Wonderland (14 page)

Vanessa thought for a moment. “When you investigated Tyler’s disappearance, was there anything that didn’t jibe?”

It was an open-ended question, the kind that only a seasoned cop could ask another seasoned cop. It had nothing to do with anything quantifiable; it more referred to gut instinct. Hunches. Things that didn’t feel right, that weren’t necessarily explainable. Jerry knew what she was getting at.

“When I took the job, I told Tanner I would investigate like a cop would, with no bias,” Jerry said. “Which is exactly what I did. And in the end, it looked like everything the police initially said held up. I almost felt bad taking Tanner’s money, though I’d spent a good couple of weeks asking questions and looking around. Witnesses saw Tyler at the park painting the mural and everything was fine. Then the security guard—I’d have to double-check this so don’t take my word for it yet—said he saw Tyler a bit later on during his rounds of the park. But that was it. He never made it home.”

“And Tanner said the security footage showed nothing,” Vanessa said.

“Their surveillance system was a joke back then.”

“They have the same surveillance system now.”

Jerry snorted. “The only piece that didn’t quite jibe was the security guard. Glenn something. I couldn’t pin anything on him, there was nothing to point to him doing anything to Tyler, but I never liked him. He was weird.”

“Glenn Hovey,” Vanessa said. “You talked to him?”

“A couple of times. His answers were always vague. He said he must have been doing his rounds of the park when the kid left. He wasn’t in front of the monitors and therefore didn’t see anything.”

“Glenn Hovey’s name keeps coming up,” Vanessa said. “He was the only person scheduled to be at the park the morning Blake Dozier disappeared, but he never showed up for work. We still haven’t been able to locate him.”

“Wait a minute. You mean the guy still works at Wonderland?”

“As far as I know, they haven’t fired him.”

“Shee-it.” Jerry’s tone was flat. “If that’s the guy they keep on security, then maybe Miss Ava shouldn’t be working there after all. I wouldn’t want that guy watching my ass. Mind you, he’s supposedly good friends with the owner of the park.”

“I told her to watch out for security guards.” Vanessa chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe I should talk to her about it again. Glenn Hovey’s close with Bianca Bishop?”

“More with her uncle, Nick Bishop.”

“His niece runs the place now. I haven’t met her yet. But maybe I should. I’d like to know what she thinks of three missing kids.”

“I never spoke to her, but we did run into each other once as I was leaving the administrative building. She looked at me like I was a cockroach, asked me if I was lost. She had a lot of attitude for someone so young; she would have been in her late twenties when Tyler went missing.” Jerry chuckled. “Her uncle was a lot nicer.”

“Think she’s racist?”

“More like elitist. She was up here and I was down there.” Jerry paused. “But yeah, in hindsight, maybe she didn’t like the color of my skin. If you talk to her, make sure you wear your badge and gun. I’m sure, to her, I was just an annoying civilian running around, asking intrusive questions. My feeling is she’ll respect you more than she did me.”

“I don’t know about that,” Vanessa said. “From what I’ve heard, Wonderland seems to think that Seaside PD works for them. An attitude like that comes from the top.”

“True. Hey, you want my notes on Tyler? I can FedEx them tomorrow. There might not be much more than what you already know, but it couldn’t hurt to look them over. Something might jog.”

“That would be great,” Vanessa said. “But could you send it to me at home? I’ve kind of gone rogue on this—I’m not officially working on anything to do with Tanner’s son. The Wonder Wheel Kid and Homeless Harry are my only active cases.”

“Some things never change.” Jerry chuckled and took down her address. “By the way, is Detective Carl Weiss still working there?”

“No, he retired about a month ago, as deputy chief. I replaced him. Why?”

“They made that guy deputy chief?” Jerry’s rasp got worse. He sounded almost angry. “He was the most useless, unhelpful cop I’d ever met. His shoddy investigative work on Tyler’s case is the reason I had no hope of finding him. There were so many people he didn’t talk to, leads he didn’t follow up on.”

“Tanner said the same thing. As did Aiden Cole’s father.”

Jerry whistled. “Wow. How’d you get that job, anyway?”

“John’s best friend, Frank Greenberg. He’s the mayor here in Seaside now. Elected last year. He . . . did me a favor.”

“Ah.” There was a long pause. Jerry knew there was no point in asking; if Vanessa wanted him to know the details, she would have offered them. “Well, who cares how you got it. Seaside needs you, clearly.”

“I miss your face, Jerry. It’s been way too long. I should come up and visit, once things settle down here.”

“You do that, Miz Castro. It would be lovely to see you.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. In her notebook, Vanessa wrote down three names.

Glenn Hovey, security guard.

Carl Weiss, former Deputy Chief of Seaside.

Kyle ??

She drew circles around them all.

Recipient(s): All Wonderland Staff

Sender: Nick Bishop

Subject: Your Career Path, the Wonderland Way!

Dear Wonder Worker,

I was only fourteen when I began my first job at Seaside’s World of Wonder, around the same age a lot of you are. Now I’m the owner of Wonderland. How did I get from there to here? I worked hard, of course, and I followed my passions! And I encourage you all to do the same.

The job postings you see on our website aren’t just for prospective Wonder Workers. They’re also for you, the current Wonder Worker. If you ever see a job that excites you, apply! We want your experience at Wonderland to be as well rounded as you need it to be, and in alignment with whatever long-term goals you have, whether they’re with the park or not.

No matter where I am in the world, I’m invested in the park, and I’m invested in you. If you need guidance about your career path, talk to your Team Leader today. He or she will help ensure that you find the best fit at Wonderland for YOU. That’s the Wonderland way!

Yours sincerely,

Nick Bishop

Owner, Wonderland Amusement Park, Inc.

EIGHTEEN

A
va was grateful she’d been assigned to hot dogs. Not that she wanted to work at this hot dog cart forever, but it wasn’t a bad first gig as far as food services went. You didn’t get to choose your first gig at Wonderland, but you could always put in for a transfer down the road. Ava had her eye on Elm Street, but for now, hot dogs were fine.

Katya, her new friend, hadn’t been so lucky. They’d met the other day while being force-fed a video on the importance of hygiene and food safety, and had bonded instantly over a love of One Direction, cupcakes, and dyeing their hair pink, which both of them wanted to do someday, but not right now. Katya had been assigned to Teriyaki Delight inside the food court. Both girls agreed that it was about as shitty a food gig as it got, as Katya would be required to wear a shiny kimono and cook with her face in the steam all day—indoors, no less. Compared to that, hot dogs were a breeze. They came precooked and all Ava had to do was grill them a bit and slap them in a bun. And the best part? Her cart was stationed right in the midway, allowing her to stare at Xander Cameron all day.

Xander was across from her in the midway now, doing his thing at Hoop Shot, which was considered to be the best game in the park. It cost the most tickets to play and was one of the most popular games (the grand prizes were regulation NBA jerseys from your favorite team), and since games crew was paid based on how many tickets they turned in at the end of their shifts, Hoop Shot was the most lucrative way to make money. Ava had overheard some of the Wonder Workers grumbling about what Xander, a newbie, must have done to score a gig so good. But it wasn’t Xander’s fault he’d had his interview with the CEO herself. Sometimes you got lucky.

“Ten tickets to play! You know you want to!” Xander called out to passersby on his megaphone. “You think you can shoot threes like Steph Curry? Come and show me, and I’ll give you the jersey of your choice! Come on, big guy, you know you can do it, get on over here, and win your girl something she’ll be proud of!”

He was totally perfect for the job, obviously completely comfortable talking to people. A group of girls about Ava’s age stopped and stared at him, giggling. Despite Ava’s jealousy, she couldn’t blame them. He was gorgeous. End of story.

Their eyes met across the midway, and he grinned and waved. Ava waved back, her face turning bright red as it always did, and she hoped he was far enough away that he couldn’t see the goofy grin on her face.

“Garbage?” a voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

Ava turned to see a janitor in gray coveralls standing near her cart. He was short and stocky, with slicked back dark hair and a goatee. Behind him was a large garbage bin on wheels.

“Garbage?” he asked again, and she saw that he was holding a black Hefty bag full of trash he’d just removed from the large bin a few feet away. She’d been so busy staring at Xander she hadn’t even noticed he’d done it.

“Right, sorry.” Ava opened the metal door at the bottom of her golf cart where there was a small personal garbage container. She handed it over and he changed it quickly. “How’s your day going?” she asked.

He looked up, surprised, as if he wasn’t used to people talking to him. Which was probably because most of the Wonder Workers and guests
didn’t
talk to him—he was a janitor, which unfortunately made him invisible to everyone. “I’m fine,” he said. “Thank you.”

“I’m Ava,” she said, feeling chatty and buoyant. Working outside in the fresh air always made her feel this way. She noticed the tattoo on his neck, a red rose with black leaves. “I really like your tat. Wish I could get one, but my mom would kill me.”

“Thanks,” he said again. He looked thrilled that she was speaking to him. “I got the tattoo after my mother died. Roses were her favorite flower.”

He gave her a smile and a wave as he walked away, and while Ava wouldn’t go so far as to say that she’d made his day, perhaps she had. And that was a good thing.

She resumed staring at Xander, who was encouraging a group of boys to try their hand at Hoop Shot. He’d be on break soon, and they’d been taking their breaks together a lot. Maybe it was because Ava snuck him free hot dogs, but she didn’t think so. Unlike Katya, who didn’t understand the appeal of Elm Street, Xander was supportive of her goal to work in one—or all—of the horror attractions. She’d told him about the weekend she’d spent at Fear Fest with her dad two years ago, when a demented clown had jumped out at them inside the Clown Museum and she’d screamed so hard the clown actually covered his ears. She had never seen her dad laugh to the point of tears, and the story had made Xander laugh, too.

For that, and for so many other reasons, she adored Xander.

Rumor had it that Bianca Bishop adored Xander, too. Normally Ava didn’t put much stock in rumors—they were as ubiquitous as the stinky Axe body spray that all the boys wore—but this one bugged her. She didn’t want to think about Xander hooking up with someone, let alone somebody that old.

He wouldn’t hook up with the CEO, would he?

Speaking of the Dragon Lady, Bianca Bishop was making her way down the midway. Her vibrant red hair, though it was always pulled back into a bun, made her easy to spot from a distance, and Ava immediately straightened up. She and Katya agreed there was no way the red could be the CEO’s natural color—the shade was too intense, and too pretty.

Bianca Bishop had been in the midway a lot lately, and she always said hello to Xander when she was. This only fueled the rumors, but clearly she remembered him, as she was the one who’d hired him. While Xander seemed to like her, the Dragon Lady made everyone else nervous. Even Ava, who had an alpha female for a mother, found herself more than a little self-conscious whenever the CEO was nearby. Because Bianca Bishop was always watching.

Just yesterday, for instance, Shane Cardiff had griped openly to his supervisor about working at the little kids’ Merry-Go-Round for the third day in a row (mainly because there was no opportunity to meet girls his own age there). Bianca had been standing nearby when he was complaining, and she’d pulled him from the gig immediately. He was now cleaning the men’s john inside the food court, which was the most used—and therefore the dirtiest—bathroom in the entire park. And not just for one day. Shane was scheduled there
all week
.

It was best to be invisible whenever Bianca Bishop was around. Being invisible meant doing your job with a smile and not doing anything that might catch her eye. Since she had no guests to serve at the moment—always
guests
, never
visitors
—Ava made a point of wiping down the sides of the grill. It wasn’t dirty, but as her food services training video had proclaimed no less than five times:
time to lean, time to clean.
She figured the Dragon Lady would walk right by like she always did, but this time, the woman stopped.

“Hello,” Ava said with a shy smile.

Bianca’s eyes flickered down to the employee ID card clipped to Ava’s purple shirt, which all the Wonder Workers were required to wear on park grounds. It had her name and photo on it. “Ava Castro. Hello. I’m Bianca Bishop.”

“Yes, ma’am, I recognize you. It’s nice to meet you.” From across the way, Ava could see Xander staring at them. Their eyes met for a split second, and Xander deliberately made a goofy face to try and get her to laugh. She immediately redirected her gaze back to the CEO.

“Has it been busy?” Bianca asked.

“It’s been steady,” Ava said. You never, ever said you weren’t busy. Managers and higher-ups didn’t want to hear that it was slow. If it was slow, it was somehow your fault and suddenly you were on bathroom duty. “I had a lineup a little while ago and so I just refilled the condiments.” The second part was true; the first part wasn’t.

Bianca was scrutinizing her now, and on reflex Ava stood up even straighter. Was her purple golf shirt clean and pressed and tucked in neatly? Check. Were her khaki shorts an acceptable length (no shorter than four inches above the knee)? Check. Was her long hair tied back from her face? Check. Were her fingernails clean and bare of polish (you weren’t allowed to wear nail polish if you worked in food)? Check.

“Your mom is the new deputy chief of Seaside PD, isn’t she?” Bianca said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The woman nodded. “That’s what I thought. I haven’t had a chance to meet her yet. When you talk to her next, tell her to come by my office the next time she’s here at the park. I’d love to say hello and introduce myself. Wonderland has always maintained a close relationship with the Seaside Police Department.”

“Yes, ma’am, I will.” It didn’t seem appropriate to mention that Ava was not exactly on speaking terms with her mother, nor did she plan to start speaking to her anytime soon. The only person who could hold a grudge longer than Vanessa Castro was Ava Castro. “She’ll be here a lot this summer, I’m sure. My little brother loves it here, and he’s been bugging her to take him.”

“So what brought you all to Seaside?” The CEO’s eyes were green, and they seemed to miss nothing. “Your mother was a detective in Seattle, wasn’t she?”

“Well . . .” Ava wasn’t sure how to answer. She’d been asked that question before by a few of the Wonder Workers she’d met so far, and would certainly be asked that question again when she started at Seaside Academy in the fall. She hadn’t yet figured out her stock answer, so she decided to go with the truth. “My dad died six months ago, so my mom thought it would be good for us to get a fresh start.”

“I see. Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” Bianca’s face didn’t change. The words were right, but her tone was strangely wooden. “And how are you enjoying making hot dogs?”

“It’s—” The change of subject seemed abrupt, almost harsh. “It’s fine,” Ava said. “I like it.”

The CEO didn’t blink. “Of course you like it. But if you had your choice, is there a particular gig you’d prefer?”

“Well . . .” Ava swallowed. “I mean, someday, it would be really great to snag an Elm Street gig. I was here for Fear Fest a couple years back and it was a lot of fun.”

“You like that kind of thing.” It should have been a question, but it came out a statement. “Which attraction in particular?”

“I . . .” Ava was caught off guard. “They’re all great.”

“But if you had to pick one.”

“The Clown Museum, I guess,” Ava said, since it was the first attraction that came to mind. “I think it’s . . . really cool.”

“Not too many Wonder Workers would choose the Clown Museum,” Bianca said. “How interesting.”

“I
love
the Clown Museum!” Normally she prided herself on not gushing, but the woman’s lack of emotion made Ava want to be overly enthusiastic, as if to make up for it. “It would be awesome to help put the displays together, or to dress up like a crazy clown and scare people. But I know you have to be at least sixteen.”

“Usually you do,” Bianca said. “But what matters most is aptitude and maturity. You seem to possess both. And my uncle Nick firmly believes that it’s important to place Wonder Workers in jobs they love.”

“Yes, ma’am. I read his email this morning, and I do plan to apply for an Elm Street gig when I turn sixteen. I still have a year and a half to go.”

“You’ve already thought that far ahead.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ava smiled. “I’d love to stay at Wonderland until I go to college, assuming we stay here in Seaside.”

“I see. Thank you for sharing. Have a good day, Ava.”

The CEO continued on down the midway, pausing briefly to say hello to Xander like she always did. Around them, purple-shirted Wonder Workers whispered, and Ava found herself wishing that Xander wasn’t so friendly with the woman. He was just giving everyone more reason to gossip.

When the Dragon Lady was completely out of sight, Ava leaned against the side of her cart, trying to figure out what it was about the woman that was bothering her. It wasn’t the rumors about her and Xander; they were just rumors. It wasn’t the CEO’s strong personality, either; Ava dealt with that every day at home. And it wasn’t that she was mean, or strict, or a bitch, because those things weren’t an issue as long as you didn’t get on her bad side.

It was that Bianca Bishop was . . . fake.

She was speaking to you, but yet not really engaged. She said the right things, but the words didn’t feel like they came from a genuine place. She seemed nice, but Ava had no doubt she’d throw you under the bus if you stood in the way of anything she wanted, and feel no guilt or remorse about it.

Sociopathic
was a word Ava was familiar with, thanks to countless episodes of
Law & Order SVU
and
Criminal Minds
. Not that Bianca Bishop was a criminal. Of course she wasn’t. She was the CEO of Wonderland.

But if she
was
a criminal . . . if, say, she was a serial killer or something, it would make for a damn good episode of
Criminal Minds
, wouldn’t it?