by B A Trimmer
Lenny eyed me as if he’d known I’d planned it this way all along. “Fine. Give her a fifteen-thousand-dollar retainer and forty percent off the full hourly rate.”
“Fifteen thousand?” I asked.
“Okay,” Lenny said as he rolled his eyes. “I know. She’s a friend of a friend. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Sophie, go ahead and make it ten thousand.”
He then looked back at me. “Just make sure to use up the whole thing. In fact, it would make me happy if you went a few thousand over. She’s a wedding planner. I used one back when I got married. Trust me, they know all about things going over budget.”
~~~~
I drove up Scottsdale Road and pulled into the wide drive next to the enormous floral and fountain display that marks the entrance to the Scottsdale Tropical Paradise. It’s one of the golf resorts Tony DiCenzo built back in the eighties and is where he located the corporation’s business offices.
After parking in the visitors’ lot, I made my way through the main entrance and up the curving stairs to the mezzanine level. From there, I headed to the offices of Scottsdale Land and Resort Management, Inc.
When I reached the big double glass doors, the security stations were gone. The two beefy guys in black polos who were usually there were also missing.
I opened the doors and entered the lobby. In all the times I’d been here before, this had been an open space. Now there was a desk and several comfortable chairs.
Behind the desk was a nicely dressed woman who was about my age. I’d seen her before but had no idea what her name was. She smiled at me as I walked in.
“Wow,” I said. “I see they made some changes.”
“They fixed up the lobby about a week ago,” she said. “It looks nice, don’t you think?”
“It looks great. I’m Laura Black. I’m here to see Maximilian Bettencourt.”
“Let me see if he’s free,” she said as she picked up the phone and made a call, presumably to an admin.
“You can go back,” she said as she hung up. “Let me make a badge for you.”
She took my picture and typed some information into her computer. A few seconds later, a plastic card came out of a machine. She then attached it to a colorful Scottsdale Tropical Paradise lanyard.
“This is a permanent badge,” she said as she handed it to me. “You can keep it and use it whenever you visit.”
She then showed me how to use the access gate built across the hallway that led to the rest of the offices. When I held my badge against the reader, a big piece of glass slid out of the way, letting me pass through.
I walked down to the executive offices. The admin desk I’d long associated with Gabriella was now occupied by Cheryl, a woman I’d met a few weeks before.
I walked to Max’s office, but stopped short when I saw the nameplate on it. It said Tony DiCenzo. When I stuck my head in, Tony wasn’t there.
“He’s down here,” Cheryl called out.
I walked down the hallway to her desk, where she was smiling at me. “We switched over the offices about a week ago.”
“This all seems a little strange,” I mused.
Cheryl glanced down at her phone. “Mr. Bettencourt is finished with his call,” she said. “I’ll buzz you in.”
She reached under her desk and pressed a button. The door lock released and I went in.
Max was behind his desk. As I’d seen so many times with Tony, Max was reading through a stack of papers.
“Nice office,” I said as I walked in. “You’re moving up in the world.”
“It still feels a bit strange to have Tony’s office, but he insisted. Truthfully, I think giving me his office was his way of truly retiring.”
“How’s he doing? I haven’t talked with him in weeks.”
“He hasn’t been this relaxed in years. I think he realizes the retirement was a good move. I know he wants to get together with you and go over the things he’s been doing the last several months. Don’t be surprised if he gives you a call sometime soon.”
“That’ll be great. I see you’ve started to make changes around here.”
“Yes, if we’re going to be known as a legitimate business, we might as well start to look and act like one. How did you like the new lobby?”
“It’s nice. The card reader and security gate are a little different.”
“I put the lobby back to where it was when I first got here. The access gate doesn’t provide any active security. People can still jump over it. But it does give us a record of who goes in and out.”
“I like the changes. I think they’re an improvement. It really looks like you’re starting to get out of the other side of the business.”
“Yes, and you’ll see a lot of other changes happening over here. I think it’s one of the things Tony wants to tell you about.
“Are you ready for dinner?”
“I’m starving.”
Chapter Three
I woke up early the following day. Dinner with Max had been delicious and relaxing. He had meetings to get to, so we couldn’t stay too long. Still, it was wonderful to be with him.
I drove to the office and went in through the back-security door. Gina had beaten me in and was working on her computer.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Hi, Laura. How does your new assignment look?”
“So far, so good. I’ve found where our client’s husband and his mistress meet. It’s a townhouse near Haden and Indian Bend. According to Sophie, the husband owns it. Lenny says it’s marital property and is having me set up cameras.”
“Hopefully, everything goes smoothly. Let me know if you need help with anything.”
The door to the back opened and Lenny came in. He looked terrible. His eyes were puffy, and his clothes were a mess. My first thought was maybe he’d been mugged.
“Are you alright?” I asked as he walked towards us.
“What happened?” Gina asked.
“Elle and I were at dinner at Mastro’s Steakhouse last night,” Lenny said. His voice was quiet and distant. “We were sharing a warm butter cake for dessert, and things were going well, so I told her I’d like to plan a weekend vacation for the two of us at the Bellagio in Vegas.”
“Okay,” I said. “That sounds reasonable. What did she say?”
“She turned me down flat. So, I made the mistake of asking her why.”
“What did she say?” Gina asked.
“She said she didn’t know if it was a good idea if we do anything more than our dinners, at least not for a while. I could tell she was starting to get distant, and I was getting a little desperate, so, um, I told her I loved her.”
“Seriously?” Gina asked, sounding a little pissed.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Lenny moaned. “It just came out.”
“What happened then?” I asked.
“It really seemed to shake her. Like it took her a moment to come to grips with it.”
“What did she say?”
“All she said was no.”
“No?”
“That’s it. She shook her head and said no. She then told me not to say anything else or follow her. Then she got up and took an Uber home.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It seemed like things had been going pretty well.”
“Yeah, I know. The three of you tried to warn me about telling her how I really felt. But I could feel the whole thing slipping away and I panicked.”
“What are you planning on doing now?” Gina asked.
“I don’t know,” he quietly said, his eyes to the floor. “I’d take some advice, if you have any. But honestly, I think it’s over.”
“I’d wait until later this afternoon, then call her to apologize,” I said. “Tell her you let your emotions get the better of you and you agree it’s too soon to have feelings like that.”
“Yeah,” he said, still sounding dejected. “That actually sounds reasonable. Thanks.”
Lenny walked to the front o
ffices. “Jeez,” Gina moaned. “Lenny’s going to be a hot mess for weeks.”
“You’ve known him longer than I have. Is there anything we can do for him? I really don’t want to deal with him as he figures out how to live with this. You know how pissy he’s going to get.”
“I don’t know, but we’ll need to come up with something. I seriously don’t want to deal with his emotions any more than you do.”
~~~~
Gina started working on a report, and I went up to the front. When I got to Sophie’s desk, she looked concerned.
“What’s up with Lenny?” she asked. “He looks like someone told him his baby was ugly. He didn’t even say hello. He went into his office and closed the door.”
“He went out with Elle last night. While they were at dinner, he told her he loved her.”
“Oh, my God. He’s such an idiot. What did she do?”
“She dumped him. She took off and left him sitting at the table.”
“You know,” Sophie quickly said. “This isn’t our fault. We did try to warn him.”
“Yeah, but you know Lenny.”
“Damn,” she said. “Now we’re going to have to deal with the fallout.”
“I guess we didn’t think it through when we set them up in the first place.”
“Jeez, I don’t want to deal with Lenny dragging his sorry ass around the office for the next month. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll need to come up with something. You know how cranky he’s going to get.”
“Maybe we can find him somebody else?” Sophie asked. “Then he can have someone new for a rebound relationship. That would at least get him off our backs for a while.”
“But what happens when that one doesn’t work out? We’d be right back where we started.”
“Hey,” she said. “I can only work one problem at a time.”
“When’s Kristy coming in? You said first thing today.”
“She’ll be here at nine. We’ll have to let her know Lenny’s going through a break-up and not to take his moodiness personally.”
~~~~
At five minutes to nine, the door to the street opened and Kristy walked in. I introduced her to Sophie and Gina. We told her about Lenny, his break-up the night before, and how he might be in a weird mood because of it. She sympathized and said she completely understood.
I’d already talked with her and knew what she needed. Still, Lenny needed to meet with her to go over his rates and the costs associated with the investigation. This introductory meeting also became the first billable hour in the log.
Sophie buzzed Lenny to let him know the client had arrived. He said to show her in.
“She seems nice,” Gina said when the door to Lenny’s office closed.
“Yeah,” Sophie echoed. “She doesn’t seem like an airhead. Do you have any idea who’s messing up the weddings?”
“Not a clue so far.”
“How are you going to handle this?” Gina asked.
“I figured I’d go to a couple of her weddings and see if I can find out what the problem is. According to Kristy, it’s something different every time, but there must be something common between them.”
“Don’t forget to check in with the husband,” Gina said. “It doesn’t sound like he has anything to do with this, but it might be helpful to get his perspective.”
“Going to weddings sounds like fun,” Sophie said.
“Come along then,” I said. “I could always use an extra pair of eyes. Gina, do you want to come too?”
“Not unless you think you’ll need some backup. We’re already going to your neighbor’s wedding next week. That’s enough weddings for one month.”
“Are you bringing Jet?” Sophie asked.
“I’ve let him know I’m going to a wedding on New Year’s Eve and he’s welcome to come along. But I’m leaving the decision completely up to him. I think it’s a little too soon for me to start dragging him to weddings. What about Milo?”
“I’m still debating. Now that I’m dating him exclusively, I suppose it would make sense. But I’d probably have more fun if I didn’t have him along. It’s always entertaining being in a room with a lot of drunk single guys.”
Gina shook her head and I rolled my eyes.
~~~~
After about forty-five minutes, Kristy came out of Lenny’s office. She held a glass of pinot noir and had the slightly dazed look many clients get after the first meeting with Lenny.
This is the point when what they are doing suddenly becomes real to them. It’s also the time when they start to comprehend how expensive everything is going to be.
Sophie had the new client paperwork in a folder on her desk. She ushered Kristy into the main conference room to get her signature and collect her credit card information.
Once it looked like they were almost done, I joined them in the conference room and sat next to Kristy. After Sophie had gathered up the paperwork and took off, we both sat in silence for a moment.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“It all seems a little unreal. But I’m glad we’re starting. Hopefully, you can come up with something.”
“I was thinking, the best way to get started would be to go to a couple of your weddings. I could see for myself what sorts of things are happening. If anything does go wrong, I’ll be able to start looking into it right away.”
“That’s a great idea. When I’m working on an event, everything is going on at once. I don’t have a lot of free time to look into whatever problem just occurred.”
“When’s your next wedding?”
She let out a breath. “It’s tonight. The ceremony will be at Our Lady of Peace at McDowell Mountain Ranch. The reception is at the Scottsdale Barrington. I’ll have one on Saturday night at the Tropical Paradise. Christmas is Sunday, so I’ll have the day off. Then it all starts up again. I have one on Tuesday at the Saguaro Sky, then the Peckham wedding is back at the Barrington on New Year’s Eve, which is on Saturday.”
“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t know you were so busy.”
“This time of year, I average two weddings a week. Next to Las Vegas, Scottsdale’s about the most practical place for a destination wedding in the winter. Our weather is perfect and all the resorts have beautiful ceremony and reception facilities.”
“Would you mind if I bring Sophie with me?” I asked. “She sometimes spots things I miss.”
“No problem, bring whoever you’d like. Keep in mind, as wedding planners, we don’t eat unless it’s a buffet and then only after everyone else goes through. We also don’t drink unless we pay. Brides tend to get fussy if they see strangers at their open bar.”
~~~~
I arrived back at the townhouse on Via Camello Del Norte a few minutes after eleven. I figured this would be early enough for me to finish installing the video cameras, in case Michael and the blonde decided to return for a Wednesday afternoon romp.
When I reached the townhouse, I was surprised to see the blonde’s white BMW in the driveway. Instead of Michael Palmer’s red Boxster, a black Mercedes was parked next to the BMW.
I parked where I had the day before and called Sophie. “Hey, chica, could you run a plate for me? The blonde’s back at the townhouse, but there’s a different car parked next to her.”
“Okay. Do you think Michael’s using two cars, or is this someone new?”
“I don’t know. Jessica only told us about the red Boxster, but he seems good at hiding things from her. Call me when you find out anything.”
I sat on the street and kept an eye on the townhouse. Ten minutes later, Sophie called back.
“The Mercedes is registered to Manuel Montoya. He’s an M.D. and is listed as the Chief Strategy Officer of Scottsdale General.”
“Seriously? Chief Strategy Officer? Where do they come up with these titles? It sounds like he sits in his office and plays games all day. Do you have a picture of him? I’d like to compare it with whoeve
r comes out.”
“Not a problem. This guy has his picture all over the internet. He seems to be on the board of every medical charity in the Valley. Here, this is a good one.”
My phone dinged as Sophie sent me a picture of Doctor Montoya. He was a serious-looking man, somewhere in his mid-forties, with dark hair and a full mustache.
I’d just finished studying the photo when I looked up to see the blonde coming out of the house. She wore a grape-colored dress that was even more revealing than the one she had on the day before.
She was leading a man who was clearly Doctor Montoya. He walked directly to his car while she turned and used a key to lock the door.
They each got into their cars and took off. Like the day before, I waited a few minutes to make sure neither of them was going to double back. I grabbed my trusty clipboard, a bag full of spy cameras, and my set of lockpicks, then walked to the rear door of the townhouse.
From my snooping the previous day, I knew this back entrance was out of view from the street. I could work on picking the lock with less chance of getting caught.
One of Gina’s skills was the ability to open the types of locks commonly found in houses. Thanks to many training sessions with her, I was starting to get a knack for it. I wasn’t nearly as skilled as she was, but after ten minutes of trial and error, I was able to open the door.
When I got inside, my suspicions that nobody actually lived in the house were confirmed. Except for some wine glasses and an ashtray, the kitchen had nothing in any of the cabinets. The refrigerator was also empty, except for some bottles of wine.
There wasn’t anything on the shelves in the kitchen or living room, so I couldn’t put cameras in either place. It would have looked pretty weird if something new had simply popped up.
When I walked up the stairs to the master bedroom, I was relieved to see the space was well used. Besides being cluttered, the room smelled like some high-end perfume mixed in with several salon beauty products.
Walking into the bathroom, I saw the assortment of hair tools and makeup the blonde kept at the townhouse. These were openly displayed on the vanity, a clear indication she had claimed this as her territory. She had evidently been doing this for weeks, if not months.
