Raining Men and Corpses: A Fun Cozy Mystery (A Raina Sun Mystery Book 1) (22 page)

R
aina lifted
her gaze to Lori’s calm face.

She was a dead duck.

Lori gestured for her to get inside the room. Raina glanced at a pasty Andrew ineffectively reaching for the call button on the raised hospital bed. If she stalled, he might come through or a nurse would make her rounds. Rancid fear filled the small space, rolling off Andrew in waves.

Raina gripped her purse. “Detective Louie knows I’m at the hospital with Holden’s killer.” Her voice wobbled. She wasn’t fooling anyone.

Lori narrowed her eyes and her lips tightened into a thin line. She grabbed Raina’s arm and jerked her inside the room.

When the latch clicked home, Raina broke out into a cold sweat. Why didn’t she stay in the car? She wiped her clammy hands on her shorts.

Lori held out a hand. “Give it to me!”

“What—”

“Your cell phone.”

Lori snatched the phone from her hands and clicked on the screen to check the last call. “Crap!” She threw it on the floor next to the lip gloss, pencil, keys, and snack cup from her knocked over purse. The display screen cracked and the battery and back cover flew in different directions. “No more fun and games.” She shoved Raina towards the hospital bed.

Andrew’s shaking hands broke her fall, but in the split second that their eyes met, Raina knew she was on her own. He was in no condition to help her. Even hoping he could get to the nurse button was a stretch.

“Drink the water, Andrew,” Lori said through gritted teeth. “Or I’ll make sure the baby does.”

Raina gasped. She had to be bluffing.

Lori swung her gaze to Raina. “Daddy was right. Andrew wasn’t man enough for me.” The corners of her lips curled. “Lucky your granddad took care of your problem, huh?”

Raina jerked her head in the semblance of a nod.
Agree to everything and stay calm. Stall until Matthew gets here.
“Where did you get the black hellebore?”

“My garden. It’s my only joy in this marriage,” Lori said. “It was featured on the Garden Club’s newsletter.”

Andrew swatted at the plastic cup on the tray. Liquid ran down the sides and dripped onto the scratchy fleece blanket. He flopped back onto the bed, drained, and triumphed as he smirked at his wife.

Lori made a guttural sound that was more animal than human. Her eyes widened as her pupils dilated. Her flushed face matched her red hair. She lunged for Andrew.

Raina leapt back until she was sitting on his feet on the bed. The cloying gardenia scent floated like an A-bomb cloud next to her head.

Lori grabbed his mouth, forced it open, and tipped the remaining liquid in. He coughed and batted at her hands. She slammed his head on the tray.

Raina jerked the pepper spray from her pocket and swept her arm like she was holding a fire extinguisher. She held the other arm over her face. Her eyes stung and watered, but she kept her finger on the button. The spray ricocheted off Lori’s back and hunched shoulders.

Lori spun and smashed the cold barrel of the gun on Raina’s hand.

The pepper spray slipped from her numb fingers and clacked onto the floor. Another blow caught Raina on the side of the face and she fell onto the floor. Her arm landed on a sharpened pencil and pain shot up her arm.

Lori shot out a foot and kicked Raina in the stomach. She grunted, clutching her stomach, as she curled into a fetal position under the bed. Her vision blurred and tangy bile rose in her throat. She swallowed and focused on her breathing.

When Lori’s foot shot out a second time, Raina grabbed the ankle with slick hands, twisted, and rolled further underneath the bed. Lori crashed onto the floor.

Raina clamped the foot between her thighs and pulled the pencil from her arm. She stabbed Lori on the side, jamming the pointed tip into the soft flesh. The gun clattered to the floor.

Lori screamed and bucked. Her foot jerked roughly against Raina’s thighs.

Raina kicked the gun across the room. She yanked the pencil out. Warm blood ran down her hands.

The door banged open. Several pairs of feet came into view. A pair of hands helped Lori off the floor.

Raina clutched the pencil to her chest. Her breaths came out quick and unnatural. Her tight muscles shook with fatigue. Friend or foe? Should she crawl out or stay hidden?

Matthew’s face came into view. He moved his mouth and held out his hand

She couldn’t understand what he was saying. The room spun alarmingly. This was not the time to pass out. Deep breaths. She blinked, but he was still holding out his hands.

“Give me the pencil, Rainy.” His voice was soft and gentle. The tone an adult would use on a frightened child.

Raina glanced down at her hands. Blood covered her arms and her shirt. She held out the pencil.

He handed it to someone and held out his hands again. “Come here, honey. It’s okay.”

The touch of his warm hands drained the tension from her body. She was safe. His fingers curled protectively against her clammy hands. She held onto his hand as she crawled out from underneath the bed.

Raina blinked at the too bright scene in front of her. Officer Hopper held onto a handcuffed Lori in the far corner. She held a bloody towel against her side. Another officer bagged the gun. Eden yelled and pushed against an officer blocking the doorway.

A beeping noise from the machinery cut through the din.

Matthew moved her away from the bed. Raina swayed and he tightened his grip. He led her outside as a team of medical staff rushed in. Their white coats and colorful scrubs looked like macaws among the dark police uniforms.

He wrapped his arms around her. “I hate finding you covered in blood.” His voice trembled, but his hold was steady.

She laid her head on his chest and cried.

R
aina woke
to the aroma of fresh coffee and bacon the next morning. She winced as she sat up in bed. Bracing her hand against the side table, she slowly straightened and hobbled to the bathroom. Her body felt old and her mood wasn’t any better. What she needed was Po Po’s elephant tranquilizer.

The long shower helped and she almost felt her age again. She wiped the steam from the mirror and jerked in surprise at the sparkle in her wide brown eyes. The bruises on her body were superficial and would disappear with time.

Matthew’s reappearances had always heralded the next phase in her life. This time was no different. This past two weeks had brought purpose and excitement to her dormant year of hiding in Gold Springs. She should have known better than to stick her head in the mud.

Her dysfunctional family finally caught up with her when Po Po arrived on her doorstep with her red suitcase. She could have dealt with the demands of the other family in China and her cousins. It was the fear of losing her grandma’s love that had weighed down her heart. Now that Ah Gong’s secret was out, having Po Po at her side was like a jolt from a Red Bull.

Raina opened the bedroom door to find Po Po looking expectantly across the dining room table at her. Eden popped her head out from the kitchen, disappeared, and returned with a plate of food and a mug of coffee.

She cradled the mug her friend handed her. “Thanks for making breakfast, Eden.”

“Hey, how did you know I didn’t make breakfast?” Po Po asked.

Raina raised an eyebrow. “You call the gap between the fridge and stove The Grand Canyon.”

Po Po harrumphed. “A woman’s place is not in the kitchen.”

Raina shoved a piece of scrambled egg in her mouth. It was too early to argue that cooking was a survival skill.

“Andrew is alive but still in critical condition.” Eden glanced at the koi clock. “Lori’s in a holding cell. I need to leave in a few minutes to see if the judge would let her post bail.”

Raina flinched. “I feel responsible for Andrew being in the hospital. I thought the white lie about Sol investigating the grant fund would light a fire to get him to do something stupid.”

“I don’t think the outcome would’ve changed, just the timing. Lori was a walking time bomb,” Po Po said. “She already thought her husband has failed to live up to his promises.”

Raina gave her a sideways glance. Her grandma would know about failing husbands. “The gun was Olivia’s?”

Eden nodded. “Lori even tried to frame Sol by leaving traces of the poison on his car and throwing the rest in the trash bins. She was planning on calling in an anonymous tip later.”

A weight lifted from Raina’s shoulders. She wasn’t a fan of Sol, but she didn’t want him to have anything to do with the murder. Her friend was dating the guy after all.

“How’s this for poetic justice? The pencil you used to stab Lori? It belonged to Holden,” Eden said. “Of course, I can’t publish this detail. It’ll get my source into trouble.”

Eden left shortly after. Po Po hung around the apartment, clucking at Raina and fluffing imaginary flat pillows. After lunch, her grandma left and Raina finally felt like she could breathe again. She was watching her sixth episode of
Big Bang Theory
when someone knocked on the front door.

Raina opened the door to find Matthew holding out a blackened orthopedic white shoe. She sighed and invited him in.

“Where’s Po Po?” he asked.

Raina settled into her sofa. She glanced at the koi clock. Her grandma had left three hours ago. Plenty of time to get into trouble. “What happened?”

“Someone called in that a bunch of senior citizens locked a police officer in a portable potty.”

The beginning of a smile tugged on her lips. “Please don’t tell me there was a stink bomb involved?”

His eyes sparkled. “There were multiple stink bombs. I’m assuming they meant to throw it inside the portable potty. But the peanut gallery ended up setting it off among themselves. One of the men screamed, ‘Abort Operation Code Red’ into a walkie talkie.”

“Was the caller able to identify anyone?”

Matthew shook his head. “No, but he gave a good description of the little old Chinese woman who lost this shoe.”

They both laughed.

“Po Po is planning to move across from your grandma,” Raina said.

“Things are going to get mighty interesting in this town.” He tugged his collar. “I found a hood in Sacramento. It’ll take a little while, but your car can be fixed.”

Raina blinked at the tears welling up in her eyes. She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she whispered.

The fact he knew how much her dad’s car meant to her said more about his feelings toward her than what was not said. But it wouldn’t change her decision to let him go.

Not one bit.

T
hanks for reading
Raining Men and Corpses.
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R
aina was
smart enough to know a Jiggle Me doll for the baby of the family wasn’t enough to ease her cousins’ animosity over the lawsuit contesting their grandfather’s will. After all, it wasn’t her fault the cousins only got one dollar each, but she had to try. For her grandma’s sake.

She glanced at the sliding glass doors to the entrance of Bullseye. The Christmas music piped through hidden speakers grated on her nerves as she waited by the display case between the restrooms and the Starbucks. The yuletide song didn’t appear to make the shoppers any less desperate for the hot gift of the season. In fact, it probably just reminded everyone this was the last shopping weekend before D-day.

“Oh Raina, you don’t have to. It’s not our tradition to give presents, and money is tight for you,” said Cassie over the phone.

“I have this housekeeping gig at a fancy resort for winter break. I’ll be fine. Besides, Lila is my only niece. I’m here shopping with the foreign exchange student anyway. Or I will be when she gets here.”

“Alright, but that’s it. She has more than enough toys. See you at the Christmas dinner.”

Raina hung up and glanced at the entrance of the store again. She normally wasn’t a stickler for punctuality, but Fanny was forty minutes late and hadn’t even bothered sending a text message. She’d given up Saturday morning brunch with her grandma to take the foreign exchange student shopping.

So a trip to the big box retail store wasn’t exactly “shopping,” but it was more convenient than traipsing through the mom-and-pop stores in downtown Gold Springs or driving to Sacramento. Either option would have taken up her entire afternoon. It wasn't like Fanny would know any different. Or at least Raina hoped she didn’t.

“Excuse me,” said a thickly accented voice from behind her.

Raina turned. “Yes?”

The pixie-faced Chinese woman bit her lower lip. Her eyes darted nervously over Raina’s shoulder. The baby cradled in her arms slept as only an infant could with all the noise in the store.

Raina glanced over her shoulder, but couldn’t tell what the young mom was looking at. She squinted at the Chinese woman exiting the store. Did the woman have pink highlights? “Fanny!” She waved an arm. “Hey, Fanny! Over here!” The woman didn't turn around. Maybe the woman wasn't Fanny after all.

Something soft and warm pressed against her other arm. She whipped her head around to stare at the stranger who held out her baby with both hands.

“Can you hold baby for me? I need use potty. No place put baby inside.”

Raina took a step back, her arms held out automatically to ward off the intrusion into her personal space. “Ah, have we met?”

This was the strangest proposition she’d gotten in a while. Didn’t this woman know she shouldn’t trust a stranger with her child?

The woman pointed at the short hall next to them. “Potty.” She shook her head and made a buckling motion as if putting on a seat belt. “No place for baby.”

Raina assumed she meant there wasn’t a working baby changing station in a restroom stall. Cassie had often complained how difficult it was to pee while juggling a baby in a public restroom the few times she ran out the house for quick trips without her stroller.

The woman’s tailored clothes and Coach purse suggested she should have money to buy a stroller. Even the baby was clad in an expensive blue one-piece bodysuit. Of course, they could be knock-offs, not that Raina could tell the difference.

“I trust you with most precious gift, my son.” Her eyes widened as if she just had an important thought. “My name is Sui Yuk Liang. What your name, please?” She dropped the huge diaper bag next to Raina’s feet.

The conversation was beginning to have a surreal quality to it. “Raina Sun.” She glanced at the automatic sliding glass doors at the front of the store. Still no Fanny.

Sui Yuk nodded as if the exchange of their names solidified her trust. “You Chinese like me. You take care baby.” She thrust the baby into Raina’s arms and released her hold.

If Raina hadn’t grabbed the child, he would have hit the floor. Before she could utter a word, Sui Yuk disappeared into the hallway toward the women’s restroom. Raina sighed as she tucked the infant on her shoulder, cradling his head. How did she get herself into these situations? First Fanny and now this.

She should be more gracious and welcoming towards the foreign exchange student, but the two times she’d spent in Fanny’s company hadn’t left her with warm fuzzy feelings. But this was for her friend Brenda, who was too busy dealing with the Christmas orders for pies and cakes at the Venus Cafe. As the host family, Brenda or her husband Joe should be the ones helping Fanny with her shopping. But when Brenda asked if Raina could help out since she was close in age to Fanny, she had to say yes. She couldn’t jeopardize her special status as friends of the owners. The food was that good. And so was the discount.

Maybe ten o'clock meant something different in China. Not that Raina would know. The bus ride to Bullseye was straightforward and only took twenty minutes. She wouldn’t have agreed to meet Fanny at the store otherwise. If Fanny didn’t show up soon, Raina would have to spend her lunch trying to track down the foreign exchange student. What was that Chinese proverb? Duty was heavier than a mountain.

She glanced at the hall. Five more minutes and then she’d pop her head in the restroom. Did Sui Yuk have a diarrhea attack? She didn’t want to embarrass the young mom, but this would explain her desperate willingness to trust a stranger to watch her baby while she did the dirty deed.

“I was here first,” said an irritated male voice.

Raina glanced at the mile long line at the Starbucks.

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline glared at the barista behind the counter. “I have been waiting for the last fifteen minutes.” He pointed a tapered finger at the young woman stirring sugar into her cup. “She was behind me. Why did she get her coffee before me?”

Raina rolled her eyes. The holidays brought out everyone's best behavior.

The baby grunted and wiggled. Time to look for the baby's mama.

She hooked the diaper bag on one shoulder and made her way into the women's restroom. The diaper bag was heavier than Altas’ burden and just as bulky. Her left shoulder already ached from carrying it.
Deck the Halls
echoed between the stalls. She sidestepped around the two women waiting in line and ignored their frowns.

“Sui Yuk,” Raina whispered into the first stall. “Are you almost done? The baby is waking up.”

No answer.

She repeated her performance at the next stall.

“Go away.”

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Raina muttered.

The woman in the next stall answered with a curt “Not here.”

Raina knocked on the last stall. Sweat beaded on the small of her back as an uneasy feeling twisted in her gut. “Sui Yuk, are you in here? The baby is waking up.”

“Wrong stall, hon,” the woman called out.

Raina must have crossed paths with Sui Yuk somehow. She hustled back to the front of the store. Her eyes scanned the area, but she didn’t see the mother anywhere. The baby started to root at her shoulder, making small ah-ah grunts. She patted his small back and prayed he would go back to sleep.

She trotted over to Guest Services and asked him to page Sui Yuk.

The sleepy eyed teenage guy shrugged. “Okay, madam.” He made the announcement over the P.A. system and turned to help another customer.

The baby pumped his fists as he opened his mouth and wailed. A loud squawk as if he knew a stranger held him. Other customers were now staring openly as they walked by.

Food. The baby must need food. Raina dropped the diaper bag on the floor and dug around for a bottle. No milk. Her armpits dampened as a hot flash of anxiety ran through her. What mother would leave home without a bottle? Geez, even if Sui Yuk was nursing, she should come back before her baby needed to eat.

Raina fumbled to unzip a small side pocket and pulled out a sheet of wrinkled notebook paper. Her eyes widened at the words.

What a strange note, she thought. Jiggling the baby, she dialed the number, but it went straight to voicemail with a generic message to leave a callback number. Her message came out in a rush about Sui Yuk’s failure to reappear after using the restroom. She left her name and both her home and cell phone numbers, wincing at the panic in her voice.

She clutched her phone and stared at the display.
Please call back.

The baby’s shriek pierced the area as if Raina held him over a boiling cauldron. She cradled his body and stuck her pinkie in his mouth. He sucked eagerly, but his tiny face crumbled as he realized her pinkie held no sustenance.

Maybe he didn't need food. Raina pulled the child closer and sniffed his diaper. Powder fresh. Her breath came out in a rush, grateful for the small favor.

Raina scanned the crowd again. No Sui Yuk appeared to claim her baby. Surely, a mother wouldn't just abandon her baby with a stranger.

She pressed her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she bounced the child on her other shoulder. “Matthew, I’m holding a wailing baby, and I seem to have lost his mother.” She ignored the pointed looks from the other shoppers and explained the situation.

Matthew Louie was a homicide detective, but she didn’t know who else to call. And with a police force of only fourteen people, including the chief, it really didn’t matter who she called. This would eventually make its way to the officer in charge of child abandonment cases.

The baby wiggled, and her phone slipped from her shoulder. It smashed onto the floor, and the back cover popped off. The battery slid across the white tiled floor and under the rows of shopping carts in front of her.

“Great!” she said to no one in particular.

She tucked the crying baby firmly into her arm and dropped to her knees. Patting the space underneath the shopping carts, she was self-conscious of her butt-in-the-air pose.

“Rainy, why aren’t you wearing the new underwear I got you? Your old ones leave too many panty lines,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

Someone snickered.

Raina straightened and shifted the baby to her other shoulder to even out the ringing in her ears. “Ha ha, grandma.”

Po Po glanced at the wailing infant. She smiled at the child, her face becoming a roadmap of laugh lines in a cloud of silver hair. The baby’s eyes widened for half a second, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

“You do know a baby is not like a cute dog. He’s not going to be a conversation starter with men,” her grandma said.

“I could use a hand here.”

As soon as he heard Raina’s voice, the baby started his crying again. Her body tensed, and heat rushed to her face.

“Let me have the little one.” Her grandma held the infant against one shoulder, shushing and swaying her body from side to side. The child relaxed and a finger found its way to his mouth.

Raina's eyes widened at the sight, but she didn’t waste an extra second to stare at the contrast between the pink-faced baby and the white haired elderly woman. She shoved the shopping carts aside to rescue her elusive battery.

The screen on her phone had a large crack across one corner. Her heart sank at the damage. She'd replaced her phone only a few months ago. Assembling the phone was a breeze, but the screen remained stubbornly black when she powered it on.

“Here. Use my smarty pants phone,” said Po Po.

Raina called Matthew again, but got his voice mail this time. She left a brief message with her location and handed the phone back to her grandma.

“Keep it for now in case he calls back,” said Po Po.

“What are you doing here? Miss spending your Saturday mornings with your favorite granddaughter?”

“My grandkids are like my toes. It’s kind of hard to pick one to chop off.” Po Po shifted the baby to her other shoulder. “So where is the famous foreign-exchange student? I figured you’ll bring her here. You’re not going to drive all the way to Sacramento when Bullseye basically has everything. I thought we could still have lunch after you’re done.” Po Po glanced at the baby. “But I didn’t realize you would acquire a baby. Rainy, you’re supposed to look for a husband first. The baby comes later.”

“She’s a no-show. Right now, I have more important things to worry about like finding out what happened to the baby’s mother.” Raina told her grandma what happened with Sui Yuk Liang.

“Why did you accept the baby? He’s cute and all, but if you had said no then you won’t be in this predicament.”

Raina sighed. “Because he reminds me of Lila. I would hope if Cassie was ever in a similar situation, someone would help her like I helped Sui Yuk Liang. What would you have done?”

“Exactly what you did. Come on, Rainy. Let me buy you a drink.”

The knot in Raina’s stomach loosened and the tension drained from her body. “Think I can have some alcohol in it?”

“Sure. I have a flask of vodka in my purse.”

Raina gave her grandma a peck on the cheek. “Love you.”

Po Po handed her a ten. “Why don’t I go by some formula and a bottle while you wait in the Starbucks line with the baby? I’d take the baby with me, except”—she lowered her voice into a whisper—“it’s dangerous where I’m going.”

“Um, sure.” The baby had fallen asleep by this time.

A few minutes later, Raina sipped an iced caramel macchiato at a small table. The baby still slept blissfully in her arm. The Saturday morning shoppers barely spared a glance at the two. Anonymity was a wonderful thing.

She tried the number in the diaper bag again, leaving another message and her grandma’s cell number.

“Let’s go. We need to get out of here. Now!” Po Po said when she came back. “We’ll call Matthew to come get the baby at your place once we’re on the road.”

“Matthew might be on his way already. He’s going to be pissed if we send him on a wild goose chase. And it’s raining like crazy. We should take the baby outside.”

Po Po glanced behind her. Her knuckles whitened around the handle of the plastic bags.