by Kaye George
* * * *
When Yolanda drove up to the house, no one was outside. They had probably finished the cocktails long ago. She steeled herself for an icy reception and got out of her car, slamming the door harder than she intended to.
Just inside the front door, she heard a buzz of conversation. There were a lot of people in the house tonight.
Her mother called out from the living room. “Yolie? Is that you? Where have you been?”
There was no way she was going to worry them by telling them about what had just happened at her shop. She entered the living room and halted. Six of her eight cousins were there, standing, sitting on the couch, leaning on the mantel, all holding drinks and all staring at her.
“Now we can eat,” her oldest cousin, Viggo said. “Cousin Yo decided to drop in, after all.”
“We’re starving,” Viggo’s sister Angela whined. “And where is this guy we’re supposed to meet?”
“Guy?” Yolanda was confused, then the fog cleared. Her parents had invited the cousins to meet Kevin tonight. Steaming inside, she held her face in check and debated whether she should storm out now, or endure the insufferable company of her family tonight. She didn’t like a single one of her cousins, and they had never liked her.
Suffering won out after she played through the consequences of leaving.
She put on her sweetest smile and aimed it at her mother. “I’m sorry? You thought I was bringing someone to dinner?”
Slight frown lines appeared between her mother’s well-maintained eyebrows. “Kevin. The young man you’re dating. The one you told us about.”
“He’s busy tonight.”
“Next week?” her father asked.
“No, Papa, I don’t think so.”
The consequences of staying for dinner turned out to be only marginally better than those of storming out.
She was seated next to Angela, who wasted no time needling her cousin. “How’s Violetta doing? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
Yolanda pasted on a bright smile. “She’s great. Living in Dallas. Has a terrific job. Loves it there.”
“Is she seeing anyone?”
Yolanda thought fast. Angela obviously knew about Vi’s girlfriend and wanted to bring up the subject at the table. Yolanda wasn’t having any of that. “She is. They’re extremely happy. Are you dating anyone?”
Angela was notoriously hard on boyfriends. She’d never had one stick around for more than six months.
“How long ago was…Alvin? Alfred?” Yolanda asked with an innocent look.
Angela frowned. “That wasn’t his name.”
She didn’t bring up Yolanda’s sister again, at least.
When Yolanda left, early, she was careful not to storm out, but to merely leave. She felt her father’s dark look following her out the front door. He hadn’t said a word to her all night. There were probably some other daggers being stared at her back, but she didn’t turn around to look.
* * * *
Sunday morning, Tally picked Yolanda up and they drove to the station. They got in to see Jackson Rogers right away.
“What’s going on? Why did you have to see me first thing Sunday morning?” he asked.
Tally wondered if he was annoyed. He sounded like it. “Look.” She held the bag out, opened up so he could see inside.
He took the bag and started taking out the contents. After the third one, he whistled. “Do all of these have smuggled Burmese jade in them?”
The women both nodded. “I think so,” Tally said. “They must, right?”
Jackson twisted one. It was sturdy, not having been exposed to sunlight in the display window. He kept twisting until it broke apart at the seam and the brilliant green stones spilled onto his desk. He whistled again.
“I feel so awful about this,” Tally said. “You said the people in Myanmar are suffering because of this jadeite.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful stones. “They really are pretty.” She reached out to pick one up. It felt cool, smooth, and very solid.
He fingered the green stones. Then he inspected one of the whole plastic pieces that he hadn’t broken apart yet. “These were put there during manufacturing. They couldn’t have been inserted later.” He ran a finger along the factory-sealed seam.
Tally could also see that the plastic seams were intact. The smuggling was being done where they were made, in Myanmar. That’s where it started from. Mateo wasn’t ever in Myanmar. He drove a warehouse truck—did he work for the smuggling company? Or the trucking company?
“Tell me,” he asked. “Why was it so urgent you bring these in now?”
“Tell him,” Tally said to Yolanda.
“I overheard a conversation. I thought it sounded like they knew there was more somewhere. More jade, I assumed. And they talked about being in danger, danger from some people who would kill them.”
Jackson shook his head. “Yolanda, what are you talking about? Who did you overhear?”
Yolanda’s dark eyes brimmed with tears. “It’s Raul. My Raul. I can’t believe it. I trust him completely. But the jade was in my shop, where he works every day.”
“Raul and…who else?”
“He was talking to Mateo. On the phone. His cousin.”
Jackson closed his eyes and breathed out audibly. “Tell me, if you can remember, exactly what they said.”
“I only heard Raul.”
He shook his head again. “Yes, okay. Can you tell me what Raul said?” Tally could tell he was holding onto his patience with difficulty. She also knew Yolanda didn’t want to say what she had to. It looked so bad for Raul.
“Raul was…um…they were talking about needing money. About everyone needing money. Mateo, I think, wants Raul to ask me to hire him. Or maybe for Raul to ask for a raise. I can’t do either of those things right now, though. Raul knows that.”
“Raul told him that.”
“Yes. Then I think Mateo must have said he was worried because Raul said that Mateo didn’t kill Sutton so ‘they can’t get you for that.’ But then—then he said…” She stopped and gave one short sob of distress. “He said to keep quiet and ‘they’ won’t find out who’s doing the smuggling.”
Yolanda’s shoulders shook and she sobbed softly. Tally handed her a tissue from her purse and put a hand on her quivering shoulder. “I was going to tell Raul to talk to you today if he knows the victim. I’m sorry I told you about this before I’ve had a chance to see him.”
“It seems,” Jackson said, “the Fuentes cousins are part of the smuggling ring.”
“No!” Yolanda almost came out of her chair. “Y’all can’t think that Raul is. It’s his cousin. His cousin is part of it. I think he’s protecting his cousin.”
“I think,” Jackson said, his voice steady as steel, “you’re protecting Raul.”
Tally felt the air go dark and heavy around them.
15
Tally drove a dispirited Yolanda back to start her day’s work at Bella’s Baskets.
“Now what?” Yolanda said, her voice flat and resigned. “Will Detective Rogers arrest Raul?”
They drove down Main Street, the cute shops with their cheerful displays contrasting with the low, lusterless spirits of both women.
“No, they won’t arrest him,” Tally said. “They don’t have any evidence. Jackson won’t arrest someone unless he has a good reason.” She trusted him to do the right thing. He always had.
“So, what I told him isn’t good enough?”
“I don’t think so. Yo, it’s just your word against his. If they want to question him, they will, but I don’t see how Raul can be arrested because you overheard something.”
Yolanda gave Tally an extremely doubtful look.
“You know what I think?” Tally said. “I think Mateo is in on it. For sure.” She hesitated to say more.
“But not Raul?”
Tally told Yolanda no, but, in her heart, she wasn’t at all positive about that. It looked very much like Raul was mixed up in the criminal activity. Two somber adages came to mind. One began with: If it looks like a duck. The other began: Where there’s smoke. Neither one brought her any comfort.
* * * *
Yolanda got her chance to talk to Raul right away. After Tally dropped her off, Yolanda and Raul arrived at Bella’s Baskets at the same time and came into the shop together. The smell of the lilies didn’t seem so strong, but Yolanda could feel a tickle in her throat anyway.
Raul headed for the desk where the book of the day’s orders was opened to today’s date and started to sit down there, but Yolanda stopped him. “I need to tell you something, Raul.”
“Sounds serious.” He picked up the order book and started looking at it.
“I guess it is. Do you know—I mean, did you know—Sawyer Sutton? Know who he was?”
“Everybody knows him now, don’t they? He’s the dead guy at the motel.” He took a seat at the desk, still looking at the book. “He’s big news.”
“I mean, did you know him before that?” She needed him to pay attention to her. Should she snatch the order book away?
Raul shook his head, bent to look more closely at the order book, then looked up. “You said you wanted to tell me something?”
Yolanda sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, trying not to chew on it. “I do.”
After a few moments of silence, Raul prompted her. “And? What is it?”
“I happened to be in the police station and the detective asked me some questions.”
His mouth fell open. “They’re questioning you? They think you killed him?”
That made Yolanda smile. She couldn’t help it. The thought was absurd. It felt good to use those facial muscles, at least, even if nothing was funny right now. “No, but…well, I told him I heard you mentioning the name on the phone, talking to your cousin.”
Now she had his attention. He put down the order book and looked straight at her, something in his face. Fear? Apprehension? His voice was strained, but his words tumbled out. “They worked together, Mateo and Sawyer. He’s afraid, since he didn’t say he recognized who Sawyer was. In the motel room. He thinks the cops will think that’s fishy. He doesn’t know why he didn’t say who it was. He knew right away. The door opened and he could see right away who it was. And that he was dead. He thinks that they might jump to some wrong conclusions.”
“I imagine they might. Mateo worked with him. That’s easy enough for them to find out. But you didn’t know Sawyer Sutton, yourself?”
“Never met the guy. Never even heard of him before his name was in the news. Mateo never mentioned him. He didn’t tell me much at all about that warehouse delivery job. I see why now, since it was on the shady side. He was being paid in cash.”
Yolanda smiled in relief. “Just tell the detective what you told me if he wants to talk to you, okay?” If what Raul was saying was true, there was no danger of him being a part of the criminal acts.
“Sure.” Raul hesitated.
“Did you want to tell me something else?” Yolanda asked. “Wait, I need to tell you what happened last night. I was in the shop and it was dark, the lights all turned off, so no one would have known I was here.”
“Why were you here in the dark?” Raul smiled in his puzzlement.
“To tell the truth, I didn’t want anyone to know I was here. I came in to get those extra plastic candies you had put in the cupboard. I had to take them to the police to see if they had smuggled jade in them. While I was here, someone else came in the back door to get them, I assume. But I already had them. I sneezed and scared the intruder away.”
“That’s…that’s what I wanted to tell you. Mateo knew they were there. He was here when I put them away. If he knew they had the smuggled jewels in them, it could have been him. He wouldn’t ever hurt you. I hope you know that.” He paused again, then continued. “And one more thing I need to tell you. I don’t have my shop key. I don’t know what happened to it, but I think Mateo might have taken it.”
Yolanda felt the tension leave her body. She was glad it hadn’t been Raul. “I’ll leave it alone for now. He didn’t steal anything or hurt anyone. Thanks for telling me that.” She should get the locks changed. Soon.
Raul went back to lining up the jobs for the day.
Yolanda hoped Raul was being truthful and wasn’t just a good liar. She didn’t think he’d ever lied to her. Why would he now? Okay, there were reasons. But she very much wanted to believe in him.
* * * *
When Lily came into Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets, soon after Tally’s arrival, Tally stared at her so long and so often, trying to decide whether to talk to her or not, that Lily started giving her exasperated looks.
“What?” she said. “Are my clothes inside out? Is my head on backwards?”
Tally made up her mind. Yes, she had to say something. “Lily, I have to tell you something.”
Lily had been preparing to do some candy making. They retreated to the corner of the kitchen with the reading chair. Tally motioned Lily into the soft chair and she sat on the footstool in front of her. Where should she start?
“What’s going on between you and Raul?”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “We’re dating.”
“How serious are you?”
“Is that your business?” Lily sounded surprised that Tally would ask her that.
“I know, I know. It shouldn’t be. But I know you want to stop rooming with your cousin, right?”
Lily nodded slightly, a suspicious look stealing over her face.
“And you and Raul seem perfect together.”
Lily broke out into a sunny smile. “Oh, so you think I should move in with him? Is that what you wanted to tell me? That’s so sweet of you. We are thinking about it. I’m glad you approve.”
Lily jumped up, gave Tally a hug, and hurried into the bathroom, the one place Tally couldn’t follow her.
Tally was stunned by Lily’s conclusion and hadn’t been able to think of what to say quickly enough. That hadn’t gone the way it was supposed to. She would try later to get Lily to hold off on moving in with him, which was what she had wanted to suggest.
“Ms. Holt,” Molly called from the front.
They were probably getting busy. Tally reluctantly left for the salesroom, leaving Lily in the bathroom for now. She would have to try talking to her about Raul being under suspicion later.
Tally’s morning dragged into the afternoon with her expecting a call or text from Yolanda at any minute about Raul being taken in for questioning. She thought that what Yolanda told Jackson was enough grounds to do that. One minute she hoped he would get questioned so he could make it clear that he had nothing to do with the theft or the smuggling. The next minute thought she was being overly optimistic about the chances of that.
She wasn’t able to grab another minute alone with Lily to try to clear up their misunderstanding. Lily practically bounced through the day, glowing, giving Tally happy, secret looks every once in a while. Tally groaned inwardly every time and returned a weaker smile.
To make her day even worse, the woman who had accused Dorella of wearing her jewelry came in for some Mary Janes. She asked to see Dorella as Lily was ringing her up.
“I’m sorry, it’s Ms. Diggs’s day off,” Lily said, being cool and polite. Tally was proud of her. “Would you like to leave a message for her?”
The woman sniffed. “I just wanted to see if she’s wearing any more of my jewelry. I’m missing a pearl necklace. Double strand. I’ve reported it to the police.” The woman snatched her package and walked out, slamming the door so hard that the usually soft chimes clattered and jangled.
“If that woman breaks my chimes…” Tally
muttered to herself.
Lily broke into a laugh. “I can’t imagine Dorella wearing a double strand of pearls. That’s something our grandparents would wear, right?”
Molly grinned, agreeing with her.
Tally wasn’t so sure. She happened to like pearls. She didn’t own any, but might wear them if she had them. And she was nowhere near the age to be Lily’s grandmother. She was a bit older than either Lily or Dorella, but not that much.
A few hours later, Tally gratefully flipped the sign to closed and locked the front door. “Okay, let’s clean up.”
Molly started sweeping the floor in the front and Lily carried the unsold goods back to the kitchen to put into the refrigerator, while Tally took the proceeds out of the cash register to count in the office. Before she could leave the room, Dorella appeared at the front door. She tried the locked door, rattling the knob, then knocked.
Molly ran to open the door. “Come to help with the dirty work?” Molly kidded her.
Dorella stepped in, dressed in a glamorous low-cut black dress, silver heels, her soft blond curls swept into an updo, clutching a pearl-studded evening bag. And wearing a double-strand pearl choker.
“Oh my.” Molly dropped the broom to the floor with a thud.
Tally clanged the money drawer down onto the glass-topped display case. “Dorella. Where did you get those pearls?”
Dorella put her left hand to her throat, looking slightly puzzled at both of them. “They’re nice, aren’t they?” She smiled as she stroked them. “I never had pearls before. They feel so cool and smooth.”
Tally repeated, “Dorella, where did you get them?”
She grinned. “Ira gave them to me yesterday. We’re going out to an extra-fancy dinner tonight. He said he did some work for a guy and got a nice paycheck.”
“Stay here for a minute.” Tally ran into the office to call Jackson on her cell, avoiding eye contact with Lily, who was in the kitchen. “You need to come over here. Right now,” she said when he answered. “Quick.”
Tally turned around after ending the call to find Dorella at her office door.