by Vivien Chien
“Why must you come here and insult us every time you visit?” my mother asked. Her face was turning red, and I knew she was ready to explode. “We are a good family, and we are happy with things the way they are.”
My grandmother asked what was going on and my aunt quickly responded. However, my mother was not entirely happy with the response she gave and started talking over my aunt Grace, assumedly in defense of herself.
My sister put her head in her hands. “I just want to eat and go already. This is a nightmare.” She said it out of the corner of her mouth so only I could hear. “And here I thought we were going to make it out of this one without an argument.”
So much for my great idea of changing the subject. Who knew that the Poconos could be so controversial?
With quiet reserve, my grandmother spoke, and most of what she said was lost on me, but I did catch something about the value of family and appreciating people while they were still around. I imagined it was something similar to what my mother often told my sister and me.
After my grandmother’s lecture, both women remained silent and focused on their food. The rest of us did the same.
Needless to say, the rest of dim sum was awkward, and I was anxious for the check to arrive. When it did, it was paid quickly and we all rose to leave. The four of them had driven together, and I couldn’t imagine the tension the car would be filled with and was immediately thankful that I had driven alone.
My sister and I separated from the group as we went out into the parking lot.
“Another awkward family gathering for the books,” Anna May said, digging for her keys. “I don’t know how many more of these I can take.”
“Promise me something.”
Anna May huffed. “I’m not buying you a Mercedes, Lana.”
“No, not that. Promise me that when we have families and we get together, no matter how much we can’t stand each other, we’ll always get along for their sake.”
My sister contemplated my request for a minute, and then nodded in agreement, extending her hand. “Okay, deal.”
I took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “And yes, you are buying me that Mercedes.”
* * *
Because dim sum had been so mentally draining, I thought I’d return home and lie on the couch with a cup of coffee to relax. It had been a while since I’d had a lazy afternoon with a good book. But instead I found myself sitting outside of Ruby’s house. I needed to talk with her and I didn’t want to delay it any longer than I had to. I needed to figure out what she knew, if anything. And I also needed to make a decision about what to tell Adam in regard to Gene and his not entirely veiled threats.
I wasn’t sure Ruby would be home since I hadn’t bothered to call, but it was worth a shot and I had nowhere in particular to be.
I rang the doorbell and stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for someone to answer. There was no awning on their front steps and the early afternoon sun was shining down on me.
Finally, I heard the lock turning and the door slowly opened. Ruby peeked her head out before fully opening the door. “Oh hello, Lana, I am surprised to see you. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Could I talk to you about something if you’re not busy?” I asked.
She opened the screen door, inviting me in. “No, I’m not busy. I am working on some jewelry, but it is nothing I can’t do while talking with you. My husband is out so you can keep me company.”
I stepped into the air-conditioned home, my arms covering with goosebumps. “I won’t take up much of your time, I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
She shut the door behind me, and gestured for me to follow her into the sitting area. “Would you like something to drink?”
“I’m okay right now, thank you.”
“Have a seat.”
I returned to the chair I had sat in during my previous visit.
The TV was on and a repeat of CSI:NY was playing. She turned the volume down before sitting down on the couch. “What can I help you with? How did your aunt like her new earrings? I meant to ask you the other night and it slipped my mind.”
“Huh? Oh, I haven’t given them to her yet,” I said, completely forgetting I had gotten my aunt earrings to begin with.
“Well, do let me know how she likes them. I am always happy to hear when a customer is satisfied.”
“I will. So … do you remember the other evening at the night market, you said we should try and help Sandra any way that we can?”
She nodded. “Yes, I do. Is that why you’ve come by?”
“Well, I may know who could have actually killed Ronnie.”
Her eyes widened. “Please, tell me who.”
“It’s been right in front of our faces this entire time.” I paused, taking a deep breath. She was either going to agree with me or assume I was a total basket case. “I believe … it was Sandra’s brother, Gene.” I took another pause to gauge her reaction, but there was none, so I continued. “I think maybe he and Winston could have done it together. You were right to send me in his direction.”
She inhaled deeply and nodded in a slow, rhythmic motion as if she were processing the information with each bob of her head. “I see.”
I thought I should justify my thinking. “It makes the most sense. They both had a plausible reason to want Ronnie out of the picture.”
I told her about my encounter with Gene, the food truck situation, and things that didn’t add up. When I was finished with everything I had to say, I let out an exaggerated sigh. “So, do you think I’m completely crazy? I know it’s possible that I’m off base with this whole thing. But it just seems right.”
“No, I don’t think you’re crazy at all, Lana,” she said, shaking her head. “I believe you have thought this through and it is clear to me that you want to help Sandra just as much as I do. But I have known Gene for many years, and this situation does not seem likely to me. Though he can be a rough man at times, I don’t see him doing anything to hurt Sandra’s husband in such a way. You must be one hundred percent sure that her brother is involved. If you are wrong, this could make things worse.”
“That’s true,” I said.
She smiled gently and rose from the couch. “If you would excuse me, I think I’ll make some tea. Are you sure that you wouldn’t like something to drink?”
I shook my head and she disappeared into the kitchen.
While she was gone, I thought about what she’d said, how unlikely Gene’s involvement was, and how if I was wrong, it could create more issues for Sandra. I knew this was a delicate subject, and I needed to tread lightly and, most importantly, be a hundred percent sure I knew what I was talking about. There was still a lot I didn’t know about Gene, and was it fair for me to assume the worst about someone I hardly knew even if some of the pieces did conveniently fit together?
Well, really, it was a double-edged sword. Either way it would cause issues for Sandra. I mean, how horrible would it be if your own brother killed your husband and put your life in danger as well. Not only did it turn out that she was being accused of the murder, but she could also have been in the truck. How could he have guaranteed that she wouldn’t be anywhere near the blast if he’d already left the area? Something about that seemed off to me, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on it.
In the event it was her brother, and despite the turmoil it would cause in their family dynamic, it didn’t give him a right to go unconfronted and get away with murder. Or for his own sister to take the fall.
I still had a lot of thinking to do. Maybe my visit to Ruby was a little premature after all.
When she returned to the living room, she appeared a little preoccupied and sat down without acknowledging me. I wondered what was going on in her head. Maybe she did think I was a little crazy after giving it some thought.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said finally. “The information you’ve found is really good, but you should look deeper into Winston acting alone. I have a
strong feeling that he is the one behind all of this. As you said, his truck was conveniently damaged. Perhaps he damaged the truck himself to create an alibi? That would be a possibility, yes?”
I tapped the arm of the chair with my index finger, re-creating the scenario of events for the hundredth time in my head. “I suppose it’s possible. It would also give him the perfect opportunity to use Gene as his witness. Maybe that’s Gene’s only involvement.”
Ruby nodded her head in affirmation. “Yes, this all makes much more sense. Though Winston was not at the night market this past Friday, he could have easily planted another bomb in an attempt to take suspicion away from him.”
She was right about that. And it would explain the crude construction of the bomb. Someone like Gene or Calvin would have more experience and could have produced something a little more sophisticated. Maybe I had misinterpreted what Gene was saying and he hadn’t actually been threatening me. It was possible he’d been telling me to be safe.
“You’re right, I should look into Winston a little bit more. There must be something that I’m missing.” I wasn’t going to tell her that I still had my sights on Gene as well. I knew she didn’t want me to suspect him because he was Sandra’s brother and this would cause her more pain, but I wasn’t going to let him completely off the hook just yet either.
The front door opened, and a small Asian man walked in. He was thin with a full head of floppy hair, and wearing aviator glasses that were too large for his face. His khaki pants and a white button-down shirt were also too big for him. He looked surprised to see me and froze in the entryway.
“Oh hello,” he said, bowing his head in short bursts. “I did not realize we had company.”
“I was just leaving,” I said, standing up from the chair. “I’m Lana Lee, Betty’s daughter.”
He turned to Ruby and cocked his head.
She let out a laugh. “Oh no, Lana, this is my second husband, Don. He never met your mother.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for the mistake. It’s nice to meet you, Don,” I said.
“You as well.” He bowed his head in short bursts again. “Please excuse me, I must use the restroom.” He scurried through the living room, and I waved a good-bye, but he was already gone.
I headed for the door, Ruby a few steps behind me.
“Thanks for taking some time to talk with me today, I really appreciate it. I’m going to take your advice and see what else I can come up with.”
“I wish you much luck, Lana,” she said, standing near the door. “Perhaps you can tell your boyfriend about this as well. I’m sure he can help find information on Winston’s past.”
As I got into my car, I groaned in frustration. I felt like I was on a merry-go-round that would not stop.
CHAPTER
25
“Why would she assume that this guy Winston even has a past to begin with?” Megan asked, after I filled her in on my visit with Ruby.
I’d only been home for fifteen minutes, but the moment I walked in the door, I accosted Megan with my news hoping she could help me suss it out.
I rolled my neck, trying to release some of the tension that had accumulated throughout the day. My neck and shoulders felt stiff and I sensed the beginnings of a headache coming on. “I don’t know, but she’s definitely got a feeling about this guy. She brings him up quite a bit. I can’t help but think she knows more than she’s telling.”
Megan already had her laptop on. She’d been shopping online when I walked through the door. Kikko was sprawled on the living room carpet gnawing on her bone, too busy to be bothered with what we were doing.
She tapped a few keys. “Why don’t we look into him a little more then? Have you yet?”
“Nope, it kind of slipped my mind. I’ve been meaning to.” I got up from my seat and went to the coffeemaker to brew a fresh pot. “But I really thought it was Gene this whole time. Now I’m not entirely sure anymore.”
“Why? Just because this lady Ruby said so?” Megan asked. “Just because she doesn’t want Gene to have any involvement with what happened, doesn’t make him innocent. I know it makes everything a little more awful for Sandra, but it might just be the ugly truth.”
I pulled a fresh filter out of the cupboard, measured out some coffee and set the pot to brew. “No, it’s not just that. It’s the more I think about it … well, okay, why would he risk accidentally blowing up his sister in the process? There’s no way that he would know where she’d be at the time of the explosion. He was in a huge rush to get out of there, and it’s not like he tried to make her come with him. All he was concerned about was him and Calvin getting away.”
Megan was studying the computer screen. “Unless we go back to the idea that Sandra was in on it and she knew that it was going to happen so she made sure to be nowhere near the truck.”
“That doesn’t feel right either. I don’t see Sandra being a part of this. She could have left her husband and she chose not to. Also, why would she stay close enough to the truck to get injured?”
“We’ve had this argument already, Lana. She could have easily decided this was the only way out. Plus, you thought you saw Gene at the night market shortly before the second explosion. He could have been planting the bomb to clear his sister’s name. As far as her getting hurt in the process, maybe that was so it would look more believable.”
“I know, but we both agree that I’m not entirely sure that I saw him. You were the one who said that my mind could have been playing tricks on me, remember?”
“Whoa,” Megan said, leaning in closer to the laptop screen. “Check this out.”
I crouched behind her so my face was level with the screen and read where she pointed. “Domestic dispute…” I skimmed over the condensed information that the county public record page showed. “There are a couple of these on here.”
“Yeah, and one of them is only a year and a half ago. Seems Winston got handsy with his wife? For some reason, it never occurred to me that he was married. I don’t remember him wearing a ring, do you?”
“I’m not sure, I wasn’t paying attention to that. Can I navigate for a minute?” I asked. She released her hand from the mouse, and I took over, selecting another option. “Divorce records…” I hovered the cursor over the line I read. “Shortly after the last domestic dispute charge.”
“Well, that answers the married question. Okay … so these two men … Ronnie and Winston … they both have a heavy hand,” Megan said, anger evident in her voice. “Do you think that whoever went after Ronnie is the one who tried to go after Winston? Someone trying to seek justice?”
“We’re going on the assumption that Winston is the guilty party though,” I reminded her. “This could just be a coincidence. There has to be another angle here.”
“Yeah, but that’s not what we’re finding. So far it looks like someone really is going after him too.”
“Or that could be the way he wants it to look,” I suggested. “If it seemed like he was being targeted next, the police wouldn’t look into him as a suspect.”
“Do you think he cut his own fuel lines after all?” Megan asked. “I know you said it didn’t really matter which one of them cut the fuel lines because it gave them all an alibi, but maybe it does matter. Especially if we’re considering that Winston was acting alone.”
“It’s very possible.” I took a sip of my coffee and pondered the idea. “But again, we have no way of knowing for sure who did what and when. And maybe you’re right and I’m letting what Ruby said get to me. My original thought was that Gene has some type of involvement in this whole thing. If we take him out of the equation completely, does it make as much sense? Especially with the way he was behaving when we saw him at the auto shop. What do you do when everyone is covering for one another?”
“I don’t know. It all seems too thin to me,” Megan said, picking up the coffee mug I had placed on the table for her. “This is the most indecisive you’ve been in a long time. You don’t sound sure
of yourself at all.”
I smirked. “That’s because I’m not.”
“I feel like all I’m doing is saying, ‘now what?’” She sighed. “But I’ll ask again…”
“Tomorrow’s Monday. I think the best next step is to have another go at the Mahjong Matrons.”
“But they didn’t have anything useful to offer the other times you talked with them. What’s going to make this time any different?”
“This time, I know what questions I need to ask.”
* * *
The fact that this was the second Monday I found myself excited for the day to begin was a tad concerning. But I felt I was close to something and it made me anxious for things to get moving.
As patiently as possible, I waited for the Matrons to arrive for their breakfast. I went over the dining area twice, straightening place settings and adjusting teacups. At 9 A.M. sharp, they pushed through the double doors and headed for their table, Helen regarding me with a head nod.
I zipped into the kitchen and prepared their tea while I rattled off to Peter that he would need to prepare their order.
“Whoa, dude,” he said, watching me put together a tray of tea. “What’s the hurry today?”
“No hurry,” I said, avoiding eye contact.
Before he could question me further, I rushed back into the dining area, careful not to disturb the teapot.
At their table, I set the teapot down. As usual Helen reached for the kettle and poured tea for all four ladies.
“You know,” I said. “I was wondering if you ladies could help me with some information I’m trying to gather.”
“Oh?” Helen could barely hide her interest. “You need help from us?”
“Yes, I had some questions about Ruby Lin.” During my chat with Megan, one thing that I hadn’t considered before crossed my mind. And that was Ruby’s behavior. I knew that she wasn’t a fan of Ronnie. And I also knew that she was guiding me along, but taking a backseat in pursuing an investigation herself. I found that odd. If something like this were to happen to me, would Megan sit idly by while others scurried to come up with answers? I think not.
