Burn Out (12 page)

“
Flores has a tattoo of the
gang, which is an eagle and a snake – the national symbol of Mexico
– over a flaming circle of crossed knives.

“
While in San Diego, Gomez
increased his family gang members and Flores’ power grew. However,
Flores grew tired of being the little guy. He had loftier
aspirations. One night, Gomez mysteriously disappeared. No one
questioned it because they were scared of Flores. Flores was next
in line and took over operations. He decided to move the gang to
Florida when California started cracking down hard on drug
trafficking. Flores had connections in Miami and knew he could
build his empire even higher. He wanted to establish himself as a
prominent business man, so he starting buying up real estate and
other businesses to funnel his drug money through. He donated money
to the appropriate politicians and charitable organizations.
Attended the right parties and mingled with the ‘in crowd,’ all the
while increasing his business in the drug trade.

“
He started expanding
operations all through Florida. Santa Rosa Beach was a good place
for him because of the location – easily accessible by water, close
to five major cities such as Atlanta and Mobile, but also a low key
spot for him to distribute his wares.

“
Everything was going
smoothly until Blum and Gonzalez were arrested. The DEA put the
heat on Flores and he disappeared back in Mexico City.”

“
Do you think he is out for
revenge because Ken Collins arrested one of his guys?” Rachel
asked.

“
No, I think he is out for
revenge because Ken Collins stole money from him by taking over his
drug clientele.”

“
When did Flores find out
about Ken’s operation? He could have been the tipster if he
knew.”

“
I don’t know how Flores
found out, but I am sure it was pretty easy. He has sources,” Mike
said.

“
If Flores did have
something to do with Sam’s disappearance, what would he have done?
Hold her somewhere?”

“
I think if Flores got Sam,
it’s not good. He is not the type to ask for ransom. He has money.
This would be strictly revenge.”

Rachel shuddered. That was what she
was afraid of. “Let’s hope she ran away then.”

“
What can I do to help?”
Mike asked.

Rachel smiled. She knew she could
count on Mike to jump right in and use any resource to get the job
done.

“
Check your sources and see
if you can find out if Flores knows anything about Sam’s
disappearance.” Rachel laughed

“
Right. Like it’s that
easy.”

“
Also, I would like to know
if Flores has property around here. It may be a good place to
search.”

“
Ok. Let me make a phone.”
Mike pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Rachel only had to
wait a couple of minutes before Mike had the info he
needed.

“
Flores owned several
rental properties in the area. He funneled a lot of money through
them. I have a list getting sent to my email. We can start there,”
Mike said. “But don’t hold out too much hope. If Flores had
anything to do with Sam’s disappearance, he wouldn’t have dumped
her body on any of his properties.”

“
Flores is just one theory
I am contemplating. Mack Dixon, who was allegedly was having an
affair with Sam is another. So is Paul Hart, Ken’s friend and
business partner.”

“
Ken would be at the top of
my list.”

“
Why is that?”

“
His wife disappears the
week she was suppose to testify at his trial? That’s just not
sitting right with me. Too much of a coincidence, if you ask
me.”

“
It’s kind of hard to set a
fire and kidnap your wife while in jail,” Rachel argued.

“
Just because he is in jail
doesn’t mean he couldn’t arrange for it to happen. He is an ex-cop.
And alleged drug dealer. I’m sure he has plenty of
contacts.”

“
I don’t know. When we
talked to him, I didn’t get that. He seemed genuinely concerned
about his wife and his kids. He said over and over Sam wouldn’t
leave the kids.”

“
I’ve worked with many
deceivers. Plenty of men and women have lied directly to my face.
Look at his track record. He was a trusted member of the law and
was selling dope right under their noses.”

“
Nora, Samantha’s mom, is
holding a press conference tomorrow morning. It’s going to be at
the warehouse at 10am.”

“
Sounds good. Something
will shake loose soon,” Mike assured her. “I’ll make some more
phone calls and meet you at the conference tomorrow.”

“
Do you have a place to
stay? We have an extra room.” Rachel hoped she sounded friendly and
not too forthcoming.

“
Thanks for the offer, but
I already got a place down the road.” Mike got up from his
chair.

“
Well, at least come back
over tonight for dinner. Stacy and I are going to the seafood
market to get some fresh shrimp for pasta tonight.”

I hope it didn’t sound desperate, she
thought, regretting the invitation as soon as it came out of her
mouth.

Mike paused at the sliding glass door.
“Ok. Sounds great.” He smiled. “You had me at pasta.”

Immense relief flooded through her.
Rachel felt like she was 16 again and had a schoolgirl crush.
“Great. See ya around seven-ish.”

Rachel watched him leave. She had
mixed emotions about Mike. When they worked together in the
Bahamas, there was definite chemistry between them. Today, he
seemed a little detached. She didn’t know what to expect from him,
but she was glad he was here to help. Before heading to take a
quick shower, she glanced at her phone. She had a missed call and
voice mail. She checked her messages and listened as Tammie asked
if she would meet her tomorrow before the press conference. Rachel
thought back to the day she met Nora. Tammie had said she had
something important to tell her about Sam. She wondered if this had
something to do with Sam’s affair with Mack.

Santa Rosa Beach, Saturday
morning

The next morning Rachel woke up with a
good feeling. The nasty weather didn’t match her mood. She sat on
the deck and watched thunderclouds roll in from the Gulf. A pod of
dolphins were frolicking in the waves without a care in the world.
When raindrops started falling, she grabbed her coffee cup and
headed inside. Stacy was finishing a bagel and looking over her
email.

“
Good morning, sunshine,”
Stacy said as she shoved the last bite in her mouth.

“
Not going be sunshiny here
today. I feel great, though.”

“
Mike Mancini has something
to do with that?” Stacy teased.

Rachel laughed. “I don’t know what you
are talking about.”

“
You can’t play coy with
me, missy. I saw the way he looked at you all through
dinner.”

Mike showed up for dinner right at
seven and brought flowers. It didn’t take much to tempt him with
homemade shrimp scampi and a nice bottle of wine.

“
Mike is just a friend. I
don’t have time for a relationship.”

“
Who said anything about a
relationship?” Stacy said. “You just need a little companionship.
Big difference.”

“
That’s what Maggie is
for.” Rachel said with a twinge of regret. She missed her black lab
and hated leaving her for so long. However, she knew Jack was
taking good care of her.

“
It is not the kind of
companionship I was talking about and you know it.”

Rachel grabbed her brush off the
counter and started attacking her long, auburn hair with it. Her
hair was already getting frizzy from the humidity. She twisted it
around into a bun and secured it with a clip.

“
What time are you
leaving?” Rachel asked, eager to change the subject. She wasn’t
ready to discuss her feelings about Mike just yet. Stacy was
intuitive – it’s what made her a good reporter. And once she had a
hold of something, she wouldn’t let it go. That was something they
had in common.

“
Tsk, tsk. Changing the
subject. But I will let it go for now.” Stacy closed her laptop and
put it in her briefcase. “I am planning on leaving for the airport
right after the press conference.”

Stacy had to go back to Miami for a
meeting with her boss, but would be coming back in a couple of
days.

“
I can take you to the
airport after the conference,” Rachel offered.

“
Thanks, but Mack offered
to give me a ride to the conference and then to the airport. It
will give me a chance to talk to him so I can turn this story in
when I get to Miami.” Stacy was writing an update on the search for
Sam for the Miami Sun. Even though she was technically still on
vacation, her boss was glad to have her back working on a
potentially hot story.

“
Ok. I’m going to get
dressed. I have to meet Tammie in about an hour. She said she
wanted to talk to me in private and I’m anxious to see what she has
to say.”

“
Sounds good. I will see ya
there.”

Rachel headed upstairs to change. She
was looking forward to getting this press conference done and hoped
it would bring in the lead she needed to find Sam.

***

Rachel pulled up to Tammie’s house.
The home was a brick, ranch-style with black
shutters, a small manicured front yard with a Tampa Bay Buccaneer
flag stuck in the flower bed – with colorful Zinnias scattered
around. She walked up to the door and rang the bell. After a
moment, she heard Tammie yell, “Be right there.”

She opened the front door
with a baby on one hip and another small child wrapped around her
legs. She wore sweat pants and a white t-shirt, which had baby food
splattered across her chest.
Her long,
dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail.

“
Hang on a second. Let me give the
kids to my husband and I’ll be right out to talk. It’s quieter out
here.”

“
Ok.” Rachel took a seat on one of
the rocking chairs and waited.

She heard some yelling inside and
the baby crying. A few minutes later, a frazzled looking Tammie
walked back outside. She took the other chair and let out a
sigh.

“
Sorry about that. It’s my
husband’s only day off and he thinks he can just sit around all day
and watch TV.”

“
It’s okay,” Rachel said. “So
y
ou and Samantha have been good friends for a long
time?”

“
Yes. My family moved next
door to Samantha’s family when I was six years old. We moved from
Georgia when my dad got a better job here in Florida. Sam and I
have been friends ever since.”

“
I was amazed at all the
trophies at Nora’s house. From talking to the guys at the fire
department, Sam doesn’t strike me as the beauty pageant type, even
though she is a beautiful girl. How did she get involved in
pageantry?”

“
Sam was a rough and tumble
tomboy at heart. But her mom was the one who pushed the beauty
pageants on her. Until she was twelve, she was on the kiddie
pageant circus. Her daddy worked two jobs like most firefighters
did. So, he didn’t have much say in it. Two to three days a week
you could find him at the fire station and on his off days he mowed
lawns – except for Sundays. He wasn’t around a lot when Sam was
growing up, but she loved her daddy.”

“
Why did her mom want her
to be in pageants?”

“
Nora is a former beauty
queen. She started entering Sam into beauty pageants when she was
just a baby. She won the Little Miss Walton County, Little Miss
Sunshine State, Miss Junior Florida and dozens of other
titles.

“
That’s why her daddy had
to work so hard. Pageants cost a lot of money. And her mom, Nora,
knew how to spend it. Dresses, coaches, fake teeth, or flippers,
like they are called in the kiddie pageantry, and travel costs were
in the thousands.

“
Sam was almost guaranteed
to win any pageant. She had inherited her momma’s good looks.
Beautiful thick blonde hair with corkscrew curls, cornflower blue
eyes lined with thick curly lashes and a smile that lit up a room.
She didn’t like all the makeup and fancy dresses and all the time
spent with dance and pageant coaches, but it was what was required
in order to win pageant titles. Sam would rather be outside
climbing trees and making mud pies.

“
But she was good at
pageants. She could also win over the judges just by a wink and a
smile. It was genuine. And boy, was she a natural. It was like she
was born to be on stage. She won pageant after pageant. She got a
couple thousand dollars in college scholarships as well,” Tammie
said.

“
What happened to change
all that?”

“
Well, the unthinkable
happened. The summer before Samantha turned twelve, she had a
horrible accident. Her dad had taken a rare day off and took
Samantha fishing with him. She loved the pageants, but loved
spending time with daddy more. And she would follow him to the ends
of the earth.