The first cop’s cell phone rang. Hedislodged it from his belt, checked the readout and took the call,ignoring me.
“Dad!” Ferricshouted.
I glanced up and saw Leilaniin her mother’s ancient navy blue Buick, Francois in the passengerseat. I felt both overjoyed and anguished to see him. The bleakexpression on his face as he got out of the vehicle before Leilanieven stopped, warmed my soul. Of the three of us in our littlefamily, he was the only one who pulled off the lavenderAloha shirt with élan. Helooked fucking gorgeous. A six foot, four inch slice of serious manheaven. He came right over to us, pulling us both to ourfeet.
“Thank God you’re safe,” hesaid. He kissed our cheeks, kissed my mouth and kept his armsaround us. He’d cut all his dreads off a few weeks before, but evenwithout them, it was obvious he was Ferric’s dad. They lookedidentical.
“Did they hurt you?” heasked over and over. I knew he was upset. He kept kissing our headsand faces. I watched the way he cradled Ferric’s head in his arm. Ilet go of him so he could hold his son with both arms.
“Stay right there, Mingo,”he said, his arm moving back to me.
“Excuse me,” the cops saidas Leilani darted across the road in what looked like a petticoatand fluffy, pink bunny slippers. She had curlers in herhair.
“Glad you’re okay butwhere’s my three-hundred dollar wedding cake?”
Ferric grinned. “Told you.”
On the whole, I thought Leilani tookthe news of her abducted butterscotch and lemon, three-tieredwedding cake with lavender fondant quite well. Once she stoppedscreaming and crying and doing a strange kind of war dance on thesidewalk.
Francois took the wheel of her mom’sBuick. I sat next to him, Leilani sitting in the backseat next toFerric, half her curlers falling around her face. She’d seem fineone second, then boo-hoo like a baby the next. Francois had calledahead to the bakery to see if they could give us another cake. Wepulled into the parking lot.
“I can’t face it,” Leilanisaid, all her wedding makeup running down her face. “I trust you topick out something. Remember, we’re expecting eighty people.” Shestarted wailing again.
“You can’t stay out here,”Ferric said. He looked nervous. I knew how he felt. Any suddenmoves and I flinched. I’d have nightmares for months about thecarjacking.
“Francois, give me yourtaser,” she said. He reached into his jacket pocket and handed itover.
“I’m a lesbian bride andsomebody stole my fucking butterscotch and lemon, three-tieredwedding cake with lavender fondant.” She started sobbing again.“I’m a force to be reckoned with.”
Her face crumpled with a wave of freshyears. One of her curlers dropped to the floor. She waved the taseraround like it was a water pistol.
We all stared at her. All three of ustrooped into the bakery. When I turned to check on her, she wassitting like a demented owl, the weapon clasped between herbreasts.
“That must have been somecake,” Francois muttered. “She’s sore as hell.”
His cell phone rang as we entered thestore. He took the call, barking at poor Ferric who merely wanderedoff to look at a display of cupcakes.
“Ferric! Stay where I cansee you!”
The kid took it okay, but I could seehe wanted sugar. Me, I had a taste for Chinese.
I heard Francois mutteringinto his phone. I heard the words shoot tokill, and I froze.
The smile froze on my face as I calmlydiscussed the cake catastrophe with the shop assistant.
“Your carjacking was on thenews. I heard it on the radio. There’s been a rash of attacks ontourists,” she said. “They follow rental cars.”
It both pissed me off and relaxed me atthe same time. We hadn’t been singled out because of somesuper-secret case Francois was working on–-which he was—we weremarked because we were tourists.
“This is all I have.” Sheslapped a white sheet cake onto the counter. I feltdepressed.
“It’s awfully plain. She hadthe lavender cake. The whole wedding is lavender,” Isaid.
“Don’t forget the redhibiscus,” she said with a smile. Oh, right. Mele, Leilani’sbride-to-be wore a red hibiscus behind her ear and these would bethe flowers of the day.
“How about some lavenderflowers made of icing?” Ferric asked, standing besideme.
“I can do that.” She glancedat the clock. “We have half an hour before the nuptials start,don’t we?”
“Not sure about thenuptials, but the wedding starts in half an hour,” Ferric said.“Wait. Are nuptials weddings?”
We both nodded.
“I think I lost my mind whenwe got carjacked. I’m forgetting stuff.”
He frowned.
“Have a cupcake,sweetheart,” I said.
His face brightened.
“On the house,” the shopassistant said.
“Really?” I was pleased tosee the light back in Ferric’s sweet face. He rushed to the pile ondisplay and picked out a chocolate cupcake.
“That’s my favorite, too,”she said with approval.
“Thank you,” he said, andlicked the peak of frosting from the top.
She turned the cake around, studyingit. “I think we’ll put some flowers on this corner. It’s a littleless smooth than the other one.”
“No need.” Francois snappedhis cell phone shut. “They found the car.”
“Who?” I asked as we hurriedout of the shop. “The police?”
“No.” he looked askance atme. “Are you joking? What clowns they are. No. An associate of minetook care of it.”
“Is the cakeokay?”
He grinned at me. “Do you know me atall, baby?”
His gaze shifted to Ferric climbing inthe back seat.
“Didn’t you want one,too?”
“No. I want Chinese food. Ihave a hankering for egg rolls.” I paused. “And velvet cornsoup.”
He arched a brow as he opened thepassenger door for me.
“And as soon as we’re alone,I want you,” I said.
He walked around, got into the driver’sside and leaned across, kissing me.
“You got it,” he saidagainst my mouth.
We rolled up to a back alley behind asporting goods store.
The wedding cake had been jostled some,but it was mostly okay if you squinted and looked at it from adistance. My wallet was gone. So was the Game Boy. The laptop andthe wedding gift were still in the trunk.
Leilani threw herself
