“Why are you doing this?”

I glanced up at Adeena’s voice to see her glowering at me. Ten minutes ago, I’d wanted nothing more than to finally have our heart-to-heart where I’d lay all my cards on the table. But now I had a lead with a time limit and did not have time to deal with her brotherly insecurities and demands on my future.

“You’re going to have to be a little clearer. Got a lot of stuff going on that you seem to disapprove of, so you’ll have to narrow it down. Oh, and can I get a to-go cup, please?”

She didn’t budge. “You’re super lactose intolerant. You only order something with this much dairy to punish yourself.”

I took a quick sip and holy sugar, was it ever delicious. “I also get it when I need a bit of cheering up. Don’t know if you noticed, but I could do with some cheer.”

“Don’t give me that. You order stuff like this when you’re depressed, thinking it’ll cheer you up, but again, you’re really just punishing yourself.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten before saying, “Adeena, are you going to get me that to-go cup or not? ’Cause I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you running away again? Because that seems to be your go-to move.”

“Oh my God, are you serious right now? Why does everyone accuse me of running away?! Why can’t you all accept that I’m just trying to do what’s best for me?”

Adeena gave me a pitying look. “How long you going to keep lying to yourself?”

“You know what, I’m tired of all this high school drama. When you’re ready to talk to me, come find me. I got enough to deal with right now.” I pushed up from the table and put my coat back on. “Forget the to-go cup. I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Lila.” Adeena’s voice was so strained, I could almost feel it snap in the air between us.

Usually that tone of voice would have me bending over backward to accommodate her, but I couldn’t deal with her right now.

“Sorry, gotta go talk to a possible murder suspect while sitting next to my ex-boyfriend’s dead body. Come find me once you’ve gotten over yourself.”

“Lila—”

“Oh, and Mr. Long’s dead, too. Mrs. Long and I both found him. Knife stuck in his chest, lots of blood everywhere, that whole thing. Just so you know the kind of day I’m having. OK, bye!”

I waved cheerily at her as I got in my car and delighted in how she stood staring at me, mouth agape, even as I started backing out of my spot. Petty? Yes. Cruel? Well, maybe a little. But because of her, I not only had to deal with the uncomfortable feeling that she was right, I was also going to face a potential murder suspect alone and uncaffeinated.

That had to count for something, right?

Chapter Thirty-eight

Running inside a funeral home was probably frowned upon, but I couldn’t help sprinting toward the main viewing room to make sure Yuki hadn’t left yet. I’d DM’ed her my phone number in the car and told her to call if she left before I got there. So far no phone call, but you never know.

I darted past the scowling funeral director and skidded into the mostly empty viewing room. Cate and Mrs. Long were already at my place (Tita Rosie texted me earlier saying I’d better be home in time for dinner), so none of the family was there to greet visitors.

Yuki stood alone beside Derek’s casket, a black-clad figure silhouetted against the light wood finish of the casket and spray of white lilies surrounding it. One hand rested on the edge of the casket as she stared down at Derek’s handsome, still face. Though when I got closer to her, I realized “rested” wasn’t the correct word to describe her. The knuckles on her hand were white and shaking—the hand clutching the casket was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Yuki?” I said, hating to intrude into what must’ve been a very private moment of grief. “It’s Lila. You wanted to talk?”

Yuki nodded, her movements slow and measured, as if even that routine movement required concentration and effort. “Yes. I wanted to talk.”

I waited for her to continue, but she stayed silent. “OK . . . what did you want to talk about? And why here?”

“How did you know Derek?” she asked, without turning around.

All this cloak and dagger was so she could ask me about my dating history with a dead guy?

“We grew up in this town. Dated for a while in high school. Why?”

“Why did you break up?”

I shrugged, then realized she couldn’t see my gestures. “We were young. We wanted different things in life. Typical high school stuff. It was all a long time ago.”

She shook her head, still not facing me. “Not for him it wasn’t. He still loved you.”

“He said that?”

“He didn’t have to say it. I just knew. He thought I didn’t, but I knew.”

I edged closer to her, the strain in her voice pulling me toward her like a magnet. “What was your relationship with Derek? He wasn’t just a jerk food critic to you, was he?”

She finally turned around, tears coursing down her face. “We were having an affair.”

Ha! I knew it! It wouldn’t do to gloat over my ability to read people, so I said, “I’m sorry. You obviously cared about him.”

“I did. Or at least, I think I did.” She glanced toward the casket, then back at me. “It started off innocently. You know? I just wanted to improve the public image of our restaurant, so I had to talk to Derek to figure out where we went wrong. Akio is such a . . . Well, you saw how he is. I knew he’d just get in another fight. I was able to talk Derek into not pressing charges, but then Akio tried to fight the health inspector, too. There was no talking things out with him, so I had to pay him off.”

She looked down. “I had to pay him to change our score, too. Akio thought it was because the inspector realized he’d made a mistake, but no. Derek told me he knew how the inspector worked and this was the only way to make things OK for us.”

I appreciated Yuki confirming what I had already pieced together, but I sensed there was more she wasn’t telling me.

“OK, so that explains your situation with the health inspector, but what about Derek?”

“It had been a couple of weeks since he wrote his nasty review. After tipping me off about the health inspector, his column stopped focusing on our restaurant. I guess he had moved on to his next target. I wanted to thank him, but also to slap him for putting us through all that. So I told him I needed to see him again. And it just . . . happened. I can’t explain it.”

I could. Derek could be dazzlingly charming when he wanted to be. How else could I have stayed with him so long? How else could I have been tricked into getting back together with him, ever so briefly, when I came back to Shady Palms? Which reminded me . . .

“Wait, so if you’ve been messing around since summertime, you were together when I came back to town, right?”

Her face tightened. “How else would I know he was still in love with you? But it’s not like I could say anything to him. I couldn’t exactly demand loyalty when I go home to the man I’ve been married to for over a decade and have no intention of leaving.”

I bit my lip. “Did . . . did he talk about me?”

“He wanted to ruin you,” she said. “That’s how I knew he wasn’t over you. And why I thought you were the one that killed him.”

I rubbed at my temple. “OK, you’re going to have to explain that, because those are two giant leaps you’re making right there.”

“I knew he was seeing you because out of nowhere he started avoiding me. I asked around and found out his ex was back in town. I was actually relieved. I’d been feeling guilty and wondering if there was a graceful way to break it off, but suddenly I didn’t have to. Then he called me one night and demanded I meet with him. Went on and on about uppity women and how I was the only one who understood him.”

I stared at her. “And that wasn’t a red flag for you to get out?”

“I cared about him. The madder he was at you, the sweeter he was to me. And if he focused on your restaurant, it meant he’d leave mine alone.” Yuki shrugged. “I’m not proud of it. But we had struggled long enough and I didn’t know you. Seemed easier to mind my own business and hope he’d lose interest in me again.”

“Did he?”

She laughed, the sound amazingly bitter despite its light, tinkly quality. “Just the opposite. Said that he was finally going to get away from that life and leave Shady Palms behind. And he wanted me to come with him.”

Could this be a reference to the drug-dealing Detective Park had mentioned?

“When did he say this? And what did he mean by ‘that life’?”

“Not sure, but it might have something to do with the con he was pulling with the health inspector. I was supposed to meet him the day he died to give him an answer.”

I hesitated. “Did you love him? Would you have gone with him?”