We sat at the dining table, the four of us all filling up our plates and digging in. Everything tasted excellent, from the perfectly cooked mutton chops to the flavor-packed potato salad to the spiced rice that had my mouth watering with every spoonful.
It was a great dinner, and the conversation was just as good. The little awkwardness simmered away by the time we hit the main courses. Laughter filled the spacious dining room as we all started to share different stories, starting with Eduardo telling the story of how Oliver and Jonah had snuck in their first pet. The conversation bounced around from there, but it never stalled.
I felt at ease, like I’d been sitting among people I’d known for years. I looked around, seeing smiling faces and caring eyes, and I felt like I was at home.
Like I’d finally found a home. After all the searching. After being kicked out of my own home, trying to make it on my own, crossing entire oceans in search of something. I never really found what I’d been searching for.
Not until now. This was it. My heart felt full, brimming over with emotion. At one point, I had to excuse myself to the bathroom because I felt a swell of emotion coming through me. Sure enough, I closed the bathroom door and tears started to flow, as if on cue.
I patted my face dry and went to rejoin the table. My phone started to buzz then. I pulled it out of my pocket and glanced at the screen.
It was Anya.
I unlocked the phone, standing in the hallway, and read the message.
ANYA: Stay tuned. I think I’ve found something.
My pulse quickened. I shot a quick reply and went back to rejoin the table, my mind starting to race.
I hadn’t told Oliver, but I didn’t think this case was closed now that Juan and his brother were locked up. Juan admitted to the stabbing, but Mario still denied having any part in it. Juan also denied having anything to do with the threats Oliver had received. If he admitted to the killing, then I didn’t think the threats would be an issue to cop up to. Meanwhile, Mario said he had an alibi, that he was with his friends at the time of the attack. It was suspicious since he had been so adamant on not remembering anything when I interviewed him, but all of a sudden knew exactly where he was on the night of the attack.
Still, I didn’t feel like we had everything figured out, and that unsettled me. So I asked Anya to do a little more digging. Not only into Juan and Mario, but also into Greg’s life. I wondered if maybe there was something I missed.
I rejoined the table and fell into the conversation, setting aside thoughts of the case.
At least until my phone buzzed a second time while Emma recounted the story of Oliver finding out Santa wasn’t real. Apparently he had dug through her purse and found the receipt listing every single item he had on his list.
“So I panicked and I said, ‘Oh honey, no, no. This isn’t mom’s purse, this must be Santa’s. He must have gotten it confused when he came to pick up the list.”
The entire table cracked up at that quickly and terribly crafted lie. Oliver broke through the loud laughter. “And so for another entire year, I kept asking why Santa never had any of his purses with him in all the drawings and movies. So, Mom, what did you tell me?”
“I said he keeps them all in the big sack he carries with him.”
More laughter rang out around the table.
“So there I was, thinking Santa was hoarding all his Chanels and Louies in that big red sack he carried with him everywhere. I thought that was so ingenious and stupid at the same time.”
My phone buzzed again, yanking my thoughts to the case. What had Anya found?
I excused myself from the table and walked down the hall, but I didn’t step into the bathroom. Before I could read the text, Oliver was at my side.
“You okay?” He looked genuinely concerned. “Wasn’t anything we cooked, right?”
Another buzz drew both our eyes down at the phone. “Anya?” Oliver asked, reading the name on the screen.
“Oliver—”
“What’s going on? Oh God, did Juan escape?”
“No, no, nothing like that. Breathe. Breathe.”
I could see this running away from Oliver. His pupils were blown, his eyebrows raised.
“I just asked her to look into Greg a little more, that’s all. I want to make sure all the bases are covered.”
“So… you don’t think it’s Mario, then?”
“I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.