Chapter 14

14

As it turns out, the basement isn’t like any other basement I have ever seen. First of all, after the darkness of the stairwell, there is a sudden glow of light, and what greets us is . . . the pool. Or rather, the sides of the Olympic-sized pool, which are made of glass, like a giant aquarium. It’s a disconcerting sight, made more so by the realization that the pool was designed to allow people to watch anyone swimming inside it from the basement. It’s kind of creepy. Thankfully, no one is currently swimming. A few paces away from the huge tank are lounge chairs and coffee tables.

“Phew,” Fourth Aunt whistles as she places her tray down on one of the tables. “This is something else, isn’t it? Kinky.”

“Ew, Fourth Aunt.”

“What? I like it. I can just imagine myself swimming in this pool and giving some hot guy a good show while he watches from the basement.”

Oh god. I stop myself from gagging at the thought of my aunt doing some sex dance while some creep ogles her from the other side. Please, universe, make her stop talking.

“You know, the more I learn about this Kristofer, the more I like him.”

“Uh, you mean the man who had Second Aunt kidnapped? You like that man?”

“Tch, okay, that part we can work on. But come on, look at this place. Sexy, isn’t it? Something about this whole place feels so carnal. So—so virile.”

“Oh god. Please, Fourth Aunt, stop, ew, ew. Argh.” I shake my head, trying to dislodge the words “carnal” and “virile”—words I never, ever want to hear coming out of Fourth Aunt’s mouth again. Gah, too late, this terrible moment is forever seared into my brain. “Anyway, we need to keep looking.” I hurry away from the eerie blue light of the tank to the far end of the basement, which is shrouded in darkness. Normally, I would be more hesitant, wary of the dark, but right in this moment, all I can think of is getting away from Fourth Aunt’s sexual fantasies.

I must have crossed some sort of threshold unknowingly because the lights turn on abruptly. “Oh!” I squawk in surprise, stopping in my tracks. In front of me, lights blare on row by row, revealing a massive collection of sports cars. “Holy crap.”

“Whoa.” Fourth Aunt hurries over, her tray of drinks entirely forgotten. She stops in front of a neon green Maserati and whistles before reaching out to stroke it.

“Fourth Aunt,” I hiss. “Don’t. Touch. Anything!”

“Meddy,” she sighs. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re truly related to me. How can my own niece be this boring? Live a little, sweetie. Your ma isn’t here to guilt-trip you into being a mini version of herself. When was the last time you stroked one of these beasts, huh?”

My mouth opens and closes, and I sputter for a bit before I manage to spit out, “Never. And it doesn’t matter because it’s not ours. What if you set off the car alarm?”

Too late, Fourth Aunt is already stroking the Maserati like it’s a favorite pet, purring at it lovingly. “Oh, my baby, look at you. Here, Meddy, take a pic for me. Do it for the ’gram.”

“Okay, the last thing we want is photographic evidence of us being down here.”

But she’s shoving her phone in my face, ignoring my protests as usual. With a cry of frustration, I snatch the phone from her, balancing the tray of drinks in one hand and swiping furiously at her phone screen to get to the camera app. I take a picture and hand the phone back to her.

“Now do a video for TikTok.” She struts over to a Rolls-Royce and, to my horror, drapes her entire body over it so her back is arched and her boobs are thrusting up.

“Oh god.” I close my eyes, willing this nightmare to end. When I came into this house to save Second Aunt, the last thing I envisioned myself having to do is shoot raunchy TikTok videos of my auntie. I just. I can’t. I keep my eyes away from her as I hit Record. Fourth Aunt winks at the phone.

“Hi, lovelies,” she croons. “Isn’t this car a beauty? Oof, nothing better than riding a rough, powerful engine under—”

“Okay, that’s enough.” I hit Stop and hand the phone back to her.

Fourth Aunt frowns, straightening up. “I wasn’t done, Meddy. My followers are voracious for content. You should know, being a young person and all. Though you wouldn’t know it from the way you behave,” she mutters.

“We’ve got more pressing matters to attend to instead of your TikTok followers.”

“God, Meddy,” she groans, throwing her arms up. “I swear, youth is wasted on you. You should’ve been born a middle-aged auntie.”

I grit my teeth and stalk away, hoping like mad that she will follow me. Fortunately, minutes later, I hear her high-heeled footsteps clacking across the floor toward me. I let my breath out. Okay. Now what?

There are a few doors around us. One of them is obviously a garage door leading outside. I go to the farthest one and lean closer to it, listening. There are noises inside. Sounds like someone’s watching TV. Interesting. Fourth Aunt, who’s arrived at the same door, listens intently before gesturing at me to walk away from the door. When we’re sufficiently out of hearing range, she waves at my tray.

“Bring that closer.”

I do so, wondering what she’s up to, and she dips into her cleavage and takes out a packet of brown powder. I wince. “Ma’s concoction?”

“Hey, it’s never failed us before.” She divides the contents of the package among the four champagne flutes and stirs it with her index finger until everything is dissolved. She pauses and quirks an eyebrow up at me. “You gonna whine about it being unhygienic?”

I shrug defensively. “I mean, no.” I kind of was.

She unbuttons the top two buttons of her top, until the lace trimming of her bra is showing, then smiles at me. “Showtime.”

God help us.

Fourth Aunt knocks on the door. The noise behind it stops abruptly. Sounds like the TV’s just turned off. A moment later, a male voice calls out, “What is it?”

“Refreshments.” Fourth Aunt winks at me again, her mouth open in a barely repressed laugh. Should she be enjoying this quite this much? There’s no time to dwell on Fourth Aunt’s obvious delight at the situation, however, because the next moment, the door swings open.

“Oh.” The uniformed man standing behind it is clearly not expecting us. He peers around our shoulders, checking the rest of the basement, then frowns at us. “What—”

Before he can finish the rest of the sentence, Fourth Aunt smoothly takes a champagne flute from the tray and pushes it at him with a coy smile. “Here you go. Happy Chinese New Year!”

“Uh—” The man, who has raised his hand instinctively, looks surprised to see the champagne glass suddenly in his hand. I totally empathize with him. The number of times I’ve ended up holding something I didn’t want because Ma or the aunts just thrust it in my face . . .

“It’s from upstairs. The big boss.” Fourth Aunt jerks her chin up to indicate the floor above us. “He wanted all of his employees to know that he appreciates each and every one of you.”

“I don’t know—drinking on the job—”

Fourth Aunt giggles, the sound making me cringe because argh, the last thing I wanted is to witness my auntie flirting. “Oh, a big man like you. It’s just one little glass of champagne, you won’t even feel it.” She waggles a playful finger at him. “And I’m stopping you at one, mister.”

Okay, ew.

But it works on the security guard, who, with a reluctant smile, lifts his glass to his lips. “Please thank him for me. I really wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“He’s full of surprises. Bottoms up!” Fourth Aunt places the tip of her finger underneath the champagne flute and gently but confidently coaxes it up.

The guard drinks it all up in one swallow. When he’s done, he gives a small burp. “Huh. I thought these posh drinks would taste a lot better, to be honest. But don’t tell Mr. Kristofer that.”

“I won’t.” Fourth Aunt takes the glass from him and hands it to me without even looking at me. Her eyes are locked on the guard, studying his every movement. “But it’s a nice treat, isn’t it? You feeling happier? Looser?”

The guard shrugs. “It’s okay.”

“Oh, big guy like you,” Fourth Aunt says with a coquettish smile. “Here, have another.”

“Fourth Aunt.” I don’t really know what to say beyond that. I hope she gets that I’m trying to hint at her not to make the poor guy overdose.

As usual, Fourth Aunt ignores me. She pushes another glass into the guard’s hand with a wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

The first glass of spiked champagne must have loosened the guard up a bit, because he drinks the second one without much resistance.

“So,” Fourth Aunt says, leaning against the doorway. “What super-secret, vitally important thing are you working on in there?”

“Oh, you know. Security and stuff.” His words are coming out noticeably less enunciated.

“Really? Sounds very important. You must be such an essential member of this household.”

“Oh yeah, without me, things would come to a . . .” A crease appears between the guard’s eyebrows as his voice trails away. “Wow, it’s going straight to my head.”

“Oh dear. Maybe you’re not such a big guy after all. Come here, let’s get you to a chair before you—oh.” She pauses as the guard tips over like a fallen tree and slumps to the floor with a thump. She grimaces. “That’s going to leave a bruise. Poor kid. Why didn’t you catch him, Meddy?”

“Uh . . .” I gesture madly at the tray of drinks in my hand. “Because of these?”

Fourth Aunt tuts like she’s disappointed that I’m unable to catch a full-grown adult male while also balancing a tray of champagne glasses. But then she shrugs. “Oh well. Young people heal fast. Come on.” She steps over him and sashays into the room.

With one last furtive glance behind me, I follow her, closing the door as gently as I can.

Ahead of me, Fourth Aunt is staring at a wall of screens. “Jackpot.”

“What is it?” The words are out of my mouth by instinct before I see the screens and realize there wasn’t a need to ask because it’s obvious what they are. Security camera footage. Fourth Aunt is right; we really have hit the jackpot. There are over twenty screens, lined up into a neat rectangle, each one showing different parts of the house. Bedrooms, swimming pool, garden, nothing is unwatched.

Already, Fourth Aunt has taken a seat in front of the screens and is rubbing her hands. Before I can stop her, she puts her hand over the mouse and clicks on it. Noise bursts out from the speakers—what sounds like gunshots and shouting—and we both jump.

“Turn it off,” I hiss, and she scrambles to do so. Blessed silence. We both breathe out slowly. “Did that come from one of the camera feeds?” My nerves are so frayed by now that I feel as though my entire body is about to unravel into electric wires. Gunshots and shouts. That’s not a good sign. We need to—

“Ah, there it is.” Fourth Aunt points at one of the screens at the bottom, which, instead of showing the usual bluish-tinted security camera footage, is paused in the middle of a Netflix movie.

Thank god. I nearly sag onto the floor with relief. Then I feel silly for even thinking that the gunshots could have come from real life. Of course they’re from a movie. What was I even thinking? I’m too anxious, too far out of my comfort zone, and my mind is flitting about like a frightened butterfly. I really need to get a grip of myself. Taking a deep inhale, I stand next to Fourth Aunt and study the screens one by one.

“It’s weird that they have cams in the bedrooms as well,” I mutter. “Feels like a real breach of privacy, doesn’t it?”

Fourth Aunt shrugs. “My guess is that they get turned off in the evenings.” She pauses, a wicked grin melting across her face. “Or maybe not. Maybe Mr. Kristofer is into that kind of thing. The more I learn about this guy, the more I like him.”

“Fourth Aunt,” I groan. “You really need better taste in men.”

“Hey, I know what I like, and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

A movement in one of the rooms—looks like a gym—catches my eye. My muscles turn to stone as I recognize Nathan and Ma walking inside, carrying their trays of drinks and looking around. When it becomes clear that the gym is empty, Nathan says something and starts to leave, but Ma stops him. What’s going on?

“Sorry, Fourth Aunt, can I just—” I take the mouse from her and click on that screen, turning on the sound receiver.

Ma’s voice floods the room. “—still no grandbaby. You can tell Ma if there is problem, you know.”

Oh. My. God. Tell me that my mother is not cornering my poor husband in the middle of a literal heist to grill him about grandbabies. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course she is.

“Um, there’s no problem, Ma, I swear. Anyway, I think we should—”

“Aiya! If there is no problem, then why no grandbaby? Hanh? What you two waiting for? I tell Meddy, don’t you go on those birth control pill, later they will dry up all her eggs. You know that happen, right? My neighbor’s daughter’s friend’s cousin, she taking birth control pill all the time, and now her eggs are dry up. Like powder!”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s scientifically possible . . .”

Ma tuts. “Hanh, this one I hear from my WhatsApp group. So I know, is definitely real. You listen to me, I know all this thing. You don’t know because you and Meddy never watch the videos I forward to you kids. They are all very edumacational, you really should watch, you know, tell you real thing about the world.”

I squeeze my eyes shut with frustration. The number of scam videos that Ma and the aunties forward to the family WhatsApp group chat is unbelievable. Years ago, I watched them dutifully but stopped when in one of the videos, an elderly Chinese uncle said, “To avoid getting cold and flu viruses, gargle with boiling hot water.” I made Ma and the aunties promise that they would never gargle with boiling hot water, and they tutted and said of course they would never do such a silly thing. But then why forward that video? The mind boggles. Anyway, I decided then that it was better for my mental health to not watch any more of these viral scam videos, and of course, right now is the time that my mother chooses to bring them up. Sometimes, I just cannot with her. Okay, a lot of the times.

“I’ll ah—I’ll look them up when we’re not in Kristofer’s house looking for Second Aunt?” Nathan says with a touch of panic in his voice.

Ma sighs. “Always an excuse with you kids. Never a good time to talk about it. Then when can we talk about it?”

“Uh. Okay, Ma. I promise you, once we’re out of here safe and sound, we’ll all sit down and you can talk to us about all of your concerns. How does that sound?”

“Dang,” Fourth Aunt says, “he’s good.”

He really is. Despite my frustration at Ma’s awful timing, I’m also proud of Nathan for handling this with so much kindness and respect. If I were him, I wouldn’t react half as well. I would be tearing out my hair and going, Are you freaking serious? Right now is the time you’re choosing to bring this up?

“No wonder she wanted to be paired up with him when we split up,” Fourth Aunt laughs.

Gah, that’s so true. I hadn’t even thought of that. So all that time, while we were frantically trying to come up with a way to save Second Aunt, Ma was like, Ooh, good opportunity for me to corner my son-in-law. I am going to need to have a serious talk with her when all this is over.

But my frustration toward Ma is short-lived because just then, I spot it. Or rather, I spot her. Second Aunt. “There!” I cry, pointing at a screen in the far right corner. “Oh my god, there she is.”

To my relief, Second Aunt is not in a dungeon. In fact, it looks like she’s in a luxurious guest bedroom, complete with a four-poster bed and plenty of space to move around in. She’s using the space well, standing in front of the vanity mirror and—of course—doing Tai Chi. I move the cursor over to her screen and switch the sound over to Second Aunt.

“Carry the tiger over the mountain.” On the screen, Second Aunt moves her arms up languidly, gently. “And now turn . . .”

My breath releases in a relieved huff. “She sounds totally fine. They haven’t harmed her.” My muscles feel loose, and it’s only then that it hits me how frightened I’d been this whole time. How worried I was for Second Aunt’s safety. Seeing her in that bedroom doing Tai Chi, speaking calmly, fortifies me. She’s okay! Maybe Abi and Julia Child have been telling the truth all along, that they’re not triad leaders but legit businesspeople. And maybe, as Julia Child insisted, it’s not really kidnapping, but more like a very insistent invitation. Okay, that sounds ridiculous. It’s very definitely kidnapping. But still. She’s okay!

I straighten up, grinning, feeling like we’ve just come out of a very dark tunnel at long last. “Let’s go get her.”

Fourth Aunt gets up and holds up her fist at me. “We did great work, kiddo.”

I bump her fist. “Yeah, you were brilliant.” I glance at the poor guard, who’s still out on the floor. Poor dude never really had a chance against Fourth Aunt. I take out my phone and send Nathan a quick message to let him know that we’ve found Second Aunt and are headed toward the guest bedrooms right now.

We’re both in high spirits as we walk out of the security room and up the stairs. Even before we reach the ground floor, the sounds of people chatting and laughing drift down to us. It sounds like the guests have started to arrive, which is even better for us as it’ll give us more cover. Yes! And if things go badly—knock on wood—surely it would be a lot harder for Kristofer to capture us. He wouldn’t want his guests witnessing any sort of violence. My heart soars. We’re almost in the clear.

“Has Nathan replied?” Fourth Aunt says as we reach the top of the stairs.

My reply is sliced short by a loud gasp. The shout that follows stabs right through my guts. “What are you doing here?”

Time stops. Slowly, painfully, Fourth Aunt and I turn. They say your whole life flashes before you when you’re about to die, but what flashes before my eyes is my future. Specifically, how there probably won’t be one. Because there, standing one arm’s length away from us, staring with open-mouthed shock, is the man who masterminded it all, the man whose house we’ve broken into, the man that even Abi is fearful of. Kristofer Kolumbes.