Authors: B A Trimmer
Gina is the only one I know who can talk to Lenny like that. Part of it is she was a Scottsdale police detective and part of it is she thinks Lenny needs a mother.
“I don’t know what happened,” Lenny said in a confused voice. “I met Amber at Martini Ranch last night. She said she was looking for a job so I told her to come over today for an interview. She comes in and next thing I know she’s on her knees working on me. It was like I couldn’t stop her.”
Lenny looked up to see all three of looking at him. He must have seen the looks on our faces.
“Hey,” he said. “I wanted to stop her but it was like I couldn’t. It’s not my fault. Seriously. It’s been a while.”
“You know you can’t have her working here,” Gina said in a stern motherly tone. “You know it will disrupt things. You know you don’t want the clients to see her. And most of all, you know how much trouble this could bring.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lenny said. “You’re right. I’ll get rid of her.”
“Right away?”
“Right away.”
~~~~
We walked back out to reception and Sophie started closing down her desk for the day. Before we left, I called my contact from the phone company. As I suspected, Jackie’s phone was either not turned on or had gone out of range. The reason I suspected her phone would be turned off was it would have made my job too easy. I don’t seem to get those kinds of breaks very often.
I also called Grandma Peckham. I told her I would be traveling for the day and might not make it back in time to feed Marlowe. She said not to worry since Marlow had already had a second breakfast at her place.
~~~~
Scottsdale lies in the northeast part of a large bowl in central Arizona called The Valley of the Sun, or simply, The Valley. On the East Valley side are the communities of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Apache Junction. The east side of the Valley ends at some high cliffs that are the start of the Superstition Mountains. The Central Valley is mainly the sprawl of Phoenix. The West Valley contains the retirement communities of Glendale, Sun City, Anthem, and Surprise. To the north of the Valley is North Mountain, beyond which are the sheer cliffs of the Mogollon Rim, which rise several thousand feet to the Colorado Plateau. The southern edge of the Valley is marked by the bulk of South Mountain, beyond which is one-hundred miles of the Sonoran desert leading down into Mexico.
Sophie, Annie, and I climbed into my car and we headed south. At Casa Grande, we found a truck stop where we loaded up with drinks and snacks. We then headed west to the desert town of Gila Bend. We then turned south and headed into the deep deserts of southern Arizona.
I know some people can’t see the beauty of the Sonoran Desert, all they see is dirt, rocks, and half-dead plants. For me, the drive down to Rocky Point is breathtaking. I love the feeling of cresting a hill and seeing fifty miles of colorful desert stretched out before me. In the dry desert air, there’s no haze or pollution, so details don’t seem to blur with distance. It is especially beautiful after one of the rare winter rains. Two weeks after a rain, the desert becomes a bright green carpet, with every cactus, tree, and bush flowering at once.
We stopped in Ajo, a small copper mining town where they have a lovely town square, to get money from the last ATM before Mexico. We then made a quick bathroom stop at the tourist-trap gas station called Why, when Sophie decided she had to go again. We were briefly stopped at a roadblock checkpoint by the border patrol a mile north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Finally, we were at the truck-stop sized town of Lukeville, which marks the border to Mexico.
As always, I felt a little intimidated when crossing over into Mexico. And, as always, I was a little sad as I drove through the poverty-stricken border town of Sonoyta. Needless to say, I kept well under the speed limit.
As the last of the border town was in my rearview mirror, the final stretch of desert opened up before us. This part of the Sonoran desert is especially severe, consisting entirely of sand and dirt with almost nothing growing, save for an occasional creosote bush or clump of desert grass.
Driving in the desert always gives me time to think. Unfortunately, when I think, I usually think about my pathetic love life, then I think about sex, and then I think about how horny I am.
Having Reno back in my life, at least partially, seemed to help at first. We had spent a hot night together and then a few times since then. But now I had actually started being with a man again, my body seemed to wake-up. I crave sex all of the time, which unfortunately isn’t happening. As a result, my libido is higher than ever. Since Reno and I are only together occasionally, I’ve been left in a state of constant frustration.
~~~~
At about one o’clock, our destination came into view in the distance. Although the name on the map is Puerto Peñasco, everyone from Arizona just calls the town Rocky Point. I’ve always assumed it’s named after the mountain sized rock located at the end of the three-mile long peninsula on the Choya Bay side of town.
Rocky Point is a beautiful semi-tropical fishing village sitting on the northern end of the Gulf of California, which the locals call the Sea of Cortez. The beaches here are bright white and the sea is a brilliant blue. The music is festive, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable.
In college, we would drive down to Rocky Point a couple of times a year. We’d lay out on the beaches during the day and hit the clubs at night. It was well known the bars would serve anyone old enough to walk up and ask for a beer. Spring break in Rocky Point was almost mandatory for all Arizona State University students. Everyone would have a crazy good time and if you didn’t get laid, it was only because you weren’t really trying.
Annie had said Jackie was leasing a house at Las Conchas, which is a loose community of beach houses about a mile east of town. I’d been here a couple of times before when a group of us would rent a house for the weekend. It’s a lot quieter than the hotels in town and the beaches aren’t nearly as crowded.
After several minutes of driving through the narrow and winding streets, Annie directed us to Jackie’s house. It was located on a small hill about a hundred yards up from the beach. The house was small but well maintained, painted the traditional yellow with orange accents. There were several fan palms along with bright green and red bougainvilleas planted around a large front deck that looked out over the sea.
As we climbed out of my car, I felt the warm humid air and heard the sound of the pounding waves coming up from the beach. Sea gulls circled and cawed in the distance. There was a slightly salty, slightly fishy, scent to the air that I’ve come to know and love.
Jackie’s car, a maroon Jaguar convertible, wasn’t visible anywhere near the house. We went up to the door but knocking produced no results. A quick peak in the front window showed someone was living there since some breakfast dishes were still on the table. We spent five minutes looking in windows before we had convinced ourselves Jackie wasn’t in the house.
“Jackie usually goes into town for lunch,” Annie said. “Then she stops by the fish market to grab things for dinner. We can probably catch her there.”
~~~~
The heart of Rocky Point consists of the harbor, where thirty, or so, shrimp boats dock. Next to the harbor is the main shopping district, which features a large fish market with maybe twenty concrete stalls, each one set up as an independent business. Here you can buy freshly caught shrimp, scallops, and fish at ridiculously low prices. Surrounding the fish market are a dozen restaurants, all specializing in the fresh seafood along with traditional Mexican dishes. Scattered among the restaurants are the tourist curio shops, which sell the ceramics, t-shirts, and souvenirs that help make Mexico such a colorful place.
Jackie’s car was parked in one of the spaces overlooking the sea, down the street from the fish market. We decided to split up. I took one side of the street while Sophie and Annie took the other. In less than five minutes, Annie found Jackie, looking through one of the stalls in the fish market.
Annie ran up to Jackie and they gave each other a long hug. As I remembered from the only other time I had seen her, Jackie looked to be in her forty’s and was pretty. Like most wealthy Scottsdale women, she looked like she regularly went to a gym, was fashionably thin, and had some curves that looked doctor assisted. She had on a simple beach outfit of white shorts and an oversized fuchsia top. She had sparkly diamond rings on her fingers, a thick diamond and ruby bracelet on her wrist, and several strands of gold draped around her neck. Her long auburn hair was curly and nicely styled. Her skin and makeup were flawless. At first, I was a little disappointed she was only wearing simple black flip-flops but as I walked closer, I noticed both the quality and the designer label. I hadn’t known Farucci made beach sandals and I could only imagine what they had cost.
Jackie saw Sophie and me walking towards her. A look of panic washed over her face and I could see she was deciding whether to run or not. Her body froze as she stared at me, trying to remember where she had seen me before. She quickly looked at Annie then back to me, trying to make the connection.
“I’m Laura Black,” I said as I walked up and held out my hand. “We met a couple of months ago in Jeannie’s.”
“Oh, right, I remember now.” I saw her entire body relax. “You were in there looking for someone. Did you ever find her?”
“That one worked out great, but right now, I’m looking for you. Terry Lennox contacted Leonard Shapiro, my boss. He said you two had had a fight and he wanted me to find you so he could try and patch things up.”
Jackie looked stunned. Like that was the last thing she expected me to say.
“Terry and I didn’t have a fight. I used him for sex a few times then I dropped him. Terry’s an idiot and I could care less if I ever see him again.”
Now it was my turn to look stunned.
“Look,” Jackie said. “I really don’t want to talk about this on the street. Let’s head back to my place and we can talk. Besides, I think I need a drink.”
I agreed. Her place seemed like a good idea. Sophie and I drove back in my car. Annie got a ride with Jackie.
~~~~
In less than thirty minutes, we were sitting on Jackie’s deck, overlooking the Sea of Cortez. The humid air was warm and a light breeze coming in from the water was cool.
Jackie made a pitcher of sangria and soon we all were all sipping one. The view of the sea was peaceful and beautiful. I watched as a couple of boats slowly moved across the horizon and saw a pod of dolphins popping out of the water close to the shore. I could see why Jackie liked this place so much.
After twenty minutes, we had finished the first round and Jackie was pouring the second. Sophie and Annie were on the other side of the deck, chatting like old friends. I thought maybe this would be a good time to talk with Jackie about why I was here. The deck had a round table with four chairs. I sat in one and motioned Jackie to another. As soon as we started talking, Annie and Sophie quietly came over and sat in the other two.
“I’m here because Terry hired our law office to come and find you,” I said. “He said you were his girlfriend and you two had a fight. He also said wanted to talk to you to try and patch things up.”
“You have to understand,” Jackie said, “I was only with Terry because I thought it would be fun to hook up with the singer from one of my favorite bands. He also has a pretty face and a great body. He started asking me out about two months ago so I figured why not. But the guy is an idiot and has all the personality of a tuna sandwich.”
“Do you know why he would say he was your boyfriend?”
“No idea at all, but the past couple of times we’ve been together, I’ve been getting the feeling something’s not right with him.”
“What makes you say that? I’ve met him and you’re right about the personality. But, other than that, he’s just your typical twenty something guy.”
“Well, it was only a feeling, but being with him was starting to give me the creeps.”
“What happened?”
“Well, like I said, initially he was the one who asked me out. It was great the first couple of times. But whenever we were together, he always insisted we go to my place. I live in the resorts in north Scottsdale and Terry lives off of Jackrabbit but he always wanted to drive up to my place anyway. He said he really got a good vibe from my bedroom. Actually, I was starting to think he liked my bedroom more than he liked me. When I was in the shower the time before last, I think he went through my room. I couldn’t be sure but the things in my drawers looked messier than usual. When we were together a week ago Saturday night, I told him it was going to be the last time. I usually don’t see anyone for more than a few times and I’d had enough of him.”
“How did Terry take the news?” I asked.
“Like a guy. He pouted and got a hurt look on his face. He started in with how much he needed me, how we were soul mates, and how he was starting to fall in love with me. You know how it goes,
blaah, blaah, blaah
. To get him to leave, I finally had to tell him maybe we could see each other again, eventually. That finally seemed to cheer him up enough for him to go away.”
“Would it be OK if I tell Terry where you are?” I asked.
“Oh, sure. You can tell Terry I’m OK but also tell him I don’t want to see him anymore. At least, not like that. I’ll still go to his shows but I can’t stand listening to him talk anymore. I’m going back to Scottsdale tomorrow but I think I’ll stay with Pammy for a few days. I’ll give her a call first but I’m sure it’s OK. I don’t want to stay in my house.”