7 Hairpin, Hair Dryer and Homicide

by Cindy Bell

  “Is she still in custody?” Bekki asked and handed him his phone back.

  “No, right now all we have are a bunch of maybes, not any actual proof, but we've asked her to stay in town for a few days while all of this is sorted out,” he sighed as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “I really hope I'm wrong about this, she seemed so upset when I talked to her.”

  “She was that way with me, too,” Bekki admitted with some wonder in her voice. “I didn't think anyone could fake that kind of grief.”

  “Maybe the pregnancy hormones help out,” Nick suggested. “I've heard that pregnant women will weep over commercials, and other little things. Do you think you'll be like that?” he asked.

  “What?” Bekki asked, distracted by her thoughts of Emma.

  “Do you think you'll be all weepy and sentimental when you're pregnant?” he asked more clearly and waited for her to look up at him.

  “Uh, I hadn't really thought about it,” Bekki replied hesitantly as her mind began to race in reaction to what he had just asked.

  “Oh,” Nick nodded a little. “I just figured women think about those kinds of things.”

  “Well, now I am,” Bekki laughed and elbowed him lightly in the side. “Besides, I thought you would be the one to carry the kid!”

  “So, you do want to have a child with me?” Nick asked with a smile spreading across his lips. Bekki stared at him incredulously.

  “I didn't think you'd be okay with me having one with anyone else,” she teased him, her eyes sparkling. He smiled as if he had won the lottery and kissed her firmly.

  “Just checking,” he murmured softly.

  “Nick,” Bekki said as she looked over at him. “Don't think for a second that I want to be with anyone else,” she said as she studied him. “There's no one else in the world for me, don't you know that?”

  Nick nodded a little though there was a bit of a blush in his cheeks. “I do, I guess, I just wanted to be reminded. Is that foolish of me?” he looked up at her with uncertainty.

  “No, it just tells me I need to be reminding you more often,” Bekki smiled and snuggled close to him. “So, why don't we make sure you get the message?”

  “Sounds good,” Nick replied with a wide smile.

  “We have to pack in all the reminders we can,” Bekki added casually as she tugged him towards her bedroom. “Since I'll be flying to paradise on Friday!”

  “Oh?” Nick mumbled, distracted as she leaned in to kiss him. “I thought we were headed to paradise right now.”

  Bekki laughed at his comment, and closed the door behind them.

  Chapter Seven

  Even after Bekki’s passionate night with Nick, the first thing on Bekki's mind when her eyes opened in the morning was Emma. She felt fooled by the woman, but she also had a nagging suspicion that she had overlooked something. The only way to know for sure was to confront her with the picture. While Nick slept, Bekki texted the picture on his phone to hers. She hoped he didn’t mind, and since it was his day off, she didn't want to wake him. She placed the phone back down on the bedside table feeling a little guilty.

  She thought that she could get in to see Emma and make it to the salon in plenty of time if she hurried. She quietly showered and dressed. She left a quick note for Nick before she headed out the door. When Bekki reached the Harroway Harbor Motel she noticed the parking lot was finally back to normal. There weren't any reporters camping out anymore. Apparently the story had passed. She wondered how they would react if they found out that the death of Bryan the Brilliant was now being considered a possible homicide or suicide.

  When Bekki walked up to the door of the motel room that Emma was staying in, she shot a glance at the next one. She wondered if Victor was awake. Did he know that he might be the father of Emma's child? Had they both known all along? Bekki was sick to her stomach thinking that might be a possibility. The idea that the two might have worked to plan Bryan's demise, was a bitter one, especially considering the letter that Bryan had written to Victor. Of course, that was strange, too, since he and Victor were supposed to be at odds. When Bekki knocked on the door she heard some shuffling on the other side. Then the door opened, and Emma stood sleepily before her.

  “Bekki?” she asked as she squinted against the morning light. “What are you doing here so early?”

  “I'm sorry if I woke you,” Bekki said and tried to keep her tone neutral. But when she saw Victor walk towards the door, buttoning up his shirt as he did, her stomach churned with animosity.

  “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you weren't alone,” Bekki said quietly through gritted teeth. She did her best not to glare.

  “Oh, Victor just stayed the night because I was so ill,” Emma explained. Her words seemed genuine, but Bekki didn't trust anything that she said anymore. “I've been up most of the night, my stomach just won't settle,” a tear slipped from the corner of her eye as she added, “I think somehow my baby knows what happened to Bryan.”

  “Hmm,” Bekki replied. It was the only polite response she could offer, when she wanted to scathingly attack both of them about what they had done behind Bryan's back. She wasn't usually so emotional, but in this case, she felt a certain sense of protectiveness for Bryan. He had no chance of protecting himself, if these two truly had connived behind his back.

  “What are you doing here, Bekki?” Victor asked, with much less warmth than Emma offered.

  “I came to speak with Emma for a few moments,” Bekki stated flatly, and then settled her gaze on Victor. “Alone, if you wouldn't mind.”

  “I actually do…” Victor began to say, his eyes narrowing, but Emma interrupted him.

  “It's fine,” she assured Bekki and opened the door wider. “It's okay Vic, I'll be all right,” she promised Victor who was looking at her with deep concern.

  “Try not to upset her more than your inept police department already has,” Victor requested in a harsh tone before moving past Bekki. Bekki noticed that he made a point of grazing her shoulder, but she ignored it. When Victor closed the door behind him, she and Emma were finally alone.

  “I'm sorry, I'm sure I look terrible,” she murmured with a shake of her head, though she shook it very slowly to avoid getting sick again and walked back towards the bed. She sat down on the edge of it, and then looked back up at Bekki. “So, I guess you're here to ask me more questions?”

  “Yes,” Bekki replied as she pulled out her phone and searched for the picture in her texts.

  “Ask me anything,” Emma shrugged calmly. “I don't have anything to hide.”

  “Not even this?” Bekki asked as she lifted the phone into the air before Emma's face so that she could see the picture. Emma's expression crumpled and her skin grew quite pale.

  “Where did you get that?” she asked quietly.

  “That doesn't really matter, does it?” Bekki asked as she tucked the phone back into her pocket. “The question that I think should be answered is why did you let Bryan believe that you were carrying his baby?”

  “What?” Emma looked up at Bekki horrified. “Of course it's Bryan's baby!” her eyes widened with disgust. “You think I slept with Victor? Is that what you really think?” she gasped. Bekki studied the woman carefully, but she couldn't tell if Emma was lying.

  “Well, the timing of the picture seems right,” Bekki pointed out. “And it would be awfully convenient for you to get rid of Bryan, so that your child's father could take his place.”

  “You're crazy!” Emma growled as tears filled her eyes. “I expected this kind of treatment from the police, but Bekki I thought you were better than this. How dare you accuse me of something so horrible?”

  “I uh,” Bekki was astonished that the woman could pull emotions off so easily. She really had a hard time believing that Emma was lying. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you,” Bekki said apologetically. “If you weren't with Victor that day, then what were you doing with him?” she was still determined to find out the truth. Emma wiped at he
r eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to calm her stomach.

  “The truth is, Victor always wanted something more. Back when we were all just out of college, it was like we were all one family. There was Bryan and Victor, like my big brothers, my protectors. But as we spent more time together, and we shared so much of our lives while we were on the road doing shows, Bryan and I began to have different feelings for each other,” she sighed and rubbed her hand across her slightly curved stomach. “Neither of us realized that Victor was having those feelings for me. The closer that Bryan and I got, the more that he and Victor fought. It felt like our little family was falling apart,” she frowned. “I didn't realize Victor's affections until after he and Bryan ended their partnership. When he left, he asked me to join him, insisted that he was in love with me. But, I didn't feel the same way,” she looked up at Bekki pleadingly. “I was in love with Bryan.”

  “But that still doesn't explain this picture,” Bekki pointed out. “This was taken about two months ago, and you certainly don't seem to be resisting Victor's affections here.”

  “I understand why you'd say that,” Emma nodded as she closed her eyes. “I hadn't seen Victor in over a year. Then one day out of the blue he shows up, and says he has something very important to discuss with me, so I agreed to meet him for dinner. I thought we were just old friends reconnecting, he thought it was something more. I warned him when we hugged goodbye and he tried for a kiss, that nothing had changed. I told him again that it was Bryan I was in love with, even after he spent the whole dinner trying to convince me of how reckless Bryan was. He kept saying that one day he wouldn't survive one of his escapes,” she added, her voice trailing off as her own words struck her. “He was just concerned about Bryan and me,” she added quickly. “Victor was always looking out for us, trying to keep us safe, I think he felt like the big brother of the family. I think it really broke his heart when Bryan decided he'd had enough.”

  “Why did Bryan decide that?” Bekki pressed, her mind filling with theories.

  “Because every time Bryan tried to introduce a new escape, Victor would veto it. He would insist it was too dangerous. Especially the water escapes, but they were the moneymakers, they were the ones that packed the audience and got the spots on television shows. Bryan confided in me that he felt like Victor was holding him back, and eventually, he got tired of it,” Emma tilted her head slightly to the side. “Ugh, I'm so dizzy. I just need to lay down.”

  “Just one more question,” Bekki pleaded and actually fluffed Emma's pillows for her. “If you made it clear to Victor that you weren't interested, why do you think he's here now?”

  “Just because Bryan and Victor had a few years apart, that doesn't mean that Victor didn't love him,” Emma uttered with confidence. “If he needed someone to be there for him, then Victor would be, and Bryan knew that. It went both ways. Bryan thought of him often, too, and he missed getting advice from him. It was funny because when we found out we were pregnant, it was both of our first instincts to call Victor and let him know.”

  “But you didn't?” Bekki asked.

  “No,” Emma yawned and winced as the motion made her stomach churn. “After that last encounter with Victor I didn't think it would be right. It felt kind of like I would be rubbing salt in a wound.”

  Bekki nodded solemnly at that. She could understand Emma's point. No man who had just professed his love would want to hear about the object of his affection becoming pregnant by another man.

  “And now he's gone,” Emma murmured as she laid back against the bed. She curved the palm of her hand across her stomach and offered a shaky sigh. “And we're alone.”

  Bekki was saddened by Emma's words for a moment, before they began to form something different in her mind. Anger. She knew that if Emma was telling the truth, that still didn't change the fact that Bryan had died, and it looked like it wasn’t an accident.

  “Oh, Bekki,” Emma called out and lifted her head from the bed. “I forgot to give you something,” she pointed to the counter in the kitchenette. “It's that beautiful hairpin that you put in my hair. I'm sorry I didn't have much of a chance to wear it.”

  “You should keep it,” Bekki encouraged her.

  “No, please,” Emma shook her head and then buried her face in a pillow. “I don't want it. I think it's beautiful, but it reminds me of what happened, and I don't want it.”

  “Okay,” Bekki said gently and picked up the hairpin. She tucked it into her pocket. When she glanced at her watch she noticed how late it was and knew that she had to get to the salon. She wanted to call Nick and tell him about everything she had learned about Victor's involvement with Emma, and the fact that she truly believed that Emma was innocent. However, she hoped he was still sleeping, and wanted to let him rest a little longer.

  As Bekki left the motel room, she noticed that Victor's door was partially opened. She was very tempted to slip inside, to see what he might be hiding, but duty called. As she walked past the door she had an eerie sense that someone was watching her but she forced herself to ignore it. She hurried to her car and drove out of the parking lot just as fast. She wasn't going to take any more chances with Victor, who she was beginning to believe, was a cold-hearted killer.

  Chapter Eight

  The drive to the salon was a slow one as Bekki was lost in thought. She was making the connection between Victor's adoration for Emma and what she suspected was his decision to get rid of Bryan. When she opened the salon she was still deep in thought about what Emma had just revealed to her. She felt uneasy at the idea of Victor being so close to Emma, but she still had no evidence against him. She didn't even know exactly why he would hurt Bryan, other than the possibility that he did it in an attempt to get closer to Emma. But she did believe that Emma was telling the truth. The baby that she was carrying was Bryan’s.

  Before Bekki could turn the sign to open, the salon phone began ringing. Bekki had expected this flood of clients, as so many appointments had been canceled the day before. She snatched up the phone just as one of her regulars walked in to see if she could get a trim.

  As the chairs in the salon began to fill up, everyone was chattering about Bryan. So far it seemed that no one suspected foul play was afoot. It was hard for Bekki to keep her mouth shut as her customers bantered back and forth about Bryan being responsible for his own death. One thing that everyone agreed on, was they felt sorry for Emma, even though most didn't even know her name or that she was pregnant. Bekki managed to get through the early morning rush without too much of an issue and without voicing her suspicions. She was feeling a little worn out by the time Sammy came in around lunch time.

  “Crazy morning?” Sammy asked as she looked over the slightly messy salon.

  “Yes, sorry,” Bekki laughed a little as she looked at the mess she had made. “Let me get this cleaned up,” she said quickly and began tidying. Sammy followed right behind her.

  “So, I hear that you are leaving me?” Sammy asked as she swept up some hair from the floor. Bekki was stumped by her words for a moment until she realized what Sammy meant.

  “Oh right, I almost forgot about that,” Bekki shook her head with a frown. “This situation with Bryan the Brilliant has me preoccupied.”

  “Bekki, I know it’s hard to accept what happened, it’s hard for me, too,” Sammy scooped up the hair and tossed it into the trash. “But you're always working so hard to help other people, you need this vacation, you need some time for you.”

  “I know, I know,” Bekki sighed. “And it'll be great. But I just wish that things would settle down a little before I leave. Do you think you'll be able to handle the salon while I'm gone?” she asked, always knowing the answer.

  “I know I can,” Sammy said with confidence. “Just trust me on this Bekki, you don't want to miss this vacation, for any reason.”

  Bekki smiled at Sammy's sweet words. She knew how much Sammy valued Marie who had been like a second mother to her. Sammy's own mother had not been much
of a presence in her life, and when she was, she was not a good influence.

  “I wish you could come with us,” she said honestly. “You and I haven't had much time to get out and have fun either.”

  “I know,” Sammy waved her hand dismissively. “But we'll have plenty of time for that when you get back.”

  “I'm going to hold you to that,” Bekki warned with a wide smile. “So far the afternoon is looking pretty light. Can you do me a favor and run over to the bank? I need to make a deposit but there are a few things I want to get ready here for when I'm on vacation,” she explained as she brushed her hair back from her neck. It was starting to bother her as she usually had it up when she was cleaning. She was searching the counter for a rubber band to tie it up with when she remembered the hairpin in her pocket. She pulled it out and wrapped her hair up with it.

  “Here,” Sammy added a clip to her hair to keep it in place. “What a beautiful piece,” she said with admiration. “I'll have to borrow it some time,” she grinned. Bekki nodded with a laugh.

  “Sure you can,” Bekki agreed. “So, you don't mind running to the bank for me?”

  “Sure, no problem,” Sammy nodded. Bekki handed her the deposit envelope and Sammy headed out to the bank. When Bekki was alone again she began to imagine herself on a sunny beach. She was starting to get used to the idea. She just hoped that things with Emma would be resolved before she went. When she heard the door swing open and bell chime, she looked up with a smile. That smile slowly faded as she realized who was standing there. Victor Black had been waiting for her to look up, and when she did, he narrowed his eyes with authority.

  “Do you have some more questions for me, Bekki?” he asked as he pushed the door closed behind him. Bekki noticed that he flipped the lock on the door. “I just don't want any reporters getting in the middle of this,” he explained. He was attempting to act casual, but Bekki could tell from the tension of his jaw that his cool exterior was a fake. “So,” he repeated as he looked back at her, “are you going to ask me anything?”