by Anne R. Tan
“So?”
“Holden only used a pen when necessary. He preferred a pencil. He liked to chew on them when he was thinking.” Raina grimaced in distaste. “Whatever happened to testing his pencils for the toxin?”
“A dead end there.”
“What else did you find in the safe?”
“Cash and a paternity test. The victim sent a sample to a private lab and it came back negative.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s not the father. And before you ask, it didn’t say who the mother was.”
Assuming the child in question was Cora’s nephew, Holden had continued to pay child support for the last two years even though he didn’t legally have to. If Cora’s family knew he wasn’t the child’s biological father, then there would be no motive for her to kill him.
“How much money is there?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
Raina’s eyes widened. Did she have a shot at getting her money back? “Where did he get all that money? And what happens to it now?”
“That’s for the judge to figure out.”
“I think the child in question might be Cora Campos’s nephew.”
Matthew studied her. “There is no court order on custody or child support on file.”
“Maybe it’s an informal arrangement.”
He nodded. “I’ll ask Joanna to have a chat with Cora.”
“No. Let me do it.” Raina gave him a cheeky smile. “After all, I’m your secret weapon. I think Cora would rather open up to me than an officer in a uniform.”
“You mean more like my dirty little secret.” He winked. “All right. But if things get dicey, you call me. If anything happens to you again…” He sighed. “I don’t know why I bother. You never listen to me.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”
His arm came around and pulled her closer. “I know.”
“You’re not your dad. You’re not going to become an abusive drunk.”
“How can you be so sure? It’s in me. The darkness. And I can’t risk having you around when I snap.”
Raina nestled closer, breathing in his citrus and sage scent. “You’re not going to snap.”
“I wish I could believe you.”
“Why don’t we find out together?”
Matthew shook his head. “I rather be alone for the rest of my life than risk it.”
She pulled away from him and folded her arms. “So what does that mean? We’re supposed to be friends with benefits for the rest of my life?”
He gave her a wounded look. “I…That’s not what I mean.”
Raina stood, gathering her purse and coffee. “Let me know when you figure it out. But do it soon. As my mom would say, my eggs are shriveling from the wait.” She limped to her car with a straight back even as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. Love shouldn’t be this complicated.
* * *
AFTER SHE DRIED HER EYES, Raina drove to the freshman dorms. It was time to see what Cora knew about the murder. Her shifty behavior inside the bookstore meant she either had something to hide or she knew something. Standing outside the three-story building, Raina pulled out her phone and pretended to talk next to the front door. When a student hurried inside, she piggybacked in, grabbing the handle before the door swing shut.
She walked through each floor, checking the names or notes left on the small bulletin boards outside each door. Most of the bulletin boards had lots of exclamation points, smiley faces, and glitter. Some even had toothy group photos. It had been a long time since Raina was a freshman, but youthful enthusiasm for life was the same no matter what the year on the calendar said.
On the third floor, Raina found a room with the initials CC and ST on it. Bingo! She knocked. There was a slight shuffle inside and the door opened. Cora’s eyes looked huge behind her thick glasses and she looked even more like a baby stork in her baggy T-shirt and tight shorts.
Cora licked her lips. “Hi, Raina. Did Olivia send you here for something?”
“What? Did you take something from the office?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t accuse me of making off with a stapler or something. She’s that petty.”
“I can see that, but she’s on Admin Leave.” Raina studied her face. “I’m here to talk to you about Holden.”
Cora took a step back so the door shielded her body. “I don’t know anything. I only started the student assistant position at the beginning of summer.”
Raina raised an eyebrow. “His son is your nephew. There’s a lot more you can tell me. Can I come in or do you want to have this conversation in the hall?”
“I don’t have to talk to you.”
“Did you kill Holden so your nephew could inherit his money?”
Cora blanched and swayed. Raina pushed her way into the room and reached out to steady her. She led the girl to one of the twin beds and closed the door. Her aggression had gotten the response she knew it would. Weak sunlight filtered through the sheers on the single window above the side-by-side desks.
Raina perched on the chair closest to Cora. “You killed him for nothing. Holden wasn’t the father.”
Cora stiffened. “I’ve no reason to want him dead.”
So she did know Holden wasn’t the child’s father. “Because he was worth more alive, paying child support to your family.”
“This is none of your business.”
“Aren’t you ashamed of your sister’s behavior?”
Cora glared at Raina, her eyes flashing with anger. “My sister is dead. From complications during the labor. She said Holden had raped her.”
Raina frowned. Holden was no rapist. Plenty of female students batted their lashes at him. “So your family took child support money that they weren’t entitled to?”
Cora hung her head, trying to hide her burning cheeks. “My parents need the money. They’re living off Social Security as it is. And Holden provided the health insurance for my nephew. The poor kid has a lot of medical problems. My sister didn’t take care of herself during pregnancy.”
“But what about welfare? Isn’t there some kind of state program that could help your family out?”
“I’m working on that now. Things were much easier when Holden was alive.”
“So who is the real father?” Raina asked.
Cora shrugged. “I found out later Holden didn’t rape my sister. He was in a conference in another city at the time.”
Did he view his child support as charity? Or was there more to the story? Raina understood why Cora’s family kept taking Holden’s money. It was easy and the money came at regular intervals. She hoped she would have the strength to make a different choice if she was ever in a similar situation. “Do you need help? I have a friend who works for a non-profit that helps people with the paperwork for government programs.”
Cora brightened. “That would be wonderful. I’m in over my head and my parents speak limited English.”
“I’ll give my friend a call and get back to you.” Raina bit her lip. Should she press on with her questions? “The few times I’d seen you and Holden together, he seemed nice to you.”
“He was a nice man and didn’t deserve to die,” Cora mumbled. “I don’t why he paid for my nephew, but I knew he felt sorry for him.”
“Then help me out. I’m trying to figure out how he was poisoned. He seemed fine at the fundraiser meeting. I heard he threw up when the two of you went to pick up lunch afterwards.”
“He looked kind of pale when we left, but he wanted to help. I was picking up lunch for the entire department so I could use an extra set of hands.”
Raina cocked her head. A tingling started at the back of her neck. Cora had just confirmed that Holden had been poisoned prior to lunch, which meant the poison was in the coffee. He didn’t look well when he’d confronted her by the vending machines, but she thought it was nerves at the time. “Do you regularly pick up coffee and lunch for everyone?”
Cora shook her head. “The Dean was questioning the staff about something that week. Olivia thought it would boost moral to provide coffee and lunch.”
“I’m assuming Gail called in the order. And you get the food from someone at the Eatery.”
Cora nodded reluctantly.
“You didn’t get the food orders from someone,” Raina said slowly.
“The coffee was already sitting on the counter when I showed up. I checked to make sure it had everyone’s drink on the tray. I saw the barista on the way out. He was carrying several cartons of milk back to the coffee bar.”
“So they didn’t just order regular coffee?”
Cora snorted. “Everyone had a frou-frou drink. It seems to be a requirement if you want to work there. Same with lunch. Hold the sour cream, extra cheese, no rice. Geez, you would think I was picking up food for Hollywood divas.”
Raina smiled, pretending to be amused. The murderer must have known the coffee and lunch would come from the Eatery on campus. The killer must be someone in the department. And the person only had to wait for an opportunity to add the poison to Holden’s coffee. No one would even raise an eyebrow if someone grabbed the “wrong” drink by accident and then returned the doctored coffee to the tray afterward.
“Did he ever ask you to spy on Olivia?” Raina asked.
Cora picked at an unraveling seam on her bed. “No.”
Raina glanced at the girl’s hand working on the floral bedspread. Careful. The girl was clamming up again. “I’m sure you heard things, working so closely with Olivia. Was there something he seemed particularly interested in? Or someone?”
Cora glanced at the clock on her desk. “I’m going to be late for class. There’s nothing else I can tell you.”
Raina followed Cora out and made small talk about summer classes as she walked beside the girl. There were no classes the week before school starts. Cora gripped her backpack and looked as if she was deep in thought as she trudged down the stairs.
Once outside, Raina said, “I’ll be in touch with my friend’s contact info. I’m sure she would be able to help you with the paperwork for your nephew.”
Cora twisted the hem of her shirt on a finger, staring at her shoes. “There’s nothing I can say that’ll… make things worse for him.”
“Not at this point.”
Cora took a deep breath and looked up. “Andrew.”
“Why was Holden interested in Andrew?”
Cora shook her head.
“What kind of things did you hear?”
“Just normal stuff. Like where he last worked. Makes no sense to me.” Cora shrugged. “The Dean is his wife’s godfather.”
Raina thanked the girl for her time and headed back to her car. Did Holden think Andrew could be a threat to his position? Or was he worried Andrew might be helping the Dean investigate the missing grant funds? It made no sense to her either.
19
SHIFTING CURRENTS
Raina peered into the Venus Café through a front window. The low hum of steady conversations was as lulling as the delectable baked goods on display. The aromatic coffee wafting outside through the cracks in the door already dulled her caffeine headache.
Eden stared out the side window with a chin propped on one hand. The other hand swirled the spoon in the mug in front of her. Po Po was nowhere in sight.
Not that Raina had expected her grandma to show up for lunch when she’d received the text half an hour ago. She limped over and sat across from her friend. “Let me guess. Po Po had a last minute appointment. And she forgot her cell phone, so you had to stay to let me know.”
“That’s about sums it up.” Eden took a sip of her coffee. “But you forgot the ‘you girls have fun without me’ part.”
Raina grimaced. “Sounds just like the blind dates she used to set up for me.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Eden’s lips. “I ordered your usual.”
“Thanks.”
Raina pretended to study the nearest painted Venus on the wall while sneaking sideways glances at Eden. Her friend returned to gazing out the window. It wasn’t until Brenda slid an iced coffee in front of Raina that she realized she’d been staring at a berry branch strategically placed at chest level across the naked nymph. These painted ladies had a sizzling love life compared to her frostbitten one. Go figure.
She cleared her throat. “Sol is threatening to press charges against me.”
Brenda slid two plates on the table. “Do you want dessert later? We’re starting our seasonal menu early this year. Pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes and homemade pumpkin caramel ice cream.”
Eden glanced at her tuna sandwich with gooey cheese dipping out the sides. She made a face and shook her head.
Raina drizzled balsamic vinaigrette in into her Fiji apple salad. “Sure. The cupcake sounds good.”
They ate in silence for several minutes. Raina picked at her salad, pushing the spinach around. Eden ate with gusto, licking the cheese off her fingers.
Raina leaned back on her chair. “Well?”
“I think he’s using it as a ploy to get you to talk to him.”
Brenda returned with the pumpkin cheesecake cupcake. A whiff of nutmeg hit Raina's nose and she managed to grin in anticipation. Eden brightened as she eyed the gleaming drop of creamy cheesecake on top of the cake.
“My day is bad enough without skipping dessert,” Eden muttered.
Before she could open her mouth to ask, Brenda smirked and revealed another plate with a cupcake hidden behind her back.
Eden flipped her silky hair behind a shoulder. “I can't have Raina feel bad about eating dessert in front of me.”
“Tell yourself what lies you need, girl.” Brenda sashayed to another table.
Eden raised an eyebrow and inhaled her cupcake. “You need to talk to Sol.”
“He’s in a holding cell. Matthew wouldn’t let me see him. I could talk to him tomorrow when they have to release him. I’m sure he won’t be charged with anything,” Raina said.
“Let me call Joanna Hopper. She might be able to help us.” Eden got up and strolled over to the fireplace with her cell phone glued to her ear.
Raina pulled out Holden’s tablet. It asked for a lock code. She held her breath and tapped in her birthday. The lock screen disappeared. She jammed her iced coffee in her mouth with shaking hands. Why did Holden use her birthday for his safe and tablet? If he cared so much about her, then why did he disappear after a two-word text saying “We’re done.”
She was more confused now about their relationship than when he was alive. At least she knew where she stood a few days ago, but now the current was shifting too rapidly for her to know top from bottom.
Eden slipped into her chair. “When did you get a tablet?”
Raina stuffed the tablet back into her purse. “What did Officer Hopper have to say?”
“Joanna is on the late shift tonight. We can stop by around eleven.” Eden twisted her napkin. “I don’t know what to say when I see him.”
Raina could think of plenty of things to say, none of which was flattering. “Maybe I should just talk to Sol one on one.” While they weren’t arguing anymore, she still wasn’t sure she could completely trust Eden’s motives.
During the short drive to campus, Raina replayed her lunch with Eden. How could her friend let a greasy person like Sol touch her without cringing? Story or no story. Yuck. But that was her friend’s business. However, Eden crossed a line when she decided to tell Officer Hopper about her relationship with Holden. She could try to justify it all she wanted, but she still told a confidence that wasn’t hers to tell. Raina didn’t know what to do about it at the moment.
Her bruised knee ached, but she managed to scurry under one tree canopy to the next. When she opened the main door of the history building, a cool blast of air lifted the strands of curls around her face. Raina waved to two other graduate students talking next to the receptionist desk, but Gail was nowhere in sight.
Raina whipped her head left and right, scanned the hallway, and ducked into the office. She pushed the door partially closed to block the view into the room from the hallway. Closing the door completely would have been too suspicious. A glance at the desk clock showed she had ten minutes before the meeting started. She had to hurry before someone noticed the door.
The filing cabinet behind the desk was locked. The drawers on the desk didn’t reveal much. A Sierra Club newsletter, a coupon for a downtown beauty parlor, and a slip of paper with ‘N.M. 752-2900’ on it. Could this be Natalie’s phone number? She pocketed the paper. In the last drawer, she found a key that might fit the locked cabinet.
Her thumping heart kept pace with the ticking clock. Four minutes had passed. Someone eventually would notice the partially closed door. The serenity of the Lake Tahoe poster on the wall mocked the tension in her body.
Raina inserted the key into the filing cabinet. Bingo! She fingercombed through the files as she read the names on the tabs. A blank tab was wedged between the thick files of “Undergrad Requirements” and “Welcome Week.” She pulled out the file and rifled through the contents. Why would Olivia have a file on Andrew Rollinger? Resume, job application, and newspaper clippings. Nothing out of the ordinary, except there weren’t any files of the other staff in the locked cabinet.
Heels clicked outside in the hallway, each step louder than the one before. Raina’s hands turned clammy and a bead of sweat rolled down her back. In one swift move, she shoved the file back in and locked the cabinet. She pocketed the key and rifled noisily through the files in the inbox of the desk.
“Now where did she put the list?” Raina sighed, hoping her pretense at frustration sounded natural.
Someone tapped on the door. The door swung open. Gail frowned, her unplucked eyebrows in a tight V across her forehead. “Hello?”
