Chapter 13
I wasn’t proud of it, but while cleaning up in the kitchen, I noticed Robin heading toward the bathroom. So I followed her. We met at the bathroom door. “I’m going in there with you.”
“That’s just weird, Brooklyn.”
“I want to talk to you.”
She tried to stare me down but finally gave up. “A girl can’t get any privacy around here.”
I closed the door and locked it. “We used to share this bathroom, remember?”
“Yeah. You, me, and your three sisters.”
“Crazy,” I admitted. “I don’t know how you survived.”
“It was cozy. I loved living here with you guys.”
I sat on the edge of the tub. “It was pretty much the best time ever for me.”
“Yeah.” Standing in front of the mirror, she brushed her hair with her fingers. “I don’t care what you think of me, Brooklyn. I’m just not ready to go back yet.”
“For goodness’ sake, Robin, you were attacked and terrorized. I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back. We only came up here because I needed your help and you weren’t answering the phone. We were worried.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think about you guys being worried. I was with Austin and…” She met my gaze in the mirror. “So, did you get all your questions answered?”
“I’ll probably have a million more by the time I get home, but Derek and I will work it out. I’m looking forward to grilling Rajiv. I hope he’ll provide more insights.”
“I hope so, too.”
I stretched my legs out and crossed my ankles. “So what do you think you’ll do next?”
“I’m staying up here for a few more days.”
“That’s a good idea,” I admitted. “I can tell you’re happier here than you were in the city.”
“I am. Austin is… awesome.” Her smile softened. “So fierce and protective. I love the way he…”
I squinched up my face and covered my ears. There are some things a sister should never find out about her brother. “I don’t want to hear the details.”
She laughed. “Fine. I’m not quite ready to share them anyway.”
“I appreciate that.” I scooted to the end of the tub and leaned back against the tile wall. “You still worry me, though.”
“Why? I’ll be fine.” She paused as if thinking about what she had just said, and then nodded decisively. Maybe she was finally coming back to herself. I was glad to see it. Still, teasing your best friend is practically in the job description.
“I’m just afraid you’ll start wearing overalls and, you know, flannel.”
She cringed. “Not while I have a breath left in me.”
“You say that now, Robin, but you went hiking and camping.”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “Weird.” As she spoke, she touched the skin around her eye experimentally.
“Does it still hurt?”
“It twinges every so often, but it feels much better. It’s just ugly.”
“Not so much anymore.” But I scowled at the memory of crazy Galina. “I can’t believe we took that lunatic woman down. I think she was on a mission to kill.”
Robin shuddered. “I hope she’s still in jail.”
“She’d better be. I’ll call to make sure when I get back to town.” I got up and studied her black eye more closely. “It definitely looks a lot better.”
“Austin got some concoction from your mom and it really helped.”
“Uh-oh. Was it green?”
“Yeah, why?”
I shivered. “Parsley.”
“Oh, right.” She pulled a tube of pink lip gloss from her purse and squeezed a small amount onto her lips. “Well, I hate to tell you, but it worked great.”
“Stranger than fiction,” I said, and held out my finger for a dab of her lip gloss. She complied, and I rubbed it on my lips as I returned to my perch on the tub’s edge. “So what are you going to do about your mother?”
Robin found an emery board in a canister on the sink and sat with me. “We talked for a few minutes while you were in the kitchen. She’ll stay in Dharma for a few days, visit with Guru Bob and some of her friends, and then we’ll follow each other back to the city when she goes in to meet Rajiv.”
“She seems happy to be here,” I said cautiously. Robin and her mother had a complicated relationship, to say the least.
“I was amazed and excited to see her at first.” Her smile turned acerbic. “But then did you see how quickly she turned everything around and talked about herself?”
“Sort of,” I said with some caution.
“Oh, come on. The way she went on and on about getting arrested in Uganda? She tried to pretend it was all because I had the measles and she was worried-and I’ve never had the measles, but whatever. But no, it was all about her. All about her and the United Nations, all about her and her missionary flights around the world. It’s always all about her. Maybe she can’t help herself. It’s just the way she operates. And maybe I’m just hypersensitive to every little thing she says, but still.” She tried to shrug off the negative thoughts, but I could see she was hurting.
“You’re right,” I said loyally. “When Shiva’s around, it’s all about her.”
“Thank you.” She hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, relieved that our friendship was back on more solid ground.
I studied her. “Is that why you got so gross when you described the blood and the vicious attack?”
“Yes,” she said sharply. “I just wanted to shake her up a little, get her to realize that I was the one suffering at the moment, not her.”
I nodded. “Okay. I think it worked.”
“God, do I sound like the world’s biggest whiny baby?”
“No, absolutely not,” I said, and hugged her again.
“Good.” She took a deep breath and it seemed to clear things up for her. “So I guess we’ll get back to the city Wednesday or Thursday. And I suppose I’ll stay at her hotel with her.”
“No, you won’t,” I said. “I’ll have your place completely cleaned and good as new by then. You can go home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
She winced, then said, “I still feel bad about having you do the work.”
I leaned against her. “I won’t be doing the work. I’ll call other people to do it. And seriously? Better me than you.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I would’ve taken care of it already, but it’s been a little crazy around my place.”
Her smile was soft with regret. “Yeah, no kidding.”
“But by the time you get back to the city, it’ll be a done deal,” I said, standing up to give her a hug and end the conversation.
Derek and I made it back to the city with barely enough time to shower and change into party clothes. For me, the choice was simple. I owned one black dress and one pair of black heels. I’d worn the dress once before, last month when I had a special date with Derek, but we’d had to cancel due to an inconvenient murder.
His offices were located in a beautiful four-story Mediterranean-style building on California Street near the top of Nob Hill. The party took place in the spacious two-story-high lobby, where a crowd of over one hundred people was mingling, drinking, laughing, and chatting when we walked in. They all seemed to know one another, naturally, which intimidated me a little. But since I was here with the boss, I was determined to be cool.
Derek’s office administrator, Corinne, stood near the wide arched doorway and acted as unofficial greeter, so I met her first thing. She was in her fifties, slightly overweight but comfortable with it. Her hair was a beautiful
