Dana sat down on the sofa with a huff that ruffled her blonde bangs. “I swear if he signs that contract, it just might drive me insane.”
As much as I would be sad to see the
“I’m sure they’re close to wrapping, right?” I asked.
Dana nodded. “Yep. Just the sex scene and two more biting scenes and they’re done. Thank God!”
I bit my lip, remembering the last biting scene, the one I’d watched with Dana on my sofa. “You know, there’s one thing that’s been bothering me about Alexa’s death: why didn’t she struggle?”
Dana frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if it were a blow to the head or a gunshot I’d get how someone could sneak up on her. But dragging her into a bathroom stall, biting her neck and waiting for the blood to drain? That would take some time. Why didn’t Alexa fight back?”
“Good point. Maybe she was drugged first?” Dana said.
I nodded. “It’s possible. But then, how would Becca get her into the restroom? Alexa was skinny, but so was Becca. I doubt she would have been able to drag her in without attracting attention.”
“So, she would have needed help. Someone bigger and stronger,” Dana said, following my train of thought.
“Right. But who?” I asked.
But before Dana could answer, a voice piped up from the trailer door. “What about the boyfriend?”
Both of our heads snapped up to find Ava standing in the doorway, wearing a slinky red dress and popping a wad of bubble gum (watermelon if I wasn’t mistaken) between ruby red lips that said she’d already done her stint in make-up that morning.
Dana narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?” she asked.
Ava shrugged her shoulders, all wide-eyed innocence. “Nothing. I was just walking by and heard you guys talking about the murder. Ricky told me all about it.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Dana said under her breath.
“Anyway, I was just saying, if you’re looking for who killed her, what about the boyfriend?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think she was seeing anyone.”
“Uh, yeah,” Ava argued. “She totally was.”
I paused. “Wait – you knew Alexa?”
Ava nodded. “Sure. We did a toothpaste commercial together a couple years ago. I mean, that was back when I was just starting out, so we’re not like, close-close anymore or anything, but we’re Facebook friends.”
Mental forehead smack.
“And she told you she had a boyfriend?”
Ava shrugged. “Well her status has been ‘in a relationship’ for the past six months.”
I suddenly felt like an amateur. Every
Ava scrunched up her nose, her eyes going to the ceiling as if looking for the answer there. “Um, Devin or Darin or something. Not sure. But I know he works at this new club on Sunset.”
And I knew him, too, I realized. Darwin. The bartender at Crush the night Alexa died.
Chapter Fifteen
“Wait,” Dana said holding up a hand. “Are you telling me that Alexa’s boyfriend was at the club the night that she died?”
Ava gave her a blank look. “I dunno. All I know is the boyfriend is always the first suspect, right?”
Sadly, the ditz had a point. They were. And considering that “opportunity” had just cropped up for the bartender, we definitely needed to investigate both means and motive.
Half an hour later (which would have been only twenty minutes if I hadn’t had to stop to pee at a gas station on La Brea along the way) we were back at Crush. Once inside, we made a bee-line for the bar, where Darwin was busy slicing limes. He glanced up as we entered, and I could have sworn I saw irritation flit cross his features before his “boss’s girlfriend” face slipped on.
“What can I do for you ladies today?” he asked, a fake smile showing off a set of unnaturally white teeth.
“You can tell us the truth,” Dana said, going all no-nonsense on him.
Darwin paused, raised an eyebrow her way. “The truth? I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
“About your relationship with Alexa,” I prompted. “You didn’t tell us you were dating the dead girl.”
His “on” face slipped again, eyes pinging from Dana and back to me again before answering with, “I didn’t lie. You didn’t ask, I didn’t tell.”
“A lie of omission,” Dana pointed out.
He shrugged. “Not really. As of that night, we were no longer dating. So there wasn’t any relationship to talk about.”
“Wait, you two broke up the night she died?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. Motive-ville here we come!
He nodded. “That’s right. So what?”
“So… who broke up with whom?”
He shifted, no longer slicing citrus but, I noticed, still holding the knife in a tight clutch in his right hand. “If you want to know, I broke up with her.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I was tired of seeing her with other guys,” he said, his eyes flashing in away that told me he meant it.
“What other guys?”
“Those vampire freaks.”
“That she met at the parties she worked?” I prodded.
“That’s right. I mean, who gets paid to hang out with old dudes? Hookers, that’s who.”
“So Alexa
Darwin paused. “I don’t know for sure. I mean, she said she wasn’t, but who knows what goes on up there, you know? Bunch of weirdos.”
“So, I take it you weren’t into the vampire scene?” I asked.
“Hell, no. What do I look like some kind of freak?”
I glanced at his pierced eyebrow, eyelid, nose, and lower lip. Probably best not to answer that question.
“Alexa knew you didn’t like her doing the parties?” Dana jumped in.
Darwin nodded again. “Yeah. We fought about it all the time. In fact, last week she promised she was leaving the scene.”
My spidey senses started tingling. “Did she say why?”
“Said she didn’t need the money anymore. Said she was getting a big payday and would quit the vampire gig.”
“But if she said she was going to quit, why did you break up with her over it the night she died?”
His face screwed up into a snarl. “Because she lied.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“I saw her that night with one of those freaks. Clearly she’d just been playin’ me about quitting. So, I told her it was over.”
“And how did she take that?” Dana asked.
