The dinner party broke up soon after that, with people packing up leftovers to take home with them. Jae thought he was being polite by refusing to take anything, but that just made my grandmother extra fierce about loading him down with plastic takeout containers. He looked over at me to save him, so I said, “Lola, don’t forget to pack some baon for Marcus.”

Tita Rosie said, “Oh no, I forgot about him!” and flew around gathering the last of the food to give to Ninang Mae.

Jae mouthed, “Thanks” to me and I winked at him. Or at least tried to. I wasn’t sure how successful the maneuver was because Amir caught the exchange and looked at me funny. I probably wasn’t smooth enough to pull off winking.

“Amir Bhai, let’s go. I have work in the morning.” Adeena waited by the entrance, already suited up for the wintry outdoors.

“Huh?” Amir pulled his gaze away from me and Jae. “I thought you were riding with Elena?”

“Nope. I’m riding with you and we have to leave now,” she said, heavy emphasis on the last word. “Thanks for dinner, Auntie Rosie and Grandma Flor! Everything was delicious.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely have to stop by once your restaurant is open,” Elena said. “Thanks for having me over. And, Lila, great seeing you again,” she said, giving me a quick hug.

“Of course. Hope we can hang out soon.”

She glanced over at Adeena, who was making a big show of not listening in, and said, “Come by the restaurant. You know we’ll feed you good.”

And with that, the three of them left, Adeena pushing a protesting Amir out the door. “Wait, I wanted to stay longer! OK, thanks, bye!” he called over his shoulder as she hustled him out.

“That was strange,” Bernadette said. “She mad at you?”

I rubbed my right temple. “Yeah, probably.”

Jae raised his eyebrows. “What for?”

“For something I’ve been avoiding for a really long time.” At his confused look, I added, “Our dreams seem to have gone in different directions. I thought she was just joking, but now I don’t know. We probably need to have a talk.”

He nodded, still slightly confused but hanging in there. “OK, so I guess that’s my cue to leave as well. Thanks for the lovely dinner and for inviting me into your home. You’ll have to come over sometime so I can return the favor.”

Bernadette glared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Seriously, Jae? You, too? Ugh, I’m out.” She grabbed her leftovers. “See you later, titas. Lola.” She nodded at me and Jae, then headed out the door.

Jae stared after her. “Wait, is she mad at me? What did I do?”

I sighed. The men in my life were denser than my grandmother’s rice cakes. “Good night, Jae. Let’s do this again sometime.”

Then I pushed him out the door before my family made the situation even more awkward than it already was.

I went back into the dining room, where my godmothers were cleaning up. “So Lila, did you learn anything about the case tonight?” Ninang Mae asked.

Once they removed all the dishes, I began wiping down the table. “What was there to learn? Nobody talked about the case. They were all just here to have a good time.”

My godmothers exchanged glances. “I see,” Ninang June said. “You really weren’t paying attention, were you?”

“Well, it’s to be expected. Jae and Amir were very distracting,” Ninang Mae said with a wink. “Though, honestly, you invited the brother of the detective on your case and didn’t think to ask him anything about it?”

“She’s still got a lot to learn,” Ninang April added as she put on her coat.

After the day I’d just had, my godmothers’ nonsense was extra frustrating. I threw up my hands. “A lot to learn about what?”

“Life,” Lola Flor said, sneaking up behind me. “She’s right. But enough about that, you better get ready for bed. Another big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah? What’s so special about tomorrow?”

“Derek’s wake.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Despite my best intentions to follow Lola’s advice and sleep early, I couldn’t. I spent half the night sending texts to Adeena that went unanswered while avoiding Amir’s suddenly pressing need to talk to me. He called no fewer than three times, but didn’t leave a message or send any texts, so it couldn’t be anything too urgent. Besides, I did not have the bandwidth to deal with him after the day I’d just had.

I woke up foggy-headed and grumpy, so after a light breakfast of coffee, pandesal, and coco jam, Nisa and I went out for a run. But even that provided no relief, as my steps became more and more plodding and Nisa seemed more interested in marking various banks of snow than helping me get out of my funk. I called Adeena when I got back home, but still no answer. Thought about leaving a voice mail but decided against it. While showering, I formulated the next steps of my investigation.

Derek’s wake wasn’t until one p.m., so I thought I’d swing by another place on the suspect list for an early lunch. I’d originally planned on staying home and spending time with Tita Rosie, but she was busy preparing food and refreshments for the service. I would’ve helped her, but she waved me away, happier than I’d seen in a while—Mrs. Long had assigned her the task and my aunt wanted to give it her all. Strange that Mrs. Long would solicit the help of an accused murderer—according to her husband—but she knew us well enough to know my aunt was innocent. After all, Mrs. Long had spent quite a bit of time at our restaurant back when Derek and I were dating. Tita Rosie still visited her to drop off food since her chronic pain sometimes kept her in bed for days at a time.

So either she trusted us completely or Derek’s death had left her even more lost and helpless than I thought.

Pierogi Palace was next on the list, but when I got there, a sign stated they were closed “indefinitely.” I was sitting in the car, staring at that sign and wondering what my next move should be, when I got a text.

Hey its elena

Can you come by the restaurant

We need to talk

Well that sounded ominous. It did solve my problem of what to do next though, and I needed to talk to her about last night. Might be a good chance to pump her for info without Adeena hovering over my shoulder.

As soon as I got to El Gato Negro, Elena hustled me toward a secluded table in the corner. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I’ll be back in a minute to take your order.”

The place was bustling and it took awhile before she could make her way back to me. I placed my order (the goat taco special and agua de jamaica to drink) and when she came back with my food, she sat down with her own plate.

“It’s my lunch break, so I thought we could talk and eat at the same time. Cool?”

I nodded and we both dug in, focusing on our food rather than conversation for the next few minutes. I made quick work of the first two tacos on my plate and was starting on my third when Elena cleared her throat.

“So you’re probably wondering why I asked you to come over. And how I got your number.”

Understatement, but OK. “I’m assuming you got my number from Adeena.”

She shook her head. “Adeena got really pissed when I asked her, actually. That’s part of what I want to talk to you about.”

I sipped at my iced hibiscus tea, wondering where this was going.

“Amir was the one who gave me your number. He also gave me his card last night, saying he heard my family was a suspect in Derek’s murder. Wanted me to contact him if anything happened, or if I remembered something that could help your case.” She crumbled a chip into little pieces on her plate. “Is it true you’re investigating Derek’s death?”

Way to alert our suspects, Awan family.

“Not exactly. Just asking a few questions here and there. The sooner they wrap up the case, the sooner my family’s life goes back to normal.”

Elena crossed her arms and glared at me. “And you think my family had something to do with his death?”

I clutched at my cup. “It’s not like that. I’d heard rumors about your aunt and uncle having to close up shop and I wanted to see if they might’ve targeted him for revenge. Then it turns out they’re not even around anymore and you and your mom took over and Adeena really likes you and I don’t know what to think about anything.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and threw back the last of my agua de jamaica as if it were a shot of tequila. Oh, I wish, I wish.

Elena softened. “I totally understand your instinct to protect your family. And after meeting them last night, I also know there’s no way your family had anything to do with Derek’s death. I want to help. That’s why I called you over.”

I’d been staring into my empty glass feeling sorry for myself, but looked up at that last line. “Really? Why?”

She ran her hand through her gorgeous hair, which was even thicker and unrulier than Adeena’s. “I like Adeena, too. But whatever problems you have are between the two of you. Derek, however? Totally involves me. He messed with my family and I’m not letting him mess with another one.”