What was Chloe doing here?
Elena rolled down her window to better see the bowling alley through the parking lot. It was in the basement of a strip mall, with large trees overhanging the stairs. Plastic bags tangled in the tree branches rustled in the wind, and discarded coffee cups tumbled down the sidewalk and settled in the gutters. A battered For Lease sign hid behind a windowpane of the store above the alley. No phone number, just the words Inquire Within scrawled in ink.
They watched the building for a while, but after seeing only young couples and the occasional uniformed bowler descend the stairs to Valley Lanes, they exited the car and made their way down. A frosted glass door met them at the bottom. When Sebastian opened it, the smell of popcorn and stale beer wreathed around them. Inside, the lights were dim, and lasers in the ceiling made patterns on the floor. Their white clothing glowed neon under the black lights and the sound of pins clattering filled the air.
They passed an empty front counter and found a small dining area to the left of the lanes.
“Now it makes sense,” Sebastian said, pointing to a sign advertising authentic Mexican cuisine. “She loved finding hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I bet the food here is amazing.”
“Mystery solved, I guess,” Elena said. She was about to propose they leave when her stomach growled.
“Don’t even start,” she said, hearing Sebastian wheeze. “Come on. Might as well eat now that we’re here.” She hooked his arm in hers and walked over to the Please wait to be seated sign separating the carpeted area from the laminated floor beneath the restaurant tables.
A young woman in a black smock looked up from behind a pedestal and asked if they wanted a table or a booth, then led them to a quiet booth in the corner. Elena ordered chilaquiles, ignoring Sebastian’s muted laughter. He ordered coffee and a carne asada torta.
When the server left, Elena slid the ceramic dish in the center of the table toward her. It was crammed with a disorganized mess of sugar packets. She dumped it on the table and started sorting them by color.
“Something isn’t adding up,” Sebastian said. “Why would Chloe come here several days in a row? I can’t imagine the food being that good. She got bored with new things quickly.” He clicked his tongue. “I have an idea. Follow my lead.”
He moved one bottle on their table to the floor, then leaned over to smile at the elderly couple sitting in the booth beside them. “Excuse me, can we borrow your hot sauce?”
“Of course,” the woman said. She handed over the bottle.
Sebastian looked at Elena and raised his eyebrows. It took her another few seconds to understand his plan. She copied his pose and smiled at the couple. “Come here often?”
“Oh yes,” the woman said as her partner finished up the last of his steak and eggs. “Albert and I are regulars. We had our first date here.” She clasped hands with her partner, and they smiled into each other’s eyes.
What would it be like to have that kind of relationship? To grow into old age together.
It was a painful thought because she knew it could never happen. The odds were, she wouldn’t live long enough for it to become a reality.
“You okay?” Sebastian placed his hand on top of hers on the table.
She plastered on a fake smile and slipped her hand away. “Yes, of course. Why don’t you ask these nice people about your sister? Maybe they’ll know something.”
The woman brightened. “Oh?”
“Ah, yes,” Sebastian continued. “She’s been avoiding us, and we’re worried. We know she’s been here a few times in the last week. Tall woman, striking green eyes, looks like a model?”
Albert laughed. “Oh, my yes. We’ve seen her.”
The couple looked at each other and smiled. Then the woman laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s just she always comes here alone, then meets with a man. We have a private joke that the man is her handler, and she is a secret agent. We like to make up stories for other diners.” She pointed to a far corner of the restaurant. “She usually sits over there, orders a black coffee and huevos rancheros with extra salsa. I told her that cheese will go right to her thighs, but she laughed and said she could afford the calories.” The woman gasped. “Oh, I’m sorry. How rude of me. My name is Henrietta.”
As Sebastian did the polite thing and introduced them, Elena’s mind swam. Chloe had been meeting with someone.
The killer?
No, that wouldn’t make sense. Why meet with the killer and in such a public place?
Unless she didn’t realize he was the killer.
If she’d gotten close to someone, it might explain why she had felt so betrayed in her final memory.
It would be great if you could tell me if we’re on the right track, Chloe.
The last she’d checked, the boa rested on her stomach. She reached for the sparkle of Chloe’s shade in her mind, but it shied away from her, revealing nothing.
“We appreciate your help,” Sebastian said.
They paused as their server arrived with their food. When they finished, Sebastian looked over the booth again. “This man you’ve seen my sister with. What does he look like?”
Henrietta leaned forward. “I’m not sure. He always sits away from us and wears a hat, coat, and sunglasses. He doesn’t bowl or even order food, just shows up, talks for a few minutes, then leaves. It’s all very mysterious. Scandalous even.”
Sebastian gasped. “Oh, my. I wonder if my sister is in trouble?”
Henrietta clasped Sebastian’s hands in her own. “Oh, dear. I wish I could tell you more. When I see her again, should I say something?”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Sebastian said. He met Elena’s eyes and nodded to the front desk.
She took the hint and spoke up. “We should leave soon, dear, or we’ll be late for our movie.”
Henrietta nodded. “Well, it was so nice meeting you. I hope everything goes well with your sister.”
Sebastian flagged down their server and got their bill, then paid with a fifty he casually took out of his wallet.
I wonder how much cash he carries with him.
The spike of jealousy was unwelcome, but her whole life had been lived in poverty, from her mother’s meager server salary to whatever she could make in the few months she stayed in any city.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian stood and shrugged on his coat. “Meal not agree with you? Or did you finally eat too much, for once?”
“Impossible,” she said. Then, in a lower voice, “I was thinking about Chloe’s movements. They don’t make sense. Why meet with a man in a bowling alley? What did he have to do with anything?”
Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know. But whoever this man is, I’m sure he’s involved.”
They exited through the frosted doors and ran straight into Detective Roth at the base of the stairs.
“Ms. Cain. Castillo,” Roth said. “I think it’s time we had another talk.”
“What do you want?” Sebastian stepped between the man and Elena.
A muscle in Roth’s jaw twitched. “Not here. At the station.”
Elena remembered David’s advice about not talking to cops, and she shook her head. “We’re not talking to you without my lawyer.”
Roth’s eyes narrowed to slits before he relaxed and adopted an easy smile. “We got off on the wrong foot, Ms. Cain. For that, I apologize. Chloe was important to me.” His eyes grew misty, but then he blinked, and his eyes were clear again. “Regardless, I shouldn’t have taken out my anger on either of you. It was unprofessional.”
“Apology accepted,” Sebastian said in a deadpan voice. “Is that all? We’ve got things to do.”
Roth’s jaw twitched again, but he stepped out of their way. As they passed, he said, “We both want the same thing, you know. To find whoever killed your sister.”
Sebastian kept climbing the stairs, but she hooked her hand around his arm and pulled him back. As little as she trusted cops, Roth had a point. They were harming the investigation by not sharing what they’d discovered.
Sebastian leaned toward her and whispered, “Don’t tell him anything.”
“I think he really wants to help,” she whispered back.
Then Roth cleared his throat and said, “I can hear you; you know.”
Now or never.
She summoned her nerve and pushed away from Sebastian. “We think Chloe was searching for something. She had—she was—” Belatedly, she remembered they had got their clues from Sandra’s hacking into Chloe’s phone.
“My sister had gotten really interested in bowling lately,” Sebastian finished.
Elena glared at him, then added, “She was meeting someone here on the regular. We don’t know who or why.”
Roth took a notebook and pen out of his pocket and flipped to a new page, then scribbled. “Anything else?”
Elena’s bravado fizzled out. “No, that’s it.”
Roth tapped his closed notebook against his palm three times, then sighed. “Okay. I know what you two are doing, and although I can’t approve of amateur sleuthing, the truth is we could use the help. So, this is what I know.” He searched through his notebook and flipped it open to a page. “We’ve had a string of drownings in the last six months. In each case, there were indications of strangulation prior to death.” He closed his notebook. “If you ask me, it’s the same person responsible.”
“You’re talking about a serial killer,” Sebastian said.
“Yes.” Roth gave them a pained expression. “But please don’t go talking to the press about this.”
“We won’t tell anyone,” Elena said, quickly. “Thank you for trusting us with that information. We’ll do our best to stay out of your way.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” Roth said dryly. Then he turned and ascended the steps.
They followed him, parting at the top of the steps and returning to their car. Once they were inside and buckled in, Sebastian slouched over and rested his head on the wheel. “I should’ve stopped her. Why didn’t I stop her? I knew she was getting in too deep. She showed me the autopsy photographs, for fucks sake!” He slammed his head on the wheel, and the horn honked.
Nothing she could say would change how he felt. All she could do was be with him. She threaded her fingers through his.
The moment was interrupted by a thumping on their window.
It was Sandra, grinning at them. She jumped into the backseat and said, “The hard drive finished restoring.”
Elena leaned around her seat. “What did you find?”
“Nothing!” Sandra said with a huge smile.
Elena looked at Sebastian, who shrugged.
“You don’t get it. Of course. Sorry. Let me explain.” She cleared her throat. “There was nothing because Chloe had a storage device attached to the computer. That’s where all her files will be.”
Storage device?
“Like a USB stick?” Elena thought back to her high school days.
“Maybe. Could be anything,” Sandra said. “As small as a micro-SD card.” She pinched her fingers together. “Or as large as an external hard drive.” She held her hands out a few inches apart, in the shape of a book.
“Should we tell the cops?” Elena thought of how forthcoming Roth had been.
Sebastian barked a laugh. “I think by now we know we can’t trust the cops.”
“I have to agree,” Sandra said. “I love my father, but I don’t trust him.”
“Why don’t we check her house?” Elena asked. “Maybe we can find more clues there.”
Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t have the keys. She was renting. I could call the office and ask, but—”
Sandra coughed. “Leave that to me.”