“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 who 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.”
