by Camy Tang
Elisabeth sat and listened to Mrs. Torres talk about the family parties, which inevitably involved lots of Filipino food. Elisabeth glanced at Liam, who must be bored since he couldn’t understand Tagalog, but he was enjoying his coffee and cookies.
“My daughter drives me down to Los Angeles,” Mrs. Torres said. “All our family is there.”
“Faye lives in San Francisco?”
“Yes, she has a good job working in an insurance company. But she’s lonely. She needs a boyfriend.”
Elisabeth continued smiling, though she wanted to frown. So Faye’s mother didn’t know about her Tumibay boyfriend. Maybe not even her Tumibay connections. Had she known about Joslyn’s Bagsic ex-boyfriend?
“Is Faye close to Joslyn?”
Mrs. Torres hesitated, then said, “Yes, because they’re the closest in age out of all the cousins.”
Elisabeth touched Mrs. Torres’s hand. “I’m sure Joslyn was grateful to you and Faye for helping her run from her ex-boyfriend.”
Mrs. Torres looked torn, as if unsure what to tell Elisabeth. “Faye will always help her cousin. She’s just like that. She calls me every Sunday,” she said in a brighter tone, changing the subject. “She tells me about her day.”
“You talked to her this past Sunday? How is she?”
Mrs. Torres’s eyes faltered and fell. “She...she didn’t call.”
“Maybe she was too busy?”
“She usually calls, although some weeks she doesn’t if she’s too busy. But...”
Elisabeth said gently, “Would you like me to check on her for you?”
Mrs. Torres gave a hesitant nod. “Yes, thank you.” She sat in silence for a long moment, her face lined with worry. Then she whispered, “She was scared. Joslyn. She was afraid of her ex-boyfriend.”
Elisabeth squeezed the woman’s hand comfortingly.
“I lent her my car so she could drive to Faye’s apartment. And then the police came, telling me about Felix’s murder. And now Faye... She always calls me. Always.” Mrs. Torres’s hand trembled beneath Elisabeth’s fingers.
“I’ll do my best to find her and help her,” Elisabeth said.
She had Mrs. Torres write down Faye’s address, and she asked the woman to call Faye’s roommate to let her know Elisabeth and Liam would be coming to look around Faye’s room.
As they left, Mrs. Torres gave Elisabeth a small plastic container with more paciencia cookies.
“I’ll call you when I find Faye.”
Mrs. Torres still looked worried, but she clasped Elisabeth’s hand in a strong grip. “Thank you.”
As they drove away, Liam said, “That was a long conversation. What happened?”
Elisabeth took a deep breath. “I think something has happened to Faye.”
* * *
Had the Tumibays or Bagsics done something to Faye? Was she even still alive?
Elisabeth recounted the conversation for Liam, remembering Mrs. Torres’s anxiety for Faye. Mother and daughter were obviously close to each other.
“But Mrs. Torres didn’t know Faye was dating a Tumibay?” Liam asked. “I suppose her mother wouldn’t exactly approve of a gang member boyfriend. So Mrs. Torres sent Joslyn to Faye in San Francisco not knowing that Faye has connections to the Tumibays, which might put Joslyn in more danger. Did Joslyn go to the Tumibays willingly? Or not? Did Faye turn her in to the Tumibays or try to protect her from them?”
“But why would the Tumibays get involved with a woman wanted by the police?” Elisabeth asked. “And how did she get away? The Tumibays don’t know where Joslyn is, which means Faye either doesn’t know, or she didn’t tell them. What if Faye does know where Joslyn is, and that’s why she disappeared?”
Liam gave her a side glance and said quietly, “We don’t know yet if she ran away, or if something happened to her.”
Elisabeth didn’t want to think about that grim possibility. “But I’m starting to think she did run away. She also disappeared only recently, but Joslyn’s been gone for weeks. So maybe the gang found out she knew.”
“One thing we do know, Faye might be the one person, besides Joslyn, who knows what’s going on,” Liam said. “But if she ran away, it might take a while to find her. Joslyn disappeared without a trace.”
“But I trained Joslyn,” Elisabeth said. “I didn’t train Faye. And that’s going to make a big difference.”
They stopped at a fast-food restaurant with free Wi-Fi. Elisabeth went online and found out more about Faye’s workplace.
“She trained as a PA,” Elisabeth said, “and she’s well paid at her job. She wouldn’t just throw it away. Let’s check there first.”
They got to San Francisco in a couple hours and headed into downtown, parking a few blocks away from the office building.
They were walking toward the building and Liam was looking casually around when he suddenly stiffened. Then he smoothly guided them into a deli, keeping their backs to the large storefront windows.
Elisabeth ducked her head. “What is it?”
“Tumibay, I think. He’s Filipino and he’s got the same style tattoos.”
“Where?”
“I saw him sitting at the bus stop directly across from the building. Where are you going?”
Elisabeth stepped out of the deli, keeping her back to the bus stop several yards away, and fished a compact out of her purse. She flipped it open and used the mirror to look over her shoulder.
The man lounged on the bus stop bench. He wore a San Francisco Giants sweatshirt, but had pushed up the cuffs to reveal tattoos on his forearms. Elisabeth recognized certain Baybayin letters as the same as the tattoos she’d seen on the other two Tumibay men at the gas station.
She went back inside the deli, where Liam was fuming. “Yup, Tumibay,” she said.
He glared at her. “You’re killing me here.”
She really hadn’t thought first about how her actions would make him worry. She wasn’t used to someone else caring about her. It was a strange feeling. “Sorry,” she murmured.
His eyes softened. “Next time, just tell me before you do it, okay?”
“Okay.” Elisabeth chewed her lip. “If Faye did run away, if she wasn’t taken by the gang, then my guess is they’re waiting for her to show up.”
Liam craned his neck to look out the deli windows. “I think we can backtrack to the crosswalk, cross the street and walk into the building by hiding in a crowd.”
They made an effort to stick close to masses of people, hiding in the midst of them. Liam was a bit tall, but with his baseball cap in place, he looked like any other tourist.
They were directly across the street from the Tumibay now. She didn’t turn to look, her heartbeat as fast as if she’d run a seven-minute mile.
Finally they entered the office building’s large, empty lobby. “Now I know why the gang member is across the street,” she said. “There’s no place to sit here. Just the bus stop.”
“Lucky for us.”
They were on the watch for gang members hanging around, but didn’t see any. Even up on the seventh floor, the elevator bay had no one around. They went straight to the glass double doors for Dutton Investments, which took up most of the office space on this floor.
The entrance to the offices was a square room with couches and tables, and at the far end, across from the glass doors, was a wide reception desk. Elisabeth smiled at the pretty young woman who sat behind the desk. “How can I help you?”
“We’re looking for Faye Torres? We’re friends with her cousin.”
“Oh, she’s on indefinite leave. Her mother’s really sick or was in an accident or something like that.” The receptionist grimaced. “Poor thing.”
“Oh, no, that’s awful,” Elisabeth said. “Did this just happen?”
“Last week. Faye came in to pick up her paycheck on Friday and talk to our boss about it. She looked so worried, she was as white as a sheet. He let her go home right away.”
“I’ll be sure to gi
ve her family a call,” Elisabeth said. “Thanks.”
They were alone in the elevator on the way down. “She went on the run,” Elisabeth said. “If she’d been taken by a gang, she wouldn’t have been able to give notice.”
“And the Tumibays are staking out her workplace, so they obviously haven’t found her since she went into hiding,” Liam said. “That’s good news.”
“It also answers the question of who she’s running from. But why would she run from her boyfriend’s gang?”
“She must have done something to upset them.”
“But she seemed to want to join the Tumibays so much,” Elisabeth said. “Why would she turn against them?”
Liam looked at her. “Family.”
Of course, the most obvious answer. Elisabeth realized that since she didn’t understand family loyalty, it was hard for her to get into Faye’s head.
Liam said, “Didn’t you say that Joslyn was close to Faye? What if Faye helped Joslyn escape from the Tumibays or something like that? It would explain why the Tumibays are after both of them.”
Once in the lobby, they waited until they could mix in with a large group of people leaving the building. They made it to their parked car without incident.
“We’ll have to be careful when we go to Faye’s apartment,” Elisabeth said.
“I think they won’t have more than one man watching the apartment, if that.” Liam started the engine. “Faye’s been gone almost a week. I don’t think they really expect her to show up at her work or home.”
“How long would they keep this surveillance up for one woman?”
“It depends what she did to make them want to find her. If it’s important enough, they’ll expend resources to find her like Tomas did for Joslyn.”
And what would they do if they found her? Elisabeth suppressed a shiver.
Faye lived in south San Francisco in a building with shops on the first floor and apartments above. The only point of access to the apartments was the underground parking garage.
They parked in the garage, and Liam had just gotten out of the car when he froze. “Get down,” he hissed.
Elisabeth had been about to stand up, but she huddled back down into the car seat. “Tumibay?”
Liam had folded into a crouch, and he looked toward the elevators through the windows of the car parked next to them. “He’s in a black SUV with a clear view of the elevators.”
Elisabeth raised her head to look and saw the truck. Unlike the other SUV at the gas station, this one had no detail work and blended in with the other cars. She didn’t recognize the driver, but his arm hanging out the open window exposed his tattoos up his arm to the sleeve of his T-shirt. They were definitely Tumibay tattoos.
Incredibly, he was asleep, with his eyes closed, his head leaning back against the headrest and his mouth hanging open. In the quiet of the garage, they could hear his snores.
“Let’s make a run for it,” Liam said.
They got out of the car, quietly easing the car doors closed. Liam gave her a quick look, then hurried across the garage toward the elevators. The stairwell was right next to the elevators, so he opened the door and they slipped inside. Elisabeth heaved a quick breath as the door closed behind them.
When they knocked on the door to Faye’s apartment, it was immediately opened by her roommate, a petite girl with incredibly curly black hair and large eyes.
“Gina?” Elisabeth asked. “I’m Elisabeth Aday, and this is Liam O’Neill.”
“Mrs. Torres said you’d be stopping by. Come on in.”
“Thanks.” They stepped into the small living room, dominated by a floral couch across from a large-screen television.
“I hope you can find Faye.” Gina led them through the apartment. “I’m really worried about her. I feel so guilty—I’ve been on the night shift at work for two weeks, so I didn’t even know she was missing until Mrs. Torres called today.”
“Did you know anything about her social life?” Elisabeth asked carefully. “Something she might not have told her mom?”
“Well...” Gina’s dark eyes slipped away. “She was dating this one guy, Daniel, but to be honest, he kind of scared me. He was one of those tough guys with tattoos all over his arms.”
“Do you know anything else about him?”
“Not really. He and Faye have been going out for only a few weeks, and he came to our apartment only once or twice.” Gina frowned. “As far as I know, he hasn’t come by looking for her. He might know what happened to Faye. Or else he’s such a scumbag that he doesn’t care she’s been missing.”
“Do you know his last name?” Liam asked.
“No, sorry.” Gina opened Faye’s bedroom door. “Just let yourselves out when you’re done, the door will lock behind you. It’s my bedtime—my shift starts at eight.”
Elisabeth winced. “I hope you didn’t stay up just for us.”
“No, I always have a hard time sleeping during the day when I’m on night shift. It’s only for another week.”
Gina disappeared into the other bedroom, and Liam and Elisabeth looked around Faye’s room.
There were a couple religious pictures on the wall that were identical to those in her mom’s house, but Faye also had a concert poster and some framed photos of herself with friends. A wall calendar was filled with Faye’s appointments. Her bed was a rumpled mess, and her dresser drawers were all half-open, their contents spilling over the edges.
“It looks like she packed in a hurry,” Elisabeth said.
Liam looked through her trash while Elisabeth went through Faye’s small desk, but the drawers were filled with innocuous things like nail polish, nail files, nail polish remover, cotton balls and makeup. There was a filled check register but no checkbook, and a few bills stuffed into a bottom drawer.
Her closet was jammed to the brim with evening dresses, conservative office-appropriate clothes and some casual sportswear. Liam sifted through her nightstand while Elisabeth pulled some Christmas cards that Faye had stuck in the frames of her photos.
The cards were all simply signed with people’s names except for one. It had a printed sheet inside that gave a summary of the family’s year, and it was signed, “Love you, Faye! Solidad.”
The name was familiar. Elisabeth went back to Faye’s wall calendar, and saw that she had “Solidad, 1:00 p.m.” scattered regularly throughout the calendar. When she flipped through the entire year, she saw that Faye had that appointment every third Thursday.
She scanned Solidad’s family letter and saw that Solidad was a manicurist.
And today was Thursday.
“I know how to find Faye.” Elisabeth showed Liam the appointment in the wall calendar. “She gets her nails done like clockwork every three weeks, and she’s close enough friends with Solidad that the woman sent Faye a family letter. I think she’ll be there today for her normal appointment.”
Liam looked at her blankly. “Even though she’s hiding from the Tumibays?”
“It’s one place I guarantee you that Faye’s boyfriend never went. Women can get very close to their hair stylists and their manicurists.”
Liam nodded in understanding. “And Faye doesn’t realize that any skip tracer would look for her through her interests. She wouldn’t know to abandon all of them in order to stay off the grid.”
“Let’s go.”
They exited the apartment, making sure the door was locked behind them, and headed downstairs. Once they reached the door to the parking garage, Liam hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. “Let’s walk out casually. The Tumibay might still be asleep, or he might not yet know that his gang is after us.”
Elisabeth nodded. Liam opened the door.
The Tumibay was not asleep. In fact, he was several yards directly ahead of them, with a cup of coffee in his hand, obviously freshly returned from a coffee shop. He glanced casually at them first, but then did a double take, his brows drawing low over his dark eyes. Then a slow smile spread across his mouth.
“I know someone looking for you,” he drawled.
Liam tossed the car keys at Elisabeth. “Run!”
Then he launched himself at the gang member.
TWELVE
Elisabeth sprinted for the car, jamming the keys into the lock and diving inside. She unlocked the passenger door but didn’t open it. She started the engine and, with a desperate look behind her, shot backward out of the parking stall.
Tires squealed as she cranked the wheel left. The taillights illuminated Liam’s form grappling with the gang member.
She didn’t want to fire her gun because she wasn’t sure she would hit the man and not Liam. Instead, she had a crazy idea.
She revved the engine and then gunned it, backing the car straight into the struggling men.
They both turned, their eyes wide in the light from her taillights. The gang member jerked backward, releasing Liam.
She slammed on the brakes inches before hitting them. The Tumibay scrambled away while Liam darted toward her, sliding over the back corner of the trunk to land on the passenger side. He pulled open the door and was barely inside before she put the car in Drive and zoomed out of the garage.
Elisabeth didn’t realize how tightly she was gripping the steering wheel until, several blocks away, Liam put his hand over hers. “We’re okay.”
She realized how fast she was going and slowed down. His thumb rubbed over her knuckles once, twice. The sensation calmed her. When he removed his hand, she immediately wanted him to touch her again.
“Nice driving back there, in the garage,” he said.
“It was the only thing I could think of to make him let you go.” She gave him a guilty look. “I know that was kind of crazy.”
“It worked. I can’t complain.”
Liam looked up the address for Solidad’s nail salon. It was in a small market square, each store alike with dark brown shingles on the roof and slightly dingy stucco walls. Solidad’s Hair and Nails flashed in neon pink above the store.
They were careful to check for any Tumibay members who might have been watching the salon, but they saw no one.
“It probably wouldn’t occur to Daniel that she’d keep her appointment even when she’s in hiding,” Liam said. “I’m still not entirely convinced she’s here.”