by Vivien Chien
My patience was dissipating. “What makes sense now?”
Jessica turned to me. “Alice overheard us talking about how cool Bryce was … she seemed to get kind of mad about it, but we couldn’t figure out why. Then she told us to not drool over scumbags before storming out of my room. We figured she was totally PMS’ing.”
“Oh really?”
“Yup,” Jill confirmed. “Like I’m a total B when I’m getting my period, you know?”
I pursed my lips. “No, not that. That she told you that Bryce was a scumbag.”
“Oh…” Jessica appeared dumbfounded. “Why does that matter?”
“No reason,” I said, feeling the urge to think over this information in privacy. “I’ve gotta get going. Don’t forget to have your mom sign those papers. It’s really important,” I told them before shutting the door.
Bryce Blackwell, come on down, you just made the top spot on my list of suspects.
CHAPTER
27
That evening when I left the hotel, I went straight home, grabbed my notebook from under my mattress, and wrote in a flurry. I had so many thoughts and was having a hard time keeping up with them. Bryce had been bugging me this whole time. I knew that something about him and his relationship with Alice didn’t add up. The only thing I couldn’t figure out now was why Alice would hire him to work at Donna’s party if she thought he was a scumbag.
Something must have happened in between the time she suggested it and the day the party actually took place. But what?
I also wrote down what Evie/Yvette, whoever she was, had said about Alice potentially sleeping with Brenda Choi’s husband. Was that even a real possibility? Yvette had been the only one to mention it, and I wasn’t convinced I could trust her.
My mind quickly rearranged the pieces into a few new theories: Bryce could have found out about the affair and threatened to tell Brenda Choi. The ex-couple then had a huge fight about it the night of the party and Bryce lost his temper. Or he did tell Brenda Choi, and Brenda herself was the reason Alice had ended up in the pool. And that would explain why Brenda helped Alice get a job with Donna and why Brenda wanted me to be suspicious of Rosemary. To ultimately take the attention off herself.
I felt hyper. I started to pace the length of the apartment. Kikko followed me at first but quickly grew tired of the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere useful.
I couldn’t wait until the following day to take action. I tried Megan’s cell phone. Not a good chance she would pick up, but I didn’t know what else to do with myself.
She picked up on the second ring. “Hey,” she whispered.
“You answered. What the heck are you doing?” I asked. “Why are you whispering?”
“I’m hiding in the bathroom,” she hissed. “I had to get away. This guy sitting at the bar is driving me nuts. He keeps calling me toots, who even says that anymore? But you didn’t call to hear me complain about work. So what’s up?”
I told her about my visit with the twins and Evie/Yvette.
“Weird for sure,” Megan replied. “Also weird how she came to Bryce’s defense like that. Shouldn’t that be the opposite? You know, kinda like how I hate jerk-face Warren?”
I cringed at the sound of his name.
“Speaking of,” Megan continued. “What is the deal? Have you dealt with him yet?”
“No, I haven’t even had time to think about it. I really don’t want to…”
“You need to do something,” she said. “Either tell him to go away or have the talk and get it over with. Dragging it out like this isn’t good for you. Land the plane already.”
“I will, I just need to get through this Donna ordeal first,” I said. It dawned on me at that very moment that I might be using Donna’s situation to hide from my own problems. I kept saying I would deal with it once everything was done, but would I? Or would I find something else to hide behind? How long could I keep lying to myself? Megan was right: I needed it to be done and over with. Though I had moved on, there was still a part of me that was holding on to something. Once I talked things over with him, it would all be behind me. Isn’t that what I wanted?
I groaned in frustration at myself and tried to shake the thoughts away.
Megan sighed, following along with my mental downward spiral. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. You’re right, deal with it later. This is more important.”
“I need to talk to Bryce again.”
“When I Googled him, I think I saw that he plays weekly at one of the small bars downtown. Do you want to go check it out?” she asked. “Maybe you can corner him there. I doubt he’s going to willingly meet with you again now that he knows what you’re questioning him about. Especially if he’s guilty.”
“I don’t want to go alone…” I admitted.
“Damnit,” she huffed. “I hate that I’m stuck here every day.”
“I know, it’s less fun this way. Are they ever going to hire someone?”
“There’s a final interviewee coming in this week. I told them they’d better hire this person or I’m out of here. You realize I can bartend downtown and make way more money than I do here?”
“Yeah, but isn’t the point to get out of bartending and become the manager? You’ve put in so much time there,” I reminded her.
“Eh, I’d rather have the tip money than deal with these shenanigans for much longer. Anyway, I’ll text you the place he plays at … I think he should be there tonight. Also, I never thought I’d say this, but take Kimmy with you.”
“That’s actually a great idea, she’s always up for last-minute adventures.”
“I’d better get back out there. I’ll talk to you later.”
I said goodbye and hung up. Ugh, Peter was going to kill me for this.
* * *
“This is gonna be awesome,” Kimmy said from the passenger’s seat of my car. “We are gonna work this guy over so good, he’ll be beggin’ for his mama.”
I glared at her from the corner of my eye, trying to keep my focus on the road. “Kimmy, it’s not that serious. We’re only going to ask a couple of questions. We can’t actually accuse him of anything. We don’t technically have proof. Besides, it’s not like he’ll admit to us what he did. We just have to find enough evidence to take to the police.”
When I had called Kimmy to tell her about confronting Bryce, she forced me to give her the entire scoop on what had been going on with the investigation. After I made her swear up and down that she wouldn’t tell a soul, especially Peter, I agreed to give her as many details as possible without giving up Donna’s real secret. She seemed content with the working theory that Alice had been possibly having an affair with Brenda Choi’s husband and didn’t question me too much after that.
“Details, details,” she said, waving me off.
I stopped for a red light. “Kimmy, seriously, do not go accusing him of killing Alice while we’re standing right in front of him. If he is guilty, that could cause us a lot of problems.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t,” she said with disappointment in her voice. “You are forever ruining my fun.”
Fifteen minutes later we were at a small bar on Euclid Avenue called the Cedar Room. It was exactly what you would expect from the name … a cedar room. There were advertisements on a board outside saying that it was industry night. A decent crowd had shown up for discounted drinks.
We sidled up to the bar after I had instructed Kimmy, yet again, to act casual. I discreetly scanned the room and found Bryce exactly where he should be, at the DJ booth. He was surrounded by a few men and women who were all holding shot glasses in the air and laughing about something that Bryce was saying.
I watched as they did their shots. Then the little grouping of people ambled away to find seats at one of the small tables off to the side.
While I kept an eye on Bryce, Kimmy ordered our drinks. I wasn’t paying attention to what she ordered, and when I took a sip of my drink, I almost spit it back out.
; “Kimmy! What the hell is this?” I yelled at her over the music.
“It’s a Jack and Coke. You like that, right?”
“Did they put any Coke in it?” I noted the pale color of my drink.
She shrugged with a sly smile on her face. “What can I say? The bartender is friendly.”
Inner groan. Yup, Peter was definitely going to kill me.
“So what now?” Kimmy asked. “That’s our boy up there?” She nodded toward Bryce.
“Yup, that’s him,” I confirmed. “He hasn’t noticed us yet, which is good.”
“Oh, who the hell cares?” She gulped from her own drink and I saw her jaw slightly clench. “It’s not like the minute he sees you he’s going to run out of here screaming like a crazy man.”
“You’re right. He can’t exactly up and leave.”
“So just go up there and say what you gotta say. I’ll be right behind you.” She nudged my shoulder with her fist.
Taking a deep breath, I set my path through the small crowd and made my way to the side of the DJ booth. It took Bryce a moment to realize I was standing there, and when he saw me, he did a double take. He held up a finger signaling he needed a minute. I turned to Kimmy, and she gave me a wink.
I watched him push some buttons and turn some knobs before he slid his headphones off his head. “What’s up?” He gave me and Kimmy a nod. “I don’t take requests if that’s what you came up here for.”
Really? Did he not recognize me? Or was he just pretending? I half expected him to ask me what I was doing in his place of employment. “No, we didn’t want to request anything. I came to talk to you about something. I know you’re working, but it’ll only take a minute.”
Agitation washed over his face, but it was so subtle that if I had looked away for even a moment, I would have missed it. “Can you give me like five minutes? I’ll meet you guys out on the back patio.”
“Sure,” I replied amiably. No point in acting like I had an issue with waiting, even though I could feel my impatience creeping back up.
Kimmy and I found the back door to the bar and stepped out onto the patio. The evening air was warm but pleasant, and we found an empty picnic table to sit at while we waited.
Kimmy lit a cigarette and bopped her head along with the music that was coming out of the outdoor speaker. “When he comes out here, don’t let him off too easy. I saw guilt written all over that pretty boy’s face.”
“You think?”
“Oh, for sure,” she said, blowing out a puff of smoke. “He did something wrong. I know that look. I’ve dated that look.”
We waited past the five-minute mark, and Bryce never came outside. Ten more minutes went by, and I started tapping my foot anxiously. I checked the time on my phone again.
“Drink your drink and chill, woman,” Kimmy said, clinking her glass against mine.
“I have to drive,” I reminded her. Flustered, I stood up. “Stay here, I’m going to see what he’s doing.”
Right before I left our table, the back door of the bar opened and Bryce stepped out, scanning the patio. When his eyes fell on us, he nodded and walked over. He was cool, calm, and casual. It reminded me a little of Warren, and my stomach did flops that told me to be careful. We were dealing with a charmer, no doubt.
I sat next to Kimmy so he would have to sit opposite both of us.
He took the seating cue and threw a leg over the picnic bench. “So, what’s up?”
“I know you’re short on time so I won’t beat around the bush,” I said.
“Good,” he replied, checking his watch. “I have one of my friends covering for me at the DJ booth, and I told him I wouldn’t be long.”
“When we talked last time, you told me that your relationship wasn’t that serious with Alice.”
“Yeah, that’s right. So what?”
“Well, why’d you tell Donna Feng that you two had been engaged?” I didn’t bother telling him just yet that the only two people I knew to be friends with Alice had also said he was of no consequence.
“Yeah, why’d you do that?” Kimmy asked, pointing her cigarette at him.
He raised an eyebrow and then looked at me. “Who’s this? Your wingman?”
“Never mind her,” I said, not wanting to steer off topic. “Answer the question. Were you engaged to Alice or not?”
He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Yeah, okay, we weren’t actually engaged. But I had proposed. It’s no big deal really.”
“How come nobody knew about the proposal itself?” I asked. “I feel like that’s something you’d share with your friends.”
“Because she said no,” he replied. “I didn’t want anybody to know about it, so I made her promise not to tell anyone; it was super embarrassing for me. But when Alice … passed … I wanted Ms. Feng to know that someone had cared about her. I didn’t want her stuff to sit in that house for weeks on end before it all got taken to a Goodwill, or worse … a dumpster.”
“So you basically lied to get Donna to pity you?”
He leaned back, shock on his face. “What? No, I don’t want anyone’s pity. But I needed her to know that I was a legit part of Alice’s life. Even if Alice said no to my proposal, we had still been in a serious relationship. It wasn’t a total lie. I wasn’t just some random guy trying to take Alice’s stuff.”
“And why did you want Alice’s stuff anyway?” Kimmy asked. “I mean, if my boyfriend turned down my proposal, and then died, I wouldn’t exactly want his things as keepsakes.”
He turned to face her. “What business is it of yours?”
“Just answer the question,” I said. “The sooner you answer us, the quicker we’ll leave.”
He huffed, shaking his head. “Fine … she kept the ring.”
“What?” Kimmy and I asked in unison.
“Yeah, she kept the damn ring, okay?” He ran his hand through his hair again. “I’m not made of money, you know? I work hard for what I have. And I wasn’t going to let that ring just go wherever.”
“Why didn’t you demand it back when she said no?” I asked.
“I told her to think about it,” he said. “I thought that maybe if she held on to it and looked at it, she’d change her mind, okay? I know it’s dumb, but whatever.” For a moment he appeared sad over the memory. But with everything I’d learned recently, I had a hard time buying the act.
“So then why would she call you a scumbag?” I hadn’t forgotten what the twins had said about their conversation with Alice. Right before she died, there was something about him that she didn’t like, and I needed to know what it was.
“I asked her for the ring back when I saw her at the party. I told her I had someone else to give it to.”
“You are a scumbag!” Kimmy yelled. “Who says that to a girl they supposedly love? You’re lucky you’re not my boyfriend, I’d smack ya one good and hard right across that smug face of yours.”
“You’re right, I am lucky,” he replied sarcastically.
Kimmy gasped and started to rise. “You little—”
I grabbed her arm, pulling her back down.
Through clenched teeth, she said, “You’re also lucky that my friend here is of the levelheaded variety, because I’d give you two black eyes to take back with you to the DJ booth.”
He snorted. “Whatever.”
“Okay, enough, guys,” I said, scolding both of them. “Let’s stay on topic here.”
“That’s all I have to say,” he said, putting both hands on the table and hoisting himself up. “I asked her for the ring back, she wouldn’t give it to me, end of story.”
“Nothing else happened?” I asked as he walked away.
“Nope, and I still don’t have the ring, either. It wasn’t in her stuff, in case you were wondering.”
* * *
We left shortly after that. On the way home, I couldn’t tell how I felt about the exchange and whether or not I thought Bryce was actually telling the truth. Maybe he w
as.
There was still something that didn’t make sense to me. It all came back to that thumb drive. It showed up on the same night that Alice was murdered. Bryce killing Alice because of jealousy or out of desperation didn’t tie in with that. None of it did.
And I was frustrated with Kimmy losing her temper, because Bryce clearly cut the conversation short after that. I never got to ask him if he knew whether or not Alice was seeing someone else.
In the morning, once I got the signed papers from Donna and took them to Lydia, maybe she’d be able to make sense of this whole mess. Because I was just going in circles.
CHAPTER
28
The next morning, I was amazed by how soundly I had slept. So soundly that I had missed four phone calls from a number I didn’t recognize. There were voice mails attached to them, and with my eyes still half closed, I listened to the first message.
“Hello, Miss Lee, this is Rosemary Chan. I am currently at the Hilton hotel downtown with Jill and Jessica Feng. Their mother has not returned from her meeting with the electrician. Please call me at your earliest convenience. Thank you.”
Despite the calm and levelheadedness in her voice, my body went into an immediate state of panic. Donna had not returned from her meeting with the electrician?
I quickly called the number back, my heart pounding like a drum in my throat. “Rosemary!” I exclaimed when she answered the phone.
“Miss Lee, good morning,” she said in a calm tone. “Thank you for returning my call.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you back sooner, I slept through everything.” Her first call had been around two a.m. I felt ashamed by the fact that I’d missed four calls.
“It is quite all right,” she replied, maintaining her calmness. “I wanted to alert you that Ms. Feng is currently missing and I am watching over her children. Jill and Jessica are safe.”
“When’s the last time anyone spoke with her?” I asked.
“The last people to see her were the children, Miss Lee. She has been missing since that time. Mrs. Feng left to meet the electrician shortly after lunch yesterday. When she didn’t return by late evening, Jessica called me to inquire if I’d heard from their mother. I came over here straightaway and attempted to call the police to ask for help, but they have time frames for this sort of thing. However, because she is a suspect in an ongoing murder investigation, it has been noted that she might be a flight risk.”