Read Online Dead Soon Enough: A Juniper Song Mystery by Steph Cha - Free Book Online

knowledge that he operated on brains for a living—I was raised by a Korean immigrant, after all.
    His eyes found Lusig and widened in startled surprise, before turning to me with some puzzlement. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
    “Hi,” I said, in my second awkward first encounter of the hour. “Juniper Song. You must be Mr. Gasparian.”
    “Doctor,” he said.
    I smiled. “Sorry, my mistake, Dr. Gasparian.”
    “It’s all right. Reflexive, I suppose. It’s just that ‘Mr.’ is inaccurate. Anyway, how do you know my wife and cousin?”
    I looked at Rubina. I felt like the voyeuristic producer of some soapy reality show.
    “I’m hiring Song to find Nora,” she said. “For the safety of our child, Van.”
    Van blinked at his wife, and his face twisted into an incredulous smile. “You’re what?”
    “She’s a private detective. She’s been very devoted so far.”
    “Let’s talk upstairs,” he said. “Nice to meet you,” he added curtly, glancing back at me. Then he turned around and left the kitchen.
    Rubina followed him, leaving me and Lusig sitting at the table. I decided I’d help myself to more coffee.
    I walked to the machine and asked, across the kitchen, “Do you want any?”
    “No thanks.” She scowled. “No caffeine.”
    “Right.” I smiled tightly and walked slowly back to my seat.
    She watched me intently while I drank, trying not to avert my eyes. It was another minute before she spoke.
    “So you think you can find her, huh?”
    “I can’t make any promises,” I said. “I can’t say I’m smarter than the entire LAPD.”
    “I sure hope you are. They’re a bunch of fucking losers.”
    I shrugged. I didn’t particularly care for the police. Every month it seemed like a cop was Tasering, or pepper-spraying, or raping someone or another. They were definitely frisking minorities every day, sometimes killing them for nothing. But the one police officer I’d ever really dealt with seemed decent enough, and was definitely sharp enough to inspire some confidence. I made a note to call her later, though I doubted she’d want to hear from me.
    “What I can tell you is that I’ll stick to the case and it’ll eat me alive if I can’t get to the end of it. I’ll give it every ounce of my attention. No cop can do that. And honestly, no pregnant woman should.”
    She grimaced. “Just so you know, I do care about this kid. Ruby’s like a sister to me. Pain in my ass, but I do love her. I wouldn’t endanger her baby. I’m not a monster.”
    “You don’t have to be a monster to underestimate your limitations.”
    “I know my limitations fine, thanks.”
    I shook my head. “Take it from someone who’s lived a bit past where you are. You have no idea what this shit can do to you.”
    “What are you, like five minutes older than me?”
    “I’ve been down more roads. Look, your best friend is missing. That is fucking awful, and I’m sure you think you’re suffering as much as humanly possible. Want to know what happened to my best friend?”
    “What?”
    “He was murdered. In cold blood. Trying to help me.”
    “Jesus.”
    “And I needed to know who did it. That’s kind of how I got into this job.”
    “So what happened?”
    “I found out.”
    “Was it satisfying?”
    “Yeah, in a way, but it didn’t bring him back. What it did do, is it almost got me killed.”
    “How did it almost get you killed?”
    I smirked. “I got kidnapped at gunpoint, so there’s one way. And then instead of waiting around to get clipped, I forced a car crash. I was wrecked, but you should’ve seen the other guy.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “I stilettoed him in the nuts to get him to lose control, and then the crash kind of brained him. He survived, but not really. He’ll never miss his nuts.”
    She stared at me and blinked twice. “If you’re trying to impress me, I guess I’m impressed.”
    “Not the point,” I said. “What I’m telling you is that if I’d been