Page 29 of Long Way Down

“That’s not entirely fair, Ang,” Tobias spoke up, voice like weathered velvet. “She thought it was safer and smarter to pursue a more traditional career path, but she wasn’t cruel about it.”

Angie snorted.

Melissa said, “Did she hang out with you guys often?”

“Only a time or two,” Valerie said, “over at their place. It was – uh, it was a little awkward, so we haven’t been back.” Her gaze shifted across the others, and Melissa had the sense that she was the mom friend, if a fractious one. That she wanted everyone here to work together to help Lana, and not to get sidetracked.

Melissa made a note of it on her pad.

“Speaking of Hannah,” Contreras said, “she told us that Lana wasn’t interested in anyone or seeing anybody since she broke up with Jason. Do you guys know if there was a new guy in her life? A crush? Or someone with a crush on her?”

Mark started to say something, traded a look with Valerie, and thought better of it, mouth closing.

Angie caught Melissa’s gaze and slid her eyes over to indicate Tobias. She said nothing, but it was a speaking glance.

Melissa turned to him, and his lips had compressed, his brows had furrowed. Yellowish light turned greasy by the steam on the window fell against the side of his face and was somehow flattering. He knew something, and wasn’t happy about it.

“Tobias?”

He hesitated, fingertips tapping on the tabletop, then let out a slow breath too poised to count as a sigh. “I don’t really feel comfortable talking about it,” he said, glancing down the table toward Valerie, for help or permission, maybe. “It’s not my business to tell.”

Melissa wanted to find him insincere; to think that this was all an act. But if he was an actor, he was a good one.

“Tobias, if you know something, it could be a big help, even if it seems like a small little detail.”

He winced. Dropped his gaze to the table, and the fingertip he ran along the dried coffee ring crusted onto its top. “Well…it’s nothing. Nothing related to what happened to her. But I noticed, a few weeks ago, that she was…looking at me.”

“Dude, she was totally into you,” Mark said, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Tobias frowned, hand pressing flat on the table, brows notched. “She did express her interest, yeah.” His eyes lifted to meet Melissa’s, startling all over again, ochre-colored and deep; eyes that had seen a few things, and which wished they hadn’t. They reminded her, oddly, of an old shelter dog she’d known once; grateful for a scratch behind the ear, fearful of what would happen when the love ran out.

“She asked if I wanted to come over on her day off to work on our new sim unit – it’s for econ – and when I got there, Hannah wasn’t around, and Lana was running an oil diffuser. The apartment smelled like roses, and she’d set out wine, and two glasses, and a cheese plate.” He looked pained. “It was obvious she wanted it to be a date.”

“Did you want it to be?”

She was aware of his groupmates watching him intently, and had the impression he hadn’t discussed this with them, even if they’d been aware of Lana’s feelings.

“No,” he said, firmly. “Lana’s a really nice girl, and very talented, but I explained to her – as delicately as I could” – his face tweaked with regret – “that I didn’t think getting romantically involved was a good idea. For either of us.”

“Really?” Maren asked, nose wrinkled. “That’s so lame.”

Tobias shrugged and scooted down in his chair, obviously uncomfortable now. He held his ground, though. “I didn’t want to hurt her, but it was for the best.”

“Okay,” Contreras said. “We know who she liked. But do any of you know if anyone liked her? Anybody paying too much attention to her? Did she complain of anyone being creepy?”

The five of them regrouped and pondered the rest of their questions aloud. It was a fairly productive group interview, all things considered; Melissa had been a part of a few in Vice that had devolved into shouting, crying, and a stabbing, once.

It became apparent that Lana was close with her econ study group, that they all traded texts throughout the day and had a FB group chat where they discussed their assignments, and more personal topics. Lana had pulled back, recently, they all said, and a glance from Angie made it clear she thought Tobias turning her down was the cause. None of them had heard Lana express fear or worry about anyone in her life; none had noticed anyone watching them, or more specifically, her, when they were with her. All readily offered access to their group chat, along with DNA and print samples for elimination purposes.

All of them were cooperative. But her intuition was keyed in on Tobias.

Because he was suspicious? Or because she’d found him instantly attractive, and attraction was a minefield for her?

Valerie finally checked her watch with a startledeepand jumped up. “God, I’m gonna be late for Spanish.”

The others stood and chair legs scraped across the floor tiles as they pushed them in and gathered their things.

Melissa passed out cards. “If any of you see anything or hear anything, give us a call and let us know, okay? Even if it seems insignificant.”

---