Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1)

by B A Trimmer

  I opened my cell phone and called 911. Danica and I went into the living room. I knew, from previous experience, it would take about ten minutes for the first blue & white to show. I used the time to look around the shattered apartment, being careful not to disturb anything.

  I didn’t find anything useful, but one thing was obvious. The destruction in the apartment hadn’t been random. Whoever was here had been searching for something specific. I wondered what they were looking for and whether they had found it or not.

  I went back into the living room to wait for the police. I looked over and saw that Danica was staring into space and shaking. She looked like she was about to lose it.

  “Are you doing OK?” I asked.

  “Who could have done this?” she asked, her voice shaky and distant. “What did they do with Alex? He has no enemies. Do you think it was the same men who were following him?”

  “I don’t know. But I promise I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  Outside, we heard the first police car pull up, just below the apartment.

  “Listen to me for a minute.” I said, taking both of her hands in mine. “There’s going to be a ton of police here in a few minutes. They’ll ask a bunch of questions, most of them pointless and repetitive. Try not to get angry with them. Just answer all of the questions as truthfully and completely as you can. I know you don’t think you know anything about this, but maybe one of their questions will jog your memory into giving them something useful. We still don’t know if this has anything to do with Alex’s disappearance. He may be in partying in Vegas for all we know.”

  Danica nodded her head, went outside, and stood on the small porch. Although I was trying to be brave for the both of us, the truth was I had a very bad feeling about what had happened to Alex. I didn’t know how I was going to tell Lenny, or Muffy, about this.

  ~~~~

  The police came up the stairs and then into the apartment. I recognized them both. The senior officer was Chugger McIntyre. I had gone to school with Chugger, both of us having grown up in the Granite Reef section of south Scottsdale. Chugger was six foot four and easily weighed two-hundred and fifty pounds. His short cropped red hair and freckles showed his Irish heritage. Living in Scottsdale had given him a year round sunburn.

  His partner was Arnulfo Montoya, better known as Arny. Arny was originally from Mexico, but had become an American citizen a few years ago. Although not nearly as tall as Chugger, Arny was solid. He had short curly black hair and a full black moustache. When Chugger saw me, he began to laugh.

  “Hey Arny,” Chugger said, a happy grin on his beefy face. “Didn’t I tell you last week Laura Black was due for another dead body soon? Hey Laura, how long has it been? Two, three months?”

  “Hey Chugger,” I said. “He’s in the bedroom. He was dead when we got here, but I sorta, accidentally, shot him.”

  Chugger’s grin broadened.

  “You shot a dead guy? No shit? Really? Oh man, they’ll never believe this down at the station.”

  Arny stayed to keep an eye on us while Chugger went into the back of the apartment. He didn’t stay long. When he came back his face was pale and his smile was gone.

  “Wooah,” Chugger said. “That guy’s hands were chopped off. Not a lot of blood though, he was probably killed elsewhere and brought up here. What kind of sick fuck does that?”

  I went out with Danica. Arny had his clipboard out and was taking Danica’s initial statement. Chugger called in the report on his walkie-talkie and then walked over to me.

  “Let’s clear the apartment,” he said. The M.E. and forensics team will be here in about half an hour, same with the homicide detectives. Expect everybody to be in a bad mood. Nobody likes getting up this time of night.”

  Chugger was right about the bad moods. Fortunately, they kept it relatively short.

  By 4:30 am I was back at my apartment. Marlowe was asleep on the bed. When I turned on the light he opened an eye, stretched, and yawned. He rolled over with all four feet in the air. I rubbed his tummy for a minute, then pulled off my clothes and collapsed next to him on the bed.

  ~~~~

  It was a beautiful warm day and I was driving Danica’s Porsche in the wide Arizona desert between Gila Bend and Yuma. The road was flat, clear, and there wasn’t another car in sight.

  My hands gripped the leather wrapped steering wheel tightly as I jammed the Porsche into high gear and floored it. The car shot forward like a bullet from a gun. Faster and faster I drove until the dashed lane-dividing stripe blurred into a solid yellow line. My foot was pegged to the floor and the car kept going faster. The roar of the motor sounded like a jet engine running full out. It felt like the car was flying.

  I felt the warm sensation of a hand touching the inside of my leg. Looking over, sitting next to me was Maximilian, the gangster from the office who had almost given me an orgasm with just a kiss.

  The car motor briefly sputtered, but then caught again. He smiled a beautiful smile and blew me a kiss. A wave of lust and desire washed over me as he gently ran his hand up my thigh.

  The motor sputtered again, sounding almost like my cell phone. That’s weird, I thought, Porsches don’t usually sound like cell phones, especially cell phones with Sophie’s ringtone.

  The engine smoothed out for a second, but then cell phone ringtone sound happened again.

  What?

  By the fourth time it happened, I knew what the sound was. Both the Porsche and Maximilian faded as I felt around blindly on the nightstand. I found my phone and managed to pick it up without dropping it.

  “Hello,” I muttered into the phone, as always hoping it was a prank call so I could go back to sleep.

  “Hey Laura. Wow, you really sound terrible. How late did they keep you up last night?”

  “Sophie? I’m sorry, but I’m not awake right now and this phone call isn’t likely to wake me up any time soon. Maybe you should call me back around lunch time?”

  “Did you really shoot a dead guy? They’re saying you found a dead guy in Alexander Sternwood’s apartment and then you shot him. Didn’t you know he was already dead and you didn’t need to shoot him again? Or was he coming after you, even though you knew he was already dead, like a zombie? You know, if he was a zombie, you’d have to shoot ‘em in the brain. The brain’s the only place you can kill a zombie, unless he was a vampire. But you know, lead bullets wouldn’t have stopped him if he was a vampire, even if you shot ‘em in the brain. You’d need a silver bullet for that.”

  “Sophie, I think that’s werewolves and why are you calling me?”

  “I’m pretty sure silver bullets work for both vampires and werewolves.”

  “Sophie?”

  “Sorry, Lenny’s in a panic. He says he wants you down here right away. He got your voice mail from last night. You know you sounded terrible then too, by the way. He’s been on the phone with the police for the last twenty minutes. He has an appointment set up with Mrs. Sternwood at one o’clock. I think he wants to hear what happened from you first. Lenny’s really stressing over this.”

  “Great. How bad is he?”

  “I wore my loose red top today and he hasn’t tried to look down it. Not even once. When that happens, you know he’s distracted.”

  “Down to the office? It figures,” I said. “What time is it now?”

  “It’s almost nine. Girlfriend, you’re burning daylight!”

  Great.

  EIGHT

  I took a quick shower and got dressed in white tennis shoes, a short yellow skirt, and a cream cotton knit top. The drive over to the office was pleasant, but I wasn’t looking forward to talking with my boss. In court, Lenny is always calm and in control, but that’s because he’s had weeks to prepare. When confronted with the unexpected, Lenny tends to get a little hysterical.

  ~~~~

  I walked into the office and saw Sophie was hunched over her keyboard, furiously typing. She looked like she was trying to keep low and away from any flyi
ng shrapnel. From previous experience, I knew she only does this when Lenny is on the warpath.

  “Hey Sophie.”

  “Hey Laura,” she said quietly without looking up. “That dead guy you found last night has really stirred up the shit around here. The Mayor’s office called twice and Mrs. Sternwood’s called three times. The last time she called, she told Lenny he was a useless asshole.”

  “How’d you know she called Lenny a useless asshole? Were you listening in again?”

  Sophie stopped typing and then looked around the office to see if anyone was listening. She motioned for me to bend over so she could whisper to me.

  “Well, yeah, sorta. She also said if Lenny didn’t have his head pushed so far up his butt, he would have been able to see something like this was likely to happen to her grandson. She even mentioned if Lenny didn’t spend all day playing with himself, he could have protected Alexander better.”

  “Muffy can turn a phrase,” I said, my voice lowered to a whisper to match Sophie’s.

  “Yeah,” said Sophie, still whispering. “But that’s not the worst of it. After Mrs. Sternwood hung up, Tony DiCenzo called. The actual Tough Tony, the mobster.”

  “What’d he talk to Lenny about?”

  “Are you crazy? I’m not going to take a chance I might overhear something Tough Tony DiCenzo says. What if he found out I knew something? It would be good-bye Sophia and hello shallow grave in the desert.”

  “Well, you answered the phone. What did he sound like?”

  “He sounded like the devil.”

  I looked at Sophie to see if she was kidding, but she had grown pale and her eyes were big.

  “How do you know he sounds like the devil? Have you ever heard the devil before?”

  “I’m Catholic,” she said in a slightly offended tone. “All Catholics know what the devil sounds like and DiCenzo was it. After I hung up the phone, I even said ten Hail Mary’s.”

  “But you’re only Catholic when something bad happens,” I said.

  “If you think the devil calling me on the phone isn’t something bad, then I don’t know what is.”

  “Did Gina stop by the office yet? I’d like to compare notes with her. It’s weird that Tony DiCenzo keeps popping up for both of us.”

  “Sorry, Gina’s come and gone. Lenny scolded her for not finding the missing bag. She got so mad I thought she was going to smack him. I almost wish she would have. He can get so irritating when he’s like this. Well, you’d better go talk to Lenny before the Governor of Arizona or maybe even the President calls him.”

  ~~~~

  I walked into Lenny’s office and found him pacing in front of his window. He had a lit cigarette in one hand, a half full glass of Jim Beam in the other. I looked on his desk and saw there were already half a dozen cigarette butts in the ashtray. He saw me and raised both arms in a gesture of frustration.

  “I thought both of these cases were going to be easy money,” he said. “Watch a guy for a few days, find a missing bag. How hard could it be, I asked myself. Really, how hard could it be? Now, on one hand, you’re back to finding dead bodies, but you lose the guy you’re supposed to be watching. Both the Mayor and the millionaire client have become unglued. On the other hand, Gina’s come up with squat on the missing bag and I’ve got the Godfather breathing down my neck. DiCenzo’s telling me he’s all in a rush to get the bag back. He says maybe he should send over a couple of guys to help me out. What’s that supposed to mean? If I say yes, then I’m admitting I’m incompetent. If I say no, and we don’t find the bag, then I’m dead meat.” He stubbed out his cigarette, then ran has fingers through his hair. “Maybe I should move back to New Jersey with my cousin and drive a cab.”

  I gave Lenny everything new I had on Alex, which wasn’t much. I then told him all I knew about the dead guy, which was even less.

  “I need that Alexander guy found,” Lenny said. He was facing the window, almost mumbling the words to himself. He then started pacing again.

  “I might need some help,” I said. If something comes up, do you mind if I borrow Sophie?”

  He turned to me and almost shouted: “Borrow whomever you want. Sleep with whomever you need to. Go ahead and shoot somebody else if you think it will help. Just find Alexander Sternwood. The sooner, the better!”

  ~~~~

  I went back to my desk and tried to organize my thoughts. My assignment had just gone from watching Alex to finding him. Problem was, I was out of leads. In addition, the mental picture of the dead guy kept swimming in front of my eyes. I needed to talk to somebody who would understand what I was going through.

  I called Reno, but he didn’t pick up. I got his voice mail and waited for the beep. “Call me,” was all I said. I figured he would still remember the voice.

  OK, so I wanted to talk to Reno about the murder, but I also wanted to see him again. The lunch at Frankie Z’s had sort of been an experiment. After my erotic dreams about Reno, I wanted to see how it felt to be with him again. Turns out he is still as hot as ever and seeing him brought back some wonderful memories. Every time I thought of Reno, I got a warm and fuzzy tingle that made me feel good all over.

  I went back into the reception lobby. Sophie was still hunched over her computer, typing away. I walked over to her and touched her shoulder. She jumped and let out a loud squeak.

  “Don’t do that!” she said, breathing hard. “You almost made me diarrhea my pants.”

  “Sorry. I might need some help on this Alexander thing. If it’s OK with you, Lenny said we could partner up.”

  “Hey girlfriend, anything to get out of this office. When do you need me?”

  “I don’t know yet, I’m waiting for a phone call from Jack Reno. I’ll need to see him again before I figure out where to go next. Maybe tomorrow or the next day?”

  “Reno? You’re seeing Reno again? That mango is truly fine. But, after what you did to him last time, I’m surprised he’d let you get within twenty feet of him.”

  “What do you mean what I did to him? Besides, he doesn’t know we’re dating again. So far, we’ve only seen each other once.”

  “Ah huh? And when are you going to tell him he’s back to dating you?”

  “I figured I’d let him ease into it. Maybe even have him figure it out for himself. There’ll be less stress on him that way.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  Me too.

  My cell phone rang. I looked on the caller ID and saw it was Reno. My heart did a little skip and I walked into the back offices before I answered.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Can it wait?”

  “No.”

  “I heard you shot a dead guy last night.”

  “Oh, you heard about that?”

  “Christ, Laura, the entire department’s heard about that.”

  “The dead guy I found in Alexander’s apartment is really bugging me. You find dead bodies all of the time. I thought maybe I could talk to you about it.”

  “I don’t find dead bodies all the time. You find more than I do. I think you find more than anyone else in the entire department. You’re like a dead body magnet.”

  “OK, maybe, but this one’s different.”

  “Look, I can’t meet you now. I start working in about an hour and a half.”

  “It won’t take long, really.”

  I heard his famous sigh. “OK, I’m working across from the Phoenician today. I can meet you for a few minutes there at the Oasis. Do you remember where it is?”

  “You mean the cute tropical bar in the middle of the resort’s pools? The one where you felt me up under the table on our third date?”

  There was a pause on the phone and I heard a thump. I could visualize Reno hitting his palm against his forehead.

  “Yup, that’s the one,” he said.

  “I’m at the office,” I said. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  ~~~~<
br />
  The Phoenician is one of the most beautiful resorts in Arizona. It sits on the south side of Camelback Mountain, about three miles west of Lenny’s office, and has prime views of both Phoenix and Scottsdale. I drove west on Camelback Road, until I came to the huge fountain and tropical display marking the entrance to the resort.

  About seventy-five yards inside the entrance is a security shack. Next to the shack is a small metal fence that acts to narrow the road down to one lane. As I stopped my car, a guard stepped out of the shack. He gave both me, and my car, the once over. I did a little grimace as I saw his eyes linger over the side mirror, still hanging by the cable, and then over the bullet hole in the trunk.

  He bent over and politely asked how he could help me. I told him I was just going to the Oasis for drinks. He paused, as if he was having an internal debate. He then directed me to the visitor’s garage. I found a space and locked my car. I walked out and found a path that wound through an immaculate flower garden. The path ended at the gate of the main pool area. With a deep breath, I opened the gate and walked in.

  ~~~~

  The Oasis is a cozy bar and grill siting in the middle of three levels of Arizona-sized swimming pools. To get there you need to walk through a maze of sunbathers, waterfalls, lounge chairs, waiters, palm trees, and then down a narrow path between two of the larger pools.

  I managed to make it to the restaurant and remain dry. Reno wasn’t there yet, so I walked to the bar.

  My nerves were doing flip-flops and I thought maybe a drink would help to calm them down. I glanced over the menu and debated between the eight-dollar, the twelve-dollar, and the twenty-dollar Scotch. I thought about my rent and settled on the eight-dollar version. I found an empty table and sat. As I waited, I took my finger and swirled the ice cube around the glass.

  In the restaurant and bar were about thirty people, mainly couples. The women, for the most part, wore shorts and bikini tops or some other sexy summer outfit. Fortunately, most of the women had the toned bodies that come from aerobics classes and having a personal trainer. The Phoenician is one of the few places in the city a woman will sunbathe in full make-up and jewelry. I pity the man who splashes water on one of them as they lay next to the pool.