Nerds Like It Hot (Nerds, #6)(37)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

After what seemed like hours, the stateroom door opened. "Lex, buddy! The cavalry has arrived!"

"Cut the drama, Dante! Just move the damned mattress, okay?"

"You got it." Some scuffling ensued. Then Dante opened the door. He was unshaven and dressed in wrinkled shorts and a plaid shirt that was buttoned up wrong. "Let’s go."

"I want to go, too." BJ came through the door, looking as disheveled as her sweetheart.

"We want to go, too." Cora, uncharacteristically rumpled, crowded into the room, followed by Little Ben.

Lex stared at the group with growing horror. "No. You can’t all go. There’s no telling what will happen. We’re dealing with the Mafia. They could have accomplices here in Vista Verde, for all I know."

Dante shivered. "You never brought that up before."

"I didn’t think it mattered. I was going to be the only one dealing with them." He stared hard at BJ, Cora, and Little Ben. "I mean it. Don’t follow us. You’ll only slow us down, and we’ll have to worry about your safety."

"He’s right," Dante said. "Stay here."

BJ lifted her chin. "I’m going. You need me. I’ll bet I can guess how she’s thinking. I’ll help you find her."

"BJ could be right about that," Dante said. "She’s magna cum laude."

"So am I," Lex said.

"You are?" Dante’s eyebrows lifted. "How’d I miss that?"

"I don’t go around with it on a T-shirt." Lex was out of patience. In other circumstances, he might have worked harder to make certain everyone stayed safe, but right now, the only person he cared about was Gillian. Short of locking everyone in the bathroom, he didn’t know how to keep them from following him.

"Okay, I’m leaving," he said. "I can’t stop you from coming along, but I’m not waiting for anyone. Either keep up or get left behind." Pushing past the bodies clogging the door, he started down the hallway at a trot.

"I’m right on your tail, buddy!" Dante caught up with him before he got to the elevator, and BJ joined them a second later.

"You young people go ahead," Cora called after them. "We’ll cover your flank!"

Lex groaned and plunged into the elevator. This was going from really bad to absolutely disastrous.

VISTA VERDE WAS SMALLER THAN GILLIAN HAD Expected. One unpaved street ran past a group of open-air stalls that were more temporary shacks than permanent structures. Each merchant had cleared away a section of prickly pear and cholla cactus, nailed together some boards and plywood, and declared themselves in the tourist business. A few vendors were starting to take down the front panels in order to sell the wares stored inside to the cruise ship full of passengers.

The only substantial building in town seemed to be the cantina, an adobe building located at the far end of the dusty street. The scent of fried tortillas hung in the air, and a couple of chickens ran squawking across in front of Gillian as she walked briskly toward the cantina. That looked like the only logical place to find a telephone and someone with a car.

She fought panic at the rural character of the town. She’d expected more of an infrastructure—a train station, maybe, or even a bus depot. This looked like little more than a byway to satisfy the tourists on the cruise ships.

A few rickety-looking houses painted in pinks and blues sat up on a hillside at the far end of the street. A couple of them had rusty trucks parked next to the house under the shade of scraggly mesquite trees. The trucks didn’t look as if they’d make it down the street, let alone to a village with more options.

On her way into town, she’d passed a few fishing boats moored at the dock, and she supposed leaving by sea was always a possibility. But she hated the idea of going back in that direction. She’d made it to town ahead of the other passengers, and that’s the way she wanted to keep it.

A vendor called out to her as she walked past. "Senorita! Come look! I give you good price!"

Turning, she waved at the man who was selling sera-pes and large straw hats with MEXICO stitched on the crown. "Maybe later!" Then she glanced up at the banner strung across the front of the cantina and wondered if the passengers would be insulted by a sign that read WELCOME, GEEKS!

The door to the cantina stood open, and she walked into the dim interior. "Anybody here?" The place smelled of cigarettes, beer, and refried beans. She’d bet they served good ones here, but she’d never have the chance to find out.

Empty tables and chairs were scattered about, some made of wood, some made of slats and oiled pigskin. She imagined by noon the place would be jumping with tourists eager to down as much blue agave tequila as they could hold.

"Can I help you?" A short woman with her dark hair in a bun came through a curtained doorway. She dusted flour from her hands. "We’re not open yet."

Gillian was grateful the woman spoke good English, but she shouldn’t be surprised. Obviously this town existed because of the cruise lines. They would need to understand the language of those bringing the money. "I know. I need… a telephone." She’d start with the first order of the day and move on from there."

The woman gazed at her. "You have a calling card?"

"Yes."

"This way." The woman beckoned her back behind the battered wooden bar and pointed to a black phone that looked like it had been manufactured fifty years ago. It had a rotary dial.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Gillian smiled at the woman. "Thanks. I won’t be long."

‘Take your time." The woman waved at the phone. "Nobody ever calls." Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Gillian had her calling card ready and the receiver in her hand when she noticed a movement by the door of the cantina. She ducked down. It was probably only one of the vendors, but she didn’t want to take chances.

Then she heard footsteps on the wood floor of the cantina. She wondered if a hunted person developed special instincts, because she knew without looking that the person standing in the cantina was searching for her. She was just as sure it wasn’t Lex. Lex would have called out her name.

Whoever it was walked out again. Gillian peeked over the edge of the bar and saw a man with his back to her standing in the arched doorway of the cantina. She began to shake. Hector Michelangelo.

Crouched there gripping the edge of the bar, she waited for what seemed like a lifetime until Hector moved away and started back down the street. But he was sauntering, not walking as if he intended to return to the ship. He must have seen her walk into town and had followed. It didn’t take much imagination to figure out why.

Slowly she replaced the receiver of the phone. She could call later, once she was away from this place. One day wouldn’t make a difference, and she’d probably been foolish to think she had to call right away. Either foolish or unsure how long she’d be alive to accomplish that. She’d go with foolish.

Quietly she slipped through the curtained doorway. Obviously startled, the woman in the bun looked up from the table where she was making tortillas. The kitchen smelled of onions and chili peppers, and Gillian wished she could be just a tourist looking forward to lunch at the cantina.

"Did you make your call?" the woman asked.

"Yes." Gillian decided she needed to get used to telling lies. No matter how she disliked doing that, it would help her survive. "I’m trying to meet up with a friend. Is there anyone around here who could drive me somewhere?"

The woman gazed at her with suspicion. "Where?"

"To the next village."

"That’s three hours away. Your ship sails at four-thirty. You might miss it."

"I know." Gillian reached in her purse and pulled out her wallet. "I can pay."

The woman studied her for a long, agonizing moment. "Wait in the cantina. I’ll see what I can do."

"But couldn’t I wait here?"

"No." The woman didn’t seem to want Gillian and her problems invading this kitchen. "In the cantina."

Left with no choice, Gillian walked back through the curtained doorway. Then she peered out into the street looking for Hector. He’d stopped by the vendor selling serapes and large straw hats. Maybe he was planning to take home a souvenir to commemorate getting rid of her.

LEX, DANTE, AND BJ HAD STARTED DOWN THE GANG-plank when Dante pointed at someone walking along the dock toward town. "Isn’t that Nancy teetering along on a pair of stilettos?"

"Looks like it." Lex continued at a brisk pace down the dock, which creaked as the waves rolled underneath. The air smelled of fish and rotting wood.

He didn’t like this place. It was too remote. People could be eliminated here, and there would be no trace. Number one, there was the ocean for hiding evidence, and number two, there was all the open desert. God, why hadn’t he figured out Gillian’s trap and stopped her from taking such a foolish risk in such alien territory?

"I wonder what Nancy’s doing out here so early?" Dante said. "You’d think a party girl would wait until the cantina opened for business."

"Call me paranoid," Lex said, "but I’m suspicious of anyone who’s out here right now, considering that Gillian’s already left the ship."

"Right," Dante said. "A cross-dresser isn’t going into town to stock up on serapes and straw hats."

"She has something to do with this trouble with Gillian," BJ said. "I have a gut feeling about it."

Lex didn’t want to hear that, but he wasn’t going to dismiss any possibility. Too much was at stake. "I wondered that, too, but Mafia guys are about as macho as you can get."

"You’re stereotyping again," Dante said.

"Maybe." Lex kept his eyes open as he moved quickly down the dock. He didn’t think Gillian would have taken refuge in a fishing boat, but he looked them over, all the same. "But consider the Sicilian mind-set. Isn’t masculinity a big deal in that culture?"

"It is now," BJ said. "But you go back to early Rome, and you had all sorts of interesting things going on, sexually speaking. Maybe Nancy’s a throwback."

"I’m sorry." Lex shook his head. "I don’t picture some godfather type sending a cross-dresser out to handle a job. It makes no sense."

"We’re going to overtake her," Dante said. "Are we planning to make pleasant conversation or what?"

"I’ll make the conversation," Lex said. "She got out here ahead of us, and right now we need information. She happens to be the only source of it in sight."

Dante leaned close to BJ. "Lex has more investigative experience than I have, so I let him handle this kind of work. I just deal with the more physical parts of the job."

"Watch yourself, Dante," Lex said. "Don’t be getting into trouble by bragging about yourself."

"What? I had a course in karate once."

"In high school."

"You don’t forget that stuff," Dante said. "It’s like falling off a bike. Wait. That didn’t come out right."

"It came out perfectly," Lex said. "Now be quiet and let me see what Nancy has to say for herself. Hey, Nancy! Wait up!"

Nancy turned and shaded her eyes. "Why, if it isn’t my old roommate, BJ, and her new roommate, Dante! And Lex, who used to be my dinner companion, except you didn’t show up at the table last night, and neither did Norma Jean. What happened to you two?"

"Norma Jean wasn’t feeling well," Lex said.

"Is she still under the weather?" Nancy was dressed in a bright yellow sundress that barely covered her ass. The stiletto heels matched perfectly.

"She’s feeling better, thanks." Lex wished Nancy weren’t wearing sunglasses. He’d like to read her expression better. "You’re up bright and early this morning."

"Goodness, yes! I’m always ready for a bargain. These quaint little stalls sometimes have the most marvelous leather items." She smiled at Lex. "Are you into leather?"

"Not especially." Nancy gave him the creeps, and he supposed that was his homophobia kicking in. But maybe it was something more. He just couldn’t imagine how she could be part of a plot to take out Gillian. "Looks like we’re the only ones up and about this early, though."

"Not quite."

"Oh?" Lex didn’t dare hope that she’d mention seeing Gillian.

"I noticed that dark-haired guy Hector had a head start on me as I was walking down the dock. I thought he might be with Dorothy, but maybe he’s decided to head out early and surprise her with a souvenir."

Lex tried to control his reaction and wasn’t sure if he succeeded or not. "Hector, huh?" He looked at Dante. "You know, we haven’t gotten much exercise on this trip."

"Speak for yourself."

"How about a race into town?"

"You’re on. Go!"

Lex took off with Dante right by his side.

"Hey, wait for me!" BJ called. Soon she was sprinting right beside them.

"Hey!" Dante glanced sideways at BJ. "Where’d you learn how to run?"

"Cross-country champ, senior year." She pulled slightly ahead of them.

"Damn." Dante dragged in air. "Smarter than me and faster than me."

Lex put on a burst of speed. "Just what you need as my replacement."

Dante gasped for breath. "Considering my relationship with BJ, you might want to rephrase that."

Lex and BJ reached the outskirts of town slightly ahead of Dante. Lex and BJ slowed to a walk, and Dante nearly ran them over.

He stopped and braced his hands on his knees as he struggled to breathe. "I thought we were in a hurry."

"We don’t want to go racing down main street, now, do we?" Lex said. "From this point on, we have to be stealthy." He gazed at Dante and shook his head. "As if."

"I can be stealthy. Just as soon as I catch my breath."

"Ready?" Lex looked back and saw Nancy hurrying down the dock as fast as her high heels would let her.

"Let’s find Gillian," BJ said.

"Right." Dante fell into step beside them.