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The suspicion turned to sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you. The police are working on the case, but we know that she went out on a date with the dead diver. We wanted to know if there is any connection between his death and hers.”
“Gee—I don’t know,” the guy said, looking thoughtful.
I was disappointed that the vendor didn’t know more. “Well, I appreciate?—”
The coffee vendor’s eyes lit up. “I don’t know if this is anything, but one time, I saw the dead diver after he came out of the water to meet with a guy who loaded some scuba gear in his jeep.” He scratched his chin in a thoughtful manner.
I mulled on that, but I couldn’t think of anything.
“Did you see what the guy was putting in the dead diver’s jeep?” a voice asked from behind me.
I whipped around to face Aiden. “Hi,” I said breathlessly, happy to see him again.
He gave me a hug and smiled. “Hi, Claire.” He continued to hold me, but he looked at the vendor for an answer.
“It was a while ago, so I can’t remember clearly. However, I thought it was strange that he put so many of the same things in the guy’s jeep.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Well, he put several BCDs and wetsuits in the trunk. It was like he was off-loading inventory,” the coffee vendor mused.
“Did you see what the guy looked like?” Aiden asked.
“Not really. He was in his mid-thirties or early forties. Dark hair and tanned skin. Clean shaven. Nothing unusual.”
I groaned. The coffee vendor described half the guys in the Bay Area.
When he saw our crestfallen faces, he said, “I’m real sorry that I can’t be more helpful, especially since you think that your friend might be connected to the dead guy.”
I nodded. “Thanks anyway.”
We moved toward Tristan’s car, and I saw that Aiden had parked his car next to us. When we were out of earshot, I asked, “Did you get a chance to talk to Will?”
Aiden looked around to make sure that no one could hear us before he replied. “Yes, we had a brief conversation. Will couldn’t tell me much because he had to check on some things, but he thinks that some of Annisa’s items were indeed black-market goods.”
“That’s crazy!”
“I know. Will also told me that we shouldn’t mention this to the Monterey or the San Francisco P.D. because they could interfere with an ongoing FBI investigation. He said that he’ll talk to the police himself when the time comes.”
After hearing Aiden’s news, it was hard to think straight. “How long will that be?” I asked.
Aiden shrugged and said, “Honestly, I’m not sure, but let’s take one thing at a time. Let’s head over to Bay Area Divers.”
I looked at Julia and Tristan, and they looked just as blown away as I was. Having Aiden confirm that Annisa may be working with the Twelve Zodiacs was surreal, and I started to think that we were getting in over our heads.
Chapter Forty
“The shop’s still closed,” I said, peering in the glass storefront. The lights were turned off, making it hard to see inside. I was disappointed, but a part of me was relieved not to have to confront the dive shop owner.
“I wonder if it’s been closed since the last time we were here,” Julia said from behind me.
“I hope nothing happened to Sully,” I said, thinking back to what happened to Annisa. Whoever ransacked Annisa’s apartment could’ve come here looking for Sully. I shuddered at the possibility.
“What do we do?” I turned to face my friends. We were running out of options, and standing in front of a closed store wasn’t helpful. I was about to suggest that we drive past the place that Trevor had rented out, but Aiden spoke.
“Let’s wait. There’s not much we can do at the moment, but Officers Shin and Frankel should be here soon.” He squeezed my hand in sympathy when I let out an anxious sigh. Then he stiffened and released my hand.
