Murder Under Cover

by Kate Carlisle

  Despite Austin glowering at me occasionally, I was happy to be here for so many reasons, but especially because there was so much food. I didn’t remember starving myself lately, but I was scarfing down food like I hadn’t had a meal in weeks.

  Mom insisted on clearing the dishes by herself, so the rest of us pretended to relax on the terrace, enjoying the sunshine and the views.

  It was Dad who finally got the ball rolling. “Don’t you kids have some things to talk about?”

  “Yes, we do,” I said.

  Dad nodded and pushed himself out of his chair. “I’ll go help Becky in the kitchen.”

  Robin met my gaze. “Do we?”

  Austin scowled again.

  “What is up with you two?” I said irately. “We just have a few questions. It’s no big deal.”

  Robin swallowed a sip of wine. “Right.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Austin said when she reached out and clutched his hand.

  “Austin, enough,” I said. “She does have to talk about it and she knows it.” I turned to Robin. “What is wrong with you?”

  She straightened her back and said in a quiet voice, “I just don’t want to think about Alex anymore. I was hoping I could use this time away from the city to try to put the entire ugly experience behind me. I need to do that if I ever want to be whole again.”

  I grabbed her free hand. “Please believe me: I want you to be whole, too. I want that for you more than anything in the world.”

  Stiffly, she nodded her gratitude.

  “But unfortunately,” I said, trying to keep my tone even, “you left town, and the ghost of your dear Alex is now haunting me. And I’m sorry, but that’s partly your responsibility, Robin. If you truly want closure, the least you can do is answer a few questions.”

  She pulled her hand away. “Well, aren’t you the queen of compassion?”

  “No,” I countered, “I’m the queen of big messes dumped in my lap by other people.”

  “Now, just a minute,” Robin said, her old fire rearing its head.

  “No, you wait a minute,” I snapped. “I love you, but there’s a huge crap storm raining down on me, and I need your help to make it go away.”

  Robin frowned, but she didn’t argue.

  “Hell, Brooklyn,” Austin began.

  I held up my hand to stop him. “I don’t need this from you, Austin.”

  “Leave him out of this,” Robin said.

  “Jeez Louise, will you two give me a break?” I jumped up from my chair and paced back and forth in front of her. “Austin, you can just butt out.”

  He looked astonished but said nothing, so I kept going. “All of a sudden you’re Robin’s white knight? Where was this devotion a month ago?”

  “Hold on there,” he argued, while Robin looked at him thoughtfully.

  “No,” I said, then reconsidered. “Sorry. I apologize. That has nothing to do with why we came here. We’re here because we need to figure out what’s going on if we ever want it to stop.”

  He didn’t look happy, but at least he was quiet, so I turned to my friend. “Now, please, for God’s sake, Robin, all we want to know is, where did you park your damn car the night you stopped at Kasa?”

  She was taken aback at that. Frowning, she said, “That’s all?”

  I didn’t meet her gaze. “There might be another question or two, but let’s start with that one.”

  She stared out at the hills, thinking, then looked back at me. “I parked on the street, directly in front of the restaurant. On Eighteenth. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Could you see the car while you were inside Kasa dining with Alex?”

  “Yes.” She glared at me. “You’ve been to Kasa. The whole front wall is windows. So, yeah, I could see my car the whole time. Why?”

  Derek took over seamlessly. “We believe the people who killed Alex are looking for something that was planted in the book your mother gave you to bring to Brooklyn.”

  “The Kama Sutra?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked from Derek to me. “Is that the flash drive you were talking about?”

  “Yes,” Derek said. “It’s not a regular flash drive, but a very tiny one, the latest technology. And it’s said to have highly sensitive information on it.”

  She tipped her head to one side and gave him a skeptical smile. “Sounds like a spy novel.”

  “Doesn’t it?” Derek said lightly. “I assume you left the book in your car when you stopped at Kasa.”

  “I did.”

  “And it’s obvious that no one broke into your car or tampered with it, because you would’ve seen them.”

  “Right.”

  “Okay. Very good.” Derek changed the subject. “Now, when you were visiting your mother in Varanasi, did you meet the friend who owns the book?”

  “Rajiv?” She sat back in her chair and folded her hands. “He wasn’t there on this trip, but I’ve met him a few times before. My mother said he’d gone to New Delhi to visit one of his daughters.”

  “Can you tell me about him?” Derek asked.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Let’s start with his name.”

  “Rajiv Mizra. Shiva’s known him for years.” Her lips thinned stubbornly. “He’s a perfectly nice, normal guy. Not a spy, okay?”

  Derek waved his hand nonchalantly. “Of course not.”

  But a subtle look passed between him and Gabriel, who’d been sitting on the periphery, gazing at the view, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. After a moment, though, Gabriel pulled out his phone and checked the screen, then texted something. Was he checking out Rajiv Mizra as we spoke?

  “Rajiv is Indian?” Derek asked.

  Robin nodded. “Yes. I think he said he was from Mumbai originally. I guess it was Bombay back then.”

  “Tell me about him,” Derek said, then spelled out what he meant. “Is he young? Old? Conservative? Religious? Is he a wealthy man? Smart? What were your impressions of him?”

  Robin seemed to relax a little. “He’s middle-aged, I guess. Probably around fifty, like Shiva. He’s smart, politically involved. I have a feeling he’s been in love with her for years.”

  “And when you say ‘politically involved,’ do you mean he’s part of the government?”

  “No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s just a big talker, likes to rant about the politicians and government waste, like we all do, I guess. He loves movies and drags Shiva off to the cinema all the time. She acts like it’s such a chore, but I think she enjoys it, too. He’s not married but I guess he has a few children.”

  “Is his wife dead?”

  “I have no idea, but I’ve never heard Shiva talk about his having a wife.”

  Derek pondered that for a moment. “Does he have money? Is he attractive?”

  “He’s very wealthy, which is probably why my mother is friends with him. And yes, he’s handsome, too, even for someone his age.”

  Derek nodded. “Was the Kama Sutra ever out of your possession during your trip home?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “We had a three-hour layover in London and I carried it with me at all times. If you’ve seen it, you know it’s priceless. I couldn’t let it leave my sight. If nothing else, Brooklyn would’ve killed me if it were stolen.”

  I smiled. “What about on the plane? Did you leave your seat at any time?”

  “I went to the restroom a few times, but there’s no way anyone could’ve tampered with my stuff and gotten away with it.” She seemed to relax even more as she spoke, and now she showed a hint of a smile. “There were two women sitting next to me who would’ve gone berserk if that happened. They were, you know, yentas.”

  Derek flashed me a look.

  I grinned. “Yenta. It’s Yiddish, I think. It means ‘busybody.’ ”

  “Dad used to call Mom a yenta,” Austin said, and awarded me a crooked smile.

  “Right,” I said, enjoying the
fact that Austin might be letting go of his anger. “Because she was.”

  “Still is.”

  It wasn’t much, but I took the brief exchange to mean that Austin’s feelings were thawing out.

  Robin stared at her fingernails, then gazed up at Derek. “Is my mother in danger?”

  Derek reached over and gave her arm a consoling squeeze. “I don’t see why she would be. But I’ve alerted my people to check on her, if you don’t mind.”

  “No, I don’t mind,” she said, sounding relieved. “Thank you. She’s a pain in the butt, but she’s mine, you know?”

  “Anyone for dessert?” Mom called from the kitchen door.

  “Can we get it to go?” I asked.

  “Oh, my goodness!” Mom cried out in shock. “Oh, my goodness!”

  “What is it, Becky?” Dad called from somewhere on the other side of the house.

  Austin stood, ready for anything. “Mom, what’s going on?”

  Derek whipped around. Gabriel looked ready to pull a gun from his pocket.

  “The most wonderful surprise,” Mom gushed as she pulled open the screen of the sliding glass door. “Robin will be so thrilled.”

  “We are all delighted,” Guru Bob announced as he walked out to the terrace, arm in arm with a tall, beautiful, dark-haired woman.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered.

  Robin’s mouth fell open. “Mom?”

  “It’s simple really,” Shiva said, once everyone had hugged and greeted her. She gripped Robin’s hand as we all moved inside to the living room. “While you were visiting, I was reminded of everything I love here at home. Then, after you left, I missed you so much. I decided it was time to take a trip back to Dharma.”

  “We have missed you as well, gracious,” Guru Bob said. “You have been away too long.”

  “Thank you, Robson,” she said, smiling sweetly for her teacher and guru. “It has been such a long time. And yet, now that I’m here, it feels as though I never left.”

  “That is the nature of true friendship,” he said.

  She touched her jawline. “Sadly, I’ve grown into an old woman in the interim.”

  Guru Bob chuckled. “That is simply not true.”

  “Thank you, my friend, but I’m feeling my age more and more every day.”

  “Don’t be silly, Shiva,” my mom said as she handed her a cup of tea. “You look absolutely beautiful. Not a day older than the last time we saw you, which must be what? Ten years? Good heavens.”

  “You’re sweet, Becky. You look wonderful, too. That gold does lovely things for your complexion.”

  “Thanks.” Mom smiled with pleasure as she gazed down at the wavy gold tie-dyed mandala in the center of the apron she’d sewn and dyed by hand.

  “I have a dress those very colors and it makes me feel so happy when I wear it.” Shiva’s eyes grew soft. “It’s a gold silk sari I bought in the Punjab. Now, that was an adventure. Someday I’ll share the story with you all.”

  “But it’s so weird, Mom,” Robin said, still awestruck by her mother’s sudden appearance. “We were just talking about you.”

  “No wonder my ears were burning,” Shiva joked. “Why were you talking about me?”

  “It’s a long story,” Robin murmured. She waited until Shiva was seated on one of my mom’s antique lyre-back chairs; then she sat down on the couch. Austin joined her there with a beer in hand.

  “Does anyone else need something to drink?” Mom asked, holding a teapot and two cups.

  “Thank you, Rebecca.” Guru Bob took one of the cups and sat down on another of the lyre-back chairs that faced the couch. I chose the recliner, while Dad leaned against the mantel over the fireplace. Derek and Gabriel had remained outside on the terrace, and I couldn’t help but wish I were out there listening to their conversation.

  I tried not to stare, but Shiva’s beauty was almost mesmerizing. Everyone in Dharma had always loved her, and I could see why. I don’t think she’d been back in almost ten years, and I knew she had to be in her fifties, but she looked as young and beautiful as I remembered her from when I was growing up.

  She had a star quality that drew all eyes to her, and she showed an avid interest in the people she met. It was no wonder she’d attracted the attention of everyone from the Beatles to the current United Nations secretary, who had recently asked her to serve as one of his goodwill ambassadors for human rights.

  Today she wore all black, turtleneck, pants, and boots, with a colorful turquoise scarf wrapped casually around her neck. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail.

  Looking from Shiva to Robin, I realized that Robin was just as beautiful as her mother, but she lacked the drama. Thank God.

  “It’s such a weird story,” Robin was saying, “but Derek thinks someone’s after the Kama Sutra you gave me, the one you wanted Brooklyn to fix.”

  “I don’t understand. Someone tried to steal it?”

  “Not exactly,” I said, and gave Shiva the abridged version of everything that had happened since Robin returned from India. I glossed over the grislier details of Alex’s death and was gratified when Robin smiled at me for doing so. Maybe she was coming back around.

  While I spoke, Derek and Gabriel walked into the room and stood casually on either side of my recliner.

  Shiva was visibly shaken by my story. “You think my friend Rajiv hid this thing, this… microchip? Inside the book?”

  “It’s actually a tiny flash drive,” I explained, then confessed, “We don’t know for sure whether it’s in the book or not.”

  Derek sat on the arm of my chair. “It may have been passed to Robin without her knowledge sometime during her flight home from India.”

  He met my glance and smiled tightly. I knew he’d said that to mollify Shiva’s fears, but I could tell he still didn’t believe it.

  “You know, that happened to me once,” Shiva said. “It was on a missionary flight to feed the refugees along the Uganda border. I was in the Entebbe airport, and frankly, I was so worried about Robin at the time that I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.” She reached over to clutch Robin’s hand. “You had the measles, love. What a nightmare I went through, worrying about you while being too far away to do anything about it.”

  “I don’t remember ever having the measles,” Robin said, shaking her head.

  “Oh, dear, maybe it was the mumps,” Shiva said, and a frown marred her unlined forehead. “I’m getting so forgetful in my old age. My point is, I was in such a state that someone was able to slip a small parcel of drugs into my tote bag and I was arrested. I was completely innocent, of course. The State Department and the United Nations had to intervene.”

  “That’s terrible, Shiva,” my mom said. “We never heard about it back here.”

  “No, it was kept very quiet,” she said, sipping her tea. “I had just started working with the U.N., and nobody wanted an international incident to erupt.”

  “That was good of them to clear it up quickly,” Dad said.

  “Yes, I would’ve hated to be stuck in a jail cell when Robin was suffering so badly.” She gazed fondly at Robin. “It was the mumps. I remember you describing your chipmunk cheeks to me over the phone.”

  “Anyway, that’s why I’m in Dharma, Mom,” Robin said wearily. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, she added, “Brooklyn sugarcoated it on my account, but the truth is, that man was shot in the head and the chest. It happened in my bedroom. There was blood everywhere. Then, two days later, I was viciously attacked on the street.”

  “What?” Shiva’s frantic gaze whipped around from Derek to Austin to Gabriel to me. “No. Who did this?”

  I watched Robin as Shiva freaked out over that brief but macabre description of the murder scene. Robin wouldn’t meet my gaze. I knew something was going on with her.

  “The police are on the case,” Derek said. “But in the meantime, we thought it best for Robin to leave the city.”

  “We’ll find out w
ho did it,” I said with resolve. “And we’ll find that flash drive, too. I’m tired of having my door broken down.”

  “Oh, my heavens,” Shiva said, her normally smooth forehead creased with worry. “But this has nothing to do with Rajiv, I assure you. He is a dear friend and would never hurt me this way. I… I’ll speak to him as soon as possible about this flash drive.”

  “It would be helpful if you could,” Derek said. “The sooner we get some answers, the sooner Robin will be out of danger.”

  Shiva’s frown disappeared slowly and a shrewd smile took its place. “Well, then, isn’t it convenient that Rajiv will be joining me in San Francisco in a few days?”

  “Convenient indeed,” Gabriel mused under his breath.

  “Isn’t it?” she asked, her eyes wide and clear and focused exclusively on Gabriel. “He insists he couldn’t bear my absence from Varanasi for more than a few days, so he’s flying out to meet me in San Francisco. I’ve promised him a trip down the coast after a few days in the city.”

  “Sounds like a delightful trip,” Gabriel murmured, his gaze never leaving hers.

  Shiva laughed, a pure, joyful sound. Was it Gabriel’s attentions that made her so happy? I couldn’t blame her for that. “Yes, it should be fun. But first things first. I’ll arrange a meeting with all of you and Rajiv and you’ll see that he’s innocent. Will next Saturday be soon enough?”

  I looked up at Derek. “Is that soon enough?”

  “It’s perfect,” Derek murmured as one eyebrow arched cynically. “Please convey our thanks to him for obliging us.”

  Chapter 13

  I wasn’t proud of it, but while cleaning up in the kitchen, I noticed Robin heading toward the bathroom. So I followed her. We met at the bathroom door. “I’m going in there with you.”

  “That’s just weird, Brooklyn.”

  “I want to talk to you.”