Smoldering Flames and Secrets

by Anne R. Tan

  Her cell phone chirped with an incoming text message. She rooted around her purse. The velvet bag of jewelry felt like another lodestone around her neck, but at least it was a brief one. Once in the safe, she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. She pulled out her phone, and there was a message from Blue.

  Meet me in the cleaning closet?

  She glanced around, but no one was paying attention to her.

  Blue was standing by the entrance of the restaurant, chatting with one of the great aunts. He was half hidden by the potted palm tree, which explained how she’d missed him a second ago. So he had planned to chat with her, huh? He must have sensed that she was studying him during dinner.

  Raina made eye contact with Blue and nodded her head. He got the signal and made his way out first. She strolled toward the entrance, hoping no one would notice their little rendezvous. It would be disastrous if anyone thought they still had a thing for each other.

  The foyer of the restaurant was empty. After one quick glance over her shoulder, Raina opened the closet door and stepped inside. When the door clicked shut behind her, she spun around, ready to chew his head off.

  “What game are you playing?” she whispered, not bothering to keep the simmering anger from her voice.

  If Blue knew about his relationship to Matthew, this last year and a half of worming his way into the Wong family had been carefully orchestrated. Not only had he made a fool out of her, but he would also break her cousin’s heart when the truth came out. And she couldn’t bear to think of the damage to Matthew.

  “We shouldn’t be alone together,” Blue said. His eyes twinkled with amusement that didn’t match the words coming out of his mouth. “We wouldn’t want our beloveds to get the wrong impression.”

  “Is this wedding about Matthew or me?” Raina asked.

  “Wow, you think highly of yourself, don’t you? News flash, you’re not the center of the world,” Blue said, a tinge of defensiveness in his voice.

  Raina narrowed her eyes and studied her ex-boyfriend. Thinking back to the time they were together, she remembered Blue had often encouraged her to talk about Matthew and his family. At the time, she thought he was interested in the people in her life, but knowing what she did now, she realized he had been pumping her for information all along.

  “It’s too much of a coincidence for you to show up in San Francisco. I don’t know what you’re about. But you’re not getting away with it,” she said.

  “What exactly am I trying to get away with?” Blue asked. His hands were in his pockets, and he leaned away from her as if afraid she might attack him.

  “This is about punishing Matthew,” Raina said, poking at his chest with her index finger. “He never even knew of your existence.” Her face flushed and her chest heaved. If Blue said the wrong thing, she might smack him.

  Blue opened his mouth and then promptly shut it. Smart man. The amusement left his face. They were silent for several minutes. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

  Raina folded her arms across her chest. “Not good enough,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “I mean no harm. When I first got here, I wanted to meet my grandmother. I didn’t think much of having an older brother. I didn’t know about their existence until a couple of years ago.”

  As Blue explained how he found out about the other half of his family from his mom, the tension eased from Raina’s shoulder blades.

  “And when your uncle hired my company to do his office remodel, I learned that Po Po was my grandma’s best friend. I couldn’t resist the temptation to peek into their lives,” Blue said.

  “And so you lied to all of us,” Raina said, not bothering to keep the accusation from her voice.

  “I didn’t lie. No one asked if I was related to the Louie family,” Blue said.

  “But you knew and didn’t tell us.”

  “People don’t go talking about their family tree in everyday interactions. That’s not normal.”

  “It’s normal if you’re Chinese. I know how I am related to the people around me and where I stand in the social hierarchy. Sometimes even back to what their great-grandparents might have done in relation to mine.”

  Blue’s eyes widened. “Exactly. Not normal.”

  They stared at each other for a long moment and burst into laughter. Raina didn’t remember who started it first, but she clutched her sides and wiped at the tears in her eyes. Maybe he had a point.

  Blue got control of himself first. He straightened, but his eyes still held a twinge of amusement. “Are we good?”

  “It depends,” Raina said. “When are you planning to tell Matthew? The sooner, the better because I don’t keep secrets from him.”

  “Can you give me until after the wedding? I want to get through this first.”

  “And at which point, it would be a done deal. You’re married into the Wong family, so the two of you are destined to meet again even if the conversation between the two of you turns sour.”

  “Not what I planned to say.” Blue lifted his chin and straightened his spine. “I’m a murder suspect, and I’d rather meet my brother without this hanging over my head. With Matthew being a cop, it doesn’t make a good impression. Promise me you won’t say anything?”

  Raina nodded. It made sense. And she would rather have Matthew hear the news from his half-brother than from her. She would be ready to offer her support no matter which way he took the news. And oddly enough, this was the first time she couldn’t predict how her fiancé would react. His family’s past was something he’d buried for a long time.

  She blinked and refocused on their conversation. “What do you mean murder suspect? The police interviewed you?”

  “After you left this morning, a Detective Smith came by. I thought there would be more time, but I’m in their crosshairs. I’ve called Arianna’s husband and got an appointment with him tomorrow afternoon. You’re tagging along, right?”

  “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” Raina said. Now it wasn’t just her cousin she was helping out, but Matthew’s family too. Even if he were angry at first, he would eventually want more from his half-brother. If nothing else, the two of them shared a strong desire for a family.

  Blue opened his mouth—

  And someone opened the closet, flooding the small space with light. Raina squinted at the sudden brightness and glanced at the doorway. Matthew’s gold-flecked brown eyes shifted between Raina and Blue, his expression unreadable.

  Raina’s heart sank. Oh, no… She opened her mouth—

  “Your mom is looking for you.” Matthew spun on his heels and stalked back into the restaurant.

  The closet was silent for a long moment. The light flickered overhead, and the air conditioning drifted in. Raina shivered at the chill. She took a deep breath and followed him. She didn’t want to see the expression on Blue’s face nor did she care. If one of the great-aunts had found them in the closet, she could be looking at a public flogging.

  While her family wasn’t malicious, gossip was a valuable currency when the retired members had plenty of time on their hands. And the great-aunts were not above making the rounds at the dinner tables and imparting their news and opinions. Even Po Po seemed to cower under the collective stares of these elders in their eighties and nineties.

  For the next hour, Raina got a taste of what it felt like to be Jung-yee. Matthew would leave for their hometown in a few hours because he had to work on Monday. If Raina didn’t catch him soon, they might end up having this much-needed discussion over the phone. And clearing the air should be done in person. But try as she did, she couldn’t get her fiancé alone.

  And later, her brother asked to borrow Raina’s car to drive his girlfriend home. He had come to the restaurant with an uncle. This meant Matthew had to drive Raina, Po Po, and her mom home. With these extra passengers in the back seat, Raina was forced to make small talk rather than to have a heart-to-heart talk.

  Raina had never thought of Matthew as the jealo
us type, but he’d never found her in a tight place with an ex-boyfriend. The friendly chatter in the back seat made the stony silence upfront even worse.

  She stared out the passenger window, not seeing the city lights or the pedestrians. With each passing moment, she regretted her decision to keep quiet about her discovery. Her loyalty lay with Matthew, but the truth had to be handled with care. And she didn’t want the wrong timing to ruin what might potentially be a fulfilling and much-needed family tie for her fiancé.

  When Matthew pulled into the driveway, Po Po and Mom got out. Raina lingered, hoping they would go upstairs and give her a few minutes with Matthew. But when she unbuckled her seatbelt, she saw the two of them standing outside on the curb, waiting for her. Really? Did they think she needed a chaperone to watch over her virtue?

  “You better get going,” Matthew said. There was a tone of amusement in his voice. “We need to save something for the wedding night, right?”

  Raina rolled her eyes, glad he still had his sense of humor even though there was an underlying note of tension. “Are you heading back to Gold Springs in the morning?”

  He shook his head. “I got my stuff in the trunk, so I’m heading out after you get out of the car. I don’t want to fight the morning commute out of the Bay Area and still have the two-hour drive back to town.”

  “Then it’s goodbye?” Raina hated the note of hesitation in her voice. She was not lost without her man, but she wanted to clear the air between them.

  “Take care of yourself, Rainy. If anything happens to you, I’ll have to kill you.”

  “Hey, you got to come up with your own line. That’s my morning line when you leave for work.”

  “And I look forward to many more mornings like that.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Now they’re pressing their faces to the glass.”

  Raina turned to see both Po Po and Mom peering in through the passenger side window. She sighed. “Love you.”

  “Good night, Rainy. Don’t forget to keep up with the self-defense training.”

  As Raina watched Matthew drive away, she was left feeling bereft. He didn’t say “I love you” back to her. He was upset all right but trying to keep it from her.

  From his last comment, he probably guessed she would investigate the murder at the winery. Their relationship had evolved over the last few months. Not only did he no longer demand she stopped investigating, but he had switched to helping her, giving her one-on-one training on the tactics he’d learned from his years in the Marines and law enforcement. In a few years’ time, she might know enough to be dangerous.

  And from his words in the car, he didn’t sound upset with her. But men were much better at being stoic than women. Either way, things just got more complicated. By the time Blue confessed his relationship, Matthew would suspect something was up. And she didn’t know if being on guard would make him more or less receptive to this new family member.

  The three of them went into the house. Mom tarried by the coat closet, straightening her light summer jacket before hanging it up.

  “You seem troubled, Rainy,” Po Po said.

  “I’m exhausted,” Raina replied, not wanting to get into it with her mom nearby. She pulled out the velvet bag containing the red envelopes and jewelry and handed it to her grandma. “Can you put this in the safe for Jung-yee?”

  Po Po took the velvet bag. “Of course. I’m here if you want to talk.”

  Raina nodded noncommittally and headed toward the stairs. She called over her shoulder, “Good night.”

  She tossed and turned in bed, playing and replaying the scene in the closet with Matthew and Blue. Her scattered thoughts drifted from her fiancé to the investigation and back again in a random jumble. She finally drifted off, welcoming the relaxation in her body, when the phone rang.

  Raina jerked awake, her heart pounding, and reached for the cell phone on the side table. She knocked over the glass of water, and it hit the carpet with a thump. The screen on her cell phone said it was 3 AM, and the call was from her cousin.

  “Jung-yee?” she croaked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Rainy,” her cousin whispered. “Someone broke into my condo.”

  8

  A Call After Midnight

  Raina threw on a pair of sweatpants and grabbed a sweater. As she thundered down the stairs, Po Po called out from her bedroom, “Where are you going?”

  “Someone broke into Jung-yee’s condo. I don’t know the details, but I’m heading over there,” Raina said. She grabbed her purse from the coat closet and jammed her feet into her sneakers. “I hope she called the police.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Po Po said from the top of the staircase. She was in her flannel nightgown.

  “I need you to stay by the phone,” Raina blurted out. “Just in case we need to do a phone tree or something.” She didn’t want her grandma out at three in the morning with the hooligans. And if her grandma were in the right frame of mind, she would probably wonder why they needed a phone tree in the first place.

  “I won’t be able to sleep a wink until I hear from you,” Po Po said.

  “Just don’t wake Mom up. We don’t want to hear the lecture,” Raina said.

  She locked the front door behind her and went down the stoop to open the garage door. The normally forty-minute drive to her cousin’s condo took less than twenty minutes without traffic. She pulled into the loading parking spot in front. At this time of night, the nosy neighbors were tucked in their beds and too busy to call a tow truck.

  Through the storefront windows, Raina could see that the lobby was empty. Where was her cousin? Did whoever break into the apartment come down and drag her off somewhere? Her pulse raced at the thought. Surely her imagination was running away from her. Maybe Jung-yee went into a neighbor’s apartment. It was the wrong time to be sitting in one of the fancy reading chairs in the lobby alone.

  As the elevator took Raina up to the eighth floor, she dialed her cousin’s cell phone. No answer.

  Though the ride took only minutes, it felt like forever waiting for the light to move from one floor to the next. And of course, Jung-yee had to buy a unit on the luckiest floor in the building. The homonym for eight sounded like wealth in Chinese, so most Chinese would pay a premium to have this lucky number appear on their addresses, phone number, and even license plate. And her cousin had a way of turning a business idea into a faucet for dollar bills. Her timing was impeccable.

  The elevator door dinged open, and Raina stepped out onto the corridor. The light was on night mode, so the hallway was dim and full of shadows. The silence was so thick that she almost tasted it when she swallowed. For the first time, Raina wondered if coming here with nothing more than the pepper spray in her purse was a smart idea.

  Raina grabbed the tube from her purse, ready to blast it on an attacker’s face. She also grabbed her cell phone and turned on the flashlight app. She held it in front of her with the light pointed at a man’s eye level. The theory, as Matthew had taught her, was to blind an attacker and then blast him in the half-second when he was adjusting to the light. And if the attacker reached out to knock the light away, her other hand would still be holding her weapon of mass destruction. She took a deep breath and marched toward her cousin’s unit at the end of the hall.

  Jung-yee’s door was wide open, but a lamp was on inside the living room. From her vantage point, Raina couldn’t tell if the condo was empty. The attack theory didn’t work if she came in and became a target because of her phone light. She shouldn’t go in there. It was what the dumb chicks did in B-rated horror movies. No way, José. She was calling the cops.

  “What are you doing?” said a voice from behind her.

  Raina jumped. She spun around with both cell phone and pepper spray. Her hands shook, and instead of blinding the person behind her, it lit up his chin.

  “Whoa!” the man said, stepping back.

  Raina blinked. “Blue?”

  “Put that thi
ng away before you hit me in the eye with it.”

  “Sorry. I’m a little jumpy.” She lowered her hands but kept both items out. “Where’s Jung-yee?”

  “Downstairs in a neighbor’s unit.” His eyes flicked to the open doorway. “You didn’t go inside, did you?”

  Raina shook her head. “I got here, and then I froze. I was working up the courage to go in.” There was no shame in admitting that she was afraid. After all, she didn’t have any chest hairs or need to prove she did.

  “Okay. Stay behind me.” Blue shifted and got between Raina and the doorway. He held a baseball bat in his hand. “I don’t want to hit you by accident.”

  If he wanted to go all caveman on her, she had no problem with letting him show off his big stick. Raina waited until there was enough bat swinging distance between them and followed him inside. Blue hit the light switches by the doorway.

  Her cousin’s condo consisted of one great room with a half wall delineating the kitchen from the living and dining areas. There was one bedroom, bathroom, and a niche for a small washer and dryer. One quick glance was enough to confirm there was no one in the great room.

  The space was modern chic. White granite countertops, white cabinets, and white appliances. The furnishings were shades of tan, and the carpeting was off-white. Splashes of bright floral added interest in the form of throw pillows, framed prints, and the odd ceramic knick-knacks. Definitely not a home meant for children. And nothing out of place.

  Blue was already heading for the bedroom with Raina hot on his heels. No one.

  The tension between Raina’s shoulder blades eased. The bed was neatly made with crisp corners, which was typical of her orderly cousin. She never understood the point in making a bed when it would be messed up again at bedtime.

  Blue opened the closet door and stumbled backward. “Yah!” He swung the bat, cracking it against the closet door frame. A life-size cardboard cutout fell out. It smacked Blue in the face and fell to the floor.