Tea Leafing: A Novel (16 page)

“BIRDIE!
WHAT THE HELL?”

Birdie gave a forced cartoon
grin, “Think I may have knocked the candle over.”

The makeshift plywood
floor they sat on had become a raft in the sea of fire and the edges were
beginning to ignite. Smoke filled the cramped space and Sam’s vision quickly
clouded with tears pouring from her burning eyes.

Sam sat dumbfounded,
trying to figure out how they were going to put out the fire and cover their
tracks. Her mind seemed to be working in slow motion as the flames licked up
the rafters of the attic. She realized Birdie was dragging her backwards toward
the opening as she clutched the book to her chest.

Her mind was still
working to process what was happening, but fear had kicked in and adrenaline
production had doubled. She scrambled to her feet and shook off Birdie’s grip.

“GO!
GO! I GOT IT!”

Disappearing down the
hatch, the two could see the bedroom was already filling with smoke. The house
was a dried out tinderbox just waiting for the spark that would release it from
existence. Sam was first into the hallway just as the creaking plaster overhead
gave way to a flaming ball of debris in front of them. The fire had made quick
work of the ceiling and it was beginning to collapse around them. Birdie
slammed into Sam’s back as she rushed into the hallway through the smoke and blazing
shrapnel. She pulled Sam back into the bedroom by the back of her shirt and
slammed the door. Sam tightened her grip on the book and ran to the closest
window, trying to pry it open. Birdie took the other window just as they
realized they had long since been painted shut.

“DAMNDAMNDAMN!”

Sam began pacing back
and forth muttering to herself, not sure what to do next. The ceiling was
hidden behind a blanket of smoke almost a foot thick and black circles were
beginning to form where the fire might break through at any minute. The two
were choking on the thin air and soot that had eaten the oxygen from the room.
Sam could tell her thought process had slowed and she was getting tired in
spite of the adrenalin rush.

Birdie had been tearing
around the room and finally picked up an occasional chair from the corner,
launching it full force at one window. The chair bounced off the glass and
landed awkwardly on the floor, losing part of a leg. Face tight with fear and
determination, Birdie picked up the chair and swung it again, this time
connecting with the sweet spot. The window gave way in jagged pieces falling
away from the smoke that was now pouring through the break.

Birdie stuck her head
through the serrated hole and gulped deep breaths of fresh air. Sam, still clutching
the book for dear life had slid down a wall to the right of Birdie and was
rubbing her eyes with the back of her wrist. Her contacts weren’t going to
forgive her for this assault.
Picking up the broken chair
leg, Birdie brandished it like a sword and began trying to stab the glass teeth
still standing between the burning house and freedom.
Her hand slipped
and a red gash on the inside of her forearm yawned open.

“FACK!” Birdie bit back
her pain and held her arm in front of her with her free hand. “Gimme the
pillowcase, Sam!”

Shocked by the sight of
blood, Sam crawled toward the bed and pulled one of the pillows to the floor.
Book in one
hand,
she tried shaking the pillow free
from its case with the other.

“TWO
HANDS SAM!”

She dropped the book
and wrestled the case from its stuffing. She threw the cloth to Birdie just as
the ceiling next to the door gave way.

Birdie snatched the
pillowcase and quickly wrapped her arm, tucking the loose ends back under
themselves. Hoping it would hold until she got back to the loft and was able to
properly triage herself. Growing up with six brothers, she was no stranger to
cuts and bruises.

Sam grabbed the book
and stared at the fire as it spread into the room. Hungry for the air flowing
in through the window, it stretched long fingers towards the girls.

Birdie snatched a vase
from the bureau and unceremoniously dumped dead flowers and stale water on the
floor. In Sam’s frightened state, her OCD was running wild. She couldn’t help
but cringe at the thought of the water damaging Lena’s hardwoods. She snapped
back to reality and watched as Birdie shoved her hand inside the blue ceramic
vase.

Using the vessel like a
glove, she ran its hard surface around the shark’s mouth of glass protruding inward
from the window frame. Three quick passes cleared sufficient glass to allow for
an exit. She dropped the vase to the floor. In a single fluid motion Birdie
pulled the quilt from Lena’s bed and draped it out the window.

Both arms still clamped
around the book, Sam headed toward the window and freedom. Birdie spun around
and grabbed Sam. Taking the book from her, she threw it outside onto the grass.
Immediately, she pushed Sam through the window. Landing with a thud, Sam looked
up in time to see Birdie come through headfirst after her, with the fire
burning brightly in the bedroom behind.

Sam rolled and began
trying to find the book through her swollen, watery eyes. It had fallen open a
few feet from the window and folded pages were blowing across the yard in a
slow tumble. Disoriented, Sam climbed to her feet and began snatching up papers
in a crouched run. Birdie grabbed the book and began scooped up sheets like
scattered trash, crumpling them in her hand as she went.

Still dazed, Sam was
pulled into a run by Birdie’s tight grip. The two crossed the grass and ducked
through the hedges at the back of the property. Making their way through neighboring
yards, they ran to the adjacent block, where the car was parked. A crowd was
starting to gather in front of Lena’s small cottage. From the safety of the
car, the two could hear the crash of the roof as it caved in. Flames leapt
above the treetops as the whine of emergency vehicle sirens approached.

CHAPTER 27

“You burned her house
down?” Grace was agog.

“Yup. It was old
anyway.” Birdie stirred her tea, staring into its depths.

“So, you’re wanted for
arson now? I thought we were drawing the line at unlawful entry.” Mary Jane’s
eyes darted between Sam and Birdie.

Sam busied herself
arranging and rearranging silverware, “It was an accident. We found the papers
and somehow the candle got knocked over. Turns out, Lena’s house didn’t have
much asbestos.”

Mary Jane sat back
against the booth’s padded vinyl and looked up at the pendulum light over the
table. “What the hell are we gonna do now? Did anyone see you?”

Tanya appeared with her
usual armload of goodies and began passing out plates of the smoky-sweet
breakfast feast.

“Ok, what’s up? Ya’ll
look tenser ‘n a yard dog shittin’ a shingle nail.” She perched on the edge of
the booth next to Grace. “Spill it.”

“Well,” Mary Jane’s
eyes wandered, trying to decide whether or not to tell the truth, “Starsky and
Hutch over here burned down Lena’s house.”

“Well, shit,” Tanya
sighed, “I thought it was somethin’ serious!”

“We’re pretty sure no
one saw us and it wasn’t intentional!” Sam added.

“Long as you weren’t
seen and there wasn’t an accelerant.” she paused, “There wasn’t an accelerant,
was there?”

Sam stared at her
wide-eyed and put her palms out in a “What-do-you-think?” gesture.

“You’re fine then.
Nothin’ to worry your pretty heads about.
The first house I
burned down was my Aunt Lila’s. I left a flat iron on top of a plastic shower
cap. I think that’s when the ladies in my family started to add it up that
something was different about me. Most boys that age don’t play with flat irons
and makeup.”

“I’m sorry,” Grace
chewed her scrambled eggs slowly, “Did you say ‘
first
house’?”

“I’ve burned down
enough to know what the arson investigators catch and what’ll slide right on
by. You’re fine. Just don’t go ‘round bragging about it.”

Birdie grinned, “I knew
I liked you Tanya.”

Tanya stood, kissed the
top of Birdie’s head and turned back to the table, “Yell if you need me, I
gotta make my rounds.” With that, she was off.

“Ok, so what did you
find?” Mary Jane asked.

“Financials.
Pages from a second set of books to be exact.
Fedya’s books
with notations about account numbers.”

Grace gasped.

“Yeah, looks like
they’ve been busy blokes, and Lena fingered ‘em.” Birdie was plowing through
her waffles. “Also, from the looks of her bed, seems as though she was shaggin’
someone.”

“Didn’t her diary
mention someone she was interested in?”

“You’re right! She
wrote a little about the guy Joe she was getting information from. Do you think
it could be him?”

“Who knows, nothing
would surprise me at this point.” Grace looked frazzled.

“Can we go back to the
ledger pages for a sec?” Mary Jane cut in “Is there enough in them to really
give you a fix on something, or are you just guessing?”

“Well, it’s pretty
clear that Lena was recording pertinent info in a cryptic manner. Not so with
ol’ Fedya. His books have detailed entries and clear labels according to what
accounts are what. In fact, it looks like there’s a good chunk of money that
comes into the Pussycat from several unspecified sources, and I do mean GOOD
CHUNK.” Sam paused, feeling slightly redeemed, “After the money leaves the
club, a portion of it goes into a bank account here, but a majority of it is
deposited into banks . . . guess where?”

“Caymans?”

“Moscow.”

“‘Fackin’ ‘ead slapper,
eh?”

Sam stared at the
puddle of condensation pooling around the base of her water glass. “But how
he’s getting that money out of the country and into those accounts . . . that,
my dear ladies, remains a mystery.”

Grace was dumbstruck
“What are we talking about here? Tens of millions?”

“Hundreds of millions.”
Sam prodded her glass with the tip of the dull table knife, watching the trail
of moisture on the Formica.

Mary Jane leaned in,
lowering her voice, “The club doesn’t make that kind of money, where’s it
coming from?”

“Your guess is as good
as mine, but I’m pretty sure it’s not from bake sales.”

“We need to be really,
really careful. I’ve got a bad feeling we may not want to press this issue.”
The blood had drained from Grace’s face and the dark rings her eye makeup had
left around her blue-green eyes made her look frail.

Birdie plucked the
makeup wipes from her purse and handed them to Grace as she motioned to Tanya.

“Two coffees to go and
a couple a’ pastries, if you’d be so kind.”

“Got it. Anyone else?”

“You leaving already,
Bird?” Mary Jane looked surprised.

“Nope.” She took one of
the wipes from Grace and began to strip the layers of makeup from her skin, revealing
her girlish freckles.

As Tanya returned with
the order, Birdie rolled her hair up in a French twist and secured it with a
clip from her bag. Picking up the box of pastries and coffee, she headed out
the front door.

Tanya and the girls
watched Birdie march across the parking lot, past the bus stop at the curb,
across the street and into the parking lot of a vacated insurance agency. She
bent down slightly to look into the window of a dark-colored sedan as she
approached the driver’s side window. Her face was obscured by the shadows, but
they could see her head bob as if in conversation. She passed the box and
coffees through the window and gave a little wave as she turned and headed back
toward the restaurant.

“Shit.” Sam couldn’t
believe she’d missed their tail again. She was beginning to have a whole new
respect for Birdie’s street-smart ways. She could be brash, but that girl had
eyes in the back of her head and the reflexes of a cat.

“How the hell did she
see them way over there in the dark?”

Tanya stood as Birdie
came through the glass plate doors headed along the brown and orange patterned
carpet toward the booth.

“Nice work, Red.” Tanya
gave her a smile of respect from one sly mother to another.

Birdie slid back into
the booth as casually as if she’d been returning from the bathroom.

“I just thought if
we’re gonna be here a while, those blokes might like a little something to help
them stay awake.”

CHAPTER 28

Sam called Amanda from
a pay phone. Amanda drove to a convenience store outside the community gates and
called her back from the same.

“Sorry for the
inconvenience of paranoia, Amanda, but it looks like this is running a little
deeper than we thought.”

“No problem. We heard
about the fire, what happened?”

Sam recounted the story
in as much detail as possible.

“Oh my Gosh! I’m so
glad you and Birdie are okay! Don’t worry about the house, my parents seem just
as happy to collect the insurance check, as they would have been going through
the hassle of selling the property. Did the diary burn?”

“No, it’s in a safe
place. I’m so sorry we destroyed all Lena’s things though. I just can’t
apologize enough. Birdie and I both feel terrible.”

“Don’t worry about it
for a minute. Alexandra made sure we got the diary and that’s all that counts.”

“You are such a
sweetheart, Amanda. Please let us know if there’s ever anything we can do to
repay you for what was lost.”

Sam could hear the
smile in Amanda’s voice, “You’re doin’ it, Sam.”

“By the way, did Lena
ever mention someone she was seeing? Maybe someone named Joe?”

“Hmmm,” she paused,
“Maybe once, but she didn’t call him by name. She said she’d met a guy who was
everything she’d ever dreamed of but that there were complications that made it
impossible for them to be together. I pressed her about it thinking maybe he
was married or something, but she wouldn’t budge. This was several weeks ago
when she was home. After she left I never heard another word about him.
Honestly, I’d forgotten all about it.”