A few minutes later, the waitress served their drinks. Nikki already had Paul’s photo in hand. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes. Do you want something else?”
“Just wondering if you saw this man here last night? He owes us some money.”
The waitress looked at the photo and although she shook her head and said, “No,” Nikki could see in her eyes that she was lying.
As she walked off, Nikki heard a man at another nearby sofa say loudly, “My boss would love you. Oh yes, he is going to love you.”
Nikki focused on the man’s voice, which for some reason sounded familiar. The man—the couple from Juanita’s. Nikki turned, and her stomach tightened as her eyes fell on the woman to whom he was talking. She suddenly stood, surprising Derek. “Come on. We have to get out of here—now!”
“Why?”
“We may have been spotted.”
“What?” Derek said.
Nikki didn’t stop to explain as they hurried out of the club. She practically jogged, and he kept up with her until they turned a corner and ducked into an alcove. Nikki kept looking behind to see if they’d been followed. So far, so good.
“What was that all about?” he asked. “And why are we hiding here?”
“The Latino man at Juanita’s, the one with his wife who got so upset with him over Dream’s dancing? He was there.”
“I don’t think that should come as a shock,” Derek replied. “Sort of figured he was shady. Tim said that he was just a friend of Carrigan’s who invested in the Spanish versions of his films. They were all shady. Let’s face it.”
“It wasn’t just him. The woman he was talking to. He told her that his boss would love her.”
“Yeah? So?”
“She’s the same one who pointed a gun at me today and sent us racing through the streets of Puerto Vallarta.”
“What?”
“Yes. And I think she recognized me back there!”
Chapter Twenty
“What do we do now?” Derek asked.
Nikki grabbed his hand and they started walking. “I’m thinking.”
“Sounds serious. Doesn’t look like we’ve been followed though. Maybe, she didn’t see you.”
“Maybe, but we have to figure out a way to get back into that bar. I think there are answers there. I think that waitress knows something, and I really want to know who that woman is who about sent me and Simon into the drink today.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
As they walked, she talked and gave him a few more details about the afternoon’s car chase. He didn’t say much to the details of her story. Nikki knew how to take his silence. Her husband was not happy about any of this.
They turned down another street and soon came upon a small brick building. The sign on it read La Artistas Perfectas.
Nikki read it again, squinting against the street lights. “The late showing is at an intermission. Come on, we’re going in.”
“What?”
She nodded. “I just figured out something that might work.”
“By watching a play at this hour? It’s almost midnight. What kind of play runs this late? And what is your plan? When you don’t have a plan things happen, like car chases!”
“It’s…ah, developing. Trust me. I told you before that when investigating that sometimes these things have to be fluid. Go with it. And I don’t know what kind of play lasts into the late hours as such, but I can’t think of a better option right now. We need to go back to El Corazon tonight.”
“Oh no. That is not a good plan, and even if it were, I don’t see how watching a midnight hour play is going to help us.”
“Watch and learn, watch and learn.”
He sighed and gave in as they found a pair of empty seats when the lights dimmed.
It didn’t take long to find out what kind of play occurred at such a late hour. Nikki’s jaw dropped as a very well-endowed Jorge from the rental car place pranced on stage fully nude, along with an actress wearing a nun’s habit. Nikki closed her eyes, but then found herself peering through her fingers at the spectacle. She glanced over at Derek, who looked as bewildered and blindsided as she had been.
He took her hand. “We’re out of here.”
“No. We need those costumes,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Trust me, we need some disguises.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe this.”
“Believe it.”
“Fine. Then let me lead this little expedition. God knows I had my days as a delinquent.”
“You did?” she whispered back, surprised.
“Follow me for a change.” They stood and walked out of the theater. Nikki followed Derek as he found a closed side door and went inside. A small room contained two mirrors against the wall, makeup spread out on the counter, and a closet—a large closet. The best thing: no one was around to watch over any of it.
Nikki went to the closet, found what she thought might work and handed Derek a pile full of clothes—aka costumes—and aka in this instance, disguises.
They left out the side door and walked quickly just in case. “We are thieves!” he exclaimed.
“No. No, no, no. We are only borrowing this stuff. I promise we’ll return it. Now we have to get dressed, because I don’t want anyone there recognizing us, especially that woman—whoever the hell she is.
They found a church connected to a graveyard. The church doors were locked, so they walked through the gates of the cemetery. “As if this isn’t spooky,” Derek said. “I’m wondering if Simon and Marco are having as much fun.”
“Shhh. You’ll wake the dead.”
“Fat chance of that, honey.”
“Put on your stuff there,” Nikki instructed.
A few minutes later Father Derek and Sister Nikki, dressed as a priest and nun, were walking back through the gates of the graveyard. “Pretty sure we might be going to Hell for this,” Derek muttered.
“Oh come on, you don’t think God has a sense of humor?”
“I sure hope so. Now what, Sister?”
“We go play a little James Bond.”
“Dressed like this?”
“Yep.”
“James Bond has guns and things and takes people down,” Derek said. “I don’t think we’re equipped for that.”
“Maybe not, but James Bond always gets the girl. Pretty sure that’s going to happen here.” She winked at him.
“Sounds good, Elektra King.”
“Elektra who?” Nikki stopped and turned around.
“Sophie Marceau, 1999. Favorite Bond flick. One where Pierce Brosnan plays Bond. The World is Not Enough. It’s where the assassin—”
Nikki held up her hand. “Okay, first off, I saw it. Not my favorite, but whatever. Second, Elektra is a villainess—a real bitch—not a good girl.”
“Are you saying that you’re a good girl?” Derek smiled.
“I’m dressed as a nun, aren’t I?”
“Right. You do realize that you just stole that outfit and you are not a nun.”
“We didn’t steal. We are borrowing it.”
“Whatever you say.” He wrapped an arm around her. “Come on, Elektra, we have some spying to do.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Alright, now that we’re all dressed up like this, what’s your master plan, I ask—yet again,” Derek said as they hid, scrunched down behind a taco stand that stood across from El Corazon.
“We have go back in there.”
“Oh, and no one in there is going to notice a priest and a nun entering the premises. Come on, Nik! We’d be better off going back in the way we were than dressed like this. I can’t imagine we’d be welcome with open arms. Not a good plan.”
“I’m thinking this through.”
“I’m taking this thing off. I don’t see the point,” he said.
Nikki sighed. “I think you’re right. I don’t know what to do.”
“
Wait a minute,” he said. “Look. Look there.” He pointed to the entrance of the bar.
Fortunately, they got lucky as a little Bond type of action took place—so to speak. No shootouts or high-speed chases, but in Nikki’s world it made her feel very Elektra. She glanced at Derek as they watched six young women leave El Corazon. Some looked like dancers, a couple of others were waitresses, including the girl who had served them earlier. Last was the woman with the intense eyes and race car driving skills. The one who Nikki was pretty sure wanted to kill her.
Another woman followed them out: the Latino woman with the Mt. Everest-size diamond from the other night in the restaurant.
What in the hell was going on?
A couple of thuggy-looking guys herded them all into a white van. Nikki looked at Derek. “We have to find a cab. We have to follow that van.”
“How—?”
“Come on!” She ran up to the main street, where plenty of nightlife still went on. She spotted a taxi parked across the street and hailed it. The cab swung around and Nikki and Derek got in.
“Padre y monja. Come esta ustedes? Que necessitas?”
“Oh no. We’re from America. We’re here helping at an orphanage,” Nikki said. Yeah, Derek was right—she probably was going to hell. She might even be delivered there in a hand-basket at this rate.
The cab driver turned around and smiled. Nikki’s jaw dropped and she quickly looked out the window. “That is very nice,” he said. “Where are you going?”
Nikki could not believe her luck. The cabbie was the same one who had driven her and Simon around. Jeesh! Weren’t there any labor laws? How could this guy still be working?
Nikki saw the white van pull out onto the main street. Thank God! “Can you please follow that white van?”
“Of course, are there children in it?”
“Something like that,” she said.
The driver looked in his rearview mirror. “You look very familiar, Sister.”
Nikki laughed nervously. “I do? Oh, people say that all the time.”
The man nodded. “Yes, well, you do.”
Derek glanced at her and she shrugged.
About five minutes out of town, Nikki realized how close they were to their villa. They were headed toward Conchas Chinas.
“I run a fishing boat, too,” the driver said. “Padre, you can come and fish with me. I take you to where all of the good fish are.”
“Sounds wonderful, my son.”
Nikki gave him an odd look and mouthed, my son?
Derek mouthed back Bond.
Nikki rolled her eyes.
“Sister, the van is turning here. Is this where you are going?”
The van turned down the same driveway as the cab had earlier that day. The one that they had followed from the Four Seasons.
“No. That is fine. We just want to be certain that the children arrive safely where they need to be.”
“At Ricardo Rivera’s home?”
“Who?”
“Ricardo Rivera.”
“You said earlier that you didn’t know who lived there.”
“Ah ha!”
Nikki bit her lip. Oops! “What do you mean ah ha?”
“Yeah? What’s this all about?” Derek asked.
“She is no nun, Padre. She is a devil!” The cabbie pointed at Nikki.
Derek leaned into her and whispered, “I told you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Today you were in my car with that other man who you said you were marrying and you wanted to see who owned that house. I gave your…your fiancé my card—”
“Fiancé?” Derek asked.
“Yes. He said that he would call me to go fishing. I thought I would then find out who lives in that house. It’s not good. I asked many people, until someone told me that it belongs to Ricardo Rivera, and he is a bad man.”
“With the cartel?” Nikki asked.
The cab driver didn’t respond.
“You said there was no cartel here,” she pressed.
He continued the silent treatment.
“Okay, here’s the deal. We are with the American authorities.”
The cabbie’s eyes widened. “No!”
She nodded and nudged Derek.
“You’re not a nun or a priest, or a woman marrying a gay man?”
“Oh. That explains it,” Derek said.
“How did you know he was gay?” Nikki asked.
Derek looked at her. The cab driver looked at her. She just shrugged. “Yes. No. I am not a nun and neither is my partner here a priest, I mean—or my other partner. My other partner is gay, but we’re not getting married.”
Derek buried his face in his hands.
“Those were not children in the van?”
“No,” Nikki said. “I can’t tell you more. It’s an investigation and I don’t want to have you harmed in any way.”
Tears welled in the cabbie’s eyes. “You are not harming me. I lie to you when I tell you that we have no drugs or bad people. Drugs are what killed my little brother. I want to help you.”
Nikki thought for a moment. Derek shook his head. “No. No.”
“What’s your name?”
“Frederico.”
“We will be in touch, Frederico. My other partner has your card. If we need your help, we will call. But you have to keep this a secret. Understood?”
“Of course. Where shall I take you?”
“We can walk from here.”
“We can?” Derek asked.
“Yes.”
They paid Frederico and stood at the side of the road as he drove off. “American authorities?” Derek yelled.
“I had to say something. I had to come up with some kind of story.”
“And you were going to marry my brother?” He smacked his forehead. “What next?”
“You make a great James Bond.” She sidled up next to him and rubbed his arm.
“No. We are finished for the night.”
“Not quite. We have one more thing to do. One more little itty bitty thing to do. Ricardo Rivera is the man who was at Juanita’s, and the bar. We have a name now. We need to find out what’s going on in the house down there.” She pointed past the gates.
“You’re serious?”
“I am.”
He sighed. “You’re crazy.”
“I think you’ve told me that once or twice before and I haven’t disagreed with you.”
“Fine. How do we do that? Find out what’s going on in the house?” he asked.
She smiled and took him by the arm. “I’ve got a plan.”
“Of course you do.”
Chapter Twenty-two
“I don’t know about this,” Derek said.
Nikki agreed with him but didn’t want to let on. They needed to know what was going on inside that house. Why? That was the question running through her mind, which she was sure also ran through her husband’s brain. Juanita’s face in the back of that police car was why! The woman who had followed her was inside the house. Rivera’s wife was also inside the house—and possibly Rivera as well. They had all been at the restaurant the night of the murders.
Someone in that house knew what was going on. Nikki felt sure of that. What she wasn’t sure of was how she was going to find out who knew what.
What she did know is that she and Derek, were in back of the house after discovering a dirt pathway on the side of the fence that led there. The problem now was that the path ended at a sheer cliff that went straight down to the ocean.
“I think I can get a look if I just ease my way about three feet to the right,” Nikki said.
“Nik, there is no three feet to the right.”
“Give me your cell phone.”
“What?”
“You have the flashlight app on it. I want to take a look.”
“Okay, but you don’t want anyone to spot us out here.”
They’d kept their voices low because they were at
the bottom of the infinity pool’s wall. There were definitely people in the pool and on the patio. Music played and laughter rang. Nikki could see lights on in the villa, which was even more impressive from what she could tell than the one they were now renting. She realized they could be noticed if someone was looking.
Nikki was careful when she aimed the light. She could take maybe two steps to her right without likely slipping and falling to the ocean below. She started inching her way along.
“No!” Derek exclaimed.
“Hold my arm, and let me try.”
“This is crazy. You’re crazy. I’m crazy.”
“We’ve already established that. Now hold my arm.”
Derek held onto her as she took a step, and then half a step, which sent dirt and rock spiraling to the ocean below. Derek started to pull her back in.
“I’m fine. I’ve got this.”
She stood on her tiptoes and was able to get a glimpse at the people outside. It wasn’t just the women from the club. There were men too, each paired off with a woman, and Nikki realized what she was likely witnessing—an upscale Mexican brothel. She looked harder, searching out the woman—Lady Intense. That was what she called her now. She finally spotted her by the bar, laughing and drinking a glass of wine. She was talking to the Rivera couple. Yep. That chick was bad.
As she stood a little higher on her tiptoes, more dirt and rock gave way and Nikki lost her footing. She let out a muffled scream. The nun habit she was wearing went flying off her head and fell to the ocean below.
Nikki’s heart pounded hard against her chest. “Hang on, Nik!” Derek’s hand closed tighter around her wrist as he pulled. The cross around her neck felt heavy. He reached out further and cupped a hand under her arm, risking his own life. They both could have easily slipped and fallen to their deaths in that moment. Derek pulled hard and brought her back up to solid ground bringing her in close to him. She could hear his heart beating rapidly and knew that it matched her own at that moment. “You okay, baby? Oh my God! Are you okay?”
She nodded. They heard people swimming over to the edge of the pool. “I heard someone scream.”
“Come on!” He took her hand and they bolted back up the path they’d come down on. There was a cluster of palm trees and tropical flowers at the top of the drive, which they ducked behind to catch their breath.
A Killer Margarita (Nikki Sands'/Wine Lover's Mystery Series) Page 10