Back to the Fajitas

by Leena Clover

  “Get ready, Meera!” Jeet cried. “We’re going on a ride.”

  “Nothing too scary,” Tony added.

  He knows I’m not big on rides.

  “It’s a 3D ride, starting in 30 minutes. We need to get going now.”

  Jeet was ready to combust.

  “It’s next door at Caesar’s,” Tony added. “But it will take us that long to walk there and get the tickets.”

  I went along with them, glad for the diversion. The ride turned out to be something to do with Atlantis, that mythical city. We strapped ourselves into the seats and got rattled around as we rode through some kind of obstacle course. I didn’t care for it and I almost threw up.

  “You’re looking horrible,” Jeet laughed as we came out.

  I preferred not to voice my thoughts.

  “I need a nap. Do you know where we are going tonight?”

  “Uncle Andy’s booked a table for all of us. It’s a surprise.”

  I grabbed a coffee from the café in the hotel and threw in a chocolate cupcake. Maybe my head would stop pounding after I ate something. The hot coffee and the chocolate soothed me and I dozed off, watching an old sitcom on TV. The phone woke me up. It was Stan again.

  “Third time’s the charm, hunh?” I joked.

  “Don Collins started talking.”

  I sat up. Was it going to be that easy?

  “He admits to going into Charlie’s house that night,” Stan started. “He was a bit drunk, I think, although he won’t admit it. He said he had a few beers. He had been spoiling for a fight. He said Charlie had no business turning him in.”

  “What was he going to do? Slap Charlie around?”

  “There’s no way to know that. Both Leo and Charlie are always in after 6:30. But Leo left that day and he took Charlie’s car. Don had a few more drinks, trying to drum up the courage to go confront Charlie.”

  “And?”

  “He finally went and knocked on the door. He said it was open. He walked in and saw Charlie lying there in that hallway. He was already dead.”

  “Why didn’t he call the cops?”

  “Because, Meera. He had just got out of jail. He had no good reason for being there. But he did take some money out of Charlie’s wallet.”

  “Once a thief…”

  “Something like that. Then he must have lost his mind because he jumped out of the window instead of going back out of that door.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t run away.”

  “He thought that would have been more suspicious. So he decided to sit tight. He talked to his mother and they thought Joyce might have seen him jump from the window. She’s always right there, hiding behind her curtains.”

  “So Anna made up a story.”

  “Yeah. She thought she would come forward and say she saw an intruder, and then be her son’s alibi.”

  “Why did she point a finger at Leo?”

  “When they heard the police were questioning Leo, she thought she’d improve on her story. They thought Leo had even less credibility than her son, being an orphan and all.”

  I was stunned. The plan sounded foolproof. Anna had thought of a lot of angles. Leo would have found it hard to disprove this theory.

  “They wouldn’t have succeeded, Meera. Especially after you got here and talked to people.”

  “What did they miss?”

  “We talked to Audrey too. Guess who gave her a ride the night Charlie died?”

  “Leo?” I asked, amazed.

  “Righto! He offered her a ride home, since he was taking the car out anyway. She waited until he wrapped up his sandwich and they left together.”

  “How can you be sure Don’s telling the truth?”

  “We talked to Joyce again. She saw Don go in and saw him jump out of that window. The question is, what did he do while he was inside that house?”

  “I assume the knife didn’t have his fingerprints?”

  Stan answered in the negative.

  “But he did intend to harm Charlie?”

  “He wanted to teach him a lesson. We can only guess what he might have done.”

  I thought a bit.

  “Charlie and Don had a history, right?”

  “I’d say that!”

  “Charlie wouldn’t have turned his back on Don.”

  “That’s a good point, Meera.”

  “Does this mean you have cleared Leo of any involvement in Charlie’s death?”

  “It does look like he was innocent.”

  “You need to say that for the record, Stan. He deserves that.”

  “We can discuss it when you get back, Meera. Aren’t you ready to come home?”

  I sighed. I may have physically traveled across a bunch of states, but my heart and head had both stayed in Swan Creek.

  “Did you confirm the time of Leo’s death?” I asked Stan.

  He had. Leo had most probably lost his life around 5 PM.

  “We have a theory,” Stan began. “It’s only a theory at this point,” he warned. “Leo may have been killed somewhere else.”

  “You think someone brought him back and staged the whole thing?”

  Stan refused to say any more.

  “I still think the sand we found on Leo’s shoes is important. And the only place around here that has anything like it is the Palms.”

  “You can’t go knocking on doors over there? Ask people if they saw Leo?”

  “We might, only if we knew Leo had a reason to go there. He wouldn’t have got past the gates unless someone cleared him from inside.”

  “Maybe you can talk to the guards at the Palms?” I suggested.

  “Those folks are pretty tight lipped. Think they are a notch above the police. Better paid, too.”

  “Dial back a second, Stan. You are ready to believe Leo didn’t kill himself?”

  Stan was noncommittal.

  “I guess so.”

  “Do you have any idea of the grief I have got over this? My Dad has said all kinds of nasty things about Leo. Wait till I tell him I was right.”

  “Don’t be hasty, Meera.”

  “I’ve always believed Leo was innocent. After all this new evidence, I’m convinced he was victimized. There’s no way I’m letting this rest now, Stan.”

  Stan grunted but said nothing.

  “You better be prepared, Stan. Once I get home, I’m going to find out who killed Charlie Gibson. And who killed poor Leo. And I’m going to make sure the world knows what a good kid he was.”

  “Calm down, Meera. I’m with you on this one.”

  Stan Miller can be a bit slow on the uptake. But once he grasps something, he follows it through. I couldn’t ask for a better ally.

  “Thank you Stan! I’m going to hold you to it. And now, I have to go talk to my family.”

  Chapter 28

  I flew out of my room and knocked on Motee Ba’s door. I rushed in, holding Motee Ba by the shoulders. I twirled her around in circles, unable to control my excitement.

  “Stop it, girl!” Pappa hollered, tapping his cane. “What have you done now?”

  “Wait till you hear this,” I said, including Pappa in the conversation. “Actually, I want Dad to be here when I say it.”

  I picked up the room phone and asked Dad to come to Motee Ba’s room right away. Dad appeared two minutes later, looking tense.

  “What’s the matter? Is Pappa alright?”

  “Everyone’s fine!” Motee Ba assured him.

  Dad’s mouth twisted in a grimace as he looked at me.

  “What’s this about, Meera?”

  “I just heard from Stan Miller.”

  Dad’s face began turning a nice shade of red.

  “Didn’t we agree you were not going to call back home?”

  “He called me,” I said mildly, giving him a version of the truth. “Leo did not harm Charlie Gibson. The police have definite proof of it. And Leo did not commit suicide either. He was murdered.”

  There was a deathly silence in
the room. No one said anything for a few seconds. Then Motee Ba spoke up.

  “That poor boy!”

  Dad was struggling with his emotions.

  “You went behind my back, didn’t you?”

  “You’re missing the point, Dad. You thought Leo was trash. You couldn’t care less how he died because you probably thought he didn’t deserve better. But he was just a poor innocent kid who got a raw deal in life.”

  Dad was speechless for a change.

  “I’m going to get justice for Leo. When we get back, I’m going to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Bravo!” Pappa said suddenly. “I don’t expect anything less from you.”

  “But…” Dad faltered.

  “I won’t say anything more on the topic, Dad, don’t worry. I won’t spoil your precious trip. You and Sally can hold hands and sing all you want.”

  I hadn’t meant to say the last bit. But I often lose control once I start talking. I swept out of the room, and almost bumped into Sally. She was standing in the lobby, looking stricken.

  I felt a twinge of discomfort at having taken a potshot at her.

  Then I was in my room, behind the door I slammed with all my might. Things would move ahead now, I felt. I turned on all the taps and began filling the bath tub. A good long soak with lots of bubbles sounded good to me.

  I dressed for dinner, wearing one of my new dresses. There was a knock on the door and Sally came in. She held up a small box for me. I stared at the dangle earrings, with tiny diamonds and a single pearl. She motioned me to try them on. They went very well with the short black dress I was wearing. Paired with silver sandals and a small silver clutch, they completed my ensemble.

  Sally smiled and sat down on the bed.

  “Are these for me?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Your Dad and I got them for you.”

  I felt myself choke up. I barely said thank you, and then it was time to go. The boys had come in and dressed while I was enjoying my bath. We were having dinner in one of the fancier restaurants in the casino.

  Dad looked smart in a jacket and tie. Sally looked attractive in a red dress. I decided to ignore Dad and not mention Leo, in the interest of keeping the peace. He must have decided something similar.

  Everyone made small talk, as if by some silent agreement. The food was excellent, and it wasn’t too hard to concentrate on it. We savored the meal and sat back, enjoying coffee after our rich dessert.

  “How’s Reema doing? Have you talked to her at all?” Motee Ba asked Tony.

  “She knows I’m with you, Granny,” Tony grinned boyishly. “You’ll keep me out of trouble.”

  “That’s fine, dear. But maybe you should talk to her once. She must be missing you.”

  “I’ll send her an email,” Tony said airily.

  The blood rushed in my ears and I stared at Tony. I had completely forgotten something all this time. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question. I shook my head and he took the hint.

  Dad and Sally wanted to go for a walk. I heard Dad talking about a gondola ride. Motee Ba and Pappa were going to their room. The plan was to start early tomorrow, as soon as we finished breakfast.

  I whisked Tony aside and told him about my epiphany. When you over think something, you often ignore the simplest solution. I had completely forgotten about giving Leo my email. I had even talked to Jack about it, but I never considered Leo might have written to me.

  “What if…” I stared at Tony, wide eyed.

  “Let’s check your email, sweetie.”

  “But how? All the public libraries must be closed by now.”

  “I have a better solution,” Tony smiled.

  He took my hand and strode across the casino floor. I tried to keep up as we rushed through groups of people clustered around roulette wheels and blackjack tables. I had worked up a sweat by the time Tony halted in front of a large wooden door with a gold plaque labeling it as the Business Center.

  “Madame!” he said with a flourish, holding the door open for me.

  I feasted my eyes on a bank of the latest computers, separated by privacy screens. A large copier and laser printer were placed at one end. I even saw a scanner next to them.

  “Welcome to the Bellagio!” I whistled.

  I wasted no time in loading up my email.

  “Better write to Aunt Reema while you’re here,” I reminded Tony.

  I realized he was already typing a note to his Mom.

  “Way ahead of ya,” he smirked.

  There were over a hundred new emails in my Inbox and they took some time to load. The hotel’s network wasn’t as fast as the one at Pioneer Poly, but it was faster than a dial up.

  I stared wide eyed at the screen, scrolling through the page. I almost pinched myself when I saw one from Leo Smith.

  I grabbed Tony’s shoulder and pointed at the screen, dumbstruck.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  Tony placed his hand over mine and moved the mouse to click on the email. There it was, probably the last words Leo had penned to anyone.

  I skimmed through the email, shocked at the contents. They were beyond my wildest imagination. Leo sounded jubilant, just like Jack had said. There was some preliminary stuff about how he was thankful he could write to me etc. Then he mentioned a possible windfall.

  ‘If this is true, Meera, life as I know it will never be the same. But I want to confirm something before I say anything more.’

  Had Leo won the lottery? I didn’t know if an underage kid could play it. I decided to ask Pappa if Charlie Gibson was in the habit of buying lottery tickets.

  Leo said he was heading out of the house. He needed to call on someone before he went over to Sylvie’s. There was a postscript. He wanted me to check someone out if possible.

  ‘Didn’t you say you were driving all the way to the coast, Meera? I checked the map and I think this place is on your route. Would you mind checking this guy out?’

  There was a post postscript.

  “If this guy is legit, you’ll know the whole story.’

  There were a bunch of smileys after that.

  I scrolled further down the page and saw an attachment. I had almost missed it. I clicked on the file and it turned out to be a visiting card. It belonged to some lawyer and the address was listed as Barstow in California.

  “Is that…”

  I turned around, wondering if Tony had kept up with me as I read through the email.

  “That’s on our way, Meera.”

  It wouldn’t have mattered even if it wasn’t.

  “That’s it. We have to go meet this guy tomorrow.”

  “Maybe we should call first?” Tony pointed to a bunch of numbers on the calling card.

  “Let’s print this out,” I said, suddenly noticing the printer in the corner.

  I printed out the email and the attachment, and looked at Tony.

  “The mystery deepens,” he said, and smiled.

  “What is all this about, Tony?” I cried. “Why was Leo being so vague? He could have given us a hint.”

  “He didn’t know those were going to be his last words.”

  I sobered at the thought. I felt angry and sad at the same time, and helpless. Could I have done something to keep Leo safe?

  “It’s too late to call now,” Tony said, reading my mind. “We’ll tackle this tomorrow.”

  “You think Dad will let us stop there?”

  “We’ll try our best to convince him. Otherwise, we’ll drop them off at Sally’s and turn around. Okay?”

  I let Tony hug me and cried a bit.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “I know!” he smirked and ushered me out.

  Jeet was watching a movie back in the room. He looked at my blotched face and rolled his eyes.

  “More drama?” he said. “You better watch out, Meera. One day, you’ll try his patience.”

  I threw a pillow at Jeet and went i
nto the bathroom to change. Another road had opened up, and I felt hopeful. Charlie and Leo were both such loners, we had struggled over the motive for their murder. Was it all about money after all?

  “Give me that remote,” I ordered, coming out of the bathroom. “It’s my turn to choose a movie.”

  “No chick flicks!” Jeet warned.

  I ignored him and flipped the channels. We finally settled on a movie we all liked, and I forgot everything for a while. Jeet wanted to call room service to celebrate our last night in Vegas. The boys ordered burgers and fries and I went for a plate of pasta. We shared another ice cream sundae, and finally dozed off, our bellies full of food.

  Chapter 29

  We were all ready by eight the next morning. Everyone was excited about the next part of the trip, the last leg. I think we were all secretly longing to get home. We had a quick breakfast at the café downstairs and went up to get our luggage. All our bags had already been lined up near the door, ready for the bell boys to take down.

  I stood by the windows one last time staring down at the Strip. Las Vegas had surprised me in more ways than one. The hotel staff arrived with a large trolley and loaded up our bags. After that, it was time to leave. We stood in the lobby, waiting for the valet to bring the car around.

  Dad pulled me aside. I braced myself for a lecture.

  “Meera, I am sorry about your friend. I was wrong to say all those things. Hope you won’t think too badly about your old man.”

  I wasn’t ready to forgive him that easily.

  “It’s okay, Dad.”

  “I’m with you on this, Meera. I’m willing to help any way I can.”

  My face split in a smile.

  “In that case…”

  I told him we would be making a pit stop on the way to Sally’s. Dad had no choice but to agree after that statement of his.

  We have never talked about where Sally actually lives. All I knew was she lived somewhere near Los Angeles. Would she able to accommodate all of us? Or were we booking into a hotel? The time to learn that had come. I guess we would know in a few hours.

  Tony had called the number on the business card from Leo’s email and made an appointment for us. We would reach Barstow by 11 if we didn’t hit too much traffic.

  Tony merged onto I-15 South, the same road we had taken on our trip to the Mojave Desert.