Terrible possibilities filled my head. “What happened? Did someone do something to you? Say anything while you were working?”
She still wouldn’t look at me, but at least replied. “Somebody slashed my tires. Just mine, no one else’s. I checked the entire parking lot.”
“You checked the entire parking lot? By yourself?” I stared at her, fighting the urge to shake her, to yell at her for being so careless. “What if they were still around? What if they were waiting for you to come out and attack you?”
That finally got her attention and she turned to look at me with scorn. “I can take care of myself.” Unlike you, was the unspoken implication.
Typical Bernadette bravado. It was all well and good for her to tell me I needed to be honest about my feelings, but heaven forbid anything challenge her tough girl, hyper-competent image. I counted to ten slowly in my head, the way Elena taught me, before saying, “Have you reported it to the police yet? Or at least told the security guard?”
She snorted. “What good would that do? All that trouble over some prank.”
I clutched the steering wheel to resist shaking her. “You know it wasn’t just some prank! That’s it, I’m calling Detective Park.”
I started rummaging through my purse, but Bernadette grabbed my hand to stop me. “Let it go, Lila.”
There was a warning in her voice. That tone just made me smile and start up the car. She could try and order me around, but she was in my car, at my mercy. Which she came to understand just a few minutes too late when she realized we were heading for my house, where my aunt, grandmother, and the Calendar Crew were sure to be.
* * *
? ? ?
Detective Park was there too, as it turned out, which made my job so much easier. Before Bernadette could even think to threaten me to keep my mouth shut, Tita Rosie and Ninang June had surrounded her and forced her into a chair near the detective. Like me, they only had to look at Bernadette to know something was wrong.
“There was no note, but I think it had to do with the case.” She looked at Detective Park, who was jotting everything down while watching her carefully. “I know everyone thinks that it’s all over now that Mr. Weinman is dead, but it kept bugging me. Case closed or not, everyone is still gossiping about Rob. Talking about all his past scandals and relationships. And it got me thinking . . . That rumor about the contestant who was obsessed with him. People talk as if it were all one-sided, but what if it wasn’t? What if he got that girl in trouble?”
“And by trouble you mean . . . ?” Detective Park prodded.
Bernadette sighed. “Pregnant. I heard one of the moms hint at it during one of the events, and wondered if it was more than idle gossip. So I started asking around, tried to look through old maternity ward records. I haven’t found anything yet, but I wonder if someone learned about what I was doing.”
And by someone, she meant Rob’s real killer. If they were still out there, that is. There was no evidence to support that theory. And yet.
And yet, why slash Bernadette’s tires? It was a risky move. The sun hadn’t quite set yet when I picked her up, so it must’ve still been daylight when they did it. Yes, the hospital security cameras were usually busted, but there were still security guards on the premises. And yes, Bernadette wasn’t like, the nicest girl in town, but she was respected at the hospital and had done nothing to provoke this kind of personal attack. At least not lately. Could it just be a prank, like she’d said in the car?
Detective Park refused to say either way. However, when he got up to escort Bernadette and Ninang June home, he gave us this advice. “I don’t want you all taking any more risks. I’m going to do some digging into this, but as far as you’re all concerned, the Thompson case is closed. Let it go.”
And for once, all of us, me, my aunt, my cousin, and the whole Calendar Crew, were only too happy to follow orders.
Chapter Twenty-three
It’s still not right! William, what are you doing over there?” Mayor Gunderson bellowed at Mr. Acevedo as the screech of microphone feedback made us all wince.
Mr. Acevedo mumbled something under his breath as he fiddled around with switches and knobs for the millionth time. The dress rehearsal progressed in starts and stops as tech issue after tech issue sprang up, reducing the usually cool Mr. Acevedo, who had no trouble presiding over a screaming match at the chamber of commerce, to a foulmouthed, sweaty mess.
Mercury must’ve been in retrograde, considering the way everything was going wrong. The computer that operated the soundboard wasn’t working, and Mr. Acevedo had to use a backup laptop while Mayor Gunderson yelled at his assistant to find a repairperson ASAP. One of the contestants couldn’t find her special fire batons for her routine and accused another girl of stealing them. It was only Valerie’s quick intervention that stopped it from turning ugly. And to top it all off, Beth swept into the dress rehearsal twenty minutes late, trailed by Jae, who was carrying several shopping bags full of supplies for the rehearsal. No apologies for being late, no explanation to why Jae was there, just a quick head nod to acknowledge us, eyes shaded behind her giant sunglasses.
I averted my eyes from the two of them and focused on refilling my water bottle with the hydrating iced tea blend Elena had concocted—at three o’clock, the worst of the heat had passed, but the humidity clung to me and I needed to stay hydrated if I was going to make it through the rest of this cursed rehearsal.
I sensed his presence before I actually saw him—he didn’t wear cologne, but the lemon-lavender scent I associated with him enveloped me, and I took a deep breath before turning around to face him. He held out a Brew-ha #1 in a frosty to-go cup, and I took it from him, his sweetness taking all the fight out of me. No matter what happened, he was my friend. I needed to remember that and curb this ugly jealous streak. A bit of pettiness was fine here and there, but not to the one guy who didn’t deserve it.
“Thanks, Jae. How did you know I was in desperate need of caffeine?”
He grinned at me. “You kind of always need caffeine. And I figured you’d be in a bad mood since you’d have to be out in this heat. I would’ve brought you some halo-halo or ice candy, but it would’ve melted before I got here.”
He looked me over, and I self-consciously tugged at the hem of my dress, which had been clinging to my sweat. One good thing about wearing dark colors in summertime, you couldn’t see my gross sweat marks. “Sorry for not saying anything earlier, but I really like your new hairstyle. It suits you.”
What did it say about me that that simple compliment made all my aunties’ disparaging remarks seem like nothing? “Thanks. The aunties hate it, of course. They preferred my long, straight hair.”