Scottsdale Sizzle: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 3)

by B A Trimmer

  “You’ll be here full time?” Gina asked.

  “Yup,” Elizabeth answered. “Give me a few months, and I’ll be a full time Arizona resident.”

  Sophie squealed and clapped her hands. Gina and I joined Sophie in smiling and clapping. A random thought suddenly ran through my head.

  “You didn’t happen to call Jeremy, that guy from the club the other night, did you?”

  At that, Elizabeth blushed bright red and got a huge smile. “Umm, yes. As a matter of fact, I’ve already seen him three times this week. He’s flying out to Chicago next weekend. It turns out that he grew up in Oak Brook. That’s in the suburbs southwest of Chicago. He still has family out there and we’ve already talked about me meeting some of them.”

  “What?” Sophie asked. “You’ve only been here two weeks and you already have a potential serious boyfriend? How does that happen?”

  “Congratulations on finding someone,” said Gina. “I hope he works out.”

  “Before I go,” Elizabeth said, “I wanted to give each of you something.”

  She opened her bag and brought out three small wrapped boxes. She then gave one to each of us. Gina opened hers first and the box contained a stunning pair of gold and diamond earrings. Each had a hanging pear-shaped diamond that was at least three carats surrounded at the top by a cluster of several smaller diamonds.

  “Oh my God,” Gina said as she put them on. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

  Sophie then opened her box. She squealed when she saw it contained a gold rope necklace with a huge diamond and emerald pendant. It was the one she had tried on the day before and had fallen in love with. Sophie tried to remove it from the box, but her hands were trembling and she was crying to the point she couldn’t see. Elizabeth had to take it out of the box and put it around her neck.

  “You’re giving me Raquel Welch’s necklace? I’ve never had anything this beautiful in my life,” Sophie sobbed and laughed at the same time. She looked up at Elizabeth and the tears rolled down her face. “Thank you so much.”

  When I opened my box, I saw it was a gold ring with a ruby the size of a cough drop as the center stone. Surrounding the center ruby were a dozen smaller diamonds and rubies. It took me a few seconds to have it sink in that the ruby was real and not a piece of gaudy costume jewelry. As I gazed at the ring, I saw that both the clarity and blood red color of the ruby were amazing. I suddenly realized what the ring was and I looked up at Elizabeth “Isn’t this the ring in the painting? The same ring that’s on Penelope of Prescott?”

  “That’s right. I know you have that beautiful diamond and ruby bracelet. Penelope’s ring will go perfectly with it.” She patted her eagle necklace again. “I’ll keep the necklace from the painting and you’ll have the ring. Think of me and our adventures together whenever you wear it. I know I will.”

  As Sophie had done, I started to cry too. I knew these were good tears. I also knew that in Elizabeth I had made another real friend, someone I could always count on, no matter what.

  Elizabeth held out her arms and we each gave her a long hug. I noticed even Gina’s eyes were filled with tears.

  ~~~~

  Over Lenny’s grumbling objections, we all took off at noon to get ready for the wedding. Sophie, Gina, and I all got to the church at about the same time and we went in as a group. It was great to see both Gina and Sophie in heels and dressed up again.

  Gina had on a mid-length yellow pleated dress with a plunging sweetheart neckline. It went great with her long dark hair that she had again let down. She had on her new earrings and a pair of heels that had golden flowers on the toes.

  Sophie looked beautiful in a bright purple beaded crinkle chiffon cocktail dress with four-inch black heels. I also noticed that Sophie had on her new emerald necklace. The green and gold in the pendant made a beautiful contrast with the purple dress.

  “I love the dress,” I said. “It goes great with the necklace.”

  “It should, I spent the afternoon shopping for an outfit that would go with it. I got the dress and the shoes. I was also going to get a matching bag, but I ran out of time. I had to bring an old black clutch.”

  Sophie then stepped back and gave me the once over. “Hey, Gina,” Sophie said. “Would you look at Laura? She’s decked out like one of the cougars.”

  I knew exactly what Sophie meant. I had noticed the same thing as I had gotten dressed for the wedding. In addition to Penelope’s ring, I had on Jackie’s bracelet and my diamond pendant. Although I knew I shouldn’t tempt fate by wearing everything at once, I actually felt a little glamorous. I can honestly say it’s the first time in my adult life I’ve felt that emotion. It was a great feeling.

  Fifteen

  Everything at the church was set up beautifully with flowers and lace seemingly everywhere. We hesitated when they asked if we were friends of the bride or the groom, since we had been so deeply involved with both of them. But we eventually went in as friends of the bride and we were escorted to our seats.

  Looking around, I saw that Muffy Sternwood was in the front row, surrounded by several of her friends. She was dressed in a beautiful blue chiffon gown with a great blue hat that looked like something Lauren Bacall would have worn in one of her movies with Humphrey Bogart.

  As I looked at her, I squinted and tried to peel back the years. I saw she must have been quite beautiful as a younger woman.

  Tony DiCenzo was also there. I was somewhat surprised at this, even though I knew he and Muffy had a long relationship going back to the days when Tony had first moved out to Arizona. I noticed his group had carved out a corner of the church near the back. Sitting next to Tony was Max and seeing him again made my heart flutter. Johnny Scarpazzi and Milo were in the row behind and to either side of Tony. There were also a couple of large men seated next to Tony who I had never seen before.

  I looked around and found Gabriella. She was standing off to the side in a position that gave her a wide view of the entire church. She had ditched the black leather jumper and instead was wearing a red pants suit with a cream button down blouse. Of course, keeping with her usual style, the shirt was unbuttoned almost down to her navel. Over her shoulder was her large black bag. I knew it contained her Uzi. As usual, I wondered what other weapons of mass destruction were in there.

  As I was looking at her, I saw her eyes lock onto mine. Even with our growing understanding as of late, her stare was more than a little disconcerting. Surprisingly, as she looked at me, her eyes softened, just for a second. I even saw the slightest trace of a smile flash across the corner of her mouth. Then the moment was gone and she was again the ice warrior guarding over her charges.

  ~~~~

  The wedding ceremony was both formal and moving. The bridesmaids wore blue satin sleeveless A-line dresses with spaghetti straps. The groomsmen had on black tails with matching blue cummerbunds.

  During the exchanging of vows, I saw that both Danica and Alex cried the entire time. I always take that as a good sign.

  ~~~~

  The reception was held in the grand ballroom at the Scottsdale Blue Palms, no doubt a gift from Tony to the bride and groom. The ballroom was famous for its many lead crystal chandeliers, original oil paintings, and ornate gilded woodwork. Whenever I’m in the grand ballroom at the Blue Palms, I imagine I’m a princess in the ballroom of an eighteenth century French château.

  I noticed that Tony’s bodyguards were not closely surrounding him, unlike at the church, and he had more freedom to circulate throughout the room. As I looked again, I noticed there seemed to be a beefy waiter standing next to each of the ballroom entrances. There was also one positioned at either of the side doors leading out of the kitchens. I also remembered there seemed to be a couple of extra waiters standing in the hallway on the way in.

  It made me a little sad to think Tony always had to be in a bubble of security. It only reinforced that his lifestyle was not one I wanted to join voluntarily.

  After about a half an hou
r, the majority of the crowd had gone through the reception line. Everyone was gathering around the bar for drinks and starting to organize for the dinner. In the corner of the ballroom, a DJ was playing pop tunes and dancing along with the music. The songs were lively and fortunately not too loud. Every few minutes, the DJ invited people out to dance, but so far, people were in more of a drinking and eating mood.

  The three of us found a table halfway between the dance floor and the dessert table. We then circulated through the crowd, talking to old friends and meeting new people.

  The first new person I met was Danica’s maid of honor, Christy. I remembered she worked with Danica at Jeannie’s Cabaret. Remembering a conversation I once had with Danica, I asked Christy if she had started believing in cell phones yet.

  “Oh, it’s not that I don’t believe in them,” she said with a laugh. “It’s more like I can’t seem to hold onto a phone for more than two or three months before I lose it. I lost four phones in less than two years before I decided cell phones weren’t for me.”

  “That sounds like a pain,” I said. “I hate being without a phone.”

  “So do I, but it gets expensive replacing phones all of the time. I’m waiting for one to come out that I can strap to my wrist like a watch. Maybe I wouldn’t lose that one.”

  I next talked for several minutes with Muffy Sternwood. She was as bright and as lively as ever. She was excited that construction on the new resort was due to start soon. She beamed with pride when she told me Alex was going to manage the hotel portion of the resort. I thanked her again for the forty-year-old bottle of scotch she had sent me a couple of months earlier. I told her everyone in the office was waiting for a special occasion to open it up.

  I then met Danica’s mom, Judy, and she introduced me to her date, Steve, a man who was several years younger than she was. Seeing the two of them together sort of reminded me of my friend Jackie and her younger boyfriends.

  I then walked over to where Tony DiCenzo was standing. There was a knot of several people surrounding him and he had the start of a small reception line of his own. It reminded me of a scene from the Godfather, with everyone gathering around to pay the Don their respects. But, honestly, in a way I supposed that was what I was doing there too.

  When it was my turn, Tony shook my hand, and greeted me warmly.

  “Laura Black, it’s good to see you again. I hear you have been keeping yourself busy with the affairs of Lenny’s law office. I also hear from Max you’ve offered to help him with a couple of issues he’s been trying to resolve.”

  I noticed he paused for a moment while he studied the diamond hanging from the gold chain around my neck. When he looked up at me, I could see he now had a slight smile.

  “I’m sorry our paths haven’t crossed in the past couple of months,” he continued, “for I do enjoy your company. As you can imagine, business has been rather busy as of late. Please stop by Junior Baker’s Blues Club sometime soon as my guest. Or, if you prefer, I’d be glad to have you join me for a few holes of golf. As I told you the last time we played, your fundamentals are sound. In time, I believe you could become a very good golfer. Either way, feel free to set up a convenient time with Max.”

  I glanced over and saw that Max was looking right at me. Up to this point, I had avoided making eye contact with him. As soon as I saw him looking at me, I got an electric tingle throughout my body and I felt my heart start to pound.

  How can he do that to me?

  “Thank you Tony. I’ll take you up on that.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’ll look forward to seeing you again when we’ll have a better chance to talk.”

  We shook hands one more time. I then stepped aside to let the next person in line pay their respects.

  I quickly walked back to the table. I saw that Gina and Sophie were both seated and watching me walk back from the crowd gathered around Tony.

  “Well?” Sophie asked.

  “Well what?”

  “Did you go over there to talk to Tough Tony or just to getter a better sniff at Max?”

  “Don’t deny it,” Gina said with a smile. “We both saw the look that went between you two.”

  “I don’t know what you think you saw,” I said. “You’ve both had too much champagne. I already have a boyfriend and Max is only a happy memory.”

  Gina looked at Sophie.

  “Denial?” Gina asked.

  “Yup,” Sophie said. “Total denial.”

  ~~~~

  After dinner, Gina, Sophie, and I were sitting at our table, sipping champagne, and chatting.

  “I could use a piece of cake soon,” I said. “I hope they don’t make us wait too long.”

  “I love wedding cake,” Sophie said. “Something about eating cake at a wedding makes it taste better than normal cake. Wedding cake is right up there with birthday cake.”

  “Well, make sure to get a piece early,” Gina said. “I looked at the cake earlier and it looks like someone in the back must have dropped the top layer. It looks a little mashed and I think there were fingerprints on it.”

  “Yuck,” I said.

  Sophie held up her glass of champagne. “Get your wedding cake early. That could be my new motto.”

  Danica stopped by to chat, still in her wedding gown. She was beaming and couldn’t stop smiling. As she was talking with us, she paused, and then suddenly burst into tears.

  “I’m so glad you could make it,” she said, between sniffles. “I don’t mean to cry, but I owe you three so much and I’ve never really gotten a chance to thank you. You saved Alex’s life and you saved my life too.”

  She then paused and took a breath. I got the feeling she had been waiting to get us alone so she could talk about what had happened. I also got the feeling that talking about it was going to help clear her memory of that shitty day that had happened almost six months earlier.

  “You have no idea how frightened I was when I was handcuffed to the bed in that old factory,” Danica said. “I knew when those men came back they’d kill me. Well, they’d eventually kill me. The one guy made it pretty clear what he was going to do to me first. When I heard the noise of someone coming back into the room, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, no matter what they did to me.”

  Gina reached over and took her hand. Tears had also started running down Gina’s face. Danica looked up at her.

  “When I saw you had come to rescue me, I suddenly felt better and more alive than I ever had before. I told myself I would start to appreciate how wonderful my life is. Things have been better ever since the day you found me. I owe you so much for that.”

  At the memory of the bed, the handcuffs, and the torture chamber that was the abandoned print shop, I was also on the verge of tears. Danica then looked over at Sophie and me.

  “Thank you both again for rescuing Alex. He doesn’t talk about it very often, but I know he sometimes still has nightmares about what they did to him. If you two hadn’t worked so hard to free him, I know he would have been killed.”

  Danica looked at Sophie and reached out her other hand. Sophie took Danica’s hand and squeezed it.

  “Alex talks about how you stayed with him when he was set free,” Danica said to Sophie. “He was so scared and in so much pain that it really helped to have someone next to him when he got to the hospital. He says you were very kind to him. You told him over and over that everything would be OK. He says you helped him more than anything the doctors did.”

  Sophie started crying and we all spent several seconds lost in our memories of that horrible day of six months before. We then looked up at each other, all crying like teenagers. There was a pause of about three beats then Danica started laughing. Within seconds, we were all laughing. We laughed so hard the tears started again, but this time from being happy and from feeling loved. Yes, that day had been terrible, but in Danica, we had made a true friend. Plus, we had been able to help two people that really needed it. It somehow all seemed worth it.

 
~~~~

  After dinner, a band set up and started playing romantic dance music. Danica and Alex had their first dance as man and wife. For the third song, the one where the parents traditionally dance together, I saw Tony had asked Muffy Sternwood to the dance floor. Danica’s mom was also on the floor with her younger date, Steve.

  After the formal dances were over and the photographer faded back into the crowd, the band began playing the typical wedding mix of oldies and modern dance tunes. The bar was doing a steady business and everyone at our table was now working on their fourth or fifth glass of champagne. The ballroom was in near darkness, the only light in the room was coming from the candles on each of the tables and from the swirling lights of the giant mirror-ball hanging above the center of the dance floor.

  Milo came over to our table and sheepishly asked Sophie if she wanted to dance. Sophie glanced up and gave him a dirty look. Milo’s face fell and he stood there, looking like a big sad puppy. Sophie glanced back up at him and saw the look on Milo’s face. She sighed and slowly shook her head. Without looking at him, she slowly lifted up her hand. Milo eagerly took it and led her to the dance floor.

  I noticed by the end of the first song Sophie had her arms tightly wrapped around him. Her face was pressed against his chest and her eyes were tightly closed. Even in the dim light of the ballroom, I could see the soft pink glow had started on her face. The glow she always gets when she mixes alcohol and men. Milo had a huge smile that showed off his gold tooth. From the smile, I’m pretty sure Milo also knew what that pink glow meant.

  As I watched Sophie dance with Milo, I heard Gina clearing her throat. I looked around and saw Max standing next to me. My heart did a quick flip-flop and for a moment, I couldn’t speak.

  “Laura, would you like to dance?” Max asked with his usual deep and confident voice.

  Damn.

  “Umm, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s a wedding. Dancing is required by at least some of the people.”