by Anne R. Tan
“If there was a baby kidnapping, someone on the staff must have helped them.”
“If?”
“Something isn’t quite right. And I have no idea what, but it involves BL. Until I see the proof, it’s all I’m willing say about this.”
“Well, I’m going to say there is a baby kidnapping until I’m proven otherwise.”
Ah, the heart of the differences in their outlook in life. Her grandma had already condemned her husband for his philandering ways, while Raina still held hope, albeit a tiny flicker, there was a misunderstanding about Ah Gong’s secret family. If only her grandma was willing to expose this skeleton to the rest of the family so it was no longer solely Raina’s albatross.
“Well?” Po Po asked.
Raina shook her head. “Sorry. I was gathering cotton candy. What were you saying?”
“What did you find in Cecelia’s office?”
Raina told her grandma about the two files she found in Cecelia’s office, following Eric, and the conversation with Scotty.
Po Po’s eyes widened. “Maybe you should stop working at the resort. I wouldn’t want you to run into Eric again.”
“Can’t. I’m filling in for Sonia. If I leave without notice, she’ll lose her job.”
“You have protection, right?”
Raina frowned, thinking about the condom. “Pepper spray and my trusty phone.”
“You should carry my cane.” Po Po twisted it and the cane opened in half to reveal a six inch blade.
“Wow, that’s neat.”
Po Po assembled the cane again. “But here’s the money-maker.” She tapped the metal balls on the horse statuette. “You push down on this and the mouth opens to spray skunk oil at your opponent. I paid extra to get this feature.”
Raina burst out laughing at her grandma’s proud expression.
“Hey, you never know when this might come in handy. Everyone just thinks I’m a helpless little old lady with my cane,” Po Po said.
“Trust me, no one thinks you’re a helpless little old lady, and especially not with that pimp cane. They probably think you’re some kind of hustler.”
Po Po brightened as if pleased with the idea.
“As much as I appreciate the offer, I can’t do my work with the cane tucked under my armpits.” She poured the coffee over a glass of ice cubes. “I’m curious how Eric’s number ended up in the diaper bag. It’s a good thing BL is out of reach from the crazies at the resort.”
“We’re digging up more questions than answers. But one thing I can do is go down the Clerk’s Office and see if we can find a birth certificate. I’ll take Maggie with me.”
“I guess it’s no big deal if Matthew knows we’re snooping. After all, he is driving us to the Bay Area for the Christmas dinner. It’s about time we touch bases with him.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Po Po reached across the dining table to pat Raina’s hand. “Don’t forget, you have a secret weapon.” At Raina’s confused look, she added, “The Jiggle Me doll for Lila. You are going to walk in there with the most sought-after toy for the baby of the family. It’ll do the trick. Why do you think I would risk life and limb to get my hands on the last one at the store?”
Raina blinked at the tears in her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. She threw her arms around her grandma, giving the elderly woman a tight hug. A strange wetness seeped onto the bottom of her shirt. She glanced down as a rank odor filled her nostril.
Po Po jumped up and took off her jacket, flinging it across the room. The smell intensified. “Oh, shoot. I think I broke the other super stink bomb. Quick, let’s go to my place. You can shower there.”
Raina coughed, trying to swallow the bile rising in her throat. “I can’t just let the smell stay in my apartment.”
They cracked all the windows. If she were still living in San Francisco, Raina would have hesitated at unattended open windows, but here in Gold Springs, population six thousand, her neighbors often joked about her big city paranoia. She changed her shirt, but she still drove to the condo with all the windows rolled down.
While she showered, she mentally reviewed her wardrobe options. Her choice was limited to a long sleeve blouse with a frou-frou bow around the neck or a tight shirt with a super low neckline. Sometimes she wondered about her grandma’s taste. Po Po had picked these up during her last shopping trip. Even with a push-up bra, Raina couldn’t imagine showing up to dinner with her belly button winking at everyone. Too bad a pony T-shirt wasn’t date worthy.
Dinner at the Sullivans wasn’t exactly a date, but Raina didn’t want the guy to find out she was a slob until later. She didn’t rank high on the dating market, especially with her Afro-like curly black hair and her secret love for all things geeky, but she didn’t want to look like expired goods left too long on the shelf. In the end, she settled on the long sleeve blouse with the frou-frou bow around the neck and black jeans. Close enough to her usual wear without seeming like she’d tried too hard.
Raina wrinkled her nose. Her grandma really should stop experimenting with her stink bombs at her condo. A faint funk clung to the air.
At her entrance to the living room, Po Po pinched her nose. “I’m afraid the smell might still be on you. It’s the skunk oil. That stuff doesn’t just wash off.”
Raina pulled the collar of her blouse to her nose and sniffed inside it. Geez, the smell was on her! “I need to cancel. There’s no way I can show up smelling like this. No one would want to sit next to me.”
“That would be rude. Brenda probably spent the last few hours cooking. You’re just going to have to suck it up and go.”
Raina stared up at the ceiling as she sighed. She was a good person. She tried to help those in need. Why did her ancestors play practical jokes on her? Did they not want her to meet a decent man?
“I know. How about some perfume?” Po Po grabbed Raina’s hand and dragged her to the vanity table in the corner of the master bedroom. “Take your pick, honey.”
Raina’s gaze swept over the small bottles. All were the freebies given at the department store makeup counter that her aunts and cousins didn’t want. Po Po didn’t wear perfume either. She kept these little samplers for her experimentations. “It’ll take more than perfume to get rid of the lingering odor.” The last thing she needed was to smell like a skunk in a rose bath. She picked up a random bottle.
“Not that one.” Po Po grabbed the bottle and set it aside. “I replaced it with…something.”
Raina eyed the rest of the bottles as if she were expecting a pie in the face. “What are you going to do for the rest of the night?”
“Finish translating the rest of Sui Yuk’s emails.” Po Po’s lips curled in disgust. “I have a feeling it’s going to be more kiss kiss yak. Don’t be surprised if you see me walking around with an eye patch tomorrow.”
* * *
Raina pulled up in front of the two-story craftsman bungalow in the cul-de-sac. Candy cane lights lined the driveway. The front yard had a low white picket fence, preventing the inflatable snowman and reindeers from invading the sidewalk. Santa competed with snowflake-hung lights on the roof. If not for the dent on the black pickup parked in the driveway, Raina would have kept right on going. Picture perfection always made her skin crawl and her eye twitch.
Before the doorbell finished its chime, Brenda swung the front door wide open. “Come in.”
Raina handed her a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. “I wasn’t sure what you were serving for dinner, but I hope this will do.”
Brenda took the wine and Raina’s jacket. “This is perfect. We’re having chicken cordon bleu and your cheesy rice pilaf. Love the recipe, by the way.” She hung up the jacket in the small closet by the door and led them further into the house.
The living room consisted of exposed overhead beams and wood paneling. A small fire crackled on the right, warming the entire room. The Sullivans had set up a playpen in the far corner. A trimmed Christmas tree with presents underneath winked at
them from the family room at the back of the house. Raina wanted to throw herself on the plush rug in front of the fire and call this place home.
Raina hadn’t seen the twinkle of inner happiness in her friend’s eyes for a while. It warmed her heart to see it there once again.
“Joe and Fanny are still upstairs,” Brenda said. “I asked them to give us a few minutes alone because there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Raina took a deep breath. This was it. Time to meet her date with destiny. She just hoped he still had all his front teeth, unlike some of her previous blind dates.
Brenda grabbed Raina’s hand and tugged her to the corner. She flourished her hands in a ta-da gesture in front of the playpen. “Meet the newest addition to our family. We’re calling him Johnny. Isn’t he a cutie?”
Raina gasped in surprise. BL cooed and pumped his chubby legs in greeting. This had to be a sign from her ancestors.
“Joe and I are foster parents. Yay.” Brenda waved her hands in front of her in a mini cheer. “The social worker said his mom abandoned him. Poor baby. So he’s a John Doe. Well, the social worker calls him John Liang. We’re calling him Johnny.”
“Congratulations. I know how much you wanted children, but I didn’t know you guys signed up to be foster parents.”
“We’re on the waiting list to adopt a baby”—she leaned close and whispered—“I thought fostering would be a good way to give Joe some hands-on experience with kids.”
“Did the social worker tell you anything else about Johnny?”
“No, why?”
Raina bit her lip. Since the social worker didn’t say anything about Eric Wagner aka Aaron Wheeler, should she warn the Sullivans? “Where did you get all this baby gear?”
Brenda blushed. “I bought them a while ago, when I thought there was still a chance we could have a baby of our own.”
Raina could feel her eyes soften. Poor woman.
Brenda stiffened as if someone yanked a string attached to the top of her head. “Hey, don’t give me that look. I don’t need your pity.”
Raina smoothed her expressive face. “Sorry.” Why did she keep doing this when she was around Brenda? At this rate, her friend would stop confiding in her. Time to change the subject. “Did the social worker tell you anything about Jonny’s history or anything about his parents?”
“There’s not much. Just that he was abandoned at Bullseye.”
Fanny bounded down the stairs and came over. “What do think? Do you like your men drooling and cute? Ha-ha. Raina thought you were setting her up.”
Raina flushed, wishing a shoe would fly into Fanny’s mouth and choke her. “I don’t know where you got that idea.” Now it was Brenda’s turn to give her the pitying look. Geez, she wasn’t desperate and dateless… yet.
Fanny wrinkled her nose. She leaned in and sniffed. Her hand flew to her nose, pinching the nostrils closed. “What are you wearing? That’s some funky perfume.”
A bead of sweat rolled down Raina’s back. She closed her eyes, hoping for a hole to open up.
“Would you like to hold Johnny?” Brenda said, trying to fill in the awkward silence.
Raina nodded, more eager than she realized. When she picked up BL, his chubby fist grabbed one of her curls and stuffed it in his mouth. He stuck his tongue out and batted at his mouth. And just like that she was glad to be here. “Oh, sweetie, I missed you.”
Brenda gave her a confused smile. “You’ve met Johnny before?”
In that moment, Raina made up her mind to warn the Sullivans about Eric Wagner. “Oh, yeah. And boy, do I have a story to tell you about me and this sweetie pie.”
Dinner was fabulous, as Raina knew it would be. The chicken cordon bleu was soft, requiring no more than the flick of a fork to slice off the meat. The rice pilaf had just the right amount of cheese and milk for a rich and creamy melt-in-your-mouth taste. But she hid the roasted Brussels sprouts in her napkin when no one was looking. After several minutes of forks clinking and enthusiastic chewing with BL cooing in the background, the Sullivans were ready for dinner conversation.
Brenda sat back and reached for her wineglass. “So what’s this story about you and Johnny?”
Raina told the Sullivans about what happened at Bullseye with Sui Yuk Liang and Eric Wagner showing up at the old bookstore afterwards. “Please be very careful. I’m sure the social worker wouldn’t give away the location of BL, I mean Johnny, but you never know. It’s a small town, and you could run into Eric Wagner when you’re out and about.” She didn’t mention anything about the baby kidnapping or the strange business at the resort. That would be too much information.
The Sullivans looked at each other. The kind of look between married couples that held an entire conversation. What Raina wouldn’t give to share such a look with someone.
“Thanks for telling us this,” Joe finally said. “With Fanny helping at the cafe, maybe I’ll just take the rest of the week off to stay with Johnny.”
Fanny’s mouth was full at the moment, but her face darkened as if she wanted to protest. She swallowed and studied BL through narrowed eyes. Maybe Fanny thought it was a lark to play at cashiering, but a real commitment to the café was more than she bargained for. Raina smiled to herself at the thought and immediately felt mean-spirited for being judgmental. Having a conscience could be such a downer at times.
Raina was in the middle of telling her friends about the stink bomb incident in her apartment when the doorbell rang. Brenda was still chuckling when she got up, but the frown she came back with chased the light away. Matthew and Officer Hopper followed fast on her heels.
“Sorry to interrupt your dinner, folks,” Matthew said. “But we would like to ask the residents in this household some questions relating to a police investigation.”
12
IT’S A CURSE
“Mr. Sullivan, is there somewhere we can talk in private?” Officer Hopper asked.
Joe shared a look with Brenda as he stood. “We can talk in the office.” He led Officer Hopper down the hallway on the left and they disappeared from view.
“Mrs. Sullivan, could we talk in the kitchen?” Matthew asked.
BL stirred and cried out from the living room. Fanny jumped as if she were prodded by a stick. Brenda hesitated as if she was unsure whether she should continue to the kitchen or make a beeline to living room. BL cried again.
“Could we talk in the living room?” Brenda went into the living room without waiting for an answer. She picked BL up and walked over to the sofa.
Matthew and Raina followed her out. He studied the Chinese baby and flicked a glance at Raina, silently asking a question about the baby. She gave him a blank stare, and he sighed as if he just got some bad news.
“I would like to talk to Brenda in private,” he said.
Raina threw him a look, but knew better than to argue in front of other people. She held out her hands. “Do you want me to hold him for you?”
Brenda shook her head. “Could you warm up his bottle? It's already made up in the refrigerator.”
When Raina poked her head in the kitchen, Fanny, with a worried look, handed her a warmed bottle. Maybe Fanny wasn't so bad after all. When all was said and done, how a person reacted in a crisis said more about her than anything else.
She got back to the living room just in time to hear Brenda say, “Joe must have hit an animal. I wasn't with him at the time.” Her friend accepted the bottle with a nod of thanks.
Raina took a couple steps towards the kitchen, then stopped to hunch over her shoes as she undid her laces. Why was he asking about Joe's truck? This couldn’t be about a minor traffic violation.
She strained her ears but didn't catch Matthew’s next question. When she looked up, both Matthew and Brenda watched her. So much for being sneaky. “Tying my shoes. Just ignore me.”
Matthew raised an eyebrow but kept silent. Brenda glanced at the hall, worry for her husband written all over her face. When Raina entered the kitchen, her
shoes squeaked against the laminate wood.
In front of the refrigerator, Fanny whirled around. Her face was smeared with some kind of white cream. She chewed and swallowed. “What do the police want?”
“You’re eating?” Raina asked incredulously.
Fanny licked her lips. “I’m a stress eater.”
At any other time, Raina would have savored the moment. As it was she didn't have time for the foreign exchange student. She flipped the lock to the back door. “I'll be back in minute.”
“Are you leaving? I wish I could leave, too.”
“I’m taking a look at Joe's truck.”
Raina rounded the corner of the house to the narrow side yard. The moonlight didn't penetrate this narrow strip of space between the two homes. She pressed the flashlight app on her phone and aimed the weak beam on the ground. As she tugged the latch of the gate, the hair on the back of her neck stiffened. She spun around and gasped at the dark shadow towering over her.
“It's just me,” Fanny whispered. “Sorry. I didn't want to stay in the kitchen by myself.”
Raina gave her sharp look, but it was lost in the dark. As she went through the gate, the hair on the top of her head stirred to the beat of Fanny’s breaths. Yuck.
There was a large dent on the pickup and some damage to the bumper. In the dim light she couldn’t tell if there was blood or other stains. “Do you know what happened?”
“Not really. When Joe came home on Saturday, it was already like this.”
“What time was this?”
Fanny shrugged. “After I missed the bus.”
“I thought you said Joe had an emergency so he couldn’t drive you to Bullseye. What was the emergency?” Brenda hadn’t mentioned any health problems, but then people didn’t go around blabbing everything to their friends. “Did he back into a pole or something?”
Raina had backed into a pole once in high school, which earned her a bus pass for the rest of the year. Not that the damage on Joe’s pickup looked like it came from a pole. The police wouldn't be inspecting the truck unless they thought it was somehow related to Sui Yuk Liang's hit-and-run accident.
