A Clean Kill

She sat in Mike's car as they crossed town, wishing it were already tomorrow so she didn't have to feel as if she were letting Maddy and Alison down by running away to get some rest. If only she and Mike had a place to sack out somewhere close, and did not have to travel forty-five minutes for a few hours' sleep. But they didn't have such a place, and her frantic phone calls to Gao Wan had not panned out. He was taking her father's spot at the midtown restaurant where they both worked, and had not been able to go up to Westchester to remove her parents from her house. They were still there, and they had to be dealt with.

'Thanks for getting Lynn and Remy taken care of,' she said after a long silence. Mike had found two secure places for them to stay where no one could find them and they couldn't talk to each other or anyone else.

'No problem,' he mumbled, also not in a talkative mood.

As they got on the Henry Hudson Parkway and headed north, a spring shower commenced. April watched him flip on the wipers and felt an ache for the old Mike who'd thought only of her. In the months since they'd married, he'd become less watchful of her and dependent on her moods for his happiness. Mostly she liked the change. But occasionally when his boat was rocked by things that were out of his control, he seemed to slip away and forget about her. It made her feel lonely. Right then she knew he was angry at Sergeant Minnow for not following through quickly enough and not widening the net. And she wondered if there were other instances in which the CO of the detectives' unit had let him down.

The spatter of rain on the windshield intensified into a torrent. Mike turned the wipers all the way up, but the downpour impeded his vision. Suddenly they were in a blinding storm. Lightning struck, and the crack of thunder that followed was as loud as anything April had ever heard.

'Ow, that was close,' she said.

Mike took his hand off the wheel and grabbed her cold fingers. 'It's going to be fine, querida,' he said, and she was relieved that he was still with her.

'Promise?'

'Absolutely.'

'Then do me a favor and slow down.'

'Sissy,' he muttered, but complied immediately. Then he was ready to talk. 'So what's going on?' he asked.

'Fish and Jell-O are two food groups that don't mix,' she replied.

'Yeah, well, Minnow's threatened. Gelo's better than he is, looks like a comer.'

'She certainly does,' she murmured. 'What about you? Why were you so quiet?'

He made a face at the highway that was beginning to flood in all the usual places. 'Like the old days, huh?'

'Your kind of weather,' she agreed. He'd always liked steamy cars at night. She couldn't help reminding him that they were passing a dangerous curve where several fatal wrecks had occurred. 'Slow down.'

'Yes, ma'am.' He slowed for another fifteen seconds with his hand still on hers. It was kind of a nice touch.

Then thunder struck close by again, and April flashed to their race through Central Park one night long ago, chasing a teenage killer on a night just like this one. They went back a long way, and hadn't crashed yet. She tried to relax.

'I talked with both Remy and Lynn for many hours. They're not telling me everything, and that's troubling,' she said after a moment.

'You think they're involved somehow?'

'I think they know things they're afraid to tell. Maybe about Jo Ellen, maybe the two husbands. It's not clear. What worries me is that something else will happen.'

'Let's hope not. What about our trip?' He knew his customer, changed the subject, and moved on.

'I'd forgotten about it,' she said simply.

'Well, maybe we'll get a break tomorrow,' he said, and sped up again on a straight stretch of highway that he knew so well.

He kept on through the driving rain, and when they finally reached home and saw that the lights were. on, April was almost glad her parents were still there. For once there would be hot food waiting for them. Tonight Skinny Dragon was at the door screaming at them before the engine was off. The sound carried through the storm.

'Ayieee. Why so late? Wait so long for dinner,' she yelled as if she wanted the whole neighborhood to know her grievance. 'What's long with you? Don't know work supposed to be over? Time to go home?' Skinny shrieked out that she'd worried all day. Nobody came to check on them or bring them food. What kind of bad daughter didn't take care of her sick old mother? 'Why no call, ni? 'Nother murder?' she demanded at last.

'That's it, Ma.'

'Ayiee,' Skinny wailed. Another murder meant the ghosts of the dead were too close to her precious daughter again.

April made it through the front door without further assault and was horrified to see that a mirror had been placed in a strategic position by the door, the dreaded colored strings hung from the corners of the living room, and a few things moved around to suit the Dragon's idea of optimum feng shui. It looked as if she was planning an intervention on April's health and intended to stay awhile.

'Ni hao ma. What's for dinner?' Mike asked with a faint smile. He had learned the Chinese way. He'd become a man who knew when to pick his battles.

'I hope it's not something weird,' April muttered.

Forty-four

On Wednesday morning at seven thirty a.m. Lily Eng was waiting for April at the Sutton Diner on Fifty-sixth Street and First Avenue. Outside it was still pouring. Mike dropped April off and she dashed for the small patch of sidewalk that was protected by an awning outside the restaurant. She charged it, and a wall of rain sleeted off the edge of the awning onto her head. 'Shit.'

Inside the door, she immediately caught sight of Lily, who was seated at a table in the window looking dry and chic and every bit the TV reporter. She was wearing a distinctive pastel tweed suit that could well have been Chanel. A pink plastic raincoat was folded over the back of the chair next to her. Compared with her splendor and calm, April felt both poor and frantic. She had not had a good night or morning with Skinny Dragon and was irritated that Lily, who came from highly educated college-professor parents and made a great deal more money than she did, didn't have a lot to worry about.

'Thanks for being on time. I ordered a tea for you,' Lily said, pointing to a cup and stainless teapot opposite her.

April sank into a wooden chair by the window and dripped all over the floor. 'Shit,' she said again. Already nothing was going right in her day.

'What's the matter?' Lily asked.

'Nothing.' She was just soaked, and she felt sick again. Her mother had appeared in her house like a deadly mold, giving her food that upset her stomach. No doubt the Dragon was going to have to be forcibly removed before she'd ever feel well again. Mike was being nice about it now, but that wouldn't last forever. The case was at a critical point. Today she was hoping for a COD on Alison and some important break in the nannies' stories. She was poised for heavy action, and hardly in the mood for a tete-a-tete with a TV reporter who didn't have anything else to do but get her nails done and look good on the six o'clock news. When she looked at the beautiful clothes Lily was wearing, she really did think she'd chosen the wrong career path.

'1 hope the rain will give us a break from these murders,' she muttered, trying to keep herself on track.

Lily was taken aback. 'Are you expecting another one?'

'No, 1 didn't expect the first two. But a storm like this can put off the bad guys.' If only it had rained all week, she would have gotten her honeymoon, no problem. Then she was ashamed of herself for thinking of better jobs and better parents and a honeymoon on a cruise ship. She made a frustrated gesture. 'Sorry, I think I'm getting the flu. What did you have to tell me?'

'I did a little checking on Remy Banks yesterday and came up with something interesting,' Lily said, pulling out a manila envelope.