Narrow Escape

by Camy Tang

  And Steve might be a mole, too, but Nathan needed to pretend he didn’t suspect him. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to think this way about his friend, but he couldn’t be stupid, either. What to tell him? So far, no one knew Arissa had come to him for help. If Steve was a mole, Nathan needed to dissuade him from making the connection.

  “I called you because I’m driving Mom to Sacramento for a few days,” Nathan told Steve. “I stopped in this rest stop and thought I recognized an LSL gang member, but it’s been three years, so I wasn’t sure. I wanted to know if there were any rumblings about the LSLs moving north.” He gave a short laugh. “That sounds like I’m trying to tell you how to do your job. Sorry, I can’t seem to stop being a cop.”

  Steve chuckled, too. “Buddy, you’re starting to be like those retired guys who call me every so often to ask about current cases.”

  “Hey, I’m not that old yet.” He tried to sound jovial.

  “Anyway, no, I haven’t heard anything about the LSLs moving north, although I don’t deal too much with the Filipino gangs—the Hispanic gangs keep me busy enough. Which LSL did you think you saw?”

  “I don’t remember his name. I thought I saw him at the chop shop.” He didn’t have to elaborate. Steve had been one of the officers on the scene, finding Nathan bleeding near the car he had hidden behind.

  “Yeah, I would think those guys would be imprinted on your memory.” Steve’s voice was uncharacteristically grim. “Well, is there anything else I can not tell you about the LSLs?”

  “No. Now I feel kinda stupid for even calling you. Sorry, Steve.”

  “Hey, no problem, buddy. Next time you’re in L.A., call me. It’s been too long.”

  “I know it has. I’ll keep in touch.” It occurred to Nathan that if Steve was a mole, it might be wise to keep his “enemies” close.

  * * *

  When they returned to Sonoma, there was still a light on in the living room of the Fischers’ home. “Do your parents usually leave the living room lights on?” Arissa asked Nathan.

  “No.” He steered the car down the narrow driveway that ran alongside the house to park next to the garage in the back of the property. “They must be waiting up for us.”

  While driving back to Sonoma, he had received a phone call that seemed to be from his mom. Nathan explained that Arissa and Charity had come and asked if they could stay at the house for a few days.

  “You’re sure your mom said it was all right?” Arissa unbuckled Charity from her car seat and hoisted the sleeping girl onto her shoulder. “I mean, she’s never met me.”

  “It’s fine, really. Here, let me take her.” Nathan walked around the car and took Charity from her arms.

  He was very close, and it was almost as if the night cloaked them, wrapping around them in its velvet folds. She smelled musk and lime again, mingled with the gardenias growing at the back of the house. Her skin tingled as he stared down at her for a long moment.

  Then the back porch light flickered on, and Arissa blinked at the sudden brightness. The back door unlocked and swung inward, then a smiling woman with silver-blond curls pushed open the screen door. “You must be Arissa. And that’s Charity?”

  “Hi, Mrs. Fischer.” Arissa headed toward the back door with her heart pounding. She tried to keep her voice light, but was afraid it sounded a bit breathless.

  “Call me Kat,” Nathan’s mom said. “Or Mama Kat. That’s what your brother called me.”

  Nathan had been following Arissa into the house, but he paused for a moment. “He did? I don’t remember that.”

  Kat blinked at Nathan as if thinking about something, then said, “No, I guess you wouldn’t know that, since you weren’t here.”

  Nathan’s perplexed eyes found Arissa’s as they stepped into the kitchen. Then he looked at his mother. “Mom, what are you talking about?”

  “Mark called me Mama Kat when he came to dinner.”

  Nathan froze in his tracks. “Wait...Mom, Mark Tiong came to visit you in Sonoma?” His brow creased, and the corners of his eyes tightened.

  “You mean, without Nathan?” Arissa asked his mom.

  “Oh, yes.” Kat led the way toward the bedrooms. “Let’s put down that sleeping girl and we can talk in the living room.”

  Kat chatted about nothing in particular as Arissa took off Charity’s shoes and clothes and pulled on her nightgown, but this news about Mark kept distracting her. He and Nathan had been good friends, beyond just being partners, and she knew Mark had gone to Sonoma with Nathan and met his parents several times. But she hadn’t known Mark had been so close to the Fischers that he’d come up to Sonoma without Nathan. And why wouldn’t he have told Nathan about it?

  Kat closed the bedroom door. “Now let me brew you some mint tea.”

  “Oh, no, that’s—” Arissa started to say, but Kat waved her off.

  “No, it’s no trouble.” Kat bustled back toward the kitchen.

  Nathan, who had been waiting outside the bedroom door, gave Arissa a helpless shrug. “Come meet my dad.”

  Mr. Fischer put away the newspaper he was reading and rose from the recliner as they entered the living room. “Nice to meet you. Call me Robert.”

  As she shook his hand, Arissa noticed that Nathan had gotten his solid physical build and his fine, straight brown hair from his father, although Robert’s was streaked with gray.

  Nathan sank onto the couch, and since the worn rocking chair looked like it belonged to Kat, Arissa sat down next to him. She could feel the heat from his body even though several inches lay between them. He stretched his arm across the back of the couch, and although he didn’t touch her, she could almost feel the warmth of his skin against her neck.

  Kat came in with a tray and four steaming mugs of tea, each mug a different style. Arissa picked up the red Japanese-style mug and sipped the strong tea.

  Nathan picked the blue Norwegian mug but didn’t drink from it. He immediately said, “Mom, when did Mark come to visit you guys?”

  Kat took her time, sipping from her delicate English teacup before answering. “We saw him a few times around downtown in the year before he died. I’m sorry, dear,” she said to Arissa. “It doesn’t pain you to talk about him, does it?”

  “No.” She hadn’t known he’d gone to Sonoma. Then again, he could make the trip in a day, driving up and spending a few hours, then driving back to L.A. in the evening.

  “Mom, you never told me this,” Nathan said.

  “I didn’t really think it was anything unusual. He joined us for dinner several times with you, so when we saw him by himself a couple times, we invited him for dinner.”

  Robert nodded. “It was only once or twice he had dinner with us.”

  Kat leaned forward, her green eyes gleaming. “I thought at first he had a girlfriend up in Sonoma whom he was visiting, but then he mentioned he was visiting an aunt here.”

  “Oh.” Arissa relaxed. “Yes, she married my mom’s brother, although my uncle died when I was a kid.”

  “After Mark died,” Kat said to Nathan, “I thought it might be too painful for you to talk about him.”

  Nathan’s eyes fell. “Yeah, Mom, I can understand that.”

  “You want to tell us why you’re here?” Robert asked bluntly but kindly.

  “Robert,” Kat admonished him.

  “No, you deserve to know.” Arissa explained everything—the kidnapping, the cell phone, the attack at the rest stop.

  “Gracious.” Kat’s eyes were wide. “Thank the Lord you’re all right, and Charity, too.”

  At his mother’s words, Nathan’s eyes slid away. That was the second time references to God made him uncomfortable. What had happened to him? He had been a strong Christian when she’d known him down south. Had his faith changed so much in
the past three years?

  Well, he’d lost his career, a job he did very well. He’d lost his best friend. His leg obviously still pained him, years later, so he’d lost his athleticism, too. Maybe all that turned him away from God?

  Robert frowned as he sipped his cooled tea. “How did the LSL gang members know you had your friend’s car and cell phone?”

  Arissa shook her head. “I have no idea. Maybe someone saw me driving out of L.A. in Malaya’s car. Since I had gotten rid of my cell phone, they could have thought to trace hers, thinking she was with me.”

  They might go after Malaya, if they believed she knew where Arissa was. She had to get in touch with her friend.

  Robert asked his son, “Is it possible for them to trace the cell phone so quickly? I thought only cops can do that.”

  Nathan nodded slowly.

  A chill ran down her arms, and she sipped her tea. “Those men were right on my tail. After I escaped, I went straight to Malaya’s house. I went home to pack a bag and get my folks to leave, but I was there for less than an hour before I dropped my parents off with a friend and then headed north. And I was here in Sonoma for only an hour before we went north again. We’ve been on the move constantly except for those two hours, but they still caught up to us at that rest stop.”

  Nathan’s eyes were intent as he looked at her. “I think the LSL gang managed to have someone in the LAPD trace the phone for them.”

  “You didn’t tell your LAPD friend, right?” Arissa said. “I heard you call him.”

  “I didn’t tell him anything.”

  But there might be someone in LAPD who was being paid by the LSLs. She shivered, wondering what would have happened to her and Charity if she’d gone to the police as soon as she had escaped.

  “Did those gang members get a good look at you at the rest stop?” Robert asked Nathan.

  His mouth was grim. “I’m not sure. It was light enough that I could recognize that one guy from the chop shop, so they may have seen me well enough to remember me later or describe me to someone.”

  Startled, Arissa glanced at Robert and Kat. “If they figure out you’re Mark’s partner, they can look up your family’s address here in Sonoma.” She’d put his parents in danger, too.

  First Malaya, now the Fischers. She had done this. She had to fix it. She didn’t know how, and the stress was a weight across her shoulders.

  “We have some time.” It was obvious Nathan was trying to soothe her. “Let me talk to someone about helping you and Charity disappear.”

  “And my parents,” Arissa insisted. “They have to know if they had my parents, I’d do anything.”

  “And your parents,” Nathan agreed.

  Kat reached forward and took her hand. “Don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault. Everything will be fine—just trust in the Lord.”

  The words felt cold and empty. She and Charity were so alone.

  Robert’s blue-gray eyes caught hers. “Something else you should consider. If you want to protect yourself, you need to know why they’re after you.”

  “But I don’t know why they’re after me.”

  “They kidnapped you rather than simply killing you,” Nathan said. “Maybe Mark had something they need.”

  “Like what?” She tensed, not wanting to hear him bring up his accusations again. But after seeing the LSLs at the rest stop, the horrible suspicion began to sprout like a thorn.

  Nathan’s mouth tightened for a moment. “Maybe he...stumbled across something. And even though your aunt is here and Mom’s roast beef is awesome—” he smiled at Kat “—I don’t think that’s the only reason why he was in Sonoma those few times in the months before his death.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why they tried to kidnap me now. He’s been gone for over three years.”

  “Maybe they only recently discovered Mark had...whatever it is he had,” Kat said.

  “And they figure you have it now,” Nathan said, “or at least know about it.”

  Arissa shook her head. “I don’t know anything. He never talked about his work with us. He was very conscientious.”

  “He didn’t seem stressed or secretive the months before he died?” There was a hardness and focus in Nathan’s eyes, as if he wanted to siphon the information out of her like drawing blood.

  “Nothing like that.” That’s why she couldn’t believe he was a mole. He hadn’t acted differently at all in the times she’d been home from a flight and hung out with him.

  “Maybe he just kept it from you,” Kat said.

  “It’s hard to keep anything from your family when you’re all living in the same two-bedroom apartment,” Arissa said drily.

  Nathan’s head cocked. “I knew Mark lived with your folks, but you were living there, too? I thought you had your own apartment in L.A.”

  She shook her head. “When Mom got the cancer diagnosis and the medical bills started coming in, Mark and I decided to let go of our apartments and live with our folks. The money we used to spend on rent we gave to Dad to help pay for the bills.”

  “You can hide anything if you’re determined enough,” Robert said. “We had three boys in this small house and they managed to hide plenty from each other.”

  “You should go look through Mark’s things,” Kat said.

  “There isn’t anything,” Arissa said. “Internal Affairs already—”

  She shut her mouth and counted her heartbeats in the silence. Kat looked down at her teacup. Robert frowned out the window. Only Nathan looked at her, but his eyes seemed sad this time, rather than angry.

  Finally he spoke, and his voice was soft. “Maybe there was something innocent-looking that wouldn’t mean anything to a stranger, but would seem odd to someone who knew Mark well.”

  “But what?”

  “Maybe it’s something small that would lead to what the gang wants. An address, or a phone number.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples with her fingers. If Mark had something the LSLs wanted—or even if they thought he had something they wanted—didn’t that point to the fact he might have been a mole? For so long, she’d been denying that it could be possible, especially in light of the lack of evidence, but maybe that evidence had been hidden in plain sight in the midst of Mark’s things left behind.

  Her brother, an LAPD mole. It was too horrible.

  But she had to face the possibility now, because Charity’s life was in danger. “Mark’s things are down in L.A.”

  “Then you should get to bed,” Robert said. “You have a road trip tomorrow.”

  It was the obvious move for them. She needed to figure out what the gang wanted from her unless she preferred to be on the run for the rest of her life, putting people she loved in danger.

  FOUR

  Even as Nathan hefted his mother’s suitcase into the trunk of their car, she followed to repeat, “I still don’t understand why we need to go into hiding. I think you’re being a little paranoid.”

  Nathan drew in a breath to answer her yet again when his father appeared with his suitcase. “Kat, let it go.”

  She gave a little pout but said nothing.

  “Mom, I wouldn’t tell you to do something so drastic if I didn’t think it was necessary.”

  “But even you said that the gang members didn’t recognize you when they looked straight at you at the rest stop,” his mom said. “And then after the shooting started, would they really have gotten a better look?”

  “Even if they didn’t know me, they might have seen enough of me to describe me, and other gang members might remember I was Mark’s partner.” Nathan put his father’s suitcase in the car and shut the trunk.

  Arissa appeared, holding Charity in her arms. “I’m sorry for inconveniencing you like this. If I had re
alized I’d be putting you in danger, I wouldn’t have come here. I’d have found some other way to talk to Nathan.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered because as soon as the gang knows I’m helping you, it’s too easy to look up my parents’ address.” Nathan turned to his father. “You have everything you need?”

  He nodded and fumbled in his back pocket, producing the burner cell phone Nathan had given to him that morning. “I have this, too.”

  “Don’t use it unless you need to.”

  At that moment, a police cruiser turned the corner at the end of the street and approached them. When it parked, Detective Carter and two uniformed officers got out of the car.

  Arissa swallowed and sidled closer to him. “What are they here for?”

  “I asked Detective Carter to help us out. I’d trust him with my life.”

  The wariness in her eyes eased, and she nodded.

  The gesture made the tension in his gut ease, and yet at the same time he wanted to distance himself from her, so he walked toward the detective.

  “Nathan, these are the two officers who’ll be watching your parents’ house.” Detective Carter gestured to the two men with him. “Charlie Granger and Joseph Fong.”

  Nathan smiled. “Charlie, good to see you. It’s been a while.” He shook hands with the sandy-haired young man.

  “You know each other?” Detective Carter asked.

  Charlie grinned, his dimples making him look younger than his twenty-something age. “My family and the Fischers go to the same church. Nathan was my mentor for almost five years when I was high school.”

  “Only during the summers, when I was home from college.” Charlie hadn’t lost the charm that gave all the girls crushes on him. “How long have you been in the Sonoma police department?”

  “Well, I was an accountant for a few years, but then I decided to switch to law enforcement a few years ago.”

  Nathan turned to the other officer and shook his hand. He was a few years younger than Charlie. “Pleased to meet you. Are you new to Sonoma?”

  The Chinese man nodded. “I moved a few months ago.”