Free Zero Break by Neil Plakcy

with them.”
    We thanked for her help and walked back out to Hotel Street. “Doesn’t sound like she was the woman who pawned the dragon pendant, and she corroborates Anna’s alibi,” I said.
    I looked over at Ray. “Hello? Earth to Ray.”
    “Sorry. I was spaced. I can’t stop thinking about that term you said, yellow fever.” He turned to me. “I mean, what if Julie has it? And that means she’s going to dump me for some Asian guy?”
    “I’ve seen how Julie looks at you. She’s not going to dump you for some Asian guy just because he can talk Japanese or Chinese to her.” I smiled. “How about if we start canvassing these restaurants, and we arrange with Julie and Mike to meet us at the last place?”
    We got on our cell phones and called. We arranged to meet up at seven at Simple Sushi, the only place on the list I’d heard good things about, and we started quizzing the staff at the other restaurants. At Tokyo House, one of the waiters recognized Zoë’s picture when I turned my netbook screen toward him, and knew that she often came in with a Chinese woman, but hadn’t seen her in a while.
    No one at Sushi Siam, Aloha Sushi, Madame Wong’s, or My Japan recognized the photo of Zoë. We established that the staff in each place had been on duty on Sunday night, so we wiped them off our list.
    We finished more quickly than we had expected, so I dropped Ray off at his apartment and drove up to Aiea Heights. Mike was still at work, so I leashed up Roby and we went for a walk around the neighborhood.
    A preteen boy was bouncing a rubber ball against the driveway of his house, so that it banged against the garage and ricocheted back toward him. A few houses farther on, a mother was shepherding four little kids into a minivan. Someone was playing John Keawe’s “Play with me, Papa,” a song I seemed to hear more and more. When Roby and I rounded the corner, a dad and a boy of six or seven were playing catch in the street. The night was cool, with a light breeze, and as we walked the sky darkened and stars started to come out.
    By the time we’d circled back home, the families had all gone inside for dinner, and I was in full melancholy mode. Mike had just walked in, and was unloading his briefcase.
    “You ever think about having kids?” I asked.
    “Whoa. Where did that come from?”
    “Just thinking.” I told him about seeing the woman the day before with her son, then Greg Oshiro with his twins, then all the families in the neighborhood.
    “A kid is a lifetime commitment,” he said. “I’m not sure I’m ready for something like that.”
    I thought of the commitment we had to each other. Was that what he was saying he wasn’t sure about? Was he worried about bringing a kid into a relationship that might end, leaving the kid adrift?
    Look what had happened to Anna and Zoë. Not only had they broken up, but Zoë had changed her whole idea of who she was. Talk about an unstable environment.
    Mike came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “I know how you think,” he said. “I love you. Our relationship is the rock I build everything else in my life on. Okay?”
    I relaxed into his body. He’s a couple of inches taller than I am, so my head’s always against his shoulder. His smell was earthy: layers of sweat, the lavender soap we both used, and the slightest smell of smoke, which often lingers around a guy like Mike who spends his days among fire and ash.
    We cleaned up and headed over to Simple Sushi, arriving in the parking lot just as Ray and Julie pulled in. Mike and Julie had met often during the time that Ray and I had been partners, and they got along well.
    “So what’s this about yellow fever?” Julie asked, as we walked toward the restaurant. “Ray has some idea in his head that I have it.”
    “You never heard the term?” I asked. I looked at Mike, and he shook his head. “You guys are clueless.” I explained what it was as Mike opened the door for us.
    We entered the