Tarizon: Desert Swarm

by William Manchee

Chapter 18

  Las Vegas Holiday

  On Friday afternoon they all met at Mona’s Café and then loaded into Dolly’s big Cadillac El Dorado that she got as part of her divorce settlement with her ex-husband several years earlier. It was a pleasant drive through Death Valley and on to Las Vegas. When they arrived a little after six they checked into the Sands Hotel and bought tickets to see comedian Red Skelton. Before the show they ate dinner and did some gambling. On Saturday they slept in, had brunch and then began their search for attorney Paul Bradford. They started at the office address he listed on the Articles of Incorporation for Bat Mountain Corporation. It was on the third floor of a downtown office building. They parked on the street, took the elevator upstairs and found the suite number. The address was Excel Office Suites.

  “An office suite. Great,” Jack moaned. “They’re not going to give us any information.”

  “Don’t be so pessimistic,” Dolly said. “You’ve just got to be upbeat. Let me handle this.”

  Dolly walked in and went up to the receptionist. “Hi, can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

  “Yes, We’re here to see Paul Bradford. Is he in?”

  “No. Did you have an appointment?”

  “Well, no. But I’ve been trying to get one. What’s with him, he won’t return my phone calls.”

  The receptionist shrugged. “Well, I can take a message.”

  A young woman came out from the office suites, gave Dolly a hard look and then walked out the front door.

  “So, how often does he pick up his messages?”

  “I don’t know. I just take them and leave them in his box. I have no idea when he picks them up.”

  “Does he get a lot of calls?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to give out that kind of information.”

  Dolly let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, you’re no help,” she said and stomped out.

  They all followed her out and loitered in the hall a moment.

  “I told you,” Jack laughed.

  Dolly’s eyes narrowed. “Did you see that woman who left here?”

  “Yeah,” Jack replied.

  “Go after her. She looked like she might know something. We’ll stay out here in the hall for a little while and maybe someone else will come out who we can question. Jack nodded and hustled off. When he got to the street he saw the woman walking down the sidewalk. He hurried to catch up with her.

  “Ma’am,” he said reached her.

  She looked over at him and then stopped abruptly. “Yes, what do you want?”

  “Sorry for interrupting your day, but I noticed you just came out of Excel Office Suites.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Do you office there?”

  “Yes, I do. What do you want?”

  “Well, my friends and I are looking for an attorney, Paul Bradford. We were told he had an office there too. Do you know him?”

  “Not really. I met him a couple of times. He’s hardly ever in his office. I don’t know why he bothers to have one, he never uses it.”

  “Do you know where he lives?”

  “No. I’ve never even had a conversation with the man.”

  “Hmm. That’s too bad. He owns some property we’d like to buy and we’re willing to pay top dollar.”

  “You know. I did see him go into a strip club once. We left the office about the same time and I saw him ahead of me in a Red Ford Mustang convertible. He’s not a bad looking guy, black hair and blue eyes and a cute mustache. I was going the same way so I watched him, curiosity mainly, until he turned into the Fantasy Strip Club parking lot. That dissuaded any further interest in the man.”

  “Well, that’s a lead.”

  She smiled. “And a fun one to follow, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Someone’s got to do it.”

  Jack thanked her and headed back to the office suite. Dolly and Cindy were talking to a short stocky man when Jack got there.

  “Well, thanks for your help,” Dolly said as the man strolled off.

  “So, did you learn anything,” Jack asked.

  “Yes, Mr. Bradford is a straw man for anyone who wants anonymity. Apparently he’s the incorporator and registered agent for hundreds of corporations. He charges $2,500.00 to set up a corporation and a thousand dollars a year maintenance fee. He doesn’t have to disclose any information since it is protected by the attorney-client privilege. He says the easiest way to get in touch with him is to make an appointment to arrange to set up a corporation.”

  “How does your friend know this,” Jack asked.

  “He had a corporation set up,” Dolly replied.

  Jack nodded. “Interesting. I got a lead too.”

  “Oh really? What kind of lead?”

  “Apparently Mr. Bradford likes to hang out at the Fantasy Strip Club on the outskirts of town.”

  “We should go check that out,” George said eagerly.

  “I don’t want to go to a strip club,” Cindy complained.

  “You’re right,” Dolly agreed. “Let’s go shopping while they gawk at the naked girls.”

  Jack laughed. “You girls are very accommodating.”

  Dolly laughed. “You won’t say that after you get the bill. Give me your credit card.”

  Jack gave Dolly a hard look then cracked a smile and pulled out a card. “Okay, but I wouldn’t charge more than a couple hundred bucks on this, my credit limit isn’t that high.”

  “Ah, you’re no fun,” Dolly said taking the card.

  George pulled out his wallet and handed Cindy a hundred dollar bill. “Here, you can pay for lunch.”

  Cindy smiled broadly. “Oh! Where can we go that’s expensive?”

  Jack grinned. “Sorry, this is Las Vegas. Food is the one thing that is always cheap.”

  “Good. Whatever we have left over we can spend on the slots.”

  “Fine. I hope you win the jackpot,” George said.

  They split up with the ladies taking a cab back to the hotel while the men took the car to the Fantasy Strip Club. Even though it was only midday the place was packed with eight girls working the polls and twice that many mingling with the customers. As soon as they found a table two strippers were on them like bees on spring flowers, dancing around them seductively, putting their nipples up against their faces and letting out sexy grunts and moans. When they had collected their tips and moved on a barmaid came over and they ordered drinks.

  “So, did you really get a lead or was that a ploy to get away from the girls?” George asked.

  Jack laughed. “No, it was a legitimate lead.”

  “So, did you get a description?”

  “Yeah, good looking, black hair, blue eyes and a mustache.”

  “So, what are the odds he’ll be here now?”

  “Pretty good,” Jack said, “since I saw his car in the parking lot.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, the red Ford Mustang convertible. It was hard to miss.”

  George pointed over to a corner of the room. “Is that him?”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah. I bet it is. Let’s go see if we can get him to talk business.”

  They took their drinks and walked over to where Bradford was sitting with a stripper on his lap. He looked up at them and frowned.

  “The elusive Paul Bradford in the flesh,” Jack said.

  Bradford narrowed his eyes. “Do I know you?”

  “No,” Jack admitted, “since you won’t return any of my phone calls. But I’d like to get to know you. One of your companies owns some real estate I want to buy.”

  “What company?”

  “Bat Mountain Corporation.”

  Bradford sighed. “That land’s not for sale.”

  “How do you know. I haven’t told you how much I’m willing to pay.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s not for sale.”

  “Have you been watching the news? Did you know that a cathedral is growing on the property and the government ha
s seized control of it.”

  “That’s none of my business. I’m not paid to watch my client’s assets.”

  “Well, I’d like to talk to your client about it,” Jack said. “Do you have contact information?”

  “No. My clients pay me to make sure they don’t get contacted. So, forget about it. You’re not getting squat from me.”

  “Has the FBI talked to you yet about the murder on your client’s property?”

  Bradford frowned. “What murder?”

  George told him about the murder of Colonel Martin and the FBI investigation in progress.

  “No. I haven’t talked to anyone nor do I have any intention of getting involved.”

  “Well, you are involved whether you like it or not since you’re the registered agent. So, why did your client buy up a bunch of worthless desert property?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask them, nor do I care. Now if you don’t mind. I didn’t come here to talk business.”

  Figuring they’d gotten all the information they were likely to get they went back to their table and admired the naked ladies dancing around the poles for a while. When they saw Bradford get up to leave the club they followed him out to his car, keeping a safe distance behind, so he wouldn’t see them. When he drove out of the parking lot they were hot on his trail. He drove to a gas station and had his oil changed, then he drove to a McDonald’s and bought himself a hamburger.

  “This is a waste of time,” George complained, “and it’s almost time to meet the girls.”

  “He’s killing time. I think he’s got an appointment somewhere. We should wait a little longer.” He looked at his watch. “It’s 3:30 p.m. I bet he’s got a 4:00 p.m. appointment with someone connected to Bat Mountain Corporation.”

  George frowned. “You think he’d be that stupid—to call them the moment we make contact with him?”

  “If he’s rattled he’s probably not thinking too clearly. Finding out about the murder had to shake him up.”

  Just then Bradford came out of the restaurant, got in his car, and took off back towards town. They followed him and when he parked in a garage next to an office building they parked on the street and went inside. As they went through the front door they saw him taking the elevator and watched the indicator light showing that it stopped on the third floor. They took the stairs and when they emerged out of the stairwell they saw him going into an office. When they approached the door he had gone in they saw that it was the United States Department of Land Management.

  “What the hell?” George said.

  “Hmm. That’s interesting. Bat Mountain Corporation bought the property from the Department of Land Management.”

  “Seriously? What do you make of that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe the government knew all along what was going to happen on the Bat Mountain Site but wanted to take the property off the government’s books so the federal overseers wouldn’t be snooping into it.”

  “But why take the site over if you’re trying to distance yourself from it?”

  “That was your fault,” George said. “Had you not accidentally found it nobody would have noticed the uplift—at least not until it was finished. Had you not noticed that it was growing it would have just been seen as an unusual rock formation.”

  “That’s right. So, they had to take it back over to try to conceal what was going on.”

  “I wonder what in the hell is going on,” George said. “I’d sure like to know what they are hiding.”

  “We’ll get to the bottom on it. Don’t worry. The cat’s out of the bag now, it’s just a matter of time.”

  “Maybe, but we may not have an opportunity like this again.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The man we want to talk to is in that office right now. Let’s go talk to him.”

  “What? Just barge in there?”

  “Yeah, it’s a little late to make an appointment,” Jack said and started for the door.

  George reluctantly followed him inside. Apparently since it was a Saturday there wasn’t anybody manning the front desk. They heard voices down the hall to their left so Jack moved in that direction. When he’d recognized Bradford’s voice he opened the door and walked in on the two men.

  “Well, there’s the man I want to talk to. Thank you Paul for leading us to him.”

  Both men stood up. Jack noticed a name plate on the desk identifying the occupant of the office as Riley Wilson. “Who are you?” Wilson demanded.

  “My name is Jack Carpenter and I’m interested in buying your property in Inyo County. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for weeks, but Paul here doesn’t return phone calls.”

  “The property is not for sale! That’s why nobody has returned your calls.”

  Jack shrugged. “But you haven’t heard how much I’m offering?”

  “I don’t care what you are offering. It’s not for sale. So get out of my office.”

  “What does Bat Mountain Corporation have to do with the Bureau of Land Management, anyway. I thought it sold the property to Bat Mountain Corporation?”

  “It did. It’s a matter of public record.”

  “Then why is Paul here telling you about Colonel Martin’s murder.”

  “You’re trespassing!” Wilson spat. “If you don’t leave right now I’m going to call the police.”

  “Okay. Relax. We’re leaving. Just one last question. Why did the government go to all of the trouble to sell the Bat Mountain Site to Bat Mountain Corporation and then turn around and take control of it again?”

  “That’s classified information,” Wilson said picking up the telephone. “Now out of my office now or I’m calling the police.”

  “Okay, we’re out of here. Relax. Thank you,” Jack said as they both made a hasty exit.

  “You’ve got balls,” George said. “I wouldn’t have done that in a million years.”

  “Well, it worked. Now we know the government is definitely involved and whatever is going on there is classified.”

  Feeling pretty good about what they’d discovered that morning, Jack and George found the girls and resumed their partying. Dolly and Cindy were also in a good mood since they’d done well on the slots and made enough to cover their shopping spree. After dinner and a show they stopped for a drink at the hotel lounge and then headed to their respective rooms to finish off the night properly. While Jack and Dolly were changing into something more comfortable they talked about the day’s accomplishments.

  “We should open up our own detective agency,” Dolly suggested as she pulled her dress over her head. She was wearing matching red panties, bra and black stockings. Jack’s eye’s widened at the sexy look.

  He laughed. “Yeah, we do make a pretty good team. You should have seen Wilson’s face when we barged in on him and Bradford. It was priceless.”

  “I bet. It was fun asking people questions,” she said as she removed her left stocking very carefully trying not to run it. Jack watched her seemingly mesmerized. When she noticed, she smiled broadly. “You want to take off the other one?”

  He nodded and knelt down in front of her. After carefully removing the snaps he slowly pulled the stocking down her leg and then planted a kiss on her inner thigh. She put her hands on his head and gently moaned. He kissed the other thigh then ran his hands gently down both legs.

  “Oh, man. You’ve got killer legs,” he observed.

  She laughed. “Whatever you’re doing to them, don’t stop.”

  He smiled at her and continued to kiss and caress them, evoking more sounds of pleasure and satisfaction. Then he slipped his hands behind her and unsnapped her bra. It fell away exposing what he thought were perfect breasts–not too large or too small–naturally beautiful. He gave them an appreciative look and then took one of them in his mouth. Dolly put her arms around him and squeezed him tightly as she moaned in delight. Then Jack picked Dolly up, carried her to the bedroom and laid her naked body on the bed. As he watched her lon
gingly he took off his clothes.

  “Come on! Hurry. I want you,” she beckoned.

  Amused, he deliberately took his time taking off one piece of clothing at a time. Annoyed, she sat up, grabbed his arm and pulled him down on her.

  They kissed long and hard and then he was inside her. She stiffened to meet him and then gasped in delight. “Oh, yes! That’s more like it. I’ve been yearning to feel you inside me all day.”

  “You should have said something. I would have gladly obliged.”

  “I know,” she whispered. “Oh! Keep it coming. . . . Oh my! . . . Yes! . . .”

  Jack kept the rhythm going, feeling relieved that Dolly seemed to be enjoying herself. Sex to him was fun and came easy but pleasing a lady was often a real challenge. He desperately wanted their sex to be good, because he liked Dolly and wanted their relationship to last. He didn’t plunge into her too hard because he didn’t want to climax before she did. That would be a disaster. The steady rhythm he could handle. It felt good and he could stay right there on the edge indefinitely.

  “Oh, you’re good Jack. Oh! A little harder. I’m almost there. . . . Oh! . . . Ahhh! . . . Thank you!” Dolly said, her body going limp. Jack leaned down and gave her a long kiss.

  “Okay, it’s your turn,” she advised.

  “My turn?”

  “Yeah, I know you were holding back to make sure I came. You’re a gentleman, Jack. Now it’s your turn to let loose.”

  He felt her clamp down on him hard and felt a surge of pleasure. “Whoa! What was that?”

  “That was me telling you to get going?”

  He got going, plunging hard deep inside her and it wasn’t long until he went over the edge and let out a sigh. He lay there a moment enjoying the electricity flowing between them, then reluctantly rolled off her and sighed. “Wow! That’s the best sex I’ve had in years.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself, stud.”

  He looked over at her and smiled. “I aim to please.”

  “And you did,” she said wrapping a leg over him and putting her head on his shoulder. She snuggled up and put her arm around his waist---in for the long haul. He pulled the sheets over them and took a deep satisfying breath. Suddenly he felt tired.

  “It’s been a long day. I think I’m going to sleep.”

  “Sleep,” she teased. “What if I want another go-‘round?”

  “In the morning,” he said closing his eyes. “Wake me up.”

  Jack fell asleep almost immediately and Dolly shortly thereafter. Like the sex, it was the best sleep either had enjoyed in years. When they woke up in the morning Jack made good on his promise to go another round and Dolly and Jack knew then that their relationship was going to last a long, long time.