Day of the Dead (12 page)

‘And he went for it?'

‘I wasn't sure at first. But he seemed to, after I … explained a little bit about my personal situation.'

‘Danny to the rescue, huh? He felt sorry for you, right? You give him a few tears?'

It must have shown on her face, her surprise that he'd read the situation so accurately.

Gary chuckled. ‘Trust me, Danny's a predictable guy in a lot of ways. A damsel in distress – I knew he couldn't resist.'

‘You might have given me a hint about that. What if I hadn't come up with the right thing to say?'

‘I had a feeling you would. And I guess I was kind of curious to see what you'd come up with on your own.' He lifted his drink. Scotch, it looked like. ‘Good job, Michelle.'

‘Thanks.' She didn't raise hers.

‘So after dinner … what happened?'

The way he sat there, that little smile lifting the corners of his cherub lips, he knew what had happened.

He had someone watching her – he had to. The woman at the front desk. The policeman. Someone she didn't even know.

‘We went back to Hacienda Carmen.' She kept her voice flat. Don't respond to him, she told herself. That was what he wanted, a reaction. To rattle her.

‘How was it?'

Michelle felt her cheeks redden. ‘What do you want me to tell you, Gary? You want a blow-by-blow?'

‘Hey, don't be mad! I think you really have a talent for this sort of thing.'

‘You mean sleeping with men I don't care about?'

‘Now, come on, I didn't say that.' He patted her hand. ‘You're good. You really are. Adaptable. That's important.'

She supposed there was some truth to that. She'd been adaptable enough in Los Angeles, hadn't she? Good at pretending she was interested in things and people she didn't care about.

Good at playing a role.

‘So do I get a prize?' She knew she sounded angry. She supposed that she was. She didn't like thinking of her life this way.

Gary appeared to consider.

‘Well, I told you we might be able to help with some of your financial problems.'

‘Okay,' she said. ‘So I fucked Danny. What's that worth to you? You'll pay off one of my credit cards?'

I'm done, she thought. Fuck this. I'm going to get up and walk out the door. Just leave. Let him stop me.

‘Why, sure,' Gary said, sipping his scotch. ‘Why don't we start with the Working Assets Visa? You use that one a lot.'

She froze. ‘How … ?'

‘Is that the card where every time you charge something at Fred Segal or Barneys or what have you, they throw a couple pennies at saving the whales? Or I don't know, maybe it's stopping global warming.'

Maybe he'd had access to her wallet when she was in the jail. That might be how he knew.

Have some ice tea, she told herself. Don't show him anything.

‘We vote where the money goes, once a year,' she said.

She actually had no idea where the contributions went. She'd never paid much attention.

‘Consider it done.'

Except … she hadn't brought that card with her. It was close to maxed, and she'd left it in Los Angeles.

I should say something, she thought. Tell him that she didn't want his money.

Maybe he didn't mean it.

Their food arrived.

‘So here's what I'm thinking,' Gary said after a few mouthfuls of prime rib and potato. ‘You know, I really am impressed with that photography you're doing. So my thought is, we should put that in play.'

Michelle took a bite of her steak. She didn't have much appetite, but eating slowed things down, gave her a chance to think before she responded.

What was he going to do, set her up as some sort of photographer? Have her take wedding photos on the beach?

‘What do you mean?' she asked.

‘See, it would be real useful to us to get some pictures of Danny's associates.'

‘You want me to take pictures of Danny's friends?'
Like I'm some kind of paparazzi,
she almost said but didn't. ‘You don't think that would look a little odd?'

‘We've got that covered.'

Gary reached for something next to him on the banquette. A small brown paper bag. He put it on the table, next to Michelle's iced tea.

‘Take a look.'

She set down her fork and opened the paper bag.

Inside was what looked like a jewelry box – black flocking, hinged on one side. In that was …

A watch?

It was oversize, clunky, stainless steel, with a linked stainless-steel band, a sort of sporty look to it. Not the sort of thing she'd wear at all.

Oh, please, she thought. Tell me this isn't a hidden camera.

But it must be. Underneath the insert on which the watch sat was a small USB cable.

This was too much. The whole thing was too much, but this really was too much.

‘Pretty neat, huh?' Gary said. ‘You can do videos, too. Sound and everything. And when you're done, you can upload 'em to your phone and send them to me.'

Like a little kid. Playing spy.

‘You can't be serious.' She took in a deep breath. ‘This is out of control. I'm not … I can't do this.'

‘Sure you can! Lemme tell you how it works. It's easy.'

She listened in disbelief as Gary babbled on about the pinhole lens, the Bluetooth connection, the USB port, and battery life.

‘Gary,' she finally said, ‘it's just not my style.'

‘Well, yeah, I know you'd usually wear something classier. Cartier or whatnot. If I'd had a little more time, maybe I could've managed something more designer. But this one's not bad. We spent some money on it, you know?'

‘I mean, taking pictures of somebody with a watch!' Cleansing breathes, she told herself. ‘I wouldn't be comfortable.'

‘Now, come on, Michelle, don't go all soft on me.' Gary's voice suddenly was far from soft. ‘You can do this. When are you seeing him? Got any plans set?'

‘Maybe … I mean …' Get a grip. ‘I'm not sure. He said he'd call.'

‘He'll call. Trust me on that. I know Danny. I know what he likes to do when he's stressed.' He smiled at her. ‘You play your cards right, maybe we'll pay another one of them off.'

Don't take the bait, she told herself. She drew in a deep breath. ‘Is this about drugs?'

‘Drugs? Now, what makes you say that?'

‘Because I've heard about those people,' she went on, ‘and they're not just violent, they're crazy. They cut people's heads off. And you want me to … to do … I don't even know what I'm doing here.'

‘I told you not to worry about any of that.' He stared at her, his eyes hard, and for a moment he frightened her. ‘All you have to do is exactly what I tell you to, and you won't have any problems.'

You can't let him intimidate you, she told herself. You have to stand up to him. ‘You keep telling me Danny's dangerous, but you won't tell me what he does. How do I know? How do I know you're telling me the truth?' She stared back. ‘Maybe you're the one who's into the sketchy stuff, Gary.'

He chuckled at that. ‘I like your spirit, you know?' He took a long sip of his drink. ‘Well, let's say you're right, then. Maybe you should be worried about what
I'll
do. I know an awful lot about you, Michelle. I know about your family, too.' He reached out and patted her hand again. ‘And there are just so many ways I could cause you trouble, if I were that kind of guy.'

For a moment she couldn't say anything.

‘But why?' she finally managed. ‘I mean, what if Danny and I just go out to dinner a few more times? What can I tell you that's even useful?'

Gary leaned back against the red leatherette booth, taking a moment to intertwine his fingers and then stretch them.

‘Here's the thing,' he said. ‘Sometimes we just wanna keep tabs on somebody. Maybe you'll see something useful, maybe you won't. But you're there, just in case.' He smiled again. ‘Keeps everyone on their toes.'

The credit cards had been her first clue.

‘Tom, what's going on with the AmEx?' she'd asked. ‘And the United card?'

Balances had appeared on both of them, high balances, seemingly out of nowhere.

‘Oh,' he'd said. ‘Yeah, I know. It's this new accountant. He's been moving money around. I keep telling him to leave the cards alone, but – I don't know – he keeps looking for the best deal.'

‘On credit cards? Don't we have the money to pay them off?'

‘Sure,' he'd said. ‘Sure. It's just a fuckup. I'll get on it.'

She should have pressed him then. But the balances went down to zero, just like he'd promised they would.

He'd never given her a reason not to trust him before that. Though now she wondered if she just hadn't been paying attention.

‘How'd you feel about going to a cocktail party with me?'

After the lunch with Gary, she'd gone to Costco and picked up a yoga mat. Stopped at a Starbucks and had a cup of coffee. Then she'd hailed a taxi and asked the driver to drop her off at the north end of the Malecón, so she could walk by the ocean and think.

It hadn't been the restful experience she'd hoped for. Several cruise ships had come into town, and tourists mobbed the boardwalk, moving together in tight packs like single, ponderous organisms.

She wanted to cut through them all. Get them out of her way. Enjoy the fucking scenery without hordes of Americans wearing loud shirts and graceless shorts.

As she crossed the bridge that led over the river into Old Town, Daniel called.

Just like Gary'd said he would.

‘It's this charity thing,' he told her. ‘We don't have to stay long. We can go someplace after.'

‘Sounds great,' Michelle said, looking up the river, watching a pair of ducks paddle among the rushes. ‘Is it the Tiburón crowd?'

‘Not really. More some local people I know. Pick you up at seven?'

I'd better go shop for a dress, she thought.

Crazy.

She found a nice black dress at one of the shops on Basilio Badillo. Nothing fancy, but the cut worked for her. She'd found sandals there and a cute little leather purse at the purse store down the block, too.

After she changed for the party, she tried on Gary's watch. Wasn't this just the sort of occasion for it – a chance to capture Daniel's associates? She stood in front of the mirror in the wardrobe of her room at Hacienda Carmen, in her new dress and sandals, holding the purse, the watch dangling on her wrist.

It looked ridiculous. Like she was a kid who'd tried on her daddy's watch.

She took it off. Put it in her new purse, thinking maybe she'd wear it later. Maybe people would be drinking and wouldn't notice how out of place the watch looked.

Maybe she'd take a chance and talk to Daniel.

‘You look fantastic.'

Michelle smiled and climbed into the passenger side of the Jeep. ‘You clean up pretty well yourself,' she told him.

He grinned and closed the car door behind her.

They drove across the river, into downtown Vallarta, then up the hill above the cathedral. ‘We'd better park here,' Daniel said. ‘You don't mind walking a block or two, do you?'

‘No, it's fine. I like to walk.' Which was true, but she hated the idea of arriving in a sweat, and it was still hot. The sun hung over the ocean, full and ripe to the point of bursting.

‘Where we're going's a great place to catch the sunset,' Daniel mentioned.

They walked down a narrow street that paralleled the ocean, the cobblestones so rounded in places that it was like walking on embedded baseballs. She could see why they'd had to park and walk, though – there was hardly any room for cars here, just occasional gaps in the raised concrete sidewalks where one or two small ones could maybe shoehorn in.

‘This is it.'

It didn't look like a bar or restaurant; there were no signs, no valets, just heavy wooden doors, splintering in places, worn smooth in others, bound with darkened iron. A private club, maybe, or a very big house.

By the doors stood several bulky men with the thick-necked look of bouncers.

Daniel produced a card printed on creamy linen and showed it to one of the men, who glanced at it and nodded.

‘After you,' Daniel said, holding the door for her.

She took a deep breath and went inside.

The doors opened onto a wide foyer – more of a patio, really. A bar was set up to one side, under an awning. A young man served drinks there, dressed in black and white – catering staff, Michelle thought. They were the same everywhere. He was slight, with drooping black hair and a gold earring, and she thought he might be wearing eyeliner.

‘What can I get you?' Daniel asked.

‘I'd love a glass of white wine.'

No margaritas, she thought. She needed to stay focused.

To do what, she wasn't sure. Take pictures with Gary's watch? It was still in her purse. She couldn't imagine actually taking it out, putting it on.

Confide in Daniel?

A few other couples stood around the bar, on the patio that overlooked downtown Vallarta and then the ocean. Expensively dressed. Lots of jewelry on the women.

‘It's lovely,' Michelle said.

‘Wait'll you see the main room.'

He led her through an arched entrance into a spacious gallery. It looked like a church, Michelle thought, domed vaulted ceiling painted with murals of robed saints, pink cherubs, spires piercing storm clouds, and overflowing bowls of fruit. Heavy wood and wrought iron framed the walls and entries; Talavera tile formed borders around terracotta flooring. The space opened up onto a large balcony that she glimpsed between thick pillars. A quartet of musicians played: guitars, marimba, guitarrón. Long tables bearing platters of food were set up along the open wall; small, round tables, chairs, and benches were placed here and there for guests to pause and eat and rest their drinks. There was a banner hung on one wall with a silk-screened design of children, palms, waves, and dolphins, and the legend
PARA LOS NIÑOS
. More thick-necked men were spaced at intervals against the wall.