Scottsdale Squeeze: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 2) by B A Trimmer Page A
Authors: B A Trimmer
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like that. Part of it is she was a Scottsdale police detective and part of it is she thinks Lenny needs a mother.
“I don’t know what happened,” Lenny said in a confused voice. “I met Amber at Martini Ranch last night. She said she was looking for a job so I told her to come over today for an interview. She comes in and next thing I know she’s on her knees working on me. It was like I couldn’t stop her.”
Lenny looked up to see all three of looking at him. He must have seen the looks on our faces.
“Hey,” he said. “I wanted to stop her but it was like I couldn’t. It’s not my fault. Seriously. It’s been a while.”
“You know you can’t have her working here,” Gina said in a stern motherly tone. “You know it will disrupt things. You know you don’t want the clients to see her. And most of all, you know how much trouble this could bring.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lenny said. “You’re right. I’ll get rid of her.”
“Right away?”
“Right away.”
~~~~
We walked back out to reception and Sophie started closing down her desk for the day. Before we left, I called my contact from the phone company. As I suspected, Jackie’s phone was either not turned on or had gone out of range. The reason I suspected her phone would be turned off was it would have made my job too easy. I don’t seem to get those kinds of breaks very often.
I also called Grandma Peckham. I told her I would be traveling for the day and might not make it back in time to feed Marlowe. She said not to worry since Marlow had already had a second breakfast at her place.
~~~~
Scottsdale lies in the northeast part of a large bowl in central Arizona called The Valley of the Sun, or simply, The Valley. On the East Valley side are the communities of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Apache Junction. The east side of the Valley ends at some high cliffs that are the start of the Superstition Mountains. The Central Valley is mainly the sprawl of Phoenix. The West Valley contains the retirement communities of Glendale, Sun City, Anthem, and Surprise. To the north of the Valley is North Mountain, beyond which are the sheer cliffs of the Mogollon Rim, which rise several thousand feet to the Colorado Plateau. The southern edge of the Valley is marked by the bulk of South Mountain, beyond which is one-hundred miles of the Sonoran desert leading down into Mexico.
Sophie, Annie, and I climbed into my car and we headed south. At Casa Grande, we found a truck stop where we loaded up with drinks and snacks. We then headed west to the desert town of Gila Bend. We then turned south and headed into the deep deserts of southern Arizona.
I know some people can’t see the beauty of the Sonoran Desert, all they see is dirt, rocks, and half-dead plants. For me, the drive down to Rocky Point is breathtaking. I love the feeling of cresting a hill and seeing fifty miles of colorful desert stretched out before me. In the dry desert air, there’s no haze or pollution, so details don’t seem to blur with distance. It is especially beautiful after one of the rare winter rains. Two weeks after a rain, the desert becomes a bright green carpet, with every cactus, tree, and bush flowering at once.
We stopped in Ajo, a small copper mining town where they have a lovely town square, to get money from the last ATM before Mexico. We then made a quick bathroom stop at the tourist-trap gas station called Why, when Sophie decided she had to go again. We were briefly stopped at a roadblock checkpoint by the border patrol a mile north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Finally, we were at the truck-stop sized town of Lukeville, which marks the border to Mexico.
As always, I felt a little intimidated when crossing over into Mexico. And, as always, I was a little sad as I drove through the poverty-stricken border town of Sonoyta. Needless to say, I kept well under the speed limit.
As the last of the border town was in my rearview mirror, the final stretch of
“I don’t know what happened,” Lenny said in a confused voice. “I met Amber at Martini Ranch last night. She said she was looking for a job so I told her to come over today for an interview. She comes in and next thing I know she’s on her knees working on me. It was like I couldn’t stop her.”
Lenny looked up to see all three of looking at him. He must have seen the looks on our faces.
“Hey,” he said. “I wanted to stop her but it was like I couldn’t. It’s not my fault. Seriously. It’s been a while.”
“You know you can’t have her working here,” Gina said in a stern motherly tone. “You know it will disrupt things. You know you don’t want the clients to see her. And most of all, you know how much trouble this could bring.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lenny said. “You’re right. I’ll get rid of her.”
“Right away?”
“Right away.”
~~~~
We walked back out to reception and Sophie started closing down her desk for the day. Before we left, I called my contact from the phone company. As I suspected, Jackie’s phone was either not turned on or had gone out of range. The reason I suspected her phone would be turned off was it would have made my job too easy. I don’t seem to get those kinds of breaks very often.
I also called Grandma Peckham. I told her I would be traveling for the day and might not make it back in time to feed Marlowe. She said not to worry since Marlow had already had a second breakfast at her place.
~~~~
Scottsdale lies in the northeast part of a large bowl in central Arizona called The Valley of the Sun, or simply, The Valley. On the East Valley side are the communities of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Apache Junction. The east side of the Valley ends at some high cliffs that are the start of the Superstition Mountains. The Central Valley is mainly the sprawl of Phoenix. The West Valley contains the retirement communities of Glendale, Sun City, Anthem, and Surprise. To the north of the Valley is North Mountain, beyond which are the sheer cliffs of the Mogollon Rim, which rise several thousand feet to the Colorado Plateau. The southern edge of the Valley is marked by the bulk of South Mountain, beyond which is one-hundred miles of the Sonoran desert leading down into Mexico.
Sophie, Annie, and I climbed into my car and we headed south. At Casa Grande, we found a truck stop where we loaded up with drinks and snacks. We then headed west to the desert town of Gila Bend. We then turned south and headed into the deep deserts of southern Arizona.
I know some people can’t see the beauty of the Sonoran Desert, all they see is dirt, rocks, and half-dead plants. For me, the drive down to Rocky Point is breathtaking. I love the feeling of cresting a hill and seeing fifty miles of colorful desert stretched out before me. In the dry desert air, there’s no haze or pollution, so details don’t seem to blur with distance. It is especially beautiful after one of the rare winter rains. Two weeks after a rain, the desert becomes a bright green carpet, with every cactus, tree, and bush flowering at once.
We stopped in Ajo, a small copper mining town where they have a lovely town square, to get money from the last ATM before Mexico. We then made a quick bathroom stop at the tourist-trap gas station called Why, when Sophie decided she had to go again. We were briefly stopped at a roadblock checkpoint by the border patrol a mile north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Finally, we were at the truck-stop sized town of Lukeville, which marks the border to Mexico.
As always, I felt a little intimidated when crossing over into Mexico. And, as always, I was a little sad as I drove through the poverty-stricken border town of Sonoyta. Needless to say, I kept well under the speed limit.
As the last of the border town was in my rearview mirror, the final stretch of
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