Mercedes' Dirge Read online

Alexa leaned back and unbuttoned her pants. “Ahhh, feels good to let my pooch out. We decided to make a date night out of it, and went downtown for dinner and drinks. We needed it badly.” Without warning she popped up and sauntered towards the upstairs. “I’m going to bed. Troy, you coming?”

  “Yup.” He threw a concerned look over his shoulder signifying that he would be talking to Ella in the morning.

  After another half an hour she decided to brave going to sleep. She was shocked to find the music box she had taped up and put away sitting on her bed. As soon as she walked in the top popped up and the familiar strains started playing.

  Chapter 8

  “So, I guess this means the investigation is back on?” Troy said over his coffee cup.

  Ella had just filled him in on the events from the night before. She put her hands up. “What else am I supposed to do? At least if I want to stay here. And if I leave, Mercedes may start harassing you or Alexa. I have to at least try.”

  “Well, if there is no stopping you, I guess I would suggest talking to her friends.”

  “I guess I could track down Mira. Do you happen to know anything about her now? Did she keep in touch with the family?”

  “No, I have no idea if she’s even still in town. She didn’t keep in contact, as far as I know. She would definitely be the one to talk to, though. They were best friends, and I guess if anyone knew everything about Mercedes, it would be her.”

  Ella grabbed her cup and headed back to her room. “Well, I guess I will start my lame attempt at investigative work now. I’ll let you know what I find.”

  She didn’t have far to look. A quick search of Mira’s name brought up a splashy website. Mira looked to now be a successful realtor in the area, and there was even a picture which showed that the years had been kind to her. She was radiantly beaming at the camera, flashing confidence, perfect teeth and porcelain skin, offset by that silky red hair. She clearly stayed out of the sun, because she looked as young as the last time Ella had seen her, but just a tad more polished.

  Ella decided that a sneak attack would probably be the best way to go. She had been friendly with Mira in passing, but they had never actually been friends. Mercedes and Mira generally hung out away from the house, so Ella’s only dealings had been at school where sophomores and seniors didn’t really mix.

  Ella found a listing on the website that she thought someone might believe she would and could buy and called the number shamefully, her stomach jumping nervously.. Mira answered professionally and Ella set up an appointment for later that day, citing a great need for urgency in condo buying.

  Ella hadn’t thought it through diligently, but figured she would use the situation as a segue to recognizing Mira and starting a conversation based on that. She hoped that Mira was an open individual and may get the urge to reminisce and get personal. She realized that she was being perhaps too optimistic.

  Ella didn’t know how aware or present Mercedes was, but hoped she’d heard the progress and would maybe stay away for the duration of Ella showering and getting ready. Her wishes were answered and Ella prepared herself in peace, though she was definitely on edge while applying her eyeliner. She thought that she would be on edge for the rest of her life during that particular activity from now on. She recalled the conversation she’d had with Nick where she proudly told him that she only ever wore lip gloss and eyeliner. While it was still true on a daily basis, she did indulge in more cosmetics when going out somewhere special.

  She chose a simple, but pretty pink rayon sundress paired with brown sandals, and smoothed her hair down. When she was pleased with her appearance she quickly descended the stairs and told Troy where she was going before getting into Mercedes’ car and driving away. She was certainly nervous. She was not good with deception, and she hoped she could pull it off, lest she look like a crazy stalker.

  She did not have far to drive. It was a condo in Pacific Beach only fifteen minutes from the mansion. The complex was small, beachy and likely something she’d be interested in if she were truly in the market, not that she’d be able to afford it on her salary alone.

  Mira was sitting on a low wall outside of the small building looking at her phone intently. Ella approached her with as much confidence as she could muster.

  “Mira?” She interrupted, faking casual. She looked up and smiled as she stood up and held out her hand. As she took in Ella’s face, recognition briefly flashed in her cobalt blue eyes. She stared at her quizzically.

  “I’m Mira. Ella? Do we know each other from somewhere?” She asked curiously as she shook Ella’s hand.

  “Hmmm, I’m not sure. You do look familiar. What High School did you go to?”

  “Pacific, you?”

  “Me too,” she feigned a look of concentration. “Oh my god. Mira Golden? Wow, what a coincidence. I’m Ella Dolan. I was Alexa Tavares’ best friend. Do you remember?”

  The recognition swept over her face and she looked relieved to have it figured out and then her look became saddened. “Wow, Ella, I do remember. How have you been?” She asked warmly.

  “Pretty good, I just moved back to town from Portland. My brother is opening a bed and breakfast and I’m helping get it ready.” She’d hoped that would be the opening to start the conversation going in the direction of the Tavares family. She soon realized that Mira may not even know that Troy and Alexa were married.

  “That’s great.” She said offhandedly as she motioned for Ella to follow her up the worn, wooden stairs. “Let’s take a look at the place and we can catch up more there.”

  All business, Ella thought. Not a good sign.

  She tried to look interested as Mira gave her the list of facts about the condo and when they were finished they stood in the small, brightly lit living room. “Any questions?” Mira asked.

  “A ton. What have you been up to?”

  Mira regarded her cautiously. “I meant about the condo. Or would you like to look at some other properties?”

  Ella tried to shrug casually. “No, I think I’m ok.”

  “Well, to answer your other question, I’ve just been up to work.” Mira looked incredibly suspicious, as she stiffened up and took a step back.

  Ella tried to take the generic answer in stride. “Are you married?”

  “I am.” She said shortly, clearly with no intention of giving her more.

  The air was thick with awkwardness, but it didn’t stop her. “Oh, to Joel?” She floundered. Joel was Mira’s high school boyfriend. He had been the token womanizer of the school. Sure, he’d been pretty attractive and as a jock had had the body of a dedicated athlete, but no one knew what kept Mira with him. He had indiscriminately made his way through any eligible girl at the school that he could, even during his relationship, and had not treated Mira well. He’d even hit on Ella at one of Mercedes’ birthday parties.

  Mira tried to hide her distaste, but couldn’t manage it. “Oh god, no. I’m sorry I ever dated him.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  Mira shrugged. “It’s ok. I just haven’t thought about him in years, and that was a blessing.”

  “Oh, what happened?” Ella knew she was crossing the line, but her impulse control seemed to have gone out the window right along with her self respect in her haste to get answers.

  Mira started to leave the apartment. “It’s not really something I’d like to talk about. What did you think of this condo? Do you think you’d be interested?” She asked cooley.

  “Uh, I’ll have to think about it.” She improvised awkwardly.

  Mira spun around. “I don’t mean to be rude-” uh oh, Ella thought. “But what’s going on here? You clearly didn’t want to meet up to actually consider this condo. Did you look me up specifically, or what? Are you writing a book or something? Because I’ve been down this road before with other people who barely knew her and want to exploit her memory. I’m not going to be a part of it.” She unfurled the string of heated words in rapid succession, leaving no actual room for an
swers until the end.

  “Uh, this was a bad idea-” She started.

  “You’ve got that fucking right.” Mira said as she turned on her heels and started motoring away angrily.

  Ella ran after her. “Please stop, Mira. I’m not writing a book. But I did meet you under false pretenses. I’m here for Mercedes.”

  Mira was at least curious enough to stop and face her. Ella went on, sensing she had only a short time to state her case. “I wouldn’t have set this up this way, but I didn’t want to seem like a lunatic.” Mira looked at her as if to tell her she already did think she was a lunatic. Ella tried not to miss a beat. “Since you already think I’m nuts…Mercedes is haunting me. I think I need to figure out who killed her.”

  Mira re-entered the condo and plopped onto the floor with a resigned sigh after taking her shoes off. Ella sat across from her gratefully.

  “Oh Jesus, I’m sure you know how this sounds. Are you still in contact with Alexa?” Mira said, staring steadily at her, clearly still unsure.

  Ella was thankful for the opening. “Yes, she married my brother and they are renovating the Tavares mansion to turn it into the bed and breakfast I was telling you about. I’m staying in her room, so it’s not like she just sought me out wherever I was. I’m on her turf and she’s been haunting me.”

  Mira looked at the ceiling. “I’ve looked on MLS so many times to see if they ever put that place up for sale. I’m glad they are doing something with it.” She sighed. “I still don’t know if you are crazy, but what do you want to ask me?”

  Ella really hadn’t thought enough about that. “Well, I guess I want to know about Mercedes’ life right before she died. Get your ideas on who may have killed her.”

  “Look, we were good friends, but she never let me in like you might think. She had a lot going on in there, and I was never really privy to all of it. Honestly, you may have seen more than I did, based on your testimony.”

  Ella adjusted her legs. “Did you know about her fooling around on Nick?”

  “Yes, but everyone did. I never knew the extent of it until after she died, and I heard through the grapevine what you’d said about all the strange men coming over, funnily enough. I would try to brooch the subject with her and she would just play it off. I asked her if she’d had sex with Joel and she laughed at me.”

  “Why would you ask her if she had sex with your boyfriend?” Ella asked, surprised.

  Mira shook her head, embarrassed. “It seems so ridiculous that I ever cared about that asshole, but I did, and he made no secret about how badly he wanted Mercedes. She treated him like the Neanderthal he was, but she didn’t seem too discerning when it came to sex, and I asked because I was so jealous. It was hard to be close to someone that beautiful.”

  “But you’re beautiful.”

  Mira smiled. “Well, thank you, but not that kind of beautiful. She was on a whole different plane. Besides the way she looked, she just had that confidence and allure that you don’t normally see in someone her age. It was like cocaine to men. Some wanted to bask in it and men like Joel wanted to knock her down a peg. Those guys never realized that they were the ones that got knocked down, because she just didn’t care. Or perhaps Joel was delusional enough to think he could be the one to change that, I don’t know.”

  “Do you think Nick did it?”

  Mira shrugged. “I don’t really know. To just take him into account the way I knew him, I would say no. He was a great guy, but he went through a lot with her. I guess he could have snapped. But honestly, any number of people had motive. Even me, if you think about it,” Mira saw the look on Ella’s face and laughed. “Don’t worry, I didn’t do it. I was head over heels with Joel, but I would never have done that. I was jealous and deluded into thinking that Mercedes might be interested in my loser boyfriend. But it was just Joel playing on my insecurities. Really Nick seemed to be the only high school guy she was ever interested in.”

  “How obsessed with Mercedes do you think Joel was?”

  “It’s a good question. He was definitely fascinated with her and had no qualms about hitting on her in front of me. She handled it well and usually cut him down to size, but it only seemed to spur him on. Towards the end Mercedes did mention that he’d come on very strong and it had ended badly. She said he’d gotten very angry. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t believe it at the time and we had a fight over it. I didn’t know she was going to die!” Mira suddenly blurted out as tears began streaking her face which she hid in her hands.

  Ella leaned over and touched the girl’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Mira”

  Mira began to compose herself. “It’s ok. I never talk about this…and I guess maybe I should now and again. I just always regretted that we were fighting when she died. That the last memory I have is of her shaking her head and telling me that I was wasting my time with Joel and that one day I would see. And I did. She was right.”

  “What ended up happening?”

  “It’s embarrassing,” Mira told her, taking a deep breath. “I moved in with him after high school and he cheated on me repeatedly. I stayed around until he hit me, then my parents forced me to leave and I never saw him again. As soon as I was away from him I just had a realization. I was ashamed and didn’t know how I’d gotten to that point where I was so insecure and felt so small. I knew Mercedes was wise beyond her years, I don’t know why I didn’t listen to her.”

  “That’s what abusers do; make you feel worthless. I’m so glad you got out. You didn’t waste any more precious years of your life.” Ella felt her stomach sink as she said the words, feeling the sting of her own wasted years.

  Mira nodded. “Well, to answer your question; Joel could have done it. I don’t know that he did, but he had a horrible temper and she really set him off unpredictably. He hated being made a fool of, just like most bullies.”

  “Do you have any idea where he is these days?”

  Mira shook her head. “I hope you aren’t actually thinking of seeing him. Even if he’s not a murderer, he’s a scumbag, and one who hits women.”

  “If I want to get any sleep, I’ll need to see him. I’ll go somewhere public and be careful.” Ella told her simply.

  “Last I heard he was working at an auto repair shop in Ocean Beach, but that was a while ago and I don’t even know which one.” Mira stood up and brushed herself off. “Maybe you should bring him some booze. He was a raging alcoholic and totally broke last I heard.”

  “Thanks for the lead.” Ella smiled, pushing herself off the ground as well.

  “But I think you may be barking up the wrong tree. If I were you I would be looking into Bryan Mayfield.” Mira told her pointedly.

  The name hit Ella like a ton of bricks. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten about that guy. He had been the school character, and a close friend of Mercedes’. He was someone who was clearly smarter than most other people and highly aware of it, and inadvertently pointed it out with his flowering vocabulary and knowing eyes. They rarely hung out at school, and Ella could only assume it was because Mira and Bryan seemed to dislike one another. The only reason Ella was even aware of the friendship was because she had seen them hanging out often at the mansion, in their own world.

  “Wow, that guy. Why would you suspect him?”

  Mira snorted. “He was so in love with her. I mean, just sick with it. Anyone could see.”

  “Are we sure they weren’t sleeping together?”

  Mira shrugged. “I can’t be sure, but I would bet not. He was such an oddball and seemed far too enamored to actually be getting any from her. I mean in the way of wanting forbidden fruit, and not getting it.”

  “You guys didn’t like each other, right?”

  “No. Well, he didn’t seem to like me and eventually I just returned the sentiment. Smug son of a bitch,” she spat out. “I could never understand why he was such a weirdo, he was good-looking enough to be able to date who he wanted and maneuver through high school if he’d wanted to.”<
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  Ella remembered that he had been quite attractive. Dark, brooding good looks with raven hair, nearly black eyes and olive skin. He had been around 6’2 and blessed with naturally wide shoulders and impressive stature. He’d also seemed completely unaware of his aesthetically pleasing visage, despite being possessed of self beyond his years.

  “Well, I guess he just didn’t want to,” she remarked. “I wonder where I could find him.”

  “That’s an easy one. He sold some sort of software and made a ton of money. Still he runs some crappy game shop in Point Loma and apparently actually works there quite often despite having a fortune. He’s obviously still weird.” Mira said wrinkling her nose before pointing at Ella. “You should probably bring someone with you if you talk to him too.”

  “I’ll think about it.” They’d arrived at their cars, and Ella turned to Mira with a warm smile. “Thank you, Mira. I know how insane this all sounds.”

  Mira impulsively grabbed her hand. “I believe in ghosts. I wish I could see her, Ella. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am.”

  Ella squeezed her hand reassuringly. “When there is some closure with this, you should come over. Maybe you can tell her.” Ella would have invited her over right then, but just couldn’t with Alexa home.

  They said their goodbyes and Ella decided to go directly to Point Loma and see about Bryan. She located the only game store there and called nervously. She only needed to know that he was there, so hung up once he answered with his name. She thought about what Mira had suggested as far as bringing someone, but just didn’t find it necessary. It was a public location, and while Bryan had been eccentric, she just didn’t get that “murderer” vibe off of him.

  Ella found herself smiling as she drove down I-5. The bay was glimmering on her right, dancing with the light of the vibrant sun that shone proudly without a cloud to darken the sky. She knew she would have been cold and miserable in Oregon and if it was a contest between the ghost of her failed marriage in Portland and the ghost of Mercedes in San Diego, Ella felt the right scenario had won out.