dontravis.com
blog post #378
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Man,
did I get the hits on last week’s post, “Clouds.” Got over 1300 in one day. But
not many comments. By the way, if you read my posts on Facebook, please be sure
to “Like” them… if that’s appropriate.
On
September 12 of last year, I gave readers a first look at The Cutie Pie
Murders, the next in the BJ Vinson Mystery series. It was post Number 354, in case you want to look it up. Today, I’d like to give
you a second look. The following excerpt comes at the beginning of Chapter 2. BJ’s considering investigating the murder of nineteen-year-old Mateo
(Matt) Zapata, who turns out to be the third handsome young man strangled and
dumped naked in some public place. BJ’s having his first discussion with the
father of the murdered youth.
*****
THE CUTIE PIE MURDERS
Hazel Harris Weeks stuck her
head through the door of my private office. “Fellow here by the name of Juan
Zapata. Says he has an appointment.” My office manager’s voice held a note of
censure. One more appointment I hadn’t let her know about.
I swung my feet off the corner
of the desk and sat up. “Called him on the way back from Santa Fe yesterday.”
Hazel frowned. “He any
relation to Zancon Zapata?” Even though Hazel didn’t totally understand my
lifestyle, she’d grown as protective of Paul as she had of me, and she knew
every detail of what the Saints had done to him.
“Somebody killed his boy. He’s
entitled to the same respect as any other paying customer.” The word paying
would get to her faster than any other explanation. She nodded and disappeared.
A moment later, she ushered a
younger, healthier version of Zancon into my inner office. The man’s overcoat
was damp from the scattered snowflakes falling outside. Thank goodness I’d
driven up to Santa Fe yesterday on a dry road. The snowfall didn’t amount to
much, but ice was another thing altogether. I stood and gripped the man’s
outstretched hand.
“I’m Juan Zapata,” he said. “I
understand my brother filled you in on my problem yesterday.”
“B. J. Vinson. Everyone calls
me BJ. Zancon told me about your son’s death but gave me no details. Said you’d
do that when we met.”
Juan took the seat I indicated
and flushed. “Sounds like something he’d do. My son was gay, Mr…. uh, BJ. And
that’s something Zancon can’t accept.”
“Why don’t you fill me in?”
The handsome man on the other
side of my desk blew through his nostrils in exasperation. “I don’t know a hell
of a lot. When I said he was gay, that’s not entirely correct. He was probably
bisexual. He had a girlfriend, but I know for a fact he’s had a few boyfriends
these past two years.”
I rubbed an itchy eye. Score
another one for Zancon. He not only wanted me to kill his nephew’s murderer,
but he’d come to a gay investigator with the request. Probably figured it took
one to know one. Some things never change.
“Let’s start with the basics,
Juan,” I said. Tell me about Mateo. I understand he was eighteen. Was he still
in school? Live at home? Have his own place? Show me the young man before you
tell me about his murder.”
Juan took me literally,
dragging out his billfold, removing a snapshot, and handing it over. The kid
almost took my breath away. Beautiful eyes as brown as dark chocolate. Black
hair with a fetching cowlick. Thin nose, broad sensual lips. This kid was movie
star handsome with just enough irregularity to his features to render him sexy.
A real cutie-pie.
Juan sighed before starting
down the road of his son’s short life. “Mateo… Matt finished high school last
year, a year ahead of most of his classmates and immediately enrolled at the
University of New Mexico. He wanted to be a commercial photographer. But I
think that was just so he understood the camera. His real ambition was to be a
professional model.”
“He had the looks for it. Did
he live on campus?”
Juan shook his head. “Had a
small one-bedroom apartment on Princeton. Easy walk to his classes.”
I learned a lot about Matt
Zapata while his father worked around to something that was obviously difficult
to face, the thing Zancon hadn’t wanted to discuss yesterday. Matt was a
swimmer. A tennis player. A whizz at poker. Popular with girls and guys alike.
Played a mean guitar and had a decent singing voice. Finally, Juan hesitated,
and I knew he’d arrived at his destination.
“Although I provided for his
needs, Matt was always independent. He’d recently taken a job. I discouraged
the idea, saying he ought to enjoy these college years, but he insisted.”
He was dragging his feet
again, so I cut straight to the chase. “What kind of job.”
Juan averted his eyes.
“Escort. He was an escort. He… ah, he was an amazing kid. He fit in any social
circle you could imagine. And when he dressed up in a suit or tux, he was
really something.”
“Who did he work for?”
Juan rubbed his nose. “He was
freelance. Booked his calls through a phone service. He was new to it. Only had
a few assignments before… before….”
“Did he die on one of those
assignments?” I asked.
Juan Zapata dropped his head
to his chest. “I don’t know. He… he was found on the West Mesa.”
He swallowed hard, but I could
see he had more to say. “And?”
“My son was naked. At least
that’s what they tell me. And….”
I spared him the agony of
continuing. “Let me get a copy of the police report and talk to a couple of
people, then we’ll talk again.”
“So you’ll take the case?”
“At the moment, I don’t see
why not. Is there a question in your mind about it?”
He lifted anguished eyes to
meet mine. “My brother… the man who contacted you about this is someone you
shot and put behind bars. My… my boy might have been a call boy. So—”
Mr. Zapata… Juan, are you a
good man?”
A frown puckered his face. “I
think so.”
“Was Mateo a good man?”
“To me he was.”
“And his life was taken from
him. Tell me, are you looking for justice for Matt or revenge?”
A startled look passed over
his face before understanding dawned. “I am seeking justice, BJ. I want the
bastard who killed Matt identified, tried, convicted, and then locked up for
the rest of his life.”
I thought for a moment.
“Locked up in Santa Fe where Zancon is just waiting.”
“Send him somewhere else, I
don’t care. Just so he can’t do that to anyone else’s son.”
“The police can do that for
you.”
Juan passed a hand over his
face. “That is one thing Zancon and I agree on. They’ll take one look and
consider it simply as a gang killing a queer. I want someone fighting for me.
For Matt.”
Sounds like a father’s
cry for help to me. And so it does to BJ, as well. Now we’re off and running in
our intrepid investigator’s search for justice. Hope this held your interest. Let me know what you think about it.
Until next week.
The following are buy
links for the recently released The Voxlightner Scandal.
Barnes
& Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-voxlightner-scandal-don-travis/1132632844?ean=9781640809260
Now
my mantra: Keep on reading and keep on
writing. You have something to say, so say it!
My
personal links: (Note the change in the Email address because I’m still getting
remarks on the old dontravis21@gmail.com. PLEASE DON’T USE
THAT ONE.)
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www.facebook.com/donald.travis.982
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@dontravis3
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See
you next week.
Don
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