Murder at the Miramar (Augusta Burnette Series) (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

I sat back in my desk chair, eyeing my cousin. She must have had her radar going full force because she looked up at me, her own eyes narrowing in suspicion.

‘Nope, AJ. Uh uh. No how, no way. I don’t want to know anything else.’ Ellie spoke adamantly, her hair flying around her shoulders as she shook her head.

‘Aw, come on, cuz,’ I cajoled, using the sweet voice that made my father melt and got me whatever I wanted (not that I’m proud of this or anything). ‘You know you like messing with those cards. Tell me what you saw when you did that reading earlier. Or maybe do another little reading, just for me?  Who knows? You might even solve this whole mess!’

Ellie loves flattery. Being known as the one who caught a killer would ice the cake for her. I could already visualize her trying to negotiate a TV show.

‘Oh, all right,’ she said, feigning disgust. ‘But just this one time, AJ,’ she added in a warning tone. ‘This place gives me the creeps and I’m not too sure if I even want to know what’s going on here or not.’

I hugged her. Ellie was nothing if not predictable. Before she could change her mind, I gave her a push, trundling her off to the suite in the hope that a quiet setting would help her concentrate. Not that I was a believer or anything, but if she was truly able read the future in the cards, I didn’t want her to be distracted one iota.

The second bunch of guests kept me hopping for a good half hour. I practically had to give a speech about the local attractions, which was funny, considering how new I was to the area. I know how to fake it, though, and managed to project a confidence I wasn’t really feeling. My mind had slipped its tether and scampered down the hall towards my room. I was antsy, waiting for Ellie to reappear, and I was happy to see the last of the guests exit the front door.

When an hour had come and gone, and there was still no sign of Ellie, I began to get edgy. With everything that had already happened, including my little adventure in the dark, I couldn’t shake the notion that something – or someone – was keeping her from returning.

I stood looking out at the sweeping views beyond the resort, uneasily chewing a thumbnail and debating whether or not to go and look for Ellie. Common sense told me I could just call her cell, but still I hesitated. My imagination had kicked into overdrive and created all sorts of scenarios. What if she were hiding in the closet or under the bed and her ring tone gave her away? I couldn’t take the chance. I’d just have to go there myself and see what was what.

I have no idea what possessed me to go to my suite alone, but I did. Call it stupidity or blissful ignorance: I suppose I wanted to prove that nothing was amiss, that Ellie would be seated at my little kitchen table, concentrating on getting the cards’ message.

The door was closed – no big surprise there. Ellie is always cautious about security when she goes to any big city. I jiggled the doorknob, but the automatic locking mechanism held firm. I had just lifted my hand to knock when I stopped short: I had to listen closely, but I could definitely hear the unmistakable sound of someone quietly moaning.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a ‘situation’, as my mother would say, complete with pounding heart and sweaty palms, then you’ll know exactly how I was feeling at that moment. Unfortunately, I am one of those folks who tend to freeze when confronted with any type of emergency, and I couldn’t get my mind to conjugate a single thought (at least not one that made any sense). I was like an ice sculpture, frozen in place and unable to move.

‘Miss? Are you OK?’ I turned my head to see the young girl who had brought our room service to us standing at the end of the corridor, a look of concern on her face.

‘Call Security,’ I managed to croak, backing away from the door. I grabbed for the wall just as my knees buckled.

It felt like an hour but I’m sure it was only minutes before I could hear the thump of running feet heading in my direction. In short order, three security guards had opened my door and had stepped inside, cautiously surveying the room. I felt a momentary sense of dread; what if Ellie wasn’t even in there, that I’d imagined it all and panicked for nothing?

When I saw what had happened to Ellie, I wished with all my heart that it had been a false alarm.

The Miramar doesn’t have a medical facility,
per se
, but we do have a first-aid station down near the entrance to the beach. It sees mostly sunburns, heat exhaustion, dehydration; things that didn’t require an immediate emergency room visit. I was fairly certain, though, that they had never treated injuries like those Ellie had: eyes completely swollen shut from repeated blows to her face, marks on her throat that were rapidly becoming bruises, and cuts at the edge of her mouth where the gag had been pulled mercilessly taut. She looked like a casualty of war or the victim of a car accident, and I was unable to catch my tears in time when they finally let me see her.

‘Oh, my God! Ellie, I am so, so sorry.’ I pressed my cheek to her head, careful to keep my touch light, even though I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hug her as tightly as I could.

‘’s OK,’ she managed to mumble, not able to open her mouth very wide. To my amazement, she tried to smile.

Talk about strong – my cousin was one tough cookie. I almost felt sorry for the person who had done this to her; he – or she – had better watch their backs. Ellie Saddler was on their trail.

‘We’ve got to stop meeting like this,’ said a familiar voice behind me.

I straightened up and turned to look into eyes the color of the Pacific Ocean on a sunny day: bright, clear, and blue. For once, though, I didn’t fall under his spell. In fact, something akin to fury, to rage, began to stir in my mind, and the tears of sorrow threatened to become tears of anger. Where had he been when we needed him?

‘Detective. How nice to see you.’ It would be difficult to miss the sarcastic undertone of my words, but he seemed oblivious. Maybe they taught all police officers how to grow thick skins in the academy. Either that, or else he had deliberately chosen not to get my drift.

‘I need just a minute or two with her then you can come back in, OK?’ His kind words almost undid my resolve to be angry. Before I could experience a total collapse, though, I bolted from the room. I needed to preserve what dignity I still had.

I could hear the wail of sirens as paramedics pulled in at the Miramar’s front entrance. Even though the first-aid station wasn’t within eyeshot of the resort, I imagined I could see the guests, faces glued to the windows, watching with unabated curiosity. It made me so mad that I almost hoofed it back to the resort to give them all a piece of my mind. I thought better of it, though, since any piece of my mind probably wouldn’t be worth the time or effort. I was still reeling from the viciousness of Ellie’s attack and I found that I was having trouble keeping my thoughts harnessed.

‘She’ll be OK, so don’t worry, AJ.’ Detective Baird had managed to walk up behind me without a sound, and naturally I jumped sky high.

‘And she gave me a pretty good description of who it was.” He gave a short laugh. ‘She’s pretty spunky. Told me she managed to scare them off by waving Tarot cards at them.’

Oh sure, I thought cynically. We’ve got some superstitious burglars on the loose. Aloud, I said, ‘You make it sound like she tripped while walking on the beach,’ I took a deep breath, trying to calm my heart that had thrown itself in panic against my ribs. ‘Ellie, in case you hadn’t noticed, was attacked by someone who wasn’t out to make friends, not someone looking for a card reading.’

‘I know,’ he replied quietly. He stretched out a hand to touch my shoulder, then seemed to think better of it. I was in full-blown prickle mode and it showed.

Mercifully, the paramedics’ arrival saved me from making a complete dope of myself. I had enough to worry about without adding ‘village idiot’ to my résumé, especially in front of Detective Baird.

He gave me one last look then turned to lead them into the first-aid station. I hesitated, wanting to be with Ellie but not wanting to see her in pain. I was a chicken and I knew it, but I also know my limits. If I passed out now, I’d be no good to either one of us, and I was honor-bound and determined to make someone pay.

Ellie’s departure for the local emergency room left me feeling bereft and awkward, as though I was the new kid on the block and didn’t know quite what to do with my time. Of course, I knew that I probably should have gone straight back to the concierge’s desk, but found I had no desire to be within ten feet of the place. As far as I was concerned, Stan West could do the job himself. I was fed up. I made up my mind on the spot: as soon as Ellie could travel, we were out of here.

Chapter Fourteen

Thankfully, Ellie was discharged from the hospital within a few hours. Nothing was broken – certainly not her spunky attitude – and with a few days of rest, the attending doctor assured us, all the cuts and bruises would heal. Of course, Detective Baird had gone with her in the ambulance, playing the kindness card, but I was still upset. I know blaming him for the attack was pure nonsense, but he was an easy target.

True to my word, I gave my notice to Stan West, whose face went from resort tan to blanched pale in a matter of seconds. I knew him well enough by now to recognize the symptoms for what they were: he was far more concerned about having to cover the concierge station than he was for his employees’ wellbeing. Whatever. If he pushed me enough, he’d find out exactly what he could do with his precious resort.

I was in the middle of packing my belongings, Ellie snoozing on the couch, when someone knocked on the door. The sound instantly awakened her and sent my heart thumping nearly out of my chest, but I managed to rearrange my face from ‘scared to death’ to ‘it’s only the door’ so that Ellie wouldn’t be further traumatized. I was feeling mighty responsible for her, despite the fact that she’d come here on her own accord.

‘Who is it?’ I queried, my words conveying my best no-nonsense, do-not-mess-with-me manner.

‘It’s me, miss.’ I heard the soft voice of the young girl who’d called Security for me. ‘I was just checking on you, to see how you are.’

I hesitated, still a bit wary. Did I dare open the door? Oh, what the heck. She’d practically been the hero of the moment, and I still needed to thank her for noticing my distress and getting hold of Security as quickly as she had. I flipped the deadbolt lock and unhooked the safety chain, stepping back to allow her entrance into the suite. With a timid smile, she came in.

Ellie, propped up on cushions to ease the pain in her neck and back, struggled to rise to a sitting position, but I quickly and gently pushed her back down. All I needed was another trip to the ER and an extra day or two here in San Blanco. The place was rapidly losing its charm, and even my family’s reunion sounded tame compared to the chaos I’d experienced in just a few short days. That thought alone should have been evidence of my frame of mind. I was a nervous wreck and wanted out of here as fast as I could pack and hit the freeway.

The girl stood near the door, eyes looking uncertainly from me to Ellie and back to me again. I managed a smile, and stuck out my hand.

‘I’m AJ, and I wanted to let you know how grateful I am for your help today.’

Her hand was as small and fragile as a child’s, and I could see my words had embarrassed her. Still, she had a kind of dignity that made her seem surprisingly older than her years.

‘I was happy to help, miss. I only wished that I could have done more for you. And her.’ She looked over at Ellie again, and I read the concern in her eyes. Concern – and something else. And I had a feeling that this ‘something else’ was the real reason behind her visit.

My hackles were rising, and a swift glance at Ellie told me that we were on the same wavelength. If this girl – a look at her name badge told me her name was Dulce – knew something, or had heard anything, we needed to know. I still had Emmy’s letter tucked away safely, but there had to be more to this whole mess than a bunch of men making fake identity cards.

‘Please, sit down and visit for a few minutes. If you can, that is,’ I added, noting the quick look Dulce gave to her wristwatch. The last thing I needed was to get her in hot water with the boss. He was plenty mad at me as it was.

‘Yes, I can. I am on my break,’ she answered. She settled herself on the edge of one of the armchairs, smiling shyly at me.

Ellie had somehow managed to raise herself up on her elbows. She gave a little groan and I all but flew to her side. That girl could be so stubborn, and it reminded me of the time we were riding our bikes and daring each other to jump across the tiny creek that ran behind my house. I had given up almost right away, not wanting to risk a fall or my mother’s wrath for ruining my school clothes.

Not Ellie. It took her at least five tries, not to mention getting her clothes soaking wet and a few fresh cuts on her knees, before she mastered the jump. She was not about to give in, and that was how she approached life. This mishap was not going to keep her down. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that it fueled her desire to tackle the problem, to figure this whole thing out. I almost groaned along with her: call me intuitive, but I had a gut feeling that we were going to be here for longer than a day or two, if Ellie had anything to do with it.

One look at Dulce’s face told me that she clearly had something on her mind. A sideways glance at Ellie confirmed she’d not only seen the look and recognized it for what it was, but also had her own motives for talking with the young girl. Knowing my cousin as well as I did, I assumed the conversation would end with a peek at the cards.

‘I have heard, miss,’ Dulce said, looking at Ellie, ‘that you can tell what will happen in the future.’ She stopped, her eyes dropping to the floor as though the rest of her words were written there on invisible cue cards.

Ellie, bless her heart, gave Dulce the time she needed to compose her thoughts. I would have been tempted to jump in and coax the words out, but the silence seemed to work. Dulce raised her head and looked at Ellie with determination. She had made up her mind, it seemed, and was ready to talk.

‘I am afraid, miss. Some of us here at the Miramar, we don’t have papers, so we get the necessary things from some men who help us get jobs.’ Dulce paused, waiting to see if we were comprehending what she was saying. I nodded at her encouragingly, having only a vague understanding of what she meant. Ellie, on the other hand, was staring back at Dulce. Either she knew exactly what the girl meant or she had zoned out on her pain medication.

Giving a little shake of her head, Dulce continued. ‘This man they found, the one when the little girl was missing? He was one of the men who helped me and José get our papers. I think that someone wanted his business so they killed him.’

That pronouncement certainly got my attention. From a quick glance at Ellie, I could see she was following Dulce word for word. Thank goodness. I was afraid I’d have to confiscate her meds.

‘Did that have anything to do with Miguel?’ I asked the question without even thinking, but to my surprise, Dulce nodded soberly at me, her eyes troubled and sad.

‘Yes, miss. Miguel, he used to work here. And I think that maybe he found out who was selling the papers.’

OK. I wasn’t too sure where this was going, considering that Miguel obviously hadn’t tattled to the authorities. I mean, Dulce was still here, wasn’t she? If someone knew about the illegal papers and all that, wouldn’t there have been a raid or whatever it was they did? I was a bit confused about the direction this conversation was taking.

Judging by the sudden light in Ellie’s eyes, she’d made a connection that my brain hadn’t. Swinging her legs very slowly over the edge of the sofa, she began to sit up. In a flash, Dulce had reached Ellie’s side, gently slipping an arm under her shoulders and guiding her upright.

‘Thanks, Dulce,’ Ellie managed to get out. My crazy cousin apparently thought she could walk as well, because she tried to stand up, instead dropping heavily back onto the couch.

‘OK, Iron Woman. You just stay right there,’ I ordered, getting to my feet and walking over to where Ellie sat hunched over. ‘If you need something, tell me. I can get it for you.’ I was not about to let her hurt herself any further, even if it meant physically restraining her.

‘I just need my cards,’ Ellie retorted with a little of the old fire in her voice.

A good sign, I thought approvingly. Judging by the glare she gave me, she had read that thought. I stuck out my tongue and walked to the kitchen table to retrieve her precious cards.

Slowly, methodically, Ellie shuffled the deck of oversized cards and held them, looking over at Dulce. ‘Tell me about the man who got the papers for you and your brother,’ she said.

‘He was a friend of my father’s and lived not too far from us. When I was little, too small to remember, he came here and found work. It was much easier then,’ added Dulce in a wistful voice.

Ellie laid out a row of cards on the coffee table. She nodded to Dulce. ‘Go on. Tell me about working here at the Miramar. Did you know Miguel very well?’

I’d seen Ellie do her card thing before. I am not a believer in getting messages from inanimate objects, but Ellie can make people think that whatever she tells them is exactly what they wanted – and needed – to hear, just by asking a few questions. I was curious how she’d handle the information Dulce was feeding her.

Dulce’s face lit up. ‘Oh, I love it here! It’s not too far from my parents and I can see them whenever I can get some time off. And there are lots of nice-looking men, too,’ she added shyly, her thin cheeks coloring with a becoming blush.

What is it with women who can make a blush look easy
and
elegant?

A small smile played around Ellie’s mouth. Another good sign, I thought. She still had her sense of humor intact.

‘And Miguel? How well did you know him?’ Ellie prompted, continuing to lay the cards on top of one another in different patterns which looked completely random to me.

Dulce gave a little grimace. ‘He was nice, and was a brother to my friend Maria, but …’ She stopped, hesitating with her words.

‘But what, Dulce?’ I asked, a trifle impatiently. Between Ellie’s pseudo-science and Dulce’s reticence, this conversation was moving at a snail’s pace.

Ellie shot me a look that told me, in very clear terms, to back off. This was
her
show, the look said, and she was going to run it the way she saw fit. I managed to keep myself from giving her one of my screwy faces from our childhood squabbles, the kind where I crossed my eyes and let my tongue hang out of my mouth. Poor Dulce was probably already spooked enough without me adding to it.

‘His wife, she knew about Miguel and Emmy.’ Dulce looked embarrassed to be repeating stories like this, but this was the good stuff, in my book.

Ellie flipped over a card, looked at it intently for a moment, then set it aside. I saw the minute shake of her head, and a tiny shiver tripped down my spine. Whatever she had seen on that card had made her uneasy. Looking up from the cards, Ellie nodded at Dulce, waiting for her to continue.

‘When Miguel was hurt the other night – when he died – we all thought that maybe his wife had done something. Not to kill him,’ she hastily added, ‘Just to make him hurt enough to leave the Miramar and come home to her.’

Well, I suppose that did make sense, in a twisted way. Of course, a suspicious wife might have followed him and been here when the sound system was set up, but surely she would have been noticed by someone. I mean, even Emmy … I let that thought go as another one filled my mind. Could it have been that
Emmy
was the target? I looked over at Ellie, my excitement building. Maybe I had stumbled onto part of the mystery.

‘What, AJ?’ Ellie sounded cross, as though I’d jumped up on stage in the middle of performance and grabbed the mike from her hand.

‘Look,’ I said, glancing from Ellie to Dulce. ‘Let’s say that Miguel’s wife didn’t want him back here, especially since he and Emmy … well, since he and Emmy were close.’ I checked to make sure that they were following me. ‘Maybe his wife knew Emmy would be the one to make sure everything was in working order, you know, the sound system was OK and the instruments in place. Could she have rigged it up so that Emmy would have been the one to get the shock, only it misfired a bit and Miguel was the one who got it instead?’ I stopped, out of words and out of breath.

Ellie just stared at me, eyes narrowing a bit as the wheels turned. Dulce, on the other hand, had opened her eyes as wide as they would go, looking like a little deer in the headlights of a fast-moving big rig.

‘So how would you explain Emmy?’ demanded Ellie. She, poor thing, was still traumatized at the sight on the beach and needed a better story than a vengeful wife.

‘This way,’ I said eagerly, plopping down on the floor beside the couch. ‘Miguel’s death was an accident, so she needed to finish up the job because she knew that, eventually, Emmy would guess what had happened and would spill the beans.’

Ellie’s look was one of disgust. She was not finding my train of thought easy to board, it seemed.

‘And what about the letter? And the first dead man? And the illegal identity business or ring or conspiracy or whatever you call it? How do you make sense of all that?’ I waited for – and got – the famous Ellie hair toss; the one that said that I was a goofball and had no idea what I was saying. One quick peek at Dulce told me that she agreed with Ellie, although she softened her judgment with a little smile.

Well, if I didn’t know what I was talking about, I knew someone who did. And I sure could use a dimple just about now. Fishing Detective Baird’s card from my pocket, I got to my feet and headed for the phone. It was time to call in the big guns, no pun intended.