"Yeah. He saw them out one night and confronted them. Almost came to blows with Trevor, but Trevor is not a small guy. I think Fletcher thought twice about messing with him. Anyway, the bouncer at the club broke it up before anything happened.”
"Did she start seeing Trevor before she broke up with Fletcher?”
Bailey shook her head. "She was still with Fletcher when they met. But Sydney was not that type of girl. She broke it off completely before she started dating Trevor.”
"Who's Patrick?" I asked.
Bailey stifled an eye-roll.
9
"That guy. Ugh," Bailey said in disgust. "He's the one who reached out to her in the first place. He's the one who gave her all the information."
"About the toxic dumping?”
Bailey nodded. "Sydney blew that whole thing wide open. She promised him anonymity. But somehow his name got out. The company took action against him. Fired him. Now he’s got this big lawsuit. He blames Sydney. Said his life is ruined. He's been calling and harassing her. Sending threatening messages. The guy is a total ass.”
I shared another look with JD.
"Did Patrick ever confront her in person? Or was it all over the phone and online?"
"I think he accosted her in her apartment building one night.”
“In a common area?”
“He was waiting for her in the hallway by her apartment.”
"When was that?"
"Last week, I think.”
“How’d he get into the building?”
Bailey shrugged.
“Were you working last night?" I asked.
Bailey nodded.
“What time did you get off?”
"We stop serving at 10:30 PM, but sometimes it's midnight before I get out of here.” She paused and thought about it. "I guess it was probably 11:45 PM when I left. I went home, took a shower, then met a friend for drinks at Blue Ruin.”
"I understand that you’ve been best friends since grade school," I said.
"Who told you that?”
"Judy.”
Bailey frowned. "Sydney was like a sister. We met in kindergarten, actually. She was just so cool and so much fun. I didn't know how much money her family had, and at that age, money doesn't matter. Even when we got into high school, she didn't seem to care about that kind of thing. Even though everybody else did. My parents didn't have two nickels to rub together. I started working fast food at 16. Sydney would take me on vacations with her family. She’d take me shopping and buy me dresses. But that was never why I hung out with her. I always told her not to do that. I think that's why we were friends for so long. I never asked her for anything. As we got older, people started wanting something from her.”
"Is there anyone else you can think of that may have wanted to harm her?”
Bailey’s mouth scrunched as she thought. "Trevor's ex-girlfriend, Marissa. Total bitch.”
I lifted a curious eyebrow.
"That rivalry goes all the way back to high school.”
