Garbage Gold
himself.’
‘Does he have a piece?’
‘A 38. That’s the big dude in a dark jacket.’
‘Wait here. When the guard takes him away, go and find your girl.’
‘Sure.’
Clyde walked toward a guard and talked to him for a few seconds. Then the guard approached Benny. They talked for a while than the guard patted BA down, took BA’s gun, then handcuffed him and took him away.
Sam Maceda was trying to look for Sally outside the mall. He was on the big parking area of the mall now when he saw a guard coming.
‘Looking for something sir?’ The guard asked.
‘Yes. I’m just hoping a friend of mine might be around here. She frequents Sunshine at this time a lot.’
The guard was thinking. The name on his badge said Figuerra.
‘Well, I hope you see her sir.’ The guard walked away.
Sam decided to look around a minute more then went back for his car. He was on a deserted area of the parking lot when he tripped over something. He looked down and saw it was Sally.
‘Sally! What happened?!’ He said aloud.
No answer.
‘Sally?’ Then he saw the blood on her chest. He reached and felt for her pulse. No beating. He saw a piece of paper beside her and picked it up and pocketed it. It might be important to her relatives. Then he heard someone shouting.
‘Hey! What happened?!’ He was a young employee at the mall.
Sam just kept staring at Sally. Then he said,’Get the police.’
An officer of the Las Palmas PD arrived and told the crowd to keep away from the crime scene. A mall guard went near the cop and asked him,’Need help?’
‘Not really. Do I know you?’
‘Mel Figuerra. Moonlighting here. I’m with the LP traffic department.’
‘Then you can help secure the area. Thanks.’
Mr. Maceda was taken to the LPPD station for questioning. Detective Joe Picasso interviewed him for about twenty minutes. Then he was allowed to go. Sam forgot to show him the piece of paper he took near the body of Sally.
Back home, Sam was changing clothes when he got hold of Sally’s paper. He unfolded it and read it. All he saw were names and numbers. None of them familiar to him. More importantly, none of them seems to be a relative of Sally. He decided to use it as a bookmark and inserted it in a book by Agatha he was reading.
Carmi does rackets on and off with Al Garcia and Benny Amante. The two idiots had just told her about their latest dumb move.
‘Have you checked Rolly’s place?’ She asked them.
‘Last night after the cops let Benny loose. One a.m. he still wasn’t there so we split.’
Clyde was relaxing with Carla Soriano, his girlfriend, in his hotel room.
‘My boss at the office is harassing me,’ Carla was telling him. ‘He wants me in bed and he’s threatening to fire me. Will you do something about that?’
‘Sorry babe. I’m not a muscle.’
‘Will you just try talking to him please?’ She was starting to sob.
‘I’m a businessman. Find some other goon to do him.’
Carla was suddenly angry. ‘Sure. I’ll find somebody with guts which you obviously haven’t got.’ She said loudly.
Al Garcia was surprised to see it was Carla who was at the door.
‘Hey Carla babe! Been a long time!’
Carla hugged and said. ’Oh Al, I’m in trouble.’
‘That so?’
She told him how her boss was forcing her to commit fraud et cetera…
‘So what’s your plan?’ Al asked.
‘Anything you can do to lay him off me.’
‘Hmmm…’
Sam Maceda lives at a condo called Alta Vista. Rolly Valero, dressed in a coverall uniform of an electrician, entered the building and approached the receptionist.
‘Good afternoon ma’am.’ Rolly greeted her. ‘Somebody called our office and told us you need your wirings checked in some rooms.’
‘Sorry. But I don’t know anything about that.’
Rolly looked at his clipboard and said, ‘But it says here Alta Vista,’ then added the condo’s address and phone number.
‘Maybe some of the owners called.’
‘Someone named Maceda.’
‘OK. Oh! But he’s out… I almost forgot.’
‘There might be a fire hazard in his room,’ Rolly persisted.
‘Oh. All right. Here’s his key.’
When Rolly left Alta Vista, Carmi was tailing him until he arrived at his apartment. After about fifteen minutes inside, Rolly got out looking terrified and very edgy. Then after he drove his car off, Carmi approached the house to see if she could take a peek inside. She found a slightly open curtain and peeked. What she saw also surprised her—a wrecked bedroom. Drawers, closets, tables; almost everything upturned or thrown down.
Carla was speaking to her boss on the phone.
‘I’ve decided