Pleasure Cove: Where love is hot on the beach!

by Nash, M. G.

Jose said a quick prayer the next morning over his first cup of coffee. No more sick people had been reported. He called Alfredo at home to share the night’s events and listened as his cousin reacted, “If this were me, I would print out a discount to each person who got sick and personally deliver it to them today. If you show concern and make an effort to apologize for their difficulty, they will enjoy the rest of their weekend. We need repeat customers, Jose.”

  “Juanita kept a sample of the salsa. Should I call the police and ask them to test it for food poisoning?” Jose asked.

  “I would talk with the kitchen staff first to see if anyone new wandered through the kitchen yesterday. Let’s see if we can figure this out ourselves. On a holiday weekend, the police are busy with drunk drivers. They would make this a low priority.”

  Grabbing his calendar to check his schedule, Alfredo continued, “Is Miguel still around?” I’m looking at my day, and it’s possible that I could drive down this afternoon with my friend in his police car. An official visit from the law might scare Miguel.”

  “Yes, Juanita has followed him every night. He did come to the back of the motel but ran away when he saw the security guard with a gun. She also reported that he made a quick visit to Mary’s house two nights ago.”

  Alfredo nodded his heading thinking, “Keep a very close watch on him today. He won’t be able to resist seeing the havoc he’s caused. If he steps one foot on motel property, get him for trespassing. I’m going to make a quick phone call and see if we can arrange a police visit later this afternoon.”

  “Are you going to call Bob? He might have an idea we haven’t considered,” concluded Alfredo. “We need to keep him in the loop for now.”

  “Maybe I’ll have Juanita call him later this morning,” Jose replied, “After I’ve talked with the cook so we know if anyone new has been in the kitchen.”

  Chapter 22

  Jose made a note to alert his security team about the police arrival before he walked back to the kitchen. He saw the head cook working at the stove. “Has anyone new been in the kitchen this week?” Jose asked walking up beside her.

  “No,” replied the cook, “Just my niece who helped out yesterday chopping vegetables for the salsa. I made extra for the long weekend.”

  “We had three cases of food poisoning last night,” Jose continued, “And we think it was caused by the salsa in the bar.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she shook her head. “I will throw the bar salsa away and make fresh this morning.”

  “Did your niece have any visitors while she worked? She’s a teenager, maybe one of her friends dropped by.”

  “No, senor, no guests are allowed in the kitchen.”

  “OK,” Jose replied calmly as he raised his hand. “I’m trying to figure out what went wrong so it doesn’t happen again.”

  “She is young but she worked hard. It’s possible that she didn’t recognize if a tomato was bad. We served over fifty people at the buffet last night. Were any of them sick?”

  “No, that’s what makes me think it had to be the bar salsa. So, throw it away and make fresh. I'd appreciate it if you would do it so we have complete control on the ingredients. Put it in a different container, and we will keep it at the bar this time.”

  Juanita was just finishing breakfast in the bar when Jose returned. She looked up as Jose approached, “Did you get any sleep?” she asked.

  “Enough,” Jose nodded. “I need you to call Roberto this morning and tell him about the food poisoning. We need to keep him informed since this could be sabotage. The head cook thinks it could have been a couple of rotten tomatoes that got missed by a younger worker.”

  “Sure, I’ll call him right away. Then, I have to go shadow Miguel. He’s got to be getting antsy. Maybe he’ll do something stupid,” Juanita yawned and drank more coffee.

  Lifting his hand to count off his thoughts, Jose said, “Tell Bob it was only three guests, everyone is OK, we gave them all discounts for the day, and we don’t think it’s one of our employees; maybe a young helper who didn’t recognize a rotten tomato.”

  Rubbing her hand over her face, Juanita waited for Bob to pick up the phone. “Hola, Roberto,” she said calmly.

  “Juanita, how are things at the motel today?” Bob asked.

  “We had a busy night,” began Juanita, as she covered the points that Jose had laid out.

  Bob listened carefully and made notes as Juanita talked. He studied the list and thought for a minute. “Sure sounds like you guys did a good job, Juanita. That was very good detective work to focus on the salsa at the bar. I only have one suggestion to add: Wipe down the bar, the buffet and the work spaces in the kitchen with disinfectant. If something rotten was cut on the boards, we don’t want the germs to spread.”

  Juanita pulled out her notebook and scribbled a note for Jose. “I have to go follow Miguel. We hope he comes snooping around so we can get him for trespassing.”

  Bob nodded in agreement and ended the conversation with a word of caution, “Please take some pepper spray or some form of protection, Juanita. We are certain he will take off if he suspects we are onto him. He has run out of friends in Pleasure Cove. Get a security guard to cover the back of the property by the mango orchard. You need someone hidden in the trees.”

  After a hot shower, Juanita felt energized, stuffed her backpack with energy bars and water to camp out in the shrubs behind Pedro’s house. She was ready for a long day and had her team in place so if he made a move, they could detain him.

  Chapter 23

  Just before lunch, Miguel pulled on more of Pedro’s clothes and walked out the back door. He wanted to see if there were taxis at the motel taking people back to the airport. If so, he knew he had done his job and scared them away.

  Crossing through the fields, he stayed off the main road and walked to the beach so he could stroll toward Pleasure Cove to see what was happening. He pulled out his binoculars and focused on the motel entrance. Everything was quiet. He scanned the palapa looking for a familiar face but did not recognize anyone. Casually walking up to the bar, he ordered a beer and looked around. “Where is everybody?” asked Miguel, “I thought this place would be hopping on a holiday weekend.”

  “Most of the guests left on a boating trip to go snorkeling at El Cardonal,” replied the bartender who offered Miguel some chips and salsa.

  “Oh, no thanks," Miguel replied as he pushed them away, “My stomach has been a little queasy. Anybody here complaining? I wondered if there was a flu bug going around.”

  “No, everyone here is having a good time, Miguel,” replied Jose as he walked up to stand directly behind him. “I’ve wanted to speak with you. Mary called me from San Diego and she’s been delayed. Come on back with me to my office. I’ve got her notes there.”

  “Sure,” Miguel said cordially, “How’s she doing? I’m surprised she hasn’t called.”

  Jose waited for Miguel to start walking into the bar then followed closely behind him. Miguel looked around as they passed the café and noticed guests eating lunch. What the hell happened? He thought to himself as he headed down the hallway to Jose’s office. I thought there would be three or four sick people by now. Opening the door for him, Jose brought him inside pointing to a chair.

  Quietly locking the door before heading to his desk, Jose said, “Just let me take care of one little detail, Miguel, and I’ll be right with you,” stalled Jose. Picking up his phone, he called the front desk and asked that security drop by his office.

  Turning to Miguel, he kept a solemn face and said, “Mary has been delayed in San Diego. Her doctor wants to run more tests so she has asked me to close up the house for her and ship a few items to her there.”

  Miguel looked surprised. “I can do that for her,” he insisted.

  “Actually, she thought you’d be in Mazatlán with your family. I believe that’s what you told her when she left.”

  Miguel smiled and leaned forward to Jose. “You know how we have to
keep our ladies happy,” he said spreading his hands. “I really needed to stay here and earn some money working on the fishing boats.”

  When a knock came at his door, Jose stood opening it to allow the security guard in. Jose took the man’s gun from his shoulder. He turned back to Miguel and said, “We hear you’ve been earning money spying on our motel. I have the police on the way to question you and I will personally shoot you in the kneecaps if you give me any more trouble.”

  Miguel leaned back in his chair and stared at Jose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.

  “Maybe you’d like to see the computer files that show the sabotage you’ve done here for the past month. Would that refresh your memory?” accused Jose.

  “What computer files?” Miguel asked defensively.

  “The ones we found on Mary’s computer. The ones you deleted but were still in the system, you stupid carbon,” spat Jose as he walked forward to loom over Miguel’s chair. Miguel refused to look up at him. Staring forward, he sat with his hands on his legs.

  “Nothing to say for yourself, Miguel?” taunted Jose. “Who is your friend at The Spa Motel? Is he your contact at the timeshare company?” Jose threw the photo Juanita had taken onto his desk and watched as Miguel looked at it.

  “Yes, we know all about your little plan to help the timeshare company buy us out. What did they promise you for helping them – a job running this place?”

  Looking down at his hands, Miguel clenched his jaw but said nothing. “I knew it,” Jose said sarcastically, “And you promised a job to Pedro to get him to help you.”

  That brought Miguel’s head up glaring at Jose. “Where is Pedro? He hasn’t been home.”

  “Oh, he is gonna be our star witness against you.” Jose pointed his finger into Miguel’s chest.” Did you know food tampering is a felony? It’s a Tiajuana jail for you with all the trouble you’ve caused.”

  “Wait. Wait!” he repeated opening his arms in a pleading position. “Can’t I make a deal? I’ll tell you everything I know. You can stop them from ever bothering you again.”

  “I can find that out for myself, young man. I’d rather see you rot in jail,” Jose said with a smirk on his face. He looked at the security guard and returned his gun to him. “I want you to stand right here and shoot him in the leg if he even moves.” Jose turned back for one last nasty look at Miguel before he stalked out of the room.

  With his blood pumping from anger, Jose walked outside to calm down. He hoped Alfredo did arrive in the police car. Let the officer intimidate Miguel next. He could probably get a full confession. He had more important things to do, and the first was letting the security team know they had Miguel. Walking to the front desk, he made the necessary phone calls. Just as he was hanging up, Juanita walked into the motel in her maid’s uniform.

  “Everything OK?” she asked. “When I saw Miguel leave with you, I figured you detained him. He walked right into our trap, thank goodness.”

  “Yeah, we’ll just let him sweat for a while. I’ve got him guarded and locked away till the police get here. My next call is to Alfredo.”

  “I’ll call Roberto and let him know,” Juanita countered, “And then I’m heading home for a long nap. By the way, I did some computer searching on the email address for the time share company. Miguel has been dealing with Felix Jacada, who is a cousin in the Jacada Construction family. They build resorts for Royal Hacienda, the largest timeshare company in Mexico. Alfredo needs to know this information. If we threaten to turn Miguel over to the Jacada family, he’ll start talking. Can you imagine what those construction workers would do to him?”

  Chapter 24

  As Juanita walked to Alfredo’s house, she looked around her and took in the natural beauty of the cove. She knew that she would miss this place. Roberto was right to fight for keeping it this way. Maybe she could stay a couple of more days for a short vacation. She’d earned some time off.

  Once inside, she called Bob’s cell and had to leave a voicemail telling him about detaining Miguel. She assured him that Alfredo was arriving so everything was under control and she’d file a computer report tonight.

  ***

  Bob felt the vibration of his cell as he drove home from his weekend tennis game. He was looking forward to a cold beer and lying on the deck with Carrie. It struck him suddenly that he wanted to be home because she was there. What would home be like when she left after the weekend? he thought? “Damn,” he swore softly, “I don’t want her to go.” He gripped the wheel at that realization pulling the car over to stop for a moment. He got out and walked across the road where the ocean lay out in front of him. Was he ready for a long-term relationship again? He thought about how well they had gotten along for the past week or so. Maybe they'd try living together and see how that goes.

  Taking a deep breath, he stared out at the water. “That idea works for me,” he voiced to himself. Now, he just had to convince Carrie. Would she be happy with that or want more? He walked back to the car with a plan in mind. He would make her dinner tonight and bring up the subject when she was relaxed and in a loving mood. Feeling better about his decision, Bob headed for the store to pick up the groceries he would need for tonight.

  Entering the house with his arms full of bags, he called Carrie’s name. When she didn’t reply, he set the groceries down checking the deck to see if she was relaxing outside. No Carrie there. Maybe she’s writing on the deck downstairs, he thought heading down the stairs. Stepping out on the deck, he called her name but she wasn’t there, either. “Hum-muh,” he mused, “Her car is here, but she’s not. Maybe she walked down to the park. I’ll take a quick shower and go find her.”

  Striding into the bedroom, he heard the classical music first – the aria from Madame Butterfly drifted across the room. Slowly opening the bathroom door, he found Carrie soaking in a bubble bath with her eyes closed listening to the music. He smiled in relief just as the scent of jasmine from the lighted candles hit his senses. “I found you,” he whispered to himself while he paused to take it all in. She looked lovely in the candlelight flickering on the ceramic tiles. Orchids surrounded the tub in the window box. Carrie was covered with frothy bubbles but her arms rested outside the water. She opened her eyes as Bob approached flashing him a smile. She wiggled her fingers to get him to bend down so she could kiss him hello. He took her face into his hands and returned hers with a long, slow kiss.

  Turning down the music, she asked, “Want to join me?” Bob laughed spontaneously and undressed to slide in behind Carrie so her back rested on his chest.

  Wrapping his arms around her, he whispered, “You are a joy to come home to.”

  She smiled over her shoulder, “You must have won every game today.”

  “No, actually I didn’t. I simply realized how good it felt to be coming home to you,” Bob murmured as he kissed her pink warm shoulder. “M-m, you smell good,” he kissed her neck and bit her ear lobe.

  “Your endorphins are raging,” Carrie chuckled turning and floating in front of Bob to look into his eyes. “No, that’s not it,” she said suddenly. She stopped and studied him closely. “You really did come home to me,” she said in awe. “Bob, that’s wonderful.” She slid her arms up to his neck and kissed him properly.

  Grabbing her buttocks he moved her body over his. “It stunned me, too, Carrie, just how much I wanted to come home to you today.” He kissed her again absorbing her mouth with his. Carrie moved her hand down over his heart and felt it racing. She slid the arm down to his waist to pull herself over his hardening cock. Rubbing her slippery body over his shaft she hummed her pleasure breaking their kiss. “I thought I was getting myself ready for tonight,” she chuckled, “But I think you're giving me an afternoon delight.”

  Touching her face with his fingers, Bob whispered, “I can’t wait to have you, Carrie. I want you to stay here with me. Let’s live together and see what happens,” the words tumbled out of his mouth and he kissed her again to show her h
ow much he wanted her.

  “You want me to live here with you?” she repeated breathlessly when his kiss ended.

  “Yes,” he replied drawing her back for more.

  “Wait, Bob,” she pushed lightly away. “Let’s not get caught up in this sensuality we have between us. What about your kids coming to visit in a few months? How are they going to handle me living with you?”

  Bob stopped and stared at Carrie before replying. “Honestly, Carrie, I think they can handle it. He looked down for a second before continuing, "Diane brought her lover into her house last year and they accepted him. I simply haven’t told anyone about that,” he said looking into her eyes. Keeping his gaze on Carrie he finished, “I understand from my son that it didn’t work out. He wasn’t ready for a family.”

  Carrie kissed him lightly, “Like I said, Bob, you are wonder to me." Shaking her head, she continued, “That must have made you feel like you were being replaced.”

  “A little bit,” he confessed, holding her lightly in the water, “But I realized her life had to move on and what else could she do since she’s got the kids. I did feel like 'old money bags' for a while but I got over it.”

  “Why don’t I stay for another week to give you a chance to talk to the kids about visiting this summer? Maybe you could mention I’m here and get their reactions. I want to do this, Bob, but I want to be included in every part of your life.”

  “I agree,” he nodded and kissed her quickly. “I promise to call them tomorrow while they are home for the weekend.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, Carrie pulled him to her, “Come here then and let me kiss you. I’m crazy about living here with you.” She kissed him as she floated over his body in the water.

  He pulled her up close whispering into her mouth, “I love having you here.” Pulling his legs over hers, he pushed up so his shaft thrust between Carrie’s legs and she tightened them to hold him like a vise.