“My wife is good at solving crimes,” Derek said, shocking Nikki, because she didn’t expect his support.
The young woman’s eyes widened. “Are you an American policewoman?”
“No, but my aunt was a detective and I did learn a few things from her. So is it okay?”
Susannah shrugged. “Yes.”
“Last night after everyone was gone, or after that group left, did anything else happen here? Did anyone come back from that group? Or, even someone from another group? Did anything seem strange to you?”
“No. Nothing strange.” She shook her head, but there was something in the way that she said it, or in her body language, that wasn’t totally convincing to Nikki.
“How about you, Guillermo? Notice anything odd? Anyone that you didn’t know or recognize. Anyone else come to have dinner? Or did anyone ask you questions about what happened?”
“No. I don’t think so. You both left and I cleaned up the restaurant. There were some people still here. No one else came and nobody from that group returned.”
“We went home after that,” Susannah added. “My mother and I live close by. We walked home and went to bed.”
Guillermo nodded. “I walked with them, and then I caught a bus to my apartment in town.”
“They say that my mother killed the American man,” Susannah said between tears. “I can’t believe they are saying that.”
“Where was the gun? You said that she kept a gun in case of bandidos, right?” Nikki asked.
Susannah nodded. “She kept it in a coffee can in the cupboard. But the police found it in the freezer.”
“In the freezer?” Derek exclaimed.
“Yes. But my mother never moved it. She did not do that. She didn’t kill the man.”
Nikki wasn’t finding any concrete answers so far, other than she grew further convinced that Juanita didn’t kill Villa Man. “I know there were a couple of other occupied tables after we left. Did anyone say anything, or react in any way to the fight that happened, or how loud the man and his group were?”
“Not too much. There were some touristas in that corner there.” She pointed to a table that seated four. It was the same table where Nikki noticed the two guys and that intense woman.
“And, did something happen with them?”
Susannah shook her head. “No. They were nice…but the lady, she did come back later.”
Nikki realized she’d asked her that specific question—if anyone had returned. Maybe she hadn’t understood, or maybe the woman scared her. “She did? By herself?”
“Yes.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“No. My mother did.”
“Do you know what they talked about?”
“I did not ask my mother. I thought maybe the lady forgot something and came back to see if she could find it. She did not stay long.”
“Did you see her, Guillermo?”
“No. After I cleaned up the restaurant I went into the kitchen.”
“You didn’t ask your mother anything about it?” Nikki asked.
Susannah looked at her. “No.”
Nikki had to wonder if the girl was telling her the truth because something didn’t feel right. She sighed and glanced over at Derek. He looked about as confused as she felt.
“Did you notice the touristas much? The woman who came back last night? Did they seem different in any way to you? Did they laugh a lot? Talk a lot? Or did they seem sullen?”
“I don’t understand?”
“How did they act?”
“Normal, I think. They just seemed to be talking and eating dinner like everyone else. Why?”
Nikki didn’t know why, but she knew that she trusted her gut, and she knew there was something different about the three people at that table. “And that was it? Have you ever seen any of them before?”
She nodded. “The blond man. One other time. Came here for a taco and a beer.”
“Did you ever see that other group before? The ones who made so much noise? The man and woman who were found dead?”
“No. I never see them before.” She looked away. Then her eyes widened. “What do you mean? One of those women is dead, too?”
Guillermo crossed his arms. “That is not true—is it?”
It suddenly dawned on Nikki that they hadn’t been told about Dream. “The woman that the man was with: she was found dead this morning—also murdered.”
“Oh no. Mios Dios!”
“I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
“No. The police tell us nothing. Just came here, went through the restaurant, found the gun, and took my mother.”
Nikki couldn’t ignore the feeling in her gut that the young woman was not being completely forthright with her. “Susannah, what aren’t you telling me? Your mother is in jail for a murder she didn’t commit. I believe she didn’t anyway. But she could stay there for the rest of her life. Do you want that?”
“No!” Tears sprang to her eyes.
“Then what aren’t you telling us?” Derek asked gently.
“The man with the group—the Mexican man and woman…”
“Yes?” Nikki urged.
“Ricardo Rivera. He is a very rich man and he is also connected to bad people. That is what people say. I do not know that though.”
“No, no. We don’t know that,” Guillermo added.
“Are you saying that the man with the group last night is connected to a cartel?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I think so,” she whispered.
“I don’t think we should talk about this,” Guillermo said. “I don’t think that is true. There is no cartel here.”
Derek gave Nikki a look that said, This ain’t so good.
Nikki’s mind reeled. She’d dealt with murderers. She’d put some really bad people in jail. But if this were the case, if a Mexican cartel was somehow involved with the two murders that had occurred, she wasn’t sure she could go up against that.
However, Nikki also knew that she could never allow an innocent woman to rot in jail for a crime that she didn’t commit.
Chapter Eight
“You’re being awfully quiet.” Nikki squeezed Derek’s hand as their toes dragged along the sand and water, spritzing up splashes of the Pacific.
He sighed. “I don’t know what to think, Nik. I mean, I agree with you that we can’t let some innocent woman go to jail. But at the same time, this sounds bigger than what you, or we can handle. A cartel? Holy hell! You read the papers, listen to the news. This isn’t your local group of gangbangers—and who is to say the police aren’t involved?”
“They might be, which is more reason to help Juanita out.”
“No. I think we can’t this time. You can’t.”
She stopped walking, planted her feet firmly in the sand and crossed her arms. “I know you think that I’m crazy, and I probably am. You’re right. There isn’t much logic here, is there?”
He nodded in agreement. “No, I’m afraid there isn’t.”
“But honey, I’m sorry, for whatever reason I’ve got this do-gooder thing instilled in me. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I was tossed aside by my parents and had the good fortune to wind up with my aunt, who was always just and fair, kind and loving—”
“And logical. Would she want you to do this?” he interrupted. “Would Aunt Cara be okay with this?”
Nikki looked down at her toes buried deep in the sand. “You know what? I think she would. If I could e-mail her I would, but she’s on her sojourn in India right now. If I had to put money on it, I think Cara would want me to help this lady.”
He shrugged. “I married a crazy woman for sure, and it’s a good thing that I am crazy in love with you. I must be crazy too, because I’m going to help you. We are in this together, Mrs. Malveaux.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband’s lips. “We make a good team, Mr. Malveaux.”
“Crazy team, but good. Okay, my lovely wife, since you’ve done this before.” He closed hi
s eyes. “I can’t believe that I’m saying this…since you have solved more than one murder in your day, where do we start? Do we go straight for the jugular and take out the mobster?”
“No.” She stifled her laughter, although it wasn’t exactly a funny situation, but he was truly endearing himself further to her at this point—if that was possible. “No. we don’t start with the cartel member. Where we start is where my gut has told me to start: with the three touristas at the other table.”
“And how do we plan to do that?”
She clucked her tongue. “Good question, with no viable answer to it at the moment. However, I have often found in these situations that the answer at times rolls out in front of me. I just have to recognize it.”
“And me? What’s my job in this?”
“Stand there and look good.” She laughed.
“Don’t think so. I am pretty sure you’re going to need some muscle. A good wingman is key.” He flexed his arm, which did expose a nicely toned bicep. She licked her lips.
“All of this thinking, investigating, and admiring has caused me to finally work up an appetite, wingman.”
“I’m a little hungry, too.”
“Good. Lunch at the hotel, where we can think some more, and then maybe a quick dessert in our room. One must not only be fed well while working an investigation in order to have energy, but a little physical activity will help us stay in shape. Just in case we need to run from the bad guys.”
He smiled. “You really are brilliant. Lunch and dessert it is.”
Chapter Nine
The peace and calm of the ocean in the early afternoon—their view from the restaurant—didn’t exactly reflect Nikki and Derek’s moods. The restaurant captured a bright, festive décor with large ceiling fans rotating on high wooden beams above them. Waiters smiled brightly as they served the clientele, which ranged from local businessmen and women to mainly tourists. Aside from Nikki and Derek, everyone looked to be having a great time as laughter and small talk rang through the room. The aroma of garlic and exotic spices wafted through the air as upbeat Spanish tunes played through the sound system. If murder wasn’t on their minds, no doubt they would be enjoying the lively atmosphere while eating their delicious meals.
They both tried to enjoy the food they had ordered, figuring that since they were still on vacation (sort of), they might as well indulge in a cerveza. But they were lost in the somberness of what had occurred in the past several hours, and the fact that the murders of Villa Man and his girlfriend Dream could be more than just your average murders (not that any murder was terribly average). This was not Napa Valley. This was Mexico, and there were some really bad dudes in this part of the world.
Nikki took a bite of her adobo shrimp taco. “What do you think?” she asked.
“Oh it’s good,” Derek replied. He’d ordered the braised short rib enchiladas.
“No. I know the food is good, but what do you think of all this? What do you think happened last night to Villa Man and his girlfriend?”
“I don’t know. This is kind of where you’re the expert.”
“I know, but we think differently.”
“That’s true. What are you getting at?”
“Okay, you are very organized, detailed and I am sort of an outside-the-box thinker…maybe a little more creative.”
He frowned. “I’m not sure how I should take that, my love. I am after all a winemaker.”
“True, but there’s a lot of science that goes into making wine.”
“That there is. Again, I have to ask: what are you getting at?” He spooned some black beans out of an ornate ceramic bowl.
“What I am getting at is that you can come at this with a different mind-set, a different angle. Let’s play a little game.”
“I like your games,” he said. “Does this one involve tequila?”
“Afraid not. Right now, we are on a one-drink limit. We need to be thinking clearly.”
“Damn. Fine. What’s your game?”
“We start coming up with theories on what happened last night. First we plot out what we both know, and then we come up with theories on our own and see what we get.”
“Not a bad idea. Let’s start.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“Wait a minute, Chief,” he said.
“Yeah? Chief? Why chief?”
“Hey, you’re the boss in this game.”
“You boys and your nicknames.” She’d had quite a few, from the ongoing “Snow White” to “Goldilocks” when she’d been a blonde, “Pink” when she’d been forced to cut off those locks after Violet stuck gum in her hair just prior to her nuptials, and of course “Bellissima” by Marco, now “Chief” by her husband!
“Whatever. What I was saying, if you’d let me finish, is that what if one of our theories turns out to be correct? Is there a prize?”
“Hmm. I like where this is going.” She took a sip of her beer. “Yes. I think there should be a prize if one of us solves this thing and winds up being correct.”
“What do you think it should be?”
“I don’t know. What about you?”
“I’m not sure either. We need to think on it, but I’m guessing that it should involve tequila.”
“You are, are you? I’m game. Let’s play. What do we know about last night? Let’s start there.”
“Wow, you go from flirting to all business in a nano-second.” He sipped his beer.
“We have a murder to solve. Two murders.” She held up two fingers. “I want to get it done, so we can return to our vacation in the sun.”
“Okay, but instead of just going back to last night, didn’t you tell me that you and Simon saw that whole crew at the pool earlier in the day, and they were pretty obnoxious?”
“We didn’t see the whole crew. It was just the tattooed guy, Dream, and Villa Man. I don’t think Tattoo Tim’s girlfriend was out there. I can’t remember, because the only one really being obnoxious was Villa Man, now dead guy.”
“Maybe, we should start there then.”
“I knew you’d be good at this.” She held up her beer. “To my new partner in crime.”
He tipped his glass toward hers. “Well, I’ve sort of figured out that where you’re concerned, if I can’t beat her, I’m gonna have to join her.”
Braised Short Rib Enchiladas and Adobo Shrimp Taco
It takes a lot for an amateur sleuth to think on her feet. At least for now, Nikki has the “buy-in” of her significant other, and that is saying a lot about how far Derek has come with his detective wife over the past few years. To think quickly, one must be well nourished, and the enchiladas that Derek just ate are hearty, rich, and delicioso.
Nikki chose the lighter fare of adobo shrimp tacos. Both plates are perfect with a glass of Bohemian beer!
Beef Short Rib Enchilada
Makes Four servings
Ingredients
Tomatillo Salsa:
5 tomatillos, chopped
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 shallot, sliced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, sliced
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
Olive oil
Beef Short rib Enchiladas:
2 to 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 leek, white and light green parts only, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cored, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 jalapeño, seeds removed, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 canned chipotle chili
5 Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup tequila
1 orange, cut in half
4 to 6 cups chicken stock
Cilantro, for serving, if desired
Sliced scallions, for serving, if desired
> Queso fresco, for serving, if desired
Corn tortillas, for serving, if desired
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Tomatillo Salsa:
Combine all ingredients except cilantro, over medium heat, and cook for 10 minutes in 1/2 cup olive oil, until soft, even slightly caramelized. Puree in a blender. Add chopped cilantro and keep warm.
Beef Short Rib Enchiladas:
In a sauté pan, over high heat, season short ribs with salt and pepper and sear all sides until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
In a large pot, over medium heat, combine the next 8 ingredients and cook in 1/2 cup of olive oil until tender. Add chipotles, tomatoes, cumin, and tomato paste. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Deglaze with tequila and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add short ribs and orange to mixture and cover with chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in the preheated oven for approximately 4 hours or until meat is falling apart.
Remove meat from liquid and let cool. Puree the liquid and vegetables, except orange and strain through fine mesh strainer. Season with salt and pepper.
Shred meat and let cool. Combine meat with cilantro, sliced scallions, and queso fresco. Roll desired amount into corn tortillas. Reserve
Serving Suggestion:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Ten minutes before serving, place the short rib enchiladas in a sauté pan with a little of the braising sauce, into the preheated oven. Ladle 3 ounces of sauce onto the plate. Place 1/2 cup of steamed white rice on the sauce. Place hot enchiladas on top. Top with 2 ounces of tomatillo salsa. To add some crunch, top with fried blue corn tortilla chips.
For the Adobo Shrimp Tacos
Ingredients:
4 Corn Tortillas
12 large raw Shrimp, Deveined and Shelled
½ teaspoon Chili Powder
¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin
3 dashes Sea Salt
1½ tablespoons Olive Oil
3 tablespoons chopped Cilantro
3 tablespoons chopped Red Onion
1 cup shredded Green Cabbage
A Killer Margarita (Nikki Sands'/Wine Lover's Mystery Series) Page 5