Hot as Sin: Billionaire Elements Read online

  “I’ll ask around. See if anyone has any connections.”

  “I’d appreciate it. I think I’ll hold open auditions, too. Maybe I can discover the next Dayme Arocina.”

  Salima laughed at that. “Wouldn’t we all want that?”

  As the women moved on to the mats to do their stretching, some guy who had been watching them work out decided that this was the perfect time to go lift free weights right near them.

  Grinning at each other, they silently mocked the man as he was flinging weights around in an unsafe manner and grunting loudly. In a low voice, Ava said to Salima, “He’s going to pull a muscle if he keeps throwing those weights around.”

  Salima laughed and replied, “I think he’s hoping we’ll be the one pulling his muscle…”

  Ava burst out laughing. “You’re terrible.”

  Chapter Five: Like Father, Like Son

  Caleb and Ramon sat in that café for hours and hours. They’d started with coffee and plates of eggs and pulled pork, and ended with beers and tacos. They normally didn’t eat this much, each man said, but it takes a lot of fuel to catch up on a lifetime of memories. The waitress just left them alone, coming over every so often to see if they needed refills, or water, or more food.

  Over the course of the day, they discovered that they had a lot in common. They were both left-handed, were allergic to mangoes and were huge football/soccer fans. Of course, the last one wasn’t exactly a genetic trait, they laughed.

  Caleb was saddened to hear that not only had his birth mother not returned to Cuba, but Ramon had never divorced or remarried. Instead, he’d thrown himself into his career as a firefighter. He would often offer to take longer shifts at the station so that the younger guys could have more time with their families.

  As the sun set and the sky began to darken, the men embraced and agreed to meet the next day. Ramon wanted to show Caleb the fire station where he’d spent so much of his life.

  Before they went their separate ways, the older man said, “It is wonderful to see the man you have become, Ramon. The family that raised you did a very good job.”

  * * *

  “It was the craziest thing, Gina. He looks just like me. I mean, just like me!” Caleb leaned back on the headboard of the bed at the hotel. He had been so excited to tell someone about meeting his birth father, but somehow telling Susie or his brothers didn’t feel right. So, he’d called his best friend the second he’d walked in the room.

  “Oh lord, warn the women of Havana. Two Caleb Elliots running around?” Gina laughed.

  “Look, you might not be interested in men, but it shouldn’t shock you to know that some women find me attractive.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they do. Librarians...scientists… girls coming out of a convent. Pretty much any girl who can’t get any attractively handsome man.”

  She was teasing him, of course, because the opposite was true. Women of all ages tended to throw themselves at Caleb. Gina would often joke that she was only friends with him so that she could be around all the pretty women that flocked near him. Unfortunately, they were all straight.

  “So your birth mom never made it back to Havana?”

  “No, I guess not. And technically, they’re still married. So I hope she didn’t marry anyone else in Miami!”

  “What if you did one of those DNA tests online? Maybe you could find your mom that way?” Gina said. “Remember when I connected with some random cousins my mom found on the Internet after doing one of those DNA tests?”

  “That’s a really good idea,” Caleb said. “It’s a shot in the dark, but definitely worth a try.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Caleb met Ramon at the coffee shop again, and after a quick bite, they headed out to the Havana Fire Department. Although the fire department was located on a military base, Ramon was able to make some calls the night before and get permission to bring his son inside.

  “You have your birth certificate and passport, yes?”

  Waving the leather folder that contained his papers, Caleb nodded “yes”.

  “Let’s go!”

  About half an hour later, the two men walked inside the fire station. Ramon was greeted with a warm welcome, and Caleb could tell that he was very beloved by the men and women he had worked with for so long.

  One man, in particular, came up to Ramon and embraced him. “How have you been, my friend?”

  “I’m well. I wanted to bring my son Ramon… I mean Caleb by to see the station. Caleb, this is my friend Marco. He’s been working here since I was a firefighter here.”

  Extending his hand in greeting, Caleb said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  As soon as the others heard that this was the son that Ramon had been telling them about for all those years - “My son who went to live in America…”- they all came rushing up to meet him. “Te pareces a tu padre!” they said. “You look just like your father!” The pride was written all over the older man’s face.

  The three men went on a tour of the station, and then afterward headed out to the Fire Museum in Old Havana. Caleb loved hearing the stories that both Marco and Ramon told. He was impressed at the bravery and service his birth father had shown in his career.

  Marco told Caleb how in early 2018 Cuban firefighters had dispatched three firetrucks and a helicopter onto an outpost to help extinguish wildfires that threatened U.S. Navy base housing. Evidently, Cuban military firefighters fought the fire on a northern portion of the base and Pentagon-employed Jamaican and U.S. firefighters fought the same fire on the blaze’s southern side.

  Although they were proud of the cooperation between Cuban and U.S. firefighters, Marco and the other men lamented the fact that they were forced to use outdated firefighting equipment.

  In fact, Caleb was shocked at how “retro” the station was, compared to what he’d seen back home. They barely had any fire trucks, and the ones they had were old and often in the shop. There were some old Soviet-designed helicopters, remnants of the Cold War, that were better candidates for being in a fire museum than for actually putting out fires. Resources were clearly stretched very thin.

  As Caleb and Ramon shook Marco’s hand and headed out to grab a quick dinner, he couldn’t help but wonder if there were some way to help his father’s former colleagues.

  Chapter Six: Havana’s Got Talent

  “Should I send the next one in, Boss?” Joey brought Ava another Diet Coke.

  Sighing deeply, Ava rubbed her temples. “Can you give me five minutes? That last guy gave me a headache.”

  She was in the midst of auditioning performers to replace Michele, and it was not going well. But, when Michele had called earlier that morning with an update, Ava had sounded positive. The last thing she wanted was for Michele to feel worse that she was letting Ava down. With a husband who had a broken back and would need months and months of rehab to be able to walk again, young children at home and a thriving music career that now needed to be managed from home, Michele had enough on her mind.

  The open call for performers had brought out pretty much every “wannabe” in Havana. First, there was “Carlos Habana” who was a Carlos Santana cover performer. Except his electric guitar was off-key and his fellow singer looked like a drag queen. Not that there was anything wrong with drag queens, but Ava wasn’t looking for one.

  Then, there was a girl who looked so young and nervous that Ava had asked Joey if he’d checked her ID. She was indeed 18 and had a decent singing voice, but absolutely no stage presence.

  The last one was a guy who was good enough, but there was something off about him. His name was Petar something, and he was really bland. What Ava was looking for was someone with that “wow” factor - someone who would draw the kinds of crowds that Michele had drawn.

  It seemed to be a harder task than Ava was up for at the moment, but she really didn’t have a choice. The club was going to be open again tomorrow, and when her customers discovered Michele wasn’t performing and there wasn’t a
n outstanding replacement, word would travel quickly and her business would drop.

  Getting up to stretch her legs, Ava went to the kitchen and grabbed another Diet Coke. She normally didn’t drink this much soda but needed the energy to get her through the rest of these auditions.

  “Okay, Joey. Send in the next group.”

  Ava turned the page on her notepad, and as the shadowy figures came out onto the stage, she leaned forward into the microphone that sat on her table and said, “Hi there. Thanks for coming. Can you tell me your names, the name of the group if any, and what notable experience or success you’ve had? Then, I’ll tell you when to begin your performance.”

  A woman stepped from the shadowed area of the stage into the spotlight. With long, silky brown hair that hung straight from the top of her head all the way down to her knees, she made a striking first impression. “Hello, my name is Astrud. This is my partner Humberto. Together we are Jupiter Rising.”

  Putting her hand over her eyes and squinting, Ava said, “Humberto, can you step into the light? I can’t see you where you are standing.”

  In response, the man took three big steps forward. “Is this better?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Ava was a bit surprised at Humberto, frankly. He was shorter than Astrud, a bit overweight, and had an odd mustache. They truly made for a strange looking couple, and Ava couldn’t help but wonder if they were more than musical partners. For Astrud’s sake, she hoped not.

  “Can you tell me a bit about your musical experience?”

  “Yes. I am originally from Brazil, where I had a somewhat successful career as a singer. I recorded two albums, and some of the songs from those albums were played on the radio.”

  “What genre?”

  “Samba and bossa nova.” She looked down at her feet and smiled, “My mother named me for Astrud Gilberto, and gave me singing lessons as a child. I don’t think I ever really had a choice to become a singer.”

  “I’ve never heard of Jupiter Rising. What brings you to Cuba?”

  Humberto went to stand next to her. Astrud towered over him as she leaned into him affectionately. “I came to Havana for love. Humberto and I met when he was on holiday to Rio.”

  That made a lot of sense to Ava. In her experience, chemistry and attraction were incomprehensible. You either have it or you don’t. Someone can look perfect for you in every way, but if you just don’t feel it, you can’t manufacture the feeling. Conversely, someone can be the complete opposite of you, and you can’t keep your hands off each other.

  Not that I remember that, Ava thought cynically. It had been a very long time since she’d been involved with a man. Her longest relationship had been with Bobo Flamingo’s.

  “Okay, let’s hear what you’ve got.”

  Leaning back with her hands behind her head, Ava didn’t have high hopes. Yes, Astrud had the best qualifications of anyone so far, but a few songs on the radio didn’t mean she was talented. It just meant she had a good record producer. Let’s hear what she sounds like live, Ava thought.

  Astrud and Humberto walked back into the shadows, and Ava heard recorded piano and drums start to play. She recognized the tune. It was Girl from Ipanema, by none other than the woman’s namesake, Astrud Gilberto. Wow, that takes courage, Ava thought.

  The spotlight shifted and Ava could see Astrud from the back. Her glossy hair hung straight down, and her left foot was tapping. At the perfect time, she turned and sang, “Dark and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking…”

  Wow! What a voice! Ava was impressed. Now, she waited to hear Humberto. He was surely no Stan Getz.

  At the moment when the smooth saxophone enters the song, Humberto stepped out from the shadows dramatically and began playing. He was technically alright. He was on key and on beat. But there was something missing. Some passion or life force. Not to mention the fact that he was a most unattractive man.

  As the song continued into the sax solo, Ava had heard enough. “Okay, thank you. I’ll let you know in a day or so.”

  They thanked her and then walked out the side door as Ava wrote notes about their performance.

  “We only got one more, Boss. Then we’re done for the day.”

  Ava laughed at that. He may be done for the day, but she still had a bunch of work sitting on her desk. It was going to be a long night.

  * * *

  She was right. It had been a long night. Her dinner break, if you could call it that, was spent on the phone with Salima talking about the auditions.

  “Did Astrud and Humberto have any other musicians other than themselves?”

  Stuffing empanadas in her mouth, Ava answered, “No, just lead vocal and saxophone.”

  “Are any of Michele’s group staying?”

  “Yes, actually. The keyboardist and drummer are staying on. Plus the bass player.”

  “Oh perfect. So you’ll still have a quintet.”

  “I haven’t decided to hire them yet, but yes, I would.” Ava really liked Astrud, but there was something creepy about Humberto she couldn’t put her finger on. But, the only way to get Astrud was to take them both.

  After her dinner “break,” Ava had to rework what they were going to do tomorrow night. Even if she hired someone right away, they’d need some rehearsal time.

  Just then, Ava’s door opened. “I’m taking off, Boss. You sure you don’t want me to stay? It’s pretty late. I don’t mind sticking around.”

  Looking at the clock, and realizing that it was almost eleven, she said, “You go on, Joey. I’ll be out of here in a few minutes. Thanks for the offer.”

  “No worries. You take care of yourself, okay?”

  Grinning and flexing her biceps, Ava said, “I always do.”

  * * *

  The next half an hour was spent with Ava planning out the activities for the next week. She’d decided to throw a “Luna Festival,” in honor of their headliner Michele Luna. It would be a fundraiser, of sorts, with a part of the proceeds going toward Mario’s recovery. They would have karaoke of Michele’s songs, special drinks and other activities to make it fun. And buy myself time to hire someone else, she thought.

  Chapter Seven: The Flamingo’s Dance

  “You need to get out.”

  Looking at Ramon to see what he meant, Caleb raised his eyebrows. “You mean right now, or in general?”

  Laughing, Ramon said, “Neither. But how about tonight I take you to my favorite club?” Taking a sip of his coffee and motioning to the waitress that he was ready for the check, he added, “It’s called Bobo Flamingo’s. Hottest place in town.”

  “You have a favorite club?” Caleb was surprised. “Well, well, there is a whole other side to Ramon Diaz. Retired firefighter by day, Bobo Flamingo’s dancer by night.”

  The older man chuckled. “There’s a lot you don’t know about your old man, mijo. As they say, ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’”

  The two men grabbed their things and headed for the door of the café. “All right, Ramon. You’re on. I need to see for myself what this Bobo Flamingo’s place is like, and more importantly, see what Ramon Diaz, Man of Mystery is up to.”

  * * *

  The bass was thumping audibly as they drove by the club. The large pink and green sign illuminated the street below, leaving the words Bobo Flamingo’s reflected in the puddles. Despite the rain, the line of people waiting to get in stretched around the building.

  “Looks pretty busy tonight, Ramon. Maybe we’d have better luck on a different night.” Caleb had no desire to stand in a long line in the rain just to get inside some loud club.

  “No worries, mijo. It’ll be fine.” Ramon pulled his car up to the valet, who said, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Diaz” as Ramon gave him the key.

  Looking at the older man, Caleb grinned. “You weren’t kidding when you said you come here a lot, were you?”

  Ramon just smiled and said, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to Joey.”

  Caleb starte
d to head toward the back of the line and Ramon asked, “Where are going?”

  “To the end of the line? We can’t cut in front of all these people.”

  Laughing heartily, Ramon said, “Caleb. I’m part-owner of the club.” Leaving Caleb standing there with his jaw dropped, Ramon headed toward the front door.

  * * *

  Ramon patted Joey on the shoulder as he walked up to the entrance. “Joey, this is my son. Caleb, this is Joey Perez. He’s the bar manager, but sometimes he plays bouncer too.”

  Caleb could see why. Joey was built like a truck, with biceps the size of cantaloupes. “Nice to meet you.” Surprise registered on Joey’s face, but he made it a practice not to ask too many questions of the people at work.

  “Is Ava in?” Ramon asked.

  “She is. Check the kitchen.” Joey unhooked the velvet rope that had the entrance to the club blocked off.

  Following Ramon in, Caleb was impressed at what he saw. Despite the funny name, the interior of Bobo Flamingo’s was first class. Laser lights were spinning, illuminating the smoke with pink and green beams. Someone was handing out pink and green lollipops, and Ramon grabbed two and gave Caleb one. They walked by a waitress handing out tequila shots, and Ramon grabbed two of those as well. Shouting over the music, he said, “Here, mijo.” Raising the shot glasses, they toasted each other, as they made their way to the back of the club. Caleb figured they were heading toward the kitchen to find this Ava person.

  Watching his father shake hands and embrace people as they walked around the club, Caleb couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Ramon had seemed like a typical retired person at first, having late breakfasts and early dinners. But, considering that Ramon was only in his mid-fifties, it was clear he wasn’t winding down his life in any way.