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Chapter Thirty-One
“What did you find out from Sully?” Julia asked. She was sitting on Trevor’s faded demin couch with Annisa.
“Nothing. His shop was closed even though it was supposed to be open according to the sign on the door,” I said, settling down on the couch next to her while Aiden walked around the spacious living room.
“Nice view,” he commented, looking out the windows to the street below.
“Don’t you love this space?” I envied Trevor’s loft-style apartment. It was so airy.
“The location isn’t bad either,” Annisa said, getting up from the couch and making her way to stand next to Aiden. Her movement rankled me. Although I didn’t think Annisa was involved with Trevor’s death, she was hiding something from all of us, and it was time for us to press her for the truth.
“Annisa, we agreed to help you, and we want you to be honest with us,” I said with a quick glance at Aiden and Julia before fixing a determined look at Annisa.
She pressed her lips together, and it looked like she wasn’t going to be cooperative. Sighing, she finally said, “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“First of all, why did you decide to get your scuba diving certification? It didn’t make any sense because you never had any interest in diving before we brought it up at the restaurant.”
She was silent for a few seconds before she answered, “Like you said, I never thought about getting a scuba diving license. But a few weeks ago, my cousin Sung told me that he was selling scuba diving wetsuits that were made in Korea to a guy in Monterey. The brand’s called Riplash.”
“That’s the name of the wetsuit we found in your closet, and it was the same one that you were wearing when we were going to go on our dive,” I blurted out. “I wondered where you got the all-neon wetsuit because I didn’t think any of the scuba diving companies made suits…like that.” I hesitated at the end because I wanted to really say that I didn’t think any scuba diving companies made suits that hideous.
“It’s a clothing company based in Korea,” Annisa said, repeating herself. I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my head at her answer. It was just like her to be unhelpful. “Do you know if Trevor was the same guy that your cousin was selling the wetsuits to?”
Annisa bit her lowered lip and said, “I think so, but I’m not sure.” Her voice was so soft that I had to lean forward to hear her.
“What else does the company make?” Julia asked. Her interest in fashion made her curious.
Annisa shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”
Her answer made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It seemed odd that she didn’t know or didn’t seem interested because, at the lunch date with Aiden, she wanted to know what brand of boots I was wearing.
I smiled ruefully at how ironic the situation was. While I was concerned about the scuba brands, I couldn’t have cared less about the clothing labels, and Annisa was the opposite.
Annisa nodded and cleared her throat. “Anyway, when you guys told me that you were going on a diving trip, I decided to try it. And when I told my cousin about the idea, he connected me with Trevor.”
I stiffened at the mention of Trevor’s name again. Aiden must have thought it was suspicious because he said, “It’s an interesting coincidence that your cousin contacted Trevor to instruct you on your open water certification.”
Annisa shrugged but didn’t say anything. Instead, she gave him an innocent smile and said, “I don’t know how Sung knew Trevor, but my cousin told me that he knew someone who could certify me quickly for the trip.”
I shook my head in disgust because I had a sneaking feeling that she left out the part where she wanted to get in between Aiden and me. I knew she would never confess that with Julia present, so I decided to save that conversation for another day. Instead, I asked, “How did Trevor get you to store his merchandise at your place?”
“I told you how when we were eating clam chowder, and I honestly didn’t think it would be a big deal,” she said with a shrug.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed when Annisa brought up the hidden stash. “Do you think he got the equipment legally?”
She looked down at her feet before lifting her eyes to meet ours. She whispered, “I think the stuff might have been stolen.”
Aiden inhaled deeply and said, “What made you think that?”
She licked her lips nervously and said, “I don’t know for sure, but he mentioned that he meets his supplier at the Breakwater Beach parking lot. If he got the stuff legitimately, don’t you think he would have the gear shipped to him?”
“It’s possible that he wanted to buy the gear in person so he could inspect the merchandise. And if he was buying the stuff at a discount, it might have been a cash-only deal,” Aiden said.
I nodded at his reasoning, but my experience overseas had taught me that anyone doing business out of their car was probably doing it illegally. I was going to ask her about the luxury items when Aiden called for our attention.
“Look at this?” He held up a piece of paper that looked like a lease agreement.
“What is it?” I was the first to rush over to his side, with the other two right behind me. “It looks like a rental agreement for a commercial space for one year.” I scanned the paper. “And it looks like the place is on Cannery Row.”
