Page 22 of Phoenix Rising

He followed Audria’s gaze and saw a black Mercedes with flames emblazoned on the door driving by. Ear-splitting bass practically shook the ground.

“It’s Playa himself. Let’s follow.”

Reese took Audria’s hand, and they hurried to the sidewalk. The street was congested with traffic, making it easy to keep pace. They even had to slow down so as not to overtake him.

“Vinnie has to be deaf,” Audria yelled over the deep, reverberating beat that wafted from his vehicle.

“No kidding.” The noise could in no way be considered music, and it was giving Reese a headache.

When the car turned down a street, Reese had a strange feeling he knew where Vincenzo Fusco was headed.

“You don’t think he’s going to our resort, do you?”

As usual, Audria was on the same wavelength. “Yeah, I do.”

They increased their pace, jogging when traffic picked up speed and running when it cleared and the Mercedes roared ahead. Sure enough, he turned into the Aguas Tranquilas Resort and Spa parking lot. By the time Reese and Audria reached the entry, Playa was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s walk around the back where employees park,” Reese suggested. They followed the drive around the side of the resort.

“There.” Reese spotted the Mercedes idling beside the building. “He must be—oof.”Suddenly, he was jerked sideways and almost tripped over his feet. He barely managed to right himself before he took a tumble and came face to face with a pinyon pine. “What—”

“Shh. Look.”

He peeked around the grove of trees Audria had used as a cover and started recording with his phone. Vincenzo, wearing another set of baggy pants and an oversized sweatshirt, this time with a different backward baseball cap, was talking with someone. “It’s Raphael, the bartender.”

“They’re exchanging something, just like he had with Yogi Vishnu, but this package is way bigger,” Audria noted.

“There seems to be quite a drug ring going on around Sedona. Vincenzo is the supplier, and Raphael and the yogi are the users . . . or dealers.”

“What’s your guess?” Audria posed. “Meth? Heroin?”

“I would lean toward cocaine.”

“That makes sense with the upscale clientele.”

They both ducked back when Raphael’s head swiveled in their direction. “We need to get out of here in case they come this way.”

Keeping out of sight of the two men, they made their way to the front of the resort. A few minutes later, the black Mercedes zipped down the road and squealed out of the parking lot, leaving a cloud of burning rubber in its wake.

“He’s not very subtle,” Audria mused.

“Yeah, it makes you wonder if the authorities in this city know about him.”

“They might need a tip from the FBI.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

#

Reese and Audria returned to their room to freshen up before heading to Waterfall to check out Raphael, the bartender and now possible drug dealer. As they walked down the hall, Audria told Reese, “We only have about an hour and a half before our next class.”

“What is it again?”

“We are going to get in touch with our inner child.”

Reese stopped walking and threw his head back with a groan.

“I’m not happy about it either,” Audria commiserated. “It is what it is. Suck it up, buttercup.”

---