Broken Build (33 page)

“I might.” Praveena glanced at Dave. “Satish and I have a meeting.”

“Bring him too.” Vera cocked an eyebrow. “You won’t want to miss my
turroooonnn!
”

Emily clapped her hands. “I want to help.”

Vera tapped her face. “Lamb cheeks, you can wrap but no frying.”

“Papa always let me.”

Vera’s lips thinned. “Papa wanted you to be safe.”

“Then how come he didn’t look before crossing the street?” Emily crossed her arms and pouted.

A rush of realization hit Jen. Emily was Rey’s daughter. Vera must have been looking after Rey’s daughter while he was in Iraq. But where was her mother? She glanced at Dave who looked flustered and tugged his collar.

Vera pointed to the ceiling of the mall. “He’s looking at you now. Remember you almost got lost and this nice man helped you? That’s Papa looking out for you.”

“Daddy too?”

“Yes, Daddy and Papa both.” She kissed Emily. “Now, plum-bunny, these nice people probably have a lot of shopping to do, so say thank you and wave bye-bye.”

Vera arranged the trash on the tray. “See you guys around six? I’ll call Lola and tell her you’re coming.”

Lola, Rey’s mother, had liked Jen and taken her side when Rodrigo dumped her. What would she say to her? Rey’s death was still too fresh and the pain too raw. And Vera was trying too hard to appear cheerful.

“Sure, yeah. Well, nice meeting you, Dave, Emily.” Jen gave a half-hearted wave. “Six sounds fine.”

Dave stood, his Adam’s apple bobbled. He looked like he was about to say something, but instead he turned his attention to clearing the trash.

Emily popped a thumb into her mouth and opened and closed her hand. She had two fathers? No wonder Rey had said it was complicated.

* * *

Dave bade Emily and Vera a hasty farewell and hurried after Jen.

“Hey, you left your bag,” Vera called.

He lengthened his stride and pretended he didn’t hear her. Vera had to be Rey Custodio’s sister. He hadn’t missed the reference to Jen being her brother’s ex-girlfriend. And the little girl had two fathers? Not really surprising these days.

He caught Jen at the entrance to the parking structure. “Look, we have to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what was your name again?” Jen kept walking.

He circled around and blocked her. “I can explain.”

“I’m really not interested in what a complete asshole has to say.” She brushed past him and tugged Praveena. “Let’s get out of here. The rental counter might give my car away.”

Dave stepped in front of them. “Jen, I can’t figure out why you’re acting this way.”

“Call Sheila, Lisa or Melissa and buy a clue.”

A uniformed security guard swung a stick. “Are we having a problem here?” He narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you the child molester?”

Dave gulped at the unjust accusation. The officer moved between him and the ladies. Dave raised his palms. “I was just leaving.”

“Sure you were. No shopping bags. Came to the mall to stroll. Now get out of here.”

Dave walked to his car without looking back, his chest flushed with embarrassment. Pain pressed his temples like the jaws of a vise. How could he convince Jen he wasn’t putting the moves on Vera? Okay, so she was cute and probably cooked a mean
pancit.
She was also a blatant flirt, and he had enjoyed the attention. But Jen had misunderstood, and he’d been a fool to play along. He should have kissed her in front of everyone, marked her as his. Yeah, right, that kind of thing only worked in the movies.

He drove out of the parking structure, aimless. November in the Bay Area burst with color—crimson Chinese pistachio trees, golden yellow elms, and orange liquidambars contrasting with dark green pines. He hated the fall colors.

Abby had been kidnapped in November. He pulled over to the roadside, unable to drive. Waves of despair crashed over him, and his chest heaved with increased tension, as if his lungs were a drum skin unable to absorb life-giving oxygen.

The prepaid cell jingled.

Oh, God, what else?
He answered it.

An electronically altered voice said. “Look in your mailbox. No police. Remember, your girlfriend has to deliver.” The call ended.

Dave banged his head on the steering wheel. His vision darkened and the lies and stories he told himself to stay sane tumbled down. He would never get Abby back. He wasn’t a successful entrepreneur, irresistible to women. He was a sinful asshole. Jen had him pegged.

Dave, you’re a sissy, can’t take a beating. Other men have lost more and bounced back. Jocelyn can’t see you. And if she could, she pities you. Abby’s gone. They’re toying with you. Accept it, she’s probably dead. But you’re too much of a baby to admit it, making up Rambo fantasies to rescue her.

He blocked out the negative talk, the voice of his critical father, a Vietnam War veteran who never flinched, never talked about his tour, and never appeared weak.

Dave needed more air. He opened the door and knelt at the side of the road. Sweat mingled with tears poured down his face.

Oh God, help me. I’m broken, so damn broken and I don’t know what to do. I’ve sinned and left You out of my life. Why have You broken my bones, my heart and my spirit? Taken everyone I love and left me alone? Forgive my sins and restore to me the joy of my salvation. Strengthen me and show me the way I should take. If Abby is out there, bring her back to me. If not, let me learn to let her go. Help me to live again, and let me have a chance at happiness.

Dave wept.

The sun had gone down. He drove toward his house and turned slowly into his driveway. The camera crews had left. The lone security guard sat in his car and waved.

Dave extracted a small envelope from the mailbox. He walked back to the guard’s car. Nope, the guard had not seen anyone. He stepped into the house and tore open the envelope. A baggie with a hairbrush dropped out. A few strands of long dark-brown hair lay tangled in the brush. A note read:
The build better be good. No police.

Dave walked into the guest room and slumped in the bed where Jen had slept. The bloody towels lay on the floor. First he’d find a DNA lab and order a paternity test, then he'd better get the code ready. He rubbed his eyes, needing a drink. But he couldn’t be weak, not for Abby.

He glanced at the clock. Jen was probably at Vera’s. He dialed her cell anyway. As expected, it went to voicemail. “Jen, the kidnappers dropped off the DNA. Please call me.”

* * *

Jen rang the bell at Vera and Lola’s house. Praveena had begged off to attend a meeting with Satish to go over the test plan for the auto-update feature. Now that the launch was successful, they’d have to respond with more features, and the ability to update the software remotely was crucial.

Vera swung the door open and called for Lola who greeted Jen with a kiss on both cheeks. Jen stepped in and took off her shoes. Emily rushed over to show Jen a crayon drawing of her two fathers in Heaven. The one who was supposed to be Rey had a scowling face and black wings, whereas the other man had white wings and a jolly smile.

After the flurry of greetings, Lola, Vera and Emily went back to the kitchen. Jen wandered around the living room full of pictures. There were pictures of Rey, Rodrigo and Vera from childhood onwards, their high school graduation pictures and of course Rey’s military portrait. One album was full of baby pictures. Vera was the oldest, and Rod was the youngest. Emily rode a tricycle in one picture flanked by Vera and Rodrigo. Rey must have been at war.

Vera came up behind her and handed her a can of soda. “Mama keeps all the pictures. If you ask her, she’d pull you in all night.”

“I was just wondering,” Jen said. “I mean about Rey. I never knew he was… um… well, that way. Was that why he was discharged?”

Vera placed a hand on her hip. “Rey had delusions. I think the war made him paranoid.”

“Have they found who killed him?”

“No.” She blinked and wiped the corner of her eye. “The three perps who kidnapped you told contradictory stories. And now they have lawyers, so no one’s talking.”

Jen put her arm over Vera’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I brought this up. Really.”

Vera picked up a picture of Emily and Rod at a petting zoo and touched Rod’s face. “It’s okay. Mama won’t talk, so we don’t watch the news or go on the internet. She’s trying to act as if everything’s normal and pressuring me to get married.”

Tears glistened from Vera’s eyes, and she slumped onto the couch. Jen’s cell vibrated. It was Dave, so she ignored it.

“I can’t think who’d want to kill either of them,” Vera said. “I mean, Rey had his rough edges, but Rod had no enemies. He was kind of a recluse, hung around his scrapyard and had a few friends.”

Cold tingles vibrated on her scalp. “Did you know any of them?”

“Not really.” Vera wiped her eyes. “Everything seemed okay until Rod died. Then Rey started going around making accusations, disturbing people, asking questions.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Little hints. Like did this friend sleep with some other friend’s wife? Or had this person embezzled from his employer?”

Jen took a sip of the soda. “Was Rey blackmailing people?”

“No, he told me he was poking around to see who had a motive to kill Rod. Maybe some people paid him. He seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much and was quite free with his money.”

“He told me once he was doing everything for his daughter.”

Vera grabbed a tissue from the dispenser on the coffee table. “He didn’t need to. Emily’s 529 plan is fully funded. Rod took care of that. The scrap business has really been quite lucrative, especially with all the mandatory recycling.”

“Did Rod have enemies? Maybe someone who was jealous of his wealth?”

Lola called from the kitchen. “Vera, time to soak the noodles. I can’t do everything here.”

Vera stood with a sigh and went to the kitchen. Jen poked around a bit more. The Victoria’s Secret bag sat under the coffee table. So it wasn’t Dave’s bag. Wow, she had been quick to jump all over him. But he must have been flirting with Vera, or she wouldn’t have invited him to dinner. Jen’s face heated. She shouldn’t be jealous. Dave never gave her any promises. In fact, he never committed to anything. Then what was all the kissing for? Perhaps she was being sexually harassed.

She wandered to the bookshelf. Rey’s prom picture was with a white girl, a skinny blonde. Emily’s mother? There were none of Rodrigo. He had been a loner, just like Jen. Behind the row of senior and junior prom pictures were various wallet sizes tucked inside a composite frame. Jen remembered the junior high school dances she had been excluded from. She couldn’t even get a date to Sadie Hawkins, where the girls asked the guys. Vera had some seriously handsome dates. If only she could have been petite and cute, instead of resembling a lumbering oaf.

Jen was about to replace the frame when her mouth opened with a gasp. Jocelyn? She moved the picture under the light. Jocelyn and one of the brothers, she couldn’t tell if it was Rey or Rod. The background looked like the junior high gym. Jocelyn had given her the cold shoulder the entire eighth grade year when she wanted to hang with the popular crowd. Jen blinked back tears and replaced the picture frame.

Her phone beeped with an incoming text message.
Call me. It’s important. Dave.

She deleted it. He’d disappeared early in the morning without saying goodbye. Thank God she hadn’t slept with him.

Vera called from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.”

The oily, fishy scent mixed with peppery pungent spices made Jen’s mouth water. She followed Vera into the dining room. A beautiful platter heaped with reddish transparent rice noodles and sprinkled with finely chopped vegetables under a circle of fish, shrimp and crab around a centerpiece of oysters and duck eggs lay on the table.

After saying grace, Lola piled the food on Jen’s plate. Jen kept pushing back, but Lola said, “Eat. Eat.”

The food comforted her even as the flavors fought each other in her mouth. Jocelyn’s
pancit
was nearly as heavenly. She and Dave had loved to cook, while Jen had loved to eat.

“We need some men to clean up,” Vera said. “Too bad that nice man couldn’t make it. Did you think he was handsome?”

“Hair was a bit too short,” Jen mumbled, her mouth full of noodles.

Emily pushed her plate for another serving. “Which uncle was he?”

Vera filled her plate. “Not an uncle yet. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

Lola stood suddenly and shuffled to the kitchen. Jen bit her lip. When Rey and Rod were here, they must have never had leftovers. Vera’s face fell and she took a deep breath as if realizing she had saddened her mother.

Jen’s cell vibrated with an incoming call. Vera glanced over. “Go ahead, answer it.”

“Sorry.” Jen looked at the number. It was Dave, again. “He needs to stop bothering me.”

She turned it off. What could be so important?

“Who?” Vera pushed from the table. “Emily, come with me to the kitchen. I’ll let you have first dibs on the
turon
.”

Vera’s cell phone buzzed on the table. Call from Dave.
What was he doing? Was he that hard up for a date?

Jen stood and walked into the bathroom. She’d text him to stop bothering her. She turned on her cell phone. Immediately a text message appeared.
The kidnappers left DNA.

Jen texted back.
So?

Dave texted again.
I need your help.

Jen:
Is this a trick?

Dave called her, and she let it go to voicemail. Her heart thumping, she placed the phone on the counter and counted to twenty. What was he trying to do to her? Was this really about the kidnappers? She checked the voicemail. Dave’s voice was breathless. “Jen, the kidnappers left me a hairbrush. They want code or they’ll kill Abby. I need you to prepare a build.”

Jen stared at her phone, her heart beating erratically. She owed it to him to do all she could to find Abby. Her phone vibrated again with an incoming call. It was Mrs. Walker.