"How bad is it?" asked Carter.
I moved my arm and felt the back of my head. There was a small, tender bump. I opened and closed my eyes, to check. I looked up at him and said, "If you can help me up, I think I'll live."
He gently did the same. And it was the sweetest thing. It was almost as if he picked me up. Since he was a fireman, he knew how to lift all sorts of prone bodies quickly. But I had never been on the receiving end of his skillful hands and I liked it.
We slowly walked back down the walkway towards our suite. I noticed that all the rooms were dark.
Jeffery was still asleep. We walked into the bedroom. Carter helped me sit down on the bed and then went into the other room. When he returned, he gave me a bottle of water, which he had opened.
"Beer would be preferable." I said.
"Water is what you get. Think of it as punishment for being a lone wolf, when you have a whole pack at your disposal."
I laughed weakly at this as he went to find aspirin. He came back and stood above me, looking stern. I tried to look up at him, but bending my neck that way hurt too much. I said, "Forgive me, Carter, for I have sinned."
He got down on his good knee and looked at me in the face. "You've got to cut that stuff out."
"In my defense, I couldn't sleep and wanted to look at the waves and the stars. I was an innocent bystander, your honor."
He handed me two aspirin. I swallowed both and then stuck out my hand for more. He gave me one more and then put the cap back on and set the bottle on the table by the bed.
"What happened?"
"As I was standing there looking at all the stars, I heard something crash in Taylor's suite. So, I waited to see who it was. Rhonda came out. I followed her to the corner, where I was hit on the back of the head."
"Who?"
"Had to be Juliet, or maybe Rhonda. It was something not too deadly, like maybe a big book or a bottle. Or a flashlight." I thought for a moment and remembered. "Rhonda had one. Also, the blow came from below, so whoever it was, was shorter than me."
I thought about the other possibilities. "If it had been a pistolero, I would be dead from a pistol whip. If it had been the captain, I would probably be tied up for his amusement."
"What about Mannix?"
I rolled my eyes, which hurt. "That's not Eddie's style."
Carter nodded. Then he leaned in and very gently kissed my lips. His hand took my hand... Well, I could continue, but it wouldn't be gentlemanly.
Chapter 22
Hotel Riviera del Pacifico
Wednesday, May 27, 1953
Morning
"But why?" That was Carter's first question the next morning. It must have been well after 8 because the sun was much brighter now than it had been yesterday when I woke up. But Carter's hand was draped over me like yesterday and it was doing nice things.
"Good morning, Chief."
"I thought that was for fun and games."
"My whole life with you is fun and games. Haven't you figured that out yet?"
There was a long pause. "No."
I turned around and faced him. "Now I don't feel as bad for not noticing you had put your cane away last week while I was moping."
I looked at him in his beautiful eyes and said, "Yes, Carter Jones." I whispered, just in case. "I liked Mike. I liked Jeffery. And now I love them both as friends. But, you have brought that 'Some Enchanted Evening' thing into my life. There was a time when the morning was awful. I hoped the day wouldn't be as bad as I was afraid it would. Mike, then the Navy, and then Jeffery... I guess the Navy was one of my great loves." I stopped, suddenly embarrassed.
Carter reached down and took my left hand in his right and held it. I continued, "They helped, each in their way. Now, everyday I wake up next to you, I know the day is probably going to be better than it was the day before. The only time that wasn't the case, in all these years, was when I was upset with Jeffery last week."
"But, we've had our fights. And a couple of times I've slept in the guest room."
"And so have I. But that's so much different than what it was like on Nob Hill. That was hell. This is..."
"Heaven?"
I laughed. "This is good. What we have is good."
He kissed me gently, like the night before.
"How is your head?"
I felt back there and the knot was gone. "Better. My brain feels a little wooly."
He kissed me on the forehead.
"OK, so... Why? Why hit you on the head?"
"Maybe it was Rhonda? She turned the corner and it sounded like she'd stopped walking. That's why I slowed down."
"So, she hit you with her flashlight?"
"It makes sense."
"But why, Nick?"
"Maybe she knows what Juliet is up to and knows that I know and was trying to find something in Taylor's room to protect her girlfriend."
At that moment, there was a loud banging on the front door of the suite. I heard Jeffery get up and open the door.
Meanwhile, we both jumped up and hastily pulled on shirts and trousers.
I said, "That's the devil calling for his due."
The door to the sitting room slid open. The captain and one of his men stood there.
"Nicholas Williams. I have an order for you to appear before a prosecutor on the suspicion of murder."
I nodded. "May I get dressed?"
"Certainly," answered the captain. The eyes were hard this morning and the grand mustache looked bristly and irritated.
Jeffery had a towel wrapped around his waist. He asked, "Where are you taking him?"
The captain turned and looked at Jeffery with very obvious interest. Another homosexual to collect, I supposed.
"Who are you?"
"I am Mr. Williams' attorney."
"You cannot represent him in the United Mexican States."
Jeffery nodded and asked, again, "Where are you taking him?"
"Contact a local attorney and he will ask the proper questions."
The captain, who apparently didn't know this was Jeffery Klein, the obvious murder suspect, turned back and looked at me. I was tying my shoes. I stood up and said, "OK."
I looked over at Carter, who smiled wanly but wisely said nothing. I looked back at the captain who looked pained for a moment. But only a moment.
The officer with him grabbed my arm and pushed me forward. We marched out the door and along the walkway. Rhonda and Juliet were standing in front of their suite, both smoking. Neither said anything. Rhonda had the good sense to lower her eyes when I looked at her directly.
The captain paraded me through the lobby of the hotel causing a small uproar and a rush of cameras from a group of photographers who had been waiting for a breakfast table.
I looked ahead and let them snap away.
We moved through the front door, which Roberto opened for us.
The officer pushed me into the backseat of the '49 Ford that was their squad car. The captain sat up front in the passenger seat.
I asked, "What happens next?"
There was no answer from the front seat, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride.
. . .
After about ten minutes, we pulled up in front of an unassuming two-story modern building with no markings that I could see. The officer pulled me out of the car and then pushed me through the front door.
We entered into a large room that was empty. The officer pushed me down a hallway to the right that was only about ten feet long. The captain was following us. The hallway ended at a door. The officer shoved me through that door.
This was a medium-sized windowless room with a large table and a handful of chairs. The captain came into the room and dismissed the officer with some words in Spanish. I stood where I was, wondering what the hell was about to happen.
Once the officer left the room, the mustache relaxed and the eyes began to dance. "So, you were scared, no?"
I shrugged. "Not really."
He looked at me. "You are a
very smart man, Nick. I think you know how to play many games. But one game you are not so good at is how not to make the powerful police captain angry."
I looked at him and his luminescent brown eyes. They really were quite beautiful to behold. I was beginning to wonder if they showed signs of madness, or not.
"I invite you to my home and you insult me."
I nodded. "I didn't understand the nature of your marriage to Rosa. Now I do."
"Why does this matter?" It sounded like a real question.
"Because when I thought Rosa loved you or married you because she was in love you, I thought you were trying to have everything. And, we don't get everything, do we Nacho?"
He smiled. "But you are fantastically wealthy, Nick. Isn't that everything?"
"No."
He laughed. "And Don Maldonado does not understand this at all, does he?"
I said, "No."
"You think he is an idiot, do you not?"
I shrugged. I had no idea what ground I was treading here.
"Well, he is not quite an idiot. He is very single-minded. And when he decides he wants something, then he gets it. It's not a question of how. It's only a question of when."
I smiled. "You mean the hotel?"
"Yes. I do not know why it pleases him. But it does and so, like the governorship of the new Baja California, he will have it. Someone may have to die for it."
"Perhaps someone did already."
He stood there and looked at me for a long moment. Under his gaze, I was beginning to feel warm. "Do you think you are actually under arrest?"
I looked around. I could easily have escaped out that door. I knew I could take the captain's gun from him, if I wanted. He wasn't standing as if he was trying to keep me from leaving. We were just two friends, in a room, having a talk.
"I guess I'm not."
"No, you are not. Yes, you made me very angry last night. Yes, you are a man I desire very much. Yes, your friend may have been murdered so that Don Maldonado might own the hotel."
I tried not to look as stunned as I felt. I wanted to ask him to repeat the second thing he's said, because I couldn't believe he'd said it so plainly.
"I find your eyes and your smile simply irresistible, mi amigo. But I know you belong to Carter, who I tell you knows how to play the game of not making the powerful police captain angry. He is a very wise man, much more than yourself. If I were you, I would listen carefully to all that he says."
I asked, "So, why am I here?"
"I needed to make los pistoleros believe they are not suspected. Although you are an American, I can detain you for two days at my will. That will give them time to make their next mistake."
"But, Maldonado seems to believe that all the publicity is bad for the hotel."
The captain laughed. "Certainly you do not think this fool is really running the show?"
I shrugged again.
"No, it is my brother who is doing all the planning. He looks like a lieutenant but he is a general." The captain looked proud when he said that.
"How does that work?"
"Don Maldonado comes up with his idea, like the hotel. He tells his lieutenant, my brother Berto, what he wants. Then my brother gets his boss what he wants but also runs all his little operations in the background. He is the one who is running the municipal police, not Don Maldonado."
I was impressed. "So, why don't you arrest your brother?"
"Based on what evidence? If you have any, please do tell me since I have not yet been able to catch him even though I know how he thinks. He is always a step or two ahead. But I have only been the state police captain for a year. There is still time."
He crossed his arms. "When this was a Federal territory, the Federal police did very little. Why should they care about Ensenada when there was so much more to do in Tijuana? Now that we are a state, we have more power over our own affairs."
I nodded. I wondered if I was going to get any more lectures on Mexican domestic politics.
The captain was smart. "I see I am boring you with our small potatoes. That's right, is it not? Small potatoes?"
I smiled.
"Ah, there you are. Such a handsome face when you smile." He looked very happy. I looked down and saw that he was also excited. I wondered if he would act on it.
He read my mind again. "No, mi amigo. Not today. Perhaps sometime you will come back to visit your friend Nacho and we will celebrate with some tequila, some cigars, some poker, and some other fun, no?"
I just smiled. "Carter might object. And he really is so big."
The captain laughed and slapped me on the back.
. . .
The captain's idea of detaining me was to stow me on the large yacht of a friend, who was in France. The captain would have two of his men working on board, just in case. The rest of the crew were trustworthy. I would be taken there, after sundown. One of his men would pick up a small boat along the beach, and we would row together out to the waiting yacht, which was moored in the harbor.
I didn't like this plan.
During the afternoon, I told the captain all about Juliet's blackmailing adventures, what Mike had heard from the reporter, how Jeffery had been detained by the municipal police, and the fact that Rhonda probably knocked me out late last night.
He took all of it in and asked, "So, you don't think it was a pistolero, then?"
I said, "No. I now think Taylor was going to tell Rhonda about what Juliet was doing behind her back."
"What if this Rhonda committed the murder?"
"It doesn't help her career. Plus, there's also what we heard her saying to Juliet. It sounded like Rhonda was afraid she'd lost a sweet deal and that Juliet was telling her there was more to be had. That points to Juliet."
He nodded and stroked his mustache. I smiled when he did that. "So, my friend, you have missed a wonderful opportunity to have a real bigote stroke your face. You will never forget that feeling, or so I am told."
"You are shameless, Nacho."
He laughed. "Oh, yes. You are quite right. Sin vergüenza. That is how we say it in Spanish. That is me." His eyes twinkled again. My mind was venturing into that land of no return, and I had to turn back.
He stood up and said, "So, my officer will take you to the yacht and you stay there until Friday. Then you come back and we say that we released you on condition. Then we see. Maybe something will happen before. I want my brother to feel confident. He will make a mistake. I am sure of it."
"I still don't like this plan. I want to be able to do something."
"You already have. You have set the trap. Now we wait to see if the mouse takes the cheese."
"But what about my friends? Carter? They're all here. They could all be targets."
The captain stroked his mustache again and said, "They are the big boys, no? They can take care of themselves."
I still didn't like it.
Chapter 23
Ensenada Harbor
Wednesday, May 27, 1953
After sunset
I helped the officer row the small boat out to the yacht. I could see that it was a large ship. I guessed it was about 80 feet long. There were lights on and music playing. As we got closer, I could hear Jo Stafford singing about "Autumn in New York." It was an odd song for such a warm muggy evening. But it made my heart jump because I knew who loved this song.
We tied up to the side and one of the crew reached down and pulled me up on deck. I looked up in the darkness and noticed he was smiling. And it was a very enticing smile. I just nodded as I stood up on the deck.
It was good to be aboard a ship again, even one this small. I was never really a sailor. I worked on ships. But, it felt nicely familiar to have a slight rock under my feet as I walked. The song was coming from a room about halfway forward on the port side, the same side where we'd pulled up.
I walked into the room and saw, much to my relief, Carter and Mike sitting at a table, playing poker, and smoking cigars. I walked up and asked,
"Who's winning?"
Carter smiled and said, "Me, of course."
Mike said, "We'd deal you in Nick, but I'm not sure you can hold the cards in your wee little hands."
Carter said, "Mike, you know that hands are no sign--"
"OK, you two. Enough of that. I want in on the next hand."
I looked at Carter. "Has anyone talked to Marnie? I'm sure the papers, particularly the Examiner, will be very excited to have my mug on the front page twice in less than two weeks. 'Homosexual Millionaire Arrested In Twisted Love Nest Murder.'"
"No dice," said Carter. "That kid at the reception desk said that calls to the States were taking six hours, because of all the reporters. I put in a call, but we were hustled out here by the state police before it went through."
I shook my head. "Poor Marnie. She's going to be worrying when she sees the papers. Maybe we can send a radiogram from here?"
Mike shook his head. "I asked already. No communication, per the ship's captain, except in an emergency. The state police were very precise about this."
"Are you two on lockdown with me?"
"Yeah," grinned Carter. "Ain't it sweet?"
I grinned back and then asked, "Where's the rest of the gang?"
Carter said, "Well, I went and got Jeffery's luggage out of hock as soon as they took you away."
"How much?"
"A hundred."
"That much?"
"Pesos."
"Oh. Where is he?"
"He should be back in San Francisco by now. After I got his clothes, he went to go talk to Marge to find a local lawyer for you. She laughed and explained what was really going on. We put him in a taxi at about 10 so he could get on a private plane to Burbank. Then he was supposed to catch a P.S.A. flight to San Francisco. Marge arranged it all."
"What about the Bobbsey Twins?"
"They're in L.A. for a couple of days. They drove back with their new friends."
"Did they tell you about their adventure last night with Roger and James?"
"No." I explained how I'd found them all exposed and what-not. Mike and Carter both laughed.
The Amorous Attorney (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 2) Page 15
