I shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything. What we argued about wasn’t connected to her attack or anything else that’s been going on.”

“See, that’s where I think you’re wrong. You want to paint me as some bumbling small-town detective, but I’ve been working this Derek Winters case for a long time now. You think I didn’t know that at one point he was the main drug dealer for this county? That he’d been faking prescriptions for years?”

Detective Park leaned forward, trying to get into my face, but Amir stood in his way. “Derek had turned informant for me. His suppliers were the ones I wanted, and the big-time distributors as well. He was trying to get out of that life, but was afraid of what would happen to him and his mom. We were trying to take them down little by little so they wouldn’t get wise to him. And then a mere two weeks before we were supposed to do our big bust, Derek gets murdered. You don’t find that suspicious?”

“Don’t answer that,” Amir told me. Which was just fine since none of what Detective Park had said made sense to me. I couldn’t have responded even if Amir begged me to. “Detective, you’re dancing around the issue. What does my client have to do with the assault on Janet Spinelli or Derek Winters’s criminal activities? I’m still liable to charge you with harassment.”

Detective Park studied Amir. “How much do you know about your client’s criminal record in Chicago?”

Oh, that son of a—

“What criminal record?” Lola Flor demanded. My family had done a good job of listening quietly and not interrupting (for once) but this latest revelation was just too much.

“Would you like to be the one to tell them, or should I?” Detective Park asked me.

I sighed. “Sam had been stocking his restaurant with goods that were . . . not acquired legally. It started small, with cheese that he’d smuggled over because U.S. regulations didn’t allow certain types to be imported or sold here. But then he also started getting top-range kitchen equipment for extremely low prices. He told me it was because the supplier was a friend of his dad who wanted to help him out. I believed him. Since I was in charge of all the stock, I ordered through the suppliers he gave me and signed for all the deliveries. Which meant my name was the one on all the documents, not his.”

I paused, not wanting to relive this difficult time. Part of the reason I hadn’t been home in so long was because I’d been dealing with this. I didn’t want anyone back home to know what I’d been involved in. Not even Adeena.

But Detective Park wasn’t going to let me end the story there. “Long story short, she got caught. Her rich boyfriend hired a lawyer who got her off on a technicality, so she probably thought she was safe hiding this from you all. But what I’m seeing is a pattern. I don’t believe that you knew nothing about what your ex-fiancé was doing. I also believe you knew about Derek’s criminal enterprises and helped him out. Then when you found out he was going to flip, you killed him so he wouldn’t sell you out.”

Dear Lord, I was getting whiplash from all the twists and turns coming out of Detective Park’s mouth. Is this why he was coming after me so hard? He thought I was some girl who lived dangerously by shacking up with pseudocriminals and helping them rule their enterprises?

I glanced over at my aunt, who had the most heartbreaking expression on her face. “Tita, I swear it’s not like that.”

“Not now, Lila. Don’t give him any ammunition,” Amir warned me. “OK, Detective, you seem to have drawn a pretty clear picture of how you think Lila and Derek are connected. But you’re here about Janet Spinelli. Why would my client attack her?”

“I’m hoping Miss Spinelli will wake up and confirm this, but I believe she’s the one who supplied Derek with the signed prescription pads. If I’m correct, which I usually am, and Miss Spinelli was the source, it’s very likely your client went to tie up loose ends. Either convince Miss Spinelli to continue being her supplier or shut her up the way she did with Derek. Isn’t that what your argument was about, Ms. Macapagal?”

Out of nowhere, Ninang June burst out laughing. “Detective, is that really what you thought they’d argued about? Didn’t any of the staff tell you what they overheard?”

He frowned at her. “They all claimed it sounded like personal business but couldn’t hear the details. Why? What do you know?”

“The argument was over the same silly thing they’ve been fighting about since they were kids. A boy.”

“Ninang June!” I said.

“No,” Amir said. “It’s fine. Go ahead and clear this up so he knows how ridiculous he’s being.”

I sighed. “Janet accused me, yet again, of going after her fiancé, who I briefly dated in high school. Terrence was also Derek’s best friend, which is why I tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t interested. She still blames me for their breakup, even though they’re engaged now.” I rolled my eyes. “Like I said, high school stuff.”

Detective Park grunted. “Well, I’ll be checking out your story with some of the hospital employees. As well as this Terrence you’re so fond of. Is this the Terrence Howell Miss Spinelli had listed as her emergency contact?”

“That’s him,” I said. “Are we done here, Detective?”

He stood up and put away his tablet. “For now, yes. But we’ll be speaking again soon, Ms. Macapagal.” He nodded at my aunt and grandmother. “Sorry to impose. Hope to see you again soon, Rosie.”

My aunt shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, Jonathan, but I don’t. You bring nothing but bad news and accusations against my family. Until you catch the real criminals, I hope I don’t see you again.”

For the first time, a glimmer of actual human emotion emerged on Detective Park’s face. “I’m sorry, too, Rosie. But I’m just doing my job.”

Lola Flor snorted. “What, by coming into our home and accusing my granddaughter of disgusting crimes?” She held up her hand to stop his retort. “I don’t care. Get out of my house.”

He looked over at my aunt one last time and said, “Of course. Until next time, ladies. Counselor.”

Detective Park departed, leaving a hollow victory and strange sense of unease behind him.

Chapter Twenty-six

I woke up Monday morning with the feeling it was going to be a big day. Well, even bigger than usual.

One, the health inspector was finally coming over to clear us. Two, I was meeting Terrence (old friend, ex-lover, Derek’s ex–best friend, and Janet’s fiancé) for lunch at our old high school hangout. I was not in the mood for “Hey isn’t it weird that my ex is dead, your fiancée is in a coma, both of them were possibly involved in the drug trade, and now I’m being accused of murder, assault, and drug trafficking? Wild, right? Anyway, what’s been going on with you these past few years?” but I couldn’t put it off any longer. And three, Jae had called to reschedule our nondate, so our dinnertime reconnaissance was back on for tonight. He even mentioned his brother calling to warn him away, which seemed to strengthen Jae’s resolve to spend time with me. Figured I’d deal with that weird family dynamic some other time.

“Good morning, Tita Rosie.” I greeted my aunt with a quick squeeze on the shoulder—it was the most physical affection my family could tolerate.

“Oh, anak, did you sleep well?” She ladled garlic fried rice onto a plate and topped it with a fried egg. She slid the plate, along with a platter of Filipino breakfast meat, toward me. “Kain tayo. We have a long day ahead of us.”

I was too anxious to eat, but she was right, I needed the sustenance to get through what was going to be a long day. I helped myself to a few slices of tocino, the slightly sweet cured pork pairing perfectly with the strong, salty flavors on my plate. “Where’s Lola? Usually she’s up before us.”

“What, I can’t sleep in a little? Not like we’re actually working today.” Lola Flor’s voice sounded behind me, making me jump. She’d been doing that a lot lately.

“Nay, we need to get ready for dinner service after we pass the inspection. Lila, you’re in charge of letting everyone know we’re open. Post on our Facebook and . . . Tweeter?”

I bit back a giggle. “Twitter, Tita. I’ll update all our social media accounts. Maybe we can even do a promo. First ten customers receive a free dessert or something like that?”

“That’s a great idea! Everybody loves your lola’s sweets. We should get a lot of customers with a promotion like that.”

Lola Flor snorted. “Hmph. Not bad.”

And with what constituted as high praise from my grandmother, the day began.

* * *

? ? ?

We got to the restaurant about half an hour before the health inspector was due to arrive, but he still managed to beat us there. And with him was an unexpected guest.

“Mr. Long?” my aunt asked. “What are you doing here?”