BLACK MONEY LOVE

Chapter 1

The moment the plane finished it's landing, Zack gathered his garment bag and waited impatiently for the door to be opened.When it did, there was a whoos of hot air and the drone of engines.with a quick nod to the flight attendant he strode down the steep metal stairs.He didn't have the time or the inclination to appreciate the palm trees, the burst of flowers or the dreamy blue sky.He walked purposefully, eyes straight ahead and narrowed against the sun.In his dark suit and a trim tie he could be a business man, one who'd come to Los Angeles to work, not to play.Whatever grief, whatever anger he felt were carefully masked by a clam, unapproachable expression.
The terminal was small and noisy.Americans on vacation stood in a groups laughing or wandering in confusion.Twenty- hours before, Zack had been sitting in his large, elegant furnished,air- conditioned office.He'd just won a long, tough case that had taken all his skills and mountains of research.His client was a free man, acquitted of a felony charge that carried a minimum sentence of ten years.He'd accepted his fees, accepted gratitude and avoided as much publicity as possible.
Zack had been preparing to take his first vacation in eighteen months.He'd felt satisfied, vaguely tried and optimistic.Two weeks in London seemed like the perfect reward for so many months of ten- hours a day.London, with it's ageless sophisticated and cool Parks, it's stunning museums and incomparable food was precisely what suited Zack Alpha.
When the call had come through from Los Angeles, it had taken him several moments to understand.When he'd answerd that he did indeed have a brother Jeremiah, Zack's predominant thought had been that Jerry had gotten himself into trouble again, and he was going to have to bail him out.
By the time he hung up the phone, Zack couldn't think at all.Numb, he's given his secretary to cancel his London arrangements and to make New one's for a flight to Los Angeles the next day.Then Zack had picked up the phone and to call his parents and tell them their son was dead.
He'd come to Los Angeles to identify the body and take his brother home to bury.with a fresh wave of grief, Zack expressed a sense of inevitably.Jerry had always lived on the edge of disaster.This time he'd steeped over.Since childhood Jerry had courted trouble--- charmingly.He'd once joked that Zack had taken law so that he could find the most efficient way to get his brother out of jams . Perhaps in a sense it had been true.
Jerry had been a dreamer, Zack was a realistic.jerry had been unapologetic lazy, Zack a workaholic.they were---had been---two sides of a coin.As Zack Drew up to the police station in Cozumel it was with knowledge that a part of himself had been erased.
Zack got out of the car and walked to the police station to begin to Wade through the morass of paperwork that accompanied a violent death.
Captain Morales was a brisk,no- nonsense man who had been born on the island and was passionately dedicated to protecting it.He was approaching forty and awaiting the birth of his first child.He was proud of his position,his education and his family.Basically,he was a quiet man who enjoyed classical music and a movie on Saturday nights.
But he was also a family man.He understood love, grief, just as he understood certain men were compelled to conceal both.in the cool,flat air of the morgue, he waited beside Zack,the American stood stood a head taller, rigid and pale."This is your brother,Mr.Alpha?"Though he didn't have to ask.
Zack looked down at the other side of the coin."yes." In silence,he backed away to give Zack the time he needed.it didn't seem possible.zack knew he could have stood for hours starring down at his brothers face and it would never seem possible.jerry had always looked the easy way, the biggest deal and he hadn't always been an admirable man.But he'd always been so full of life. Slowly Zack laid his hand on his brother's. There was no life now, and nothing he could do ;no amount of maneuvering or pulling of strings would bring him back. Just as slowly he removed his hand. It didn't seem possible, but it was.
Morales nodded to the attendant." I'm sorry." Zack shook his head. Pain was like a dull - edged knife through the base of his skull. He coated it with ice." Who killed my brother, Captain?"
" I don't know. We're investigating."
"You have leads?"
Morales gestured and stared down the corridor."your brother had been in Cozumel only three weeks,Mr. Alpha. At the moment, we are interviewing everyone who had contacted with him during that time." He opened a door and steeped out into air, breathing deeply of the fresh air and the flowers.The man beside him didn't seem to notice the Change." I promise you,we will do everything possible to find your brother's killer." " This is my island." Morales gaze remained locked with Zack's." If there is a murder on it , I'll find him."
" A professional, we both know that, don't we?" Morales said nothing for a moment. He was still waiting to receive information on Jeremiah Alpha. " Your brother was shoot, so we are investigating to find out why, how and who. You could help me by giving me some information."
Zack stared at the door a moment---the door that led down the stairs, down the corridor and to his brothers body.
" Why did your brother come to Cozumel?"
" I don't know, Jerry liked the palm trees."
" His business? His work?"
With a half laugh Zack said " Jerry liked to call himself a free- lancer. He wasn't a drifter." And he'd brought complications to Zack's life as often as he'd brought pleasure.zack stared hard into space remembering the shared lives, diverse options." For Jerry,it was always the next town and the next deal. The last I heard--- two weeks ago--- he was giving diving lessons to the tourists."
" The black Coral Dive shop," Morales confirmed.Roma Altergracie hired him on a part-time job"
" Altergracie?"
" That's the woman he was living with."
" Miss Altergracie rented your brother a room," Morales corrected" she was among the group to discover your brother's body.she's given my department her complete cooperation."
Zack's mouth thinned . How had Jerry described this Roma in their brief phone conversation weeks before? A sexy little number who made great tortillas. She sounded like another one of Jerry's tough ladies on the lookout for a good time and the main chance .
" I'll need her address." At the captains quite look he only raised a brow ." I assume my brother's things are still there."
" They are. I have some of your brother's personal effects, those that he had on him ,in my office. You're welcome to collect them and what remains at miss Altergracie . We've already been through them."
Zack felt the rage build in him again and smothered it. " When can I take my brother home?"
" I'll do my best to complete the paperwork today. I'll need you to make a statement. Of course, there are forms ."