Chocolate Cherry Cheater Read online

  I watched the people passing for a while, then walked back around Maria’s desk to take a seat. Aside from a pen and the stack of sticky notes beside her phone, the only other item on her desk was a monthly calendar.

  Having nothing else to look at, I skimmed over her neat handwriting on the dates.

  Maria had been at Lake Quilotoa the day of Christina’s murder … as had dozens of other reporters. I’d make sure to ask her if she’d seen Christina.

  There was a smiley face drawn on the only day she didn’t have a plethora of appointments written, the day after the lagoon interviews. Had it been my calendar, there would have been doodles all over it. It made the smiley look out of place. But in such a full schedule, a blank space would’ve looked equally strange. She must’ve had the day off. That made most people smile.

  Maria came in, holding two coffees, one of which she handed to me. “I’m sorry for making you wait. I didn’t know how you take your coffee.”

  I took the cup from her, gripping the sides with my fingertips to keep from burning my hands. “Black’s perfect. It sounded like I came at a bad time.”

  Maria sighed as she sat in her chair, resting her head against the back cushion. “You heard the shouting from the hallway. The producer is a difficult man to work with.” She raised her head and took a sip of her coffee. “You didn’t come here to talk about me and my relationship with my boss. What can I help you with, Miss James?”

  “I came to ask if there’s anything at all you can tell me about your sources and the video of Jake and Christina.”

  She pursed her lips together, her voice tense when she said, “You know I can’t reveal my source.”

  I pressed, “Even if it could keep an innocent man out of jail?”

  She didn’t budge. “You’re asking me to violate a basic human right. My informant has only shared what he could because of that trust.”

  He. Her informant was a he.

  Maria spoke faster, realizing her mistake and trying to distract me from noticing it. My little sister used that tactic too often for me not to notice it. Maria said, “What is more, if I were to reveal my source, I would put my job — my entire career — on the line. I worked too hard to get where I am to put it in jeopardy.”

  I asked, “Are you going to air the new video today?” I was going on assumption here, but I felt confident that Sanchez was a reliable source.

  Maria’s expression was unreadable, which told me more than if she would’ve acted in surprise.

  “There’s another video?” she asked with remarkable control.

  “I have it on good authority there is. Will the channel air it today?” I asked, confident from her lack of reaction that she knew about the video.

  To my surprise, she slumped in her chair slightly. Rubbing her temple, she said, “Look, that’s what the producer, the scriptwriter, and I were arguing about. He wants to air it. Sensational news is always good for ratings. I, however, think it’s damaging to the young man’s reputation, and I don’t want to show it unless he’s found guilty of murdering Christina.”

  “Well, that was decent of you,” I said with only the slightest tinge of sarcasm. Fernanda was rubbing off on me.

  Maria leveled her gaze on me. “I take my job seriously. It’s my responsibility to report the truth as best as I can to the public. Nothing less, nothing more.”

  I sensed that I had gotten all the information I could get from her, but I made one last effort. “So, there’s no way I can convince you not to air it?”

  Maria shook her head, her professional demeanor giving her an air of absolute control. “It’s not my decision to make. I said my piece, but it’s out of my control.”

  “And there’s nothing you can tell me about the source of these videos?”

  And with that final question, our visit came to an end. Maria stood and walked to the door. Opening it, she said, “Thank you for stopping by, Miss James. If there’s anything else I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to call.”

  If that was an invitation to leave, I didn’t know what was. But I had one more question. “Did you see Christina at the lagoon?”

  “No, I didn’t. There were many people there that day.” She closed her office door, leaving me standing alone in the hallway.

  I couldn’t help feeling satisfied at what I had learned. The source was a man — a man who had access to camera equipment and probably knew Christina.

  Chapter 26

  I dragged my feet going downstairs, not wanting to leave yet but not having a good reason to hang around either.

  The receptionist met me at the elevator, my empty cupcake wrapper in her hand. “Do you deliver beyond Baños? Would you consider delivering to Ambato?”

  The thought of another bus ride like the one I had just survived made my insides quiver, but I knew an opportunity when I sensed one. “If the order’s big enough, sure.”

  I had sworn I would never drive in this country, but now I was thinking I’d be much safer in my own car than with another crazy bus driver.

  She clapped her hands. “It would be! I could eat half a dozen of those cupcakes by myself.”

  A man with perfect hair and a fancy suit got off of the elevator, an equipment-laden cameraman trailing behind him.

  The receptionist asked, “Are you headed to the park?”

  Suit Man, who must have been one of the channel’s other reporters, said, “The family park’s inauguration is today, and the mayor wants us there to watch him cut the ribbon.”

  The receptionist told me with no little amount of pride, “Ambato is called ‘The City of Fruit and Flowers.’ We take our parks very seriously here.”

  The reporter lifted his hand and waved, saying, “We’d better get going before AmbatoVision tries to crowd us out.”

  The cameraman shifted his gear. “Like I’ll let that happen.”

  “Go get ‘em,” said the receptionist.

  I asked her, “Are there hard feelings between the two stations?”

  She huffed. “Of course there are. We’re competition. They’re the newer, trendier station. But we’ve been around longer and slay them in the ratings.” She waved at the reporter as they reached the doors and called after the cameraman, “Don’t lose another one!”

  The cameraman groaned. “Don’t remind me!” he said over his shoulder before the door closed behind him.

  The receptionist giggled.

  I still didn’t want to leave, but the silence left in the wake of the reporter and the cameraman felt awkward. Thanking the receptionist, I dawdled across the lobby, watching the people passing on the sidewalk in front of the building.

  I halted to stop when I saw Hugo. He looked like he was going to come inside the building. The guard even nodded at him and opened the door.

  Hugo’s eyes doubled in size when he saw me. Turning away from the building, he hustled down the sidewalk.

  I chased after him. What was Hugo doing at his competition’s station? Had he been the one to leak the videos? Was he the anonymous source? He checked all the boxes.

  Tugging my backpack tighter so it wouldn’t knock the wind out of me when it smacked against my back, I ran after him. Compared to my run up the crater of Lake Quilotoa, this was a cinch. I even had enough breath to shout after him. “Hugo!”

  He turned when I caught up, holding his hands up. “Look, you need to stay away,” he said.

  “I’m trying to help,” I said louder than I had intended. The sprint had been easier, but I still had to catch my breath. A runner, I was not. After another gasp, I asked, “Did you send those videos?”

  Hugo looked around, his eyes darting around the crowded sidewalk. “Not here. Not where we can be seen. Can I buy you a coffee?”

  In a public place with lots of witnesses, I thought. “Will you answer my questions?” I asked.

  With a nod I supposed meant that he agreed, Hugo stepped into a bakery and I took a seat close to the cash register while he ordered at the counter. I w
anted to make sure that if anything happened to me, there would be witnesses. If Hugo was the murderer. Right now, he really didn’t seem like one. He looked too scared.

  He brought over two frothy cappuccinos with cinnamon sprinkled on top and a giant pastry I’d recently developed an appreciation for: an elephant ear. Flaky layers of pastry held together with honey and dipped in chocolate.

  It was growing harder to think Hugo was Christina’s murderer. Or had he effectively distracted me with coffee and sugar? I wasn’t so different from Abuelita after all….

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Abuelita was fiercely loyal to her friends and family, but to everyone else she was more of an acquired taste. I generally wanted everyone to like me — an often inconvenient and stifling characteristic I wasn’t quite ready to give up on.

  Hugo pulled out the picture I’d seen fall from his wallet the day before. He turned it over and handed it to me. “I know what people think of me. They call me creepy because I’d rather observe from the sidelines than talk. It’s hard being an introvert in a field that rewards social skills.”

  I looked at the picture. There was writing on the back. In swirly cursive, it read: Believe in yourself. I do. Heart, Christina.

  He tapped the top of the picture. “Christina knew I liked her. Instead of making fun of me, she was nice. She knew I was shy, and she tried to help me stand up for myself.”

  “That was nice of her,” I said. Uncharacteristically nice.

  Hugo smiled softly as if a tender memory had just crossed his mind. “I wasn’t blind. I spent a lot of time with Christina, more than most people did. I knew her — the good and the bad. That’s why it meant so much to me when she treated me kindly. It was unexpected. As far as I know, she never spoke ill of me behind my back … even though I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she did.”

  “You loved her?” I was suddenly very sad for Hugo. He really had known Christina, and he loved her despite her faults. He carried her picture in his wallet, a token to remind him she’d once been nice to him.

  Hugo took the picture and slid it carefully inside his wallet. “I loved the woman I knew she could be. That’s how I choose to remember her.”

  “I’m so sorry, Hugo. I would’ve loved for her to become the person you knew her capable of being.” Anything was better than the reality had been.

  “That’s why I’m willing to talk to you. Sanchez warned me not to. She told me she’d kick you out of the country if I gave you any information.”

  A light bulb went off in my head. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  Hugo nodded. “I’ve already done enough damage. I didn’t want to do more.”

  “Why are you taking the risk now?”

  “You see Christina as a real person, not just a body; a puzzle to solve like Agent Sanchez. I want to know what happened, and you do too — badly enough to risk investigating a case Agent Sanchez assures me she’s threatened you to stay out of multiple times.”

  Sometimes I was too stubborn for my own good. “It’s true. Too many of my friends are involved. My whole town is torn over Christina’s murder.”

  Hugo rubbed his hand over his face. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have handed over the video.”

  “It was you!” I exclaimed, slapping my hand over my mouth when I realized I had shouted and everyone was looking at us. My elation at being right about something was stronger than my embarrassment of being stared at.

  Hugo explained, “Christina asked me to shoot extra footage of her so she could get more candid shots to use for promotional material. I got the confrontation, and then I left my camera on the tripod overlooking the lagoon. Then, I let it run aimed at the parking lot to show the coming and going of people while I checked the video files of the interviews Christina had done earlier inside the van. We were in the upper parking lot, so I had a good view.”

  “So it was all one, big video? You didn’t edit it?”

  “No. I’m not even sure what all was on there. I just knew it had the confrontation between Christina and your friend.”

  So, someone at SierraVista had edited them — doing so in such a way to make Jake look like the killer. “Why did you give them to SierraVista?” I asked, nibbling on the chocolate-covered pastry.

  “We had gotten to the lagoon early because Christina wanted time to freshen up before she met up with Daniel. He was supposed to meet her there. I practically begged her not to go with him. I should have insisted. I shouldn’t have given up so easily, or she might still be alive.”

  “You think Daniel did it?”

  Hugo heaved an exhale. “I don’t know. But when Carolina and I packed up the van, Christina was fine. We didn’t know anything was wrong until later that night. The next morning, I found Daniel poking around my desk. The top drawer was open.”

  “He was snooping in your stuff?” What a creep.

  “I asked him what he was doing. He asked if I had anything useful for him to use in his story. Something about Christina’s last minutes. He said it was to honor her, but I knew better. Even after her death, he wanted to use her to get ahead.” The bitterness in Hugo’s tone was hard to miss.

  “You must've been livid.” I would’ve been.

  “I was. I also knew he’d eventually find something he could use to set himself up as the victim, the grieving boyfriend. I put the chip with all my video files from Lake Quilotoa in a manila envelope and marched over to Maria. I gave it to her personally. I knew she’d represent Christina as she deserved. I remember thinking at the time that Christina would have been proud of me for doing something bold. Instead, I’ve felt nothing but guilt ever since.”

  I leaned back in my chair, alternately angry and sympathetic with the cameraman. “Well, your videos have set a good portion of a town against the wrong man.”

  “How do you know he’s the wrong man?”

  “As ambitious as Christina was, would you believe her capable of murdering someone?”

  He thought for a minute too long. Maybe my question wouldn’t drive my point home like I’d thought.

  Finally, Hugo answered. “If she did, I’d know it.”

  Not the reply I’d expected, but workable. “Me too. I know Jake well enough to see a fake reaction or to know if he lied. And if I didn’t see it, his family definitely would. He’s done nothing but tell the truth since the beginning, and he’s getting punished anyway. I mean to prevent it from continuing.” Which reminded me… “What were you doing at SierraVista this morning?”

  “Trying to keep them from airing the rest of the video. I wanted to keep the story from Daniel, not turn the public against Christina’s ex. I had no idea they had such a history together or I never would’ve leaked the video. I should have erased it, but I was so angry. I watched it after they showed the footage, and with the way they edited the content, I knew they’d save the video of your friend coming up the mountain alone for a special report. I swear, I had no idea that was on there. I left the camera running to show the popularity of the lagoon.”

  I wished Hugo would have erased the feed, too, but if wishes were fishes … I’d have a sushi shop instead of The Sugar Shack. Ew.

  Really, would the results have been any different? Jake still would’ve been suspect number one because Christina was found in the back of his Jeep. And, they had a past. The videos only magnified a problem that was already there.

  My instinct told me Hugo was telling the truth. My gut had a much better track record than Abuelita’s. Not wanting to leave Hugo feeling worse after he’d revealed himself as the video source, I said, “Don’t feel too bad. Your video showed Daniel pulling into the parking lot, too. He was at the scene of the crime.”

  Hugo nodded. “I should have seen him, but there were so many people milling about. I only noticed his car when I looked through my file.”

  I thought back to my conversation with Daniel. While I believed Hugo, I had left Daniel feeling like he had only spoken half-truths, leaving
me unable to discern what to believe. “Daniel said he didn’t see Christina. He left thinking she’d stood him up. Do you believe that’s possible?”

  Hugo consider for a while. “It’s possible, but I find it hard to believe.”

  Me too.

  He continued, “Had it been me, I would have waited around until I found her. It would’ve been difficult for Christina to get a ride back down to the next town. Quilotoa is far away from everything. It’s not like she could have hailed a taxi.”

  There was that. Daniel leaving without Christina meant that he had willingly left her stranded. Unless he had known she wouldn’t need a ride….

  I had to get back to Baños and convince Sanchez to look into Daniel again.

  Chapter 27

  As much as I didn’t want to, I took a bus home. Thankfully, the ride was uneventful, due in good part to the road work closing one side of the highway most of the way. It was mid-afternoon by the time the bus pulled into the station.

  I braced myself as I got closer to the shop, preparing to push myself through the crowd of protesters waiting for me once I rounded the corner. They’d be out in force after the morning news. I’d hung out at the bakery after Hugo left to see it in the vain hope Maria had convinced her producer not to show the video or that by some force of fairness, it would go poof and disappear.

  Ducking my head and speeding up, I rounded the corner, ready to push my way through Señora Cabrera and her loyal protesters to my door.

  But they weren’t there.

  I looked around. I was in the right place, right? This was my street. Sylvia’s restaurant was to my right. I peered inside the window and saw a few late lunchers occupying the tables. Ahead was The Sugar Shack. A couple wearing large backpacks walked inside, holding the door open to let a mom with three kids and a stroller out.

  Not one poster board was present. It was like nothing had ever happened. It was nice, but strange.

  Continuing to my door, I ran upstairs to see Lady.