Even though he probably already knew where she lived as part of his earlier investigation, Dorian agreed to follow Liz back to her apartment. He said he’d make some calls to try to locate Bingham during the drive and then catch her up once they reconnected in Anchorage.
Liz decided to help pass the time by doing some calling around of her own. First she reached out to Scarlett, who hadn’t heard any of the updates since the discovery of the obituary.
“What? No way!” her friend cried when Liz caught her up on the conversation with Ben. “How are you feeling?”
“At first I felt everything. Now I’m a bit numb, to be honest. I just want to find the truth.” Liz focused on the yellow divider lines as she drove, a dotted path leading her home.
“Didn’t you already find it, though? Isn’t that what the whole conversation with Ben was?” Scarlett grew confused. Shane had gotten angry. Lauren pitied her. Only Dorian seemed to understand what she felt now.
Liz shrugged, even though Scarlett was nowhere around to see the gesture. “Yeah, but I guess I still need to figure out where I fit into all of this, discover the real me.”
“That makes sense. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I really need to do this by myself.” She decided not to mention her search for Bingham or the fact that Dorian was along for the ride. “How is everything back home?”
Scarlett laughed. “A bit chaotic, to be honest. The church was taken over by termites, and my friend’s fiancée’s crazy aunt insists on her bird being ring bearer. It’s like a circus instead of a wedding.”
“Sounds like a nightmare,” Liz said even though the antics of a wedding gone off the rails paled in comparison to her own waking nightmare.
Scarlett continued to giggle. Liz wondered what being home did for her friend. Did she feel like a different person in Texas versus Alaska? Did everyone have more than a single self?
“It’s kind of fun, actually, but don’t tell Ben or Summer I said that!”
“Deal,” Liz said with a smile. She glanced down at the neon clock in her dashboard. More than an hour had passed during her call with Scarlett, and she still had at least one more to make before hitting the city. “Listen,” she told her friend, cutting off the stream of ongoing giggles. “I need to go. Talk soon.”
The moment they hung up, Liz placed another call, this time to Sofia.
“Are you driving?” Sofia asked, a harsh note in her voice. What an abrupt from bubbly Scarlett.
“Yeah, you’re on Bluetooth.”
Sofia groaned before letting up. “Okay. As long as you’re being safe.”
“I hadn’t realized you’re such a matronly type,” Liz teased.
Sofia didn’t defend herself and didn’t offer any further explanation for her warning, which made Liz even more uncomfortable about what came next.
“So,” Liz began, knowing the next part of their conversation may not go down easy. “That guy who came looking for me, did he leave his number or any way to contact him?”
“What? Liz, no. I told you to stay away from that psycho!” Sofia yelled. Sofia never yelled. At least not in Liz’s presence.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m just trying to find out what he wanted.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but her boss and friend was not having it.
She sighed so loud and long, it had to be for dramatic effect. “Have you learned nothing from our favorite horror movies? You never go searching for the killer alone!”
“First off, he’s not a killer.” Liz didn’t know for sure, but was hoping that was correct. “Second, I’m not going alone. Dorian is coming with me.”
And now Sofia laughed at her—not in a light, happy way, but with a bitter, disbelieving lilt. “Dorian? That other creepy guy who came by the store? Really, Liz?”
“What? Maybe I misjudged him, and maybe you’ve misjudged the other guy.” Liz felt her own anger rising. How dare Sofia judge Dorian. It didn’t matter that Liz had done the same thing herself. She knew better now, and she didn’t appreciate Sofia’s accusations.
“I sincerely doubt that,” her boss said with another long sigh.
Liz either needed to get the information she’d requested or to end this heinous call. “Well, do you have any more information for me or not? Number? Address? Did he come by again?”
“No, and even if I did, I wouldn’t help with this madness. I can’t believe you’re collecting psycho stalker guys like they’re Funko POP figurines. How many more do you need to add to your collection before you’ll be satisfied?”
Liz’s voice dropped to a low hiss, a snake uncoiling like the one around Sofia’s forbidden fruit tattoo. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”
“Darling, I’m the fairest of them all, and don’t you forget it.” Liz could picture Sofia fluffing her hair as she said this. She wondered what color it was today, since her boss’s hair changed just about as often as her mood. At least she would likely be back to her usual self by the time Liz turned up for work again. Still, their fights—when they had them—were brutal.
“Okay then, buh-bye.”
Liz hung up before Sofia could give her another earful.
A half hour later, she and Dorian pulled up to her apartment building. She parked and waited for him to walk over to her door.
“Let’s take mine,” he said.
“You sure?”
“Positive.” He flashed a debonair smile and opened her door for her as if she were Cinderella exiting her coach.
At his car, he again opened the door and waited for her to climb up into the cab. Sofia was wrong about Dorian, just like Liz had once been. He wasn’t a psycho, merely misunderstood.
Could the same be true of Bingham?