Scottsdale Sizzle: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 3)

by B A Trimmer

  “We’ve already put out stories to the media that the explosion was caused by some pyrotechnics that went off prematurely. Since the explosive was a mixture of black powder, rather than C4, it will help corroborate the story. Some of the people heard you yell out that there was a bomb, so there may be some confusion about that. But most of the people there didn’t hear a thing. In fact, once we put out the story of some fireworks shooting off, people have come forward and given vivid stories about the event that closely matched what we put out as a bogus cover story. People are funny that way.”

  “You don’t think anyone there will cause a fuss about what happened?”

  “Fortunately, the people who could have made it difficult for us, members of the city council, the mayor’s staff, and the other resort owners, left immediately after the dinner. Those who were still at the reception were mostly the family and friends of the bride and groom. I don’t see that the media will treat it as more than a curiosity at a wedding. The police may have their suspicions, of course, but we’ll make sure those suspicions don’t lead anywhere.”

  “Were you able to get the guy that set off the bomb? He was the same jerk that threw a hatchet at me a few months ago. I owe him some serious payback”

  “I was curious how you had identified the man. I had assumed it was by his actions with the detonator. Unfortunately, in the confusion after the blast, the man you fought with got away. The other two weren’t so lucky.”

  “Should I ask?”

  “Carlos wanted to send me a message with his bomb. Well, I’ve sent him a message too. I’ve reminded him that we live in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. It’s a big empty place with lots of holes in the dirt. His guys just filled up two of them.”

  As Tony said this, I saw Gabriella turn. Until this point, she had been looking out into the hallway, not moving. When she turned, I saw she had a small half-smile. I also saw her face and her chest were flushing a bright red, as if she were reliving a powerful erotic memory.

  Oh, umm, of course, sure.

  “I thought security last night was air-tight,” Tony continued, “however, in light of the current situation, I should have been even more vigilant. They came at my guys while three of them were out on a smoke break. With the current workplace health and safety rules, the smoking area was outside of the security perimeter we had established. Of course, that is a hole in security that has been corrected. Fortunately, they only roughed the three guys then stole their uniforms and ID badges. Again, Carlos didn’t seem to want deaths in the open like that. It was all part of sending me his message.”

  A nurse came in and spent about three minutes checking all of the instruments attached to Max. She then typed some information into a tablet computer and left.

  “Laura Black, I’ll be honest with you,” Tony said. He was starting to lose the look of shame and regret. It was slowly being replaced with thoughtfulness and determination. “I need your help with this. You are under no obligation to do so, in fact, I am already deeply in your debt. But I would sincerely appreciate your assistance. Last night, you were able to identify the triggerman as one of Carlo’s associates, which is something my guys completely failed to do. You have a good head on your shoulders and you don’t panic when the shit gets stirred up. Plus,” he said with a small chuckle, “I’ve observed whenever something happens, you always seem to be in the middle of it anyway.”

  Shit, I always knew it would come to this.

  I looked over at Max. It was the first time I had ever seen him this helpless and vulnerable. I got a protective surge and I knew what I had to do. I’ve never been a mother, but I can imagine this is the same feeling a mother gets when one of her children are threatened.

  “OK Tony. For this one, and I mean for this one only, I’m on the team.”

  ~~~~

  Sophie and I walked out of the clinic to the parking lot where she had her yellow Volkswagen. As soon as we stepped outside, we were met with a sizzling blast of Arizona desert heat. I saw Sophie wince from the temperature then quickly walk towards her car. I walked more slowly. A strange sense of empowerment was coming over me.

  “Are you coming?” Sophie turned to me and asked. “I need air conditioning.”

  “Go ahead and start the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  I walked over to a small mound in the landscaping where the view of Scottsdale was the best. I stopped to take in the view and to enjoy the heat. As I watched, Sophie gingerly opened her car door then stepped back from the rush of heat. I then heard her curse as she sat on the hot car seat and again as she tried to buckle the searing hot seat belt.

  I realized all at once that instead of disliking the heat, as Sophie did, I seemed to draw strength from it. I think I had always instinctively known this, but this was the first time I had actually put it together as a complete thought. The desert had tried to kill me several times over the last few years but I always come out stronger. Somehow, I knew I always would.

  From here in the parking lot, the view of Scottsdale was the same as the view Tough Tony had been seeing a few minutes earlier. From where I was standing, I could see where I had grown up in the Granite Reef district of south Scottsdale. I could see the bustling arts, nightclub, and shopping districts of downtown. I could see the mature resorts along Scottsdale Road and then up to the new resorts and high-end housing of north Scottsdale. I looked out and saw Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain, and Paradise Valley laying in between.

  Looking down at the city, I realized I was looking at nearly everyone I ever loved or cared about. I got an overwhelming desire to watch over and protect them. It was like a mother needing to protect her children, but in a sense, it was more powerful. These weren’t only my children. These were everyone’s children. At first, I felt overwhelmed at the size of the task but then I understood I wasn’t alone in my fight. As long as Sophie, Gina, and all of my friends were fighting at my side, how could I ever lose?

  I walked down to Sophie’s car and climbed in. I felt wonderful that I was still alive after another close call and terrified at the task I had promised to do for Tough Tony. I slowly shook my head as I marveled how I kept finding myself in these situations. Well, as Gina had promised when I first started, the job wasn’t boring.

  “Are you done worshiping the sun god?” Sophie asked. “I sometimes think all of these concussions are starting to affect your brain.”

  ~~~~

  Sophie drove me down to the Blue Palms where my car was still parked from the night before. She told me to have a good time on my mini-vacation and she’d see me on Wednesday. She then drove home to get ready for a date with Milo, assuming he could still get away from work.

  I drove back to my apartment. When I walked in, Marlowe ran in from the bedroom and rubbed against my legs. Since I wasn’t sure if Grandma Peckham had fed him or not, I walked into the kitchen and plopped a spoonful of Seafood Deluxe Dinner in his bowl. He quickly sucked down his food and then walked to the back of the kitchen so he could throw up on his spot in the corner.

  I went back to the living room and collapsed on the couch. I began to reflect on what a long two weeks it had been. Yes, it had sucked and I had gotten myself a little banged up. But we’d been able to help Elizabeth and in a way, we’d even been able to help Lester. If I looked at the bigger picture, it had been a good two weeks. The only real dark spot was Max. Seeing him in the hospital bed was horrible. I hoped he was going to be all right. Tony said he would call when he knew something. I was going to have to wait.

  As if on cue, my phone rang. I was sure it was Tony with news of Max. I was surprised when I saw it was Reno. I quickly composed myself so he wouldn’t notice my melancholy mood.

  “Hey,” I said. “You aren’t calling to back out on me tonight, are you?”

  “I wouldn’t think of it. I heard there was some excitement at the wedding last night. Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. Honestly, I wasn’t anywhere near the fireworks when they went
off.”

  The phone went quiet. I knew Reno was thinking.

  “OK,” he said. “I have reservations at Frankie’s. Seven o’clock. Does that still work for you?”

  “Frankie’s at seven sounds perfect. Are you still off until Wednesday?”

  “Yup, I got off late last night and my next shift isn’t until next Wednesday at eight in the morning. Why? When do you need to be back to work?”

  “Not until Wednesday.”

  “Really? I’ll need to think of some way to celebrate.”

  “You do that,” I said. “I’ll see you tonight at Frankie’s at seven.”

  I hung around the apartment for the rest of the afternoon and didn’t do a lot. My mind was filled with thoughts of Max, Tony, and Reno. Finally, I went into the bathroom and took a long shower. I brought the phone into the bathroom in case I got a call from Tony.

  At a little after six, I was standing in front of my mirror swiping on mascara. The phone rang and this time I saw it was Tony.

  “Laura Black, this is Tony DiCenzo. Is this a convenient time to talk?”

  “Tony, it’s fine. How’s Max? Is he going to be OK?”

  “I just had a conference with the doctors. Max is going to pull through. He’ll be out of commission for a few weeks but they say he’s past the danger point. They say he’ll fully recover. He’s awake and they took the breathing tube out already.”

  “Oh my God. Tony that’s such great news. I was so worried. Thank you so much for letting me know about Max.”

  “It’s my pleasure to be able to bring you such good news. I hope you understand I have several other phone calls to make but I wanted to call you first.”

  “Thank you Tony. I was serious about what I said today. Let me know how I can help with your problem.”

  “Once again, I thank you. And no Laura Black, I never doubted your sincerity. We’ll be in touch.”

  I hung up the phone then burst into tears. Feelings of relief and happiness flooded throughout my body. Gradually these feelings were replaced with a new set of feelings. I now knew what I had to do. I vowed to myself I would help Tony where I could but I also vowed I would do everything in my power not to get caught up in his life. Max was also a problem I resolved. From now on, Max was only a casual friend and a co-worker. Nothing more, ever. No hugging. No kissing. And certainly no sex. I have Reno and he’s a good man. That should be good enough for any woman.

  You say that now, but what happens the next time you’re alone with him?

  ~~~~

  I made it to Frankie Z’s at about ten minutes after seven. Almost on time.

  Frankie led me out to a corner table on the patio where Reno was waiting for me. He had already ordered two scotches and they arrived as I sat down.

  “So, you have three days off?” Reno asked. “I assume your latest assignment went well?”

  “It was good, overall. Lenny’s happy and the client’s OK. It wasn’t the best possible outcome, but it was OK. It turns out the client’s sister was the one we were most able to help. She currently lives in Chicago but she’s planning on moving down to Arizona to live.”

  “Sounds like it was a good assignment.”

  “How was your week?” I asked. “Everything go OK for you?”

  “Yes, well mostly OK. My lieutenant is happy, the captain is happy, and the bad guys are going to spend a long time in prison. So yeah, things worked out well for me too.”

  I held up my glass. “Here’s to good weeks.” We then clinked the glasses together and we each took a long sip.

  Dominic came over and took our orders. As usual, we each ordered our favorite. Reno looked into space for a minute then started talking.

  “From what I hear, the bomb squad has taken residue samples from the hotel ballroom. They aren’t totally convinced it was only common fireworks or pyrotechnics. DiCenzo and his group aren’t cooperating, of course, but there are some suspicions it could have been a bomb.”

  Reno then looked at me with his stony-faced cop stare. He looked at me for almost half a minute and I swear he didn’t blink once. I did my best to look both innocent and totally ignorant of the facts. Finally, he gave up and he hung his head in defeat.

  “Now can you see why I worry about you?” he said. “Every month it’s something new and horrible. Can you see why I want you to do something safe for a living?”

  “But, I wasn’t even on an assignment. We were at a wedding. Besides, why do you worry so much about me? I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

  “I worry about you, because I love you.”

  Oh, shit. Really?

  “You do?”

  “Of course I do.”

  What do I do now?

  “I love you too.”

  Oh, shit. What did I just do?

  Reno didn’t say anything. He only smiled and sipped his scotch.

  Within a few minutes, Dominic brought out our dinners. We each ordered another scotch and dug into our dinners. By the time we were done and sipping an after dinner coffees, I noticed we were talking and laughing. I always have the best time with Reno. It gave me a good feeling for our future.

  The bill came and Reno paid it.

  “Thanks for dinner,” I said. “What’s next?”

  Reno gave me a smile. I knew that smile. It was the one that said everything was all right. Seeing that smile gave me a feeling of being warm and safe. It was the first time I had felt that way since I had danced with Max.

  “Do you still have your overnight bag in your car?” he asked, the smile changing into a mischievous grin.

  “Well, sure. But I already have a change of clothes over at your place.”

  Again with the grin. “We aren’t going to my place.”

  “Well then, where?”

  ~~~~

  We were lying on a bed in a suite of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort. Looking out of the balcony door, all of Arizona was spread before us. Lying next to me on the bed was my boyfriend, Jackson Reno, wearing nothing but a pair of red silk boxers. He was staring at me, breathing deeply with anticipation. A wave of lust spread down my body in a warm shiver.

  Excitement rose as I lay back on the pillows and held my arms out to him. Reno leaned his gorgeous face over mine. I put my arms around his neck and drew him close. I felt him press against me as our lips came together for a slow deep kiss. He placed his hand on the bare flesh of my stomach and then hesitated, as if not knowing what to do next. To be helpful, I gave his hand a gentle nudge. My heart pounded as his fingers slowly slid downward. I stopped breathing and waited to experience the moment.

  My cell phone started ringing. Reno was still smiling, but his hand had stopped moving. The phone rang again. It was Sophie’s ringtone.

  No, no, no, not now!

  Reno reached over to the nightstand and picked up my phone. He hit the power button and turned it off.

  “Sorry,” he said. “This time, Sophie can wait until morning. Now then, where were we?”

  Yes!