Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(66)

The momtestant crowd was with us again, and you would’ve thought they’d be on slightly better behavior than last time since the crowd included their children and husbands, but Elena had a notoriously heavy hand when it was her turn to prepare drinks and the ladies’ lips were even looser than usual.

“He was trying to get rid of her, you know,” one of the moms, a recent divorcée, said. “My maid told me, who heard it from one of the Thompson family maids, that Beth was having a hard time conceiving. Rob was threatening that if she didn’t get pregnant soon, he had no use for her.” The divorcée drained her cocktail and rattled the glass at Elena to signal for a refill. She continued on, as if she weren’t the rudest person in the world. “That’s the only reason he married her, you know. She’s no fool. I bet she killed him before he could kick her to the curb. I bet . . .”

My phone rang and I dragged myself away to answer it before I could say something I’d regret. I glanced at the screen and frowned. Bernadette? My heart beat in anxiety as I answered, knowing it had to be something big, good or bad, for her to actually call me.

“Lila, I need you to pick me up. Right away. Please,” Bernadette said as soon as I answered. I could hear the tears in her voice, and I snapped to attention.

“Where are you?”

“The hospital. I just finished my shift.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”



* * *



? ? ?

As soon as I pulled up in front of Shady Palms Hospital, Bernadette rushed out to meet me. She must’ve been keeping watch at the doors since I hadn’t had time to alert her to my presence.

“Thanks for coming,” she said. “Pinky’s still working, and I didn’t want to bother my mom.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Do you want to come back with me to the cafe or should I drop you at home? Some people from the memorial have stopped by and I don’t know if you’re in a social mood.”

Bernadette stared out the window, not answering. I turned off the car and shifted in my seat so I could face her, but she still kept her face pointed at the window. I put my hand on her shoulder and . . .

Bernadette, my fearless cousin Bernadette, who’d broken my cousin Ronnie’s nose after he broke her heart. Who was so determined and strong, she’d not only performed an intense dance routine on a fractured ankle for the Miss Teen Shady Palms Pageant, she’d almost won. Who handled crises every day as an ER nurse. That Bernadette . . . was trembling with fear and holding back tears.

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.”