by Anne R. Tan
“Head to campus to find Cora. I have a feeling the kid might know something.”
Raina waved good-bye to Eden and went inside her apartment. Ignoring the questions in Po Po's eyes, she dragged the suitcase into the bedroom, grunting from the effort. How long was Po Po planning to stay? Either she had clothes for several weeks or she packed rocks. “Which cousin drove you here?” She wasn’t surprised the cousin left without saying hi.
Po Po patted her hair. “The family doesn't know I'm here yet. I took the morning train. I looked up the schedule on the Internet.”
Raina snapped her mouth shut. Her mom would descend on this place like a wet alley cat. She swallowed, but her voice still came out in a croak. “Are you going to make the call?”
Po Po peered into her face and chuckled. “I'll call and explain everything.”
Another major blowout between her grandma and her dictatorial Uncle Anthony? Raina hated when her grandma used her as a shield. As if she weren’t on the poop list with her family already over her supposed inheritance.
Her grandma’s relationship with her eldest son was complicated. Or at least that was what Raina told people. In reality, her Uncle Anthony spewed directives like some old patriarch in China, which Po Po promptly ignored even though she had been the traditional obedient wife when her husband was alive.
Raina suppressed a sigh. As much as she loved her grandma, it was only a matter of time before the family she had been trying to escape would descend upon her like a pack of hungry wolves. “Where did you learn to use the Internet?”
“The association had a computer class for the seniors. You can find all kinds of nifty stuff on the web these days.”
The oldest Chinese families in San Francisco had associations for members of their clan, which started as places to help immigrants back in the Gold Rush days. Of course, the fact that the Sun family didn’t have an association only confirmed her grandfather’s belief Raina’s mom married beneath her.
“What does Mom have to say about this?” Raina asked. Her grandma with unlimited access to information wasn’t a comforting thought.
“I don’t care. If your mom stopped going to her boring book clubs to meet men, she might learn something new. Someone her age should know how to work her smarty pants phone.” Po Po chuckled. “So what’s for breakfast? I’m starving.”
Raina opened her refrigerator. A half a bag of spinach and two eggs. She regretted tossing out last night’s dinner in an unusual fit of anger.
Po Po made a face when Raina told her the options. “Let’s go to that waffle house. I’m buying.”
Raina grabbed her purse. “I ran into Matthew recently. Did you know that he moved here?” When Matthew’s grandma still lived in San Francisco, she and Po Po had been best friends. Surely Po Po would have told her if she knew the Louies were in town.
Her grandma nodded.
“How come you didn’t volunteer this information when I planned my move for grad school?”
Po Po averted her gaze. “It wasn’t important. You shouldn’t let a man influence your decisions.”
“As I recall, you supported my decision to move here. You emphasized the personal attention I’d get at a small college compared to U.C. Davis.”
“And wasn’t I right?”
“Yes,” Raina muttered, but it didn’t stop her from feeling that her grandma had nudged her toward the decision because of Matthew.
“Honey, I’m starving. Can we talk about this over breakfast?”
“Let’s roll.”
“I need you to drop me off at the senior center after breakfast. I’m meeting Maggie for mahjong.”
Raina suppressed her groan. When did Matthew’s grandma move to town? Now she knew for sure Po Po had maneuvered her to Gold Springs. The grandmas were in cahoots to play matchmaker again.
If it hadn’t been for her grandma, she’d be at Davis at the moment and not a potential murder suspect. No, she wouldn’t think along this line. Holden could have died from natural causes. The last thing she needed was for Po Po to play Miss Marple on the rescue train.
8
TWITCHING SPIDER LEGS
Raina dropped Po Po off at the senior center and drove to campus. The history building was a ghost town. There wasn’t even the distant sound of footsteps anywhere in the building. A sense of unease settled between her shoulders as she marched through the halls. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention.
The east wing was a motley collection of glass display cases, bulletin boards, open doorways to classrooms and offices, and a dozen other hiding places. She stopped in front of a display case, squinting past her reflection on the glass. No movement.
She deliberately straightened her shoulders, moving her head from side to side, but the sensation of being watched only increased. When she flipped her hair over her shoulder, Raina took a quick peek behind her. No one. She struggled to catch any odd sound. Nope. Just the hum of the HVAC.
Raina hustled down the hall until she stood outside the partially closed door of Olivia’s office. All this talk of someone killing Holden had her jumping at shadows. She raised her hand to knock, but stopped at the loud bang. Did Olivia drop something?
“I want my money back! I’m telling the police how you helped your brother,” said Olivia. Another bang.
Raina bit her lip and tilted her head. Who was inside the office with Olivia? The polite thing would be to knock, but she was in no mood to be polite. Besides, polite was for ladies with the luxury of sipping tea with their pinkie finger in the air. And her pinkie finger was covered with hives because she was a suspect in a murder investigation.
She leaned forward, pressing against the doorframe, and stumbled over her feet. Her shoes squeaked against the floor. Darn! So much for snooping. She grabbed the doorknob to keep herself from falling into the office. Taking a deep breath, Raina knocked and pushed opened the door. Olivia’s office was the same as Holden’s, except for the “Save Lake Tahoe” framed poster on the wall. There was no one else in the room except for the two of them.
Olivia perched behind her desk, unable to hide the scowl behind a slight upward tilt of her lips. The wrinkles settled into deep grooves around her eyes. Her black spider lashes blended with the purple eye bags. At Raina’s finger wave, her smile slipped. Apparently Raina wasn’t worth the slight effort of a pleasant countenance.
“Yes?” asked Olivia, replacing the receiver on the hook.
“Are you okay? I heard loud bangs.”
“My phone fell out of my hands. Are you looking for something?”
Raina glanced at the chipped receiver. Uh-huh. She put on her bimbo smile. “Do you know where I can find Cora? I forgot to ask for her phone number.”
“I sent her on an errand at the bookstore yesterday. She came back in tears and quit.”
Did Cora quit or was she fired? “I lent her my headphones. They cost twenty dollars.” Raina sat on the chair in front of the desk. “Do you know where she lives?”
“I’m not HR.” Olivia stared at her, tapping her fingers on the desk. “Anything else?”
Raina laughed, hoping it came out as a silly giggle. Pretending to be brainless was hard work. “I misplaced the donor’s list. Do you have another copy?”
Olivia sighed as she jerked open the filing cabinet beneath her window. She rifled through the folders, muttering under her breath.
“I’m surprised you’re working. The rest of the building feels like a ghost town.”
“Why wouldn’t I be here? This place would fall apart without me.”
Raina rubbed her sweaty palms on her shorts. “I had the impression you and Holden were close. I thought you’d be too upset to come to work.”
Olivia spun around and stared at her with a blank expression. “What are you implying?”
Raina coughed as fear rose to clog her throat. Keep the bimbo act. She wrinkled her brow and hoped she sounded mystified. “Holden often spoke highly of you. I thought maybe you were h
is mentor.”
Olivia stared at her for another heartbeat. “No. I wasn’t his mentor.” She slammed the cabinet shut and turned to her computer. Several clicks later, the printer whirled to life and spat out several sheets of paper.
“I would tread carefully if I were you. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat.” Olivia looked pointedly at Raina and held out the stack from the printer.
Raina stuffed the sheets of paper into her purse and mumbled thanks. She made her way to the main hall. A knot settled in her stomach. Why would Olivia warn her unless she had something to hide? Her steps faltered when a new thought struck her like a squirt gun to the eye.
She recalled Sol’s words. Ex-girlfriend killed boyfriend over other woman. What if Olivia thought Raina was the other woman? Wasn’t poison the weapon of choice for scorned women? She shivered at the thought. No, Holden had died from natural causes. She refused to jump at shadows because of Eden’s bogus theory for a front-page story.
Raina waved to two students chatting in front of Gail’s empty desk. Snatches of their conversation included “bathroom” and “police.” They gestured for her to join them, but she shook her head.
She trudged toward the west wing, arguing with herself the entire time to turn around. The time to investigate the men’s restroom would have been a couple of days ago.
If she’d needed more convincing there was something strange about Holden’s death, she didn’t need to look further than the crime scene tape blocking access to the men's restroom. The yellow tape contrasted with the pale blue wall. The police would have removed the tape by now under normal circumstances.
And no one cared. The only thing missing from this wing of the building was tumbleweeds. Where were the flowers and candles marking his passage? Where were her flowers? Raina couldn’t breathe as a wave of sadness hit her. She leaned against the opposite wall, taking loud breaths through her flared nostrils. Holden just died and the only thing marking his passing was some yellow tape and the scent of Pine-Sol. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.
As she straightened, the fine hairs on her arms moved. Someone ducked into a room at the end of the hall. Was someone in Holden’s office? Maybe she should call Matthew, but she just as quickly dismissed the idea. The last thing she wanted was to become one of those women who ran to a man at every shadow.
Her shoes squeaked against the floor, giving fair warning to anyone hiding in the room. She drew her pepper spray from her purse and held it in front of her in a show of false bravado. Flight had always been her best survival tactic.
Raina grabbed the doorknob and flung open the door. It rebounded and bumped into her shoulder, sending the pepper spray flying.
Time slowed and the pepper spray took an eternity to land next to a pair of brown sandals. Her gaze traveled up a pair of thick hairy legs and into the shocked eyes of Sol Cardenas.
“What—”
“You!”
As Raina’s hand flew to her racing heart, she stumbled backwards. Sol’s arm snaked out and grabbed her wrist, pulled her into the office, and kicked the door shut. She opened her mouth to scream, but her stomach lodged in her throat. The only sound she made was a pathetic eek.
Sol folded thick arms over his paunch and rested his back against the edge of the desk. “This is not what it seems.”
Raina cleared her throat. The stench of days old vomit hit her. She clutched her purse in front of her body and breathed through her mouth. “Enlighten me.”
A quick glance confirmed her guess. Inside the trash can were a congealed splatter with tan lumps and an empty coffee cup with ‘Lois Lane’ written on the side. When did Eden search Holden’s office?
“I’m looking for my letter of recommendation. Holden promised to write it for me.”
Raina forced her body to straighten, spreading her legs slightly to take up more physical space. “Then why are you searching for it behind closed doors?”
Sol sneered. “I don’t have time to wait until it’s okay with the police to search through Holden’s office. That could take weeks in a murder investigation. The deadline for the grant is in two days.” He ran both hands through his greasy hair and scratched ferociously. “Why don’t you help me look for the letter?”
“And get my fingerprints on everything? No, thanks.”
“Your prints are probably on everything already. What difference do you think it's going to make now?”
Uh-huh. “Why would you want someone you clearly dislike to write you a letter of recommendation?”
Sol shifted his stance by the desk, seeming to fill up the closed office with his bulk.
A tingle ran down Raina’s spine, and her leg muscles tightened, ready for flight.
The phone rang and broke their staring contest. Sol jerked at the noise behind him. Keeping an eye to his back, Raina swung open the door. The phone stopped ringing as she stumbled into the hall.
Sol whipped around. His eyes widened and his face tightened in fear.
A flutter of courage filled Raina. If things got dicey, she could outrun him. “How did you know there was something suspicious about Holden's death?”
“I’ve worked for Holden for the last three years. He treated people like crap and stole other people’s work. He was a parasite feasting on the hard work of everyone else. I'm sure someone bumped him off.” Sol scratched his soft stomach. “And I have to say, he had it coming.”
9
FORK WITH HAIR ON IT
Raina stared at the two eggs in her refrigerator. Her stomach rumbled in disappointment. She’d secretly hoped to come home from campus to find it fully stocked by Po Po. Irrational? Yes, but they said hope sprang eternal even if her grandma hadn’t stepped inside a grocery store in two decades, not since after her granddad’s shipping business took off.
Someone knocked on her front door. Raina straightened and closed the refrigerator with a thwack. A visitor during lunch could mean free food. And a sane person didn’t turn down free food. She hurried to her living room and squinted at the peephole on her door.
Matthew, clean-shaven and hair still wet from a recent shower, leaned into the peephole. His clear eyes had a twinkle she didn’t trust. “I know you’re in there, Rainy.”
Raina stepped back, tugging at the collar of her shirt. The apartment suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. She wasn’t ready to have a tete-a-tete with him.
“I guess you want me to tell your neighbors about our business!” he said.
She flung open the door, blocking the doorway with her body. The hot air curled around her and made the back of her neck instantly sticky. “We don’t have any more business. You made that crystal clear in Vegas.”
“In case you’d forgotten, you were the one who wanted our marriage annulled.” Matthew smiled and his brown eyes crinkled in the corners. “I saw your car pull in. I can’t believe you’re still driving the old thing.” He shifted his weight. “Had lunch yet?”
Raina crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. She hadn’t forgotten, but it was much easier to blame him for the failure of their relationship.
“I’m not going to bite. And you always liked your food,” he said, hooking his thumbs on his jeans pocket.
“What can I do for you, detective?”
“How about a quick lunch where you tell me what happened on the night Holden Merritt died?”
“I gave my statement already.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I want to hear it for myself. Either we go over the statement here or we go over it while eating lunch. And you know how cranky we both get when we’re hungry.”
“I had lunch already.” Raina flushed as her traitorous stomach growled. She swatted at the hair clinging to her chin in an attempt to hide her burning cheeks. “What happened last night?” What a stupid question! Now it sounded like she’d obsessed over his no show.
“I’m sorry. I should have explained myself better.” His eyes clouded. “There was a five-car pileup outside of County
Road Twenty-seven. A car reeking of marijuana and a baby in the ditch.” His smile disappeared. “I just had to hold you for a second.”
Raina swallowed the lump forming in her throat. No good would come from this. He’d leave her again. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” She closed the door, leaning against it to take a deep breath.
Death and mayhem must have been regular bedfellows to Matthew all these years, and he wore it well outwardly. Raina wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and offer him comfort in the only way she knew how, just like she’d done for most of her life. He’d been the kid who hung around her family to escape his own, her friend, and later her first lover. This Matthew should be a stranger, but he wasn’t. Not where it counted.
She should let him in so he didn’t have to wait in the heat. Her gaze flicked around the piles in her apartment. She’d always been a piler: mail, books, or clothes. As long as it was stackable, she made little molehills around her living space. Matthew shouldn’t see this. His eyes would twitch and his fingers would curl from his desire to straightened things out. It was more torture than mercy to let him see her one trait that drove him crazy was still full sail ahead.
Raina stripped off her clothes and hurled herself into the shower. Fifteen minutes later, she was dressed in a linen purple top and tan shorts. Her hair was somewhat tamed by her French braid and she had on a smear of lipstick. The faded fingernail marks left by Gail on her forearms were covered with concealer. As long as there was no licking involved, he wouldn’t know whether she rinsed cleanly or not.
She stepped out the front door to find Matthew with his cell phone wedged between his shoulder and ear and his back to her. Should she make a noise to alert him of her presence?
“What does the toxicology report say?” he whispered.
The fact that he could be talking about Holden made Raina’s decision for her. She put her finger over the latch and closed the door. The lock slid home with a soft click.
