The 2nd Cycle of the Darc Murders Omnibus (the acclaimed series from #1 Police Procedural and Hard Boiled authors Carolyn McCray and Ben Hopkin)

by Carolyn McCray

  After their less-than-ideal first date at a sushi restaurant, they had avoided anything that had been deemed too exotic, settling for fairly middle-of-the-road cuisine. But Darc had spent some time doing research, and had decided to take Mala to a Malaysian and Singaporean restaurant, Kedai Makan.

  The food represented a mix of cultures. There were some of the spices that one would find in an Indian restaurant, that Darc had guessed might be amenable to Mala, as her heritage was Indian. In addition, there were flavors that were more typically Asian inspired. In addition to Singaporean food, the restaurant also served cuisine from Sri Lanka, which Darc found to be odd, as the two locations were not all that geographically close.

  But Darc’s research had indicated that the food would be interesting, without having some of the possible health concerns of eating raw fish. The cuisine could be spicy, but this restaurant catered to a more Western palate, toning down the spice unless it was requested.

  And so far, his research seemed to have born fruit, as Mala had immediately gotten excited about the food. She had struggled over which of the dishes to order, many of which were familiar to her.

  “I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this place,” she gushed, as she ate her Udang Masak Lemak Nenas. It appeared to be a curry dish made up of shrimp and pineapple. Darc had ordered the beef kothu, which was made up of egg scrambled in with roti, an unleavened bread common in that part of the world.

  In addition to the dish, Mala had ordered a mango lassi, which was a drink made of mangos and yogurt. She had suggested to Darc that he try the avocado shake.

  He took another bite of the samosas that they had ordered as an appetizer. The small fried pastry was filled with peas and ground beef, and was the least unusual thing about their meal.

  “With your Indian background, the fact that you did not know about this restaurant is unlikely,” Darc responded after he had finished his bite of food. It was one of the rules on the list Trey had given him. Never talk with your mouth full, dude.

  But Mala’s face changed after he spoke, the corners of her lips turned down a bit in a slight frown. While the intricacies of expression escaped him, a frown was typically not a good thing.

  Was it the fact that he had referred to her ethnicity? Or perhaps her food was not agreeing with her. The second seemed a distinct possibility.

  The tastes and textures of Darc’s food were ones with which he was unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar was not something that he had ever sought out in his food before meeting Mala. However, Darc knew that new experiences were important to his date. This was empirical data he had collected during their time together.

  Experiencing new restaurants was something Mala enjoyed, therefore, the logical thing for him to do was to experience them with her. And to his surprise, he had enjoyed the process much more than he would have expected.

  The avocado shake, for example. It was a mild green color, which did not at first seem at all appealing. Yet, when he tried the drink, he found it to be a mild but pleasurable mix of vanilla, ginger and the more nutty flavor of the avocado.

  And the kothu was similarly unusual, but enjoyable. The roti, with the eggs and vegetables cooked in it, turned almost chewy, giving the dish a feel in his mouth unlike anything that Darc had experienced to date.

  “Are you liking the food?” Mala asked.

  “Yes,” he answered after swallowing his bite.

  The corners of her lips turned up. Attempting to follow and understand the way her expressions changed was a challenge for Darc, but it was one to which he had resigned himself. According to Trey, every relationship had its difficulties, and for Darc, this was it.

  Mala was still looking at him. Her eyes appeared somehow… softer… than they normally were, the muscles surrounding them having relaxed. The continued eye contact made Darc uneasy, as waves of grey crashed up against the logical pathways that were tracing themselves about the restaurant.

  But alongside that grey was a feeling of something Darc could only describe as warmth. It grew from his center and radiated outward, enveloping his entire body. Again, it was uncomfortable. It was also pleasant.

  Mala must have noticed the change in him, as her lips turned up even more. Something even less tangible began to appear in her eyes, but Darc had no idea what he was seeing. Could this be the flower-blossoming metaphor that Trey had spoken of?

  Pushing aside the rest of her food, Mala leaned in closer to Darc. “I’m just about full. Should we have them pack up the rest?”

  That was odd. They had just begun their meal five minutes ago. While Mala consumed, on average, 43% of the food that Darc would normally eat, this had been closer to 27%. And Darc had not yet eaten his fill.

  He opened his mouth to say as much, but the grey whispered to him to stop. To agree. To pack up his food and follow Mala wherever she wanted to go.

  Were these indications of sexual interest? The blossoming that Trey had talked so much about?

  Darc had prepared. The hotel room was ready. He had watched several romantic films to ascertain what should be done to lead up to coitus. Plus several more books on the subject.

  But was this what was happening here? It was so difficult to tell, and the grey was so murky.

  Flashes of silver illuminated his inner landscape, coaxing him to set his fork down now. To engage with her fully.

  This advice intersected with another of Trey’s rules, one that had never made much sense to him. Go with the flow, man, just go with the flow.

  “What would you like to do now?” he asked, pushing his food away in a similar manner to which Mala had done.

  She just smiled, and motioned for the waiter to bring them their bill.

  * * *

  Something seemed strange to Janey.

  She was having a really good time, and Jessalyn was so much fun to play with. They had watched a movie, The Rescuers. It was an old cartoon movie, but at least it didn’t have any princesses in it.

  This one had a girl mouse in it that was sometimes silly and liked fancy clothes, a little bit like a princess, but she and the other mouse had a wonderful adventure together. Janey liked movies with lots of adventure.

  Maybe later, Janey would show Jessalyn one of the old movies that Trey liked to watch with her. Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a good one.

  And then Jessalyn had pulled out a game.

  Clue.

  Janey had found the perfect friend.

  “You have to figure out who the murderer is,” Jessalyn had said, and Janey had just nodded. It was easier to just let her explain how to play the game than it was to try to let her know that Janey had played it so many times, she knew the rules by heart.

  Popeye said that was like lying, but Janey didn’t believe him. Sometimes it was just easier to let things happen.

  One of the things about Jessalyn that Janey liked was that her friend didn’t seem to mind that Janey never talked. Some of Janey’s friends at school had made fun of her at first, and even still they got a little weird around her sometimes.

  Popeye muttered something about her being the weird one. That bear got so cranky whenever Janey was playing with someone else. He stuck his tongue out at her, but Janey just ignored him. He was being so naughty tonight.

  Like during dinner. He had complained about everything that Jessalyn’s mom had put in front of them. It was pizza. How could anyone complain that much about pizza?

  He hadn’t liked the soda or the vegetables, either. At least Jessalyn’s mom hadn’t noticed. Because if she had, she would have been upset. Janey had ended up putting Popeye down from the table, finally.

  But what was weird was that after the movie and Clue, Janey didn’t see Jessalyn’s mom anywhere. It was maybe possible that she had gone up to her room, but Janey had been pretty sure she’d heard the front door open and close, and a car engine start up outside. The sounds had been pretty clear.

  And Jessalyn hadn’t reacted to it at all. It was strange. Very strange.

/>   In all the time that Janey had been with Mala, the only times Mala had left her had been when Janey was with someone else. Darc or Trey or Maggie… sometimes a babysitter. But she had never just left the apartment while Janey was there.

  And Janey’s mommy had been the same way.

  Maybe Janey had just not heard right. Maybe Jessalyn’s mom was just upstairs taking a nap or reading a book. Maybe she’d just wanted to leave Janey and Jessalyn alone for a while so they could play without worrying about her.

  But something just didn’t feel right about it.

  The lines in her mind traced through the house, taking in the sounds that came from the old home shifting in the wind. There were creaks and cracks, but nothing that sounded like footsteps. It had been that way for a while.

  “Do you want to play with some toys?” Jessalyn asked, interrupting what Janey was thinking about.

  Janey held in a sigh. This was where most of her play dates had kind of gotten boring. The girls always wanted to play with dolls. Barbies and princesses and babies and stuff like that.

  It wasn’t that Janey didn’t like any of those things. She did. It was just that after she had lost her parents and gone through so many things, she was a lot more interested in detective stuff.

  But they’d already watched a great movie and played Janey’s favorite board game. Janey was being selfish.

  Popeye agreed, but Janey was pretty sure he was talking about something else.

  Janey nodded at Jessalyn, and her friend’s face lit up. It was nice to make someone else happy, even if Janey was about to do something that she probably wasn’t going to enjoy all that much.

  They went upstairs to Jessalyn’s room, and as they did, Janey noticed that all the lights were off up here. That was weird.

  If Jessalyn’s mom had come up here, she had turned off all the lights when she did. That wasn’t like crazy-crazy, but it was kinda strange.

  But maybe it meant she hadn’t come up here at all.

  The house was big, but it wasn’t huge. There weren’t tons of rooms downstairs that Janey had seen. She was pretty sure that no one was down there.

  So if Jessalyn’s mom wasn’t downstairs, and she wasn’t upstairs, that meant she wasn’t here. That made Janey feel wobbly inside.

  But then Jessalyn was dragging Janey into the bedroom and pulling out her toys. Janey looked at all the stuff and felt a huge relief rush through her. None of the toys were dolls or princesses. Instead, there were a bunch of little animals… Littlest Pet Shop, mostly. And also a bunch of action figures.

  “Let’s play Cops and Robbers,” Jessalyn said.

  Janey grinned and sat down, excited to play some more with her friend.

  * * *

  Mala stood outside the hotel, looking up at the façade at Darc’s side.

  This was a nice hotel. A very nice hotel.

  The Monaco was about four blocks away from the waterfront, and from what Mala had heard, it had rooms with spectacular views of the water or the city. Either way had to be stunning.

  Looked like she was about to find out, first hand.

  “Darc,” she murmured, her arm through his. “This is where we’re staying tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  They walked through the front doors and into the lobby, the high vaulted ceiling stretching up above them. The dark blue of the carpet contrasted with the cream of the walls, the décor elegant and polished.

  Maybe she needed to call Cat now to let her know that Janey would be spending the whole night. Darc would understand if she left early, but this was beginning to look like an experience she didn’t want to miss out on.

  Mala began walking over to the front desk, thinking that they would go ahead and check in, but Darc stopped her. He pulled two key cards out of his jacket pocket.

  He had already checked in. All of Mala’s fears about whether or not this relationship was insane were beginning to melt away. Everything seemed to be taken care of here.

  Leading the way to the elevator, Darc pushed the button to call down the car. It must have been waiting there, for the door opened immediately.

  The elevator was fast, taking them up ten flights in seconds. When they arrived at their floor, Darc led them down the hallway to their room, but then stopped her, placing his arm across her chest to bar her way forward.

  “Wait.”

  Okay. So they would need to talk a bit about finesse. That was fine.

  Darc swiped his card through the reader, opening the door. His gesture made it clear that he wanted her to remain just outside in the hallway.

  So… she waited. And then waited some more.

  This was beginning to feel a bit awkward. A man passed by in the hallway, looking at Mala standing there outside her door with muted curiosity. She gave him what she hoped was a casual smile, trying not to look as odd as she felt.

  Then Darc was back in the hallway, propping the door open with a foot. One of his hands remained behind his back for a moment, and then Mala realized what was going on. Darc had gone inside to get her flowers.

  Out from behind his back came the hand, and she saw she was partially right.

  The hand held a bare-rooted rose plant.

  The bare, thorny branches had been cropped short, no flowers anywhere in sight. The scraggly roots extended out underneath Darc’s fist, as he was gripping the plant in the only place it seemed possible to hold it. Where there weren’t thorns.

  That was… unexpected.

  “Ah… Darc,” she said. “Where are the flowers?”

  “Flowers are impractical. They die. This can be planted, allowing for many more roses, which is an investment in the future.”

  That was sweet. Sort of. Mala gingerly took the plant, not wanting to remind Darc that she currently had no place to grow rose bushes, as she lived in an apartment.

  At least now they were headed into the room. This hadn’t been that bad. Again, it was considerate, in a very strange, Darc-like way.

  And then they entered the room.

  The accommodations themselves were quite opulent. A four-poster bed was draped with burgundy fabric. And leading to that bed were rows and rows of the bare-rooted rose plants.

  There were also candles, which Darc must have taken the time to light while she was out in the hallway. Again, a romantic impulse.

  But they were made of Crisco cans.

  Lining the room, on almost every imaginable surface, was a large container of shortening, with a wick jammed into the now melting white surface. While the glow from the flames created a warm, welcoming feel to the room, the burning shortening was creating a smell that was akin to a fast-food restaurant. Mala had to fight down a sudden wave of nausea.

  “You lit candles,” she murmured, trying to make sure that her tone was approving.

  “Yes, and they will remain lit far more consistently… and longer… than any commercial candle ever would,” Darc responded. His neutral affect was present in his voice, as always, but did she detect a note of pride buried there?

  “That’s… wonderful. Really lovely.”

  Darc nodded. “Would you like to slip into something more comfortable?”

  The question took Mala aback. “Ah… I didn’t bring any clothes with me.”

  “I purchased something for you.” Her would-be paramour slipped over to the bathroom, and once more Mala was struck by how hard Darc was trying. The effort put into this evening was staggering.

  And then she saw what he brought out, clutched in his fist.

  It was a muu-muu.

  And not just any muu-muu. It was the most garish Hawaiian-print muu-muu that Mala had ever seen. It was hideous.

  She felt her heart sink a bit more, and at the same time, the impulse to laugh bubbled up inside of her. This evening really could not get more ridiculous. And yet the amount of thought that had gone into everything Darc was doing was clear.

  “How about we go and sit on the bed?” she suggested.

  It might be tim
e for her to take charge of how things were progressing here.

  * * *

  The grey surged and then retreated, washing up against the shoreline of the light of logic. The seething waves grumbled of discontent and dissatisfaction.

  Darc was nonplussed.

  Everything had been done with precision. Trey had recommended Darc watch classic films in order to prepare. Considering the lack of time, he had done so, but had skimmed through them, finding the most salient points of romance in each.

  And then he had improved upon all of them.

  But at each step, the grey waters within had grown more troubled. Mala’s reactions did not seem to match those of the actresses in the films. With the exception of the fact that they were now headed toward the bed. That was a positive result, was it not?

  They sat next to one another, and Darc realized that they were about to engage in foreplay. That was a positive thing.

  The foreplay was something that Darc had studied with some intensity, as it had been one of Maggie’s chief complaints when they had been married. At the time, Darc had thought little of Maggie’s demands, as they seemed irrelevant to the perceived purpose of coitus… the conception of children.

  But since that time, Darc had begun to recognize that coitus was also intended to be a bonding experience between a man and woman. The release of oxytocin, which tends to make its recipient more trusting and vulnerable, was an essential element of making sure that Mala never left.

  So this was important.

  He reached out a hand and placed it on her breast. His studies had indicated that stimulation of the mammary glands could create pleasure.

  But Mala’s response seemed as far removed from that as could be possible. She started and jerked away from his hand.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Darc,” she said, her tone sounding strained in an odd way. “I just wasn’t expecting that. Not right away, at least.” That last was murmured quietly, almost as if she did not intend for him to hear it.

  But Darc’s hearing was acute. “You wish to engage in some other activity first?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. I would. How about you kiss me, instead?”

  That seemed a logical response, and Darc realized that this was something he should have known. The blank places, the blind spots in his reasoning, seemed to be active once more. This was troubling.