Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1) (25 page)

“Too bad,” the woman said looking me over, “a lot of the guys like skinny girls and you’d make some good tips. Danica’s locker is the one on the far right, but I think it has a lock on it.”

“That’s OK,” I said. “I’ve got the combination.”

With my heart pounding, I went to the locker. It had a cheap dial lock with a stainless steel body and a black dial. It was the kind of lock we had back in high school gym class.

I looked at the lock and realized I had forgotten how to open them. Was it left-right-left or right-left-right? After the first number, did the dial have to go around once to the second number, or twice? It took me three tries until I heard the soft metallic snap and the lock opened.

Danica’s locker was stuffed to the bursting point. Clothes were crammed onto the rack and shoes were stuffed in every possible opening. I started pulling out things at random. There was a sequined red, white, and blue outfit with a matching bikini top and thong bottom. The outfit was held together with Velcro. For quick tear-away action, I assumed.

I took the outfit out of the locker and tossed it on a chair. Next was a blue silk harem girl costume with the same Velcro fasteners. This outfit joined the first on the chair. Next, I pulled out the red and white leather cowgirl outfit. I looked, but didn’t see any throw-up stains on it. That went on the chair too.

At the bottom of the locker was a pair of red cowboy boots, probably for the cowgirl costume. I pulled out the boots.

Then I saw it. Underneath the boots was a black bag. I pulled it out. There was the Double “F” on the clasp signifying the bag was indeed a Farucci, real or fake.

I was so excited I almost squealed. I closed my eyes and held the bag to my chest, waiting for my heart to slow. I allowed a tiny thought creep into my head.
Perhaps things would work out? Perhaps Tony DiCenzo wouldn’t have me hunted down? Maybe I could still get Alex back alive?
Naaah, it was too much to hope for. I decided I would just stick to finding out what was in the bag and hope everyone came out in one piece.

I was dying of curiosity about what was in the bag, but I didn’t know who might be watching me. I took the bag by its straps and swung it back and forth. Danica was right. It did feel too heavy and it did seem out of balance. I’ve never owned a Farucci, but I was so pleased I could feel that for myself.

I looked inside the bag and saw it was empty. I also saw the leather piece sewn to the bottom, although to me it looked like it belonged there. I felt the sides and bottom of the bag but I didn’t feel anything that was lumpy or felt out of place.

I wanted to rip the bag in half to see if anything was inside, but I decided the dressing room of a strip club probably wasn’t the best place. There, I thought, that was a good decision. Tony DiCenzo would have been proud of me.

My heart was still pounding and I felt like throwing up as I carefully returned the clothes to the locker and walked back to my car. My first thought was the office would be a good place to meet up with Danica and find out if anything was in the bag.

I pulled out my phone and gave her a call. No answer. I supposed she was still busy looking for Christy, wherever she lived. I left a message to meet at the office and gave her the address.

~~~~

I drove into downtown Scottsdale and pulled into my parking space behind the office. I looked around to see if I had been tailed. I didn’t see anyone. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. These guys had been following me for days and I never knew.

I unlocked back security door and went in. I pushed the door shut and I felt relieved when I heard the heavy lock snap into place. Sophie was up front typing at her computer, but Gina was nowhere to be seen.

“Sophie,” I said. “Where’s Gina?”

“She’s still out on the interview. I thought she’d be back by now.”

Great, of all the times for her to be gone.

I held the bag up. Sophie looked at it and her eyes grew wide.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“You’re not going to believe how I got it and you’re gonna poop kittens when you see what’s inside. We’ve got to open it up. Is Lenny here?”

“Naaah, he’s out greasing palms at the Courthouse. He won’t be back for another hour or two.”

“Good, that works. Give Gina a call and have her get back here as soon as she can. I’ll lock the doors. We can use Lenny’s office.”

~~~~

Two minutes later we were both sitting at Lenny’s desk. I grabbed a letter opener that had once belonged to J. Edgar Hoover and used it to rip open the seam holding the leather insert to the bottom of the bag. It was sewn in better than I had originally thought and it took a while to pull it apart.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s supposed to be in there?” Sophie asked, sticking her head halfway in the bag.

“Hey,” I said, “move your head. What’s in this bag is maybe nothing, but what’s in this bag is maybe something that will save my butt.”

With one last yank, the leather pulled free. I reached in and jerked on a cloth-wrapped bundle that was glued to the bottom of the bag. With a ripping sound, the bundle tore free.

I held it up to look at it. It was about six or seven inches wide, a foot long, and inch thick. Surprisingly, it was flexible and supple. I supposed this helped hide the fact it was sewn into the bottom of the purse. A stiff bundle would have given it away.

I took out a pair of scissors and cut the cloth away to reveal a large piece of opaque blue gel, sorta like a big gel shoe cushion. I felt around on a corner of the gel and found a hard lump. I pushed on the backside of the lump and something popped out the front. It fell on Lenny’s desk with a gentle
Clink
.

Sophie and I just sat there, stunned. We both stared at it for a full ten seconds. Sophie then reached down and gave it a light flick with her finger. It rolled a few inches across the desk then came to a stop.

“Umm, is that a diamond?”

“Sure looks like one,” I replied.

“It’s a big one.”

“It sure is.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one sparkle quite like that.”

“Me either.”

“Think there’re any more diamonds in that big hunk of blue goo you’re holding?”

“Yup.”

“Any idea how many more?”

“Oh, two hundred and fifty, maybe three hundred.”

“
You’re shitting me?”

“Nope.”

“
Umm, you wouldn’t mind telling me a little bit more about this, would you?”

“Sure,” I said, popping out another diamond from the strip of blue gel. It too fell onto the desk with a
Clink
.

“These diamonds belong to members of the Russian Mafia, who have kidnapped and are torturing Alex Sternwood in an effort to get them back.”

Clink.

“These are the same Russians who tried to kidnap me out by Saguaro Lake.”

Clink.

“The Russians brought the diamonds to Scottsdale to sell them to two brothers from a group called the Consortium.”

Clink.

“These are the same two who kidnapped and threatened to kill me.”

Clink.

“Alex stole the bag from the Russians in the lobby of the Scottsdale Blue Palms. Well, to be technical, he switched it with an identical bag he had just bought or stolen from the hotel dress shop.”

Clink.

“Inside the bag Alex found three diamonds and a computer disk. Alex didn’t know the bag contained anything else, so he gave it to Danica, as a present.”

Clink.

“Danica thought the bag was a fake Farucci and was too embarrassed to be seen in public with it. So, she bought another bag, a ‘real’ Farucci. She put this one in her locker at Jeannie’s Cabaret, where it’s been sitting since last week.”

Clink.

“The Russians found out from DiCenzo that Alex had the bag. They ransacked his apartment looking for it. Under orders, they killed the diamond courier, cut off his hands, and left him in Alex’s apartment. They did this as a message and warning to everybody they were serious about getting the bag back.”

Clink.

“Unfortunately, Alex walked in on them and they took the opportunity to kidnap him.”

Clink.

“Alex must have told the Russians he gave the bag to Danica. They searched her house on Saturday and took the Farucci she had just bought. I imagine they got pretty upset when they found out there was nothing in it.”

Clink.

“Anthony DiCenzo, the mobster, is brokering the sale of the diamonds between the Russians and the Consortium. He asked me to help him find the bag and get the diamonds back before more people get killed, or worse, before everybody gets upset and goes home.”

Clink.

“Oh, umm, OK,” Sophie said. “Thanks for clearing that up!”

We sat in silence as I pushed out diamonds, one by one,
Clink, Clink, Clink,
from the blue gel. The diamonds were starting to form a pretty little pile.

As I was pushing, Sophie picked up one of the diamonds and rolled it between her fingers. “How big do you think these are?”

“According to DiCenzo, they’re all three to five carats and most are internally flawless.”

“Not bad. Did he happen to mention what color grade they are?”

“Must have slipped his mind.”

I sat there for almost fifteen minutes popping out diamonds. My fingers were starting to get sore. Sophie had turned to Lenny’s computer and was looking up something on the Internet.

With a final push, the last diamond popped out and landed on the glittery pile.

“Any idea of how much is there, all together?” Sophie asked.

“Oh, about half a pound,” I said.

“Oh really? Half a pound, huh?” Sophie said, and started punching numbers into the calculator on Lenny’s desk. After a moment she stopped.

“OK,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Half a pound of diamonds is roughly two hundred and thirty grams. I looked it up and there are five carats to a gram, so there are a little over eleven hundred carats there. Now, according to the Internet, a diamond that is in the three to five carat range, is internally flawless, has an ideal cut, and a good color is worth about $33,000 a carat. This means your pretty little pile there is worth about, umm,
thirty-seven million dollars!
”

Thirty-seven million dollars?

Shit!

We both just sat there for a minute. My brain had temporarily gone numb. Sophie was pushing the pile of diamonds around on the desk with the tips of her long fingernails. I watched as the diamonds sparkled.

“
What’s going on?
And what the hell is on Lenny’s desk?”
a loud voice from behind us demanded.

We both turned to see Gina standing in the doorway.

“Hey Gina, good news!” Sophie said, holding up the ripped and battered Farucci by one strap. “Laura found your missing bag.”

“Right at this moment,” Gina said. “I wasn’t really talking about
the bag
. I was talking more about these.” Gina went to the desk and picked up a handful of diamonds, letting them fall through her fingers. They tumbled back on the desk to again form a shimmering mound.

“Umm, they’re diamonds,” I said.

“Yeah, big sparkly ones,” Sophie added.

“So, why is there a pile of big sparkly diamonds on Lenny’s desk?”

“We didn’t think we should have them on Sophie’s desk,” I said. People could see them from the street.”

“Yeah,” Sophie added. “You know, you can’t be too careful when you have thirty-seven million dollars’ worth of diamonds sitting out on a desk.”

Gina sat down next to us and we again sat in silence for a couple of minutes. We all started to run our fingers through the pile. I picked up a few diamonds and let them fall back on the mound. Sophie broke the silence.

“So Laura, what’s you gonna do with all these big sparkly diamonds?”

Ok, good question. It was the same question I had been asking myself. So what was I going to do with the diamonds? I should have just said I was taking them straight over to DiCenzo, but I didn’t.

Instead, my fingers were still dancing over the shining mound. My mind was thinking about what I could do with thirty-seven million dollars. What would I do first? An around-the-world cruise? A red Ferrari? Buy shoes that weren’t on the clearance rack?

Damn
, the possibilities were endless.

I shut my eyes and shook my head to clear it.

OK girl, back to reality.

“Oh, I need to get them back to DiCenzo,” I heard myself saying. “A lot of people are likely to get hurt if I don’t, including me.”

“You know,” Gina said. “We could disappear down into Mexico with that pile of rocks. We could each live like a Persian Princess.”

“Yeah,” said Sophie. I have a cousin near Guadalajara who has been known to sell things like this, from time to time. He could help us out. I always thought I should have been born rich. This would help make up for it.”