by Leena Clover
I slept soundly for a few hours but I was up at six. I headed out and grabbed an egg sandwich through a drive through. Work kept me busy all day but I managed to reach home by 4 PM.
Motee Ba and Jeet had been busy. The whole patio behind the guest house was transformed. Fairy lights were strung everywhere, and little paper lanterns hung in a canopy over the round table. The fire was ready to be lit. Jeet had placed fat candles in the hurricane lamps and placed them everywhere. There were fresh flowers in a pot on the table, and two more hurricanes with tea lights.
“Looks beautiful,” I praised.
My feelings were genuine. Jeet looked up with an uncertain expression.
“Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“Of course not.”
I headed into the kitchen, ready to get to work.
I boiled the pasta and made a quick sauce. The chicken was out on the counter, ready to be grilled. I started reducing the marinade to make a glaze. The salad dressing came next.
Before I knew it, the clock in the living room chimed seven. Dad stepped into the kitchen, looking nervous.
I almost teared up. Dad had kept his word. He was wearing a cream colored shirt tucked in dark trousers. He wore brogues and socks. A tie was tucked into his shirt pocket.
“Do you think I should wear a tie?”
I shook my head, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll be in my study.”
I carried the food over to the patio and set the table. A bottle of wine was already open on the table.
Sally peeked out of a window. She wore a stunning black dress. It was so simple it had to be some kind of designer label. I had never really paid attention to her body.
The dress hugged her figure and flared around her hips. She had casually tied her shoulder length hair with a silk scarf.
Motee Ba handed her a box. I knew what was in it. I watched them from a distance. Finally, Sally came out wearing the ruby pendant Motee Ba had given her.
She looked around and smiled. I like to think this was different from her usual smiles.
“Let’s go, Meera,” Motee Ba called out, jerking her neck to a side.
“Let me know if you need anything. There’s ice cream for the pie. You just have to get it from the fridge.”
“Thank You,” Sally spoke.
We huddled around the kitchen table, Jeet looking the most tense.
“What are we having for dinner?” he grumbled.
I handed him the phone.
“Call for pizza. Any pizza you want.”
I winked at him and he took the cue. We were in for a treat from our local gourmet pizza store. This is the only pizza Pappa eats anyway.
I had forgotten all about Tony.
“Looks like a night for first dates,” I said.
Pappa snorted, giving me a sneer. He’s not really sold on this dating business.
Jeet came in and handed me the phone. I tapped my fingers, waiting for something momentous to go down. Our pizza arrived and we gave it full justice.
“It’s 9 PM,” Jeet said, hopping in excitement from his third can of Coke. “What’s happening?”
Pappa was busy watching TV in the living room.
“Why don’t you go take a look?” Motee Ba said. “But you can’t get caught.”
“You mean you want me to sneak over there and hide somewhere?” Jeet asked, wide eyed.
“Just for a minute or so,” she said quickly. “Just to see what they are up to.”
“You don’t think Dad’s in his study, do you?” I asked.
I rushed into the hallway and opened his office door. It was empty.
“Not there,” I said, relieved.
Jeet had come back in. He must have run both ways because he was panting a bit.
“They’re talking,” he said.
“Did they finish dinner?” I was eager to know if they had liked my special meal.
“I don’t know,” Jeet shrugged.
“As long as they are both there,” Motee Ba reasoned.
The phone rang just then and I grabbed it. It was Tony.
“What took you so long?” I hissed.
“I was out to dinner, Meera. With Fiona? Don’t you remember?”
“I remember very well. Have you been with her all this time?”
I could feel Tony smile into the phone.
“You owe me big time, Meera.”
“Hey, hey, hold on. It’s the other way round. You went on that date. Not me.”
“Wait till you hear what I have to tell you.”
“Spit it out then, bubba.”
“Not on the phone. I’m coming over.”
I couldn’t wait to give Tony a hard time about Fiona. I was also eager to hear what Dad and Sally were up to. It had turned out to be quite an eventful evening.
I pulled whipped cream out of the refrigerator and started heating some chocolate and cream. I needed a hot fudge sundae to battle all this excitement.
Nothing could have prepared me for what Tony was about to reveal.
Chapter 19
Tony’s truck pulled up outside. Dad walked in at the same time. Three pairs of eyes shot up and looked at him.
Dad was smiling. He almost blushed when he looked at us.
“Thanks for setting all that up, Meera. The meal was delicious. Your mother loved it.”
He looked at Jeet.
“And thanks for setting up the lights and candles. It felt so special.”
“What did you talk about all this time?” I burst out.
Dad ignored me and hugged his mother. Then he walked out of the kitchen on a cloud.
Tony walked in soon after. He was jumping with excitement. He was surprised to see everyone gathered in the kitchen.
“What’s the matter? Is everything okay?”
His face had scrunched up in an expression of concern.
“Couldn’t be better,” I reassured him.
Motee Ba went to her room, pleading exhaustion. Jeet left reluctantly.
“Coffee?” I asked Tony as he flopped down in a chair. “Or hot fudge sundae?”
“Sundae, of course.”
I reheated the fudge a bit and started spooning large scoops of ice cream into two bowls.
“Where’d you take her?”
“To the Thai restaurant,” Tony said dreamily. “She loves Thai food. She’s missed eating it since she moved here. She had no idea we had a Thai place in Swan Creek. Imagine that. Such a good one too. Fiona said…”
I held up a hand.
“I get it.”
I was bristling a bit inside. The Thai restaurant was our thing. It’s where we went for lunch every now and then. Where we ordered Red Curry and Pad Thai noodles and shared them. Had Tony shared them with Fiona too? An image of Tony feeding Fiona a bite of noodles from his fork flashed before my eyes. I brushed it away.
“Fiona’s alright. We’re meeting again tomorrow night.”
“You wanted to tell me something?” I asked primly, sliding the bowl of ice cream toward Tony.
He ate a big bite and moaned.
“Something’s in that hot fudge. Coffee?”
Fudge tastes so much more interesting with a secret ingredient.
I yawned, ignoring Tony.
“Get on with it, will you?”
Tony looked hurt but he sat up straighter.
“Guess what?”
I just raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t in the mood for guessing games.
“Fiona got a letter.”
I slammed my ice cream bowl down on the table.
“Are you serious? You mean a threatening letter, don’t you?”
Tony nodded.
“How long has she been in town?”
“About four months,” Tony responded.
“And she’s already been targeted?”
Tony just bobbed his head up and down.
“How many letters did she get? And what did they want?”
“I
t’s kind of similar to what happened with Henry. She got the first letter. She assumed it was a warning and there would be some kind of demand for money. Then the second one arrived with something similar. A third one threatened to expose her secret.”
“She has a secret?” I searched Tony’s face for a clue.
“Apparently!” Tony flung his hands in the air. “I didn’t ask. It didn’t seem right. Why would she share some deep dark secret with me on a first date?”
“Doesn’t bother you that she has one?”
Tony shrugged.
“As long as she’s not a killer.”
“Tony! Do you have any idea what we are dealing with here? There is a killer on the loose. And we don’t know who it is.”
“So … what? You think Fiona’s the one?”
Tony was incredulous. He looked as if I was nuts.
“You’re going off on a tangent here, Meera.”
“I’m not!” I folded my hands and glared at Tony.
“Do you want to hear the rest?” Tony asked, frustrated.
I sighed, urging him to go on.
“She almost left town. But her son’s in school and he’s just beginning to like it here.”
“So is she moving here for good?”
“We didn’t talk about it,” Tony mused. “But I don’t think so. I think she’s rattled. She’ll go back to Texas as soon as she can.”
“What’s keeping her here then?”
“Maybe that’s what the secret is about.”
“Is that all you got, Tony?”
“You’re not impressed?”
“It proves our theory that more than one person got the notes. We already figured that out. Well, sort of.”
“But now we know for sure!”
“You’re right, Tony. But we need to know more.”
Tony pursed his mouth at the speculative expression in my eyes.
“You want to talk to her, don’t you?”
“As soon as possible,” I nodded. “Maybe for breakfast?”
“You know you’ll be ratting me out? She won’t go on a second date with me.”
“Do you really want to?” I pounced.
Tony looked frazzled.
“You’re the one who’s always after me to go on a date.”
I let out a yawn, unable to stop myself. It had been a long day and I was too tired to process what Tony was saying.
“Why don’t we head over there for breakfast?”
“To Fiona’s?” Tony cried. “That sounds too soon. Maybe we can meet her after work.”
I ushered Tony out and dragged myself to my room. I collapsed on the bed and was out like a light. I woke up a few hours later, shivering from the cold. My bedroom window was open.
I pulled it down, undressed in the dark, and slipped under the covers, trying to ignore my bedside clock. It was already 4 AM.
Tony didn’t appear for lunch. I decided to walk to the bank. Fiona was at the Teller counter, doing some filing. It seemed like a slow day.
“Hi,” I began.
“Meera!” Fiona looked up. “How are you?”
We talked about weather and stuff.
“Thanks so much for introducing me to Tony,” Fiona gushed. “I had a great time last night.”
“About that …”
I didn’t know how to say it. So I blurted it out as is my habit.
“Can we talk about those letters you received?”
Fiona’s eyes filled up with fear.
“Not here, Meera.”
She sprang up from her seat and walked out. Grabbing me by the elbows, she almost dragged me out of the building, a fake smile pasted on her face.
I turned toward her and was astonished to see her redden.
“That was supposed to be a private conversation.”
“Yeah, well, it might have been. But you’re not the only one who got those letters.”
Her mouth dropped open and her angst disappeared.
“What are you saying? Are you sure, Meera?”
I tipped my head in answer.
“I thought maybe I was being targeted for being an outsider. You know how these small towns are.”
I had spent my short life in that small town, so I didn’t know any other.
“Can we talk about those letters? I’d like to see them.”
Fiona looked grim.
“They are private.”
“I understand. But like I said, you’re not the only one getting them. I want to look at them and see if they look the same as the others.”
Fiona reluctantly agreed to see me after work. I decided to take Tony along with me. Fiona took one look at Tony and flared up.
“Hello, Traitor!”
Tony blushed. He scratched his nose and looked at his feet.
“I’m sorry, Fiona. I want to apologize.”
Fiona ignored him and invited me in. She handed me an envelope. Unlike Henry, she had handled the notes several times. One of them had a greasy thumb print. I held it up to the light and looked at it.
“That’s my son’s,” Fiona said, dashing my hopes of getting some concrete evidence. “He likes to grab everything in sight. He tries to ‘read’ things.”
Fiona’s son was in his room, banging his toys around. I smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
The first note was very similar to the others.
‘I know what you did. You think you can get away with it by moving to a new place? I’m gonna tell!’
“You know what this is talking about?” I looked up at Fiona.
She was standing next to me, tapping her foot on the carpet. Her green eyes bore into me, and flickered with some emotion.
“Oh honey,” she drawled. “I know very well.”
“Care to elaborate?”
Fiona went inside and I looked at the other note.
‘Don’t get too comfortable here. I know what you did. I’m gonna tell.’
Fiona had brought out some juice boxes for us on a tray.
“This is all I have,” she said, sitting down on a couch.
“Are these notes about your son?” I cut to the chase.
“Johnny means everything to me. People think he’s illegitimate but that’s not true. His father was a soldier. He was killed in action before Johnny was born.”
We expressed our regret.
“They say times have changed. But they haven’t really. A single mother still has a hard time of it.”
I sipped my juice, letting her go on.
“My Daddy wants me to live with them. But I want my own home with my son. We lived in Dallas, Johnny and I. I was a trader with a big investment firm. We were doing good. Then the market crashed and I took a loss. I moved some money around. I got in deeper.”
She looked up, willing me to understand.
“So you’re running from your previous employer?”
Fiona took a deep breath.
“No, I’m not. I got caught. My Daddy made up for my losses. We made a deal. They agreed not to turn me in, but they wanted me to leave town for a year.”
“That’s why you came to Swan Creek.”
“I was looking for a small town without too many big firms. We thought I would pull on for a year or two and then go back home.”
“Why Swan Creek?” Tony asked.
“My Mom worked here in Swan Creek a long time ago. She taught elementary school. She had stayed in touch with some friend from that time.”
“Let me guess. That friend was Dot Brown.”
Fiona gave me a wan smile.
Tony carried on.
“So when you got the letters, you figured Dot wrote them.”
“She’s the only one who knows my past.”
“But you struck a deal with your employer. And your family must know about Johnny’s father. You had nothing to fear.”
“I realized that later.”
“Later?”
“I know you’ll judge me, but I lost my mind. I ignored the first let
ter. The second one worried me a bit. And the third set me on edge. They didn’t want money. Not that I have any to spare.”
She paused, looking stricken as she relived the whole experience.
“I’m already a pariah. I was just beginning to settle in here. I didn’t want to look for a new place to live.”
“So you decided to confront Dot?” Tony finished for her.
Fiona shook her head. She stared at a point on the wall, unwilling to stare us in the eye.
“I decided to take action.”
I clutched Tony’s arm. I didn’t want to hear what was coming.
“I went to that silly women’s meeting with one goal - ending this once and for all.”
I could feel Tony tense beside me.
“She was there alright. Laughing and talking to people, mingling. This woman held my future in her hands. She had the power to ruin my life.”
Fiona was getting worked up. I didn’t want to disturb her.
“Had you planned how you were going to do it?” I asked gently.
“I had a small paring knife in my pocket.”
The green eyes gleamed at me, relishing the tale.
“Then I saw the cushion. It was perfect. No mess like the knife. I picked it up, pretending to admire the pattern. Dot was right beside me, asking after Johnny. The lights went out just then. I pressed the cushion against her face. And at that moment, it all became clear.”
Tony and I sat stunned, unable to say a single word.
“What?” I croaked, my throat tight with tension.
“She wasn’t worth it. I could move to some other town. I could go back home to Daddy. How far would she follow me? She was just one pathetic woman in one hick town in the middle of nowhere.”
“Got that right,” Tony muttered.
“So you stopped smothering her?”
Fiona looked confused for the first time.
“I’m not sure what happened, Meera. Someone bumped into me and sent me flying. I stumbled and fell down. By the time I scrambled up, the lights came on. She was lying there…”
“So someone beat you to it?”
“What can I say, Meera? The woman deserved it.”
The drawl was back, so was the insouciant lift of her head. The green eyes had turned steely, challenging us to say something.