by Camy Tang
“Can we see the video?” Liam asked.
Samuel shook his head. “The police took it when they came around to talk to Tomas. They didn’t arrest him.”
Elisabeth asked, “Do you think we could talk to Tomas’s neighbors?”
“No,” Samuel said quickly. “It’ll cost me my job if I let you upstairs to knock on people’s doors. Plus, no one will talk to you about Tomas. They’re all too afraid of the gang. There’s at least two other Bagsics living here.”
Elisabeth chewed on her lip. “You can’t think of anyone who might speak to us?”
“I guarantee that none of his neighbors or friends will say anything.”
Samuel was so emphatic, Elisabeth didn’t doubt him. As they thanked him and got up to leave, she reflected that while Tomas’s friends certainly wouldn’t say anything, Joslyn’s friends might.
Mrs. Andrada had told them about Joslyn’s friend, Mariella Gable. Would she know something about Joslyn or Tomas that would unlock some form of proof about the murder?
* * *
Liam initially thought Mariella Gable’s apartment building was outside of Bagsic territory—until he spotted two young men in purple and gray loitering outside the nearby urgent care clinic. Liam turned his head away as they drove past the men.
“I’ll try to find parking farther from them.” Liam turned the car down a side street.
Easier said than done. However, he finally managed to find a spot in a tiny city-owned public parking lot several blocks from the clinic and Mariella’s home.
“If we weren’t trying to avoid them, I probably wouldn’t notice the number of Bagsics on the street.” Liam took a quick look around the full parking lot as he got out of the car.
“I’m still not convinced you’re fully disguised.” Elisabeth studied Liam, her eyes roving over his face and neck. “I might need to reapply your makeup later.”
Liam shrugged. “My guess is that only captains or higher know about me and my connection to you and Joslyn. And the captain we’ve seen so far today didn’t look twice at me.”
That could have been because the man had been too busy flirting with Elisabeth. A muscle in Liam’s jaw spasmed briefly.
As they headed down the sidewalk, Liam noticed how the wind had picked up and the sky had clouded over. There was the smell of cold ozone, although it hadn’t yet started to rain.
They turned the corner and headed toward Mariella’s building. Liam glanced briefly to where they’d last seen the two Bagsics, but they had disappeared.
The building was older but well cared for. They pressed the buzzer for Mariella’s apartment and waited, then pressed it again. After the third time, he said, “Sounds like she’s not home.”
“She might still be on campus.”
As they walked back down the sidewalk toward the car, a gust of wind tugged at the brim of his baseball cap. His hand was tangled in his jacket pocket, and before he could reach up to grab it, his cap flew off his head.
He whipped around and snatched it up off the sidewalk. As he straightened and turned around, however, he looked up.
Several yards ahead of them, on the sidewalk, were three Bagsics who had just come out of the urgent care clinic. One of them had his arm in a sling. His face also showed signs of bruising. At that moment, he looked directly into Liam’s face.
It was the hotheaded gang member. The one Liam had struggled with at Wings shelter in Sonoma.
And he recognized Liam at the same time. “Hey!”
The men were in between Liam and Elisabeth and the car. “Come on!” He pulled her back and they ran down the sidewalk.
He must have driven back to L.A. from Sonoma after the fight at the shelter. It made sense that he’d go to this urgent care clinic, since it was relatively near Bagsic territory.
“Let’s cut through here.” Liam took a sharp right down an alley that looked as if it would lead them back to the car. He looked over his shoulder and slowed when he saw Elisabeth had fallen behind, but she waved him on.
“Go! Start the car!” she shouted.
He sprinted ahead along the twisting alley. He turned another corner and could see the street up ahead.
A body barreled into him, slamming him onto the ground. His cheek scraped against gravel, and he could taste dirt and motor oil. He kicked out at the weight against his lower limbs, and his foot connected with something soft. He heard a low “Oof!”
Liam had been going to the gym since returning stateside, at first for his physical therapy, but then to train in mixed martial arts. He recalled the drills he’d learned from his coach and whipped out again with his foot, catching his attacker sharply on the side of one knee. The man cried out in pain and fell hard, clutching his knee, while Liam sprang to his feet.
He brought his hands up in time to block a punch from a second gang member. The man’s technique was precise—he’d been trained in fighting.
Liam delivered a few jabs that didn’t connect, then faked a left fist and shot out with a right punch. It connected with the man’s jaw, and he staggered backward but didn’t fall. Liam pursued him, but the man brought his arms up to block him.
Several solid blows to the man’s torso made the gang member curl inward, and Liam took the opening to grasp the back of the man’s neck and slam it down into his knee. The attacker crumpled to the ground.
Liam whirled, looking for the third man, who had been injured. He saw Elisabeth standing over the man’s inert form, clasping a short length of wood she must have picked up from the alleyway. She was breathing heavily.
“Are you all right?” Liam asked. His heart still slammed fast and hard against his chest from the fight.
She nodded. Her face was pale, but she looked strong and determined rather than frightened.
“Let’s get out of here.” Liam put his hand out and she took it. Her fingers trembled slightly, but she squeezed his hand.
They ran down the alley toward the street. They slowed when they reached the sidewalk, but walked quickly to the car. Liam kept a firm grip on Elisabeth’s hand, his eyes scanning the street for any more Bagsic members. Fortunately, they saw no more purple and gray as they climbed into the car and sped away.
“Oh, Liam.” Elisabeth’s eyes were pained. “We should have tried to disguise you better.”
“How? A decent wig would have been too hard to get at such short notice, and that man might have recognized me anyway. He got a good look at me when we were struggling at Wings shelter.”
“This only makes things harder for us.”
Liam knew she was right. Because now the Bagsic gang would know that Liam was in Los Angeles.
SEVEN
“You should have stayed in the car,” Elisabeth hissed to Liam as they walked toward Twin Springs College’s computer sciences building.
“I heard you the first three times.” Liam’s head swiveled left and right as he tracked the students who crisscrossed the large quad in the center of campus. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
“It’s more dangerous for you now that the Bagsics know you’re in L.A.”
“It’s just as dangerous for you to be alone. There’s a good chance they’ve figured out who you are, too.”
Elisabeth wasn’t entirely sure why she was more worried about Liam than herself. Perhaps because she was becoming accustomed to working with him. He listened to her, he respected her. He also argued with her, like he was doing now, motivated by his desire to do the right thing.
Liam opened one of the two wooden double doors to the computer sciences building and they walked into the front foyer. A young woman at the front desk looked up at them. “Can I help you?”
Elisabeth hesitated. The college wouldn’t simply give information on one of their students to complete strangers, but since Mariella wasn’t at home, there was a good chance she was still at school, maybe in class or in a lab.
She smiled at the receptionist. “I’m looking for a TA, Mariella Gable?”
“
I don’t have TA office hours here at the front desk, but they should be posted on the bulletin board just down the hall there, along with her office number and telephone number.” The receptionist pointed down a main hallway that ran behind the desk toward the back of the building.
“Thanks.” Elisabeth let out a long breath as she and Liam walked down the hallway.
“How did you know Mariella was a TA?” Liam asked in a low voice.
“I didn’t. It was a desperation play. I figured that there was a good chance that a student in the master’s program would also be a teaching assistant.”
“Nice.” He smiled at her, and as it had before, that smile made her stomach flutter.
Elisabeth forced her attention to the bulletin board, searching for Mariella’s name, and she gasped. “She really is a TA. Her office hours ended twenty minutes ago.”
“She might still be here.” Liam took off down the hallway at a run, but he slowed to look back at her. “Come on.”
They sprinted up several sets of carpeted stairs to the fifth floor. Liam got to the office door first and rapped sharply on the wood. Elisabeth, who had never been a strong runner, tried to get her breathing under control, a bit annoyed that Liam barely looked as though his heart rate had risen.
The door didn’t have a window in it, so there was no way to tell if Mariella had left already. They waited, and Liam knocked again.
This time, the door swung open to reveal an Asian woman talking on her cell phone. She held up a finger to them to indicate she’d be with them in a moment. “Yes, please change the appointment to next Thursday....Three-thirty is fine....Great, thanks.” She disconnected the call and said to Liam and Elisabeth, “Sorry, office hours are over for today.”
“We’re not students,” Liam said. “We were hoping to speak to you about your friend, Joslyn Dimalanta.”
Mariella’s expression didn’t obviously change, but she grew very, very still. “And who are you?”
“I’m Liam O’Neill. I’m a skip tracer. This is Elisabeth Aday, a private investigator. We’re trying to protect Joslyn by investigating her ex-boyfriend.”
Mariella’s dark eyes grew fierce. “Come in.” She closed the door behind them.
Elisabeth and Liam sat in the two chairs opposite Mariella’s desk, which looked as if a computer had exploded on top of it. “Tomas is an animal,” Mariella said. “The things he did to Joslyn...”
“We have reason to believe he killed Joslyn’s father.” Liam explained about Joslyn arriving in Sonoma and disappearing soon after Elisabeth had helped her, and everything they’d learned about the homicide.
“You have to make the police put Tomas away for good.” Mariella’s brows drew low over her eyes, which Elisabeth could see, in the light from the window, were brown streaked with green. She must have some Caucasian blood in addition to her Asian ancestry.
“We’re still looking for more information about what happened the night of the murder,” Liam said. “He told the police he was at a club at the time.”
“Which club? Sayawan?”
“Yes, do you know it?” Elisabeth asked.
“Joslyn and I went there sometimes after computer lab on Friday nights. Tomas has probably got five or six gang members willing to lie and give him an alibi.”
“We haven’t been able to find any proof otherwise,” Liam said.
Mariella’s mouth grew firm. “I know how you can find proof. My cousin Dawn works at Sayawan as a waitress. She would be able to tell you who was there that night.”
Excitement started to rise in Elisabeth’s chest. “Do you have her phone number? We can call to ask if we can stop by her home.”
Mariella shook her head. “You won’t want to talk to Dawn at her apartment. Dawn’s roommate has Bagsic ties—it’s how Dawn got her job at Sayawan.”
Elisabeth began chewing on her lip. Even if they talked to Dawn over the phone, there was a chance her roommate might overhear the conversation. “Maybe we could speak to her at work?”
“It would be easiest to talk to her at the club.” There was a strange light in Mariella’s eyes. “No one notices if a waitress is talking to a couple customers.”
“But there will be Bagsic members in the club.”
“They won’t be paying attention if you seem like normal customers. If you talk to her at her apartment, even on the street, someone will see you speaking to her and she might get in trouble with the gang.”
“We should go tonight, before those Bagsics have more time to tell people they saw me,” Liam said. “We’ll get disguises.”
“You probably won’t get in,” Mariella said. “Men have to wait in line, whereas all the young women get in right away.”
“I’m not letting you go in alone,” Liam said in a forceful voice. His blue eyes bored into Elisabeth, and she was hit with the full force of his determination.
“It’s a lot easier for me to change my appearance drastically with makeup and a haircut,” Elisabeth said.
“You won’t be alone, because I’ll go in with you,” Mariella said.
Liam and Elisabeth both paused their arguing to stare at Mariella.
“It’s too dangerous—” Elisabeth said at the same time that Liam said, “No way.”
Mariella’s eyes flattened. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been studying wushu martial arts since I was a child, and I can take care of myself. Just last week, I sparred against four attackers at once.”
Elisabeth had known another woman trained in wushu. She had been both graceful and formidable as an opponent.
“Dawn will also probably be more willing to talk to you if I’m there,” Mariella said. “And now that I know about Tomas’s alibi, I’m going in to speak to Dawn whether you come with me or not.”
Elisabeth looked at her helplessly. She couldn’t let Mariella go in there alone, asking questions about Tomas, but everything in her was screaming that this was a bad idea.
“I’ve been to the club before and know the bouncers. We can get in quickly,” Mariella said. “We’ll chat with my cousin, and be out in half an hour.”
Elisabeth and Liam exchanged uneasy glances. This was their best lead. And they couldn’t let Mariella go in alone.
“All right,” Elisabeth said. “We’re going to Sayawan tonight.”
* * *
Elisabeth stared in amazement at the miniature radio transmitter attached to a tiny microphone that Liam held out to her. “A wire? How did you get that?”
Liam shrugged. “I made a few phone calls while you and Mariella were getting dolled up.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You went out alone, with the Bagsics all aware you’re in L.A.?”
“It was only for a few minutes, and I met with people I trust.” Liam shoved the wire at her again. “Use the medical tape to attach this to your skin, under your shirt. That way, I can listen in. If things go south, I can try to get into the club to help.” His mouth was tight, and a muscle was working in his jaw. He clearly wasn’t happy about this entire situation, and Elisabeth figured the wire was his way of having some feeling of control.
“That’s a good idea.” Mariella drew Elisabeth toward the bathroom in her apartment. “Let’s put that on you.”
Once they were inside the bathroom, Elisabeth untied the brocade corset she wore over a long-sleeved shirt with ruffled cuffs, both borrowed from Mariella. They had both chosen gothic-themed clothes, which enabled them to wear extraheavy makeup. Mariella wore a black leather jacket over a skirt and knee-length boots.
“He’s just worried for you,” Mariella said as she attached the wire.
“I know.” It was strange to have someone worrying about her. She was so used to people not caring about her at all. But over the past couple days, she’d come to appreciate Liam, and to draw comfort in knowing he had her back.
“There,” Mariella said. “You’re wired for sound.”
“Let’s go.” She marched out into Mariella’s living room where Lia
m was waiting.
They’d held off until later in the evening so their arrival would be less noticeable. Liam parked near the back door, then got out the headphones attached to the receiver for the wire Elisabeth wore. “Let’s do a sound check.”
She reached behind her and turned on the radio transmitter. “Testing.”
He nodded. “I can hear you fine.” He held her gaze, his mouth set in a firm, unhappy line. “Be careful.”
She forced herself to break eye contact and aimed for a light tone of voice. “I will.”
Sayawan announced its presence with a huge neon sign above what looked to be a former manufacturing plant. The driving beat of dance music was muted in the darkness. Lights strung along the eaves all around the building showed clusters of men waiting in line. Women ambled to the front double glass doors, where the bouncers usually let them inside immediately.
“Here we go,” Mariella muttered, and led the way to the front doors. She smiled up at the bouncer. Elisabeth tossed her hair in its new pixie cut and added her smile.
The bouncer barely glanced at them before opening the doors for them. “Thanks,” Mariella chirped as they went inside.
The volume of the music hit Elisabeth like a door to the face. Liam wouldn’t be able to hear anything through the wire. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t be able to hear anything if she tried to speak to Dawn.
“Come on,” Mariella shouted. “It’s quieter near the bar.”
They navigated around the edges of the large room, illuminated only by brightly colored lights from the DJ box high up on the far wall balcony. The huge dance floor was packed with people, and even more clustered around the scattered bistro tables and up on the balcony that ran along three of the walls.
Elisabeth noticed several people with small plastic bags in their hands. They had a sticker with an image of a blue sun with sword blades for rays, similar to the symbol on the Filipino flag. The bags had small amounts of what looked like cherry-red–colored rock salt.
Crystal meth. She was almost sure of it. From the amount she could see, she would guess that this club was a hub for the Bagsics’ drug trade.