“I don’t know, it’s kind of sexy to have a woman with a price on her head.” Alonzo put his arm around Mitzy’s waist and pulled her to himself. He kissed her cheek lightly.
“I don’t think Hector would agree. He’s one of those big teddy bears.”
“And I’m not?”
“No. You’re not.” Mitzy pulled away from his embrace, and opened the door to the job site trailer. “Go with me to the Hawthorne district so we can talk to Hector.”
“All right. If you’re going to be running around seeing big teddy bear men I’d rather be with you.” He put his hand on her lower back and led her out the door. He locked his trailer behind him. He drove her little red Miata back to the Hawthorne district.
Alonzo parked in the first spot he could find, which left them with a little walk to get to Hector’s shop, Bloody Ink.
“Too bad.” Two men had just stepped out of the shop, one with his shoulder bandaged. A woman in leather pants entered right after them. Then a group of skaters with their pants hanging off of their skinny hips entered. “I guess it’s not a good time.”
“We’re here. Let’s just go in.”
Inside the teenagers were engrossed in a discussion of the designs hanging on the wall. Hector was sitting on his stool with the leather pants woman draped over his shoulder. He had a grin like the cat that got in the cream. The woman with the leather pants had a very low cut sweater and as she leaned over talking in Hector’s ear Mitzy could see a little green gecko jiggling on the top of her breast.
“They’re not real,” Alonzo whispered in Mitzy’s ear.
The woman with the gecko let her hand drop down Hector’s chest as she leaned in and kissed his ear.
“Good afternoon,” Mitzy said. The presence of the gecko lady made her angry. Hector was grieving; he didn’t need some tramp seducing him. She watched his face. He didn’t look sad at all. He didn’t look annoyed by the woman. In fact, he looked satisfied and a little guilty.
He looked up at her greeting. “Mitzy, right?” he said.
“That’s right. And this is Alonzo, my fiancé.”
Hector stood up, a good three inches taller than Alonzo. The woman let her arm slide down Hector’s back while he stood, and then she slipped her hand into the back pocket of his jeans.
“Alonzo. Good to meet you. Did you find out something new about Lara?” Hector asked.
The gecko lady, who Hector had not introduced, rolled her eyes.
“Maybe,” Mitzy said. “It might be nothing. You look busy. Maybe we can talk later.”
Hector looked at the skater kids. “You guys going to get any work done today?” he asked.
A few of the kids turned and shook their heads.
“Then get out. Come back later to look. I’ve got to have a meeting.”
The skater kids shuffled out.
“What do you know?” Hector asked.
“I think we’d prefer to talk to you alone,” Alonzo said.
“You can trust Trish.”
Trish chomped her gum a few times and then gave a tight-lipped smile. From where Mitzy was standing it looked for all the world like Trish gave Hector’s bottom a squeeze.
“Mum’s the word,” Trish said.
“How long has Trish been in the picture?” Mitzy asked.
“That’s not important,” Hector said.
“I’d say it is,” Alonzo glowered at Hector from under his thick eyebrows.
“I’m good comfort, all right? The man’s girlfriend was just murdered. Go easy on him.” Trish was still chomping her gum.
“Did Lara know about you guys?” Mitzy directed her question to Trish.
“Nah,” Trish said. “She was so self-absorbed. Hector could have had ten women on the side and she’d never have known. He probably does.”
Hector pulled away from Trish’s groping hand, and gave her a quick look of anger. His face contorted and reddened.
He pulled it back together and looked at Mitzy again. “I should be so lucky to have a woman like Trish with me at a time like this. Love is a funny thing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love Lara, that I don’t want justice for her. What did you learn?”
Mitzy didn’t know what to say. Trish looked menacing, her hair slicked back into a greasy ponytail, her leather pants clinging tight to her body. How badly had Trish wanted Hector to herself? What would Trish be willing to do to keep Mitzy from the truth? But then she remembered the voice on the message machine. It had been male. Muffled, yes, but not feminine like Trish’s voice. She wanted to get Hector to talk a little more so she could see if his voice fit the message.
“Lara didn’t make enough money at Neveah’s to save up for that condo. We’re sure of it now,” Alonzo said. Mitzy thanked him with her eyes, for picking that as their reason. “We wanted to tell you that we think the money is behind the murder. Do you know anything at all about how she got all that money?”
“Lara got bonuses,” Trish said. “She used to brag about them all the time. They’d all be at the bar or whatever and she’d flash her card and buy the drinks bragging about her bonus.”
“You all went drinking together?” Mitzy grimaced. She was revolted by the idea of Lara and her lover partying with the other women he was sleeping with.
Trish laughed. “They drink at my bar. I don’t have to party with girls like her.”
Hector didn’t show even a flicker of disapproval at Trish’s words this time.
“I thought you said Lara didn’t know about you?”
“She knew me.” Trish rolled her eyes, “But that don’t mean she knew about Hector and me.”
Mitzy flexed her jaw. She had a strong urge to knock Trish down. Trish just smirked and stroked the back of Hector’s neck.
“Bonuses? From Neveah’s?” Alonzo turned the conversation again. Gratitude filled Mitzy again. She’d thank him for this.
“Where else? That’s where she worked.” Hector brushed Trish’s wandering hand away. “They all get big cash bonuses over there. Probably so Fiona won’t have to pay tax on it.”
The door behind Hector jingled again and a middle-aged man in bike shorts came in.
“I’m Gary,” he said. “I’m here for my color.”
Hector raised his eyebrow at Mitzy and Alonzo. “Is that all?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Mitzy said.
They left the building feeling dirty and disappointed.
“Nice teddy bear,” Alonzo said.
“I swear when I met him the first time he was deeply grieved.”
“And now he has Trish to make him feel all better.”
“I wonder how bad Trish wanted Hector all to herself,” Mitzy asked.
“Trish isn’t smart enough to be the killer.” Alonzo shook his head. “Either someone wanted you dead or someone wants you to think they wanted you dead. That can’t be Trish.”
“But it could be Trish and Hector. He’s no dummy.”
“Yes, I guess it could be. He wouldn’t have killed Lara. But if Trish had killed Lara he might help her cover for it.”
“It didn’t seem to me that he liked her all that much.”
“Murdering the other woman in a jealous rage does funny things to a relationship.”
Alonzo took Mitzy’s arm in his. The familiar comfort of his support calmed her.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Are you coming back to the site with me?” Alonzo asked. He let Mitzy into her car and then took the driver’s seat.
“I don’t have to this time, babe. I’m meeting Ben at the office to talk about the server.”
“I don’t want you going to the office,” Alonzo said.
“I’m sure you don’t. But I should try and get some work done.”
“You don’t need a server if you aren’t trying to sell houses.”
“It’s better to get the bugs out now, while I’m not relying on it. It’s okay.” Mitzy watched the review mirror while she spoke and wondered if anyone was following them, “
We’ll look over his plans and then we’ll leave. I’ll go back to the inn and wait for you when we’re done. I’m not in a hurry to get killed.”
“I know you aren’t.” Alonzo braked hard at the light. “I don’t see what the rush is on the computer.”
“This is the chance Ben has. I’m going to take it. He’ll show me what he’s setting up and he’ll remove all that old stuff from Free Geek while he’s there. Kill two birds with one stone.”
Alonzo raised an eyebrow.
“Take care of two jobs at once then. Just go to work and build something. You’ll feel better. Meet me at the inn after work.”
“Fine.” Alonzo’s jaw flexed.
“Don’t pout. If you’re freaked out, just pray.”
“You can count on that.” The light changed and he revved the engine.
“Let’s get you back to your job and then I’ll go do mine,” Mitzy said.
The atmosphere in the car was thick with tension. Mitzy rolled her head to try and relax but it didn’t help. Alonzo didn’t scare easily. If he was freaked out she shouldn’t relax yet.
Alonzo didn’t trust Ben to house sit a cat, much less keep Mitzy safe at the office. But he wasn’t going to fight about it today. He had to save his fight for where she was going to sleep tonight. He appreciated that she didn’t want anyone to think they were sleeping together. He liked how Mitzy stood by her convictions, but Alonzo didn’t know a single person who would care one way or the other.
All he had to do was convince her to come home with him tonight and he’d finally get a good night’s sleep. In the back of his head he knew there would be more than just sleeping if she came home with him. But his overwhelming urge to protect her was all he listened to. She was his woman and he was going to do his job.
The community center he had been building was almost complete. The finishing touches were going on inside. He toured the reception area, approving of what was being done. Some guys were surfacing the information desk with concrete rock that looked like slate. One of the stone guys stepped aside from the job and joined Alonzo.
“You hear about The Frog?” he asked.
Alonzo shook his head.
“You know him, right? He’s working the job over at Mitzy’s condo. Turns out he found the murder weapon.” The man stood with his chest out.
Alonzo nodded and narrowed his eyes. “Who is ‘The Frog’?”
“You know, that guy called Pierre? But he’s not French. He’s Russian, I think. He goes by Pierre Kiersten or The Frog. He’ll answer to almost anything.”
Alonzo nodded again. He’d heard of Pierre. “He’s the guy that found the bloody brick?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t know it. The police were checking out the work site…I think that dead girl had concrete in her brains or something, and they found a block on the wall The Frog had been working that had blood on it.”
How, Alonzo wondered, do you put a bloody brick on the wall and not notice?
“How did it get on the wall?”
“The Frog said there was a brick in the grass, not with the stack. He picked it up when he walked past it. He said it was dirty so he wiped it off with some rag and put it on the wall.”
“No kidding.”
“Yup. Cops have been following The Frog for two days now since they found it. Looks like he’s a person of interest.”
“But did he know Lara?”
“Nope. But everyone knows he’s crazy.”
The man made a quick nod with his chin to Alonzo and went back to the reception desk to install more fake stone.
Alonzo had not heard that Pierre was crazy. He’d never heard him called The Frog before either. And he had never heard that Pierre was supposed to be Russian.
If he left now, Alonzo thought he could get to the condo, have a conversation with Pierre and still get the rest of the day’s work in before he had to get back to the inn to keep an eye on Mitzy.
Ben showed up at the office looking anxious and in a hurry. He kept checking his watch. “All right Mitzy,” Ben said. “I’ve only got five minutes but I wanted to make it in before I left. I emailed you the order I made at HP. Here’s the printout too.” He passed her a piece of typing paper. “It makes sense to me and once it is running it will make sense to you too. Can you trust me to take care of this for you?”
“Yes, I guess I can.” Mitzy looked at the piece of paper in front of her but the pictures and random letters and numbers next to them didn’t help her in any way. “I guess I’ve got to.” She looked back up at Ben and smiled.
“If you don’t get it you could always go take a computer science class at the senior center.” Ben frowned.
“I know how to use a computer, I’m just not all technical about it.” Mitzy set the paper down on her desk. “So is this all you are going to do? Bring me the screen shot of of an email you sent and then leave?” She pointed her gaze in the direction of the ancient computer equipment in the middle of the floor.
Ben followed her gaze. “Let’s get it in my car,” he said. “If you help me load this junk I’ll take it. But it’s Christmas, Mitzy, I’ve got things to do.”
“It’s December third. That’s not exactly Christmas.”
Ben grabbed a jumble of cords and made for the door.
Mitzy picked up a computer monitor and followed him out.
“I can’t believe they delivered all of this to you.” Ben tossed the cords in the passenger seat of his Mini.
“It made sense when they were explaining it.” Mitzy put a brown external tape drive next to it.
“Did they know you already had a desk top that was made in this century?”
“It may have slipped my mind at the time.”
They went back to the office and picked up the last pieces of equipment. Ben tossed something in the trash bin on his way back out. He slammed the door of his hatchback shut. “I’ll see you but it will be a while. Don’t stress. We’ll get this taken care of. And try not to call, okay?”
“I feel really loved.”
“Whatever. Aren’t you supposed to go to your next babysitter?”
“Never mind Ben. Merry Christmas. And tell Jenny I said hi.”
Ben rolled his eyes. He got in his car and drove away.
Mitzy looked at her office door. Better inside than out, she figured.
As she passed the waste paper basket she looked down at it to see what Ben had thrown away. On top of the rubbish sat another piece of her platter. She hadn’t seen that mixed up with the computer parts when she had first searched for them. She was sure of it. Like it or not, it was time to head to her next babysitter.
Alonzo found Pierre at work on the stone wall on the opposite side of the building.
“Where is the stone?” he asked straight out.
Pierre buttered the back of his rock with mastic. “It’s in a crime scene now.”
“You couldn’t tell it was all bloody?”
“It was in the dirt. It was half sunk in a hole in the grass. I picked it up. I wiped it off. Why would I think it was bloody?”
Alonzo listened closely to Pierre’s accent. It wasn’t thick, but it wasn’t French either.
“Why do they call you The Frog?” Alonzo asked.
“They called me La Rana,” Pierre said, “because I don’t speak Spanish and they thought I wouldn’t know what they were saying.” Pierre shrugged. “But Spanish is not so different. When I said I knew that meant the frog they began to call me the frog in English instead. It’s a nickname that stuck.” He picked up a brick and back-buttered it with his trowel.
“It’s not because your name is Pierre?”
“No, it’s because I sit like this.” Pierre crouched low at the wall, his long legs folded oddly, with his knees high up. “It’s comfortable while I work. La Rana. Who cares.”
“If you’re not French why is your name Pierre?”
Pierre stuck another piece of rock to the wall, “Your name is Alonzo. Are you from Italy?”
&
nbsp; “I’m Italian American.”
The Frog kept working and didn’t respond. “Did you come here to talk about the murder?” he asked.
“Yes, I did. Did you know Lara Capet?” he asked.
“Why would I know her?”
Alonzo didn’t respond.
“Ah. Because I found the rock. No. I didn’t know her. I just found the rock.” Pierre muttered something under his breath in a language Alonzo didn’t recognize.
“That Russian?” Alonzo asked.
Pierre turned to Alonzo, his blue eyes narrowed, jaw tight. He gave Alonzo a look of such deep hate it sent shivers down his spine. “Romanian.” The Frog turned back to the wall and began again with his rocks.
Alonzo wondered if Pierre really was crazy. “Where were you the night of the murder?”
Pierre didn’t turn around but said something under his breath in Romanian. Even if Alonzo could have heard it, he wouldn’t have understood.
Alonzo left Pierre and walked across the courtyard so he was looking up at Mitzy’s old patio. The ground in front of his feet was cordoned with police tape. He could see the divot in the grass where a piece of concrete stone had fallen from the patio. The hole in the ground turned his stomach. He looked up and pictured the scene: a stone snuffing out the life of a young person in a moment of rage, and then being thrown over the rail, digging its own grave in the grass below.
Mitzy felt the urge to seek protection. It was a weakness that made her sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to run away in fear. She didn’t want to hide. She wanted to get to the bottom of the problem. Instead of driving back to the nice safe hotel she steered her Miata in the other direction. She was going back to Neveah’s Wardrobe.
What had the threats been anyway? A broken platter? Some pieces of pottery? It was hardly the stuff of horror movies. So someone broke something she liked. So what that they could get into her house, her office, her hotel room and leave them behind? It was not like it was dangerous. Just childish. She didn’t need protection from a childish person who liked to break dishes. She needed information.
Traci Tyne Hilton - Mitzi Neuhaus 03 - Buyer's Remorse Page 10
