When Shadows Rise | I

Ch. 39 | Crossroads

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Over the next several days, Talia felt like she was stuck in a loop: get up, go to school, come to the apartment, work on her makeshift detective board that she constructed using a trifold presentation board and sticky notes, eat dinner with her father, go over the detective board again, sleep, and wake up in the middle of the night because she thought too much about her detective board. Any other activities or hobbies she normally would carry out as part of her daily routine came to an abrupt stop; learning more about The Foot and what her mother did for them became her top priority, especially after the discoveries made in that drug lab and about the powder (Raph had graciously shot her a text reporting Donnie's findings).

So here she was, sitting at the kitchen table and adding new details to her detective board with a sharpie. She would also go back to her notebook and cross-reference notes to make sure everything lined up. But if there was one spot on her board that made her brain go in circles, it was 'The Ricky Yao' case.

Everything about it made sense and didn't make sense at the same time. It seemed like such an open-and-closed case, and nothing suggested there was anything 'hinky' about it like April said, so then why? What made her mother think this particular case was anything special?

Talia propped her elbow on top of the table and used her hand as a resting support for her forehead, feeling the stress compounded with lack of sleep finally hitting her. She was also feeling pretty faint, so she gobbled up a couple of almonds from her almond jar beside her. Sitting down somehow made her feel even more lightheaded, but it was better than standing up and then collapsing to the floor.

Talia looked at her board once again, frowning when her eyes laid on her mother and Priya's photos. They were women whom Talia admired and looked up to her whole life— her role models! They were everything she aspired to be— beautiful, strong, confident, and making their mark on the world. But in light of what had to come to pass. . .

No. . . Just because they lied about their affiliations and actions, did not mean all the life lessons she learned from them were not a lie, right? The love they had for her and their criminal activities were not mutually exclusive, right?

She laid her head down on the table. Why couldn't she piece anything together? What was she missing here?

As much as her eyes were already exhausted from skimming over the same words and pictures over and over again, Talia forced herself one last time. Drugs? Ketamine? The secret informant? There had to be a reason why—

Talia lifted her head in realization. The informant. . .

That's right! It was because of the informant— or much rather the information they provided— that the police could finally pin something on Hun and send him to prison. Maybe that was why her mother was interested in the case in the first place! Maybe she (somehow) figured out their identity and went to them for further questions. It was the best possibility Talia could come up with.

Talia suddenly thought of the night she, April, and Raph were on the rooftop. How as soon as April talked about the case, Raph began acting squirrelly— defensive. Why would he if he had no personal connection to it whatsoever? Unless. . .

Talia shook her head. Now her head was really thinking outside the box here. The only way for that assumption to be true is if—