Blonde and Fabulous

by anna snow

  It took only a second for the elevator doors to slide open. I stepped inside and hit the button for the lobby then released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

  Where on earth did Kiki get that kind of money? Were tips that good? If so, perhaps I needed to take another look at Roy's offer of a job.

  Had she been saving for years? I quickly dismissed the idea. With the amount of money in that box, she'd have to have been saving since she was nine years old or something.

  The detective who had been handling the case before Tyler had taken over apparently hadn't seen any reason to search the women's apartment, which explained why the box of money hadn't been discovered.

  The elevator doors slid open. Just as I stepped off, my phone buzzed. I checked the display.

  Tyler.

  "Hey, you. How's it going on your end?" I asked lightly so as not to let on that I was hurrying out of a building where I'd just done a little illegal breaking and entering. I hurried past the now manned reception desk and out onto the sidewalk.

  "Long and slow," Tyler answered. "I'm coming up empty every time I think I'm getting somewhere with this case," he admitted. "That's actually why I was calling you. To let you know that I might not make it to your place tonight."

  "That's alright," I said. "Kelly's at my place down with the flu anyway."

  "Ouch. Yeah, I don't want any part of that." He chuckled. "How's your end of this case going?"

  I debated whether or not to tell him about the box of cash I'd just found but decided against it and instead asked, "Would Tammy and Kiki's apartment have been searched after their murders?"

  "It should have been, but with Ramsey on the case, he let a lot of stuff slide. I have plans to check their place out in the morning. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

  "No reason," I answered quickly. "Just curious."

  "You know where your curiosity leads you, babe. Be careful and behave. I'd hate to have to arrest you."

  I laughed. "You know I will."

  "I know no such thing," he said.

  I heard the crackle of his police radio in the background. A second later he said, "I'll call you later," then ended the call before I could reply.

  I pulled away from the curb and steered back in the direction of the office, but then I changed my mind. It would be dark soon.

  I hit the call button and called Mandy.

  "Jackson Investigations. This is Mandy. How can I help you?"

  "It's Barb. Listen. It's almost time to close up shop, so I'm going to go on home. Why don't you go ahead and do the same?"

  "Now that sounds like a plan," she said. "I'm almost finished with Fernando's phone records. You're definitely going to want to see what I've dug up, including but not limited to his dinner plans with his mom this evening." She chuckled.

  Mandy's comment had me so curious that I wanted to abandon the idea of going home and chowing down on a big fat bacon cheeseburger, but I resisted. She wasn't completely finished with the records, and I didn't want to cramp her style while she was doing her job.

  "Sounds great. Let's meet at my place in the morning," I said.

  "You got it, boss. See you then." She hung up the phone.

  I was halfway home when I got an idea. It was completely absurd, dangerous, crazy even, but I couldn't shake it.

  I pulled to the side of the road and grabbed my computer out of the back seat then connected it to the car's built-in Wi-Fi. A few minutes and a little digging later, I pulled up the address to Fernando's apartment.

  If Fernando was in on Kiki's and Tammy's murders, there could be something at his place that could help me figure it all out.

  My stomach rumbled, reminding me it had been more than five minutes since my last meal, so I put a package of cookies I'd had in my purse into the pocket of my hooded sweatshirt.

  Ten minutes later I pulled to a stop outside one of the fanciest apartment buildings in Dallas.

  If Mandy was right, and who was I trying to kid—I knew she was—then the odds were good that Fernando's apartment was empty, which gave me the opening I needed to do a quick sweep of the place.

  I parked about a block away and shut off the ignition. I contemplated calling Mandy or Mona and telling them what I was up to, but that would only result in another wasted twenty minutes of arguing about my carelessness.

  I wasn't exactly careless. I just wanted to get the job done and bring some peace to the ladies' moms.

  I stepped out of the car, hit the lock button on my key fob, and then hurried down the sidewalk toward the apartment building.

  Darkness was falling, so I stuck to the shadows as much as I possibly could. I was about to approach the revolving door at the entrance when I spotted Fernando and his goons exiting the building. He was dressed in another immaculate suit, and his entourage was dressed the same. From the look of things, after the trip to his mom's, he was planning another night out on the town, which worked out perfectly for me.

  Afraid I'd be spotted, I pressed myself against the side of the building and looked in the opposite direction. My dark clothing combined with the shadows meant I was obscured well enough that if someone looked in my direction, I wouldn't be spotted. After what felt like an eternity, I peeked in Fernando's direction and watched as he and his cronies got into a sleek black car before disappearing down the street.

  With a deep breath I hurried through the revolving door and into the lobby. I was surprised at the amount of people in the lobby, but their presence worked to my advantage. I eased my way through the people and to the elevator without the person manning the front desk seeing me. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I slipped inside and pressed myself against the wall. Once the doors slid closed, I relaxed a little. On the way in I'd caught a glimpse of the intercom system hanging on the wall. Fernando's name stuck out like a sore thumb because he was the only one listed as living in the penthouse apartment.

  When the elevator reached the top floor, the doors opened with a ding. I took a deep breath and peeked out into the hallway. When I didn't see any movement, I stepped out and hurried to the door.

  I had the fleeting thought that Fernando's apartment might be equipped with an alarm system but quickly disregarded the idea. Fernando lived in a building that was supposed to be secure. I'd gotten lucky being able to use my small stature to slip past the guard and reception area undetected. He probably thought he was safe here.

  I kneeled down and pulled out every trick in my book to unlock the door. I was about to give up when the door finally popped open. I pressed my back against the wall beside the now open door and waited to see if any alarms went off or any stray goons came out to investigate. When neither thing happened, I eased the door open with the toe of my shoe then slowly stepped inside.

  The apartment was fully lit up. Apparently Fernando didn't have to worry about paying his utility bills. The apartment was huge and decorated in glass, black metal, and chrome accents. It felt more like an office than a home, but I was more of the "comfort is key" sort of girl. I hurried across the living area and into the hallway.

  "If I were a rich drug dealer who killed someone, where would I hide any evidence that could incriminate me?" I barely whispered to myself.

  The living, dining, and kitchen areas were one open, connected room, so I highly doubted anything even resembling evidence would be there. Inching my way down the long hallway to the first door on the left, I twisted the knob slowly then took a peek inside. Pulling my penlight out of my pocket, I shined it around the dark room.

  A bathroom.

  I doubted Fernando would hide any evidence in the potty, so I made my way quickly to the next door on the right.

  Repeating my earlier movements, I shined the light into the area. When the stream of light landed on a desk, I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. A wall of windows allowed what was left of the evening light to fill the room, but it wasn't enough to navigate without the use of my penlight, and what was left of the evening ligh
t was fading fast. The gorgeous windows also allowed someone to see a light on from the street. If Fernando came back and saw the light on in his study, he'd know someone was in his home, and I'd be in some serious trouble.

  Pointing the penlight around the floor, I made my way over to the desk, kneeled down, and started looking through the drawers. There were several receipts for cars, ice cream trucks, refrigeration units, and a few other things I couldn't identify piled in the first drawer.

  The second held a large black book. I put the penlight in my mouth and pulled out the book then started scrolling through the pages.

  The book held names, numbers, and dollar amounts.

  Pages and pages of the same thing. It took a few minutes for me to figure out that I was looking at Fernando's book of deals. This drug dealer was more organized than I was. I came to the conclusion that the names, numbers, and dollar amounts were the names of drivers for the Mr. Heroine trucks, the amount of product on each, and how much was sold per vehicle per day.

  I quickly flipped pages until I found Gary's name then looked at his numbers. If he was shorting Fernando, it would be marked in the book.

  When I spotted Gary's name, I blew out a breath. Fernando's book had two rows of numbers. What the seller should turn in, and in the other, what the seller actually did turn in. Gary's numbers were marked absolutely as it appeared they should have been, which meant Gary wasn't cheating Fernando.

  I closed the book then slid it back into the desk drawer.

  If Gary wasn't cheating Fernando, then maybe there was no reason for Fernando to have killed Tammy to get back at Gary. It was looking more and more like Gary really did off himself, and Fernando didn't kill Tammy. But there was still a chance that there was more to the story than I wasn't seeing. It was still entirely possible that Fernando was the killer.

  Looking around the room, I saw several pictures of Fernando and Kiki. Always smiling, always appearing happy. What if Kiki had gotten that big box of cash from Fernando? But why would he have given her that much money? Was it possible Kiki was using Fernando as a kind of sugar daddy? I supposed anything was possible. And if that was indeed the case, and Fernando had found out why Kiki was really with him, that gave him another motive to kill her. A guy like Fernando wouldn't take kindly to being used. So much for getting answers. All the visit to Fernando's place had done was give me even more questions.

  It was getting late, and the odds of being discovered as I tried to slip out of the building were growing with every second. I was also facing the chance of Fernando or his cronies coming back and catching me.

  I rounded the desk and headed for the door, when it opened slowly. In my rush the door must not have latched when I'd closed it.

  I froze in my tracks and looked around for a place to hide.

  Then he stepped in.

  I looked down at the big black dog staring at me like I was a big, juicy midnight snack. My mind raced. He let out a low growl and took a single step toward me.

  "Um, nice doggie?" I said softly.

  He growled again. This time a little louder than before.

  I tried to smile at the shiny black behemoth. "I'm just on my way out," I said and took a slow step to the side. The dog continued to glare and growl at me. I took another small step, then another, until I was about two steps away from the door. The dog never took his eyes off me. I pressed my back flat against the door and felt for the knob with one hand.

  Doggie didn't like that move at all and ran toward me then stopped one step away.

  I let out a long breath and tried everything I could to stay calm in the face of being eaten alive by Cujo.

  Then I remembered the one thing that might possibly help me out in this situation.

  I slid my hand slowly into the front pocket of my hoodie and pulled out a peanut butter cookie. His nose instantly began twitching, and his eyes dipped to the cookie I held out to the side.

  "Yeah, that's right. Mmm, peanut butter," I said shakily. "You can have it, and we can be friends," I coaxed him.

  Doggie took a step to the side, took the cookie from my hand, and swallowed it in one bite then returned to staring me down.

  I pulled out another cookie and gave it to him. Then another.

  When I was down to my last cookie, I held it up in the air and wiggled it. His attention was fully on the deliciousness I held in my hand. I tossed the cookie across the room. It landed beside the desk, and just as I had hoped, the dog chased the yummy treat.

  Once he was on the move, so was I. I slipped out of the room and closed the door behind me, sprinting down the hallway, into the living area, and then out the front door.

  I didn't relax an ounce until I reached the elevator and the doors slid closed in front of me.

  When they opened at the lobby, I stepped out and fully anticipated being hit with a barrage of questions from the guy at the desk, but to my surprise he looked up at me with a disinterested expression then returned to his newspaper.

  I hurried out of the building and down the block to my car.

  Once behind the wheel and the doors were locked, I let out a crazy laugh. I was just almost eaten by a huge dog in the middle of a drug dealer's apartment that I had broken into. I'd say it was time to call it a day.

  I started the ignition and sped out of the neighborhood.

  I made a quick stop at the nearest Panera Bread and grabbed Kelly a container of her favorite loaded baked potato soup then grabbed myself a bacon cheeseburger from the Whataburger next door. Ten minutes later Kelly and I were nested in my living room eating and watching reruns of one of our favorite television shows.

  "You did what?" she nearly shouted at me when I told her all about my adventures in Fernando's apartment. Her puffy red eyes widened. "You could have been killed! That dog could have eaten you alive. Do you know what Fernando would have done to you if he had come back and found you snooping around? Are you crazy?"

  I waited until she was finished with all of her questions before I spoke up. "I know it was reckless, but the idea hit me out of nowhere, and it's a good thing it did because now we know Gary wasn't cheating Fernando, so Fernando's reasons for killing Tammy were basically zero. But, I started wondering. What if she was using him as a sugar daddy, he found out then killed her, and then somehow Tammy figured it all out, and he killed her to cover his tracks?"

  "So, instead of getting any answers, you just uncovered more questions, and now we can't mark Fernando off the I-killed-Tammy list."

  "That about sums it up," I said wearily.

  "So now what?"

  I told Kelly about my trip to the girls' apartment and about the overflowing box of cash I found in Kiki's closet.

  "That's an awful lot of money for Kiki to have saved in such a short amount of time. Didn't you say she had only been working at the Double Trouble Gentlemen's Club for a little over a year?" Kelly asked and sipped her soup.

  I nodded then patted my mouth with a napkin. "That's what Cindy said. I guess Kiki could have been saving for a long time. From previous jobs and such, but it still strikes me as suspicious. Why didn't she put it in a bank, or a safe, or a lock box? Why was it just in an old shoe box in the back of her closet?"

  "That's just how some people hide their money, I guess. Or maybe for tax reasons." Kelly shrugged and set her empty soup container on the table then snuggled down in the oversized chair and her fluffy blanket. "But you're right. Kiki using him as a sugar daddy fits, and if Fernando found out and has a temper, then him killing the girls would make sense."

  "That's where my thoughts were going, too."

  I stared off into space for a few minutes, wondering if I was onto something with that specific line of thinking. I was about to ask Kelly a question when I looked over at her, and she was already sound asleep.

  I'd have to look into my suspicions about Kiki using Fernando in the morning. I was exhausted, and my bed was calling my name. A long night of breaking and entering and being stalked by a monstrous dog took
a lot out of a girl.

  I flicked off the lights, made sure Kelly was covered well with her blanket, and then made my way down the hall to my own bed.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Yawning for what felt like the millionth time, I nodded my head as Mandy spilled the deets on what she'd found in Fernando's phone records.

  Although I'd already told Kelly the night before, I decided to keep my mouth shut about my escapades in Fernando's place. I didn't feel like answering all the questions she would have or listening to Mona's lecture when she found out. And if Mona found out, I was certain she'd tell Tyler, and I really didn't feel like having that conversation.

  "So, after I sorted through all the calls to his mom, I was able to get to some of the good stuff." She rubbed her hands together and smiled. "And I think you're going to like it."

  "Well, lay it on me," I said while I walked across the room to the Keurig machine and my second cup of coffee.

  Despite being on the verge of exhaustion, sleep hadn't come easily. I couldn't keep my mind off the money I'd found in Kiki's apartment or the book I'd found in Fernando's desk drawer. Where did she get it? How did she get it? Who did she get it from? And how did Fernando manage that much money? Surely he couldn't claim it all on taxes. Who would believe an ice cream truck made that much money in the few short months they ran the neighborhoods? I just couldn't get my mind off any of it. Something smelled fishy, and it wasn't the leftover tuna salad in the fridge.

  I retook my seat.

  "You said Fernando and Kiki had broken up, right?"

  I nodded and sipped then lowered my mug. "That's what everyone I've talked to said. Well, except the bartender. She said she saw Kiki and Fernando all lovey-dovey just before Kiki died, so there's the possibility that they had gotten back together."

  "That would explain the calls I found between the two." She nodded and held up a finger. "But, what reason would Fernando have for calling Tammy and Gary around the time of their deaths?"

  That news caught my attention, and I perked up. Now I had to tell her.