Runner-up 1

Palmieri rushed to the taxi line and stepped in front of a waiting Asian couple who were unaware. He didn’t want to be around when the guy in the men’s room got the cops involved. “1300 Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills,” he barked to the cabby. “Step on it, too.”

Palmieri stored his MB 500 at a storage facility and he had called ahead so that it was ready for him to pick up. He was private about his movements in the States since he was always under surveillance -- no one knew where he stored his cars. He had a feeling that he was being tailed recently, and he had the cab driver drop him off at the mall so he couldn’t be followed. The storage facility actually wasn’t far from Falco’s mansion.

He still hadn’t heard from Bonner, and he didn’t know where the flash drive was. He flipped open his cell and punched Bonner’s contact number. Bonner’s cell went into his voice mail after several rings, “I’m not available -- you know the drill -- name and callback number” -- came the curt answering message which was typical of his style.

Palmieri muffled his voice and shot back, “You know who this is, and you need to let me know what’s happening pretty soon. I have no patience waiting in the dark.”

It was greed that brought Bonner and Palmieri together five years ago. The entertainment industry wasn’t kind to all producers, and Bonner went through a rough patch. He had lost his youthful creativity and couldn’t seem to interest production companies in his ideas. His last success was the reality show that introduced him to Genie. Her voracious taste for expensive toys and travel forced Bonner to find supplements to his income; thus he met Palmieri on one of their junkets to Cabo. Falco joined in for the perks and to provide some protection from the feds.

Bonner and Palmieri populated their dating service by trafficking young girls across the border through Nogales. They had designed a network of passages through local law enforcement, immigration agents and “coyotes” that was hard to detect but also difficult to keep in line. This latest episode about the flash drive not showing up at the meeting in Cabo unnerved Palmieri.

Palmieri was dropped off at the mall and he made his way to the street on the other side -- the one-way streets made it impossible to tail him by car. He went to the street side elevator to the storage basement and picked up his MB that was parked and ready to go.

He had to think fast about how he was going to confront his partners. The raspy phone call with the impostor told him that the scheme was coming apart and he was losing control. He decided to drive to Hauser’s and take the back gate to the rear of Falco’s property and go through the French doors in the study.

When he took this route and saw the number of silhouettes though the etched windows he decided he’d better make a plan. He always wondered when he was going to have to use the Beretta stored up under the seat in his MB.

He decided to move around the front of the mansion, and he could see a motionless body lying next to the Birds of Paradise garden Evelyn nurtured. He ducked down and saw the daisy chain of thugs, Evelyn and Bonner all holding each other at bay. He didn’t want to be in the mix -- how could he keep his eyes on everyone?

Martinet, an executive for Big Brothers Big Sisters, says he is inspired by his family to write.