The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 9

West Point was a small cul de sac aptly located on the west side of their sleepy town. Hidden by an elevated highway on one side and a large park on the other, nobody expected the shops there to do well but every restaurant and bar has flourished since the beginning.

Even Hanna's uncles convenience store had become a staple in the local community's everyday life. The diverse spices and sauces sold here garnered attention from all over the county.

Ever since Uncle Kim's business picked up, it had put him on the radar with local gangsters. He refused to pay protection money and his store was robbed only a few days after his unfortunate encounter with the towns riff raff.

Uncle Kim had dived headfirst into a sea of fear and paranoia and flooded his entire store with cctv cameras to record anyone inside or outside his store.

There were two cameras placed further away from the door, used to record anyone coming in from the park. Those were the ones Lola and her friends were looking for.

West Point was a bus ride away from Oakwood High and it only took 15 minutes for the girls to get there. They got down at the bus stop by the large park and Lola caught sight of all the preschoolers running around.

This place was a hot spot for kids during the day but at night it attracted miscreants of the teenage kind. She knew all the popular kids would come here once in while to smoke up.

When they supposedly needed fresh air instead of their usual house parties.

As they walked towards the row of shops in front, Lola couldn't help but wonder if she had missed out on all the fun by not being invited to these parties.

She shook away the thought. There was no point fixating on what could have been. There were many others like her who never fit the prerequisite of being apart of that crowd.

She fell into the same category as most of her schoolmates who weren't pretty or rich enough or willing to be a doormat to people they didn't like.

The girls walked up the wooden set of stairs and headed straight for Hanna's uncle's store.

"Samchon!" Hanna called out and greeted her uncle in korean after. He rushed out from behind the counter, cheeks pink and sweat patches under his armpits.

"Hi girls. What can I do for you today?" His smile was infectious, despite how tired he looked. As expected the shop was bustling with customers.

"Omma sent me to buy some kimchi and I need to ask a huge favour," Hanna hugged her sweaty uncle and leaned back. She looked up at him with great big puppy dog eyes before continuing. "I lost my bracelet in the park on the 12th of March in the evening and was wondering if you have any footage of the area."

"My cameras only record the side near to the shop. The rest is too far away but you're welcome to take a look. Come with me." He lead them to the back of the shop and through a set of doors.

Lola, Hanna and Nalini had to squeeze into the back room with the multiscreen computer and racks of tapes.

"I'm sorry girls but I have to rush. The dates are written on the tapes. I'll leave you to it." He rushed out of the room before any of them could reply.

Nalini started sifting through the rows of tapes before she found the dates they were looking for. She handed them to Hanna who put one in the player.

Lola felt a wave of apprehension wash over her as they fast forwarded to the time slot Julian had mentioned.

He told them he was at the park at that particular bench around 9pm and he smoked there until about 10.30pm.

"That's odd," Hanna murmured as she scrolled through the time frames repeatedly.

"What? What is it?" Nalini pressed as she leaned closer to the screen.

"There's no footage between 9pm to 10.30pm," Hanna frowned.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lola said. She took out the other tape and handed it to Hanna. "What about this date?"

Hanna ran through that one as well, which was the date Fiona was murdered and sure enough the time frame from 9pm to 10.30pm was erased. It just skipped from 8.59pm to 10.31pm like the time in between didn't exist.

All three girls stared at the screen as a breeze of cold air moved through like a draft. Lola shivered and one look at the other two told her that they felt the same way.

This couldn't be a coincidence.

It was just too convenient for the only piece of evidence that could have been Julian's alibi to be completely wiped out.

"Lola, I can't believe I'm saying this but I think you may be right about Julian,"Nalini murmured quietly. The mood in the room had turned somber and the girls were quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

"My uncle must know something about this," Hanna straightened up and took out the tapes. She held them in her hand and then she stormed out of the small room.

Lola and Nalini rushed after her and they were just in time to see her confront her uncle about the erased footage. Thankfully, he was alone and no one could hear them.

"What the hell are you girls doing, looking around those dates?" Uncle Kim hissed.

"I told you. I lost my bracelet," Hanna said adamantly and Lola had to admit, her friend was putting up a strong front. Uncle Kim looked livid and to some extent frightened.

"Did you erase it?" Lola asked him.

"No, why would I? Listen I'm really busy and I don't have time for this. The security tapes are faulty, sometimes footage gets damaged or erased. I don't look through each and every one of them," He said and then he walked to a row of sardine tins and began stacking them up on top of each other.

"But there must be people who come for maintence or to service the cameras right?"

Uncle Kim's hand froze the moment he heard Nalini's question and it took him a moment to regain his composure. He put the last tin in place and then got down from his stool to face the girls again.

"That's enough," He snatched the tapes from Hanna and tucked them under his arm. "Hanna, I suggest you forget about this bracelet or I will tell your parents you're up to no good."

After hearing his threat the girls had no choice but to leave his shop and walk to the park. They sat on one of the benches, waiting for the next bus and Lola tapped her foot on the sidewalk incessantly.

"So there's a high chance he's been framed. Now what?" Nalini asked and then she cast a wary glance around them. Thankfully, there was no one nearby who could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"My uncle was being so weird. I think he knows his tapes have been tampered with and has either been threatened or blackmailed to shut up about it," Hanna stroked her chin as she spoke. "And I forgot to buy my kimchi."

"Yeah, he was acting suspicious," Lola nodded in agreement. "But there's not much we can do now. Damien's coming to get him tonight. I guess we'll just take it one step at a time. Atleast now we know we are doing the right thing."

"I just can't help but wonder who would want to erase that footage. Could it be that someone else had planned to frame Julian from the beginning? How else could they know which date and time to erase?" Nalini leaned back and supported herself on her skinny arms.

Nalini's question shot a bolt of fear down Lola's spine.

If Julian didn't do it, then who did?