by Vivien Chien
CHAPTER
19
I had only been at Price Investigations for an hour, but within that hour, the content of conversation was enough to completely rattle me. Over the past several months, I have often put myself in danger, but I have never jeopardized the safety of my family or friends. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Megan, or my sister. My parents. My poor grandmother who hadn’t even been in this country for very long. I thought about Adam and considered that out of everyone, he was the best prepared to handle himself. But he had to know the danger was there. I needed to tell him the truth. I just hoped that he would be willing and able to keep that information to himself.
I sat in my car for a couple of minutes, sipping the cold coffee in my travel mug and trying to bring my blood pressure down. On the way to the parking lot, I had already decided my next stop would be Donna’s house. I hoped that she would be willing to hire Lydia. In this situation, I felt that hiring a professional was our best course of action.
About twenty minutes later, I pulled into Donna’s driveway next to a car that I didn’t recognize. It was an old burgundy sedan with a giant dent in the passenger’s-side door and old rusty plates. I couldn’t imagine that being anybody Donna knew; all her friends drove luxury cars.
I rang the doorbell and a few seconds later, Rosemary opened the door and pressed her lips together upon seeing me. “Good afternoon, Miss Lee,” she said. “Ms. Feng is currently conducting business, you can wait for her in the sitting room if you’d like.”
“Who’s here?” I asked, glancing back at the sedan.
“One of the vendors she hired from the party,” Rosemary said, stepping off to the side to allow me entry.
“Oh.” I walked into the foyer, and she shut the door behind me. “She shouldn’t be much longer, I presume.”
I followed her into the sitting room, and she gestured for me to have a seat. “Would you like any tea?”
“Maybe just a glass of water.”
She bowed her head and left in the direction of the kitchen.
I sat down on the love seat, my eyes trained on the stairs, wondering which vendor it could be. I knew that Donna had payments left to settle, but I didn’t think that any of these people would make house calls.
Rosemary returned with a glass of water and a small plate of lemons and limes. “Here you are, miss.”
“Thank you.” I took the glass from her as she set the plate of fruit slices on the coffee table in front of me. “Rosemary, can I ask you a question?”
“If you are here to further inquire about my relationship with Alice, I have nothing more to tell you. I have spoken quite enough on the subject.”
“No, I actually wanted to ask you about Donna.”
She looked away from me, and the expression on her face told me that she did not approve of this line of questioning, either. But she didn’t leave, so I figured that was my cue to go ahead and ask my question.
“I was just wondering. Does she seem all right to you lately?” I asked. “I mean, I’ve heard that she is coming a bit unhinged, and if anyone would know something like that, it would be you.”
“Wise women never entertain gossip, Miss Lee,” Rosemary said plainly.
“I can understand that, but with everything that has happened recently, I wanted to be sure that she is actually okay.”
“Madam Feng has been through quite an ordeal. I imagine that many people would act out in more severe ways than her. But as you can see, she is generally levelheaded. Aside from her outburst at the birthday party, she has remained put together as always.”
“So she wasn’t constantly yelling at Alice? And she hasn’t been drinking in excess?” I asked.
Rosemary glared at me. “Where have you heard such things?”
“Alice mentioned it to a friend of hers, and it spread.”
She nodded curtly. “I see. Well, you can be assured that while madam has been indulging in a nightcap more frequently than is, perhaps, usual, she has always been a fair employer. If Alice was handling a situation poorly with the girls, it was within madam’s right to scold her.”
As she said these things, it felt like sugarcoating the situation to me. So Donna was drinking more than usual and she did at one point or another “scold” Alice. But what was the severity of the situation? I didn’t think I would hear the real truth from Rosemary. If nothing else, she seemed loyal to Donna. But unfortunately for her, that just made me consider her being a murderer as even more likely. It seemed possible she would do anything to protect Donna from harm—perhaps including killing someone.
“Did you want to ask any other questions, Miss Lee? I have work that needs to be done.”
“No, that was it. Sorry to keep you from your duties.”
She bowed her head and left the room without saying anything.
I was fidgety so I pulled my phone out of my purse and texted Adam asking if he was free later that night. I had to fill him in on what was going on, but I didn’t mention anything about it now or he’d call me right away and make me tell him over the phone.
A couple of minutes went by before he responded, telling me that he was in fact available, and that we could meet at my apartment later that evening.
I sipped my water, feeling the impatience inside me grow. I still wanted to talk with the housekeeper, Susan Han, whom Alice had supposedly divulged all this information to. Fifteen minutes went by, and I heard a man’s voice coming down the stairs.
“And that was all she had?” the man asked.
It was a voice that I recognized, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“Yes, that’s everything,” Donna replied. “It wasn’t much, was it?”
A pair of legs appeared on the stairs, and as the man descended, I realized who it was. It was Bryce Blackwell.
CHAPTER
20
“Lana, darling!” Donna exclaimed as she descended the stairs and I came into view. “What on earth are you doing here? I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long.”
It was the first time in days that I had seen her resembling her old self. She was dressed in a beige Donna Karan skirt suit and matching heels. Her hair was done in the customary French bun she preferred, and her makeup was flawless as ever.
When Bryce realized it was me, he shrank back a little as if he hoped to meld into the wall of the hallway. But we both knew that wasn’t going to happen. He was holding a medium-sized packing box. He appeared sheepish and I was more than curious—and suspicious—as to why he’d made a personal visit to Donna. Didn’t these people send invoices?
I smiled pleasantly, fixing my eyes on Bryce. “Not at all. I wanted to stop by and go over some details with you on our project.”
Donna’s face lit up. “Oh well, that’s wonderful.” She turned to Bryce. “Is there anything more I can help you with?”
“No, this helps a lot.” He held up the box. “And thanks for the check.”
“Of course. After all, you need to be paid for your services. I’m only sorry it took me this long.”
He glanced at me. “Not a problem. I know you have a lot going on.”
They said their goodbyes in the foyer and I kept my place in the threshold to the sitting room. “It’s nice to see you again, Bryce,” I said.
He looked over his shoulder and gave me a nod. “Yeah, you too.”
Donna shut the door as he stepped out onto the stoop and turned around, clasping her hands together in excitement. “Okay, what do you have for me? Some good news would be wonderful right about now.”
“What was he doing here?” I asked.
“Oh, let me just tell you he is the sweetest young man.” She joined me at the threshold and ushered me back into the sitting room. “He was Alice’s fiancé and wanted some of her personal items as a memento. I didn’t know what to do with them, and since the police had already gone through her things, I figured I’d give them to him.”
“What?” I didn’t even bother hidin
g my surprise. “He was Alice’s fiancé?”
“Yes, I was just as surprised as you, my dear. She never mentioned it to me. Perhaps she just wanted to keep things professional.”
“And you don’t find any of this odd?” I asked.
“Well, no. Why would I?”
I told her about my meeting with Bryce and how he had been more than reluctant to admit that he had any involvement with Alice at all.
Donna took in the information but did not react as I expected her to. “My dear, I can tell you after talking with him that there is no way he would even be a suspect. He truly loved that girl, and there isn’t a violent bone in his body.”
I was incredulous. In all the years I had known Donna Feng, I had never taken her for a sucker. And now here she was saying the most naive things to me that I’d ever heard come out of her mouth.
“Never mind all of that, Lana,” she said coolly. “What did you come to tell me?”
Trying to pull myself back together, I told her what had taken place at Price Investigations. I relayed that Lydia warned of the potential danger my snooping around could cause and how no one without unusual connections would be able to find the information that involved Donna’s past.
“Well, see, there you have it. There’s no way that Bryce could be involved. He’s hardly anyone with the means to blackmail me.”
“Yes, but what if he killed Alice?”
“Darling, no. I am telling you, the two are connected. Whoever left me that thumb drive is who killed Alice. And that was not Bryce. No, this is much more sinister.”
“Then that’s not a good possibility, either. And it also eliminates any of the housewives that you’ve starred.”
“Not necessarily.” Donna shook her head. “Their affiliations could be something to question. We need to get background checks on who these people really are, or if they have any unsavory associations. I am confident this is the right direction.”
I wanted to groan in frustration, but I didn’t want to let on how aggravated I really was. If these women did have contacts of that nature, was Donna really willing to risk my involvement?
I took a deep breath. “I think we should consider hiring Lydia Shepard to take this over, Donna. I don’t know if this is something I should be involved with anymore. Not if the danger is this great.”
Donna tapped her chin. “I don’t know how I feel about this woman. After all, she did try to help expose me to my husband. I only hid what I needed to hide from him to keep him safe.”
“She was just doing her job. It wasn’t anything personal.”
“That might be so, but what an unpleasant job it is. And she could have very easily seen the information I was hiding and realized on her own why it needed to stay hidden. But no, she proceeded, and if Thomas hadn’t been killed by someone else, and continued to seek out answers behind my back, what would have happened then? Our whole family could have been in danger.”
“I understand that, but Lydia has the tools to get this done. I’m just a restaurant manager.”
“Nonsense, you are not just a restaurant manager, Lana. You are an intelligent girl with a strong head on her shoulders and the ability to suss this whole thing out for me. No, we will proceed as planned. Once you find out who could be involved, then we’ll decide what steps to take next. Nothing bad is going to happen to you as long as you don’t approach anyone with what we’ve found. No one even knows what we’re up to. Let’s keep it that way.”
I rolled my shoulders, half ready to walk out the door and tell her that she was on her own. But I had known her too long, and maybe I had let my conversation with Lydia color my judgment too much. Would Donna really risk putting me in grave danger? Besides, she was right about one thing. No one knew what we were up to, and it’s not like I was planning on confronting this person myself. All I needed to do was find out who was responsible. “Well, if that’s really how you feel, I need to talk to Ms. Chang’s housekeeper. Can you help me with that?”
“Say no more. I’ll put in a call. I have her address in my contacts. Let me get that for you, and you can be on your way.” She rose from her seat and hurried off to get her address book.
I leaned my head back against the love seat and tried not to hyperventilate. I really hoped that we were doing the right thing.
* * *
Donna was able to get a hold of Ms. Chang, who said it would be no problem if I stopped by and spoke to Susan. She didn’t understand exactly why I was coming, but she and Donna had been friends for so long, she didn’t question much when it came to her. Ms. Chang was satisfied with Donna’s short explanation about me trying to track someone down that was friends with her maid.
I left the Feng house with the address and set it into my GPS. Ms. Chang lived in Rocky River, which was about a ten-minute drive from where I was. She was a wealthy housewife with one young son who was still in elementary school and an older daughter who was getting ready to graduate from high school.
Traffic was heavy as the workday was coming to a close, and I imagined a lot of people were heading home in excitement, ready to begin their weekend. I, on the other hand, felt as if it was just another day. Considering the current circumstances, the only thing I was looking forward to was the fact that I didn’t have to open the restaurant in the morning.
When I pulled up to the Chang home, I double-checked the address to make sure I had the correct place. This was the grandest home I had visited by far. Part of me could hardly believe that this house—mini mansion, whatever you wanted to call it—was in the city of Rocky River. It sat against the shore of Lake Erie and took up half an acre of land. Now, mind you, I am making that up based on what I think an acre of land would consist of. Point is, the place was big.
The two-story brick home was an architectural masterpiece with big beautiful windows and an arched overhang at the front entrance. The driveway was a roundabout and allowed me to turn my car so I could face the exit. I parked next to their three-car garage and composed myself before getting out.
As I exited the car, one of the garage doors opened, and I was greeted by Ms. Chang and her two children, who promptly stepped into their own car. Ms. Chang came to the entrance of the garage and smiled pleasantly. “Hello, Miss Lee, it’s nice to see you again. You did a lovely job at the party. I may have to hire you for one of our soirees in the future. Those teriyaki sticks were absolutely amazing.”
I bowed my head in appreciation. “Thank you for saying so. I’ll be sure to pass the compliment along to Peter.”
She was dressed in knee-length khaki shorts and a paisley tank top. “You’ll have to excuse me, we were just on our way out to the park.” She turned to leave.
“Ms. Chang, before you go, I want to thank you so much for letting me talk with Susan today. I really appreciate it.”
She turned back around. “It’s no problem. Donna mentioned something about trying to track down a friend of Susan’s. I hope there’s nothing illicit going on.”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” I said, shaking my head emphatically to reassure her. “Just trying to figure out who might have been friends with Alice Kam. Donna has been going back and forth on whether to submit a memorial piece about her in the paper, but doesn’t know much about her.” Okay, I was lying again. But who would it hurt?
Ms. Chang sighed. “Oh, that poor thing. Even while in the midst of all these problems, she is still thinking of others. She is a stand-up woman indeed.”
Her response gave me a sense of relief. “It’s nice to hear someone say so,” I replied.
“Well, if you ask me, this whole nonsense about her losing her mind is just the most absurd thing I’ve heard in a long time. Donna is a woman of class. She’d never entertain such behavior.”
“Unfortunately, not everyone feels that way.”
She snorted, her nose turned up in disdain. “You send them my way, Miss Lee. I’ll set the record straight.”
I grinned. I was beginning to really like Ms. Cha
ng.
One of the kids honked the horn, and the noise startled both of us. Ms. Chang laughed at her own skittishness. “My word, these children are impatient today. I’d best be on my way.” She turned back toward the car. “Have a nice chat with Susan.”
I waved them off and made my way to the front door. The doorbell chimed loudly in a nice melody that went on for about fifteen seconds, but I couldn’t imagine listening to it every time someone stopped by.
A small woman about my age with her long hair gathered at the nape of her neck opened the door. She was dressed in a blush-colored, short-sleeved blouse that was tucked into her plain black, knee-length skirt. Her shoes were respectable black flats, and she looked comfortable and conservative. In a way, she reminded me of Anna May.
She smiled at me, but I could see the question in her expression. “Can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Lana Lee, do you happen to be Susan Han?”
“Oh yes, come in,” she said, stepping off to the side. “Ms. Chang told me that you were coming by, but I didn’t realize that it would be this soon.”
“If I’m disturbing you, I can come back at another time.”
“Not at all. Please, come in.”
I walked in and literally gasped out loud. I have seen some fabulous houses in my recent adventures, but this took the cake. The foyer itself might have been the size of my entire apartment. And was that an elevator I saw?
Susan noticed my expression and chuckled. “It’s something, isn’t it?” She gestured for me to follow her.
“That’s one way to put it.” My eyes roamed over the crown molding that bordered every room, the flawless blond hardwood floors, and the elegant Victorian-style furniture.
Susan led me through a living room, past a wood-paneled study that someone had left the door ajar to, through the dining room, and finally into the kitchen. The white cabinets went up to the ceiling and met a delicate crown molding more intricate than what was in the other rooms. A marble-topped island in the center of the room was surrounded by eight leather stools. The floors were the same blond wood, and the walls around the sink were glossy ceramic tiles.
