Tulip Season by Bharti Kirchner

you're not doing what's necessary to bring Kareena back safely.”
    Adi's red-ringed eyes sparked with anger, confusion, despair, and possibly even hatred. Kareena's wellbeing didn't seem uppermost in his mind. Could it be that Kareena wasn't missing at all? Mitra felt as though she'd stepped into a ghost town. She didn't know where to go, what to do next, or what to believe.
    Adi picked up his iPhone. End of conversation. Mitra scrambled to her feet. He didn't raise his eyes.
    As she stormed out of Adi's office, his blonde assistant gave her a dirty look from a nearby cubicle, as though Mitra had come to harass her boss. She strode back to the sidewalk.
    Standing there, Mitra debated whether she should call Detective Yoshihama. That little piece of ransom note had shaken things up and the detective should be informed of it. And yet the warning from Adi hung over her head, a rock about to slip down a hillside. Eventually, she retrieved the cellphone from her purse and called the detective.
    “How are you, Ms. Basu?” Yoshihama asked when he recognized her voice. He sounded pleasant, as though glad to hear from her.
    “Not too good.” Mitra shared with him the highlights of Adi's extortion story. “There's more to it. I don't think Adi's telling me everything he knows.”
    “Neither has he contacted us. Kidnapping is a federal crime. Let me speak with Mr. Guha. Stand by—I'll get back to you. Thanks for the heads-up.”
    After returning home and consulting her calendar, Mitra belatedly realized it was Veen's birthday. Of course, she wanted to celebrate. Everyone in the task force needed a break, especially Veen, who regularly worked ten-hour days. How much closer she and Veen had become since Kareena's disappearance. Veen was always there when Mitra needed her. They talked on the phone nearly every day. They'd become each other's sounding board.
    Mitra buzzed Veen and announced her intention. She could almost see Veen's eyes lighting up. She decided to withhold the ransom information for now.
    Mitra selected Tuscany, a trendy Eastlake trattoria, and arranged a birthday dinner for Veen there. With a galaxy of women friends circling her at a large table that evening, Veen smiled, her cheeks blushing, a cloud of perfume about her. She was attired in a metallic satin top, unusually dressy for her. Add to that a sinister red lipstick. This was a different Veen. Their middle-aged waiter, an earthy man of indeterminate Mediterranean origin, stole glances at her all evening and inhaled the scent of her perfume while refilling her wine glass. Later, waving his hand like a symphony conductor, he led the whole room in a serenade of Hebby Bearthday in his charming, heavily accented English. Mitra only wished Kareena was there.
    After dinner, Mitra decided to drop Veen at her place. On the way, Veen talked about having had a lunch date with a coworkerthat weekend. “I like him,” she said, with obvious enthusiasm. “He's a nice man, an interesting man.”
    Mitra lost her reticence and confided in Veen about Ulrich and how much she wanted to get back together with him.
    Veen's face darkened. “Get over it,” replied the ever-outspoken woman. “He wasn't interested in anything serious or he'd have called.” After a pause, she added, “My cute brother will take you out. He's the youngest and cutest of my three brothers. You met him when you came over to my apartment last February. Remember?”
    Oh, yes. Mitra recalled the intense information technology specialist with curly hair, piercing dark gaze, and a morbid air about him. He had stared at her from across the room. Ulrich's face came to her mind and wiped out that memory. Mitra casually suggested to Veen the names of a few unattached women acquaintances who might be interested in a “cute” guy.
    “What's happening with the investigation?” Veen asked, changing the topic.
    Mitra gave her the details about the ransom note and Adi's attempt to keep her out of the picture.