Getaway Girlz (30 page)

“I just wanted you to know he was at the hotel.” Al got out his butane lighter. “I’m serious when I say you need to steer clear of that guy. He’s no good.”

“We saw him in Cozumel last night.” Kate sat back down on her lounger. “He saw us take the ferry over so I guess he followed us.”

“You girls need to stay away from him. I’m outta here. You got my number if you need me.”

“Where’s Adrienne?” Lucy asked.

“She went shopping, grabbing some gifts for the cousins back home. We have dozens of them, you know.”

“Dozens of cousins. That’s funny,” Vivian joked, even though she was still pissed about Ponytail being there yesterday.

“You ladies have a nice afternoon. Don’t kill anything but brain cells.” Al lit his cigar as he walked off and blew out a big puff of smoke.

“Let’s think about this for a sec,” Kate said. “Al said Ponytail was here looking for you, or us, yesterday. But just three days ago, the night Jon died, he was sitting at the poolside bar watching us eat dinner with Al and Adrienne.”

“We hadn’t done anything more incriminating than kill brain cells at that point,” Wendy noted. “Not that we’ve done anything incriminating since,” she finished.

“So was Ponytail here for us, or for Al? And why would Al intentionally try to place the blame on us?” Kate asked.

“We need to search our room again for bugs,” Lucy said, getting back under her umbrella.

Good point all around. Son. Of. A. Bitch
.

Vivian closed her eyes, hoping to block out the current conversation and resume her nap since there was nothing they could do about Ponytail, the paparazzi, or anything else for the time being. She figured she might as well try to lower her blood pressure, catch some rays and some zzz’s.

VIVIAN AWOKE from her nap on the beach to the sound of some definite selling.

“Two for one. Two for one,” a guy said. “I sell you good time.”

Holy crap, what’s this guy sellin’
? she thought.

Her eyes adjusted to the sunlight and she saw a guy in a ratty, straw cowboy hat talking to Kate.

“You have fun.” He waved his arms toward the ocean.

“What exactly is he selling?” she asked groggily.

“He wants us to go parasailing,” Kate responded.

Not what she was expecting.

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Wendy said and sat up in her lounger.

“I don’t know,” Lucy said reluctantly. “What sort of safety standards do they impose in Mexico?”

“How much?” Vivian asked, ignoring Lucy.

“Seventy-five dollars each,” he responded.

“What? That’s crazy!” she exclaimed. “
Loco
!”

“I’ll give you $75 for all of us,” Wendy offered.

He countered with a hundred.

“How long?” Vivian asked.

“Forty minutes,” he said. “Twenty minutes each two. Plus boat ride.”

“Okay, sold. $100,” Wendy agreed.

The man looked pleased and signaled a guy out in a boat.

“I’ll go get the fundage,” Vivian offered and hauled herself from her chair and hoofed it up to the room. She used the keycard and checked out the room for any sign of disturbance or bugs. Lucy would be pleased to hear the results.

She got into her secret stash, counted out $100, including a bit more for tip, and headed back to the beach.

The deal-maker, who said his name was Paco, greeted her at the water’s edge, took the $100 then waded with her out to the boat. Lucy, Kate and Wendy had already loaded up, strapped on life vests and were sitting in the back. Paco helped her up the little ladder, gave a wave and said “
Hasta la vista
.”

“Guess he’s strictly the beachcomber sucker-seeker,” Lucy said and laughed.

A stick of a man handed Vivian a life vest and introduced himself as Raul, then introduced Santiago, the captain.

Vivian got situated and Santiago gunned the boat, taking them out to deeper water.

The captain stopped the boat and waited for Raul to give Kate and Wendy instructions then strapped them into their harnesses and put them into place on the back of the boat. They looked nervous sitting on their butts, holding onto their harness for dear life.

Santiago gunned it and Kate and Wendy shrieked as they flew off the back, a rainbow colored parachute pulled them up, up, up and away. After about 40 feet of line had zoomed out, Wendy waved but Kate still looked petrified.

Raul watched the giant reel pump out the line attached to Kate and Wendy. Vivian saw a little blue flag go out. Then a red one.

“Uh, Raul. I saw a red flag.
Rojo
. Is that bad?” Vivian asked.

“Oh no. Is okay. Is okay. Wait for yellow.”

“If you say so,” Vivian said, still hesitant.
Red usually means stop, doesn’t it
?

Kate and Wendy looked like little ants in the air at this point.
Have I paid $100 to see them face their doom
? she wondered.

The reel produced a yellow flag and Raul hit a button. The line quit unwinding and Vivian breathed a sigh of relief. She and Lucy waved at the girls, who waved back.

Wendy and Kate floated for a while as they cruised along the coast. Eventually, Santiago signaled to Raul and he hit another button which began to reel Kate and Wendy back in. He periodically watched them and checked the line as it rewound.

When they got to the blue flag, Santiago killed the engine. They watched Kate and Wendy float down, slowly but surely, until they were right above the water.

“Should they go for a little swim?” Santiago asked Lucy and Vivian.

“Oh yeah, definitely!” Vivian said.

They yelled as he dipped them into the water. Santiago started the engine back up, and the boat moved forward slowly. Wendy and Kate were totally barraged with water and they worked to keep themselves in the trapeze-type contraptions. He eventually got them back into the air and he and Raul laughed at the accomplishment.

Lucy got up and crossed the boat to Santiago. “Do
not
do that to us or no tip.”

“
Si, señora
.”

He brought Wendy and Kate in successfully.

“How was it?” Vivian asked as they got out of their harnesses.

“I wasn’t expecting the little dip in the water. It was awesome though,” Wendy answered. “The water is so clear, the beach so beautiful. You can see forever.”

“Kate, what did you think?” Lucy asked. “You looked scared to death.”

“I was a little nervous, I’ll admit. But once we got up there I was able to enjoy the view. I didn’t mind being dipped in the water too much. It was refreshing.”

It was Vivian and Lucy’s turn. Lucy repeated her warning, giving Santiago her I’ll-kick-your-butt-all-over-Mexico look. He gave them the thumbs up and away they went.

Vivian screamed as they were swept up into the air off the back of the boat. Lucy was silenced by fear. As they floated higher and higher, Vivian loved the quietness and feeling of flying. She looked at Lucy, who had her eyes closed.

“Lucy, open your eyes.”

“That’s okay. I’ll pass!”

“You’ve got to see this, it’s beautiful. Come on!”

She reluctantly opened one eye, then the other. “Wow. It’s pretty up here.”

“I know! Look, there’s the Purple Peacock.” Vivian motioned to the club. “And there’s our hotel. Holy crap! Look at all the paparazzi down there! They’re all over our hotel. And from here you can see news vans on Quinta Avenida.
No bueño
!”

“They’re multiplying like rabbits. It’s going to make it harder to avoid them.”

Santiago took them down the beach a ways, past the ferry, nightclub area and other hotels.

“This is so cool,” Lucy said. “I’m glad I opened my eyes.”

Santiago turned the boat around, in the direction they came, and Raul started reeling them in. They were back in the area of the ferry dock, close to their hotel. Vivian saw a bright red dress that immediately caught her eye.

“Lucy, look at our hotel, outside the bar by the pool. See that woman in a red dress and with the long hair? Is that Stella?”

“I can’t tell it’s so far, and I’m 20-20. Do you think it is her?”

“I can’t be positive it’s her from here. Maybe she’s looking for us.”

Vivian tried to signal the boat to pull them in faster, but Santiago and Raul couldn’t tell what she was doing. Instead, they dipped them.

“Dammit!” Lucy sputtered, wiping the water out of her eyes. “No tip for them!”

“Wendy and Kate probably offered them double,” Vivian said as they got closer to the boat. Santiago and Raul both sported giant grins as they landed.

Raul shrugged and pointed to Wendy. “Big money.”

“I knew it!” Vivian yelled.

Wendy slipped Santiago a twenty and gave him a wink. “
Gracias, musto gusto
.”

Lucy watched this exchange as she got out of her harness and gave Wendy the stink eye.

Wendy blew her a kiss and said, “Payback’s a bitch!”

Vivian was in a hurry to get back to the hotel and see if the woman in the red dress was, in fact, Stella.

“Take us in, Santiago,” Vivian requested. “
Andale
!”

She turned to Wendy and Kate and filled them in on what she saw.

“Who was she talking to, did you see?” Kate asked.

“I didn’t see her talking with anyone, and honestly, we were too far away. It might not have been her.”

Santiago got them back to the beach quickly. They hopped off the boat and made their way through the surf straight to the poolside bar. There was no one in a red dress that remotely looked like Stella, either from up in the air or two feet away.

Vivian leaned in close and asked the bartender if he had seen anyone fitting Stella’s description. She gave him every detail, tattoo included. He said he did see that lady, but she left. He pointed south.

Discouraged and disgruntled, they started back to the beach.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Taylor. I need to see you.” Vivian heard from behind her and turned around.

Detective Vega.

“SHIT. What does he want
?” Vivian mumbled.

“Mrs. Taylor, I need a word,” Detective Vega spoke up again as he approached her at the hotel pool.

“You need a word with me? I need a word with you!” she retorted. “We might have just seen Stella here at the hotel. I can’t be certain because I was parasailing, but it looked like her.”

He ignored her ranting. “We need a DNA sample from you.” He looked at the tech guy with him and motioned for him to go ahead.

The tech pulled out a long cotton swab and came toward her.

The paparazzi caught wind of what was happening. Armed with pocket recorders, notebooks and cameras, they started to swarm. One look from Detective Vega stopped them before they got too close.

Just what I need
, she thought, but said to him instead, “Those cameras could zoom in on the chicken pox scar on my cheek from a mile away. Not sure stopping them ten feet away is going to help anything.”

“Hold on!” Wendy said, ignoring the distant crowd and snap of pictures. She stepped between Vivian and the tech guy. “Don’t you need a warrant for something like this?”

Detective Vega’s gaze could have cut Wendy in two. “Welcome to Mexico.”

Vivian scooted Wendy to the side. “It’s fine. I’ve got nothing to hide. We danced and we kissed, but I sure as hell didn’t kill him. Go ahead,” she told him. “You need to swab inside my mouth, right?”

“Viv, they could try to frame you,” Wendy said. “I don’t think you should do this until you speak with an attorney.”

Yeah, my jackass husband or Slinky Sal. Neither would be much help in Mexico
.

Vivian opened wide and Enrique, the tech guy, swabbed her mouth. It only took a second. He stuck the swab into a vial and put a stopper in it.

Satisfied, Vega reminded them, “Don’t venture too far from Playa,” and stalked off.

“Damn! I really do not like that man,” Vivian said, turning away from the crowd of journalists and nosy tourists. “He must have found something to compare my DNA to, right?”

“They probably just needed to sort out what they found,” Kate said. “Match things up.”

Her stomach did a little flip. “Can I have a drink now?” She didn’t want to think about possibly being framed by Detective Vega.

“Okay, but just one,” Lucy said. “And only because you had to give a DNA sample.” She wagged a warning finger at Wendy and Kate. “None for y’all though.” She linked arms with Vivian as they walked back toward their lounge chairs.

“I’m surprised you agreed to the DNA test so easily,” Kate said as she ran up on the other side of Vivian and linked arms.

“I’m not sure I had a choice in the matter, actually.”

“You three look like The Monkees,” Wendy teased from behind them.

Pushing thoughts of Detective Vega and the DNA sample out of her mind, Vivian started singing “The Monkees” theme song, swinging her right foot out and then her left.

Kate and Lucy chimed in and followed her lead on the feet.

“It’s official. Y’all are dorks,” Wendy said and laughed. “I’m pretending not to know you.”

The three musically maneuvered themselves to the loungers Manuel had saved for them from earlier, laughing and singing the whole way. Wendy sat down and did as she said, pretended not to know them.

“You know, for band dorks, we sing a lot,” Lucy announced as she plopped down.

“Wow, I’m impressed you call that singing.” Vivian leaned forward, reaching behind her lounger, trying to adjust the doohickey and let herself lie completely flat. “I’ve almost got it,” she panted, searching, searching for the thing.
Dang
!
I should have adjusted before I sat down.

“You look like a pretzel,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “Let me help you.”

“Guess I don’t have monkey arms.”

Before Lucy could get up, Manuel appeared and fixed the situation.

“Thank you!” Vivian called after him.

“Y’all should reapply,” Lucy said as she adjusted her umbrella. “We’re close to the equator here.”