Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (27 page)

She was innocent, and all she had to do
now was prove it.

In deep thought, Bianca was finishing
up the dishes when the phone rang. She picked up fast, not wanting
to wake Lee.

"Hey, it's me," Michelle
said

"Hey Michelle."

"Are you okay?"

"Considering everything that has
happened, I'm all right," Bianca said. "'What about
you?"

"I just hope it's over. Wasn't that
scary having them ask us questions like that? I never want to go
through that again."

"How are you holding up," Bianca
asked.

"Just barely, but anyway, I found out
why Camina left the office the other day in tears."

"Why?" Bianca was always in the mood
for a bit of juicy gossip.

"Bruce didn't want her to work for him
anymore. He broke off their relationship and then had her
reassigned."

"Are you serious?"

"Hard to believe, isn't?"

"How did you find out?" Bianca asked
her.

"Who else? Rollie? You know he knows
everything. Rumor has it Denise wanted you to work for Bruce and
Camina knew about it and you can imagine how that played out.
Listen, I have to run. Will I see you at the office next
week?"

"I'll be there."

Bianca was spellbound by what Michelle
said about Camina. Even if it were true that Bruce broke off their
relationship and no longer wanted her to work for him, that didn't
seem reason enough to kill him.

So why was Michelle sharing this
information with her?

Could it be that Michelle was hiding
something?

For every minute that passed, the whole
situation became more and more bizarre. At this point, Bianca
didn't know who killed Bruce Colby.

It could have been Michelle.

It could have been Camina.

Or like Michelle said, it could have
been a man dressed as a woman, wearing a wig. Moments later, Bianca
threw out all of her suspicions. The killer could be only one
person. It wasn't Bianca. It wasn't Michelle, and it was no man
dressed in a wig.

Chapter 18

BIANCA STORED THE DISHES AWAY in the
cabinet and wiped down the kitchen table. She reminisced about how
she behaved over the last few days, and she was not
impressed.

How could she have been so childish as
to go after Bruce just to spite Camina? And even worse, how could
she have run from the police like that, making herself look twice
as guilty?

Instead of pursuing someone like Lee
who lay fast asleep on her sofa, someone so easy to love, she went
after a married man, a man who she held no respect for, who now lay
cold in some morgue. Regrettably, she erred to the fullest
capacity.

On a much deeper level, maybe she
wanted to be a suspect as if it were all part of the ride of
adventure. But the ride had come to an end, and she was ready to
exit. Her habit of running away came to haunt her in the worst
possible way.

Everything she did in the last three
weeks was done out of fear.

Fear of who she was.

Fear of accepting her
misfortune.

And most of all ─ fear of the future.
But she didn't need to return to therapy as her present dilemma
proved therapeutic enough.

Bianca glanced at Lee's jacket and
Kangol hat on the coat rack and an idea came to mind. She grabbed
his coat and hat and tiptoed into the bedroom. After stepping into
her black jeans she slid on her leather boots. She stepped in front
of the bathroom mirror and stripped off her earrings. She then
placed Lee's Kangol hat on her head as she was meticulous about
hiding every strand of her black hair. A masculine look was her
goal. It was an attempt to elude the police just in case her
suspicions of them outside watching her proved true.

She slipped into Lee's jacket and the
sleeves were almost too short for her long arms. It proved to be a
tight, snug fit, and that was good enough for her. She then grabbed
Lee's keys from the coffee table and left the apartment.

Upon reaching the outside of her
building, she raised the collar of her jacket and didn't look in
the direction of the Buick. She hurled into Lee's silver Jeep and
drove off, hoping not to be followed. She traveled down Clark
Street, continually checking her rear view mirror to see if she was
being followed.

She wasn't.

In just a matter of minutes, she
reached Camina's two flat apartment complex. Only having gone to
Camina's apartment once when she and Michelle attended a baby
shower, Bianca didn't know the exact address, but remembered the
building. It was unlikely Camina would invite her up, so Bianca
waited in the lobby, hoping a tenant would come in or out of the
building and give her the opportunity to hustle
upstairs.

Minutes later, a gentleman exited the
building with his Labrador. Casually, Bianca entered and made her
way up two flights of stairs. With her hands in her pockets, she
stood outside Camina's apartment. She placed her ear against the
door and heard the chatter of Camina's whiny voice.

Bianca knocked on the door.

Seconds later, Camina swung the door
open. She was wearing a skimpy skirt and top and held a cell phone
against her ear. Camina's eyes shot to Bianca. "What do you
want?"

Bianca removed her Kangol hat, then
barged past Camina inside the apartment.

"I'll call you back," Camina said,
right before she disconnected the caller.

With the front door still open, Camina
pivoted over to Bianca. "I don't remember inviting you in here. You
know I could have you arrested."

Bianca was ready to tell Camina what
she really thought of her dirty tactics. "Do you really think I'm
going to take the wrap for something you did?" Bianca asked
her.

Before Camina could answer, Bianca
continued. "I know you put that ring and that belt in my desk
drawer."

"Did you come here for a confession of
some sort, Bianca? I sure as hell hope not."

"I came for much more than
that."

"You don't frighten me, Bianca. I can't
believe they let you loose. You might have everyone else fooled by
your little innocent act, but I'm not. I know you're crazy, I've
known it ever since we were in high school. Look at you. What
happened to the blonde hair?"

Camina stepped towards Bianca, and
sized her up from top to bottom. "You colored your hair because you
wanted to look like me, dress like me. Someone like that is not
innocent, and I hope you get exactly what you deserve."

The anger stirred in Bianca's temples,
but she said nothing.

Camina backed away slowly and didn't
say another word for a long time. "Now get out of here before I
throw you out."

Bianca's first response was to leave as
she stepped towards the door, but her reflexes came alive and she
lunged at Camina, grabbing the top of her hair. It was no surprise
when the straight, blonde wig slid off into Bianca's hands. This
was something that Bianca had always suspected, but was never one
hundred percent certain.

A whispering shriek escaped from
Camina's mouth, and Camina grabbed the wig from Bianca's hand and
tossed it to the floor.

Bianca had done it now.

The sight of the small patches of hair
dispersed across Camina's narrow head sent Bianca into a state of
shock. Though she always knew Camina wore a wig, it was the first
time she ever saw her without it. And it was a scary
sight.

Camina threw herself at Bianca and
pulled at Bianca's ponytail, but Bianca caught Camina's hand in
time and was able to push her away. Again, Camina hurled at Bianca,
this time knocking her to the floor. While Bianca recovered from
her fall to the floor, Camina maneuvered her thin body onto
Bianca's. She pulled at Bianca's hair when Bianca thrust her fist
against Camina's cheek. It was just enough time to slide from
underneath Camina's long torso. Immediately, Bianca jetted towards
the front door. Camina rose from the floor, grabbed the table lamp
and threw it towards Bianca, but Bianca ducked in time and the lamp
shattered to the floor.

Camina was an animal.

Bianca never before witnessed this
brutal side of Camina, and she was terrified.

For her life.

Chapter 19

BIANCA'S ONLY THOUGHT WAS TO reach the
front door and escape the madness of this woman, this woman who
seemed capable of anything. The door was a long way off, and she
would have to bypass Camina in order to reach it.

A tall candlestick on the coffee table
caught Bianca's eye, and she grabbed it fast and threw it at
Camina. The blow to Camina's head only stopped her a moment, for an
unstoppable woman. But it was the look in Camina's eye that caught
Bianca off guard. It was the most frightening glare she ever saw.
Her heart raced, thumped, pounded and she wondered if she would
ever make it to the front door.

Without thinking about it any further,
Bianca zipped towards the door, hoping the thrust of her speed
would bypass Camina's fury.

Unexpectedly, everything went black,
and when Bianca opened her eyes, she was down on the floor, feeling
a knot on the back of her head. Camina's body was toppled atop of
Bianca, her hands around Bianca's neck.

Bianca gasped for air, and tried to
free herself from Camina's clutches, but she couldn't. Continually
Bianca struggled to release Camina's hand from her neck as she
pried, scratched, pushed, pulled, but nothing seemed to
work.

"Bruce tried to fuck me over and look
what happened to him," Camina said. "It wasn't enough that I had to
share him with his wife, but now you, too."

Bianca's eyes lit up. It was Camina's
statement that sent terror throughout Bianca's entire body while
Camina's hands pierced Bianca's neck,

Bianca tried desperately to breathe and
keep from going under, and then, out of nowhere, Bianca heard a
male voice.

"Let her go."

To Bianca's surprise, she saw Detective
Uhler and Stuart standing over her.

Finally, Camina released her grasp from
Bianca's neck, and Bianca gasped and coughed, her head
spinning.

Stuart was quick to help Bianca up from
the floor. "Are you okay?"

Bianca nodded, still coughing as Camina
so casually picked up her wig from the floor and positioned it on
her head.

All eyes on Camina.

"I saw the whole thing, Camina," Stuart
said to Camina.

"What?" Camina questioned.

Stuart stepped to Camina and said, "I
said, I saw the whole thing."

Camina's eyes locked in with Stuart's
as if she was staring at Satan, and Bianca stood there, just as
surprised.

"What are you talking about?" Camina
asked. "Saw what whole thing?"

"The murder. I was in the bathroom
stall the night Bruce Colby was murdered," Stuart said. "I saw him.
I saw you. I saw everything."

The detectives escorted Camina to the
station, and Bianca and Stuart headed towards Lee's Jeep. As soon
as they climbed into the Jeep, Stuart said, "I'm sorry I didn't go
to the police sooner."

"I'm just glad you did when you did,"
she said to him.

Bianca started the engine, but she
didn't move. There was something about Stuart's confession that
baffled her. She was about to pull off, but the curiosity of Stuart
witnessing the murder gnawed at her. "How could that be?" She
shifted the gear back into park. "How is it that you saw
everything? How can that be possible?"

"I was in the bathroom from the time
you came in," Stuart said.

Immediately, Bianca thought about that
night, remembering. In her mind, she retraced her steps, and,
still, it did not compute. "But I checked all the stalls, and there
was no one in there."

"Did you check the handicap
stall?"

Bianca's eyes lit up as she remembered.
He was right. She had checked every stall but that one. "So you
actually saw Camina, and she didn't see you?"

"I didn't actually see her face. I
never saw her face. I just assumed it was Camina. I knew it
couldn't have been you."

Bianca smiled and smiled and smiled
some more. "So you don't actually know for sure?"

Stuart smiled. "In my heart, I knew it
couldn't have been you."

Bianca shifted the gear into drive. "So
you weren't completely truthful with the police."

"Not completely."

"So it could have been Michelle,"
Bianca said.

"Michelle is a sweetheart. It couldn't
have been her either."

"So you really don't know who killed
Bruce Colby?"

"I know it wasn't you."

Stuart smiled at her, and she smiled
right back.