Brandy dug around in her bag while the fistfight escalated into a free-for-all just a few feet from their tent. Incoherent screams and cries rent the night. Only Phoebe made any sense at all.
“Help!” she screamed. “Help!”
After the ranger came to bust it up and Cody thundered away on his bike, things settled down at last, the dogs quit howling, and the kids stopped crying, but now neither Brandy nor Angel could sleep. They lay in their bags for the next couple of hours checking their watches and chatting quietly.
“I have to pee,” Brandy said.
“So, enjoy. You know where the bathroom is.”
“Come with me.”
“What?”
“C’mon, Angel. Don’t make me go alone. Remember that story Sam told about the night the bears came to your cabin and broke into that refrigerator you keep in your garage?”
“There was only one bear and he was dinky.”
“Sam said that dinky bear knocked the refrigerator over, broke open the door, and ate all the frozen meat. When you came out in your nightgown to scare him off, he chased you across the yard. You screamed, too.”
“Oh, chill, Brandy. I haven’t heard a peep from anything or anyone since the ranger came.”
“Please? I’m scared.”
They pulled on flip-flops and sweaters, examined the road carefully for shadows, and stepped outside into the stinging-cold night. Brandy waited for another latebird lady to finish washing up, then used the bathroom in private while Angel stomped the concrete to heat up her toes, keeping a watch outside for bears or strangers or anything at all, but the dark made it hard to see much except lights reflecting off the lake in the distance. Hard to believe they were right in the middle of the city of South Lake Tahoe.
“Gag me,” Brandy said, when she finally came outside. “It smelled like vomit in there. That poor woman partied too hearty for her own good.”
“She did look terrible, except that I loved her hair,” Angel agreed. “Should have stuck to chocolate and wine like us, huh? No ill effects, except maybe that we’re jumpy as little bunnies.” They walked through the darkness toward their camp.
“Wait!” Brandy whispered suddenly, putting a hand out to stop Angel. She pulled her sister back toward the side of the road.
“Is it a bear?”
“Shh!”
“Let’s go. You’re not three years old anymore. No need to be so damn scared of the dark.”
“Shut up!” Brandy hissed.
Angel shut up and looked in the direction Brandy’s nose pointed, seeing nothing.
“It’s so dark,” she whispered. “What are you looking at?”
Brandy’s finger shook as she pointed toward the orange tent next to their site. “There’s enough moon to see.”
Angel stared but saw nothing special.
“He’s gone now.”
“Who?”
“I saw someone leaving that tent.”
“So what?” Angel said. “When you gotta whiz, you gotta whiz. You’re living proof.”
“But, Angel, didn’t Cody-the biker-leave after the ranger came around?”
“Yeah.”
“How come he’s back, then?”
“No idea. You sure you saw Cody, Brandy?”
“Unless Mario suddenly grew his hair long, has lost about fifty pounds and gone all ugly, and looks just like Cody.”
“Where’s the bike, then?”
“He knew he’d wake up the whole camp if he came in on that thing so he parked it out on the street?” Brandy guessed.
They puzzled about it for a minute or two, but the camp remained silent and peaceful, so they went on back to their tent, slept for the few remaining hours of the night, and got up the next morning, deciding to strike out early for a hike up to Beauty Lake and a new campsite at Wright’s, out of town and out of the whole city campground B.S.
“They found her body in her sleeping bag, dead, the next morning when the ranger tried to roust them out of the site,” said Brandy. “Mario was still asleep, right next to her!”
“You seem sure Cody is responsible for the woman’s death,” Nina said. She had paused in her note-taking. The office door, slightly ajar, told her Sandy was probably listening.
They stared at her. “Well, heck, I don’t think there’s much doubt,” Angel said. “Cody came back, Brandy saw him. And even a drunk wouldn’t jump back into his sleeping bag and pass a peaceful night next to the dead body of his girlfriend like Mario did. If Mario had done it, he would have run straight across the state line, across Nevada, and all the way to Colorado before he stopped to breathe.”
“Ms. Guillaume, Angel, you mean to tell me your husband didn’t mention a murder at a campground to you over the weekend? We don’t get many up here.”
“He never saw the story or he would have freaked.”
“Why didn’t you go straight to the police when you got back to town on Tuesday?” Nina asked them.
“I’m ashamed to say, we don’t always read the papers,” said Angel. “We just saw an article about what happened this morning. It’s so sad! It’s just terrible! That poor girl. Cody must have snuck back and strangled her in the night. Mario was so drunk, maybe he didn’t even wake up.”
Nina picked up the phone. “I’ll arrange for you to speak with the police or the D.A.’s office as soon as possible. They should know what you saw.”
“Hold on. Did you read about these people?” Brandy said. “The camper, Mario Lopez, the one they arrested, had just gotten out of prison that day! He’s a violent felon. He was in for assault for years. The other guy, Cody, he was in for drug trafficking last year, plus he has a whole bunch of other convictions. The truth is, we’re scared to death to tell anybody.”
“If I have your story right, no one, except for the tourists you replaced, even knows you stayed at that campground that night,” Nina reminded her.
“Which is the one reason I can still sleep at night,” Angel said.
“I just don’t want to talk to anyone about this until I’ve had a chance to talk to my fiance,” Brandy said. “So we came here today for your free consultation. Besides, Angel told me all about how you kicked butt in the Misty Patterson case, even though you got hurt in the process. You’re tough.”
“I’m lucky,” Nina said. She touched her hand to the scar on her chest. Did anyone realize how superstitious even the most pragmatic lawyer could be?
“Will it make any difference to Mario if we don’t come forward today? I mean, is he in some horrible place where he’s going to get brutalized or something?” Brandy asked.
“No. Remember, this man just got out of state prison. The jail in Placerville can’t compare to that. But, Brandy, you have to tell the prosecutors what you saw as soon as possible.”
“What about the chances of Cody leaving town before I say anything?” Brandy said.
Nina said, “The article mentions the fight, then it says Cody Stinson has a local friend who says he spent the rest of the night with her. She’s his alibi. He’s also on probation. Probably isn’t allowed to go far. Although I’m sure the police will be questioning him, since they have a suspect in custody, he has no reason right now to worry about getting arrested.”
“He will when he hears what Brandy has to say,” said Angel.
“We’ll explain our concerns about your safety. The D.A.’s office won’t reveal your names or anything about what’s happened until you’re well protected.”
“I won’t talk. Not until I reach Bruce,” Brandy said. “Tomorrow, first thing?”
“You can call him from here,” Nina pushed.
“Like I told you, we’re at a rough patch,” Brandy said. “Bruce and I haven’t been speaking, so it makes everything more complicated. After a week of calling me nonstop, he quit answering his phone. Just give me some time. Meanwhile, don’t worry. I won’t let Mario go down without telling the police Cody came back that night. I just can’t do it yet.”
“The longer you hold off, the more complicated your situation becomes,” Nina warned. She got names, addresses, and phone numbers for both the women. After they left, she tucked her intake notes into the manila file she planned to take home in her briefcase that night. Maybe Brandy would decide she was able to go first thing in the morning. Nina wanted to review her notes and prepare for anything.
The whole story was scribbled on yellow legal sheets and sitting in that damned file, the one she took home that night.
And here in front of her on Monday afternoon sat the sisters, Angel with her platinum-tipped bristles, Brandy with her dimples. But there were no smiles. They said they hoped Nina wasn’t too upset that they didn’t get back to her on Friday. They had their reasons. They knew she might insist that they go talk to Henry McFarland, the assistant district attorney for El Dorado County based out of Tahoe, right away, but they hoped that wasn’t necessary.
Well, they did have to go right away, Nina told them.
“We can’t go,” Brandy said, tearing up. Nina got up and shut the door.
Angel spoke up, her tone very serious. “Brandy’s fiance has taken off. We have to find him first.”
“Taken off?” Nina said.
“I mean, I know he was upset at me, probably, but why would he leave home like that? Angel drove me home to Palo Alto over the weekend so that we could maybe work some things out, but he was gone!”
“We talked about it on the way over here,” Angel said. “Bruce took his wallet, but he didn’t take his mobile phone. He doesn’t exist without that phone. Brandy says he starts yakking on it when he brushes his teeth in the morning and doesn’t let up all day long. He took some clothes, but stuff Brandy says he hates.” Her voice dropped. “So we had this thought. We’re thinking him being gone is suspicious. We’re scared. We’re thinking, maybe Cody found out somehow and went over to the house and did something. To Bruce. You know?” She put her arm around Brandy. “You know what I’m saying?”
Now Nina had to speak. She said she understood, but unfortunately had to add to their fear. She told them that someone had the file with all their information, the names, the addresses, the phone numbers. She told them that she was worried, too. Their concerns about Bruce just added to the all-around bad news.
Two sets of frightened gray eyes stared back at her.
“I’m going back to Palo Alto tonight,” Brandy said. “I have to try again to talk to Bruce.”
“Not alone you’re not,” Angel said. “I’m coming. Sam’s taking some time off. He’s taking the kids to Oregon to visit his mother. I’m supposed to join them, which I will when I get around to it.”
“We can stay at Maria’s. Cody won’t have that address.”
Angel turned to Nina. “We’ll make you a deal,” she said. “We’ll drive back up first thing in the morning. I’ll make some arrangements at the salon. We’ll meet you there.”
“Don’t go,” Nina said. “Let’s talk to the D.A. today. It’s not safe.”
