his forearms. "We want you to succeed. I sense that with your background, you have the motivation to help your friends as well as give another family the closure you crave."

  The tenderness in his voice and the striking accuracy of his assessment made my eyes sting. I took a gulp of juice to loosen the knot in my throat, and mumbled a strained, "Thank you."

  “Did you start with the friends and the family? They always know more than they admit to … even if they’re innocent,” Washo said, getting down to business.

  I told him about the study group of Sophia’s friends as well as my conversations with them and her mother.

  He nodded slowly, moving on to the next point. “Were you able to ascertain the method? How was Sophia killed?”

  I’d given that detail a lot of thought and believed my conclusion was logical. “Whoever did it must have killed her before they buried her. Dragging a dead body through a small town like this would draw too much attention, so I think she was killed inside the building. They couldn’t have poured cement over her themselves or the construction workers would have noticed. However, they could have covered her with enough dirt, nobody suspected anything when they continued with their work the next day.”

  Washo pinched his chin. “That’s what I would go with. Did you get any pictures of the body?”

  I opened the file with Sophia’s pictures and handed him my phone. He studied them, grunting every now and then. “There’s so much dust, it’s difficult to detect a cause of death. You didn’t by any chance see the back of her skull?” he asked hopefully.

  “Nope,” I said, leaving out how close I had actually gotten to the skeleton.

  He asked about motives next.

  “There’s something fishy about the study group Sophia was a part of. I think Alex knows something he’s not willing to share. Everyone but him has been cooperative when I’ve asked questions. Then, there are some major hard feelings between Miss Matty and Señora Cuesta,” I started.

  Abuelita blurted, “Is ex-boyfriend. I feel it in my gut.”

  Washo raised his eyebrows at Abuelita. He was well aware of her gut’s reputation for being wrong.

  I explained, “Sophia’s ex-boyfriend and best friend married each other. I’m hoping to speak with them this afternoon.”

  The thought of venturing outside again reminded me of Lady. She’d been stuck in the backyard all afternoon and she’d enjoy a walk. Hopefully, the Creepy Suits had lost interest in her after following me around all morning.

  I looked out past the mesh of the door and saw her bowl. The bones were still in it.

  Washo asked me more questions, but I didn’t hear them. I opened the door and called Lady, patting my leg.

  My heartbeat slowed and my stomach dropped to my toes as I called again. Abuelita whistled at my side.

  Lady didn’t come. She was gone.

  Chapter 19

  Sylvia's employees were distraught at the news of Lady’s kidnapping. They apologized profusely, all four of them reduced to tears as they tried in vain to remember any helpful detail. But the day had been too agitated and they admitted that someone could have sneaked into the backyard through the side door and they wouldn't have noticed. Their attention had been fixed to the kitchen and the front of the restaurant, not to the back of the property.

  Abuelita called the locksmith to change the lock, and I shamelessly eavesdropped on the pretext of practicing my Spanish comprehension. Apparently, the locksmith’s definition of “immediately” differed from Abuelita’s.

  "How did they get the key?" I asked.

  Washo said, "If someone wants in badly enough, they'll find a way. Key or no key."

  Well, that was reassuring … and explained why Adi’s apartment had three locks on the front door.

  He moved toward the dining room, in full detective mode with his sunglasses on, his notepad and pencil in hand. "I'm going to ask the neighbors if they saw anything."

  Hanging up the phone from her call, Abuelita said, "The locksmith come now.” Once the swinging door closed behind Washo, she added, “Is good Washo ask. He scare the people and they say the truth."

  Sylvia furled her eyebrows, but she didn’t contradict her mom. Before I knew him, I’d have been terrified to cross his path in a dark alley. Seriously, in an episode of good cop/bad cop, there was no doubt which role he’d play. And right then, I wanted him to scare the pants off anyone who knew something about Lady and didn’t come forward with it.

  What kind of a bottom-dweller would break into someone’s home to steal their dog anyway?

  I went outside, anger welling inside of me as my eyes combed over every inch of the backyard for clues. I had no proof, but I knew who had taken her. I just hoped my intuition was more accurate than Abuelita's or else the idea percolating in my brain was a very bad one.

  The screened door slammed behind me and I turned to see Adi crossing the yard. "I just checked in with Washo, and none of the neighbors remember seeing anything. Tia Rosa is beside herself. She thinks it's her fault because we were so busy helping her move her things around, none of us noticed that someone waltzed into the backyard and took Lady. She's at the police station right now, trying to convince them to rustle up a search and rescue team for our lost dog."

  Our lost dog. Adi's choice of words brought me comfort. From being the scrawny stray I’d found on the street, she sure had wiggled her way into our hearts. She wasn't just my dog. She belonged to all of us.

  I looked at my watch and groaned. An hour had gone by since discovering Lady was gone. An hour that I’d not given Sophia any thought at all. "The timing of this could not be worse. Instead of returning to the Hotel Imperial to interview Sophia's ex-boyfriend and best friend, I'm worried about Lady. You and Tia Rosa could lose everything because I’m too distracted by my dog."

  Adi’s eyes roved over the backyard, resting at the shaded spot under the water tank Lady had claimed as her own when it was particularly hot outside. Her water dish was still full. "Then let’s get her back," she said.

&
nbsp; There was no time like the present to trust her with my plan. "I need to find out where the Creepy Suits live. Who would know?"

  A grin spread over Adi’s face. "You won’t like the answer.”

  “I don’t care. I need to get Lady back.”

  She held up a finger and dialed on her phone. When I heard a guy’s voice say, “Hey, baby, what’s your sign?” I knew she’d called Christian.

  I couldn’t hear anything after that, but the call was brief, so I didn’t have to wait long.

  Hanging up, Adi said, “He wouldn't give me the exact location, but he assured me he knows where they live. He was hoping to make a deal with you in exchange for the information. He’s expecting your call," she said, an eyebrow arching up mischievously.

  I could only guess what kind of deal Christian would want to make with me. I had already run out of ways to tell him I was not interested. "If he knows where they live, I need to talk to him. But he's dreaming if he thinks he can finagle a date out of this."

  Adi laughed, "He thinks you’re good for his ‘tough guy’ image. He asked me if you have a tramp stamp. I told him to mind his own business."

  I shivered. I was too squeamish around needles to get a tattoo.

  Adi thankfully changed the subject … which suited me just fine. "Don't worry, Jess. We’ll find Lady and bring her home. And whatever happens with Tia Rosa's building, we'll deal with it too. We'll know we did everything possible to help each other. That's all we can do, and it'll be enough."

  While I’d loved to have blindly believed her optimism, I knew all too well that sometimes things didn’t work out. "But what if it isn't enough? Everything you need to run her business successfully is inside that building, maddeningly close, but it may as well be on another planet. And Tia Rosa has gone into debt just to buy the property and fix it up exactly…" I couldn't say the words, but I now understood why I felt guilty. Tia Rosa was giving me my dream.

  From the large white tiles to the bright pastel chairs and wrought-iron tables with glass tops to the crystal chandelier, everything we had unloaded from that truck’s trailer was a piece of the doughnut shop I had imagined since I was a little girl mixing butter and flour with Mammy.

  Ever since then, I had equated pastries with happiness. I had thought that owning my own doughnut shop would make me the happiest person in the world, but the obstacles had been too great and I had taken the safer route — steady work from the sanctuary of my home. Not so glamorous as owning my own shop, but it kept me close and available to help my family when they needed me … which had been often enough to justify the forfeiture of my dream.

  "Are you kidding? You know me better than that. Do you honestly think I’ll allow anything to stand in the way of what I want? I may have to start again, but I'll do it because my business is worth fighting for. Tia Rosa is the same. She may have to work a little harder to get what she wants, but that won't stop her."

  They were both braver than me.

  I wallowed in self-pity for all of two breaths, then I forced myself to snap out of it. While I was still in Ecuador, there was nothing to prevent me from doing all I could to help them. Had I not helped Jessamyn get her internship at the New York modeling agency? And Jessenia never missed an opportunity to tell me she could never have started her own business without me to help her with Jayden as well as the coding involved in designing her page exactly how she envisioned. Dad called me his muse, and Mom was forever grateful for my ability to stave off the vortex of Dad's depression when his thoughts turned to his missing twin brother. Thinking of them bolstered my confidence. I knew what to do next.

  First, I went back into the kitchen to call Fernanda at the bakery. She had taken her job as an informant very seriously, and I knew that nothing happened at the hotel without her knowledge. It was time to check in to see if any new developments had arisen.

  She answered on the first ring. "I was just going to call you. My contact at the hotel said that Antonio and Diana Manjarrez went with the rest of their group to sing karaoke at the bar down the street. She wasn't sure which one, but I can find out for you if you want."

  I thought about it for a moment, then said, "Don't worry about it, Fernanda. Thank you. If they’re with their group of friends, they may not be as honest as I need them to be. I'll try them in the morning." That, and if the karaoke bar here was his noisy as the ones I'd been to, I wouldn't be able to hear what they said anyway. Just to make sure everyone in the group had gone, I asked, "Did she say if Alex went too?"

  "Yes. She said that he and Shirley went with them. I'll ask her to call me when they return."

  I hung up the phone, satisfied that there was nothing else I could do at the moment to continue in my investigation. Maybe some time thinking of something else — like getting Lady back — would help me see a new angle I hadn't previously considered.

  Lady and the Creepy Suits. Picking up the receiver so that the dial tone resounded through the kitchen, I took a deep breath and asked Adi, “What’s Christian’s number?”

  Before I had completed dialing, Abuelita and Tia Rosa had pushed Adi out of the way, both of them vying for the best spot to overhear my call. Abuelita ruthlessly used her heels and bony elbows while Tia Rosa did her best to ward off her sister’s blows.

  They both froze in place and fell silent when Christian answered. “Is this the area code for Heaven? Because I’m certain you’re an angel.”

  Abuelita grabbed the phone from me (this was becoming a habit).

  “Nobody ever call me ‘angel’. You no care I old enough for to be you grandmother?” she asked in a sweet voice.

  Leave it to Abuelita to leave Christian speechless. As his silence extended and he offered no comeback or lame pick-up line in retort, I took the phone back.

  “Do you know where the people Adi described to you live?” I asked, getting right to the point.

  “Of course. They live right in front of me, mi corazón,” he said.

  Even with his unwanted endearment, I couldn’t prevent the smile from tightening my cheeks and throwing a hand triumphantly into the air. I might have bounced in place, but I couldn’t contain my immense relief. This was going to be way easier than I’d planned.

  Trying to keep the excitement out of my voice lest Christian assume it was aimed at him, I said, “Good. I need your help to break into a house and steal my dog back.”

  Chapter 20

  Going about the next day as if I didn't have something scary planned later was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

  Operation Rescue Lady couldn't happen until dark, but there was much to do for the investigation to keep both my mind and body busy. Abuelita and Tia Rosa had considered it best for me not to share my complete plan with Adi or Sylvia. Sylvia because of her friendship with Washo (what we were planning was not exactly legal). Adi because she only had two more days to complete her customer’s gown.

  Abuelita assured me she had a solid alibi for all of us should we get caught. Knowing what was at stake for me and for her family, I was crazy enough to trust her.

  Out of habit, I opened Adi's front door with my hands open in front of me, ready to pet Lady. Feeling dumb and disappointed, my hands fell to my sides, and I resisted the urge to pick up her water dish to fill in the kitchen sink.

  Abuelita and Tia Rosa had a croissant and a steaming cup of black coffee waiting for me in the middle of the island table downstairs in the kitchen. They paced back and forth as I gulped down my breakfast. I would miss the bread here. If I were Shakespeare, I would write it a sonnet. It was that good.

  Sylvia stepped away from the stove, pulling out the cutting board to dice the pile of bell peppers and onions next to me. Her eyebrows formed a V as she watched her mom and aunt.

  "What are you two up to today?" she asked.

  Tia Rosa stopped pacing, holding a plastic bag to her stomach, her arms folded over it so that I couldn’t see its contents. "Is nothing. We go with Jessica to speak with the friends of Sophia.
I nervous."

  Abuelita crossed her arms, saying boldly, "I no nervous. We get the killer confession. Police return the building."

  Sylvia sighed. "You don't know that for sure, Ma. Just don’t go making unfounded accusations or we'll never solve the mystery of Sophia’s death. There's too much on the line, and I hope you remember that today." She pursed her lips and lowered her chin, giving the "mom” look to her own mother.

  In true mother-teen communication form, Abuelita rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

  Before we gave Sylvia any more reason to worry, we departed for the hotel. True to her promise, Fernanda’s contact had informed her that the old study group had returned to the hotel before midnight. They should be up and around.

  The warm breeze swirled around my bare arms and legs. I waved to Martha and Fernanda as we passed the bakery.

  Two blocks down, Diego was opening his computer shop. I greeted him as we passed by while eying the goodies in his business’ display windows.

  On the other side of the street, Miss Patty, the local art teacher, sat cross-legged in the middle of a yoga mat. I hated to interrupt her flow, but she waved as she began her sun salutation.

  At the end of the street, I saw my Spanish teachers, Hugo and Esmeralda. They greeted me in Spanish and seemed pleased enough when I was able to give a decently pronounced reply.

  We walked by the taffy pullers, who generously broke off a bite-sized piece of candy for us to chew on as we crossed the courtyard in front of the cathedral and continued to the other end of town to the Hotel Imperial.

  Housekeepers vacuumed the carpets in the lobby and polished the glass to a sparkling shine. A room service cart waited in front of the elevators, a man with a chef’s hat and white apron standing beside it. The phone rang repeatedly in the reception area, and I could hear the receptionist placing several callers on hold while she took reservations and answered questions for guests. The hotel was busier than I had ever seen it.