Too Hot Four Hula: 4 (The Tiki Goddess Mystery Series) (32 page)

Last night she’d told Louie not to worry, that she might not be spending the night in their suite.

“You mean with any luck you won’t be spending the night in the suite,” he’d said. “I won’t worry, as long as you’re with Roland.”

“Okay, then you don’t have to worry.”

He winked and said, “You’re a big girl now. Have fun.”

She was glad he’d given her his okay. She was thirty-five, divorced, and hadn’t slept with anyone since she’d moved to Kauai.

She wasn’t a one night stand kind of gal.

But what about Roland? With his good looks and the way women of all ages threw themselves at him, Em figured he had to have collected a string of hearts by now. She saw him glance at his watch and warned herself not to be insulted. He was a busy man.

“Are you going somewhere?” she asked.

“Connecting with Bardon. I want to talk him into letting you leave with the others. As it is, Kiki and whoever went into Bautista’s apartment with her will have to stay until he gives them the okay to leave too.”

“I have a feeling if some of them stay, all of them will stay.”

She sipped some more coffee, self-conscious wearing nothing beneath the sheets while he sat there in a black golf shirt and slacks. The draperies were open all the way, the slider open to let in the balmy trades and the sound of the surf. Voices of beachgoers were carried on the wind.

“If you’d like breakfast, I’ll be happy to order room service for you before I leave.”

“No, thanks. Louie is going to treat everyone to the Sunday buffet at the Rainbow Lanai to celebrate his big win. He said you’re welcome to join us.”

“I would, but I’m bribing Bardon with food.”

“Are you taking him to Home Grill?”

“Nope. The place for breakfast is Sweet E’s. French toast stuffed with cream cheese and blueberries.”

“By rights you should weigh four hundred pounds. It’s not fair.”

“Good genes.”

She didn’t tell him he looked
really
good in jeans. Not when he was smiling
that
smile. The man already knew he looked good.

“Go ahead and go,” she said. “I’ll finish my coffee and take off.”

“You sure?”

She smiled. “I’m sure. I have the feeling you’re not the type to ever want to lounge around in bed, not even the morning after. Am I right?”

“Believe me, I’m tempted this morning.” He rested his palm on her hip. “But I know where lounging would lead, and then we’d both be late.” He leaned over to kiss her and took his sweet time.

When they came up for air, Em was the one who was smiling.

He lifted her chin with his fist. “You enjoy that?”

“You bet.”

“Me too. I enjoyed every minute of last night, too. Mahalo.”

Whew
, she thought. No worries.

He kissed her again, but this time it was quick.

“Be sure your cell is on. I’ll call as soon as I can.”

She followed him out of the room with her gaze, heard the door shut behind him.

Em finished her coffee, took a quick shower and dressed, then headed back to the suite to change before she met the others downstairs.

The Rainbow Lanai was next to the beach. The Kauai contingent had taken up a very long table on the water. Louie had kept a seat open beside him for her. The Golden Swizzle Stick trophy was on display in front of Louie in the center of the table. As Em slid into her chair, the Maidens greeted her with their usual smiles and alohas.

She leaned close to her uncle. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

The last thing she needed was for them to know she’d slept with Roland. She’d have to suffer relentless teasing and speculation if they did.

Louie’s expression was perfectly blank. “Tell them what?”

“Mahalo,” she whispered, relieved.

“For what?”

Relief went to worry. Had he actually forgotten already?

“Head over to the buffet,” he told her. “I want everyone back here for a toast.”

She noticed everyone was there except Little Estelle. Even Suzi was there with crutches propped up behind her chair. They were all sipping Mimosas and Bloody Marys and had apparently just filled their plates. Em hurried through the extensive buffet line, opting for a veggie omelet with bacon and skipping a wide array of temptations: Portuguese sausage, smoked salmon, French toast,
pipikila
, and baked goods galore.

“You missed it, Em.” Trish stirred her Bloody Mary with a celery stick as Em took her seat again. “We closed down the bar last night.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Em spread her napkin on her lap and waited for Louie to make his toast.

“The Kamakanis showed up to play for us, and the late night crowd went crazy. It was the Shriners’ last night, and they were on a roll. Then things got mellow later when the guys started playing old doo-wop songs from the fifties and sixties. No one wanted to leave. The manager had to turn off the lights and threaten the bartenders if they poured one more round. Too bad you turned in early,” Kiki said.

“Oh!” Louie perked up. “Now I remember. She spent the night—”

Em kicked him in the shin, and he let out a yelp. She gave him a
say nothing
glare.

“She was exhausted,” he said before he shifted the topic by raising his champagne glass. “Here’s to all of you. You have made winning the Golden Swizzle Stick a blast. Here’s to my motto: Never be boring!”

Everyone took a drink then Kiki clinked her spoon on her glass to get their attention.

“Here’s to Louie, the Western Regional Shake Off champ! And remember girls, whatever you do . . .”

They all chimed in, “Don’t fall down!”

Kiki turned to Suzi. “You broke our number one rule.”

Pat hollered, “Should we vote her out?”

Everyone pretended to vote Suzi out of the Hula Maidens until Suzi shouted, “You think I wanted to break my freaking foot? How about a little compassion?”

A waiter hurried over to the table and told them to keep it down. They were frightening the tourists.

“Where’s Little Estelle?” Em noticed the nonagenarian was missing again.

Big Estelle said, “She had to meet with someone this morning and decided to have breakfast in the room first.”

“How’s the rap career coming along?” Precious asked.

“She decided to give it up when she put her song up on a rap website and got some nasty comments. It burst her bubble to find out there were a lot of haters and competitors out. She said she can’t stand the heat, so she’s getting out of the kitchen.”

“That’s too bad,” Em said.

Big Estelle leaned in so she didn’t have to shout. “Oh, not to worry. One of the Shriners is a self-published novelist, and he convinced her to write her life story. She was up there making an outline when I left.”

Em stopped listening. The aqua waters of Waikiki were so tempting Em decided she had time to take a swim. Louie and the others flying back to Kauai had an extended check out and didn’t leave until later this afternoon. After that she’d be getting her own room rather than keep the suite. She asked Kiki if she’d heard anything from Bardon yet.

“Not yet,” Kiki said. “I told Kimo I might not be home tonight, and he said to stay and shop. Maybe I’ll find a hula class somewhere I can drop in tomorrow and observe.”

Em knew it was a sure bet Kiki would observe for about five minutes before she jumped in and tried to dance.

Brunch ended with a round of hugs and kisses. Anticipating a great float in the ocean, Em was upstairs changing into her swimsuit when her cell rang. It was Roland.

“Can you meet me at the curb at reception in five minutes?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Hasigawa’s son called. They want to talk.”

“I’ll be right there.” She grabbed her purse and headed out again.

45

ROLAND PULLED UP in his rental car at the same time Em reached the curb. She hopped in and said, “Where are we going?”

“We’re meeting them at Duke’s. It’s next door to the Moana in the Outrigger Waikiki.”

“Good. That’s public enough that I won’t have to worry about having my head cut off with a Samari sword.”

“I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that yet.”

“Why did Hasigawa call you?”

He shrugged. “I gave Felicity my card. Maybe he’s calling for her.”

“Maybe he understood more English than she thought.”

He wove in and out of traffic the few blocks to the restaurant tucked beneath the high-rise hotel. Like every popular spot, Duke’s was perched right on the beach. Em liked the tiki ambiance, the bamboo and rattan, the photos and memorabilia dedicated to Duke Kahanamoku, the father of international surfing who won Olympic gold and silver medals for freestyle swimming in 1912.

She was reading a plaque on the wall when Roland nudged her toward the hostess. They were quickly escorted to a table in a corner where Hasigawa and his son, a younger carbon copy, waited. They rose and bowed. Em and Roland bowed, and Roland pulled out a chair for her.

“Thank you for joining us,” the younger Hasigawa said in carefully worded English.

“How may I help?” Roland was attentive, formal, but not solicitous.

Em glanced at Hasigawa, who was watching the exchange intently. She decided that he didn’t speak English, or at least not enough to understand completely.

“My father is afraid he may have become inadvertently enmeshed in a delicate situation. He said you questioned his dinner companion. He is uncertain what the interview was about, but he now feels it may be of a more serious concern than he first deduced.”

“Which is?”

“He thought perhaps Ms. Duncan was being questioned about illegal prostitution. But no money changed hands, my father assured me.”

“Ms. Duncan was not questioned about illegal prostitution.”

“That is good to know.”

“We were determining her alibi for a time period during which her fiancé, Phillip Johnson, was murdered.” Roland spoke clear, precise English without a trace of pidgin so that Hasigawa could understand.

The son turned and translated for his father in rapid-fire Japanese. Hisigawa’s expression never wavered, but it darkened. His eyes grew icy cold. Em hoped she never got on the bad side of anyone like him.

“How did your father know to contact me? I wasn’t aware that he understood any English.”

“His bodyguard speaks but few words, but he made a point to remember your name and that you were from Kauai. His is paid well for such things. It was easy to find your name and phone number on the Internet.”

“Why not call the Honolulu Police?”

Hasigawa’s son’s gaze dropped to Roland’s aloha shirt. “Let’s just say he felt he would be more comfortable talking with you.”

“About what?”

“He has a reason to believe he may have been drugged the night of my wedding reception, the first night he spent with Ms. Duncan. So you see, he cannot be entirely sure that she was in the suite all evening.”

Without moving a muscle, his father radiated controlled anger.

“Why does he think he may have been drugged?” Roland hadn’t pulled out his notebook, which surprised Em. No doubt he wanted to keep the information flowing.

“He and Ms. Duncan went back to the suite after the wedding reception and opened some bourbon. She poured two drinks.” His gaze flicked over to his father and back to Roland. “My father is used to being served. He left the room, changed into a robe. He came back. He recalls getting into bed.”

“With Ms. Duncan?”

“Yes, of course. But the rest is a blur. He slept very deeply and didn’t awaken all night. He woke up early the next morning with a headache and blamed it on having too much to drink at the reception and afterward. Ms. Duncan was in bed beside him. Both of them were nude. They had sex again. All day he felt odd and again, blamed alcohol and perhaps jetlag. Following Ms. Duncan’s interview he has been troubled. He wants to leave this country as he entered, with no encumbrances, so to speak. He wants you to know that he cannot honestly say that Ms. Duncan was in his suite all night long the night in question.”

“She could have gone anywhere,” Em said aloud.

The older gentleman looked at her and then away.

“The other day your father had a man I presumed to be his bodyguard with him.”

The younger man said, “Yes.”

“Was he or someone else on watch that evening?”

During a pause, the son glanced at the father. “Yes. The same man was on watch. Unfortunately, after my father questioned him somewhat intensely today, he admitted that he may have fallen asleep at his post.”

“Which was?”

“In the foyer outside the suite.”

One look at elder Hasigawa’s face, and Em hoped the bodyguard had survived the intense questioning.

Hasigawa’s son studied Roland for a moment, as if sizing him up. She realized he was weighing whether or not he could trust Roland when he said, “We are scheduled to fly back to Japan in three days. My father has much business to attend to, and a delay would be a hardship. I’m sure that you might imagine he would not be comfortable testifying in your court.”

“Yes. I thought as much,” Roland said.

“If there is any way to prove Ms. Duncan left the room that evening—”

“If we’re in luck there is.” Roland looked at Em.

“The hallway video feed,” she said.

He nodded. “Exits and elevators too.”

“One of them is bound to be working.”

“Don’t count your chickens,” he said.

“On Kauai we have too many to count. Let’s hope that holds true here.”

“Have you seen Ms. Duncan today?” Roland asked them.

“My father saw Ms. Duncan for the last time last night.”

Roland thanked the Hasigawas and told the son that either he or detective Bardon of the HPD would contact them. The police might still need a statement if they found a time-stamped video tape of Felicity leaving the hotel during the time of Phillip’s murder. The former fiancée would become one more person of interest. A lot of interest.

They hurried out of Duke’s and entered the Surfrider wing of the Moana.