Tacked to Death (27 page)

"I'm your Magnum P.I., remember? Yeah,
you must be the errand girl."

"I thought I was Higgins."

"Same diff. That dude always catered to
Magnum."

"Ha! I'm not getting in any trouble
with your wife. She told me about your blood pressure."

"She did? Damn."

"I'll bring you a bottled water and
some fruit."

"Some friend."

"You'll thank me when you lose that
extra fifty pounds and maybe start to resemble Tom
Selleck."

"Fine."

Twenty-five minutes later she parked
her truck next to Joe's minivan. "Hey, Magnum."

Joe waved her over to the soccer field,
where a group of boys chased the ball up and down the field, with
parents on the sidelines screaming their brains out as to how the
game should be played. She never did understand the whole
soccer-parent mentality. It seemed like a form of cruel and unusual
punishment for the kids, or at least emotional abuse.

"I wish I'd never made that remark
about Magnum. You're never going to let me live it down, are you?
You know I love that show? I got all of 'em on DVD."

"I am not surprised. Okay, so tell me
what you found out about Lucia Sorvino."

"It's not so much her, but it's her
cousin the Pez."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Check this. You know how
Marianne and I told you that he's spent time in and out of jail for
theft. Well, some years back, one of the guys who works for him
went to the big house on charges that he was taking real jewels
like rubies, emeralds, diamonds, the good stuff, and replacing them
with fakes, which he was selling to a high-end jewelry
store."

"No kidding?"

"No, but it gets better: The jewelry
store was in Santa Barbara. And Diamante was using rich kids in the
area to steal for him as well—on the side. Didn't you tell me that
Sterling got popped as a teen for stealing jewels and spent time in
juvie?"

"I sure did."

"Uh-huh. Well, it's all connected.
Sterling knew Diamante for the last eight years or so, and who
knows how long and who they've been scamming. Sterling did his
short stint in juvie, got out, and moved here soon after. His folks
didn't send him away. He was a delinquent. He followed Diamante and
I bet lived his life conning and stealing and soaking it all up.
The guy in jail for the initial crime won't talk. Word is he knows
that Diamante is connected and he got framed for the crime, 'cause
it's really Diamante dealing in switching out fakes."

"You think that maybe the bracelet I
found in the stall—which we know is a fake—is connected to this
Diamante character and somehow connected to Lucia, who may have
been involved with Sterling?" Michaela said.

She filled him in about what Sheila had
told her about the Sinners and Saints club and who Sterling had
been with. "I think Marianne was right last night when she said
that Lucia has the answers. I had to try and talk to Erin to
satisfy all my theories, but this really does come down to Pepe's
daughter. Lucia is looking like she's a big part of this, and now I
know why she told the cops that I was screwing around with
Sterling: It's because she knew that people had seen him with a
blonde woman, and because I refused Sterling's advances. She might
have murdered him and framed me because it was easy to do. But
still, why did Lucia need to go out with the disguise?"

"Pepe Sorvino. He wants his sweet
little daughter to save her virginal self for marriage, and if he
had an inkling that she's the little tramp that she is, he'd blow a
gasket. I bet she was driving her brother's car the other day when
she followed you. She was trying to figure out your next
play."

"Why?"

"She's a dumb-ass kid, that's why. They
do stupid things. Maybe she thought you suspected her of being
involved and wanted to know what you were up to."

"I can buy that, I guess," Michaela
replied. "But Lucia is not the mastermind behind all of this. She
didn't come after me in the tack shop last night. What should we do
next?"

He shook his head. "I don't
know."

"Let's backtrack. Lucia's uncle could
be trading out real jewels for fakes, turning around and selling
them on the black market. Where is he getting the jewels, and how
is Sterling connected?" Michaela said.

"Beats me—"

"Wait! You know what, I think I might
know who is behind all of this and why, and also why Carolyn Taber
was murdered as well."

"You do?"

"Yes. You ready to catch a
killer?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Forty-One

The next day Michaela, Joe, his cousin
Anthony, and Marianne all met at Joe's house. Camden and Dwayne had
agreed to watch the Pellegrino kids, which Michaela was sure would
prove interesting, while they put their plan of attack into
action.

Phase one began as they pulled up to
Sorvino's with Anthony driving and Marianne in the passenger seat.
Michaela was in the back covered by a blanket. Joe had called to
find out if Lucia would be working, and what her schedule was. He'd
asked the hostess these questions under the guise that he was a
friend who needed to drop something off for her.

Joe was also in the backseat and made
sure that Michaela couldn't be seen. Michaela didn't really need to
be there for the plan to work, but she knew she had to be for her
own sanity. She'd dragged her good friends into this and wouldn't
miss it for the world. She knew that it was likely going to be
through Lucia that they would catch a killer—one who had possibly
framed Michaela and then attempted to kill her as well.

They waited for Lucia to end her shift,
which luckily was the lunch shift, because there was still much to
be done, and the first thing they needed was to get Lucia Sorvino
to cooperate with them.

When she emerged, she headed toward the
black Explorer. "You ready?" Joe asked Marianne and
Anthony.

They nodded and got out of the car. The
night before, they'd all rehearsed how this was going to go down.
Anthony was as eager as Marianne as they'd sat around the kitchen
table.

"With the attorney general's office,
eh?" Anthony had asked. "Don't you think when she looks at my card,
she might ask why it don't say nothing about being employed by the
attorney general?"

"It says attorney on it, doesn't it?"
Joe said.

"Yeah, it says tax attorney,
though."

"That's fine," Michaela said. "If she
asks about it, then tell her that stealing jewels is not only
considered theft, it's tax evasion."

"She's going to deny it," Marianne
added.

"Of course she will, and that's where
you come in," Joe said. "You are an undercover police officer and
you're there to help her. If she goes with the two of you, then her
father or brother will have to know about it."

"I like it," Marianne replied. "Playing
a cop. Cool. Do I get to carry a gun?"

"No," Joe said. "No guns."

Marianne had frowned.

Now, Michaela and Joe watched as they
approached Lucia. Would their plan work? They saw Lucia take
Anthony's card, then look back and forth between him and Marianne.
"Do you think she's buying it?" Michaela asked.

"We'll see."

Marianne then slipped her hand around
Lucia's arm and escorted her to the minivan. "Nice move," Michaela
said.

"That's my girl," Joe replied. "I knew
she could do this."

Michaela ducked down in the backseat.
Joe had moved up front, behind the wheel, and as Anthony and
Marianne opened the side door to the van, Marianne got in first.
and Lucia sat between her and Anthony. Joe started the car and
locked the doors.

"Who's that guy?" Lucia
asked.

"The driver," Anthony said.

"Driver? Do I need a
lawyer?"

"I am a lawyer," Anthony
said.

"I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't,"
the girl protested.

"We want to help you," Marianne said.
"Here is what we know. We know that your cousin Diamante Pizzini,
also known as the Pez, has been trading out valuable jewels for
fake ones."

"I don't know nothing about that,"
Lucia said.

"Really?"

It was all Michaela could do to lie in
the back and stay quiet. They needed Lucia to talk. They didn't
want her to know that Michaela was there—not yet.

"Yeah, really."

"Huh, well that's not what Diamante
told the feds."

Marianne was good at this.

"Diamante? What do you mean, he told
the feds? What did he say?"

"He said that you're the one who gives
him the real jewels and sells them direct to the
jewelers."

"That's not true! No. I don't do that.
Sterling did that, not me."

"Sterling who?" Anthony
asked.

"Taber."

"The man who was murdered last
weekend?" Marianne asked.

"Yes. Him."

"So he was trading your cousin real
jewels, swapping them out for the fakes, but who was cashing in?
Who was Sterling selling them to?" Anthony asked. Joe kept on
driving and Michaela laid low.

Lucia didn't say anything for a
while.

"Lucia, it's your word against your
cousin's, and we can help you if you talk to us. We may even be
able to keep your father out of this," Marianne told
her.

"And Mario, my brother? If he knew,
he'd be so ashamed of me," Lucia said.

"I think we can arrange that," Marianne
said.

"Fine, I'll tell you what I know if you
promise me that my dad and brother don't need to know."

Marianne opened her cell phone and
dialed. Michaela had no idea what she was doing until she spoke
into it. "Okay, Miss Sorvino has agreed to work with us. Yes. On
the condition that her family is not made aware of the situation.
Yes. Okay. Sure. I'll tell her. Yes, sir. Good-bye."

"Who was that?" Lucia asked.

"The attorney general. He says he'll do
what he can for you, but he can't control what your cousin might
say or do. However, I'm sure that whatever your cousin may say, you
can convince your family that he's a lunatic. Especially if you
have my help."

Priceless! Michaela wanted to nominate
Marianne for an Academy Award.

And then Lucia spilled her
guts.

Forty-Two

An hour later, after Anthony and
Marianna had versed Lucia on her role, they were ready to go.
Michaela's back hurt from being driven all over town in such an
uncomfortable position. She'd wanted to whip back the blanket
covering her, jump over the backseat, and strangle the brat when
she'd said that she only told the police Sterling said he was
sleeping with Michaela because she was afraid that, if she didn't
say something, the cops would find out about the jewelry
scam.

"I had nothing to do with his murder,"
Lucia protested. "I was scared because I knew what we were doing
was wrong. Looks like the police found out anyway."

"That's our job," Marianne said. "We
think we know who murdered Sterling and why, and because it
involves the jewels, it's up to you to get a taped confession. That
is, if you want to stay out of jail."

"Wait, no. I can't do that! I don't
know how to do that," Lucia said.

"So I'm going to tell you." Marianne
went over everything that she and the others had concocted. "Make
the call."

"Okay," Lucia replied, sounding
shaken.

She dialed a number. "It's me. I need
you to meet me at the club. Diamante called and needs us there. No,
I don't know why. But you need to be there. Now. I'm on my way.
I'll see you there." She hung up the phone. "The club won't be open
right now, you know."

"We know. Everything can take place
outside the club. You'll be wired and we'll park around the
corner."

"Wired?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of,"
Marianne said. "We do it all the time."

"Fine, but you better not let me go to
jail and you better be right about this."

"We are."

Michaela crossed her fingers. What if
her theory was wrong? No harm, no foul, other than one irate Lucia
Sorvino. It was a risk, but she figured that if they didn't take
it, she might eventually wind up dead. Sterling's murderer was
ruthless, and after the other night, Michaela feared that the
killer still intended to see her wind up the same way.

The car stopped. Michaela heard
everyone get out. Joe helped Marianne wire Lucia. "Play by the
book, Miss Sorvino. We'd hate for this to all go wrong for you.
Pretty girls like you don't last long in jail," Marianne said. Oh,
she was good!

A minute later, Joe opened the back
hatch. "She's around the corner."

Michaela pulled off her blanket and
blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Oh my, you are so brilliant,
Marianne. I could kiss you."