4 Maui Macadamia Madness (22 page)

“I’m sorry.” I
really was, but we were headed home soon and I wanted this to be over.

Uncle Roy handed me
a steaming mug of coffee. I accepted and breathed deeply of the aroma. Who said
I had to solve this mystery? I'd never see these people again, other than my
family members. It wasn’t the same as a crime committed in my small hometown.
Mr. Jamison’s murder had nothing to do with me or mine.

I sat in an easy
chair, closed my eyes, and reclined against the back of the chair while keeping
my chilled fingers around the warm mug. Except for Uncle Roy expressing
interest in something that turned out to be a scam, we could walk away free and
clear.
God, is that what you’re telling me to do? Walk away? Shove my
curiosity into a box?

Fairly certain He was, a feeling like a blanket of
peace settled around me, I sat up and opened my eyes. “I’m no longer going to
worry about this latest mystery.”

Five pairs of eyes swiveled my direction.
“Really?”
Joe asked.
“Because I wanted to
take a longer look at those photos.”

Maybe I heard God wrong? I couldn’t have. I was
pretty certain He didn’t want me meddling any longer. But Joe was a police
officer. If I detected anything, I could hand it over to him and still stay out
of the actual case, right?

“Okay.” I wiggled my fingers. “Let me see the
pictures again.”

Joe grinned. “I knew she couldn’t resist.” He
handed them over. “You may be a meddlesome cousin, but I have to admit you
often see things others miss.”

“Why, thank you, I think.” Compliments from Joe
always made me suspicious.
Most of the time he was aggravated
with me, rather than pleased.

Ethan sat next to me. The faint scent of his
cologne and the stronger one of rain and salt air filled my senses. Maybe we
should have stayed in our own cottage.

“That’s a woman.” Aunt Eunice bent over, crowding
her head between Ethan and me.

“How do you know?” I asked, peering closer. The
person in the photo wore tropical shorts and a tank top.

“The shape of the rear end, for
one.”
Aunt Eunice tapped her index finger on the
picture. “And there’s a faint bra strap line through the tank top. She’s good.
Almost good enough to pass for a guy, if that’s what she wanted to do.”

“Aunt Eunice, you’re a genius!” I kissed her cheek.
“That’s why we haven’t solved this thing. We’ve been looking for a man.” I
switched my gaze to Joe. “It’s got to be either Malia or Camilla.”

“I agree.” Joe peered out into the storm. “I think
we should take our findings to
Manano
. I saw him go
into the big house right before you two showed up.”

“Spending more time with Susan,
no doubt.”
Aunt Eunice grabbed a rain
slicker. She really did think of everything when she packed. “If you go, we all
go. There isn’t a one of us going to stay behind so some evil woman can knock
us off.”

“I agree.” Joe grabbed a lightweight jacket. “We
all go. I’ll be the one to speak with Mr.
Wahine
. The
rest of you can hang out in the dining room.”

“Yes, boss.” I gave him a sarcastic salute, in no
desire to head back out into the rain and wind. I shivered.

Ethan gathered me close. “We’ve got a little time
for
Summer
to warm up, don’t we? Before we have to
head back out?”

“What’s the point in drying out, just to get wet
again?” Aunt Eunice shook her head. “Go now, and dry off when you’re done.”

“
Here.
”
 
April handed me a sweater. “It’s not a
raincoat, but if you tuck it under your shirt, it might be warm enough to put
on after we get inside.”

“You’re the best!” I stuffed the sweater under my
tee shirt and giggled, envisioning myself four months pregnant. Ethan must have
thought the same thing, because he lowered his head and gave me a kiss that was
a little too hot for onlookers.

Face
flaming,
I turned
back to the crowd. “I’m ready to go now.”

“I’m sure you are,” Joe stated. “The rain will most
likely sizzle and shoot off steam when it hits the two of you.” He shook his
head and led the way outside.

April grinned and followed. I knew she was thinking
of a way to get Joe to give her a kiss. My aunt and uncle bustled out next,
leaving me and Ethan in the back. Ethan grabbed my hand and we dashed outside.

We splashed through puddles and covered our faces
with our arms in a vain attempt to keep the rain out of our eyes. Ethan pulled
me under his arm like a mother chicken might cover its chick. It helped keep me
dry a bit, but definitely slowed us down. I feared the sweater would be too wet
to wear. We should have let Joe go without us and stayed in the warm cottage.

Finally, the main building loomed in front of us
like a sanctuary. Ethan shoved open the door. We stood in the foyer and dripped
until Malia rushed toward us with her arm full of towels.

“Bless you.” I took one and smiled while studying
her face. I couldn’t convince myself that someone so sweet-looking could be a
killer, but she had had the best access to the nuts and to Jamison’s room, not
to mention the Aldrich’s. The cut brake line on the Franklin’s car did slow
down my thoughts a bit, though. I tended to believe that if a woman was the
killer, she had a special friend to do her dirty work.

The dining room held the
Wahine
family, along with mine. From the scowl on Joe’s face, he’d been unsuccessful
at his attempt to have a private conversation with
Manano
,
who sat at a table across from Susan, a sappy smile on his face. Seriously, the
man needed to get a grip. If he paid attention to half of the things that went
on around him, he would know Susan and David are having a ‘thing’. The poor
blind cop didn’t stand a chance.

“What’s so funny?” Ethan handed the towel back to
Malia, who trailed us like we’d hired her personally, then placed his warm hand
on the small of my back and led me to the large table where the rest of the
family sat.

“
Manano
.
He’s grasping at the proverbial fruit, except someone coated it with olive
oil.” I reached for the nearby coffee pot, blessing whoever left it on the
table for us. Soon, I had my trembling hands wrapped around a hot mug. Since
when did it get chilly in Hawaii? Oh, the sweater? I pulled the slightly damp
wool from under my shirt and draped it over my shoulders.

“Why don’t you go up to the table and tell
Manano
you want to talk to him?” I asked Joe.

“I did. He said he was busy.”

“What about Mr.
Wahine
?”

Joe shrugged. “I guess talking to him is better
than wasting time here, except now I’m nestled in with my girl.” He grinned at
April. “The way the storm sounds, no one is going anywhere anytime soon. I’ll
tell him what you discovered later.”

What I discovered? Wasn’t it a joint effort? Aunt
Eunice is the one who caught on to the person in the pictures being a woman.
Why didn’t Joe just put a target on my back?

The
Wahine
siblings
strolled past the table, both sets of dark eyes fixated on me. Joe’s words
probably had more effect on drawing them out than the clandestine meeting on
the beach. Right as they passed the table, Malia dropped a tray of plates. I
shrieked and almost dove under the table, certain my end had come. Instead, I
half-rose in my chair. The gardener, Manuel, scowled and left the room.

All four of them had seemed to listen intently as I
questioned Joe. I placed a hand over my speeding heart and took a deep breath.
Suspicious or not, it didn’t make a lot of sense. What would Manuel have to
gain by killing the guests? He’d be out of a job.
Same with
Malia.
If the place were sold, the
Wahines
would lose their family home. They were on the top of my suspect list. Now, to
get the authorities, namely one enamored police officer, to pay attention to
what was going on before someone else got killed.

First cup of coffee
down, I started on the next and watched the storm blow outside the picture
window. What a ferocious beast. Still, the inactivity of sitting made me
anxious. But, I’d promised God, sort of, that I would stay out of the
investigation and let Joe handle things.
Which meant, no
matter how tempted I was, that I could not talk to Leroy anymore about his
scam.

Instead, I chose to
watch every move Leroy and his sister made as they filled drinks, fetched
plates of fruits, vegetables, and cheese, argued softly with their parents. How
I wished I was a fly on the wall next to their table.

Mr. and Mrs.
Wahine
looked nervous. Leroy looked like a kid caught with
his hand in the cookie jar. Camilla stayed to her sullen self.

I glanced back to
the window. A lawn chair blew across the patio. I shuddered, wishing for my storm
shelter back home. Did Hawaii get tornadoes? I’d have to look that up someday.
Gracious, I was bored.

Rain continued to
fall in torrents and had found a leak. Water streamed down the inside of the
window.

Malia shrieked and
dashed from the room, presumably to get towels. I jumped up to help.
Anything to get the blood pumping.
If I sat any longer,
rigor mortis would settle in.

I skidded to a halt
in the hallway. The back door swung back and forth as the storm soaked the wood
floor. Bracing myself against the chill, I moved forward and fought against the
wind to close it, which amounted pretty much to a soaked petite woman battling
a ferocious giant.

Camilla hurried
toward me.
Wonderful.
I could use some help.

With a grin as evil
as the Queen of Hearts when she wanted Alice’s head, Camilla two-hand shoved me
outside then slammed the door behind us.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

“You are one nosey woman.” She had to raise her voice for me to hear
over the storm, but the gun in her hand spoke silent volumes. She motioned for
me to walk ahead of her. “Keep going until I tell you to stop.”

I’ve had guns
pointed at me before. I knew not to do anything stupid. Head down, shoulders
hunched, I battled the storm and headed toward a small shack on the perimeter
of the property. Did she plan on hiding me until Ethan left? That wouldn’t work
in any shape or form. My entire family would search the entire island until
they found me.
Dead or alive.

Escape would be
sweet, but I couldn’t outrun a bullet. There had to be something I could use as
self-defense. Usually, I talked until the killer wanted to shoot themselves,
but they wouldn’t work when we had to yell to hear each other. By the time we
reached the shack, it might be too late.

I glanced over my
shoulder, hoping, praying Ethan or Joe, or I’d settle for
Manano
,
were rushing up behind us.
Nobody, other than a grimly
marching Camilla.
How could such a pretty girl be evil enough to murder
people? What could possibly drive her to do that? I mean, she lived on Maui!

“Inside.”
Camilla jabbed me in the back with her gun,
forcing me inside an 8 x 10 storage room.

I immediately
scanned the area closest to me for a weapon. Even a table leg would work.
Anything to set her back long enough for me to flee.

She stood in the
doorway, the wind and rain lashing at her back. Why wasn’t she moving? It was
almost as if she were trying to figure out what to do with me. Maybe she’d
acted on the spur of the moment when kidnapping me. Was that a good thing or a
bad thing, to take an opportunity without thinking?

“You have no idea
what to do with me, do you?” I crushed my arms in a vain attempt to warm
myself.

“Shut up.” Camilla
scratched her head with the barrel of her pistol. Too bad it didn’t go off.

“You know, God isn’t
going to be happy with you when you stand before Him?”

She pointed the gun
back at me. “Don’t give me your psychoanalytic babble. I’m a Buddhist.”

“Oh, well, okay.” I
chewed the inside of my cheek for a moment. “Isn’t Buddha a pacifist?” Is that
a word?

“I said to shut up!”

Okay, there isn’t
anything much worse than a slightly psychotic killer that is growing angrier by
the second. I clamped my lips closed and continued my search for a weapon while
trying to look like a frightened captive. Well, I
was
a captive, and I
was
frightened, but I didn’t want Camilla to know there was fight in
me despite that fear. She might shoot me where I stood. I much preferred her
confused.