Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (25 page)

She monitored the dubious look on
Detective Lane's face and swallowed hard. His facial expression
revealed indifference, but she was dead serious in her
request.

For a brief moment, nothing but empty
silence hovered over the room, and she wanted to scream. "Well.
Will you?" she asked again.

"Now, Ms. Bell, you know we can't
promise you that," Detective Uhler said.

"Even if I tell you exactly what
happened that night, and why I think it was someone
else?"

Detective Lane interjected, "Just tell
us what happened."

Bianca hesitated, halted her movement
and locked her eyes with the wall in front of her. She was afraid
that if she told her story that it might make her look even more
guilty, but they had her in a bind. All of the cards were in their
favor, and all she could do was play by their rules and hope and
pray for the best.

"Look at it this way, Ms. Bell,"
Detective Uhler said. "If you don't tell us the whole story, we're
definitely not going to let you go."

Though she always believed honesty
could be her best friend, somehow in this situation she wasn't so
sure, but she lacked options. After she coasted down another drink
of water, she inhaled a deep breath. "Okay. I did see Bruce last
night. We were fooling around in one of the office
restrooms."

"Fooling around?" Detective Uhler
questioned.

"Yeah. We were going to do it,
but…"

Detective Uhler stepped forward, then
planted his body in the seat across from her as if awaiting a
fictitious story. "But what?"

"But, we didn't. Though I wanted to,
when Camina came in and saw us, it was all over."

Detective Uhler scribbled some notes
down on his pad while Detective Lane listened with an amused look
on his face.

"Anyway, when Camina came in and saw
us, Bruce went after her, and that killed any chance of us
finishing what we started."

"Why did he go after her?" Detective
Lane asked.

"I told you, they were dating, and it
was no secret."

The detectives glanced at each
other.

"What exactly did Camina see?"
Detective Uhler asked.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Nothing is obvious with you, Ms.
Bell," Detective Lane added.

A tad bit embarrassed, Bianca was
reluctant to finish, but she forced herself to. "I was sitting in
Bruce's lap on the bowl kissing him and at that moment, I wanted to
make love to him, I really did, but when Camina showed up, he
seemed more interested in going after her than making love to
me."

"That upset you, didn't it?" Detective
Lane asked.

"You bet it did."

"Then what happened?" Detective Uhler
asked.

"Camina left, I left and that was the
last time I saw him."

"And you never saw him anymore after
that?" Detective Uhler asked as he shifted through his
notes.

Bianca shook her head. "And it wasn't
until this morning that I learned what had happened and that's the
truth."

"Your truth," Detective Lane
said.

Bianca rolled her eyes at Detective
Lane, then returned her focus to Detective Uhler.

"That doesn't prove that it was anyone
else any more than it proves it was you," Detective Lane
said.

"You think that I'm making this up? I'm
not. That is what really happened."

"So you say," Detective Lane
said.

Detective Uhler stood up as if trying
to make sense of it all. "Did both Ms. Givens and Ms. Moore know
Bruce was married?"

"Of course they knew."

Detective Uhler stepped to Bianca.
"Your hair. You said you didn't like the color anymore. Was that
the truth or was that a cover up?"

"No, that was the truth. I don't like
the color anymore, but I admit I did have other reasons for
coloring my hair this morning."

"Which was?"

"I didn't want to be confused with
Camina or─"

"Or Michelle Moore?" Detective Lane
asked, finishing her sentence.

"That's right."

"But everyone at the office had seen
you as a blonde," Detective Uhler said.

"I know it was a crazy thing to do, but
I was desperate and when I'm desperate, I don't think
clearly."

"While you were in the stall with Bruce
Colby, did you wrap the belt around his neck?" Detective Uhler
asked.

"Yes, but I didn't kill
him."

Detective Lane lowered his head as if
to collect his thoughts. Then he lifted his head and peered into
Bianca's eyes. "Why did you wrap the belt around his
neck?"

"Why does anyone do anything? For the
fun of it."

Detective Uhler stepped back as if to
fully take in her words. "Did you know he had a bad
heart?"

"No. Does he?"

"You didn't know he had a bad heart?"
Detective Lane asked.

"I may have heard something about
it."

"How do we know you didn't accidentally
kill him?" Detective Lane asked. "Think about it, Ms. Bell. Think
about it really hard. Maybe you accidentally killed him. Let's
suppose you and Bruce were wrapped up in the moment, you had the
belt around his neck, it started to get exciting, like you say, and
accidentally, with no fault of your own, he died in the act. Then
you put his ring and his belt in your drawer so it would look like
you were set up."

She stared down at the table, annoyed.
"That is not how it happened," she said in an elevated
tone.

"Why don't you tell us how it happened
then?" Detective Lane suggested.

"I told you already. I didn't kill
Bruce and even if I did─" she stopped herself, not wanting to say
too much.

"Even if you did, what?" Detective
Uhler asked.

"Not only was Camina having an affair
with him, but there was someone else as well."

Detective Uhler exhaled a breath of
confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Michelle had an affair with him as
well, and she also has blonde hair."

Detective Uhler was about to write
something, then slapped his pen down on the table. "Let me get this
straight. All three of you were sleeping with Bruce? Is that what
you're saying?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying,"
Bianca said. "I had sex with him once, or almost. It was an ongoing
thing for Camina, and Michelle used to sleep with him until she
found out he was married."

"How long ago was that?" Detective
Uhler asked.

"How long ago was what?"

"That Michelle was sleeping with
Bruce?"

"I don't know. I can't
remember."

"There's some truth in there
somewhere," Detective Uhler said as he glanced over at Detective
Lane. "They say there's truth in every lie."

Detective Lane chuckled. "They never
met Bianca Bell. Isn't that right, Ms. Bell?"

Bianca stared at him and didn't say
anything right way, then asked, "Are you going to let me leave
now?"

"Should we?" Detective Uhler asked
her.

Bianca nodded.

"You can leave for now, but like I said
to your coworkers," Detective Uhler said. "We'll definitely talk
again."

Bianca glanced at Detective Lane then
Detective Uhler. "Thank you," she said before making a swift exit
out the door.

She couldn't believe that they let her
go. After having sweat tears under an intense interrogation, it
felt good to be free.

Chapter 17

LEE AWAITED BIANCA AT THE front desk.
She hurried down the hall and immediately spouted into his arms,
holding him tight. When he pulled away from her, he noticed her
hair. "You colored your hair again."

"Yeah, this morning."

"Why?"

"It's a long story."

"But you're okay?" he asked.

Bianca nodded and said, "Let's get out
of here. Please."

As they proceeded out of the police
station, Bianca turned around and saw Detectives Uhler and Lane.
They were watching her, almost studying her, and it sent a frost
through her spine. After suffering enough already, she refused to
allow their judgmental stares to ruin her moment.

She would have to explain everything to
Lee even though she knew it would be embarrassing. It was a
necessary evil. One thing was for certain. She could not, and would
not, tell any more lies. It was all the lies that made her
situation much worse.

In Lee's Jeep, he and Bianca did not
share more than a couple of words as they traveled down Broadway
Street. But the silence was just what she needed.

As soon as she and Lee stepped through
the front door of her apartment, she breathed a sigh of relief. She
didn't think she would ever see her apartment again. As Lee helped
her off with her coat, she absorbed the clutter in her front room.
Right away she grabbed the empty glasses from the coffee table and
took them into the kitchen.

When she returned to the living room
and grabbed the sweater from the chair, Lee stood in front of her.
"Why don't you do that later. Come sit down with me."

Bianca released the sweater from her
hand and sat on the sofa, and Lee joined her. "You want to tell me
what happened?

She shook her head, not sure she was
ready to talk about it just yet. Everything that had happened to
her brought her to this point, this point of enlightenment where
she realized the error of her ways.

"It feels great to be home," she said.
"I can tell you that."

"It's good to be here with you," Lee
said to her.

"Would you pour me a drink,
Lee?"

Lee shook his head and smiled at her.
"No, I won't. You don't need that. That's why you have
me."

Though a stiff drink was in order at
that moment, she had endured too much to argue with him. "This has
been the craziest day of my life, Lee." Embarrassed to even talk
about what happened, she forced herself to recount most of the
events that transpired that day. Not only did she purposely leave
out the part of her trying to elude the police, but also that the
detectives had more than ample reason to suspect her.

"I'm sorry I put you through all of
this," she said to Lee. "Everyone tried to warn me. You, Michelle,
my doctor, but I didn't listen."

"Sometimes we have to learn these
things for ourselves."

She stared into his eyes and scooted
closer to him. "I think I've always loved you, Lee, I mean, really
loved you, just never realized it because I was too busy acting
out."

"Don't be too hard on
yourself."

"All the same. Thank you. Sometimes I
wonder if I deserve to have someone like you in my
life."

She and Lee shared a warm smile, and
when she moved to face him, she kissed him. That kiss brought back
memories of the first time they locked lips, but this time was
different. It possessed a romantic flavor, not like before when she
perceived him only as a dear friend. And for the first time, she
found herself attracted to him in a more intimate way, and it felt
so good.

All she could think about was why she
failed to experience this feeling before. Could it be that her
promiscuous endeavors prepared her for this moment?

He peered at her through his dark brown
eyes. "I'll always be here for you, Bianca. Always. Even if one
hundred years go by, I'll always be here for you."

"That's so sweet, and it means so much
to hear you say that, but I have no intention of going anywhere,
even if they do think I did something that I didn't."

Bianca snuggled up against Lee and
brushed her head against the center of his chest, breathing
multiple sighs of relief until she fell asleep.

Back at Whitley & Austin later that
afternoon, Stuart having come in late that morning had just learned
of the murder and how Camina, Michelle and Bianca were all
suspects. When he saw that Bianca was not at her desk, he
immediately sprang into action and tracked down Michelle. He
approached her fast. "Where's Bianca?" he asked her.

"She was in this morning, then left
back out," Michelle said.

"Did the detectives question her
yet?"

"When I talked to her this morning,
they hadn't."

"Do you know the names of those
detectives?"

"Why?"

"I have information for them," he said
to her.

Not only was Bianca his cousin, but he
considered her a dear friend. He planned to help her in any way
that he could, which would include sharing with the police
everything that he knew.

Stuart made his way to the police
station on Addison and Halsted, wanting to speak with the
detectives before they questioned Bianca. After Stuart asked to see
Detective Uhler, the sergeant at the desk escorted him down the
hallway, towards Detective Uhler's office.