by Joan Rylen
“They wouldn’t have been out in the open or you would have seen them,” Adrienne said. She then glanced at a large potted plant, covered in red blooms, in the far right corner of the pool deck.
Vivian reached the same conclusion as Wendy and at the same time. Wendy walked slowly around the plant and inspected it. “This is a pretty big and bushy hibiscus,” she pulled on a branch, “They could easily have hid back here. You couldn’t see them but they could see you.”
Lucy walked over to get a feel for the vantage point. “The pot alone is big enough to hide behind.” She leaned closer and pointed to a branch. “Wait a sec, what’s this?”
Adrienne, curious, walked over to the hibiscus and peered at the spot. “You need to call Detective Vega back.”
“What is it? What did you find?” Vivian asked.
“Strands of long black hair.”
CHAPTER 31
THE TUNNEL sensation kicked in and Vivian thought she’d better sit down. Lucy and Kate rushed to the parking lot to tell Arturo about the evidence in the hibiscus and asked him to call Detective Vega again. They quickly returned.
Vivian took a deep breath and let it out. “I just can’t believe Stella was here spying on us and neither one of us noticed. How could we have been so blind?”
Al gently touched her arm. “Viv, Stella didn’t want to be seen.” His phone rang but he silenced it. “You can’t blame yourself.”
Wendy spoke up. “The hair Adrienne found in the plant is proof Stella was here and she could be on the video from the lobby. But neither proves she killed Jon. How do we know she didn’t see someone else kill him? Maybe Ponytail or Shorty were also hanging around here in the shadows, and they killed him?”
“But the blog post,” Vivian argued.
“She was upset when she made that comment, but did she really mean Jon should be dead, or was that just crazy talk?” Adrienne played devil’s advocate. “From where she was hiding, she could have witnessed his murder.”
“Either way, she needs to be found and questioned,” Lucy said.
“We need to fill Pierre in on this,” Kate said. “I’ll run up to his room and bring him down here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Wendy said. “Buddy system.”
Vivian took several deep breaths and stared at the ocean. Vivian calmed down just as Detective Vega showed up and Kate, Wendy and Pierre arrived at the same time.
“What now?” was Vega’s greeting.
Adrienne explained that she had family in law enforcement in the U.S. and they were able to trace the blog post to the I.P. address of La Vida de Playa’s wireless modem. “Sorry if I overstepped my bounds, but I want to help Vivian.”
“And take a look at this,” Lucy said as she wafted a long black strand of hair for inspection. “There’s more in that plant.” She indicated which plant.
Vega grunted and walked over to the hibiscus. “This could have been here for days.” Nonetheless, he put a few strands of hair into a little plastic bag.
“It places someone with long black hair near the scene of the crime, and the security camera video from the hotel lobby may back that up,” Wendy said in an even tone, trying not to yell at him for being an imbecile.
“Ah, yes, the video. We already have a copy of that. It is being reviewed.”
With that, he turned to leave.
Vivian ran after him and spoke up. “We were chased this afternoon by that scary Ponytail guy.”
This stopped Vega in his tracks. Vivian almost ran smack dab into him. He slowly turned to face her and narrowed his eyes. “I heard about an accident earlier this afternoon involving two cars driving through private property. I hope that’s not what you’re referring to. If it is, you could have killed someone else and we’d be having this conversation in jail.” He stalked off, leaving Vivian flabbergasted.
“What? Kill someone else?” Lucy sputtered. “The nerve of that man! We were fleeing for our lives, afraid we were being chased by a killer!”
“Did you see Vega’s face? He was pissed we got in that chase,” Vivian said. “What is with him? What’s the deal with Ponytail?”
Al shook his head. “It looks like he thinks you’re it, lady. It will be a miracle if he finds the actual murderer.”
Vivian let out a big sigh.
“It’s going to work out,” Pierre said. “I know it will.”
Vivian shook her head, not so sure how this would work out at all.
Pierre rubbed his temples. “Listen, I’ve got a headache. I’m going back upstairs.”
After Pierre left, Vivian said, “Well this is just freakin’ fabulous. Vega thinks I’m the one who killed Jon.”
“He must not have enough evidence or you’d already be in jail.” Al stood up. “About that chase, have you searched your car for bugs or a tracking device?”
Vivian shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at him. “We think we found a bug in our room but none of us thought to check the car.”
“Let’s go out there and check it now. I know where to look.”
They trekked out to the parking lot and waved to Arturo on the way. Al gave their car the once-over.
“Here’s a bug.” He removed a small device from underneath the dashboard. “I only found one, but then this car is pretty small.”
He kept searching and pulled a blinky thing out from under the back fender and showed it to Vivian. “This is a tracking device.” He tossed it across the parking lot and his phone rang again. This time he answered it and said, “I’ll call you back,” then hung up.
“Do you think Ponytail planted that?” Vivian asked Al.
“I’d put money on it,” he said.
“No wonder I couldn’t lose him this afternoon,” Kate said. “He knew right where we were the whole time!”
Arturo walked up. “Car trouble?”
Vivian didn’t want to tell him about Ponytail, the bugs or the tracking device, so she said, “We thought the car was making funny noises this afternoon. Al offered to take a look.”
Vivian said to Al. “Thanks for checking it out.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Wendy said.
“Anytime,” Al said and then offered Adrienne his arm, “Honey, let’s go get a cocktail.”
“I sure am hungry,” Kate played along. “How about some dinner?” she asked the girls.
“Amen to that,” Lucy said.
The girls walked into the hotel restaurant and the diners craned their necks to get a look at them.
As they sat down Wendy said, “I feel like such a hottie.”
“Damn straight!” Lucy said.
Vivian knew they were just trying to make her feel better. She also knew, though, that the word was out. She had become the Deadly Dominik Destroyer.
Vivian switched places with Kate, putting her back to the rest of the dining room.
The waitress came over right away to take their order. Very un-Playa-like.
As soon as the waitress walked off, Lucy leaned forward and whispered, “So do you think Ponytail is in the mob? No wonder he’s so scary looking. I wonder how many people he’s killed?”
Wendy took a sip of her bottled water. “Al didn’t come right out and say he was in the mob. He said ‘organization.’ That could mean lots of things.”
“I think the mob is the most likely organization,” Kate reasoned.
“It could be a drug cartel. We are in Mexico after all.”
“Oooh, maybe,” Lucy said.
“If he were with a drug cartel then why did he chase after us and why would he put a tracking device on our car?” Vivian pointed with her fork. She didn’t know what to think about Ponytail, other than she didn’t like him.
“Who knows?” Wendy said. “Regardless, we should follow Al’s advice and stay clear of him.”
“No problemo on my part,” Lucy said.
“Mine either,” Kate said.
The food arrived in record time. Yummy quesadillas and nachos. Vivian figured the kitc
hen put a rush on their food.
She poked at a nacho. Guess it’s bad for business to have a murder suspect at dinner.
CHAPTER 32
JUST AS the girls finished their senior-hour dinner, Vivian’s phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, and it didn’t look like it was from the States.
She answered and Captain Juan said, “Julio está aquí.”
Click.
The girls decided to go talk to Shorty, see what they could find out about one of their “suspects.” They paid the bill and headed for the car.
“The paparazzi count is increasing,” Lucy noted. “Is that TMZ?”
At least two more news stations had shown up, ready to report the scoop, as well as some other media.
“I think it’s the Mexico version,” Wendy said.
On the way to the marina Kate said, “So what the heck are we going to say to Shorty exactly?”
“Good question.” Wendy looked at Vivian.
“I don’t really know. He obviously likes women. Let’s just go flirt with him and see where it gets us.”
“I think we need a code word or phrase,” Wendy said. “Something any one of us can say that wouldn’t sound too weird but lets the rest of us know we need to get out of there.”
“That’s a good idea. Okay, what’s going to be our code word?” Lucy asked.
“How about ‘ice cream’?” Kate suggested. “If any of us feels like it’s time to scram, say something like, ‘I’m hot, let’s go get some ice cream’ or something.”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Vivian agreed.
“Okay, I can remember that,” Wendy said.
“Damn, ice cream sounds good right about now,” Lucy said.
“Do you want it to be tequila flavored?” Vivian chided.
“Ha ha, funny girl,” Lucy replied. “I want a big scoop of chocolate.”
Once at the marina, Vivian saw Shorty tidying up his boat. He was shirtless and wore a black, knee-length swimsuit.
“Thank goodness he’s not wearing a Speedo,” Wendy muttered under her breath.
They ambled the length of the dock, trying to act nonchalant.
“Hey, there,” Vivian called. “Nice boat.”
“Just get her. She go muy rápido.” He sounded like Speedy Gonzales, gangster-style.
“Well, she’s a beauty.”
The deep V-hull was painted a soft, buttery yellow. Stripes in a darker yellow, tannish-orange and black intermingled, crisscrossed and raced down the sides, then onto the deck. The stripes swirled together, culminating in an enormous jaguar that looked like it was about to come to life and leap off the deck. Its mouth was open, fangs bared, ready to rip someone’s throat out. The huge green eyes were striking, and Vivian had the sense that this cat sees all.
“I’m Vivian, this is Wendy, Kate and Lucy. We’re visiting from Texas.” She felt wired and fried at the same time and a trickle of sweat ran down her spine. Just flirt, you can do it.
“Bueño. Julio.” He stepped over toward them and held out his hand to Vivian in invitation. “I making margaritas. You like?”
Vivian looked at the girls. Lucy nodded yes.
“Okay,” Vivian said, and took his hand. Oh Lord, here we go.
Shorty helped the other girls on the boat.
“Business must be good,” Lucy muttered under her breath. Kate gave her a warning glance. Didn’t want Shorty to hear that comment.
“A Baja 40 Outlaw. The best boat in marina.” Shorty opened his arms and gestured at the surrounding, inferior boats.
“The paint job alone on this thing makes it look fast,” Wendy said. “My dad lived on a sailboat for a while when I was a kid. I wish I would have learned to sail.” She paused, then added, “Hey, can you show me how to handle this?”
“Es too much for you.”
“You’d be surprised at what I can handle,” Wendy said, batting her eyes and smiling. Vivian knew that look in her eyes. He had ticked her off.
“I get margaritas. Uno momento.”
He disappeared down the narrow stairs.
Vivian sat down in the captain’s chair and looked at the gauges. Wonder what would happen if I…
Kate interrupted her train of thought, “Ask him about Club Caliente.” She went to stretch out on a vinyl bench at the back of the boat.
“Yeah, then find out if he knows about Jon.” Wendy sat next to Kate.
“How am I supposed to do that?” Vivian asked.
“I’ll help.” Lucy said.
Shorty’s head popped out of the stairway. “Salt?”
Kate and Lucy raised their hands.
“Be right back.”
“You don’t think he’s poisoning those, do you?” Lucy asked.
“No! Come on!” Vivian said, though the thought had briefly crossed her mind.
A few moments later, he came above board skillfully holding five plastic cups filled with margaritas and handed them out.
He proposed a toast. “To my new Baja babes.”
Arriba! Arriba! Vivian thought to herself. Geez.
After taking a sip of margarita, Lucy asked, “Did we see you at Club Caliente last night?”
“Si, I go sometimes. I no remember seeing you.” He gave them his best sly smile and said, “You like to party?”
Vivian thought back to her college days and remembered that “like to party,” generally meant drugs.
“Excuse me?”
“I having a party Friday night. My house. You come.”
Before Vivian could respond, Kate said, “At your house? Sure, we’ll be there.”
Hey, is that a good idea?
“Maybe I take you out on boat. We have good time,” Shorty said as he lifted his chin and gave them a look like “you know you want me.”
Gross. Vivian didn’t even want to think about what he was insinuating.
Just then his phone rang. It was conveniently in the cockpit so Vivian glanced at the number. It looked familiar.
Shorty walked over, picked up the phone and set it face-down.
Vivian figured she had nothing to lose, so she asked, “Didn’t we see you a couple of nights ago at the Purple Peacock hanging out with Jon and Pierre, the Canadians?”
His eyes narrowed a little as he responded, “Si, like me for my boat.”
Egomaniac.
The phone rang again, Shorty glanced at the incoming number and silenced the ringer.
“Matarlo. Pinche bendejo.” He muttered.
The girls exchanged nervous looks with Wendy who put her hand to her neck and tried to nonchalantly draw her finger across it.
Vivian wanted to get his mind off his phone, so she got to the purpose of the visit. “Did you hear about what happened to Jon?”
Shorty had a blank look on his face. “No, whaz up with hombre?”
She glanced at the girls, then looked back at Shorty. “He’s dead. Murdered.”
“Aye yo Santo!” Shorty exclaimed. “What happen?” He seemed genuinely shocked.
“We don’t know,” Lucy said, “but there’s the man doing the investigating right over there.”
She pointed toward the marina office where Detective Vega stood talking with Ponytail.
Vivian’s throat went dry and Shorty seemed to have turned pale, or at least as pale as possible for a Mexican.
Vivian coughed and looked at the girls with wide eyes. She turned to Shorty. “Uh, it was nice to meet you, but we’ve got to go cuz we’re meeting Jon’s friend, Pierre, soon. Plus, I need some ice cream.”
Lucy, such the bad actress, said, “Ice cream? Oh yeah, ice cream. Sounds delish. Let’s go.”
They thanked him for the margaritas and said goodbye as they climbed off the boat. It was all Vivian could do not to run like hell back to the rent car.
CHAPTER 33
THE GIRLS walked quickly through the marina parking lot and jumped into the rent car, Kate behind the wheel.
As soon as the doors were shut, Vivian broke down in
tears. “I’m officially freaked out now. What’s with Detective Vega and Ponytail talking? Lucy, did they see us on Shorty’s boat?”
“I’m sure they did,” Lucy replied. “How could they not? I’m a little freaked out, too.”
“Maybe he was checking up on the lead we gave him. You know, questioning him,” Kate said.
“It didn’t look like that. Vega wasn’t scowling at him like he scowls at me.” Vivian wiped her tears and pulled up the call history on her phone, though her hands were shaking. “Al called me from his cell phone earlier, remember? I think he just called Shorty. I think this was the same number on Shorty’s phone when it rang a few minutes ago.”
“Why would Al be calling Shorty?” Kate asked.
“Are you sure that was Al’s number, Viv?” Wendy asked. “How good a look did you get?”
“I dunno. Good enough I think.”
“Maybe they can’t act like they know each other in public,” Lucy suggested. “You know, like maybe they’re involved in some illegal mob activity? Drug trafficking? Money laundering? Sex trade?”
“Oh geez,” Kate said. “Sex trade?”
“You never know,” Lucy shrugged.
“Why did you tell Shorty we were meeting up with Pierre?” Wendy asked. “We don’t have any plans with him.”
“I said it just in case he was thinking of taking off with us still on the boat,” Vivian said. “I wanted him to know someone would be looking for us in a little while if we didn’t show up.”
“Good thinking,” Kate commented.
Vivian put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. “Oh my god, y’all. This whole thing is starting to spin out of control. What if they don’t let me out of Mexico in a few days? I’ve got to get home to my kids. Wendy, you’re the only one of us who knows anything about boats. Do you think you could hijack Shorty’s boat and get us to Galveston?”
Wendy tried to be the voice of reason. “Whoa, Viv. No, I couldn’t get us to Galveston. The cockpit and gauges on his boat are complicated, and I don’t know if I could figure it all out in time for us to make a clean getaway. We would have to stop and refuel, and besides, we need keys.”
