by Anne R. Tan
But Raina wasn’t most people. First, she wasn't particularly busy since it was winter break, and her best friend was out of town. Second, the local police were understaffed, and the mayor would want them to get the baby on a plane to China ASAP. Case closed.
There was no one else. She sneaked a glance at Po Po. Okay, no one else, but Raina and her grandma. She just couldn’t stand idly by without at least trying to make sure BL went back to his proper family. The Liang family couldn’t be the right environment for the child if Sui Yuk had to steal a baby.
“Sure, I’d love to help. It sounds like fun,” Fanny said. “We can catch the bus after the lunch rush. Say two thirty?”
Po Po nodded. “See you then. And wear a disguise. That’s half the fun you know.”
Fanny paused, and a brief frown flickered across her face. “Okay. I’ll see what I can dig up.” A couple came in, and she left to take their orders.
Raina leaned in and lowered her voice. “What did you tell Fanny?”
Po Po looked offended. “Of course, I didn’t tell her any secrets. Then I would have to get rid of her. And I like the respectful young woman. If you’d paid attention instead of sitting here like a stoned pothead, you’d have heard that I wanted a second opinion for my friend's granddaughter.”
“I'm not stoned—”
“It's legal, so I'm sure you have your stash like everyone else.”
“Po Po! Who are you spending time with?”
Po Po held up her hand, palm out. “No, I'm not judging. Let's get back to the case. We’ll drop by Cecelia’s office at three fifteen at the latest. Am I good or what? I got myself a bodyguard”—she snapped her fingers—“just like that.”
Raina sighed. Fanny was more a liability than asset. Aaron Wheeler would snap her like the twig she was. “Just stick close to your field trip buddy.”
Po Po saluted. “Aye-aye, Batman.”
After dropping Po Po off at her condo, Raina drove to the resort. For the rest of the morning, she couldn’t focus on the tasks at hand. She replaced shampoo bottles when she should be replacing soap bars. She pulled out the sheets when she should just remake the bed. To top it off, Raina jumped at shadows and spent far too much time studying all the faces she passed.
By two forty-five, Lucille threw up her hands in disgust and said she was taking a smoking break. “Considering how many times I had to re-do your work today, you should finish up the last two suites.”
Raina flushed with guilt. “Sure, that’s not a problem. I’m sorry I was distracted. It’s the upcoming Christmas dinner with my family. It always sets me on edge.”
Lucille’s tone became less gruff. “I’ll be in the utility room when you’re done.”
As Raina made her way to Cecelia’s office, she considered what she’d blurted out to Lucille. There was some truth to this. She would face her cousins for the first time since they cobbled together a lawsuit contesting their grandfather’s will. While Po Po had managed to pursue them to drop the suit, it didn’t mean they would welcome her with open arms.
She rubbed the back of her neck, rolling it as she trotted to the lobby area. A Jiggle Me doll to the beloved baby of the family wasn’t much of an olive branch. But there wasn’t much she could do about it at the moment.
Po Po and Fanny were already behind the large hibiscus shrub outside the lobby and Cecelia’s office. Her grandma wore a pair of borrowed bifocals with a wraparound chain. She had stuffed something under her shirt so it looked like she had a dowager’s hump the size of a mini backpack. She leaned against a pimp cane with a golden statue of a heavily hung horse. The only thing missing from her disguise was a mole with a long hair growing out of it. Fanny had on a blonde wig that she kept scratching when she didn’t think anyone was looking.
Raina didn’t know whether to laugh or to groan at their disguises. In the end she settled on giving Fanny a sympathetic smile for her willingness to indulge her grandma. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
Po Po grabbed her hand and pressed two small glass bottles in it. “In case you need to make a quick getaway. My super stink bombs.” She looked around. “Hurry. Put them away before someone sees them.”
Raina obligingly stuffed them in her pocket.
The plan was simple. When they’d called a few minutes ago, the front desk clerk confirmed that Cecelia was working in her office. Mrs. Wong and her granddaughter Fanny would show up, unannounced, to tour the resort. While in the midst of introductions, Po Po would drop a super stink bomb in the office, hence expediting their exit from the room and hopefully leaving everything unlocked. Thereby giving Raina a chance to sneak in and rifle through the contents. Easy peasy. Bada bing bada boom.
* * *
Raina hid in the shadow of the hibiscus bush. She didn’t have to wait long. Within five minutes, there was a mass exodus, with Cecelia leading them toward the birthing clinic at the north end of the property.
After taking a deep breath, Raina plunged into the office. Breathing through her mouth took some getting used to, but it was worth it when she found both the filing cabinet and the laptop unlocked. She keyed in a general search for Sui Yuk Liang’s name on the laptop. While the busy icon whirled on the screen, she opened the filing cabinet and rifled through the folders.
There was an anemic file on Sui Yuk. She cocked her head, studying the folders in front of her. Something didn’t look right. She pulled out a nearby folder, noting the thickness of its size. There were the application, emergency contact form, a printout of an email chain that led to the booking of the room, and an itemized billing of services at the birth clinic.
She flipped through the sheets in Sui Yuk’s files. Nothing more than an application and an emergency contact form. Someone had removed items from Sui Yuk’s file. The application noted that Sui Yuk’s baby was due at the beginning of December, but if what Lucille had said about the stillbirth was true, then Sui Yuk delivered late October or early November.
Her shoulders dropped and a heaviness settled on her chest. To carry a baby for that long and to be so close—it’s unbearable.
Raina glanced at the doorway and took a deep breath, hoping to clear the emotions whirling in her head. Sweaty gym socks boiled in kimchi hit her with the force of a freight train. She clasped a hand over her nose and mouth. Too late. She’d forgotten about the super stink bomb. Tears streamed down her eyes as she tried to stifle the dying pig noise she was making. She gagged and ran outside.
Bending over, hands on her knees and back against the wall, she sucked several breaths. Clean, refreshing air. The clock was ticking, but she just couldn’t force herself to rush back into the office.
BL’s biological mother had to be another guest at the resort at the same time Sui Yuk was here. The due dates for the two women were probably close enough for Sui Yuk to pass off BL as hers. After all, it wasn’t like she could go pick up a baby from the hardware store.
Raina took one more deep breath and went back into the office. She checked the laptop, but the search didn’t find anything. Surprise. Surprise. She opened the file cabinet again, walking her fingers along the tabs. All the files were at least half an inch thick. She closed the drawer and pulled out the middle cabinet. A quick glance showed files of varying thickness.
She glanced at the clock at the corner of the laptop screen. Fifteen minutes already! Her heart raced in anticipation as she pulled out the last drawer. Since this was only half-full, it was easy to see the thin file tucked at the back. Muyang Yao.
She pulled the file out. Bingo! This file held the same general application and emergency contact form, but nothing else. She checked the due date. November fifth. She snapped photos of the file and shoved it back into the drawer.
As Raina closed the cabinet, her hands shook. Time to hightail out of there. She had no concrete proof whether Cecelia had anything to do with Sui Yuk Liang’s death, but she wasn’t going to sit here picking her belly button until the resort owner came back. What she’d found out was enough to
get her killed if Cecelia had the temperament.
Footsteps approached the office. “Cece,” called out a familiar male voice from the hallway.
Aaron Wheeler!
Raina gasped, a tinny sound that hurt her throat. She dove under the desk and pulled the office chair close until it hid her from view. Half a heartbeat later, Aaron Wheeler’s legs came into view in the small gap between the floor and the back panel of the desk. Don’t look down, Raina prayed, pulling herself into a tight ball.
“What the heck did the woman have for lunch?” Aaron muttered. He came around the desk and opened the closet.
Raina stretched her neck and squinted at the gap between the office chair and desk.
Aaron unzipped Cecelia’s purse and pulled out her wallet. He glanced at the door and casually helped himself to forty dollars. He kicked the closet door shut and strode out of the office as if he owned the place.
Raina crawled out from underneath the desk and hurried after him but kept several paces between them, hiding behind corners and bushes. She wasn’t ready for a confrontation yet. Whenever she encountered a guest, she pretended to peer into the bushes as if she lost something or drop down on her knees to tie her shoelaces.
As Aaron walked past the pool, a young Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alike strolled out, almost running into him. There were a few seconds of posturing between the two men; neither wanted to yield to the other. The younger man in the fitted shirt had the kind of muscular physique that made some women drooled. Raina was surprised Aaron held his ground. The other man could snap him like a Kit Kat bar.
Finally after another tense second, Aaron walked around Mr. Muscles, muttering something that would have gotten her tongue washed with soap. The younger man folded his bulging arms, smirking after Aaron’s back.
Raina dodged around Mr. Muscles, but he stepped in front of her, holding out an arm to block her. Aaron made a right and disappeared from view. She rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms.
Mr. Muscles smiled. “Hi, I’m Scotty Bacon. I’m the pool maintenance supervisor.” He pointed at the resort logo on her shirt. “You must be new here.”
Raina bit inside her cheek to stop the laughter from bubbling out. Ooh la la. Cecelia’s pool boy. And with a fancy made-up title too. “I’m Raina Sun. Who was that man? I’ve seen him around, but he’s not very pleasant, is he?”
“Why would you want to have anything to do with Eric Wagner? If you want to get on Cecelia’s good side”—he pointed both thumbs at his chest—“I can hook you up.”
“Wagner? Is he related to Cecelia?”
Scotty waved dismissively. “He’s her ex, but Cecelia owns the place. I guess she must feel sorry for the guy since he can’t seem to hold down a job. Every few months, he quits and then comes crawling back. He’s the head landscaper, but he doesn’t do any work other than skulk about the place. Talk about a loser.”
Raina raised an eyebrow. Uh-huh. He should be talking? “So what are you doing here? The pool is closed for the winter.”
Scotty gave her a look as if she were bubblegum under his shoes. “You have to do maintenance year around. I also maintain the pumps for the two on-site ponds .”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. So how often do you do this maintenance?”
“Once or twice a week as needed.”
Um, right. As if pumps really needed to be checked twice a week. He was here to clear the pipes alright, and she didn’t mean the ones in the ground. “So are you two rivals or something?”
“What?”
“You and Eric. I could tell you didn’t like each other.”
“He keeps throwing empty beer cans in front of my home. What a jerk. Last Saturday he stormed over, accusing me of stealing his firewood. I was this close”—he pinched his thumb and index finger together—“to punching his lights out. I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.”
“Wait! You guys are neighbors?”
“Yeah,” he said, dragging the word out. “You know that path in the trees behind the Community Room?” At her nod, he continued. “If you follow it for half a mile, there’s a clearing with two trailers in it. Eric and I live there. In separate trailers.”
“Does Cecelia live with you?”
“What gives you the idea that Cecelia and I are together? I’m not the type of guy that would cheat on my girlfriend. So, are you busy Friday night?”
“Cecelia is just your landlady?”
Scotty shrugged. “Well, our girl is too good for trailers now. She has this McMansion on the other side of Putah Creek, away from the railroad tracks. Rolling green lawns and the whole works. You’d think she came from old money. To answer your question, yes and no.”
“I don't understand.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart. Just let me do the thinking around here. What about Friday night? I can pick you up in my Escalade.”
His chest puffed out as if she was supposed to be impressed with the size of his car. Didn’t he know that it was not the size that mattered, but the engine underneath the hood that counted?
“You have an Escalade? Where do you park it?”
“It’s Cecelia’s rental and I’m borrowing, but there’s plenty of room for rocking.” He waggled his eyebrows. “If you know what I mean. And we can always go back to my home later.”
“You mean the trailer.”
“Hey, don’t dis the trailer. It’s rent-free.”
“Wow, this is a good gig you have here. I would love to live rent free.”
He gave her a half smile and scratched his armpit. “Yeah, I have it good.”
Raina smiled. “So what time did Eric come over?”
“Come over for what?”
“The firewood.”
Scotty shrugged. “I don’t know. When I just woke up.”
“So eight or nine in the morning?”
His lips curled as if he tasted something rotten. “Who gets up that early? Around twelve.”
Oh boo. Looked like Eric wasn’t Sui Yuk’s killer. There was no way he had enough time to run her over and return to the resort to argue with Scotty. “So what time do you normally wake up for work?”
“Around the same time.”
“Wow. You do have it good. I wouldn’t have anything to complain about if I were you.”
“But things do get old around here, and I don’t mean the people. Maybe I need to cut my hours so I can take some classes. It’s not like I can be a pool boy forever.”
“Pool maintenance supervisor.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. I have to go.”
“Wait, what about Friday night?”
Raina walked backwards going back the way she came. “Sorry. I have to wash my hair. Nice meeting you, Scotty.”
“With curly hair like that, I’m sure it needs a lot of maintenance. What about Saturday night?”
She pretended not to hear him and jogged toward Suite Sixteen to finish the cleaning. Things were certainly more than it seemed around here. Now how could she get in touch with Muyang Yao?
11
THAT’S SOME FUNKY PERFUME
Once she couldn’t see Scotty anymore, Raina whipped out her cell phone and sent a text to Po Po, warning her about Eric Wagner. While her grandma was able to fight Eric off outside the old bookstore, she had the element of surprise. Things could turn out differently if Po Po ran into Eric again.
She hoped Fanny could protect her grandma with kung fu or something equally as deadly. But she had a feeling the foreign exchange student was more deadly to the ears than body. She had the look of a screamer.
Raina finished up her duties and hustled home for a shower before her dinner date with the Sullivans. Po Po was already waiting for her by the time she got home. A quick glance at her koi clock showed just enough time to relax before she had to leave.
“How did your undercover investigation go?” Raina asked as she headed toward the kitchen to brew a cup of iced coffee. It was late, and the coffee would probably
make her too jumpy for an early night, but she needed the boost to sit through dinner with both a drooling blind date and Fanny. “Do you want anything to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
Raina pulled out the two stink bombs Po Po had given her and carefully left them on the kitchen counter. They looked innocent enough, a cloudy liquid in the tiny glass vials. But stomping on one of them would clear the room faster than a deluded American Idol contestant. It was a running joke in the family as to whether it was really flatulence or a stink bomb when Po Po wanted to avoid a particularly awkward conversation.
“I just want us to touch base before I turn in for the night.” Po Po followed Raina into the kitchen. “I didn’t want to wait up for you in case your date turns hot and heavy.”
Raina snickered. “Right, hot in heavy in front of three other people? I don’t think so.”
“The two of you can always go out for dessert afterwards.” Po Po wiggled her eyebrows. “Wait. Do you have any protection?”
“I have pepper spray.”
Po Po went back to the living and returned with her purse and the cane tucked under her armpits. She dug out a condom and tossed the package to her.
Raina caught the condom with one hand. Extra lubricant for her pleasure. Easy tear packaging. She tucked the condom into her jeans pocket. It was either that or an uncomfortable conversation she never wanted to have with her grandma. What seventy-five-year-old woman walked around with an extra lube condom in her purse?
“Let’s get back on topic. What was your impression of things at the birth clinic?” Raina asked.
Po Po handed over her cell phone. “Take a look at the certification and licenses posted next to the doctors’ photos.”
Raina flipped through the photos with her finger. She frowned as she studied the universities and medical schools from the Philippines and other places she hadn’t heard of. “You would think at least one person on the staff would be from California.”
“You would think, right?”
