by Joan Rylen
Vega gave no response.
“Will you look into these suspects?” Wendy eyed Vega, then watched Lucy as she continued to walk along the pool’s edge.
The detective turned away, then paused for a moment and turned back. “You are suggesting that I need to look into a guy with a ponytail, Julio, spider woman, Mr. Tournay’s agent, TV execs, co-stars and basically half of Canada.”
Sarcastically, he added, “Anyone else?”
Irritated at his small-mindedness, Vivian got as close to Vega as she dared, put her hands on her hips and said, “Well I didn’t kill him, and you need to find out who did.”
Vega looked like he wanted to slap handcuffs on Vivian. He turned and stalked off down the beach instead.
Vivian called after him, “Any chance we can get our passports back?”
He just kept walking.
This is craptacular.
Detective Vega disappeared down the beach and they all sat back down, Lucy included, much to Vivian’s relief. No rescue needed.
“Think he’s still pissed off about the Battle of San Jacinto?” Wendy, the history buff, asked.
“What was that?” Pierre asked.
“It was when Texas won their independence from Mexico in 1836 and became a republic.”
“Remember the Alamo!” Kate shouted.
“Big loss for Mexico, huh?” Pierre said.
“Yep.”
Vivian touched Pierre’s arm. “I’m out of people. Is there anyone else y’all met down here you could have pissed off?”
“I told the police everything and anything I could think of,” Pierre said. “Nobody stuck out to me. I never even noticed the ponytail guy or thought to check online.” He rested his head in his hands, then continued, “I’m going upstairs.”
He got up and walked away. Vivian felt bad for him and by the looks on the other girls faces, it was evident they all did.
“Now what?” Wendy asked.
“I need a nap.” Vivian reclined her lounger. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“Let’s do a shot,” Lucy said. “I need a stress reliever.” She signaled Manuel and ordered five shots of Tiempo Loco.
It’ll help with my anxiety at least.
“What’s with the five?” Kate asked. “You doin’ two?”
“Nope, we gotta pour one for the homie.”
“Huh?”
“Jon!”
“Oh, our homie, Jon.”
Manuel arrived and handed Vivian her shot. “Sorry about tu amigo. I hear something, I tell you. Be careful.”
“Gotcha.”
The girls raised glasses and toasted to the recently departed, was gonna be in a movie, ex-soap star.
Lucy grabbed the SPF 75 and reapplied. She passed the 15 around knowing the girls wanted tans but also saving them from themselves.
“You girls are going to thank me one day. Trust me,” she said as she scooted closer to the umbrella and put a towel over her face.
Kate and Wendy talked about the situation between themselves for a while and Vivian was glad they spoke so she couldn’t every word. She was overwhelmed.
She noticed two Hispanic kids playing “Baywatch” in the pool, taking turns saving one another and heaving each other up on the side of the pool. This was not easy for the girl, whose brother outweighed her by at least 30 pounds. The brother hauled his sister out and pumped on her stomach a few times until she spouted a stream of water. Then it was sister’s turn to be rescuer. It was the distraction she needed as they did it over and over again, but it made her miss her kids.
“Wait a minute,” Kate sat up with a fire in her eyes Vivian had never seen before. “Screw this waiting on Vega bullshit. We need to take matters into our own hands. We are going to find out more about our suspects.”
CHAPTER 29
“WHAT DO you mean ‘our suspects’ and ‘find out more’?” Vivian sat up in her lounger next to the hotel pool.
“We need to know more about Ponytail, Shorty and Crazy Stella.” Kate said. “Find out who they really are and what they have been up to.”
“Okay…why? We aren’t the police.”
“It’s better than just lying here all depressed because Jon’s, well, you know.” Kate picked at an invisible hangnail. “I hate to sound insensitive, but I’m afraid if we don’t figure this out we may not be leaving in a few days.”
Wendy looked at Vivian. “I agree with Kate. I don’t trust Detective Vega to solve this, and I want my passport back.”
Lucy, who apparently drank Jon’s shot, removed the towel from her face and said, “Ditto,” then dropped the towel back.
“But where are we going to start?” Vivian asked.
“We already have Al checking on Ponytail for us, so let’s start with the marina and then go by the Purple Peacock and Club Caliente,” Kate said. “We need to ask around, see if anyone knows anything about these people.”
“If Shorty’s not on his boat, maybe we can sneak on board, find something incriminating,” Vivian said.
Lucy tossed her towel on the ground. “No way I’m stepping foot on his boat, much less sneaking around. If he caught us he’d kill us, too.”
Wendy reminded them, “Seriously, be careful who you’re accusing of murder. We don’t want to give him a reason to come after us.”
“I think he’s into more than the tequila business,” Kate said.
“Is it the boat or the two girlfriends?” Lucy asked.
“Both.”
“Moving on,” Wendy said. “If it was her, we need to find out where Stella used the computer to post the blog comment.”
Vivian sighed. “I hope Adrienne’s brother can get that for us. Spider lady could have been on the computer anywhere, hotels, internet cafes, coffee shops. That’s a lot of ground for us to cover.”
“She could have also made the post from her cell phone.” Kate held up her iPhone as an example.
“If we can get the phone number, then maybe Detective Vega could trace her whereabouts through that,” Vivian said. “GPS or something.”
“If she didn’t ditch it,” Wendy added, flashing on another book moment.
Lucy picked her towel back up. “I’m in. When should we start this? Tonight?”
“No need to wait,” Kate said. “Let’s get going.”
“We need a roadie,” Lucy said.
“Lucy! You drank Jon’s shot and yours!” Vivian said. “I can’t believe you want more alcohol right now.”
“Yep. I’m on vacation and I could use some courage for our mission. One more drink and I’ll be good to go.”
Lucy ordered a margarita and the girls decided that friends don’t let friends drink alone, so they all toasted to the Definitely Defunct Soap Star.
No writing him back into the script.
Once in the room, Lucy went on a bit of a tangent about her stuff being handled by “nasty, germy space invaders who probably didn’t wear gloves, certainly didn’t wash their hands and could have contaminated her delicates,” or something like that.
As Lucy jumped in the shower, Kate, Wendy and Vivian searched the room for listening devices. They looked through the nightstand and the dresser. No luck. They went through their luggage and purses. Kate bent down and peered under the bed. No bugs there, either. They couldn’t talk about what they were doing, as they didn’t want anyone who may have been listening to know what they were up to. Just as Vivian was about to deem the room bug free, Wendy looked under a lampshade and pulled off a small black device.
“Do you think this is one?” Wendy asked Vivian, holding it in her palm.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
She held it out to Vivian. “Would you like to do the honors?”
“Are you sure that’s it?”
“Well, I’m not totally certain, but I don’t know what else it could be.”
Vivian tossed it on the floor and stomped it into little pieces.
Kate walked over and looked down. “Is that what
your phone looked like after you smashed it into Rick’s head?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
After Lucy finished in the bathroom they all gathered ’round as Vivian flushed what was left of the bug down the toilet.
The rest of the girls got cleaned up quickly and as they left the hotel Vivian noticed the lady reporter was out front, joined by a news van which had its antenna thingy raised, and a male reporter looked like he was about to do a live broadcast.
“Let’s go behind him and wave!” four drink Lucy said, and before anyone could stop her, she did just that.
“Dear god, no! Avoid that area like the plague.” Vivian scurried over and grabbed Lucy’s wrist, tugging her away.
“Let’s go around the far side of the hotel to get to the car.” Wendy veered off to the left. “We don’t want to be on TV. We need to stay incognito.”
“Okay,” Lucy agreed, defeated, and they were able to make their way to the car undetected.
It only took a few minutes to reach the marina, but they arrived only to find Shorty’s boat not in its slip.
“Great. Now what?” Vivian asked.
“Let’s go talk to Captain Juan, see if he knows anything,” Kate suggested.
“Good idea.”
The girls stood on the dock by the Mucho Grande. Captain Juan had his back to them, spraying the deck with a water hose. He turned their way and a fishy smell washed over them.
Vivian called out, “hola, Captain Juan!”
He walked to the port side of the boat, next to the dock, and replied in Spanish and poor English, “Hola, señoritas, you want go fishing?”
“We’d better not,” Lucy said. “We don’t want Detective Vega to think we’re trying to leave the country and come after us.”
Captain Juan looked bewildered. “Que pasó? You in trouble?”
“No, no. No trouble,” Vivian smiled and said quickly. “We are looking for Julio who owns the boat Belize It! Have you seen him today?”
“What you want with him?”
“We need to ask him a question about a friend of his from Canada who was killed this morning.”
“Ah, yes. I hear it American lady.” He cut his finger across his neck.
“Holy caca,” Wendy muttered.
Vivian’s face got hot. This was almost more than she could take.
Captain Juan wagged his finger at them. “You?”
Vivian shook her head. “Nahhhh. We hardly knew the guy. We saw him hanging out with Julio a couple of times and just want to talk to him.”
“Could you call us when his boat comes back?” Kate politely asked.
Captain Juan thought about it for a second. Vivian stepped toward him and passed him a twenty. Money talks.
He took a step back and put it in his pocket. “No problemo.”
Vivian wrote her cell number on a slip of paper and handed it to him. “Thanks. Please call us as soon as you see him come back.”
“Adiós!” they called as they walked down the dock to the parking lot.
As Kate drove out of the lot, she glanced to her left and said, “Oh, my gosh, I think Ponytail’s in that SUV.”
Vivian turned to look. Yep, definitely Ponytail. “What’s he doing here?”
“Maybe he’s waiting for Shorty, too?” Lucy suggested. “Or, maybe he’s watching us? I don’t know, but whatever the reason I need some food. I’m feeling a little queasy.”
Wendy seconded the motion.
Kate glanced into the rearview mirror and watched him fade into the distance. “I don’t like that guy.”
“We can grab a bite at the Purple Peacock.” Vivian said as her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but answered in case it was Captain Juan.
“Yo, Viv, it’s Al. I heard from my contact and have some news. Where are you girls?”
“Hey, Al. We were thinking about getting some lunch, but can come back to the hotel. Are you there?”
“By the pool.”
“We’ll be there in a few.” Vivian disconnected.
Kate looked again into the rearview. “Oh my gosh he’s right behind us.”
“What?” Wendy said.
“Ponytail. He’s following us.”
Wendy turned and glanced back. “Oh, shit.”
Kate held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip. She glanced in the mirror again.
“Hold on, girls, we’re gonna lose him!”
CHAPTER 30
KATE GRIPPED the wheel tight, made a quick left turn and shot onto a one-way street, but going the wrong way. She dodged one car but the next one coming at them wasn’t moving out of the way. Ponytail was in hot pursuit.
“Holy crap, Kate!” Lucy gripped the seat in front of her. “Don’t play chicken with this guy, swerve out of the way!”
“There’s nowhere to go!” Kate shouted.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she saw an alley on the right and turned, practically on two wheels, and almost hit a scraggly dog.
Wendy looked behind them. “He didn’t turn there. Maybe we lost him. ”
But at the end of the alley Ponytail pulled out of a side street a few yards down. Kate turned right, going the correct way this time down another one-way street.
The SUV followed suit.
Kate had the gas pedal floored, but he was gaining on them.
“Kate, there’s no way we can outrun him in this crappy car. You’ve got to out-maneuver him.” Wendy grabbed on to her “oh-shit” handle. “Make some more turns or something.”
“Hold on, everyone!” Kate said and took an abrupt left turn.
“He’s still with us.” Vivian glanced back.
The P.O.S. bounced along a narrow potholed street in a residential area. They zoomed past a couple of churches and a school, then behind some houses. None had fences in the back. All had clotheslines.
Ponytail’s bumper almost touched theirs.
I’ve got to lose him. They’re counting on me, Kate thought.
“I’ve got an idea.” She yanked the car off the pavement and onto sand and grass, driving directly towards the clotheslines.
“Kate, get out of the grass!” Lucy covered her eyes. “What are you doing? We’re going to die!”
Sheets from the first clothesline flew over them. Muumuus in the next yard proved to be no problem. But a pair of big momma panties got caught on the antenna and waved like a surrender flag.
Kate had no intention of surrendering. She swerved around the last clothesline, through the field and back onto the road. Chickens scattered, running for their lives.
Ponytail off-roaded it with them. Sheets plastered his windshield but he kept going. Muumuus and panties added a layer. He blindly plowed through the last clothesline, dragging it with him, poles and all, then smashed into a palm tree, coming to a dead stop. Smoke poured from the hood.
Kate slowed down to the speed limit. Her hands shook. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
“You are a maniac! I never knew you could drive like that,” Lucy said.
“I guess all those years of playing Pole Position with my brother paid off.”
“Do you want to pull over and let me drive?” Wendy asked. “You must be coming down from a serious adrenaline high.”
“Yeah, I think I will.”
“Good job Kate!” Vivian pumped her fist in the air. “Way to save us.”
Kate drove a few more blocks, then pulled into a gas station.
She stopped the car, jumped out, ran around to the other side, grabbing the panties off the antenna. She held them high in the air and ran in place singing “Maniac,” doing a kick-ass impersonation of Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. The pent-up fear turned into laughter and tears of relief streamed down all the girls faces.
They calmed down enough to continue on their way, but after all the turns in the chase, they were a bit lost. It took a while, but they finally recognized landmarks and found their way to the hotel.
The girls met Adrienne
and Al at a table by the poolside bar. Vivian sat down and told them about the car chase and couldn’t help but laugh again in the retelling of Kate’s “Maniac” dance. Al, however, did not laugh. The look on his face scared her.
He leaned in close and spoke in a low voice. “Listen, my contact isn’t sure who Ponytail is but suspects he’s involved with a tough crowd. You should avoid him, although you’ve probably just pissed him to high hell.”
“Oh my god!” Vivian said.
“Shhh, Vivian, keep it down. My guy thinks he is affiliated with a certain organization that you don’t want to mess with.”
“Like the mob?” Lucy just couldn’t help herself, the Sopranos influence kicked in again. “Is he a gangster?”
Al just shrugged at her questions. “I wish I had more info, but my guy couldn’t tell me more. Just stay clear of Ponytail.”
“Any word on the blog and IP address?” Kate asked Adrienne.
“My brother did have some luck with that.” Adrienne pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Vivian. She recognized the address on it.
“Someone made the post from the vicinity of the hotel this morning at 1:45,” Al said. “I already talked to the hotel manager. Their one security camera may have caught them in the lobby. Get your detective fella to request the video from last night.”
“Holy shit!” Lucy shouted. “That was last night when you came back from Club Caliente.”
Vivian’s stomach soured as reality sank in. “Maybe the killer saw us walking on the beach?” Tears clouded her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have left him out there by himself.”
“Nonsense, Viv. He was a grown man.” Kate patted her hand. “You didn’t know someone was watching you or what they would do.”
Adrienne stood up from the table. “I wonder where they were watching you from?”
“I didn’t see anyone here last night.” Vivian wiped her eyes with a tissue. “We were a little drunk and not paying attention to anything but each other. They could have been anywhere.”
Adrienne walked around the pool area. “How far down the beach did you walk? Show me.”
Vivian’s knees wobbled as she stood up but she willed herself to walk. She stood at the edge of the pool deck and glanced down the beach to the right. “See that last beach chair and umbrella? That’s about how far we went.” It was maybe 50 yards, not all that far.
