A Killer Margarita (Nikki Sands'/Wine Lover's Mystery Series)

by Michele Scott

  Return the cake to the baking dish or pan (the cake will soak up more of the liquid if returned to the pan it was baked in), or invert it onto a rimmed platter.

  Soak the cake:

  In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and salt until the condensed milk is well blended. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring to avoid scorching, until it begins to bubble around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof 4-cup measuring cup.

  With a toothpick, prick the cake to the bottom in 1/2-inch intervals. Pour the soaking liquid slowly over the cake, starting at the edges and pausing to let it soak in before adding more. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the cake is well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

  Top the cake:

  In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium speed. When it begins to thicken, slowly add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat just until it holds firm peaks, 3 to 4 minutes (be careful not to overbeat). Spread the whipped cream all over the top of the cake, dust with cocoa or sprinkle with chocolate curls, and serve.

  Pipe or spread whipped cream mixture over cake and refrigerate for 3 to 24 hours, covering cake after topper is set.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What in the hell?” Simon screeched as Nikki took a turn at full speed, causing the tiny car to balance itself on two wheels.

  “Sorry! It’s not exactly like driving on rails, you know. Might need a Maserati for that!”

  Nikki looked in the rearview mirror. The SUV still followed. Her stomach did a flip flop as she continued driving like James Bond.

  “You’re hysterical! Do you think this is any time for jokes? There’s some crazy whacko chasing us and you’re making jokes! Just drive the damn car, Snow White!”

  Nikki pressed down harder on the gas pedal and took another turn—this time almost running over a chicken crossing the road. “Oh shit!”

  “Oh my God! You are going to kill someone, or kill us in this thing! This was not part of the deal. Car chases are not a part of the deal, Snow White!”

  “Maybe not, but I don’t think we have a choice. And, I’m sorry, is there an amateur sleuth handbook that dictates what is a part of the deal, and what isn’t a part of the deal? Huh? Did you ever see that? Because I’ve missed that manual,” she shot back at him.

  She took another sharp left and saw they were headed for the port. The SUV was still on them. “Oh no!” They were stuck as the road they were on was one way, and that one way was leading them straight down to a massive cruise ship, and at the end of the dock was—the ocean!

  “Shit, shit, shit! What now?” Simon squealed.

  A group of tourists saw them coming and jumped out of the way. Only feet away from the end of the dock, Nikki slammed on the brakes, glanced at Simon who had covered his eyes with his hands. She reversed the little car and flipped it back around. There were two choices here—go into the drink, or face the mad woman in the SUV. As she faced going back the opposite direction, she blinked several times and slowed the car to a stop. “She’s gone.”

  Simon took his hands from his face. “What?” His hands were shaking. “What in the hell?”

  “She’s gone. The car. It’s gone. She. Oh wow! We almost went off the end of the pier the dock there, and I could have run over someone.”

  ‘You did almost kill that chicken back there.”

  “Simon!”

  “Just be happy she’s gone! Thank God, Mother Mary,” Simon said and crossed himself.

  Nikki glanced at him. “Excuse me? You’re a Catholic now?”

  “When in Rome…”

  “We are in Puerto Vallarta.” She pulled off the dock. She felt as shaken up on the inside as Simon looked.

  “Yes. But I do believe I have seen a few Catholic churches here.”

  “Last month you claimed to be a Buddhist, and six months ago you were looking into Hinduism.”

  “Covering my bases.”

  Nikki sighed, relieved that they were no longer being chased, exasperated that Simon was Simon, and now she had to figure out their next move. “We can’t go back to the hotel. They have to know we’re staying there, and the woman knew my name. How did she know my name?” She shook her head. “Had to be from the hotel. Or, maybe from the restaurant. Or, jeez, I don’t know, but facts are she knows my name. All I know is that this is so not good. Not at all. And, we have to figure it out, and we have to get Derek and Marco out of the hotel.”

  “You think? Of course we do!”

  “I know we do. Maybe they haven’t figured out who you are. And whoever they are, I have no idea. It’s crazy. That woman is American. I don’t have a clue as to what to think. But the facts are, someone knows who I am, and that someone just chased us through the streets of Puerto Vallarta.”

  “I know, and you outran them, sister! Who knew you could drive like that?!” Simon high-fived her. “I mean, even in a Mini Cooper. I am so impressed. I wasn’t that scared. I knew you had it.”

  “I was scared to death! We almost went into the water.” But, yeah, seriously. That was pretty good driving, wasn’t it?” She pulled over, took her cell phone from her purse and called Derek. He didn’t answer until the third ring and she started to get nervous. “Hi, honey.”

  “Hi,” he replied and she could hear the trepidation in his voice. He knew her well enough to know that her “Hi, honey,” meant something other than just, “Hi, honey.”

  “How is it going?”

  “Good. Just having a beer with a new friend.”

  “Great. Have you learned anything?”

  “I have. Maybe. We can talk when I see you. Where are you?”

  “Well, we have a little problem.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Simon and I were just in a car chase.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. We’re fine, and I can’t go into it right now because I have to figure something out, but I need you to get Marco and go into town, or to the beach, or something. You need to get out of the hotel.”

  “Why?”

  “Trust me. I need you to get out of the hotel and keep an eye out for anyone following you.”

  “Okay.”

  Simon grabbed her arm. “Wait. Maybe not. Let’s think about this for a minute. I think they should stay and act like nothing’s happened. To me, they’re safer there.”

  “What’s he saying?” Derek sounded edgy at this point.

  Nikki had to think fast. Maybe Simon had a point until she could get it all figured out. “Never mind. You guys stay put for now until you hear from me.”

  “Honey—”

  “I’ll call back in a bit.” Nikki got off the phone, knowing her husband was probably beside himself at this point and possibly exposed to an unknown enemy. She wondered what he’d learned from Tattoo Timmy.

  She turned to Simon. “Okay. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we do need to slow down, but the thing is, whoever just followed us and wanted to kill us knows who I am and probably who my husband is, and they may know who you are.”

  “Who do you think they are?” Simon asked.

  “If I knew that, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We need to get online.”

  Simon hit the Safari button on the phone and smiled at her. “And, where should the wild, wild web take us, Snow White?”

  “Google ‘villas for rent’ in Conchas Chinas.”

  “There are a couple property management sites,” he said a few seconds later.

  Nikki leaned in and together they perused the sites. The villas were not cheap. The minimum stay during a holiday was $600 a night and it went up from there—way up. “I wonder if there are any even available.”

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  “I’m thinking that I want to get a better look at the villa that the silk suit guy is at. Conchas Chinas isn’t a huge area from what I could tell, so we might be able to check some things out. I know it
’s a long shot but at times those long shots pay off. I also know we need to get out of that hotel, and if we rent a private villa, we might be harder to find. Plus, if the cops want to question Derek and me again, it will be harder for them to find us, too. I saw the way they carted Juanita off, and we know she didn’t kill Paul Carrigan. I’m afraid of what might happen if they suddenly believe we had something to do with the killings. We have to move, but at the same time, we also have to look like we’re still staying at the hotel.”

  Simon looked to be pondering this before saying, “I’m in. It sounds smart. I am the pretty one.”

  “Good. You have your Amex card?”

  He eyed her.

  “We can’t use mine.”

  “Because of the people following us?”

  “Yep. They may find us that way.”

  “But what if they know who I am, too? You said that was possible.”

  “Anything is possible at this point, Simon. But we have to take a risk, and using your card is less of one. I promise to pay you back as soon as we get home. It’s just the only thing I can think of to do right now to keep everyone safe. And, you’re right, they may know who you are, but I do think it’s less likely. Derek and I charged the hotel rooms to our card, so your name is not on that file. Just ours. If they found us through the hotel, it’s possible that they don’t know your name at all. Derek checked us all in.”

  “Fine.” He took out his wallet and his card, then dialed the number to the property management company to see if there was some kind of villa available for them. “But you are paying me back.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Are you kidding me? This place is how much a night? And I’m still paying for the room at the Four Seasons? What are you two trying to do? Break the bank of Malveaux? Because if so, you’re doing a damn good job of it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” Simon said. “Nikki is the one who said she’d pay me back.”

  Derek stopped pacing back and forth across the terracotta and cream-colored marble flooring in the living space of the villa.

  Boy, was it some villa!—all 12,000 square feet of it with a massive water fountain, a movie theater, an infinity pool, a huge family/living room that opened up into an outdoor living room that contained the pool, a gourmet kitchen and nine bedrooms. They only needed two bedrooms, but this villa happened to be one of three left available for the week, and it was the one closest to the villa where Nikki had seen the taxi drive into earlier that day. Derek had a point though—the place was a cool $2,500 a night. Nikki knew that her husband didn’t like Simon’s last comment at all.

  He crossed his arms and looked at his brother. “Nikki is going to pay you back. Okay. Well, in case you hadn’t realized it… Nik and I are married, and unless she has a side job somewhere that I don’t know about then she is me, and I am her, and we pay everything jointly.”

  “You are her and she is you? Wow. That is so sweet and cute,” Simon said.

  “I’m going to hit him. I really am.” Derek walked toward Simon.

  Nikki grabbed him. “Stop this. Okay. Just stop it.”

  “Yeah. Stop it. What’s wrong with you? We have murders to solve,” Simon whispered.

  Nikki just nodded.

  Derek shrugged her hand off his shoulder. “No need to whisper. Pretty sure Marco is on to you guys. He’s probably in the state I am at this point—a pissed off one.”

  Marco had been in the kitchen talking with the cook and houseman, who also came with the house, as well as two maids. “I am on to you,” he said, walking into the main room. “Don’t think you’ve gotten away with anything. You should have hit him.” He looked at Derek.

  Simon, lounging on the navy suede sofa, shot a look at Marco, Nikki, and then faced Derek. “You guys? You guys? Umm, I do believe that you are also in on this, dear brother. And, I think hitting me would be a very bad idea. You need me pretty. Ask her. She needs me pretty for all her little shenanigans.”

  Derek frowned. “Yeah, I am in on this. I’m sorry. This whole thing has me a little bit on edge.”

  Marco shook his head. “I would have never let him hit you.” You are pretty, and I don’t want your face messed up. I have to join you, don’t I? You three are going to find out who killed that girl and that man, aren’t you?”

  The three of them nodded simultaneously.

  Marco tossed his hands up in the air and said something in Italian that Nikki was pretty sure didn’t mean he loved all of them a whole lot at that moment. “Fine, fine! I will too, then. Fine! Makes me want to hit all of you!” With that he turned on his heel and rushed back into the kitchen. Simon stood, also threw up his hands and followed Marco.

  Nikki smiled, a bit chagrined at her husband.

  “I need a drink,” Derek said.

  Nikki didn’t speak, but just pointed to the fully stocked bar right outside near the pool. Derek checked it out, and Nikki saw that he’d found what looked to be a bottle of scotch. She took a deep breath and joined him. He didn’t look up as he poured two glasses, handing her one. The sun was on its way down for the day as it had nearly been lost to the ocean, casting various shades of pink hues across the sky.

  “I had to do it,” she said.

  Nikki explained the situation. He sighed and said, “I think maybe we should just go home.”

  “Oh no. We can’t. We have to see this through because I am pretty sure that whoever was following Simon and me today is either really, really bad, or tied into some government—possibly ours—and that is really, really bad too.”

  “This is all really bad,” he said. “It stinks.”

  “At least this place is nice.” She would do her best to paint the rosiest picture possible.

  “It should be. It’s costing us a freaking fortune.” He took a sip of his scotch.

  “I know and I am sorry.”

  He waved a hand at her. “Well, you’re right, it’s a nice place, and you did what you probably had to do. I understand why you want me to keep paying the hotel tab just to throw those people, whoever they are, off. But on top of what this place costs and how much that hotel is… well, all I can say is that I do hope we figure this all out, and I do hope we get home safe and sound. But if we are going to spend the dough, we might as well enjoy it. Put your bathing suit on and let’s get in that hot tub.”

  “Uh uh. I think we should try to piece together some more of the mystery here.”

  “Yeah well, I’m paying for this, and I like I told you over the phone, I do have some interesting info to tell from my new amigo Tim, but I am not talking until I see your ass in a bikini in that hot tub in ten minutes.”

  “Did you just give me an order?” Nikki asked.

  “I did.”

  She took a step back and saw the slight smile on his face. “Fine. For once I’ll concede, if it’s only to get your intel.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Derek was already in the Jacuzzi when Nikki came back down, and the smell of garlic and cumin wafted out their way as she put her toes in the water. “Wonder what’s cooking in there?” she said.

  “Something via Marco. Apparently he sent the cook home. Said he needed to be in the kitchen.”

  “Ah. Yeah, our plans for sushi sort of changed.” Marco ran the bistro at the winery back home and was quite an accomplished chef himself. Nikki knew that if he was in the kitchen cooking, it meant he was burning off some steam. Some people yelled, some went to the gym, some hit pillows—Marco cooked. “And Simon?”

  “I believe he has taken on the role as sous chef tonight, and I think he’s doing it quietly. I’m pretty sure Marco isn’t speaking to any of us at the moment. We will be tiptoeing around him.”

  Nikki laughed. “Simon doesn’t do anything quietly.”

  Derek shrugged. “He might if he wants to get back in good with Marco.”

  “Good point. I hope we can get back in good with Marco.” She scooted in closer to him. Soft lighting outside refl
ected off the pool. It would have all been very romantic if the circumstances had been as they initially were intended—that is, before a couple of murders got in the way. “Okay, you got me in a bikini, time to divulge.”

  “All right. Let your mind start playing puzzle master.”

  “Sounds interesting. What did Tattoo Timmy have to say?”

  “Tim Jones is actually not a bad guy. He’s far more low-key than you would have imagined. I figured I’d start by apologizing for the night before and offered to buy him a beer. He looked like he was nursing a hangover. He took me up on it, and said that I didn’t need to apologize. He couldn’t believe how everything had turned out for the week.”

  “And did he elaborate?”

  “Yeah. Especially after cerveza numero three, which I am pretty sure was more like ten. He’d been at it for a while. He said he’d heard about Villa Man, whose name was Paul Carrigan.”

  “I know.”

  He raised his an eyebrow.

  “Car rental place before the chase. What else did he say?”

  “I guess the police really grilled him, and like Martinez told us, they want him to stick around. He swears that he had nothing to do with the murders though. I asked him about Paul and also the girlfriend.”

  Nikki rubbed her palms together. “And?”

  “Says that he didn’t really know Dream. He said that she’d only been introduced to him and his girlfriend Becky just the other day. When you and Simon were at the pool. He said Carrigan told him that he was going to be meeting up with some girl he met on eros.com.”

  “What is that? A dating site? I haven’t heard of that one.”

  “It’s a little bit racier than your vanilla-flavored dating sites, if you get my drift.”

  “Ah,” Nikki replied.

  “Anyway—”

  “Wait a minute, how do you know about this Eros site?”