by Anne R. Tan
“I’m not a pro—”
The front door to Brandi’s unit opened, interrupting their banter. She jerked back in surprise. As she got a look at their faces, her eyes widened in recognition. “Wong Po Po, what are you doing here?”
The lackluster blonde hair couldn’t hide the black bruise with yellowing edges on her cheek. The dark shadows underneath her eyes made her appear gaunter than she was. She held onto the doorknob to prevent them from peeking inside her apartment.
“Hi, sweetie, I heard you got yourself into a spot of trouble,” Po Po said, her voice gentle. “We’re here to help.”
Brandi’s eyes blinked rapidly and her face struggled for control. She held open the door to reveal a packed duffel bag next to her feet. “I…”
Po Po held open her arms. “Come with us, Brandi. You're safe now.”
Brandi closed her eyes; the tears spilled down her cheeks. She stepped into Po Po’s arms and sobbed. Raina grabbed the bag and led the way to the car.
By the time they got back to the Victorian, Brandi had calmed after her initial outburst. She still had the kicked puppy look, but at least she appeared to be alert. They sat around the kitchen island, sipping green tea and munching on dan tats. The egg tarts weren’t from the Golden Gate Bakery, but according to her grandma, they would do.
“Where are you planning to go, Brandi?” Po Po asked.
“Away.”
Raina studied the flaky crust on her egg tart. Was Hudson’s sister skipping town before the police caught up to her?
“Do you need any money?” Po Po asked.
Brandi bit her lip and averted her gaze. “Hudson was supposed to give me money so I could leave Austin and check into a rehab center to get cleaned up.”
“Hudson made it sound like you chose your boyfriend over your family. What changed your mind about leaving him?” Raina asked.
“Money. Or the lack of it. Austin is getting stressed about our financial situation.” Brandi touched the black bruise on her cheek. She jerked her hand away, curling the fingers into a fist. “All those years while Hudson was in LA, I took care of Uncle Martin like he was my father. I didn't expect a big payday, but a measly five grand? You can’t even hire care for this amount. You wouldn’t understand, Raina, but your cousins would.”
Raina blanched at the reference to the three million dollars her deceased Ah Gong had left her. Her hands trembled, so she tucked them in her armpits. So her reputation as money-grubbing granddaughter preceded her.
Brandi and Po Po continued to chatter, but Raina wasn’t listening. She had to get the journal from Smith. The research she did on the Internet hadn’t yielded more than what Joley Mok had told her about the Great Leap Forward in China.
Po Po went to show Brandi the converted spare bedroom in the attic. When she came back, she asked, “Are you okay?”
Raina nodded. She wasn’t all right. Being the black sheep in the family was exhausting, especially when she wasn’t the one with the shameful past.
“Thank you,” Po Po said.
“I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s not fair. Let’s divide the money between the cousins and just call it good,” Raina said, the words tumbling over each other in her haste to get them out. “You do not understand how awful it is to have everyone in your family misjudge you.”
“I do understand. I’m the love child between my father and an opera singer. The first two wives and their children hated me for what I represented. Then, when the son finally came from the fourth wife, I was ignored. I drank family politics with my mother’s milk.”
“Why have secrets when open communications would have resolved hurt feelings? Keeping Ah Gong’s secret like this isn’t helping anyone. It’s his shameful past. It’s not a reflection of you as a wife or mother.”
“Are you prepare to rake this family through burning coals? Do you think your uncles want to know their father had another son and wife? Everything they believed to be true is a lie.”
Raina pressed her lips together. So it was more convenient to blame her for influencing their dying grandfather to give her a boatload of money. She forced her voice to remain level. “What should we do with Brandi? She can’t go to her apartment. The abusive boyfriend might come back.” She was tired of going around in circles whenever they spoke of Ah Gong—someone’s feelings always got hurt.
“Let me take care of this. You’ll have to fly solo today,” Po Po said, eager to leave their standstill conversation alone.
“Do you think Brandi has anything to do with Uncle Martin’s death?” Raina asked.
“I can't say. For all we know, the boyfriend might have done it.” Po Po had watched Brandi grow up with her children. “The girl needs help, and she needs her family. She has agreed to rehab. I’ll call around to see if there’s an immediate opening somewhere. I told her not to worry about the expenses.”
“Okay, I'll check in with you later. I have a date with Blue this evening. So you guys are on your own for dinner.”
Raina left her grandma's house with a heavy heart for a much-needed cheeseburger. Not that she was hungry, but grease, fat, and salt chased away bad juju like nothing else. If she stayed, she might end up calling Blue to hear someone say she was beautiful. And that would be a disaster because there was no such thing as happily ever after. Why had she agree to dinner?
13
It's Not You
It was two o’clock by the time Raina pulled out of the drive-through and into traffic. Her stomach rumbled at the grease wafting out the take-out bag. She jammed a handful of fries into her mouth, thinking about the investigation as it stood.
Brandi Rice was too much of a wreck and from all accounts seemed to genuinely care about her uncle. This didn't take her off the suspect list, but to kill someone for five grand seemed far-fetched.
While Joley Mok and giant Ralf turned out to be cronies of her grandma, this alone didn’t eliminate them as suspects, but it sure moved them further down on the list. Why would they commit murder on a supposed business rival when they didn’t appear to be hurting for clients?
And then there was the new triad boss, Sonny Kwan. She had dismissed him as a potential suspect because she didn't want to tangle with the Nine Dragons. Initially, there appeared to be no connection between the upstanding businessman and the triad. It had turned out to be a false assumption.
Her eyes widened as a thought hit her. She coughed, spraying out a mouthful of fries across the dashboard. Her eyes hot with tears, and she gulped down soda to clear the residual fries in her throat. Geez, she could kill herself if she wasn’t careful.
At Lila’s party, Raina had overheard Uncle Martin ordering liver. Had she interpreted it so it said what she wanted to hear? What if he had ordered…human liver? Could his worsening cirrhosis have turned him into a desperado? What if Uncle Martin believed eating a healthy human liver might help regenerate his? He made his living helping people cope with the supernatural and superstition, so he had to be a believer on a some level.
By the time Raina got home, her grandma and Brandi were nowhere in sight. She halfheartedly went through two boxes in the attic. It occurred to her that she was the only one cleaning out the Victorian for the upcoming holiday. So much for teamwork from the rest of the family.
As she got dressed for her date with Blue, her thoughts wandered back to the murder investigation. Something had to break soon because she was burning a lot of gas going back and forth all over the City. It wasn't like she could share her frustration with her boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend would know how she felt at the moment since he was a homicide detective in Gold Springs.
She shook her head to clear his image from her mind. She couldn't drive forward while watching the rear-view mirror. Blue was her boyfriend now, and she didn’t need her ex taking up mental real estate. She might as well enjoy her evening since the investigation for Martin's murder was going nowhere.
An hour later, Raina followed the hostess across the restaurant in her lave
nder wool skirt with matching knee high suede boots, she could feel eyes following her progress. Blue stood at her approach and kissed her cheek in greeting.
“Did you wait long?” she asked, sitting on the chair he had pulled out for her.
“Just got here myself. You’re a busy woman. I’ve been hoping you could pencil me in for dinner sooner than tonight.” Blue smiled to let her know he was joking. “But I will take what I can get.”
He was too polite to mention her insistence they meet at the restaurant. They both knew it was a step back in their fragile relationship. How could she explain that being in the City always made her fall into old roles in her family, which wasn’t conducive to any healthy relationship? Maybe she should suggest they spend some time away from the crazies.
“Sorry, but I have to work through a few things at home.” He didn’t need to know about this hobby of hers until they got more serious. Most people wouldn’t find tracking down killers to be a cute distraction. She needed to play it cool, so she didn’t scare this nice guy away.
Blue smiled, pretending like he understood, but she knew he didn’t. With no siblings and a mom he saw once a year during a holiday, he was both attracted and repelled by her large extended family.
“I’m bidding on a job at Gold Springs,” he said. “Renovating an old resort for student housing. It’s a big job, but I would get to spend six months in the same town with you.”
She grinned toothily, both surprised and pleased. Was he hinting he would like to take their relationship to the next level? Why didn’t she put on the fancy underwear—
“Are you ready to order?” the server asked, gliding to their table.
Raina gestured for Blue to go first. She flipped through the menu, heading straight for the salads. After the greasy burger this afternoon, she was ready for lighter fare. As she glanced up, a flash of silvery blond hair caught her eye.
Seated at the next table, behind Blue, was Smith. He raised his glass of red wine in silent salute to her. And to his right, at another table all by his lonesome self, was Ralf. They both smiled at her, unaware of the other's presence.
Raina's heart sped up at the thought of her two worlds colliding—amateur sleuth and girlfriend. Was this the sign she had been waiting for to let Blue in on her secret—her nosy superpower?
“Are you ready, ma’am?” the server asked.
Raina held the menu up to keep from looking at the two men watching her like she was on a dating reality show. What were they doing here?
She shook head. She had nothing to hide. Why couldn’t she enjoy a night out with her boy—
“If you don’t want a burger, what about a salad?” Blue asked, cutting into her thoughts.
“I’m sorry,” Raina said, smiling apologetically at him and the server. “An avocado burger with fries.”
“You just said you didn’t want a burger,” Blue said.
“Yes, you’re right.” Raina flushed, sweat rolling down the small of her back. “A chicken Caesar salad. Thank you.”
After the server left, Blue made several attempts at small talk. Raina tried to answer, but her eyes would stray to either Smith or Ralf and her voice would trail off. When the appetizer came out, she excused herself and rushed to the restroom.
Raina blotted her flushed face with a wet paper towel. This couldn’t be happening. She didn't need this added stress of Smith and Ralf judging her girlfriend potential. She straightened, tucking an errant curl behind her ears. Focus. It was just a coincidence they were at the same restaurant as her. They were here to eat, just like she was.
By the time she got back to the table, her pep talk in the restroom had lost its power. She didn’t understand what Smith and Ralf thought they could achieve by tailing her, but they weren’t going to ruin her evening. She needed to relax and enjoy herself. Easy peasy.
Her heart pounded as she returned to her seat. A salad awaited her pleasure. Her throat was parched, and her hand, surprisingly, didn’t shake when she reached for the glass of water.
“Everything okay?” Blue asked. His gold-flecked hazel eyes looked concerned.
“I’m fine,” Raina whispered.
They chatted for the next few minutes, but she wouldn't be able to recall the subjects if her life depended on it.
He nodded at the half-eaten salad. “The food is okay?”
“I’m on a diet?” she said sheepishly.
“I really like you, Sunshine, but tonight is worse than our first date.”
She blinked at the tears welling up from behind her eyes. This was it. It isn’t you. It’s me. Goodbye and good luck. She’d heard it all before. “Are you breaking up with me?” She held her breath, afraid of the answer.
Blue opened his mouth, but the server returned with a dessert plate. He slid it onto the center of the table. “From the gentleman over there.” He pointed to Smith, who gave them a curt wave.
Raina pasted a smile on her face and nodded her thanks.
“Who is that?” Blue asked.
He had no idea how loaded the question was. “He’s the detective investigating Uncle Martin’s death. What a coincidence to see him here,” she said.
Blue raised an eyebrow but didn’t pursue the subject. “I thought you wanted to end things. You haven’t been jumping with joy each time we’ve gotten together.”
They had met last Christmas when she rushed out of a family party in tears, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know she had issues. But as Po Po would say, it was too early to show her granny panties.
“This isn’t a good time for me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around Uncle Martin’s death. I’ve known him my entire life. He was like another grandparent,” she said. So it wasn’t the full truth, but close enough.
“I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.
She glanced over Blue’s shoulder to see both Smith and Ralf enjoying their dessert. She hoped they choked on it. “No, things will get better once I’m away from the city. I’m not my normal self here. It's like I'm wearing old clothes I've outgrown, so they are too tight on my skin. I'm not even sure I'm making any sense.”
He reached for her hand. “I can see you’re under pressure right now. We'll talk when you get home? In Gold Springs?”
When they parted half an hour later, Raina kissed him and told him how much she enjoyed being with him.
“Another place and another time,” Blue said. “Got it.”
On the drive back to Pacific Heights, Raina wasn't sure how much of it he got, but it was better than she’d expected. She’d sort it out when she wasn't so distracted with her family.
She circled the block once and ended up two blocks from the Victorian. The short walk in the dark wouldn’t normally bother her, but her frayed nerves from her disastrous date with Blue made her jumpy. All she wanted to do was go home and soak in the tub. She pulled up the collar of her jacket and jammed her hands into her pockets.
The fog, gray yellow under the streetlights, whirled around her, distorting her vision as if she were the only person alive in this deceptive cocoon. It wasn't until she was ten feet away from the Victorian that she saw the man loitering in front of the gate.
As he stepped into the streetlight, the scar on the side of his mouth glowed silvery white. “We need to talk.”
14
Devil's Bargain
Raina took a step back and held her useless purse in front of her. “Take another step and I’ll scream my head off.” Like this would make any hardened criminal hesitate.
“Sweetheart, I might take you up on the offer at another time, but I’m cold from waiting for you to finish up your lame date. You can either come with me willingly or I can hogtie you. Your choice,” Scar Face said.
She lowered her purse, heart pounding. She needed to get inside the house. “Where are we going?”
“How about the French place on Washington?” He looked her up and down. “You look like you need more food. The salad you ordered was a joke.”<
br />
Fear settled like a concrete block on her chest. He was at the restaurant. When did she sign up to be Grand Marshal for the parade? “Hey! I eat plenty. I don’t need someone like you feeding me and expecting things.” Good, lighten up the mood.
Scar Face burst out laughing. “Fine, then invite me up. I want to get out of this cold. A man can freeze his ba—”
“Who are you? And what do you want from me?”
As if knowing his name made things better. Her mom probably wasn’t home, but Raina couldn’t take the risk. What if her mom thought she was bringing home a new boyfriend? And Po Po was a wild card. Then there was her impressionable teenage brother. No, inviting him into the house was out of the question.
“Sonny Kwan. We need to talk about your grandfather’s journal.”
The new Dai Lo for the Nine Dragons? She glanced around but didn’t see anything beyond their little bubble in the fog.
“I’m alone. You want to talk or what?”
Sonny Kwan was a beefy man, the kind who carried his weight like a weapon. Not only could he eat her for breakfast, but she barely had enough substance to fill the gaps between his teeth.
“I’m not sure being alone with you is good for my health,” Raina said.
Sonny tucked his hands into his armpits. “Yeah, well, making me angry isn’t good for your health.”
No kidding, Raina thought. Was she willing to go into the house and close the door to what Sonny might have to say? And the man looked underdressed for the weather—a zipped-up nylon jacket over cuffed jeans that exposed his shins. “What happened to your clothes? Are you wearing cast-offs?”
Sonny shook his head. “I’m heading to the restaurant. Come if you want. Bring your posse. I’m leaving after one drink.” He brushed past her and headed down the hill without looking to see if she would follow.
“Wait!” Raina called out before she was aware of her decision. She jogged after the triad leader. “I’m coming.” She unwrapped her scarf and handed it to Sonny.