Page 11 of Betrayal In The Bay

“What—” Aiden started to say, but I put a finger to my lips for him to be quiet.

“What is it?” Aiden whispered, leaning down toward me.

“When I said I overheard Annisa talking with Trevor, I didn’t mention that I heard them arguing.”

Aiden paused to consider what I was trying to imply. “So, you think there’s more to the story.”

“I don’t know, but I heard her say, ‘It was only one date,’ and I have no idea what that meant.”

“Did you hear anything else?” he asked in a hushed tone before throwing a quick glance at the bathrooms.

We didn’t have to worry about Annisa hearing us because she had already disappeared behind the building, but I lowered my voice when I said, “No, I felt weird eavesdropping, so I moved away from them.”

Aiden pressed his lips together and moved them around as he mulled over the information. “Hmm… Let’s see what Annisa confesses to the police.”

Chapter Seven

My heart sank when I saw one of the paramedics packing away a defibrillator. I closed my eyes when the other medic started to place a yellow blanket over Trevor’s body. When I opened my eyes again, the only thing peeking out was the scuba boots on his feet.

“I’m so sorry. We did everything we could to save him,” the medic said after he snapped the defibrillator case shut. He came over and patted my shoulder. “Please don’t touch the body. The medical examiner is on his way, and he’ll take over from here.”

I nodded and my gaze wandered from the diving guide’s body to Annisa. She stood a few feet away from the officers, wringing her hands and waiting for them to notice her.

“I wonder what they’re discussing,” I said, talking to Aiden out of the side of my mouth.

Officer Shin was whispering to his partner. He had his notebook out, and he was jabbing his fingers occasionally at the pages as he summarized the details to the other officer. The older officer didn’t interrupt, and he listened intently with his thumbs hooked on his belt. When they continued to ignore her, Annisa cleared her throat.

“Excuse me,” Annisa said, but it wasn’t loud enough for the men to hear, so she cleared her throat and said more forcefully, “EXCUSE me!”

Officer Shin’s partner stopped talking and glowered at Annisa. The nametag on his sharply creased shirt read Frankel. His short buzz cut and beefy arms highlighted that he wasn’t a person to be messed with.

Officer Frankel noticed the three of us standing there and asked brusquely, “What can I do for you, Miss…?”

“Annisa Choi.” Annisa’s voice shook, but she lifted her chin to meet his stern expression. She tried to give him one of her sultry smiles, but he turned away before she could deliver it, rattling her composure.

In contrast to his partner’s gruff demeanor, Officer Shin smiled at Annisa and said, “What would you like to tell us, Ms. Choi?” Then he brought out his folding notepad again to take notes.

Annisa responded to Officer Shin’s friendly tone, but she still hesitated. “Um…”

“Yes?” Officer Shin prodded. He kept his face neutral while Officer Frankel scowled. He clenched his jaw and flexed it. No doubt he believed Annisa was wasting his time.

After taking a deep breath through her nose, Annisa finally said, “I want to tell you that I spoke with Trevor earlier this morning. This morning before his…his body was found.”

Her statement got the two officer’s attention. Their eyes lit up, and Officer Shin said, “Is that right? Please start from the beginning.”

Despite her initial statement, Annisa didn’t want to continue. She pressed her mouth so tight that it turned white. Her reluctance was annoying Officer Frankel, and he released an exaggerated sigh and said, “Miss, do you want to tell us what you know or not?”

She looked like she wanted to say “Forget about it” and leave, so I gave Annisa an encouraging nod when she glanced my way.

“I was going to my car to get my scuba diving equipment when the dead guy—I mean Trevor—came over to talk to me.”

“Why did he want to talk to you?” Officer Frankel interjected. His brusque tone must’ve set her off, and Annisa tilted her head to one side and looked at him. She continued to stare at the officer until he coughed and shuffled his feet.

“As I was saying, Trevor came over to talk to me before the dive, but I didn’t want to speak with him. I tried to move away by claiming I needed to use the restroom, but he followed me. We started to talk, but I didn’t want anyone to see us, so I moved behind the building.”

“I’m sorry. I still don’t understand why he wanted to talk to you,” Officer Shin said. His friendly tone contrasted his partner’s tough manner.

Annisa sighed. “Trevor wanted to talk to me because he wanted to know why I wouldn’t return his phone calls.”

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