Death and Dinuguan

Chapter One

This might be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten."

Adeena Awan, my best friend and business partner, stared down at the pistachio rose white chocolate bar she'd just bitten into. The creamy white chocolate was studded with whole pistachios, dried rose petals, and flecks of cardamom, creating a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue. She glanced at Elena Torres, her girlfriend and my other partner at the Brew-ha Cafe, who was sampling the Mexican hot chocolate bar. The bittersweet chocolate was flavored with cinnamon and chiles plus cacao nibs for texture and vanilla bean for richness.

Elena's eyes were closed to fully experience the complex flavors, so she didn't see her girlfriend move to swipe the chocolate bar out of her hand. "Hey! You could've just asked, you know. I would've been happy to share."

Adeena broke off a large piece before handing back the chocolate with a grin. "I know, but it's so much more delicious when I steal it from you."

The two of them bantered back and forth while our guests chuckled over their drinks.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with our ridiculousness so early in the morning," I said to the two chocolatiers, who sat watching us in amusement while they sipped their spiced mocha and white chocolate chai. "I appreciate you developing these specialty chocolates for us when you already have so much on your plates."

"No worries. After these past few months, I'd be disappointed if you didn't help us start our day with some fun and banter. Plus, these drinks are amazing, so no complaints from me. What do you think of the ube truffles?"

Hana Lee was not only the newest arrival to my hometown of Shady Palms, Illinois (two hours outside of Chicago), she was also my boyfriend's cousin. I'd been wanting to meet her for a while since I knew she was a big-sister figure to my boyfriend, but she'd always been too busy to visit. However, her husband's sudden passing gave her the need for a fresh start, so she moved to Shady Palms at the end of last year to work at Choco Noir, the new chocolate shop that her friend Blake Langrehr (who had moved here shortly before Hana) had just opened in town.

Choco Noir offered the most amazing confections, from Blake's simple, good-quality bean-to-bar chocolates to Hana's inventive creations. With Valentine's Day just a month away, the two of them were hard at work prepping for the big day and were also kind enough to collaborate with my business to create chocolates for us to sell as a cross-promotion for their new shop.

The pistachio rose white chocolate bar was meant to represent Adeena's Pakistani background while the Mexican hot chocolate bar was for Elena's Mexican heritage (shocker). I wanted something simple and decadent for my Filipino chocolate representation, so Hana created white chocolate and milk chocolate versions of ube truffles. The subtle earthy vanilla tones of the purple yam paired well with both types of chocolate, and the beautiful violet color drew your eyes to the small spheres. Everything Hana and Blake presented to us was an absolute winner, and my partners and I quickly signed off on the collaboration.

"I almost forgot, but I also made this ube white chocolate bar for you, Lila," Blake said, handing over a small lilac-colored bar. "The ube truffles were cuter, so they fit you better, but I want to sell these in the shop, too. I was playing around with coconut milk to make a vegan chocolate bar, and this is what I came up with. It's simple, but that's what I like about it. What do you think?"

"Oh my gulay, it's fantastic!" I said, after letting a large chunk melt on my tongue. "You're right, it's simple and subtle but that's its charm. How are you so good at this?"

Blake winked at me. "You were my muse. It was tough nailing that light ube flavor, but I'm so happy with it."

"Aww, why does Lila get two fancy chocolates? I want more fancy chocolates," Adeena whined.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Didn't you hear Blake? I'm her muse. Be more goddess-like, and maybe she'll get inspired by you, too."

"Yes, sticking your tongue out is so goddess-like." Adeena rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll have to create a special Blake drink to put on the menu. Then she'll have to supply me with more of the good stuff."

"Ladies, ladies, there's no need to fight over me," Blake said, holding her hands out jokingly. "I promise to supply you all with plenty of delicious chocolates from now on."

Adeena and I fake-swooned, and Elena laughed. "Be careful what you promise. These two will definitely take advantage of that."

After figuring out the logistics of our chocolate order, we spent some time chatting while savoring our drinks and sweets.

"I'm sorry my cousin couldn't make it to this meeting. Now that they've got the event space fixed up, he and Izzy have been spending all their time getting ready for the big Valentine's Day event they're hosting," I said. "It's their first time doing it, so they want everything to be just right."

My cousin Ronnie and his girlfriend, Izzy, ran the Shady Palms Winery and were also supposed to be part of this collaboration. Chocolates and wine-what could be a more perfect pairing for Valentine's Day? Throw in my desserts, Adeena's coffees, and Elena's teas, and that was my idea of a fantastic fête.

"We were able to secure a meeting at the event space later today while the florist is there. It makes more sense for us all to meet there anyway to make sure our contributions all vibe together," Blake said. "From what I heard, the florist has a genius touch, so I'm looking forward to meeting them."

"You won't be disappointed," Elena said, puffing with pride.

The florist for the big event was one of Elena's fifty million cousins, and she was right to be proud of her. Rita had taken over the old flower shop after the owner retired last year and had quickly made a name for herself for her beautiful blooms, inventive bouquets, and extensive plant knowledge. It helped that much of what she sold was grown in Elena's mom's greenhouse since Shady Palms citizens loved supporting local businesses. Which wasn't all that hard, honestly, considering how few chains made their way here, and those that did often didn't last long. I wasn't sure if it was by design or just bad luck for Big Business, but Shady Palms kept its unique small-town charm by investing in its local entrepreneurs. It made for a thriving, although rather contentious, chamber of commerce.

Especially lately, considering the number of burglaries that had hit several Shady Palms shops this past month. All the businesses affected were woman-owned, but so far, the police weren't sure if women entrepreneurs were purposely being targeted or if it just skewed that way since most of the successful businesses in town happened to be run by women. A fact that quite a few misogynistic members of the chamber of commerce had been grumbling about for a while.

"Adeena, this white chocolate chai is amazing," Blake said. "Do you think the drink mixes will be ready in time to launch for the event?"

Adeena was the cafe's barista and mixologist, and Blake had been after her to create packaged mixes for the chocolate-based drinks we offered. She wanted to sell the mixes as well as some prepared drinks at Choco Noir as more cross-promotion. Something about synergy. I didn't really get it when she was making her pitch, but Elena, our strongest salesperson and marketer, latched on to the idea.

In response, Adeena got up and plucked a few bags from the counter. "Test it out later and let me know what you think. I wrote the instructions on the bag, but I don't know if I'm one hundred percent happy with the chocolate-to-spice ratio. Of course, what type of liquid you use also changes the flavor, so I can't account for all the variables."

"I'll keep that in mind." Blake's phone alarm went off, signaling the end of our meeting. "The security system people will be at the shop soon, so we need to head out."

"Did you go with the company Detective Park suggested?" I asked.

Private detective Jonathan Park was not only my boyfriend's much older brother (there was a fifteen-year gap between the two), but he was also dating my aunt, Tita Rosie. He used to be a detective with the Shady Palms Police Department, but for various reasons he had left the force and opened his own private investigation agency. He had quite a few connections in the security world as well, and with the rash of burglaries lately, he'd advised us all to upgrade our security systems. I hadn't been sure it was worth the expense (we were a cafe; it's not like we were making the big bucks anyway. And what were they going to steal? Our artisanal flavored syrups?), but when my boyfriend, Jae, pointed out that our espresso machine cost almost ten thousand dollars, Adeena had screamed and ran to hug it.

"No one's taking Mr. Peppy! Lila, quit being cheap and get that security system installed."

That was all the push I needed, and we'd quickly contracted Detective Park's friends at Safe & Secure Solutions to update our system.

"My cousin promised that his buddy's company was the best one in the area, so we went with them. They're a bit pricey, but I like that they offer regular maintenance checks and have a team assigned to us in case of emergencies. Especially since we're a new business and the last thing we need to deal with is a smash-and-grab. Besides, better safe than sorry, right?" Hana said, gathering her notes from our tasting.

"It's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason," I said. "Definitely better safe than sorry."

Especially in this town.

Chapter Two

Ronnie, when you told me to close the cafe early for an urgent meeting, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

About two hours before closing time, I got a call from my cousin saying he needed me, Adeena, and Elena to come over to the Shady Palms Winery event space ASAP. Considering how ridiculous my life has been the past couple of years, I thought we'd get there and find him standing over a dead body. Instead, the three of us rushed into the event space only to see Ronnie, Izzy, Hana, Blake, and Rita standing around drinking wine and nibbling on chocolates.

My cousin's girlfriend and business partner, Isabel "Izzy" Ramos-Garcia, held up a bottle of wine. "Don't be too mad at him; there really is an emergency. We're just testing this new chocolate wine to try to make the best of a crappy situation."

While she poured each of us a glass, Elena made her way over to Rita. "You OK, prima?"

Rita sat hunched over next to the tasting table, staring into her half-full glass. At her cousin's voice, Rita set down her drink and jumped up to wrap her arms around Elena. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Elena squeezed the younger woman in a tight hug and then stepped back, her hands on Rita's shoulders. "You're shaking. What happened?"

"Someone broke into Mundo Floral last night."

Adeena gasped and started to say something, but Elena waved her hand to get Rita to continue.

"I went in this morning to open up and there was a huge mess. All my cash is gone and the place was ransacked, like they were looking for more valuable stuff. I doubt they found anything, but the police want me to do an inventory to see if anything else was taken."

"Was there any physical damage to the shop? Broken windows, torn-up plants, anything like that?" I asked.

My aunt's restaurant and my godmothers' laundromat had been the victims of vandals, not burglars, but the memories of both events were traumatic enough that I worried about the state of Rita's shop and was already creating a mental checklist of what needed to be done.

Rita shook her head. "Some of the plants were knocked over and one of the vases was broken, but it looked more like an accident that happened when the burglar was looking for something and not deliberate damage."

"Well, that's something at least," Elena muttered. "You said the police wanted you to log the inventory? So you already filed a police report?"

Rita nodded. "I called them as soon as I saw the shop was messed up and waited outside because I wasn't sure if the burglar was still there or not. They had me do the report and take pictures for insurance. I don't know what else I need to do after that."

"I'll put you in touch with my brother," Adeena said. "He can advise you since the law firm he works at has him handling all those break-in cases."

Rita thanked her before taking a large gulp of her wine and sighing. "I haven't told the rest of the family yet, but I don't know how much longer I can put it off."

"What? Why no-" Elena cut herself off. "Never mind, I get it. Want me to put it in the cousins group chat and have my mom handle all the tíos and tías?"

Rita let out a deep sigh, and her shoulders sagged as Elena took the metaphorical weight off them. "I'll tell my parents 'cause I'll never hear the end of it if they have to find out from Tía Carmen. But I'll leave the rest to you. Thanks, prima."

Elena once told me that her mom was the second oldest of seven kids, and all the siblings had children, most of them multiple children (Elena and one other cousin were the odd ones out as only children), so family gatherings and gossip could often be . . . a lot. Wonderful when you needed help since everyone was all too willing to jump in and do their part (like when Elena's mom took over her younger brother's restaurant, El Gato Negro, due to some unpleasantness) but also overwhelming because they did not know how to let things go or leave you alone. Like me and Adeena, Elena was both blessed and cursed with a family that loved hard and didn't know how to mind their own business.

Once the two of them had delivered the news and dealt with their family's responses, I made a suggestion. "Why don't you all come over to my aunt's restaurant for dinner? Detective Park will be there since he's always there, and we can invite Amir, too. That way you can ask him questions about next steps and also talk to Detective Park about that security company his friend owns."