The young reporter's wife couldn't move as Maria came toward her, even pausing practically in front of her to look in the window of a dress shop. Suddenly, as though she could feel the intensity of Nancy's stare through the plate glass, she glanced up. The two womens' eyes met and Nancy silently mouthed 'Maria!'
And then the girl was gone. Realizing she was recognized, the Spanish girl took off like a shot down the street, while Nancy, moving equally fast, raced down the street in pursuit. She was just in time to see the girl disappear around the corner into a worn-out residential block and without even stopping to think about the consequences, she hurried after her.
Had Rick's young wife been more familiar with the layout of the downtown district of Miami, she wouldn't have been so surprised at seeing Maria suddenly appear, as if out of nowhere. For only a few minutes distant was the neighborhood controlled by the cruel Morros gang and in this block was one of the hangouts of the gang.
Inside of the white, two-story hangout, Bernardo Mendosa called to Chico, who was in one of the bedrooms.
'Fuck it!' Bernardo Mendosa yelled belligerently, a little drunk from the beer he had been drinking. 'Hey, Chico, do we got any more beer?'
'Yeah, in the front, by the door,' Chico called back, snapping his fingers nervously as he walked into the living room.
Bernardo grinned at Chico, then took a large swallow of his beer, and was about to say something when the front door suddenly burst open and Maria raced into the room.
'Hey, Bernardo,' she breathed. 'I just spotted that Taggart woman on the street. I think she saw me, too. I ran like hell to tip you off she was around.'
'You sure she recognized you?'
'I'm pretty sure she did, yeah. I took off as fast as I could, but..
. but I think she might've been following me.'
'Shit! That was real smart to bring her right here, Maria, real smart!'
'Well, what was I gonna do? I thought she might be heading here anyway,' the curvaceous brunette replied huffily.
'Yeah, yeah, well just get out the back door before she gets here. Me and Chico'll take care of her.'
Maria had scarcely disappeared into the gloom at the back of the house when Nancy's slender form became visible at the door, out of breath, and straining to see inside of the building to catch a glimpse of the girl she had been following.
'Not a bad piece of ass, is she?' he whispered to Chico as they watched the voluptuous blonde as she tried to decide whether to enter the deserted house.
'Not bad? Man I could eat that full o' ice cream!' Chico replied.
'Yeah, me too,' Salvador's degenerate young brother replied, laughing.
Unaware of the lewd observations being made about her by the two semidrunk men inside, Nancy was still hesitating on the doorstep, wondering if they lived in the house or not, since she wasn't sure that this was where the brunette had gone, but unwilling also to abandon her chase just when she seemed so near her goal. If she didn't follow through now, she might never have another chance to find the girl who she was sure had left the marijuana in their house, and Rick might rot in jail for months!
'Excuse me,' she said rather timidly to the two men who had come to the door. 'Do you know the girl who just came in? Could I speak with her?'
Chico shot a quick glance over toward Bernardo, then replied, 'I didn't see nobody, lady. But you can come in and look around if you want to.'
'Maybe I can help the lady out,' Bernardo offered, sauntering to the door and holding it open for the young girl to come in. He was much more drunk than he realized, and his voice and stance were a little unsteady as he approached. 'I'm… the owner of the house. Come on in and I'll see,' he paused, his mouth curling in an arrogant smile.
'What can I do for you?'
Nancy was a little surprised at the sudden appearance of the slender but extraordinarily handsome youth. He looked too young to really be the owner of the house, but she assumed he was telling the truth.
'Well, I don't know actually. I was looking for a girl I know. I saw her on the street, and I… I tried to catch up to her, but she didn't see me. I thought I saw her come in this house.'
'Why don't you just call her on the telephone?'
'I… I can't do that. You see, I don't know her number. It's terribly important that I find her. Once more Nancy described Maria in detail, and Bernardo became a little alarmed at the accuracy of her memory. It wasn't a good idea to have this babe nosing around looking for Maria. Apparently she'd already connected the girl with the arrest of her husband. Why else would she be so hot to find her? It hadn't occurred to him in the flush of his easy victory that Taggart's wife would be so ready to go out on her own, or that she would have remembered Maria so accurately. And now she'd traced her to the Morros turf which was definitely not a happy turn of events. Somehow he had to get her off the track, scare her enough so she wouldn't come around butting her nose in his business again.
'Yeah, I think somebody like that did go into the house next door,' he replied thoughtfully. 'If she did, why I know the people, and I could got the name for you.'
'I don't think she'd get in touch with me,' Rick's young wife replied ruefully. 'You see, it's terribly complicated.' The confused reporter's young wife suddenly felt overwhelmed with the apparent hopelessness of the situation and with frustration at having lost her quarry after having the good fortune to spot her on the street. It seemed like an unnecessarily cruel twist of fate, and her eyes began to fill with tears. 'I'm terribly sorry,' she apologized, 'it's just that my husband was arrested for something he didn't do, and I'm sure that girl has some information about it that could… could affect his case. My name is Nancy Taggart. My husband's a newspaper reporter and he has been framed.'
'Oh, you mean you're that Taggart guy's wife? The one arrested on the marijuana charges?' Bernardo asked, feigning ignorance.
'Yes, I am.'
'Well, Mrs. Taggart, why didn't you say so. Why, I think we could help you right now.'
Nancy's eyes widened hopefully at his words. 'Oh, do you really think you could? I'd be so grateful! You don't know how much it means to me!'
'Well, I think I could tell you a few things you'd be interested in,'
Bernardo said. 'Just follow me.'
Silently he signaled to Chico to join them, then preceded Nancy all the way to the back of the house. Opening the door, he stepped aside to let her pass him. No sooner were they inside, than the young wife turned in surprise as she heard the sound of the key once again in the lock, this time locking them in. She felt a tremor of fear as she saw Chico, muscular and ominous-looking, and Bernardo, lean and wiry, staring at her, smiling oddly, and she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Chapter 4
'Well, well, well,' Bernardo said, pocketing the key and surveying her with interest. 'So you're that no good drug-pushing reporter's wife.
You're not a bad-looking cunt, Mrs. Taggart, not bad at all!'
Nancy could hardly believe the sudden change in the young man's attitude. 'How dare you speak to me like that?' she demanded, beginning to feel alarmed as the two young men started moving closer to her.
'I don't think we've been properly introduced, Mrs. Taggart,' Bernardo said, extending his hand. 'My name's Bernardo Mendosa. Me and my brother ought to be real well known to you and your husband. Me and Salvador are the leaders of the gang your husband likes to write so many articles about. We are the leaders of the Morros. The most famous street gang in all of Miami!'
Nancy fell backwards as though she'd been physically struck when she realized who he was. All at once everything fell into place, even the strange, worn-out building Maria had led her into. Of course, she knew about
