“I think that means he likes you.”
“Oh, stop,” Vanessa said.
“Too soon?” Jerry suddenly looked embarrassed. “Shee-it. I’m not here five minutes and already my foot’s lodged in my mouth. It hasn’t been that long since John—”
“Don’t be silly,” Vanessa said with a smile. She followed Jerry out to the driveway. “That’s not what I meant. I’m a cop. He’s a biker and an ex-outlaw. Not exactly a match made in heaven.”
“Whatever you say.”
“I’ll drive.” She unlocked the unmarked. “You’re really here for a week?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jerry said. “Talking to you got me all riled up about Tyler again, and I feel bad that I never looked into Kyle Grimmie when Tanner asked me to. Maybe I could have prevented the next two boys from disappearing. Or maybe not, I don’t know. But what I do know is I’m not going home until I figure out what happened to Tyler Wilkins, once and for all.”
TWENTY-ONE
In his office at Wonderland, Oscar looked down at the number he’d scrawled on the scratch pad in front of him. Wendy Kerse, the loan officer from the bank in Seaside, had left a voice mail on his cell phone asking him to call her back. It was, of course, regarding the loan he’d applied for to buy the restaurant by the beach. But he couldn’t determine from her tone whether the news would be good or bad, and he was afraid to find out.
Taking a breath, he called her anyway.
“Oz, great news. You’ve been approved,” Wendy Kerse said. “I’m sorry it took so long, but I got you an interest rate at a point lower than I originally quoted.”
“That’s . . . fantastic.” Oscar couldn’t speak for a few seconds as he processed this news. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“I’ll have the paperwork ready for you in an hour or so, so come in anytime and we’ll get everything signed. It should be a quick escrow so you’ll have the keys in thirty days. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Wendy.”
“Anytime.” There was a slight pause, and when she spoke again, her voice sounded a little softer. “Listen, if you’re here around noon, we could do the paperwork over lunch. The café right next door does a great tuna melt.”
“I . . .” Oscar was thrown. Was she suggesting a date? Wendy Kerse was a few years younger than he was, and quite attractive, and ordinarily he would have been interested. But his thoughts were still with Vanessa, and he had a feeling that if he was spotted out with the bank officer—something that was bound to happen—it would kill any chance of anything happening with the deputy chief.
“I’m sorry, I actually have a lunch meeting. But I can come near the end of the day, if that works.” He purposefully did not suggest having lunch at another time.
She got the hint. “Of course.” She spoke a little too quickly. “See you then.”
He hung up, and a moment later, a silly grin spread across his face.
Goddammit, he was about to own his own restaurant. Cuban and Spanish food, live music, an expanded patio for breezy summer dinners, maybe even a small dance floor—he could see it all in his head. El Mago would be the start of a new life.
He swiveled his chair to face the window, looking down at the park below. Was he finally ready to leave this place? He’d be walking away from a good salary, generous benefits, and a job he knew so well he could do it in his sleep. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Could he spend the next twenty years of his life at a job he could do without thinking?
His intercom buzzed.
“Good, you’re there,” Bianca said when he answered. Instantly, Oscar’s happy buzz faded. “I need to talk to you in my office. Now.”
“Can it wait?” he said. “I’m right about to—” There was no point in finishing his sentence. She’d hung up already.
Cursing, he stepped out of his office and into the main waiting area, where Jamie was seated at the reception desk. She looked up, her thick black-framed glasses perched at the tip of her nose.
“When did Bianca get in?” He kept his voice low.
“Just now.”
“What kind of mood is she in?”
Jamie rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses farther up her face. “The same mood she’s always in. Hurried and bossy, with a side of mildly annoyed.”
Oscar stifled a sigh. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Why does she want to see you?”
“I was going to ask you that.”
“Why would I know? She doesn’t tell me anything.” Jamie frowned. “Quit standing there and skedaddle. Or do you want to add ‘pissed off’ to the menu?”
She had a point. A few seconds later, Oscar was down the hall and at Bianca’s door.
The CEO was sitting on the small sofa near the far window, legs crossed primly, the view of Wonderland unobstructed behind her. Of course her office had the best view of the park, second only to her apartment on the top floor.
Not that he’d been inside her apartment for a while.
“Close the door, Oz.”
He did as he was told. “Everything okay?” he asked.
She directed him to sit, and he took a seat on the opposite end of the sofa, as far away from her as possible. She always made him just a little bit nervous, although he supposed that was part of the attraction. But all that was in the past. Now there was someone new he couldn’t stop thinking about.
“I just called Earl Schultz and got an update on the Homeless Harry case,” she said. “They’re still investigating, Oz.”
“Of course they are,” Oscar said. “It’s a homicide now.”
“And the Wonder Wheel Kid?” Bianca stared at him, her face unreadable. “They’re still investigating him, too. Earl’s been doing the best he can to deflect attention away from the park, but that’s getting harder to do considering their pictures are splashed all over the Internet.”
“Give it time.” He did his best to sound reassuring. “It’ll die down.”
“Once something’s on the Internet, it’s there forever.” The CEO’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Earl told me the new deputy chief’s been working on both cases. What’s your take on her?”
“I don’t know anything about her.” Oscar shifted slightly. Bianca knew nothing about his night with Vanessa, and he intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. “Why would I?”
“You talked to her for a while the other day, didn’t you? When she was here at the park. What was your impression of her?”
“She’s . . .” Oscar thought hard, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “She’s very professional. She seems to know what she’s doing.”
“But the surveillance footage didn’t show anything, right?”
“I watched it before I handed it over. It just showed the Wonder Wheel kid climbing, that’s all.”
She exhaled. “I hate that PD has our hard drive. It makes me feel very . . . exposed.”
Only Bianca Bishop could take something like that personally.
“I had to give it to her,” Oscar said. “It’s best to cooperate, and she would have gotten a warrant, anyway.”
“I looked her up,” Bianca said. “She’s very attractive. Recently widowed. Two kids. New in town. I imagine she’s lonely. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you . . . befriended her. I’m sure you were your usual charming self when you met her, but why not invite her to lunch? Or dinner? You’re both single. Nothing wrong with that.”
Oscar frowned. “You trying to pimp me out?”
“Jesus Christ.” Bianca gave him a dirty look. “Don’t be so goddamned sensitive. I’m not saying you should fuck her. I’m saying, get closer to her. She probably doesn’t know many people here. She might appreciate the friendship, and we’d be able to keep tabs on how the Homeless Harry and the Wonder Wheel Kid investigations are progressing.”
“I thought Earl was keeping you informed.”
She pursed her lips. “Good old Earl seems to have taken a step back. He’s been slow returning my calls, and when we spoke earlier, he actually encouraged me to contact the new deputy chief directly. I understand he’s busy with all that city council revitalization bullshit, but I hate that I can’t rely on him to give me updates in real time right now. I have to wonder if he’s on his way out of the department. Did you know that the reason he hired Vanessa Castro is because she’s friends with Frank Greenberg?”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“Apparently our mayor and her late husband were in the army together. Mayor Greenberg made it very clear to Earl that if he didn’t hire her, his job was in jeopardy. Talk about calling in a favor, since it seems like she left Seattle PD under some controversy. Apparently one of her old boyfriends is a drug dealer. And her husband might have killed himself, though the official report says he shot himself by accident. Which I suppose I understand; she does have kids. The stigma of suicide would be terrible.”
“Everyone has a past, B.” Oscar met Bianca’s gaze with a steady one of his own. “Even you.”
“I’m just saying. Get a little closer. It couldn’t hurt.”
Oscar sighed. He didn’t know why he was even bothering to argue; Bianca would push and push until she got him to agree. He could always save himself the trouble and just tell her that he already had a relationship—of sorts—with Vanessa, but for some reason, he was feeling extremely protective of whatever it was he had with the new deputy chief. And he didn’t want to tell Bianca about it because he didn’t want his former lover to belittle or diminish it, something she was likely to do.
Ironically, the last woman he’d felt this protective over was Bianca herself.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he finally said.
“Does she know I was here at the park that night?” Bianca asked.
Oscar shook his head. “I never mentioned it. To anyone.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way.” The CEO smiled. “Anyway, that’s not the only reason I wanted to speak to you. Here,” she said, handing him a letter-sized envelope. It must have been in her hand the whole time, but he hadn’t noticed it. “Surprise. You’ve earned it.”
Not understanding, Oscar took the sealed envelope and tore it open. Inside was a certified check made out to him, and the amount had four zeros attached. Nick Bishop’s signature scrawl was in the bottom right corner. He stared at it, completely confused. It was a signature he hadn’t seen in years. Everybody at Wonderland was paid electronically; they employed a team of accountants for that.
He looked up. “How is this—” he said, but Bianca cut him off.
“It’s a bonus,” she said. “I know our profits are a bit down, but that’s not your fault. Cash it, you’ve earned it. I know we could have done this electronically, but there’s such an air of ceremony in cashing a check, don’t you think? Besides, when you go to the bank and deposit your bonus in person, people will know the park is doing well, and we need for people to believe that. We’ve taken such a beating in the media lately.”
Oscar stared at her. Had she lost her mind? “I don’t understand,” he said.
“Come on, Oz.” Bianca tilted her head slightly. “Don’t play dumb with me. I was at the bank this morning. I know about the restaurant. Your loan was approved, wasn’t it?”
Fuck. Was nothing confidential in Seaside? Oscar sat up straighter. “Yes, but I haven’t made any final decisions. I just thought it was worth exploring. I didn’t say I was actually going to do it. And if I did, it doesn’t mean I’d leave the park. It would be, you know, a side thing.”
As soon as he said the words, he knew it was a lie. He wanted out. He had never wanted out more than this moment.
He was so, so done.
“Oz, nobody understands more than I do what it’s like to have worked here for so long.” Bianca turned and looked at the view of Wonderland. “Over twenty years for you, nineteen for me. I was only seventeen when I started here. It was supposed to be a summer job. You think I thought I’d still be here almost two decades later, running this place? Sometimes I think the best thing to do would be to sell it.”
“Then sell it.”
Her gaze reverted back to him. “It’s always a possibility, Oz. Six Flags calls every year to see if we’re interested in making a deal, and I got word that Cedar Fair might be interested, too. I feel like any year could be our last year here at the park . . . at least the park as we know it. If a big corporation takes over, they won’t keep us. They’ll clean house and appoint a new management team. And then what would I do?”
She was unbelievable. Everything, as always, was all about her. “I’m sure you could work out a deal so that you, at least, could stay. If not, you’d move on to something else. As would I.”
“Doing what? I never went to college. The park is all I know.” Bianca’s voice was matter-of-fact. “You’re buying a restaurant, for god’s sake. That’s a full-time job, Oz. I went through this with Uncle Nick. I know an exit strategy when I see one.”
Oscar said nothing, because there was nothing he could say to that.
“But I’m not ready to leave yet,” she said. “Maybe one day, but not yet. And while I’m here, I want you to be here, with me. With Uncle Nick gone, I can’t do this by myself. You know how hard it is for me to admit that.”
Oscar again didn’t know what to say. Nothing he was thinking at the moment was anything he could share with her.
He had his secrets, she had hers.
They sat in silence for a moment. Looking out the window again, she reached up and unfastened her signature bun from its tight coil, allowing her auburn hair to spill over her shoulders in waves. Instantly it made her look years younger, not that she was old to begin with. At thirty-six, she was twelve years younger than Oscar, and very beautiful. People often didn’t notice how attractive she was because of her strict demeanor and the buttoned-up way she dressed and wore her hair.
Running her fingers through the strands, she massaged her scalp, the tension gradually easing out of her face. Her hair was almost waist length, something most people didn’t realize. She rarely allowed herself to be seen wearing it loose.
With the late-morning sun on her face, she looked vulnerable. And sad. He still felt affection when he looked at her, this hellion of a girl who’d agreed to work at the park only because her uncle talked her into it. He’d watched her grow up and mature, until that one crazy night when they’d discovered each other in a physically intimate way that had changed him forever.
But he didn’t love her anymore. Not that way. Finally, blessedly, it was over.
“B . . .” His voice was quiet. “I won’t lie, okay? I do want the restaurant. I’ve been here a long time, and I need something . . . more. I’m not getting any younger, and if I don’t take the risk now, I never will.” He put the check back into the envelope and held it out to her.
“I’ll double it,” she said. She didn’t take it.
“What?”
“Your bonus. I’ll double it. And I’ll add another ten percent to your salary.”
“B, that’s—”
“Okay, fifteen percent. And profit sharing. We talked about that before. You deserve a piece of this place. I’m CEO, I can make that happen.” She mistook his silence for hesitation. “Okay then, twenty percent. Do the math, Oz. Twenty percent more than what you make now. Where else could you possibly make that kind of money?”
“Nowhere. But it’s not about the money, goddammit.” Frustrated, Oscar stood up and started pacing. “I don’t need this anymore. More importantly, I don’t want this anymore.”
“What about me?” She looked directly at him. Her green eyes were sad. “You would really leave me?”
“I should have left a long time ago.”
&nb
sp; If it were anyone else, those words might have been hurtful, but it was Bianca Bishop. She didn’t feel things like other people. Because she wasn’t like other people.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about us.” She attempted a smile, but it seemed desperate and not at all sincere. “I know when we talked last year you said you wanted more from me, and I couldn’t give you what you wanted. But I think I can now. I think you and I could be—”
“I’ve met someone.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a few seconds, and then her sadness morphed into anger. “I see. So that’s what this is really about. You’ve met someone and now all of a sudden you want a whole new life. After everything Uncle Nick’s done for you. After everything I’ve done for you.”
“And what exactly is that?” Now Oscar was getting angry, too. “Everything you’ve done for me, everything Nicky’s done for me, I’ve paid back. And then some. I’ve been nothing but loyal to both of you, and to this park—”
“You’d be nothing without us.” Bianca’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Nothing.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t say things you’ll regret. Don’t make it ugly.” He tossed the check onto the table. “Keep your money. I’ll stay till we find someone to replace me.”
“I thought you loved me, Oz.” She reached for his hand.
He stopped in his tracks. “I did love you. But you never loved me back, I see that now. Everything I’ve done, I did for the wrong reasons. And you’ve never been grateful. You were too busy fucking your little Wonder Worker boy toys.”
“What?”
“You think I don’t know about that?” He extracted his hand from hers. “I know you were involved with Blake Dozier. You were upstairs, in your apartment, all night that night. Were you with him before he disappeared?”
“I—” Bianca seemed completely flustered. “No, of course not. I would never . . . I mean, we did . . . I had nothing to do with his disappearance.”
“I didn’t ask if you did. But thanks for confirming that you were sleeping with him.”
She turned red. “It’s none of your business.”
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