Olivia had the cab drop her a block from Mina’s home, and she approached it now, quietly, coming up to the back gate.
A light was on inside, and she saw a woman standing by a window, looking at a TV, combing her hair. It was short, dark hair, and Olivia recognized her at once from the photo. Mina.
Olivia felt nauseous at the sight. But she forced herself to press on. She shouldn’t blame Mina, not yet. Maybe, after all, she hadn’t known either?
Olivia let herself in through the gate, approached the front door, and her heart beat faster. Would Mina let her in? Throw her out? Call the police?
And what, after all, would Olivia say to her? Did you kill Todd? Maybe this was a bad idea.
Should Olivia just turn around now? But there was nowhere else to go, no turning back.
Olivia summoned her courage and rang the bell.
Footsteps inside, and then the door opened.
The woman across from her stared back in shock. Mina had dark hair, bluntly cut around her face, and was tall, willowy, and extremely attractive as all of Todd’s women were. Dressed in jeans and a tie-dye T-shirt, she stared at Olivia, her huge eyes looking stunned. They darted around as if wondering where she was.
“Mina?” Olivia asked.
Mina narrowed her eyes. “I recognize you from the papers,” she said, looking Olivia up and down. “I thought you’d be prettier.”
Olivia felt the sting of her words, but forced herself to stay focused. “I need to talk to you,” she said.
But Mina shook her head and began to close the door.
Olivia stuck her foot in at the last moment.
Mina glared. “Do you want me to call the police?” she snapped.
“I need to find Todd’s killer,” Olivia said. “We both do. Please.”
Mina scowled. “What you really mean to say is that you need to find out if I killed him,” she said. “You suspect me. The cops suspect me. Everyone does. But I’ll tell you right now: the answer is no. I didn’t love Todd enough to kill him. There was a time that I did. But not after I found out about the other women.”
Olivia watched her closely, and as she examined her, she felt that Mina was genuine.
“I am not here to accuse you,” Olivia said. “I’ve been accused myself. I’m here because I need answers.”
Mina seemed to finally relent. She released the door and opened it wider. But she didn’t invite Olivia in.
“We can talk here,” she said.
Olivia nodded. That was good enough.
“You’re bold to show up here,” Mina said. “You’re the woman Todd got engaged to?” Mina kept staring, as if unable to make sense of anything.
Olivia felt like a strange interloper, as if she had single-handedly stolen away the most important person in Mina’s life.
“I’m sorry,” said Olivia, “I didn’t know about you, either.”
For a moment it seemed as though Mina was going to buckle. “I’m sorry too,” she finally said.
A long silence enveloped them. Olivia noticed Mina look down at the ring.
Olivia quickly curled her hand up into a fist. She didn’t want to show the ring to Mina. It belonged to her and was from Todd. It was the only thing she had left of him.
Mina shook her head. “I can’t believe he gave that to you,” she said. “There was a time when that was all I wanted from him. Not anymore. How long were the two of you actually dating, anyway?”
“Five months.”
“Five months?” Mina scoffed. “That’s nothing. We had two years.”
Olivia felt a pit in her stomach. Would this nightmare ever end?
Mina narrowed her eyes. “How long were you engaged?”
We got engaged just a few hours before Todd died,” Olivia answered sadly.
“And you think you were actually going to get married?” Mina became upset.
“Yes, we were,” said Olivia softly.
“Did you set a date?” Mina breathed.
Olivia faltered. “We…it was too soon,” she said.
Mina shook her head. “He never would have set a date, you know,” she said. “He would have called it off eventually. And asked for the ring back. Or maybe he would have let you keep it. It was the game he loved. He could have never allowed it to end. Dangling back and forth. Without it, he’d be nothing.”
Olivia felt a sense of anger rising, unsure whether or not Mina was purposely trying to upset her. She forced herself to stay calm.
“You say you knew there were other women?” Olivia asked.
“Of course. Everyone knew that Todd needed more than one woman,” said Mina. “He couldn’t help it. I knew it, too.”
Olivia was startled by the matter-of-fact way Mina acknowledged it. “It didn’t bother you?” she asked.
“Of course it bothered me,” said Mina, “but I loved him anyway. And it happened before. Todd would hook up with a strange woman temporarily and feel he’d found the holy grail. It never lasted long, though, just a passing fling. He’d always come back and say he’d make it up to me. And he always felt terrible. But of course, he never got engaged to anyone! Never came close, that’s taking it to a whole different level. My world is destroyed now, just like he is.”
Olivia felt sick inside. “You were hoping he would finally propose to you?”
“I wasn’t sure,” Mina said softly, “but I kept hoping, naturally.”
The pain in Mina’s voice ripped through Olivia as well. She missed Todd too and the horror of finding out about his life this way was almost more than she could bear. Olivia had no idea what she really meant to Todd anymore. It seemed as though she’d been living in a strange fantasy with him and she desperately needed to get her bearings now.
“I’d grown to accept him as he was,” Mina said then. “Why would I want to kill him? If I did, I would have done it long ago.”
“Then who?” Olivia pressed. “Who would want him dead?”
Mina shook her head, then finally sighed. “A lot of people,” she said.
Olivia was shocked. “A lot of people?”
Mina narrowed her eyes. “Do you think we were the only ones he was dishonest with?” she asked. “He pulled the same crap at work. Ripped a lot of people off. But then again, his entire company did anyway.”
Olivia felt herself break into a sweat, unsure what to think. How had she been that stupid to end up with Todd?
“I think it was someone at Todd’s company who did him in,” Mina whispered feverishly.
Olivia was transfixed. “Why do you say that? Who?”
“Todd was pushing the edges there, day after day,” Mina continued. “Late one night he was very nervous and I asked him why. He told me that his company was a mess and he couldn’t stand it. It was eating at him. I asked him if it was the offshore money laundering or the drug cartels, but he just got quiet. I begged him to tell me, but he wouldn’t speak. There are lots of people down here you don’t want to offend.”
Olivia wondered why this hadn’t come up before. “The police never mentioned drug cartels to me,” she said quickly.
Mina laughed. “You really think they would?” Mina’s lower lip started trembling. “They’re paid to keep their mouths shut! It’s a jungle here and Todd was trapped in it. I begged him lots of times to leave his job, take me with him and start all over together somewhere else. He wouldn’t. Even though his job tied him in knots, he was hooked on the intrigue and danger.”
Olivia was dumbfounded. “There isn’t anyone in law enforcement you could have mentioned this to?”
Mina stared at her. “I don’t have any evidence, it’s just what I guess. If I had evidence it would be different.”
“Someone’s got to get the evidence,” said Olivia.
Mina shook her head.
“You’re a minnow in a pool of sharks,” she said. “Take my advice and leave now, before they swallow you whole.”