Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries Collection

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

"Why are you so mean?"

We were driving to Try My Thai in my Mini Cooper and Duke wouldn't answer a single one of my questions.

"Why are you so impatient?" he countered. "We'll be there in about ten seconds. Man, I hope they have 'Jumping Shrimp' and then I hope those suckers jump right into my mouth! I see you laughing over there, you think I'm funny."

"As long as you amuse yourself, that's all that matters," I said, parking the car. "Let's go, Mr. Hilarious."

The food came out soon after we ordered and we dug right in. "Start talking, Duke," I said. "Or you're buying me lunch."

Duke inhaled deeply. "This stuff smells as great as it tastes, and it's damn spicy too! Good choice." He gave me a wicked smile in between scarfing down his food.

I could see he was planning to drag this out.

"Did you notice the décor?" I asked. "How all the pictures on the wall are made from silk ties--isn't that fun?"

"Sure is. You going to eat that spring roll?"

I shook my head and handed it to him. "Which tie is your favorite, Duke?"

He looked around, "I don't know, maybe that orange one, it looks like a bad acid trip," he said, laughing. "Why are you askin'?"

"Because that's the tie I'm going to strangle you with if you don't tell me something soon."

Duke started laughing so hard, I thought he was going to choke on his food. "You should see your face, Jamie, no…wait, here we go..."

Before I knew what he was doing, Duke had taken my picture with his phone. He showed it to me and I started laughing, too. He fiddled with the phone for a minute, and then he said, "There--now every time you call me, that picture's going to pop up. I can't wait!"

I wiped my eyes; laughing and spicy foods always get to me. "Listen buddy, if you start choking again, I'm not saving you."

"Then you'll never know what I was going to tell you."

"True enough," I said, calmly finishing off my Vegetable Panang.

"Okay," he said, "That was fun, but I'm done torturing you. First off, I have to say, you didn't give me much to go on. I mean, you said your Dad's name was Bill Frank, and that's not even his real name."

"What??"

"Hang on, Jamie, I'm gettin' there. I started with the easy stuff. He's not registered to vote in any state, he's got no driver's license in Florida, and there's no marriage license either-- since your parents weren't married."

"So, what did you do next?" I was hanging on Duke's every word, and he knew it.

"I remembered you said your mom met him at a political protest in Miami, and that they were both arrested. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I finally matched an arrest record. Your dad's real name is Guillermo Franco and he's not even an American citizen, he's Cuban"

"Wow, Duke! You're amazing! Where is he now? What's he doing? Where's he been all this time? Oh my God, I don't even know where to start…" I was crying again, this time for real.

Duke was shaking his head warily, flustered by my tears. "I'm sorry, Darlin', I don't know any of that yet. I'm still working on it. But I do have something to show you." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me.

As I unfolded it, I realized what it was. A man with wavy black hair and olive skin was posing for the camera. I had a weird sensation, like I was looking into my own eyes. I finally had a picture of my father.