“Yes, a very exclusive area. You said you wanted to have space, privacy, and a luxury home. This is the area where you want to be.”
He perked up, looking around a little skeptically at the miles of dunes covered with short green bushes. Mary hoped to hell the place she was taking him wasn’t in the midst of this stuff, but Pen had said it was beachfront. From this angle, no glimpse of the sea had yet showed itself.
“I drove to town in the dark,” he said conversationally. “I suppose the countryside is like this all around?”
“Mostly.” Mary guessed at her answer. “That’s why, as I mentioned, beachfront is the only place to be.”
“It’s not a bunch of condos around there, though, right? I’m feeling a little surrounded in the place I’m staying.”
“Lots of space out here.” She followed as the road curved and then she saw the guard gate ahead. A polite young man with a smile greeted them and asked where they were going. “We’re meeting someone at the Smith place.” Oh god, hopefully that answer worked.
It must have. The guard raised the barrier gate and waved them through.
Pen had told Mary to take the second left turn she came to, then a quick right. She’d memorized the look of the house—pale apricot stucco with white trim and balcony railings shaped like seahorses. And there it was.
She sent up a silent thanks to the ladies; the house was definitely huge and magnificent. She parked on the road and saw Gracie approaching from the left hand side of the house.
“Take a look around,” Mary told Rob. “Notice the gorgeous landscaping, the courtyard with mature palm trees and multiple shades of bougainvillea in bloom.”
While he gazed, openmouthed, she took Gracie aside.
“We found a door on the beach side open. The owners must be nearby, or maybe they went to town. It seems like the kind of area where you could go away and leave your doors unlocked. Take him through, but make it quick. They could come home any minute.”
Mary looked around. “This place isn’t really for sale, is it? What’s our story?”
“Pen and I will watch for anyone returning, and we’ll come up with something to keep them from going in. You just tell Rob the owners are here but have allowed you to show the place. As long as we keep them from seeing each other, it’ll work.” She had her fingers crossed, Mary noticed.
Heart pounding, Mary joined Rob in the courtyard. “Let’s go around front,” she said, taking his arm and steering him toward the beach. “Around here, people call the side facing the road the back of the house, the beach is the front. And here … we are!”
She had to admit the view took her own breath away. The tide was in, so the water came within twenty yards of the patio.
“You’ll notice the deck affords incomparable views. You can literally dash right out here with your boogie board and be in the water in one minute. You’ll want to see the view from the upper balcony as well,” she said, ushering him toward the sliding door Gracie had left unlocked for them.
She pushed to get him through the rooms as quickly as possible, although personally she would have loved to linger and take in the details. “Here we have a spacious great room, open plan, with dining space for all your friends, a gourmet kitchen. If you love to cook, here’s your ideal space.”
“Well, I don’t,” he muttered, “but I suppose hiring a maid and a cook must come pretty cheap around here?”
“Oh, absolutely. You did notice the casita on the north side? Perfect for maid’s quarters, or for visiting relatives.” She hoped it was true. “Now, upstairs, we have the bedrooms …”
She counted them off as they peeked into each one. Luckily, only a couple of them seemed occupied, with suitcases and toiletries in evidence. All were beautifully decorated. “And, here is that fantastic view of the sea, right here from your master bedroom. Did I mention that all furnishings come with the house? Of course, if you don’t like them, I know a wonderful interior decorator who can help you do the whole place over.”
She heard Rob’s gasp. “Wow,” he said. “What can I say?—wow!”
“The seller is motivated to sell quickly, but I must tell you there have been two other offers, one of them at full asking price.”
“Which is?”
“Twenty-one point six million.” She looked him in the eye and managed not to stammer or blink.
“Tell them I’ll give twenty-five. Cash. Immediately.”
Mary smiled and took his arm. “Let’s go write up the offer.”
Chapter 64
Rob was beaming like a satisfied cat, Mary thought, as they drove back down the long dirt road toward town. Her mind raced. Where could she take him? She had no office, not even a ‘pretend’ one where she could write up this offer.
She had texted Amber while Rob took a last, long gaze at his beach. Now, a ping told her the answer had come through. She came to a stop and asked Rob’s indulgence while she read it.
“Oh, wow,” she said. “Looks like the pest control company came to the office this afternoon and my secretary says it smells pretty bad. She’ll meet me somewhere and bring my computer. You want to see one of the best views in town?”
“We just did, didn’t we?”
“Oh, yours is the very best at beach level, but let me show you what it looks like from above.” Amber’s detailed message gave directions to a restaurant and bar at the top of the rocky hill that towered above the port area. “You’ll love this place.” She hoped it was true.
Underway again, Rob asked how the purchase would work. “Can I do the whole thing with a wire transfer?”
“I’m sure you can. We work with an attorney here in town—wonderful lady, smart as they come—and she handles all the details and paperwork. You may have noticed, showing and talking about houses is my passion. I leave the money matters to a different set of experts.”
Luckily, her answer stalled any further questions. He kept glancing back toward the beach they’d just left.
Oh, yeah, he’s hooked, Mary thought.
She found the way up a rather steep road to the hilltop Amber had described. At the top were two restaurants with miniscule parking lots, which were quickly filling with the happy hour crowd. Gracie’s minivan sat at the end of the lot, and Mary chose a spot as far from it as she could. No doubt Pen and Gracie had raced back to pick up Amber at the condo and were now hiding out until she could get Rob inside.
Mary spotted Amber at a window-side table, the computer in front of her. She stood when they entered the room and passed Mary.
“Just bring up the document I’ve got on the screen,” Amber muttered in Mary’s ear while Rob stared out at the shrimping boats in the harbor below. “It’s a pretty self-explanatory Purchase Offer. You can ask him a few questions and fill in his personal info, then say you’re emailing it to the seller for approval. If he questions anything at all, just say that’s how we do it here in Mexico. He’ll never know the difference.”
“We need to keep him in our sights,” Mary said. “Once I take him back to his vehicle at Banorte Bank, you guys follow to see where he goes. If it’s anywhere other than the condo where he’s staying, we’ll have to think fast.”
Rob had turned around, so Amber scooted out of sight quickly.
“So, my secretary says she’s got the document all ready to submit as soon as I get some basic information,” Mary said, ushering him to the table. “We can take care of that, then I say we celebrate with a drink.”
Rob eagerly complied, giving his old home address in California, but explaining that once he had the house on the beach he planned to live here full time. Mary typed everything into the provided spaces, had Rob add his electronic signature, then she saved the document and emailed it to Gracie.
“Okay, the seller should have it, and I imagine we’ll have an answer fairly quickly.”
Rob had already signaled the waiter and asked for a margarita. Sheesh, Mary thought, two at lunch and another midafternoon. How does he do it? She
asked for another Dos Equis and nursed it along slowly while he went through a basket of chips with guacamole. How he kept his trim figure was another mystery.
He took out his phone, stared at the screen and frowned.
“Something the matter?”
“Oh, my assistant back home is coordinating an event I’m supposed to attend in a week or so. I haven’t heard anything from her today.”
“Ah. Well, I’ve noticed there’s sometimes a delay in messages from the States. We really do live on mañana time down here.”
Eventually, he excused himself to go to the restroom and Mary checked her own messages. How long would she need to babysit him? His company was wearing on her, but the Ladies didn’t dare leave him on his own until the money was transferred. If he discovered what a rip-off price he’d offered for a house that was probably worth one-tenth what he was paying, he would go running back where he came from.
She looked at his phone, sitting on the table beside his half-empty margarita glass. Glanced toward the men’s room door. Should she …?
She drew her hand back. He would remember he’d left it there. But later—they needed to get his phone away from him so he couldn’t contact anyone and discover his blunder. She texted Amber. Got any more of that wonder knockout drug? Then she remembered how quickly it had worked last time. She’d better get him situated in his own rooms before she tried to disable him. He appeared at the table so quietly it startled her. Had he seen the message she’d just sent?
“Well,” he said with a yawn, “I think I’m about ready for a nap. Can you give me a lift back to my car?”
“Certainly. Are you okay to drive?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m only going as far as Sandy Beach. I’m at the El Mirage.”
Through a lot of narrow streets and traffic, she thought. But the contingency plan was in place, and the rest of the Ladies should be on surveillance near Rob’s Land Rover. Mary gathered her things and Amber’s computer and walked beside Rob out to the parking lot. When he got into her car and set his phone on the console between them, she casually set her purse on top of it.
At the bank she spotted the minivan. In one move, she slid her purse along with Rob’s cell phone, until it fell onto the floor of the back seat. He never noticed. She watched while he fished keys out of his pocket, got into the Rover, and drove away. The gray minivan followed.
Chapter 65
“I thought he’d never call it a night,” Amber complained. “I watched him in the lobby bar for more than an hour. That man can put away the booze.”
“But you’re definitely sure he went to his room and plans to stay put?” Sandy asked.
Amber nodded tiredly. “I followed him and saw him go inside. By then he was practically stumbling. I’d thought about dropping a pill into his last drink at the bar, but I didn’t want to have to manhandle him into the elevator. He’s out of it.”
“And I have his phone,” Mary said, “so I doubt he’s going anywhere or contacting anyone.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Gracie looked equally tired.
“All right,” Amber said, sitting up straighter at the dining table. “Here’s what I found out, and I think it all works in our favor. I called the real Lisa Fineman and pretended I was interested in buying property and asked how the process goes.”
The others gathered around to listen.
“Foreigners can’t buy property outright within a certain distance of the waterfront. So, purchases by Americans have to be done through a bank trust. Apparently, it’s a horrendously huge and complicated document and it takes months to complete one.”
“Then how—?”
“The buyer has to pay the money up front, and there are some very skimpy closing documents, then the whole thing goes into the legal system down here, something that involves multiple government agencies and officials, and this hefty document gets sent all over—to the state capital, the federal capital, and then some.”
“A realtor told you all this?”
“Well, I took what she told me and filled in the rest from stuff I learned online. Anyway, the point is, Rob would pay all the money upfront. So we—our ‘lawyer’ here—” A nod toward Gracie, “—will explain this, the parts we want him to know. Then we get him to wire the money.”
Sandy spoke up. “I will go back to Phoenix, first thing in the morning, and get an account set up at my bank. We’ll call it the victim’s settlement account or something.”
“Meanwhile, Gracie will have told him it will take a little time for the paperwork to come through, so he can either hang around in his condo here or go back to the States, whatever he wants to do until everything is finalized.”
Pen brightened. “But the truth is, everything never will be finalized. He’s given up the money and gets nothing. And there’s no way to trace it to us …”
“Because by the time he begins to get a clue, we will have disbursed all the money out to the victims,” Sandy said.
Smiles all around. Except Mary. “There’s still more. Other than losing the money he took, he’s not really being punished. And what about that judge in California? No justice there.”
“Be patient, my dear,” Pen said. “I do think there’s a happy ending in sight.”
“Let’s just stay on script a bit longer,” she continued. “Tomorrow, Amber will slip Rob’s phone into his room just in time for Mary to call and let him know his offer was accepted. She’ll pick him up and take him to the attorney meeting. Back in your role, Mary, you’ll have to act excited about his getting the property he wants.”
Mary gave a pretend growl but agreed to follow the plan.
“Do we have an office where our lawyer can conduct this meeting?” Sandy asked.
Gracie looked a little worried. “I’ve been working on it.”
By morning, moods were better. Sandy had gotten up at the crack of dawn and headed north, planning to be in her office at the bank by noon. The others ate a leisurely breakfast on their balcony, spying on Rob’s quiet condo.
When they began to see movement inside, Amber knew it was time to make her move. Back in uniform, she tapped at his door and walked in. The scent of shower gel assured her he was busy, and she tucked his cell phone partway beneath a cushion on the sofa. Out again, back to join the group.
Thirty minutes later, Mary called. “Hey Rob, I have some wonderful news for you. Your offer was accepted! I bet you hardly slept all night.”
“Well, actually—”
“So, anyway, I’ve got it set up with our attorney to meet at noon at her office. I’ll pick you up in front of your building.”
* * *
The law offices of Menendez and Archer were normally closed on Wednesdays. Gracie had learned this by browsing ads in the newspaper, and the Ladies confirmed it by driving by this morning to check it out. Sure enough, the sign on the door showed office hours, and the shadowy interior appeared unoccupied.
Mary used a little trick she’d gleaned when breaking back into her old business offices, the one her ex had stolen from her, and used a thin plastic card to open the door. Gracie, Pen, and Amber went inside, while Mary turned back toward the condos to pick up Rob. It was the only time since they arrived on Friday that he’d been left unwatched. She worried, mulling the possibilities, until she saw his vehicle in the lot and spotted him standing near the main entrance waiting for her.
By the time Mary and Rob returned, the legal office was a bustling place—other than the front door being locked. Lights were on, the smell of coffee brewing, a petite dark-skinned girl let them in, then took her place behind the reception desk. She picked up the phone and began speaking rapidly in Spanish.
She smiled and directed them back to a private office where the statuesque, dark haired lawyer who wore perfect makeup and her hair slicked back in a bun at the nape of her neck greeted them and introduced herself as Graciela Menendez. She looked over the top of her heavy-rimmed glasses at Rob, then referred to a sheaf of papers
in her hands.
He commented on how perfect her English was and tried mildly to flirt, but she shut him down. The lady was all business as she explained the system in Mexico. The wire transfer would need to take place today—did he have his banking information with him? Good. Did he understand that it would take some time for the bank trust paperwork to be completed, but that he could have occupancy of the home he’d purchased once the sellers had moved their personal things out? They had asked for a period of thirty days to do this—was this agreeable with Mr. Williams?
Graciela added a nice touch by having him sign a paper stipulating to all the questions she had asked. She worked efficiently on the laptop computer in front of her, entering his bank’s routing number and the account number, and confirming the dollar amount. Twenty-five million US dollars, yes?
He nodded, looking very excited about his new property.
The petite receptionist came to the door to tell the attorney she had received a call from the partner bank in Arizona. Everything was set up, and please let them know the moment the wire transfer cleared.
A tall, grey-haired older woman with purple glasses and a pencil sticking through her upswept hair came in and picked up the documents. A moment later a copy machine began whirring out the pages. Such an efficiently run office.
While they waited, Rob’s cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message: Gala all set for Saturday night. Almost 100% positive RSVPs. You’ll be back by then? Rob typed an affirmative response.
Everything, it seemed, was a go.
Chapter 66
Sandy looked at Rob’s text response and smiled. All set.
She watched the new account she had set up this morning. A nail-biting hour went by but then the balance jumped from zero to nearly twenty-five million dollars. The small service charge had been worth it for immediate balance update service.
She turned to the other program on her computer, the one where she’d uploaded Amber’s spreadsheet of the victims’ names. The Heist Ladies’ devotion to weeks of phone calls had paid off. Every entry showed the name of the person Rob Williams had ripped off, the amount he’d taken, and the victim’s bank and account number. With a couple of clicks, numbers began to tick across the boxes on her screen. As each account was credited with the amount due it, the balance in the new Victim’s Settlement account dropped accordingly. A notation automatically went with each deposit: Robin Hood thanks you for your patience.
Movie Mogul Mama Page 23
