by Vivien Chien
“Okay…”
“If Donna was kidnapped, then who would have the power to overtake her?”
“It would have to be a man, I would think,” I replied. “If it were a woman, she may have been able to put up more of a fight and it would have caused a scene.”
“Okay, let’s go with that. And what man would do that?” Megan asked, attempting to lead me without giving her opinion.
“I suppose the only man we’ve come across so far … Bryce.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. There’s been something weird about that guy the whole time. He’s at the party, he’s Alice’s ex-boyfriend, he was at the house the day the fire happened, and now Donna goes missing.”
“But I saw Bryce at the Cedar Room after the fact,” I reminded her. “If he kidnapped Donna, would he just go to work and leave her unattended? She could escape or something.”
“Unless…”
“Don’t say it,” I said, cringing at the insinuation. I didn’t want to think of the possibility that Donna might be dead already.
“Okay, let’s flip the coin instead. Say Donna is guilty…” Megan proposed, changing the subject. “Then she wasn’t kidnapped and Bryce is innocent and the whole thing is just one big coincidence. And that also explains why her car is missing.”
“While it keeps her alive and well, that scenario doesn’t make me feel better, either.” I sank farther into the couch cushion hoping that it would swallow me.
“Well, on the bright side, at least we know Rosemary is innocent. That’s one person we can cross off our suspect list.”
“Unless this is part of her evil scheme,” I said, attempting to make light of the situation.
“Wait, do you think that’s possible?”
“No, that would make the least amount of sense. If Rosemary killed Alice, it would be to get her out of the picture. If she kidnapped Donna and killed her, then she wouldn’t have a job and killing Alice would have been pointless.”
“Okay, no Rosemary,” Megan said with resolve. She checked the time on her cell phone. “Well, I have to get going. You going to be okay here by yourself?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“I’m kind of excited to see Adam’s place. A home tells you a lot about a person.”
“Text me when you’re ready to be picked up,” I said.
She gave me a thumbs-up and headed out the door.
* * *
An hour before Adam was planning to pick me up, I received a call from Lydia. She sounded as hyper as I had been earlier in the day.
“Lana! I figured it out!”
“Figured what out?” I asked.
“Why Yvette’s name was familiar to me.”
My stomach dropped. “Why?”
“Meredith took a leave of absence about six months ago. We had a temp working for us. And guess who that was?”
I gasped. “Yvette Howard?”
“Bingo. She always went by Yvette, so when you said Evie, it wasn’t registering for me. Plus … well, it was six months ago and she wasn’t that crucial to my life. I’d forgotten all about her.”
“So she must have been the one working with Alice to blackmail Brenda and Donna, then!” I felt a sense of elation at the fact that we now knew where the information came from.
“She has to have been. It would explain how Alice got the files. Yvette must have stolen the information for her while she worked here.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“Well, unfortunately, this doesn’t take Donna out of the hot seat. All it means is that we know where the information came from. This officially gets us out of the hit-man zone.”
“Oh, thank God,” I said. Because there’s no chance on earth that Yvette would be a hit man … er, hit woman … right?”
“Not likely. I’ve dug into her past since I figured out the connection and it looks like she’s lived a pretty basic life. She jumps from job to job. Previous to the whole party planning thing, she did a bunch of temp jobs. Seems like she had no particular direction career-wise, and she doesn’t have any priors listed. No weird gaps of time missing. It’s likely she just took advantage of a good situation that fell into her lap.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe this. Alice was her way into these houses.” I started to wrap my brain around the two women working together. Susan Han had told me that Alice and Yvette had gotten closer in recent months. They must have been plotting their blackmailing business together that whole time.
“So now that we have this intel, we can guess that either something went terribly wrong between the two of them, or Donna got to her first.”
“I hope it wasn’t Donna.”
“I’m going to do some tracking on Yvette. In the meantime, you sit tight until I find something more concrete.”
“But shouldn’t I do this with you?” I asked.
“Not this time, chickadee,” she replied. “This time you let the lady with the gun handle it. Just in case. I’ll be in touch.”
She hung up before I could protest any more.
I didn’t like the idea of sitting on the sidelines. I didn’t like the idea that Donna was potentially guilty after all. She had been set up by Alice and Yvette. Yet something still didn’t feel right. It always came back to the kids. Donna would not leave her kids.
I began to pace.
Yvette was smaller than me. How would she overpower these people? How could she kill Alice? How could she kidnap Donna? It didn’t make sense.
Also, how would she even set Donna’s house on fire? Did she tamper with the wiring during the party, and it took that long for the fire to actually start? How would she even know that it would happen at all?
I thought about my conversation with Megan right before she’d left for work. Bryce. It had to be Bryce. Bryce could do the killing, the fire, the kidnapping, all of it. Then an alarm bell went off in my head. When I met with Evie, she’d spoken about Bryce as if she thought he was a swell guy. And Bryce had said he’d lied to everyone about his engagement because he was embarrassed. He’d told Alice that he had someone else to give the ring to. Was that someone else Yvette?
But Alice wouldn’t give the ring back, for whatever reason—that part was unclear. And it wasn’t in her things. So what happened to it? Again, I had to assume that Bryce was telling the truth and he didn’t really have the ring in his possession. Why lie about not getting the ring back?
I checked the time. I only had half an hour before Adam came to pick me up. There was no way I’d be able to sit this out tonight. I needed to do something. Especially if Bryce was the culprit. It would mean he was holding Donna somewhere.
I did a quick search on my phone to see if I could find an address for Bryce Blackwell, which I did; I just didn’t know if it was current or not. The information was from about three years back.
Hurriedly I texted Adam and told him I needed a bit more time to get ready because I was stopping at the store. If I told him what I was really doing, he probably wouldn’t let me go. I felt guilty about lying because we’d promised that we’d tell the truth no matter how much the other one didn’t like it, so I resolved to tell him about it as soon as he picked me up.
Before leaving the house, I went digging through my jewelry box and found a cubic zirconia ring that I’d purchased a while back from Kohl’s. It would pass for an engagement ring and would be convincing enough for someone to mistake it as one. My plan was to tell Bryce I’d found it in Alice’s room at Donna’s house under the bed when I was helping Donna clean and turn it back into a guest bedroom.
I didn’t know if anything would come of this or if I was wasting my time. But as Lydia said, I had to see what I could see.
* * *
Bryce Blackwell lived in a modest split-level house with an attached garage and decent-sized yard. I pulled my car a few houses past his driveway and turned in my driver’s seat so I could stake the place out. It appeared unsuspicious. His car wasn’t in the driveway, but it coul
d easily be in the garage. I checked the street for Donna’s car and found nothing. Although her car could also be in the garage … if he’d been the one to kidnap her.
There were no windows in the garage door, so I wouldn’t be able to see what was inside. Plus there was still daylight left, and I couldn’t exactly be sneaky with the sun still out.
I huffed. Now what?
If I went to the door and tried to strike up a conversation, it would be a little suspicious. How would I explain showing up at his house, tracking him down online? What could I possibly say as a reason for doing something so bizarre?
That’s when the worst and brightest lightbulb turned on in my head.
I shut the engine off, grabbed my purse, and flung myself out of the car. I hurried to the door so I couldn’t talk myself out of the plan. It was thin, but it was all I had. Maybe I’d be able to learn something while I was there, and I could take it back to Lydia.
I rang the doorbell and waited, my pulse thudding in my throat. My breath felt restricted, and I tried counting to five.
When the door opened, I almost jumped out of my skin. You see, Bryce Blackwell didn’t answer the door. Yvette Howard did.
CHAPTER
32
“Lana?” Yvette asked, gawking at me as if I had sprouted two heads. “What are you doing here?”
Everything in my body told me to run far, far away, but my feet refused to move. I tried my best to pretend that it hadn’t thrown me off at all that Yvette was standing in front of me. It was all coming together now. All in one fell swoop. And my brain was overloaded with the entirety of it all. Alice, Bryce, and Yvette had been working this entire blackmailing thing together. Something must have happened with Alice, and they decided to take her out. This had to be it. It just had to be. There was no other reason that Yvette would just so happen to be at Bryce’s house. I knew right then that Donna Feng was, without a doubt, innocent.
“Oh hi, Evie, I came by to see Bryce. I had something of Alice’s that belonged to him.” I was planning to bargain my way into Bryce’s house with the engagement ring that couldn’t be found.
“Come in,” she said, stepping to the side. “Bryce is in the basement, he should be right up.”
I set one foot in the house, those alarm bells in my head going off again and telling me not to. I had this horrible image in my head that I would not be leaving anytime soon. Turn back now, my brain said. This is the point of no return.
Once I had taken that second step into the house, Yvette shut the door behind me and I heard her slip the lock into place. I assessed the living room, which was a sea of big beige furniture and similar-colored carpet. A giant flat-screen TV sat atop an entertainment center that was made of that cheap-looking wood grain so popular in the 1990s. Everything appeared normal and mundane. No blackmailers living here.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Yvette sang.
“Yeah, you too,” I mumbled. I stepped off to the side with my back to the couch so I could face her better.
“So what brings you by?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest. Her lips twisted into a sadistic smile as if she knew her question would torture me. I had to assume she guessed at my involvement. Considering our previous conversation, I didn’t think it would be that hard.
I maintained my poker face, if only to not give her the satisfaction she desired. “Like I said, I found something Alice had that I believe belonged to Bryce. He mentioned he was looking for it the other day and I happened to find it while I was at Donna’s house.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of you.” Yvette broadened her smile, a little too wide for my taste. “I mean, to come all this way and not even be sure…”
“It’s really no trouble. Why are you here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“Oh you know, tying up some loose ends.”
It sounded ominous, and I didn’t like it. I took a moment to mentally beat myself up for thinking this was a good idea.
I heard footsteps coming up from the basement. Clomping, angry footsteps.
“If this is a bad time, I can always come back later.” My eyes slid in the direction of the footsteps.
“No,” a man’s voice said from the stairwell I couldn’t see. “I’d love to see what you think you’re going to give me.”
Bryce Blackwell appeared from the center of the house, holding a rather shiny-looking gun. The pulse in my throat quickened.
“Hey, Bryce…” I said. My left foot glided toward the front door. Without turning my head, I slid my eyes in the direction of the lock mechanism. I might be able to open it before he had a chance to aim. Keyword: might. “I found that ring you were looking for at Donna’s the other day. I have it here in my purse.” I started to reach into my bag.
Yvette cackled like a hyena. “She found the ring, Bry. Isn’t that cute?”
“Real cute,” he said with a snort.
Yvette extended a hand, rubbed my arm, and smiled sweetly.
I flinched. Gestures like that reminded me of psychopaths.
She closed her fist around my biceps and squeezed, digging her nails into the backside of my arm. “Oh sweetheart, there was never any ring. You bought that story about them being engaged? I love it.”
Try as I might, I couldn’t keep the surprise from my face.
They both laughed.
“What I was really looking for was that damn thumb drive,” Bryce said, stepping farther into the living room. “But don’t worry, we found it. Donna had it this whole time. Kept it all nice and safe for us.”
Yvette was still holding on to my arm. I tried to shake her off, but she wouldn’t let go.
“Where is Donna?” I asked, channeling the bravest voice I could muster. “I assume you have her if you have the thumb drive.”
“Do you wanna see your old friend?” Yvette asked in a baby voice. “Give her a little hug.” She shoved me in the direction of Bryce, and he caught me by the shoulders and spun me around.
“Move!” he barked. I felt the barrel of the gun graze my back. “Don’t get cute. I don’t have the patience for it.”
I held up my hands to show him I would comply and walked slowly toward the basement door. I took each step down with caution and wondered how the heck I was going to get myself out of this one. I listened to the footsteps of Bryce and Yvette as they followed behind me.
When we reached the basement, we turned a corner and there was Donna, sitting in a battered wooden chair with her hands tied behind her back and a bandanna tied around her mouth. Her hair was a disheveled mess, her mascara had bled down to her chin, and her cheek was bright red as if she’d been smacked in the face. Her eyes widened and muffled words came from her covered mouth as I came into view.
“Donna!” I rushed over to her, forgetting about the gun aimed at my back.
“See?” Yvette said. “Reunited. And it feels so good…” She snickered to herself.
“Are you okay?” I asked Donna, ignoring our two captors.
She nodded, her eyes closed and tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, she’s just fine for now,” Bryce said. “Both of you are … for now.”
I whipped around to face him. “What do you even want from this? Money? She’ll give it to you.”
“It’s too late for that. She caught me rifling through her crap and saw my face. I can’t let her go now.”
“Stupid hag,” Yvette spat. “Just had to be efficient and set up your little electrician appointment, didn’t you? Other people might take their time with something like that. Maybe let the shock wear off. Maybe recuperate from almost being burned alive. But no, not you.”
Donna glared at her.
I tried to plead with Bryce. “She’s not going to tell anyone who you are. Not if you have the thumb drive. So just let us go. We’ll keep your secret and you keep hers. It’s a fair deal.”
“Oh, you want to bargain, little girl?” Bryce laughed. “Is that what you think is going to
happen here? I’m not stupid, you know. I know a thing or two about a thing or two.”
“So what are you going to do then? Hide us out in your house forever?” I asked. “You think that’s going to work out for you? My boyfriend’s a police detective, he’ll figure it out.”
“My boyfriend’s a police detective, he’ll figure it out,” Yvette said, mimicking me. “Shut up, you little brat. Your boyfriend isn’t going to find you until it’s too late, so stop hoping.”
Bryce waved the gun at me. “No, I’m going to kill you both. It’ll look like a mob hit.”
“A mob hit in your house?” I asked, a little too boldly.
“No, dimwit. Later, once it’s nice and dark out, we’re all piling into Ms. Moneybags’s car and we’re gonna take a little drive … head out to the pier. It’s a popular place for mob hits. I’m thinking execution-style, what do you think, babe?” he asked, turning to Yvette.
She clasped her hands together in mock excitement. “It sounds perfect to me.”
“We’ll leave the thumb drive with your bodies. The cops will figure out who Donna Feng really is, and they’ll put together this whole big ordeal that didn’t happen. Really, we have to thank Donna for making it so easy. If she hadn’t lied about who she was, none of this would even be possible.”
Chills ran up and down my arms. No one knew where I was. Not Lydia, not Adam, and not Megan. Adam would be showing up at my apartment right around now, and my only hope was that he would find it suspicious that I wasn’t back yet. But how the heck would they figure out that I was trapped in Bryce Blackwell’s house?
Lydia was onto the fact that Yvette was involved with the blackmailing, but part of Lydia still thought that Donna was guilty, and she didn’t think that Bryce’s bizarre behavior had any connection to the current situation. So would she even entertain the idea that Bryce might somehow be involved and come here searching for more answers? Probably not.
While I’d been contemplating my chances of survival, I hadn’t noticed that Yvette had been digging around for some twine, which she promptly dangled in front of my face with pride. She pulled another ratty chair from the corner of the room and slammed it down next to Donna’s. “Now be a good little girl and sit in the chair. I won’t gag you if you promise not to scream like this old hag did.”