by Vivien Chien
“No, I appreciate it but I’ll be fine. Plus, Kimmy will be with me, so I won’t be totally alone.” I forced a weak smile. “Thanks, though.”
We hugged, which isn’t a usual occurrence for us, but it was nice to have her support. I needed all that I could get right now.
After I made a quick call to Megan filling her in on what happened, I said my goodbyes to Peter and Anna May. Kimmy was driving with me to the police station, and we planned to meet in front of China Cinema and Song.
However, when I walked out of the restaurant, I found an entourage of people circled around her that I didn’t expect. Front and center were the Mahjong Matrons, who huddled around her asking for her firsthand account of what had been going on. On the outer layer of people stood a few of the other shopkeepers, a couple of random stragglers, and Ian Sung. He happened to turn around and make eye contact with me as I came up on the crowd.
“Oh good, Lana, you’re here.” He stepped away from the crowd to greet me. In his usual ensemble of Armani business wear, he looked more like a GQ model than a property owner. He placed a gentle hand on my elbow. “I was worried about how you were holding up.”
I took half a step back, and he removed his hand. When I’d first met Ian, he’d made it extremely clear he was interested in more than a business relationship with me. Though I found him attractive, there was something about Ian that sent warning signals to various regions of my brain and parts of my gut, too. He’d seemed to have slightly gotten the message and had backed off in recent weeks. I did my best not to encourage him. “I see Kimmy is getting her fifteen minutes of fame.” I nodded toward the crowd surrounding her.
“This is terrible,” Ian said, shaking his head in dismay. “Asia Village can’t afford another … disaster. Not while I’m trying to get this place up and running to its maximum potential.”
“Is that what you’re worried about? Bad publicity?” The outrage in my voice rose with every word. “Two people are dead.”
He put his hands behind his back and straightened his shoulders, his chin lifting as he spoke. “As a businessman, I have to look out for the well-being of the plaza, Lana. This affects everyone.”
I didn’t have the stomach to talk business strategies versus human emotion with him … not after what had happened. “Where is Donna?”
“She’s on her way. I guess she was at some conference near Hudson.” He glared at the crowd. “My only hope is that some of these people disperse before she gets here. I don’t think it’s going to help her state of mind. You know how she feels about gossip after…”
“Allow me to help with that,” I said, and shoved my way through the crowd. “Excuse me, everyone, but we’ve got to go. I’m sure Kimmy can chat with all of you later.” I grabbed Kimmy’s wrist and dragged her toward the entrance.
“Hey,” Kimmy snapped. “What’s the big rush?”
“Let’s get out of here before Donna shows up,” I said, raising my eyebrows at her.
“Oh right. Good point.”
I let go of Kimmy’s wrist and we left through the main entrance, hurrying to my car. It had started to snow, and a light dusting had begun to blanket the cars.
I cranked up the heat and waited a few minutes for the engine to warm up. “Hopefully this won’t take too long.” I thought back on my previous visits to the police station. I wasn’t looking forward to returning.
“Does it really matter at this point?” She leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes. “I’m not exactly in a rush to get home.”
I looked at her out of the corner of my eye as I backed out of the parking space. “Why not?”
Her eyes popped open, and she turned to face me. “Are you? I mean, out of everyone you were the closest with Isabelle. Do you really want to go home and be alone with your thoughts for the rest of the day? You saw what I saw, and it ain’t pretty.”
I pulled the car out onto the street and headed down Lorain Road. “I didn’t think it bothered you that much.”
“Oh, you mean back there?” she asked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “Sometimes you have to put on a little show for people.”
CHAPTER
6
After the police station, I took Kimmy back to the plaza to pick up her car. While we’d been giving our statements, the police had partitioned off part of the plaza to seclude the souvenir shop, and Donna had officially closed the plaza for the day.
Anna May had sent a text to let me know that she’d closed the restaurant and to call her if I needed anything.
The roads were starting to get slippery, and I took my time getting home, not anxious to sit—like Kimmy had mentioned—with too much idle time to think. I was exhausted, but too restless to fall asleep. I contemplated the pile of books I’d just bought on my last trip to the bookstore with Isabelle.
My heart lurched at the memory of us standing in the mystery aisle at Modern Scroll. It had been just another average day at Asia Village. Hard to believe that it had been less than twenty-four hours since we’d been there. It felt like a lifetime ago.
As I thought back to the conversations we’d had only yesterday, my mind stuck on her comment about wishing she were a private detective. Was that a pointed inquiry? Had I dropped the ball? Should I have asked more questions or gone along with her line of thinking? Maybe her concerns about Brandon’s extracurricular activities were more serious than I realized.
I pulled into the parking spot that I’d claimed as my own, then shuffled down the sidewalk to our apartment cluster. The grounds people had sprinkled enough salt on the walkways to ensure there were no lawsuits this year.
Kikko rushed the door as I stepped inside.
I gave her a little pat on the head and made my way into the living room, where Megan was perched on the couch with a ball of yarn and knitting needles, entertaining her new craft of the month. She was in the process of making her first full-sized blanket. I was confident that she’d give this up as soon as the weather warmed. The process beyond frustrated her and she’d already started the blanket over three times.
She looked up from the couch, her hands frozen in place for the next stitch. “There you are!” Megan dropped her needles, and the ball of yarn tumbled to the floor. She stood up and wrapped her arms around me, suffocating me in her tumble of blond hair. “How are you holding up? I’ve been sitting here like a nervous wreck waiting for you to get home. I wish you’d let me meet you at the police station.”
“It’s okay, really. Kimmy was with me and the two of you in a room together…”
She released me from the hug and studied my face. “I can behave myself, you know. I wouldn’t start a fight with her in the police station.”
“Plus, why sit there when you don’t have to?” I asked, tugging off my boots.
“So tell me what happened…” She ushered me to the couch. “There hasn’t been anything on the news or online.”
“They might not have gotten ahold of the families yet, I don’t know.” I sat on the edge of the couch, searching for the right words. Flashes of the crime scene skipped through my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the images away.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I’m really sorry you were the one to find them that way. I know you liked her very much.”
Tears were starting to well in my eyes. “It’s just so unexpected … so strange. They seemed so happy. I don’t know what could have gone wrong.”
“Well, you see it on the news all the time. Husband goes crazy—maybe gets jealous—kills the wife. Do you think that’s what happened?”
Kikko jumped up and plopped herself on my lap, looking at me expectantly. I gave her head a pat.
“I’m not sure; I can’t see it going that way. Not that I cared much for the guy, but he didn’t seem like the violent type. Or the suicidal type, for that matter.”
“So what would be another scenario?”
“Trying to come up with another explanation is hard because I don’t hav
e many details right now. I left before the coroner came out. Adam said it’s possible that it was an accident. Maybe he couldn’t save her and he didn’t know what to do. The way she fell…” I shook away the image of her distorted body. “I don’t know, it still doesn’t seem right. If she was hurt, I don’t see him giving up without getting her some kind of medical attention.”
She sat back on the couch, her face covered in disbelief. “Wow, either way I still can’t believe it. It’s one thing to hear about it on the news, but for it to happen in your own town … to someone you know? He did seem nice the one time I met him. Who could have seen this coming?”
“Maybe she did,” I said, thinking back to the conversation Isabelle and I had at the Bamboo Lounge. “Maybe I’m being blind to the whole thing.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, he took advantage of Isabelle sometimes when it came to running the store. He would leave and stick her with closing after she’d been there since open and was always rushing off to run supposed errands.”
She crinkled her brows. “What kind of errands?”
I shrugged. “She started to think he was seeing someone else … but didn’t know anything for certain. He never told her where he was going or how long he would be gone. I tried to convince her that wasn’t the case…”
“She was probably right. You know how women have a sixth sense about this sort of thing. Sounds to me like something suspicious was going on. He could have been cheating on her … or gotten wrapped up in something,” Megan said, tapping her chin. She had that look on her face. I knew it all too well.
“Oh no, don’t even think about it.” I wrapped my arms around my legs, hugging my knees to my chest. “Not this time.”
“What?” she asked, holding up her hands in defense. “We can speculate, can’t we?”
“Speculating, sure … but I know that face. Whatever is going on, Adam can figure it out,” I assured her.
“Are you trying to convince me of that? Or yourself?”
“You. We need to stay out of it. I have to run my parents’ restaurant, and I don’t have time to run around figuring out what the heck is going on. If anything is going on at all. For all we know, it was an accident just like Adam said.” Even as I said it out loud, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about all this. And could I really stay out of it when I felt that way?
The doorbell rang and Kikko jumped up from my lap, scuttling to the door. She sniffed under the crack, snorted, and proceeded to bark.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
Megan darted for her purse on the kitchen table, pulling out her wallet. “Oh, that’s the pizza. I ordered it just before you got home. I thought you might need some comfort food.”
“Oh.” Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t eaten all day. “Did you get it with a side of doughnuts?”
She snorted. “You wish.”
CHAPTER
7
The shrill ringing of my cell phone jolted me awake. I squinted at the glow of light in my otherwise dark room. Without checking the time, I knew that it was too early for anyone good to be calling. I slapped my hand over the phone, struggling to grab it from my nightstand. A string of numbers stared back at me along with the knowledge that it was only four a.m.
International call.
“Laaa-na…”
“Mom?” I mumbled into the phone.
“Yes, it’s Mommy. I am calling to tell you that me and Daddy made it okay to Taiwan.”
“Oh…” I rubbed my eye and sat up, leaning against the wall. “Good, that’s good.”
My mom chuckled. “I forgot it is still very early there. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it; I’m glad you guys made it there safe. Was the flight smooth?”
“Yes. How is the restaurant?” she asked. “Everything okay?”
I thought about the events that had taken place the previous morning. That image of Isabelle twisted and lifeless on the floor flashed through my mind, followed by Brandon lying next to her in a crumpled heap … all that blood … “Yeah, everything is fine, Mom.”
“Good,” she said, sounding relieved. “You know that Mommy worries about you.”
“I know, Mom … I’m fine, and we’ll be okay until you get back. You just … try to have fun there.”
After we hung up, I tried my hardest to fall back asleep, but my fib was weighing on me and the imagery was lingering. I didn’t have the heart to tell my mother what was really going on at home because I knew she had enough to deal with. And knowing her, she would get right back on a plane and come home, which was senseless because there was nothing any of us could do. On the other hand, if she talked to my sister—or anyone else from the plaza for that matter—she’d find out that I’d lied to her. And my mother wasn’t the type of person to care if my intentions were good or not. I could imagine my mother and sister talking right now, and Anna May callously blurting out the news about what had happened, sending my mother into a frenzied state.
I reached for my phone again and called my sister, hoping that she was up, too. The call went to voice mail, and I hung up without leaving a message. I’d try again tomorrow.
Tossing and turning, I tried to convince myself that I’d deal with it when it happened. If it happened.
Instead of running through possible outcomes resulting from my lie, I tried to think of anything but. My mind ran over the new responsibilities I’d have at the restaurant and the schedule I would have to follow. That’s when it hit me. Today was the day of my interview! With everything going on, I had completely forgotten to ask anyone to cover for me. I made a mental note to do it as soon as I got up for the day.
I fell asleep rehearsing what I would say to my not-future employer if I ever got my interview.
* * *
Running on a few hours of crummy sleep, I dragged through the excruciating process of getting ready for work and stuffed myself into my freezing car. The windows were iced inside and out. I blasted the heat and sat staring at the steering wheel remembering the warmth of my bed. On the radio, the weatherman announced that today was the beginning of a series of below-zero days. Joy.
While I waited for my car to unthaw, I tried calling my sister again. This time she answered.
“Talk fast, I have class in half an hour, and I’m already running late,” Anna May said. She sounded out of breath.
“Oh, so you have school today?”
“Yes, Lana … I have class every Thursday. You know that.” She paused. “Why? Are you not up to going to work today because of what happened?”
“Well … speaking of what happened, did you talk to Mom?”
“No, she called last night, but I was passed out,” my sister told me. “I don’t have time to call right now, so I figured I’d wait until tonight. Did you tell her?”
“I don’t want to worry them … I was thinking maybe we shouldn’t say anything until they get back.”
There was silence on the other end, and I could envision my sister sliding her eyes back and forth as she contemplated. “If she asks me about the plaza, I’m going to tell her.”
I groaned. “Anna May … please.”
“She probably won’t ask me about the plaza since they decided to leave you in charge. But you should really tell them what’s going on. You’re going to make it worse by not saying anything.”
“If she says anything about the plaza, just change the subject. You’re good at that.”
“Lana, I don’t have time for this. I have an exam today. Look, as far as covering for you goes … I’ve been studying my butt off all week. It’s really important that I be there today. So if you don’t think you really need me, then…”
I knew how important school was to my sister. And even though I wanted that job, it felt a little selfish with everything going on. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll check on you later … but I gotta go.” And she hung up.
&nb
sp; I stared at the phone in my hand, thinking about what to do about my parents—primarily my mom. If I called now, I’d have a lot of explaining to do, and I didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with it this early in the morning. Best to take some time and think through what I was going to say.
I tried Nancy next. Nancy—Peter’s mom and my honorary aunt aside from Esther—is our other full-time server. She usually works the split shift, picking up slack and covering lunches for me and the others.
When the call went to voice mail, I started to leave a message, then decided against it. Maybe this was a sign.
The drive in was less hectic than it had been over the previous weeks, and I rejoiced that the bigger holidays were behind us. There’s a certain calm that falls over people after the first of the year, and it comes with a sense of relief for me. Aside from the Chinese New Year preparations taking place at the plaza, the excitement of holiday shopping had evaporated and the majority stopped rushing from one location to the next, avoiding winter as much as they could.
I trudged down Lorain Road cautious of black ice. At these freezing temperatures, you never knew what to expect.
Asia Village was still dark, the only light coming from a few headlights reflecting off the building.
As I turned the corner, I noticed that a stream of vans were parked along the side street leading to the service entrance of the plaza. A small huddle of people stood gathered together on the sidewalk near a bright beam of light illuminating a woman in a thick coat and furry hat. I pulled my car through the crimson archway, the dragons’ golden scales covered with a thin layer of snow.
I parked my car facing the news vans to get a better glimpse of what was happening without being seen. The woman in the furry hat held a microphone and talked to someone in a black jacket and fedora, but I couldn’t make out who it was.
A tap on my window startled me.
It was Peter.
I rolled down my window. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”