by Anne R. Tan
Oh no, you don’t. Raina tightened her grip. “Who are you, and what are you doing in Cecelia’s office?” she asked in Chinese.
“I could ask you the same thing,” the mouse woman said, scowling now that the immediate threat of discovery was over.
Raina studied the woman. Chin length bob, narrow face, tiny brown eyes, and the soft squishy look in the stomach area of someone who had recently given birth. Her eyes widened. Could this be BL’s birth mother?
Her cellphone screen lit up. She glanced down to find a text message from her grandma. The split second was enough for the mouse woman to run across the lawn toward the Community Room.
Raina hightailed after the woman. “Wait!” Rounding the corner of the building, she slammed into the maid’s cart.
White towels spilled onto the muddy ground, tiny shampoo bottles clattered against the side of the building, and toilet paper rolls flew up into the air. Raina landed on her hip, and a sharp pain radiated up her backside.
“Oh my God!” Lucille said, reaching for Raina’s hands. “Are you okay?”
Raina closed her eyes and sat in the mud for another second. “Where is the ice machine located again?”
9
KISSY KISS, YUCKY POO
After finishing her shift, Raina had just enough time to stop by the cellphone store to see what she could do about her cracked phone. She limped into the store, nursing her bruised hip. Icing had helped, but what she needed was a long soak in a tub. And a chat with Po Po about the woman hiding in Cecelia’s office.
The place was packed. Sardines had more breathing room. A sales associate in his thirties with a bristly mustache with more hair on his face than his head approached her and asked for her name and cellphone number.
Her luck was finally turning around. She didn’t know what she did to skip to the head of the line, but she wasn’t questioning it. Maybe her ancestors were rewarding her for trying to help an innocent baby. After rattling off her information, she said, “I dropped my phone a few days ago, and it hasn’t been reliable since. Sometimes my messages—”
“Sorry, madam,” said Mr. Mustache. “I’m just the greeter. You’re number thirteen on the waiting list. We’ll call you when it’s your turn.”
Madam? The guy was older than her. Raina swallowed her flash of disappointment. So she didn’t win the lottery after all. “How long is the wait?”
He shrugged in a careless way that suggested he didn’t really care. “Depends on what the people ahead of you want. It’s the final shopping week before Christmas. Everyone is looking for that last minute gift.”
Raina ground her teeth. She wanted to close her eyes and scream. Why were all these people waiting until the last minute to shop? It wasn’t like they didn’t know Christmas happened every year.
“Hey, you okay? You looked like you’re about to have a hernia,” Mr. Mustache said.
Serenity now. Serenity now. “I’m just having a bad day.” She held up her phone.
He whistled at the cracked screen.
“Exactly. The phone works only when the stars are aligned and I sacrificed a pygmy goat. I need something more reliable,” Raina said.
Mr. Mustache tapped on the screen. “There’s two more months left on your contract, and you don’t have insurance on your phone. You either can pay for the full cost of a new smart phone or you can pay the termination fee to end your contract early.”
“Both options cost more than my two months of service. How about a dumb phone?”
“You can look around while you wait. Even the cheapest phone is over a hundred dollars.” He lowered his voice and stepped closer. “But I can hook you up.”
Raina raised an eyebrow as she studied him. Free lunches were like the abominable snowman. No one could supply any proof either existed. “What’s it going to cost me?”
“Nothing. As a matter of fact, you get a free dinner”—he stroked his mustache and the tip of his tongue darted out to lick his chapped lips—“and maybe dessert if you’re a good girl.”
Raina stiffened in distaste. For a half second she was this close to saying yes. “I don’t know how to be good even if my life depends on it.”
He smirked. “Oh, I like a bad girl.”
She turned around and left the store.
“I’ll call you,” Mr. Mustache called after her.
Raina shuddered as the glass door closed behind her. Was this customer service at its best during the holidays? Her phone would just have to limp along until after Christmas. It wasn’t like she really needed a phone. Back in the days, people had to rely on pay phones and pagers, and the world didn’t stop spinning then.
* * *
While the coffee brewed, Raina unpacked the groceries. She had forty minutes to whip something up for dinner. A cold winter night like this called for comfort food—shrimp wonton soup with bok choy. Yum.
Standing dinner dates with her grandma turned out surprisingly symbiotic. Po Po got home cooked meals and often left with a doggie bag while Raina got free groceries. It was a match made in gastric heaven.
Her mom approved of Raina's interest in cooking. She believed the best way to get a man to stay was to plump him up so he had no options. Call her picky, but Raina’s ideal soul mate wasn't Humpty Dumpty.
She was chopping the bok choy when someone knocked on the front door. It couldn't be Po Po because her grandma had a key. She grabbed the pepper spray from her purse on the way to the door. If Aaron Wheeler tracked her down, then he was stupider than she thought. She wasn’t Po Po’s favorite granddaughter for nothing.
Raina looked through the peephole, but the condensation from the rain fogged the lens. She squinted. Was the person a man or a woman?
The person knocked again.
She curled a finger on the trigger of the pepper spray and opened the door.
The tall rotund woman with a thick silver braid held up her hands when she caught sight of the pepper spray. “My name is Toni Moody. I’m a private investigator. If this isn’t a good time, I’ll come back later.” She slowly withdrew a business card from her purse as if facing a wild hog ready to charge.
Raina accepted the card and tucked it into her pocket without glancing at it. With technology these days, anyone could print a bogus business card from home. “What can I do for you, Toni? As you can see, I’m rather jumpy right now, so let’s make this quick.”
“I’m investigating the Gold Country Birth Resort for a client. I’m hoping you can answer some questions for me.”
Raina narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Do you have spies at the resort? It’s rather early for my place of employment to show up on any Internet search.”
“No spies. I spoke with your friend, Sonia Cardenas, I mean Sonia Cruz now, before she left for her honeymoon. She said you might be amenable to answering some questions about the resort.”
Raina lowered her pepper spray. So maybe this Toni Moody wasn’t a foe…yet. “Are you working with Aaron Wheeler?”
Toni’s deep blue eyes appeared violet in the dim light. They were without guile. “I have never heard of this person. Sorry, but due to confidentiality, I can’t tell you who my client is.”
Raina inhaled sharply as a tingling sensation started in the back of her head. “Are you investigating Cecelia?”
Toni inclined her head, which could be interpreted as a yes or an acknowledgment of the question. “Ms. Sun, have you met any of the doctors or nurses at the Women Wellness and Birth Clinic?”
Raina shook her head.
“Do you know if any of the employees are undocumented workers?”
Lucille's face flashed in front of her. Her coworker was too lazy to be undocumented. Nope, her coworker was too secure in her job. “None that I'm aware of. Who else have you talked to?”
“Just Sonia and you as of now. Do you interact with the guests?”
“Na-ah. Why this interest in the employment practices at the resort? Are you with the feds?”
Toni ignored her
questions. “Do you notice any kind of unusual activity at the resort?”
“It’s not that I’m trying to be unhelpful, but I just started.” And why should Raina answer all the questions when Toni wasn’t in the mood to share?
“You have my card. Give me a call if anything turns up.”
After the private investigator left and while the chicken broth simmered, Raina searched for the private investigator on her laptop. There were several hits plus a headshot of the woman. She ignored the business websites for now and scanned the few news articles. Then she went on California’s Department of Consumer Affairs website and typed in “Moody Investigations.” It came back with a clear and current valid license.
She sat back on her sofa, and stared at the ticking koi clock above her TV. Toni appeared to be exactly who she said she was. But who was her client? And why this interest in the employment practices at the resort?
Raina was setting the table when her grandma sailed through the front door.
Po Po eyed the steaming bowls and rubbed her hands together as if she were auditioning to be one of Pavlov’s dogs. “Need any help?"
Raina wanted to snort. Her grandma called the gap between the kitchen and the stove “The Grand Canyon.” To put it politely, cooking wasn't her forte. “Why don't you get us something to drink?”
Po Po gave her smart salute. “Aye-aye, Batman.”
Raina told her grandma about Toni Moody's visit. "What do you think is going on?"
“Definitely something shady. This makes Sui Yuk Liang’s death seem more and more like a homicide.”
“How is the translation of the emails going?” Raina asked.
Po Po opened her mouth and stuck a finger inside, pretending to barf. “Painful. I’m halfway through, but it’s nothing more than sappy love letters to her husband. I’m sure the rest are along the same vein. There’s not even one measly secret. It’s all kissy, kiss, love ya, miss ya, yucky poo.”
Raina chuckled. "At least there's nothing explicit where you have to wash your eyes out with bleach.”
“I wish there were.”
“Po Po, really?”
“Young people aren't the only ones obsessed with getting action in bed. Why do you think there are so many Viagra commercials? I'm not getting any younger. I need to live vicariously through others. It's not like you're giving me any details about your love life.”
“What love life? All I do is work and go to my classes.” She paused and considered. Her grandma had more of a social life than she did. “Changing subjects here. Thanks for getting me out of Cecelia's office. What did you tell her?”
“Nothing shattering really. Just that Officer Hopper’s baby daddy got arrested for running around the park with their three-year-old son.” She paused. “They were both naked and another officer had to wrestle him to the ground.”
Raina laughed. “She doesn’t have any kids.”
“So? Oh, and the daddy was slick with body oil. I can’t wait to see how long it’ll take for this story to get back to the police station. I haven’t forgotten how she treated you over Matthew. I’m like the spider in the corner. When the time comes, boo-ya. She’s not even going to know what hit her.”
Raina’s stomach rumbled, and she gobbled down a plump wonton. “I thought that was what Operation Code Red was about.”
The aborted plan to throw a stink bomb in the porta potty while Officer Hopper was using it backfired on the senior citizens. They drove off the scene of the crime smelling like week-old gym socks.
Po Po harrumphed and ignored her comment. “I can’t believe you don’t have Red Bull in your fridge. I thought you young people were all hyped up on caffeine. I have a long night ahead of me. It’s my turn to monitor the police scanner.”
“Sorry, the only caffeine I have is coffee. What are you doing with a police scanner?”
“I’m the bookie. We’re taking bets on the police response time.”
“Are the senior citizens of Gold Springs that bored?”
“The mayor and council members are deciding between contracting with the Sheriffs or hiring more officers. With only a fourteen-person force, including the chief, the police are understaffed.”
“I still don’t get why you’re monitoring response time.”
“Because the bean counters think we’re don’t need either option. You really should pay more attention to the politics.”
“No thanks. Small town politics can be quite deadly.”
They ate in silence for several minutes. The chicken broth were so flavorful, her taste buds tap danced their approval.
“Yum. I hope you have leftovers for me tomorrow. Maggie is in a snit so she’s not giving me table scraps for a while,” Po Po said, lifting a succulent wonton to her mouth.
“What did you do this time?”
“Why do you think it’s me? Maybe my best friend just had PMS.”
Raina raised an eyebrow. “At her age? She’s almost eighty.”
Po Po kept eating.
“Please don’t tell me this is about me and Matthew. Po Po, there’s nothing for you to worry—”
“Maggie didn’t take it too kindly that I called her grandson a poor excuse of a man.”
Raina flushed at the thought of Mrs. Louie repeating her grandma’s words to Matthew. “Po Po,” she said in exasperation.
“I’m just trying to look out for you, but I’ll stop.”
They went back to eating, but the wontons didn’t taste as appetizing as a few minutes ago. How was she to face Matthew and his grandma now? It was all her fault. Po Po rarely fought with her best friend.
“Have you seen Aaron Wheeler at the resort yet?” Po Po asked.
Raina shook her head. “I know he’s not a guest, so he must be one of the maintenance or landscape workers. For all I know, he could be the pool boy.” She liked the idea of Cecelia stringing her men along with her money. After all, men had been doing the exact same thing to women since the Stone Age.
“I almost forgot this intriguing development. When I opened the door to the closet in Cecelia’s office, there was already someone hiding in there. A Chinese woman. I wonder if she’s BL’s mother. She ran off before I got a chance to question her.”
“If she’s the mother, she’ll be back.”
“I’m not quite sure what to do next. I could still try to access the files in Cecelia’s offices, but she keeps them locked. So I need to somehow interrupt her in the middle of using them so that she would be distracted enough to leave them open. But with what?”
“How about a fire?”
“I’m not an arsonist.”
“I could lob a stink bomb in the office. Toshi Manohar’s grandson, Sunil, has been helping me with a new formulation for a super stink bomb. That kid has got talent. He wants to be a chemist. Kimchi sauce and mixing it with dorian fruit juice. The stench is memorable.”
Raina stared at Po Po, unsure how to react. Should she be horrified that her grandma was reliving her childhood or impressed with her inventiveness? Either way, she was just glad her grandma had seemed to fully recover from her bout of depression after her husband’s death. “Let me get back to you on this.”
10
EASY PEASY
As they headed toward the Venus Café for breakfast the next morning, Raina and Po Po bickered like a pair of doves held too long in a cage. It was nice to have an excuse to spend more time with her grandma.
“I don’t understand why you’re so reluctant. It’ll be fun for me to pretend to check out the resort for my friend’s granddaughter,” Po Po said, sipping a green tea latte.
Raina shook her head. “With Aaron working there and the potential murderer hanging around, I don’t think so.” She had heart palpitations just thinking about her grandma running into either one of them.
“You worry too much. It’s not like I’m walking down some dark alley by myself.”
“What are you worried about, Raina?” Fanny appeared at their table with a small notepa
d in her hand. “Is this your grandma?”
Po Po nodded. “Bonnie Wong. And you are?”
“Fanny Lamb. Good morning, Wong Po Po. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Po Po shot Raina a look as if to say, “see how respectful this girl is.” Her grandma would think Ted Bundy was a polite young man if he used her title as Fanny just did in Chinese. Po Po meant maternal grandmother, but the title was also used to show respect for an elderly woman. Just as it was often polite to address someone as if they were a family member by calling them aunt or sister to establish a familial tone in a casual conversation.
Unfortunately it always seemed as if the shopkeepers who followed this practice jacked up the prices once they paused for breath. Apparently, they didn’t believe in the family and friends discount.
Before Raina could think of something clever to say to get rid of the foreign exchange student, Po Po and Fanny chatted, asking the usual nosy questions about family and friends as if trying to force a kinship.
Raina ate her eggs and muffin without much input to the conversation. She didn’t begrudge Fanny’s intrusion to their breakfast. Besides Matthew’s grandma, it was rare for Po Po to converse in Cantonese with anyone in Gold Springs. Maybe Fanny would distract her grandma from insisting on undercover work.
She had no idea what would be in Cecelia’s files. It wasn’t as if the resort owner would document her nefarious activities. The locked cabinet might be just a security measure to keep a nosy person out of her files. Cecelia could be oblivious to what was happening on her property.
Right. As if dancing bears in tutus existed. And how did one explain why someone would hire a private investigator to look into her business practices?
Most people would hand BL to CPS and continue on their merry way, patting themselves on the back for doing all that could be expected given their busy schedules.
