“I didn’t see him on her Facebook page,” I said. “Wait a minute....on her Twitter page, she tweeted about a guy three days before she was murdered. That was probably the guy she was talking about.” Scott’s face went pale. “Do you know where we can find this guy?”
“He lives in town, and I think he’s a real estate agent, but that’s all I know,” Scott said.
“We need a computer,” I said.
“Why?” asked Stephanie.
“Well, since we’re here, we can try and find this guy to see if he knows anything.”
“I thought you said we’d go right back to school?”
“We will. Right after we have a little chat with Mike Ellis.”
“So what, you’re Nancy Drew now?” Stephanie bantered.
“Wait a minute,” Scott blurted. He turned around and opened his locker, then pulled out his laptop. “Here, you can use this.” He brought his laptop to life and connected to the school’s wifi, then handed me the laptop.
“You’re a lifesaver!” I shrilled.
I crouched down and placed the laptop on the floor in front of me, then hovered my finger over the mouse. I opened a browser and did a Google search for Mike Ellis Real Estate in Lockhaven, and two results came back. The first one was a man who looked like he was in his fifties. He had salt and pepper hair, and he was balding. The second guy was much younger. He had a rugged look, with deep-set eyes, and a square jaw. Bingo. I clicked on his website, where he displayed various houses for sale. He worked for a real estate company called Lockhaven Realty Group. I scrolled down to where it said Contact Us and clicked on it. I pulled my Motorola out of my pocket and pressed the memo icon, then typed the office address in my phone and handed the laptop back to Scott.
“Come on, Stephanie, let’s go. Thanks for your help, Scott,” I said.
“No problem.”
“Bye,” Stephanie waved.
We jumped in Stephanie’s car and put on our seatbelts. Stephanie turned on the ignition while I typed the address in my Waze app. She shifted the gear into drive, then accelerated down the street.
“So, what are you going to say to this guy?” she asked, gripping the steering wheel.
“I don’t know yet.”
We suspiciously looked at each other for a second.
The engine purred as we glided down the street. I stared out the window and thought about all the people with a motive to kill Brooke: first there was Claire, the girl who hated Brooke immensely; then there was Mike, the ex-boyfriend. At that point, it just wasn’t clear who could have murdered Brooke.
The car lurched as Stephanie veered into the agency’s parking lot. We parked in front of a brown bricked office building, then Stephanie cut the engine and pulled the keys out of the ignition. We got out of the car and strode towards the glass double doors at the front of the building. A girl wearing a headset sat at the reception desk. She had big hair and long nails painted purple.
“Can I help you?”
“We’re here to see Mike Ellis.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but we really need to talk to him.”
“I’m sorry, he’s with a client right now. You can leave your name and number, and he’ll get back to you.”
“Okay,” Stephanie said.
She started to turn around, but I grabbed her arm and held her back. “This is really important,” I said. “If you can just maybe tell him it’s about Brooke Tillier.”
The girl gazed at me for a long moment. “What’s your name?”
“Hanna.”
“Just a minute.” She turned towards the phone keypad and dialed his extension. “Hi. Mr. Ellis. There’s two girls here to see you, one of them named Hanna.” She didn’t say anything as she waited for him to respond. “I told them that, but they insist it’s important. Something about a girl named Brooke Tillier.” She glanced at us before she spoke again. “Will do.” She ended the call and swiveled around in her chair to face us. “Please take a seat, and he’ll be with you in a moment.”
“Thank you,” I said.
We sat down on the leather lounge chairs behind us. As we waited, I observed the wall of pictures in front of me. There was a sign that said Meet the Team! and underneath it was a headshot of each real estate agent in the company. They were listed alphabetically by last name. I spotted Mike’s picture; it was the same picture as the one on his website.
After some time, Mike Ellis appeared in the reception area. He wore black dress pants, a royal blue dress shirt, and a grey tie. He had short layered chestnut brown hair, styled similar to Zac Efron in High School Musical. He was shaking hands with an older gentleman; probably the client he was meeting with. He spied me staring at him and walked towards us.
“Are you Hanna?”
“Yes.” I stood up to shake his hand. “This is Stephanie.”
“Hi,” Stephanie said.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” I said.
“I’m actually really busy today. What’s this about?”
“You dated my friend Brooke Tillier?”
His eyes darted around the room, and he put his hands in his pocket. “Yeah, so?”
“Well, are you aware that she’s dead?”
“Let’s go talk in my office,” he whispered.
We followed him past the reception desk and rounded the first corner. He led us to the first door on the right, then stepped out of the way so we could go inside first. A desk was inside the office, and on top of it were a flat screen computer monitor and a phone. Loose pieces of paper were scattered next to a couple pens, and a card holder full of his business cards sat at the edge. There were two leather waiting room chairs across from the desk, so Stephanie and I sat down in them. He closed the door and sat down in his chair.
“I’m aware of Brooke’s death,” he said. “It’s all over the news.”
He leaned back in his chair and cupped his chin in his hand, covering his mouth with his index finger. He appeared stunned, but I couldn’t tell if it was an act.
“The news said the police suspect foul play. That she was murdered,” he continued.
“Yeah…her wrists were cut.” I looked at him and continued. “Somebody killed her and tried to make it look like a suicide.”
“Do they have any suspects or leads?”
Yeah…me. “Not really.”
“So, where were you the night of September 25th?” Stephanie blurted.
“Me? Wait, you think I had something to do with her death?” he exclaimed as Stephanie gazed at him.
“Well,” I said, “on Twitter she posted about somebody being a jerk, and then three days later she was murdered. I know you dumped her and she wasn’t happy about that. So what…was she a pain in the ass? Was this your way of getting rid of her?”
“Care to explain?” Stephanie pressed.
He sat up in his chair. “First of all, Brooke and I broke up like three months ago, and I haven’t seen her since.” He picked up his iPhone and fiddled with the buttons. “The night of September 25th, I was with a client, so there’s no way I could have killed her.”
“Really?” I said sarcastically.
“Yes…really. Look, we hung out and had a little fun, but it wasn’t serious…at least, not for me.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?”
“No, sorry.”
I took a deep breath as I looked at Stephanie. “Okay, let’s go,” I said, then she and I stood up as Mike followed our lead. I took one of his business cards and stuffed it in my pocket.
“Sorry for dropping in like this,” I said, then whirled around to leave the room.
“I want you girls to know that I liked Brooke and I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Mike said. I craned my neck to look at him, and he rubbed his chin. “I thought we were just having fun. She was a nice girl,” he finished.
“Yeah…she was,” I said. “Thank you for your time.”
Stephanie and I wandered out of the room,
then headed back to the car. On our way back to school, I started craving a vanilla latte.
“Hey, wanna stop at Starbucks?” I asked.
“Sure,” Stephanie beamed. “We’ll probably have to wait until we get to Willowdale, because I doubt they have a Starbucks in this town.”
The two of us laughed hysterically as Stephanie merged on the highway.
“So, do you think he’s lying?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
We soon arrived at Starbucks and ended up going through the drive-thru.
“What do you want?” Stephanie asked me.
“Vanilla latte, please.”
When we reached the drive-thru window, Stephanie placed our order. While we waited for our hot beverages, I noticed a blue sedan parked across the street. The driver was wearing a pair of sunglasses, and it felt like he was staring right at me – but I didn’t recognize him.
“Hanna,” Stephanie said as she nudged my arm with her elbow.
I looked at her, and she handed me my vanilla latte. When I looked back, the blue sedan was gone.
We headed back to school and got there in time for fifth period.
“Thanks for the ride, Stephanie,” I said.
“No problem.”
“Well, see you after school. You’re coming over to my place, right?”
“Yeah, for sure. Wouldn’t miss it,” she said with a smile.
I got out of the car, turned around, and headed to class.
***
When we got to my house, my mother was sitting at the table in the kitchen on her laptop.
“Hi, Mom! What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to set up a Facebook page.”
“What?! Why?”
“Apparently, Hank is on Facebook, and I’m a little curious, that’s all.”
“Okay, have fun with that. Can you please peel your eyes away from the computer screen for a second? This is my friend, Stephanie.”
She closed her laptop. “Nice to meet you Stephanie,” she said. “So, do you go to Willowdale High, too?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“She writes for the school newspaper,” I offered.
“That’s good. So, Hanna, how was your day?” my mom asked. I went to Lockhaven to try and find Brooke’s killer. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“It was okay. Well, we’ll leave you to your Facebook. We’re going to my room.”
“Okay, honey. Stephanie, will you be staying for dinner?”
“Sure.”
“What are we having?” I asked.
“Shepherd’s pie.”
“Sweet!”
“I’ll call you girls when it’s ready.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mom.”
We left the kitchen and headed to my room. When we got there, Stephanie said, “Your mom is really nice.”
“Yeah, she’s great.”
“Where’s your dad?”
“My parents got divorced. He still lives in Deerwood.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.”
“So, is that where you and your mom moved from?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you ever miss it?”
“Yeah, sometimes.”
Stephanie wandered around my room and looked at all the pictures I had displayed. She stopped at the one of me and Marisa at Willow’s Peak Beach. In the picture, I wore a teal bikini and Marisa wore a black sexy cut-out one-piece that she bought from Victoria’s Secret. Next to that picture was a silver framed photo of me with my mom and dad on my tenth birthday. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was one of the best memories I had of my parents together; when we were a family. It was a warm Saturday morning, and my mom was up early that morning, decorating the house for my birthday party. I was wearing a yellow summer dress with pink and white flowers on it and flip flops on my feet. My hair was parted into two braids, one on each side, and I had bangs. We all looked so happy in that picture...why did things have to change?
“Wanna listen to some music, Stephanie?” I offered.
“Sure,” she replied.
I sauntered over to my computer and turned it on, then opened the music folder to find my playlist and selected Katy Perry. I logged on to Facebook to see what was going on in Facebook world. I had a friend request waiting, so I clicked on it to see who it was. O.M.G! It was my mother! There was no way I was adding my mother as a friend, so I decided to ignore it.
As Stephanie leaned over to take a closer look, she placed her right hand on my shoulder. I noticed a charm bracelet dangling from her wrist. It was sterling silver, and it had four charms on it: a book, a star, a key, and a heart with an inscription on it.
“Nice bracelet,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said as she removed her hand from my shoulder and lowered her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“My mother gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday. It came with one charm attached, and every year on my birthday she gives me a new charm.”
“Oh, that’s so nice. What does this one say?” I placed the heart charm in my hand and read the inscription Happy Birthday, Love Mom. “Nice. What about your dad?”
She sauntered over to my bed and sat down with her legs crossed, then picked up one of my pillows and gently placed it on her lap.
“My dad passed away when I was ten.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” She squeezed the pillow between her hands. “I barely knew my dad. While I was growing up, he never visited or called me. Birthdays would go by with not so much as a card or a phone call. I figured he just didn’t give a damn about me, that maybe I was a mistake. Then a couple months ago, I was looking for something in my mother’s room and found an old shoebox filled with letters addressed to me from my dad. In each letter, he said he loved me and the reason he didn’t come see me is because my mom kept him away. I was so angry at her, because for the past ten years I thought I did something wrong. That he didn’t want anything to do with me.” She brushed some hair away from her face. “When I confronted my mom about the letters, she broke down and finally told me the truth.” A tear glistened like silver in the corner of her eye. “My mom told me he cheated on her when she was pregnant with me, so she kicked him out. She said she was just trying to protect me. Apparently, he knocked up the woman he was cheating with and ended up moving in with her. Like one big happy family.” Her bottom lip began to tremble as she sniffed and wiped tears and grime away from her face with her hands. “Because of that bitch, my parents split up. She ruined my family.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Sorry. I always get upset when I talk about my dad.” As she pushed some hair behind her ears, she suddenly cast an angry look while fiddling with her charm bracelet. “You know what, I think I’m gonna go,” she said as she sprung from my bed and adjusted her top.
“What? Why? I’m sorry I brought up your dad. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please stay.”
“No, it’s okay. I really have to get home. Please tell your mom thanks for the invitation. Maybe some other time.”
“Okay, see ya,” I said.
Stephanie grabbed her stuff and left. I heard the front door close, then my mother suddenly appeared in my bedroom doorway.
“Hanna, I thought your friend was staying for dinner?”
“So did I.”
“What happened?”
“I asked her about her dad, and she broke down.”
“Oh, dear. Well, I guess it’s just you and me, then. Come on, let’s go eat.” I stood up, and she put her arm around me. “By the way, did you get my Facebook request?”
***
The next morning before Claire picked me up for school, I sat at the kitchen table, eating a vanilla Activia yogurt when my mother came in all chipper.
“Someone’s in a good mood this morning,” I said. “I guess things are blooming between you and Hank?” I asked before putting a spoonful of yogurt in
my mouth.
“Well, if you must know, yes, they are,” she said with a smile on her face, her cheeks rosy.
I took a swig of my orange juice, stood up, and smoothed out my shirt. My mom poured a cup of coffee as she surveyed my outfit.
“You look nice. New clothes?”
“New for me. Claire let me borrow them.”
“That was awfully generous of her.”
“I know, right?” I heard a car honk from outside. “That’s Claire. I gotta go to school,” I said as I grabbed my purse and books.
When I got to the car, Claire was applying her lip gloss in the visor mirror while Katie sat in the passenger seat fiddling with her phone.
“It’s about time, new girl!” Claire exclaimed.
“Whatever! Where’s Jessica?”
“Who knows? She’s been acting weird ever since Angela’s party.”
I hopped in the back seat. “Do you think she’s okay?” I asked.
“She’s fine. She’s probably just looking for attention. She can be such a toddler sometimes,” Claire said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and looking at Katie as the two of them laughed.
Claire put the car in drive, and away we went. When we got to school, we settled in the quad until the first bell rang. As Claire looped her arm through my elbow and started walking with me, a familiar looking woman suddenly charged towards us. Her hair was dishevelled, and she was dressed in black slacks and a burgundy bow blouse. The muscles in her face looked tense, her eyebrows were pulled together, and her lips were thin enough to form a line.
She walked right up to me and spat, “You! You did this!”
“Excuse me? Did what?” I asked, recoiling from her.
Her face was red, and tears spilled from her swollen eyes. Just then, I knew who she was: Brooke’s mother. I recognized her from the pictures I saw in her house the night I found Brooke dead. Everybody stood there in awe of what was happening. Brooke’s mom looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She put her hand on her chest and tried to catch her breath. I unhooked my arm from Claire’s and cautiously walked towards her.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” she said, clenching her teeth. “I don’t know how you two did this, but I know you’re involved!” She had a bulging vein on her forehead.
Masquerade of Lies Page 10