“Where’s Ryana?”
“What?”
“Re-ah-na?” He spoke more slowly. “On the phone, you said she was with you.”
“Mark, put the gun down before you get yourself in trouble.” Bernie kept her voice level. “Why are you asking about her?”
“You know. Chee told me about the letter, about the blackmail. He must have told you, too. I need it back. I know it’s here somewhere.”
That explained his rummaging in the freezer. “Ryana isn’t with me. Why would she give it to you after all the heartache you’ve caused her?”
“Two reasons. She saw what those guys did to Mr. Natachi. Him getting shot was her fault. They gave me more than I paid for, that’s how it goes.”
“I can’t hear you very well. What’s the second?”
He laughed and spoke louder. “She really wants to be with me. She plays hard to get because I’ve seen her in those movies. Everyone else thinks she’s a good girl, but I understand what a woman like that needs.”
Bernie noticed that the gun was pointed to the floor, not her chest, as he continued.
“All I ever asked was for her to be my girlfriend. I’d give her the money back; it wasn’t about that. Where is that beautiful devil?”
“What?” Bernie lowered her voice. “My head’s spinning from that box you hit me with. I can barely hear you. Come closer.”
“You lied about Ryana being with you.” He took another step toward her.
“Huh?”
“Did she tell you where the letter is?”
Bernie groaned. “My head hurts. I can’t hear you. Move closer.”
“Do you know where it is, Cupcake?” He was yelling now.
“What?”
“Stop it.” He kicked at her, missed, and when he tried again, Bernie clawed for his leg. Her grasp and her strength threw him off balance. He fell hard, dropping the gun. She rolled away and pulled her own weapon as she stood, pointing it at him as he tried to rise. She yelled, “Stay on the floor. Facedown.”
“Let’s talk this over.” He raised his head. “You don’t know the whole story. You’ve got it all wrong.”
She kept the gun aimed at his spine. “Down. Face on the floor. Now.”
Instead, he lurched for her. She kicked as he tried to rise, connecting firmly with his groin.
He yowled in pain and slumped back.
“So, Mark, what’s with the gasoline? If you didn’t find the letter, were you going to burn the place?”
“What else could I do?” he whimpered.
“Where did you come up with those overachievers to do your dirty work?”
“Why should I tell you? What’s in it for me?”
Bernie smiled, but kept the gun pointed at him. “I’m going to see Ryana next. I can let her know that you didn’t mean to hurt her grandfather. Or I can keep quiet.”
“I didn’t want that old guy shot.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“One of those thugs came to the station. He had a cool tattoo, a thin snake around his wrist, and I asked him about it. We talked, and then he mentioned that he was looking for a guy named Nicky. He told me they were friends from California, but I knew there was more to it than that. I gave him the address. Tattoo Man said he owed me a favor, so when Ryana wasn’t paying anymore, I called him. I just wanted to scare her. I respect Mr. Natachi.”
“You’re lying. If you respected him, why did you send those men to hurt him? Why did you extort money from the granddaughter he loved? You can think about how to make all this right while you’re in jail, Cupcake.” She called for backup and, this time, talked to Lieutenant Black himself.
Black arrived quicker than she’d hoped. After they’d asked a million questions and learned the name of Tattoo Man, Lieutenant Black hauled Adakai away in the patrol car.
Bernie met Ryana and her sister in Mr. Natachi’s room. The old man slept while she told the girls what had happened.
“I don’t have to worry anymore.” Ryana’s relief showed in her smile. “But I’m not leaving here until my grandfather can come home, too.”
She and Darleen walked back to her car and, while they drove, Bernie explained the mess at Ryana’s and Mr. Natachi’s house.
Darleen said, “No problem. I can help with that. And Ryana called her boss at the senior center and talked to her about me. The lady offered me a little job while Ryana is with her grandfather at the hospital. Because Mama’s better now, it all worked out.”
Darleen’s luck held. Stoop Man showed up with the promised tow and a ride home for Darleen in the cab of his truck.
Bernie called Chee and filled him in before he asked. “I’m going to contact Agent Johnson next and tell her about Tattoo Man and the connection between Adakai and Nicky’s murder.”
“And I thought you’d still be obsessing about that security tape.”
“Oh, right. It slipped my mind.”
“Well, Ryana was right. Adakai showed up on the surveillance video as the man with her grandfather’s bolo. When I talked to Black about him earlier, he said he hadn’t had any trouble with the guy, but Mark went through a bad period after a girl he was dating dumped him. Black didn’t know who she was. Someone he’d had a crush on in high school.”
“Thanks for checking that. I’m on my way home.”
“Guess what?”
“The Bigman baby is here?”
“No. Burgers on the grill await.”