Chapter Eighteen
Sejal was getting really good at sitting in silence in a car as someone drove her somewhere. This time, though, she was squished
in the back seat, next to a giant security guard, trying to make himself small between her and Mira.
She was glad now that Naveen had stayed home. Bad enough that she had to navigate the awkwardness with her sister. The last
thing she needed was the brother-in-law she barely knew coming along for the ride.
And Krish? Are you glad he stayed away, too?
No. She’d gotten used to his presence in a very short amount of time. This was weird.
Mira sat forward. “It’s right there, on the left.”
They turned into the entrance to a much nicer storage facility than the one her father had used. Sunil’s driver parked, and
they got out. “You can stay here,” Sejal said to the guards.
The one who had been smooshed between them shook his head. “No, ma’am. We’re under orders to stick close. We’ll be happy to
give you some privacy, but we’ll follow you to the unit.”
Mira nodded when Sejal was about to argue. “Sure. Thanks for your help.”
Sunil, I hope you vet your men real well. The last thing she needed was finding out one of these brutes was in Alexei’s pocket. Paranoid thinking probably, but she
was pretty paranoid.
She followed her sister to an unassuming unit. “So you moved everything here? But you kept the other place.”
“Not really, but it’s paid up for the next five years or so. Maybe eventually the cops or feds or whoever will realize the
unit once belonged to Dad and seize it.” Mira unlocked the door. The lock was extremely heavy-duty, Sejal noted with approval.
She could probably still crack it, but it would take time.
Sejal waited a beat before following her sister into the unit, trying to brace herself for what she might find.
It was neatly organized, with boxes stacked on boxes. Mira gestured to them. “Do you know what you’re looking for?”
“A flash drive, I think. At least, that’s what Dad waved at me back then. Might not be the same one, though. Hopefully, he
transferred it to a newer one.” The tragedy would be discovering her insurance and having a technical issue.
“I never found any storage drives, but it could be hidden in something. You know how the man was.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Sejal crossed over to a stack of boxes and picked up the top one. It was extremely light, so she opened it. Inside was a leather
wallet and some random, childishly scrawled kid’s drawings. “This is all Dad’s stuff?”
“Yeah, there’s definitely some odd things in here. Snowmen drawings and whatnot.”
Sejal ignored the wallet and pulled out the drawings.
There was an M on one with a drawing of four stick people.
Sejal’s name was written on the drawing of a house with what appeared to be a snowman outside it.
Something scratched at her brain. She tilted the paper sideways.
The snowman was a circle, with two more circles for legs and another for a head.
The smile was a thin line. “I remember drawing this,” she said slowly.
“You do?”
“Yeah. I think . . . I drew it for Mom. I mean Rushali.” Sejal’s memories of her mother could fit into a thimble. Mostly she
remembered raised voices, the scent of lilacs, and occasional smiles, though not maternal ones. “I tried to give it to her,
but she was busy.” Sejal tilted her head and held the drawing up for Mira to see. “This is a snowman?”
“I think so.”
“Maybe the snowman is actually the friends we made along the way,” Sejal mused. “But you’re the one with the kid now, so I
guess you’d know. Does, uh, Ananya draw a lot of snowmen?” The question was casual, but Sejal was surprised to find out how
hungry she was for information on her niece.
“Ananya’s still kind of new at life. She’d probably eat a crayon.”
If Mira had said Ananya was reading Gone with the Wind, Sejal would have believed it. What did she know about developmental milestones?
Mira came to stand next to her. Her sister was so much smaller than her, smaller than Sejal remembered. How had she carried
a baby?
“Was it hard? The pregnancy?” Sejal didn’t take her gaze off the snowman.
Mira didn’t speak for a second, but also continued to stare at the paper, like it held some kind of secret clue. “As hard as any pregnancy is. I was tired a lot. I had preeclampsia at the end, so we had a C-section a few weeks early.”
Sejal’s head whipped around. Her sister returned her gaze calmly, like she hadn’t just told her she’d had major surgery. “Preeclampsia?”
“My blood pressure shot up. It happens sometimes.”
“I heard C-sections are rough.”
“Every way to get a baby out is rough, unfortunately. But at least it was over quick.”
“And Naveen was there for you the whole time?”
Mira’s face softened. “Yes. Very much so.”
Sejal’s words came in a rush now. She was aware that she was overstepping and they were in a hurry, but she couldn’t help
but get every last ounce of her curiosity satisfied. “You must have been pregnant at the wedding, huh? How did that go over
with Naveen’s family? He takes your side against your mother-in-law, right?” Naveen’s parents were rich rich, part of the
Bay Area wealthy. They’d struck her as snobby, as much as any other rich people, when she’d been lurking at the wedding event.
“Situations don’t arise often where my mother-in-law and I are on opposite sides, but when they do, yes, Naveen takes my side.
I could have given birth at the wedding and she would have been delighted, so long as she had a new adorable grandchild to
smother.”
Sejal grunted. “I suppose Ananya is pretty cute.”
“She’s perfect,” Mira said. “I never thought I’d have kids, but I do love having her.”
Sejal put the drawings back in the box with more care than she’d thought she’d show. “Yeah, I’m still on the no-kids train.
What changed your mind?”
“I thought the world could use some more people who were raised right.”
“You seem to be a natural. Especially for someone with no example of good parenting.” She opened the wallet and found nothing
inside but an old ID. She tossed it back in so she didn’t have to look at their father’s smirking face.
“I had examples. Rhea. You.”
Sejal gave a rough, startled laugh. “Not me.”
“Of course you. You mothered me quite a bit.”
“Till I left home, maybe.”
Mira nodded, and there wasn’t an ounce of the anger Sejal expected to see in her gaze. “Yes, until Dad made you leave.”
Sejal’s hands stilled. She should say something now. Maybe something she’d always wanted to say. “I should have—”
Mira shook her head. “You didn’t have to do anything for me.”
“You were a kid. And I never even came back to check on you.”
“You were a kid, too. And you weren’t my mom. I already told you this, that day in the hotel room.”
You were my sister, not my mom . . . though you were a better mom to me than she would have been, no doubt.
Mira had said that, after rescuing Sejal.
It wasn’t so easy, though. Mira didn’t get it. How could she understand the guilt Sejal had carried all these years? For leaving
her heart behind and slowly letting its fire dim, for the sake of her own sanity?
Sejal put the useless box to the side, instead of saying such a sappy thing aloud. “Why would he keep stuff like this?”
“Who knows why Dad did anything when it came to us.”
There wasn’t much bitterness in Mira’s voice, which was pretty shocking. “You don’t sound as mad at him as you could be.”
“It’s called intensive therapy,” Mira said dryly.
Sejal gave a half laugh. “I’ve thought about trying that, but figured the therapist would run screaming into the night after
the first session.”
“You’d be surprised. The good ones are hardier than you think.” Mira nodded at the right side of the unit. “Why don’t I start
over there, and you can start on the other side.”
“Sounds good.”
They worked in silence for a good half hour. Sejal grew increasingly discouraged as she came across lots of documents that
should have been shredded a long time ago and nonsense knickknacks and clothes that didn’t seem to have any significance.
But nothing related to Alexei.
After moving aside a big wardrobe box, she discovered a desk behind it. A small jewelry box was in one of its drawers, and
the fluorescent lights flashed on the gold earrings inside. She picked them up and weighed them in her hand. “Hey,” she called
to Mira, “there’s some real gold over here.”
Mira came to stand next to her. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Her eyes narrowed on the jhumkas. “Ah, yes. Those
were Rhea Auntie’s.”
Now that Mira mentioned it, Sejal could recall her aunt wearing them. “Did you not know these were in here?”
“No, I did.” Mira bit her lip. “You should have them.”
Sejal raised an eyebrow. She never turned down gold, but . . . “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. Rhea and I weren’t very close when she died. I mean, when she went into Witness Protection. I was mad at her for . . .” For so much.
Mira nodded, like she knew what Sejal was saying. “Yeah, I was, too.”
“Did you know she skipped out on Witness Protection after Rushali got arrested?”
Her sister’s smile was rueful, but not shocked. “That tracks. I could have sworn Rhea was lurking at our wedding. I thought
it was you at first, but then I found a cigarette with her lipstick on it.”
“Clinique Black Honey,” Sejal murmured. Of course her aunt had had the same thought she had. But Sejal had lurked at the Mehndi,
not the actual wedding. They could have lurked into each other. “The FBI thinks that Rhea is running Cobra now.”
“Also tracks.” Mira nodded at the earrings. “Take them. If you ever need to sell them, do it. I have enough, truly.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Sejal started to put them in her pocket, but Mira stopped her.
“You should wear them. You could lose them in here.”
Mira had always been cautious. Sejal took a second to screw the earrings into her earlobes. Smart. The last thing she needed
was one more thing to protect. “Thanks.”
Sejal opened and closed the other drawers in the desk, but they were all empty.
“Check the bottom. I found a photo of the four of us there. I did take that.”
Funny that Mira would leave the earrings and take a photo of their weird little family. “You kept it?”
“I don’t have any baby photos of us. It’s nice to know Ananya looks like you.”
“She does?”
“Yeah.”
Huh. How about that. “Like, my eyes, I guess.”
“And your cheeks.”
Sejal touched her cheeks. “Cool.” She shook her head and got back to work, feeling along the bottom of the desk. “Good part
about growing up in a family like ours, you can deliver a solid cautionary tale or two about dropping out of school and becoming
like her grandparents.”
“There’s that. What are you doing?”
Sejal crouched down in front of the desk and tilted it back slightly, so a leg was exposed and she could unscrew the rubber
stopper on it. “Dad never liked a false bottom. But he kept a hollow leg on his desks. I found some weed inside one once.”
“Oh. What did you do?”
Sejal reached inside the hollow leg of the desk. “Smoked it, Mira. When you’re seventeen and you find weed, you usually smoke
it.” Her fingers brushed against a small wrapped package, and she grunted. She couldn’t quite get her fingers around it. “I
think there’s something here. Quick, use your tiny hands.”
“They are normal-sized hands.” But Mira got down on her knees and felt inside the leg. “Oh my gosh. I think I got it.” She
pulled out a small brown package.
Sejal replaced the leg. “This time I hope it’s not weed.” She carefully undid the tape that held the kraft paper closed. A
big sigh left her when she exposed the flash drive inside, relief making her lightheaded.
“Is that it?”
“I think so.” It was indeed a newer drive than she remembered, but on the side there was an “S” written in Sharpie. “If you
have a computer I could use to check it, that would be great.”
“It’s back at the hotel, but of course you can use it. I can take a look, too. If it’s embezzlement we’re looking for, I do know my way around a spreadsheet.”
“Thank you.”
Mira rose to her feet from her crouching position. “I’m impressed Dad kept this safe.”
“I’m impressed he helped me at all.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t back then.”
Sejal avoided looking at her sister. “I put you in a bad position.”
“And I put you in a worse one. How much did it hurt to ask Dad for help?”
Sejal rubbed her jaw. “My pride? That hurt, immensely. But at the end of the day, he got Alexei off my back. So it was worth
the groveling I had to do.”
“Rhea would say that it was proof he loved you.”
Sejal gave a half laugh. “Sunil, too. It takes more than some half-assed actions or an email to show love.”
“I agree. I’ve learned a lot about how much work love takes in the last couple years.” Mira shot her a sideways glance. “What’s
up with your Krish?”
Sejal stiffened. “Not love, if that’s where you’re going. I barely know him.” But with every little thing I learn about him I like him more.
“So why are you traveling with him?”
Sejal rubbed her nose. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain it when it gets worked out.”
“Will it get worked out?”
“I hope so.”
“You care for him.”
“He saved my life a few times from Alexei. If I hadn’t been with him this past week, Alexei’s man could have already nabbed me by now.”
“His eyes are kind.”
Krish’s eyes were kind. Damn it.
Sejal rose. “Come on. We should get back so we can get out of your hair soon.”
“You can stay in my hair for as long as you need.” Mira’s gaze rested on Sejal. “I’m glad to see you, and happy that you got
to see Ananya. Sorry it’s for cleaning-up-a-mess purposes, but I’ll take what I can get. Hopefully next time it’ll just be
for dinner.”
Sejal rubbed the tip of her nose. “I don’t know.”
“Doesn’t have to be right away. I know it takes time to come home.” Mira held out her hand. “I hope everything works out for
you, sister.”
Sejal slowly took her sister’s hand. The gold in her ears was warm, and so was her sister’s hand. “Thanks.” And because that
felt too abrupt given how generously her sister had helped her, both last time and now here in the storage unit, she added,
“Dinner might be nice.”
Mira’s smile spread over her face. “Good—” Her pocket rang, and she reached into it. “Hi, Naveen.” Her eyes grew wide and
ricocheted to Sejal’s face. “Okay. We’ll leave right now.”
“What’s wrong?” Sejal demanded before Mira had even hung up. “Is it Ananya?” If Alexei had gotten his hands on her precious
baby niece who looked like her, she’d take his tongue and use it to floss his brain.
“No.” Mira took a deep breath and grabbed Sejal’s arm. “It’s Krish.”