Stranger and stranger. I can’t recall Alissa ever wearing a hat. Granted, we don’t hang out a whole lot outside of the hospital, but she doesn’t seem the Easter Parade type.
“Did you ask about the hatbox?”
“I did. They said they’d gone shopping earlier—Valentine’s Day gift, I think—and they accidentally left it in the car.”
“Did you look in the hatbox?”
He shakes his head. “I had no probable cause to conduct a search. They were acting a little odd, but not odd enough for me to look through the car. I’m a few years from retirement, and I’m not looking for a suspension on my record for an unlawful seizure of property.”
“Of course. Totally get it.” I look back down at the ticket. “Is there anything else you remember from that night?”
He inhales. “No, I don’t think so.”
I get to my feet. “Thank you, Officer.”
He stands and shakes my hand. “Of course. But I have to ask, why all these questions? Is there something going on with your friend?”
“I’m not sure. But I’m trying to get to the bottom of it.” I raise the past-due notice. “I can tell you that it’s very unlike Maddox to leave a bill or a ticket unpaid. But I don’t want to bore you with the details. Thank you for this information. I appreciate it.”
He lets go of my hand, his eyes narrowed. “Stay safe out there.”
“I will, Officer. Thank you.”
I walk out of the police station and back to my car.
Maddox got the ticket on Monday morning. Meaning he and Alissa must have gone to Aces that previous Sunday. They had just met. Maddox and I texted about Alissa after she and I realized that my best friend was the man she was dating. They couldn’t have known each other for more than a few days, yet she was pretending to be pregnant with his child? To be engaged to him?
They were hiding something. Maybe it has something to do with the hatbox that Officer Brillig mentioned.
That Monday, Alissa was acting weird. She was…off. And when I mentioned that Rouge Montrose sat on the board of the hospital, she got really flustered.
It’s all linked somehow, but I’m still missing a lot of pieces to the puzzle.
The problem?
I have a feeling the more I discover, the more I’ll wish I’d never gotten involved.
26
BIANCA
Finally.
I’ve been killing time all day waiting for my evening with Harrison. I know our date isn’t the point of the evening—gathering intel is—but I’m still feeling the butterflies and the gentle twitch in my eyebrow that I always do before an exciting night.
I’m putting the finishing touches on my makeup. I normally throw it on in ten minutes before my set at Aces each night, but tonight I have time to give extra attention to my contour and blush. I extended my eyeliner past my eyes just enough to give each one a slight wing, and I gave myself a smoky eye with my shadow. It will look good with the dress I’ve picked out this evening—a strapless black-and-white gown that shows off my cleavage. I’m wearing my hair down tonight, and it’s long enough to gently graze my shoulders.
Since I had the day off, I treated myself to a series of spa treatments at a place not too far from my apartment in the Loop. Massage, facial, and a body wrap. I felt like I was literally glowing as I walked home.
The treatments weren’t cheap, but I make a good living at Aces. My nightly stipend is pretty generous compared to similar gigs around the city, but the bulk of the money I make is earned behind the velvet curtains.
The ten thousand dollars I was offered to sleep with Mr. Calloway before his untimely demise was the highest bid I’d ever gotten, but I can usually pull a couple grand out of the wealthier patrons. After all, I’m the closest thing they have to fucking Rouge herself. Rouge saves herself for her Kings, though I’ve caught her taking a patron into her office every so often. I have no idea what she charges, if she even charges at all. She makes ten times—if not more—what I do running the club.
Still, though. I make a good living. I have a gorgeous luxury apartment in the heart of the Loop. Floor-to-ceiling windows offering magnificent views of Millennium Park and the sparkling Lake Michigan—just beginning its spring thaw—beyond. My prized possession—a Yamaha grand piano—is the first thing I see every morning when I emerge from my bedroom. I see it now as I walk out, my makeup finally done, and I sit down and plunk through a few of my old standby songs. The looseleaf sheet music is always on the built-in stand, so I can look through anything before I head to the club night after night.
But then I reach into the piano bench and pull out another score. Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. My favorite musical, and my dream show. The score opens automatically to Johanna’s solo, “Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” a song she sings about being trapped in the wicked Judge Turpin’s home as he courts her for marriage, comparing herself to a caged bird.
Johanna escapes from her confines due to the help of a young sailor in the show, Anthony.
