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“Really?”
“Sure. I’m hungry, and I love donuts. Whenever I see one, I can’t resist buying one or two. Although I’m not sure how these are going to taste,” he added matter-of-factly, gesturing at the vending machine.
With those words, my opinion of Aiden skyrocketed.
Ping
I heard my phone go off with a text. While Aiden got our snacks, I moved a few steps away to see who had messaged me.
Oh my gosh, it’s Julia! She has no idea what happened today, I thought to myself and read her text.
Hey Claire. How was the dive?
In the short message, Julia was really asking how I got along with Annisa on the dive. I thought about not telling Julia what happened, but she would never forgive me if I kept what was happening to Annisa quiet, so I typed out,
Dive didn’t happen. Someone died. Annisa is being questioned by police.
The next thing I knew, my phone lit up with Julia trying to FaceTime me. Oh great, I thought and swiped to answer the call.
“Hey, Jules,” I said when I saw her face on the screen.
“What’s going on? What’s this about the police questioning Annisa? Is she in trouble?” Julia fired off the questions before I had a chance to answer the first one.
“One of our scuba diving guides was found dead before the dive started. For some reason, the police think Annisa had something to do with his death.”
“What does that mean? I’m coming down. Wait a minute, where are you?” Julia was acting without thinking.
“Slow down. I don’t think it’s necessary for you to come down to Monterey. We’re at the police station,” I said, trying to ward off her frantic actions. As much as I thought Julia was a wonderful friend, her constant need to do something might make things worse. From the last time I waited at the police station, I knew we could be waiting for hours.
Aiden had gotten the snacks and was standing next to me. When I looked at him to validate my assertion, he surprised me by saying, “It might be a good thing if Julia came down to pick you up.”
Not liking what I heard, my eyebrows shot up, and I blurted out, “Pick me up? What about you?”
Aiden took hold of my hand that was holding the phone. He lifted it close to his face and spoke into the screen, “Hi, Julia. This is Aiden.”
Julia looked startled to see Aiden’s face staring back at her, but she said, “Hi, Aiden. What’s going on? Why are you here?” In her alarmed state of mind, she forgot that I came to Monterey with Aiden.
“Claire and I went to the Monterey Police Station with Annisa because she forgot to mention that she and the victim, Trevor, went on a date prior to today’s dive. Going on the date was probably not related, but she omitted that information, which she should have initially mentioned. Additionally, the police claim that there’s evidence connecting her to the death.”
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Annisa knew the victim? Oh my gosh. This is terrible.” Julia pinched the bridge of her nose.
Aiden and I nodded. “I didn’t think Annisa would be arrested when I told her she needed to come to the police station,” Aiden said and looked regretful at his insistence.
I gave him a side hug and said, “You were right to insist that she tell the police because every bit of information would be helpful in finding out what happened to Trevor. No one saw this coming.” Especially not Annisa. She would’ve never agreed to stroll into the precinct with her wetsuit, knowing that she would be detained. I shook my head at the memory of her walking confidently in the thick, neon pink wetsuit.
Aiden hugged me back and then faced Julia on the screen again. “It’ll take a few hours from San Francisco, but we can tell you more when you get here.”
“Okay, I’m coming down. Claire?” Julia called out for me, and Aiden shifted the phone so I could see Julia.
“Yes?” I saw her anxious face staring back at me.
“Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m okay,” I answered and thought to myself, Other than trying to find out what the police have on Annisa, there isn’t anything I needed.
“Fine, I’ll be there as soon as I can. See you soon, Claire. Bye, Aiden.”
“Bye, Jules! Drive safely.” I ended the call and faced Aiden.
