Afterglow

by Martin Hill Ortiz

About the Author: Martin Hill Ortiz, a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a professor of Pharmacology at the Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico where he lives with his wife and son. He has authored four novels, most recently, Never Kill A Friend (Ransom Note Press), and A Predator's Game (Rook's Page Publishing). Over a score of his stories have appeared in print, including four at Mystery Weekly. This story follows in a sequence with the stories, Bag Man (honorable mention, Best American Mystery).

Excerpt

I met Tara through her twelve-year-old son, Alex. When I stumbled over Alex building a tree house in a wooded corner of my friend’s lot, I figured it was my custodial duty to march him over to the authority in charge—his mother. She greeted me with a vulnerable and beckoning smile.

She served up a mean cup of cocoa while the adult-light music station crooned gooey love songs. I invited her over for mixed drinks. I barely finished crushing the mint for the juleps when she grabbed me by my collar and pulled me on to the sofa.

After she finished dressing, she asked, “What do you do for a living?”

I selected among various half-truths. “Lately, I’ve been house-sitting for my friend, Russ,” I told her. “He’s a private detective. On vacation in Mexico.”

“When’s he due back?”

“Last Sunday.” Russ let me hole up in his cabin, an escape from my Southern Cal existence. As a get-away, this place, Redmond Ridge, a ski resort, made for a chilly paradise. I was far away from everything, a nobody here. The main danger in a place like this was going snow-blind from the smiles of bleached-toothed snow bunnies. “I’ve been pinch-hitting for him, doing a little detective work.”

“Is that a fact?” She straightened out a cuff as she finished dressing. She looked chic and dynamic in a burgundy pant suit, button-up shirt with a flair collar. “Maybe you can do me a favor?”

Uh-oh. After-sex favors rank nearly as dangerous as commitment.

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