Dirty Laundry (34 page)

“Man, you’re dressed like a bad seventies cop.” I followed him back into the office, dogging his steps. “Where’d you hide the Gran Torino?”

“Fuck you, McGinnis.” His rejoinder lacked bite, especially compared to Claudia’s skilled cuts, but I wasn’t going to point that out either. “Sit down. I’m here to figure out what the hell you did yesterday.”

I got Wong a soda from the fridge and handed it to him over the desk. Slumping down into my chair, I popped open my Diet Coke and sipped at the froth bubbling up over the tab. “What’s there to say you didn’t hear last night at the hospital?”

“You were in the ER for what? Five minutes before Jae dragged you out of there? How much could I ask you?”

“I wasn’t that hurt. He was happy to see me whole and hearty. Very happy. He even showed me how happy he was in the parking lot.”

“I didn’t need that image in my head,” he moaned. “Also, I’m hiding from O’Byrne. She thinks I let you run all over this case and didn’t do anything to stop you.”

“You didn’t.” A staple remover came flying at my shoulder, but it went wide, clattered across the floor, and came to a rest against the far wall. “She wasn’t too happy to see me when I stopped in at the hospital to see Hong Chul.”

“Yeah, unhappy is an understatement.” Wong sighed. “James Bahn didn’t make it, you know. He was alive long enough to talk a bit to his mother and the cops but seized up on the table. They couldn’t resuscitate.”

“Sort of figured that out on the scene. Bobby got him close range.” I’d seen too much bloodshed over the past week. Vivian’s death would haunt me, but I’d sleep better at night knowing James was dead.

“Madame Sun’s packing up shop and heading back to Seoul. Guess Gyong-Si’s going to corner the market on fortune-telling around here.”

“She lost her daughter
and
her son. Do you blame her?” I’d liked the
ajumma
. She seemed like a nice woman who’d been dealt a shitty hand in life.

“No, it’s a pity, though. Bad enough her daughter was murdered, but to have her son be the killer?” He shook his head, the spikes on his head bobbing in waves.

Thinking of Kim Hyun-Shik, I said, “I’ve seen it the other way around too. Sucks either way. Did James say anything about killing Shim?”

“Yeah, I got to the ER when they were prepping him. He spilled his guts to his mother. Guess he knew he wasn’t going to make it. Amazing how many people find God when they’re knocking on Hell’s Gate.” Wong rested his elbows on his knees, gesturing with his soda can. “Shim popped Choi in her car and was waiting for Lee at her apartment. James paid him five thousand each for those hits. Vivian called him because she was going to be late for a dinner they were supposed to go to. So James knew where she was going to be and figured he’d take the chance to take her out.”

“With not a damned thought about what it would do to his mother?”

“Nope. When she told him she was going to be at that coffee shop, James drove and parked his car on the street outside the window. Since the entrance to the place is inside the courtyard, he figured no one would connect his vehicle to what was going on. Shim met him there, sat in the passenger seat, and waited for a clear shot. Then they took off into traffic when the shit hit the fan.”

“Shim didn’t wait for a clear shot. He lit the fucking place up,” I reminded Wong. “It was like Elmer Fudd at a bunny ranch.”

“Darren Shim was not known for being a stable young man,” Wong drawled. “Or for being very patient. James apparently didn’t have the money on him, so Shim decided he’d go collect it in person. James denied telling Shim to come to Madame Sun’s place of business the next day. I guess Shim decided he was going to show James he was dealing with a badass and collect what was owed him.”

“So James bashing his head in with the urn to protect his mother was real?” If I sounded skeptical, Wong’s expression bordered on intense cynicism. “Really?”

“That’s what James told his mother,” Wong replied slowly. “She seemed happy to hear her son wasn’t a total bastard. It might have gone down the way he said. The attack on Madame Sun wasn’t planned. Shim did it on his own. James killed him defending his mother.”

“Huh. Maybe,” I conceded. “He had a deep hate for Gyong-Si. Blamed the man for his parents’ divorce. I guess when Vivian showed up out of the blue, it pissed him off. His mother was bending over backward for the daughter. When Vivian wasn’t appreciative enough, James was done. He did say killing Gyong-Si was the ultimate goal. Hurting Gyong-Si by killing off his kids was just a bonus.”

“We’re guessing Hong Chul’s grandfather, Bhak Bong Chol, told James all about Gyong-Si’s children. He must have let his own hatred of Gyong-Si slip out when he was having a consultation, and James pounced on it.” I’d turned over Bhak’s papers late last night, along with the notes we’d taken from them, but most of it was nonsensical.

“No word on if James had something to do with the grandfather’s death. He was cremated, so there’s nothing to run tox on,” Wong supplied. “Captain said to let that one sit. Not worth pursuing. Well, not without causing the family a lot of unnecessary pain.”

“Yeah, probably best. Some of his notes were kind of crazy.”

“His daughter said Bhak was suffering from some sort of dementia. I’m surprised you guys got anything out of what he wrote down. Good job working it out, though. Even though it almost got you killed.” He made a face, mostly apologetic, but I wouldn’t put money on it. “Bobby doing good?”

“Yeah, I picked him up this morning. Half of the guys in his little black book are fighting over each other to take care of him.” Sipping my drink, I snorted out at the carbonation tickling my nose. “Right now, his apartment probably looks like No Cover Charge Twink night at the Slip-n-Slide.”

“Got word Abby Park’s going to be okay. Her liver’s responding to whatever meds they put her on.” Wong made a show of flipping through his notebook, crossing things off with a pen he’d stolen from Claudia’s desk. “And I got a hold of the Yis. The mother apparently broke her tooth on something and Terry took her to the dentist. That’s why they weren’t around when James showed up.”

“Good. Honestly, I went over there to see if she knew anyone who hated Gyong-Si. I was hoping for a lead.”

“She’s a trip.” He chuckled. “She’s the one who told Terry to get a job with Gyong-Si. Thought it would be a good way for him to get to know his father. Of course, she didn’t really believe Gyong-Si was gay. First thing she asked Terry when she found out was if Gyong-Si hit on him.”

“God, don’t go there.” I shuddered. “Terry’s a good kid. Wonder if he and Hong Chul are going to get together now that they know they’re brothers.”

“Don’t know. It’ll be nice for them. Brothers are good to have.”

Even knowing Mike as well as I did, I’d want to have him around. Ichiro was easier to like, but we were still in a honeymoon stage of sorts. Or maybe it was just easier to get along with someone if you were too old to fight over the toy from a box of cereal.

“Yeah, they’re good to have.” Nodding in agreement, I gave the chair a few squeaks. “Although mine seems not to be as good at reading because he got Lee confused with Yi.”

“Was it in English or Korean? The writing?”

“The writing? Probably both. The guy really had shitty writing, so I’ve got to cut Ichi some slack. So what now? O’Byrne going to nail me for impeding an investigation?” I wouldn’t have put it past her. When she’d shown up at the ER, I was lucky to have survived, with her shouting at me until a nurse kicked her out. “Last time I saw her, she was measuring my head to hang above her desk at the station.”

“Yeah, Captain’s not too happy with either of us. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a bright, shiny patrol car to tool around in when I’m giving out parking tickets. We’ll see.” Wong sighed mournfully. “Okay, I’ve got to get home to the girlfriend. We’re supposed to go out to dinner with my parents. My mom’s already hinting about grandkids. I think I’m going to tell her we’re going to get a dog and see if we can’t keep it alive first.
Then
I’ll think about having kids.”

I
WALKED
Wong out after locking the office up. Someone in the neighborhood was prepping for the cooler weather from the sounds of wood being split nearby. Rubbing at my injured side, I gave myself permission to be lazy and order in a few stacks of seasoned eucalyptus.

Seeing the white Explorer parked beside my Rover made me smile, and I forgot all about any aches and pains.

Jae was waiting for me on the stoop, sitting on the cold cement and smoking a
kretek
. The aromatic clove smell drifted toward me, greeting my approach with a fragrant kiss. He’d dug through my clothes again, unearthing a dark green fisherman’s sweater Maddy brought back for me from Killybegs. Jae swam in it, and he’d pulled down its hem until it covered his knees, probably hoping it would keep his legs warmer than his torn jeans could. A box of groceries sat on the cement behind him, the end of a large butternut squash and a bunch of leeks peeking out over the top.

“Hey, that co-op thing you joined dropped stuff off?” He didn’t look up. Instead, his eyes were fixed off into the distance, not even focused on the popsicle-stick-slat fence separating my long lot from the neighbors. I leaned over to kiss him and got a chunk of hair instead of the mouth I’d been aiming for. “Jae, you okay?”

“Babe?” I got no response so I tried again. “Jae?”

“Where’s Tiffany? Do you know? She’s not answering her phone.” He turned his face toward me, but his eyes were still unfocused, pinned to anywhere but my face. It was a dead look, as if something inside of him was withering away in front of me. “I thought she was here with you.”

“Maddy took her and Sissy out for a girl’s afternoon. She was supposed to tell you. From what I heard, they’re buying up LA.” I touched his cheek, finding it chilled from the wind. It stung when he flinched, but when Jae leaned into the cup of my palm, I sighed in silent relief. “Talk to me, honey.”

“They’re moving here… to Los Angeles. I told you,
ne
? My mother and Jae-Su.” He sounded worse than numb, his lips barely moving as he spoke. “I guess Ree too. I… don’t know. She—fuck, Cole-ah. I don’t know.”

“Yeah, you told me.” I sat down next to him. He looked too brittle to touch, but I slung my arm around his waist. “Did your mom call you to tell you when?”

“No, she called to tell me… I’m no longer her son.” He broke in front of me, his control shattering under the weight of his words. I tried to pull him closer, confused and unsure about what to do, but Jae pulled away, keeping a bit of distance between us. “Cole-ah, she knows. She
really
does know this time. She—”

Any pain I’d ever experienced, even grabbing at Rick in those final moments between us, didn’t
hurt
as much as seeing Jae crumble. Whatever he had going on inside of him was devastating, an emotional massacre he didn’t have a chance in hell of surviving.

“Babe, I need you to talk to me.” I scooted closer, pressing tight against him. “What happened? What the fuck happened? Did Tiff talk to her? I thought she was cool with us. She said she was going to be okay with us!”

“My aunt, Hyun-Shik’s mother, called her. She told my mother
everything
. That she’d found me with
hyung
… having sex with him, and that I’d been at Dorthi Ki Seu.
Everything
, Cole-ah… including… us.” Jae’s chest hitched, a sob caught somewhere in his throat. “All because my mother is coming to Los Angeles with Jae-Su… because Uncle wants his
son
. My aunt… had to hurt her… hurt me.”

“Your
aunt
told her?” There weren’t enough foul words I could come up with. Rage filled every crevice of my being and spilled out through my mouth. “
Fucking bitch
. Why? What the hell would she do that for? You bent over backward for her. You did everything you could for that c—”

“She was jealous… is jealous.” Jae finally looked at me, and I recoiled at the pain in his face. He was laid bare in front of me, carved up and left for dead by the woman who’d given birth to him. “So she told my mother I’m… like
this
. How I whored myself, letting men fuck me, and that’s how I was supporting the family. By selling my ass to men like Hyun-Shik… or to you. My aunt destroyed me… my family… because she—”

“Because she’s a fucking bitch,” I whispered, reaching for Jae’s shoulders to fold him into a hug. He didn’t fight me, collapsing into my arms. Shaking, he began to cry, a noiseless weeping strong enough to send shockwaves through his body. Rocking him, I stroked at his hair and kissed the top of his head. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I can’t feel… inside of me anymore, Cole.” He sounded scared, more terrified than I’d ever heard him sound before. Even in the grip of the bloodshed and death we’d slogged through, Jae’d been stoic, practically phlegmatic in enduring his troubles. Suddenly the shell was cracked, and a little boy with a broken heart poured out in a slithering, yolky mess. “I can’t feel my heart anymore. It just… hurts too much to breathe.”

“What did she tell you? Your mom?” I didn’t even know the woman’s name. He’d never told it to me. Right now, it didn’t seem as important as what she meant to him. “Maybe you didn’t hear her straight. Maybe she just needs time.”

“No, she is done with me. She said that she’d always known I was… wrong, but she didn’t care because I wasn’t there living with her anymore so it didn’t matter.
I
didn’t matter anymore.” He was tiring, too much energy spent on too little, and the bitch seemed to have sucked everything out of him. Bruised circles puffed up the skin beneath Jae’s drooping eyes, and he sighed, unable to hold himself up anymore. “I was nothing to her. Nothing more than someone to feed off of. I thought… I wanted it to be different… I wanted her to love me. She is my
mother
—”

“You have me. And Scarlet. Hell, Jae, you’ve got so many people around you.”

“But they’re not family,” he insisted softly. “Not
my
family. She’s going to take Tiffany. I don’t know if I’ll ever see her… or Ree again. I can’t… I can’t let her take my sisters from me, Cole-ah. She doesn’t care for them… forgets them and does things with men. I can’t let my sisters live like that. Like I did when I was their age. It kills you inside. You’re so
alone
, Cole-ah. I don’t want them to be that alone.”