Leaving Lavender Tides

by Colleen Coble

  His gaze smoldered as he looked her over. “I don’t think so.”

  Her cheeks heated, and she adjusted her mask on top of her head, then bent down to kiss him. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

  “I’ll be watching.”

  She was the fifth one in the water and swam over to hang on to the surfboard as directed. The surfboard had a window in it so the snorkelers could look down through the dark water to the floodlights on the seabed. Divers swam to and fro in the light, and she nearly gasped when she saw the majestic shapes of the manta rays join them. She let go of the board a moment to duck underwater with her mask and camera. She snapped as many pictures as she could before she needed to grab another lungful of air.

  The other snorkelers were exclaiming over the amazing site as well, but there were so many it was hard to see through the fins, so she let go of the board and swam a few feet away to take more pictures. The manta rays almost looked like angels gliding through the water with their wings flapping lazily. It was a sight she’d never forget.

  She emerged for another gulp of air and treaded water while she caught her breath. If only Zach could see this. He’d love it. He should have been down there with the divers.

  She took a deep breath and was ready to plunge her mask into the water again when she felt a hard tug on her leg. Her head went under, and she turned to see a diver fully covered in a wetsuit hauling her away from the lights. It was too dark to see his face, but he was pulling her toward the shore about 350 feet away.

  She fought to free herself, but he was so much stronger than her that she didn’t even slow him down. She was too deep to use the snorkel, and her lungs burned with the need to breathe. Then he shoved her out of the water and clapped his gloved hand over her mouth, dislodging the mouthpiece attached to her mask.

  “Breathe,” he hissed in her ear.

  Her lungs were clamoring for oxygen or she would have defied him and dived back underwater to get away, but she had to have air. She took in big lungfuls through her nose. Before she could struggle again, he dragged her underwater and swam toward the rocks again.

  The sea was black ink, terrifying and disorienting wherever she looked. She had to get away from him and swim back to the boat for help, but her efforts to free herself seemed puny against his superior strength.

  When she thought she’d pass out from lack of air again, he shoved her head out of the water again and commanded her to breathe. This time she inhaled more slowly so he couldn’t tell as well when she had a lungful of air.

  “Breathe!” He shook her a bit.

  She forced herself to continue to take the short, shallow breaths that seemed to displease him. She squinted through her mask, but it was foggy, and she couldn’t make out his features in the dark.

  Someone shouted from the boat offshore, and his grip slackened momentarily. She took that brief moment and wrenched free of his grip, then swam for all she was worth underwater and back in the direction of the boat. She could only pray the night would hide her down here under the waves.

  When her burning lungs could take no more, she popped her head up and glanced back but didn’t see him. She dove again and began to see a faint light in the distance. When she emerged from the water again, she was near the boat. The surfboard and snorkelers were gone, and she heard the welcome sound of Zach yelling her name.

  “Here, I’m here!” She swam to the ladder and emerged from the water to fall into his arms.

  Zach couldn’t settle after the police left them off to board the ship. He paced the balcony outside their suite as the lights of Kona faded into darkness. Around them the sounds of the ship came to life—laughter, music, the distant murmur of conversation. Guests would be enjoying dinner and the nighttime shows, but he was as on edge as a soldier facing enemy gunfire.

  Someone was targeting them. Specifically. And he’d nearly lost Shauna.

  There was no doubt about that in his mind at all. He watched Shauna in her deck chair. She wore a pensive expression as she watched the Big Island fade into the distance. This hadn’t been the honeymoon he’d planned, and that ticked him off. Instead, some maniac seemed out to destroy their happiness. But who? And why?

  A knock came at the door. Zach opened it to a steward holding a large vase overflowing with flowers that obscured his face and revealed only a thick tuft of bright red hair. He tipped the man, then shut the door and carried the arrangement to the dining table.

  Shauna had followed him in. “These are beautiful, Zach, thank you!” She plunged her face into the fragrant blooms of plumeria and inhaled the sweet aroma.

  “I didn’t send them.” He studied the card and his gut clenched.

  You’ve finally come back to me, and you’re as beautiful as ever.

  Shauna tried to see over his shoulder. “Who sent them then?”

  “It doesn’t say.” He handed her the card.

  She took a step back and shuddered. “That’s really odd, Zach.”

  He checked the envelope and saw My Beloved written in a flowery script on the outside.

  Zach’s frown deepened and he shifted. “I think I’ll go down to the flower shop and see if they know who sent these.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  After all the danger they’d experienced back in Lavender Tides, it was no wonder they were both on edge. He prayed that’s all it was.

  They went down the hall to the wide, scarlet-carpeted stairs and made their way to the area with shops and services. They passed jewelry stores, clothing shops, an Internet café, an art gallery, several chocolate and sweet shops, but no flower shop.

  Zach flagged down an employee, a young woman dressed in a white uniform. “Could you tell me where the flower shop is located?”

  She produced a perfunctory smile. “I’m sorry, sir, but we have no flower shop. Flowers must be ordered at least a week before sailing.”

  “But someone just brought flowers to our cabin. We didn’t order them. How can we find out who sent them?”

  She directed them to the guest services desk, but fifteen minutes later, they were no closer to finding the mystery sender. According to the ship records, no flowers had been ordered or delivered.

  Zach kept his hand on Shauna’s waist and looked around at every passing stranger. “I don’t like this. I didn’t recognize the steward, did you?”

  Shauna shook her head. “I didn’t get a good look. The flowers were so massive they covered his face.”

  “Maybe it was on purpose.” He hugged her. “I don’t want you going anywhere without me, Fly Girl. Something seems really off about this.”

  “I’m not planning on letting you out of my sight, Cowboy.”

  Shauna had changed into a black, red, and white sundress with a wrap to guard against the breeze. She patted the deck chair beside her. “Come sit down. It’s not the first time we’ve faced danger together, and we’ll figure it out. Until now we hadn’t been sure what was happening.”

  “We still don’t know.” He let himself be coaxed over to sit beside her. Taking her hand, he tugged her toward him, and she rose to settle on his lap. “I don’t think I could go on if I lost you. You had to have been scared.”

  “Terrified.” Her breath whispered against his neck. “All I could think about was how devastated you and Alex would be if I’d drowned.” She sat up and looked at him. “Here’s the thing though—he wasn’t trying to drown me. It was more of a kidnapping attempt than anything. He kept bumping my head above the waves so I could breathe, then he’d strike out with me toward the shore again. I don’t think he wanted to hurt me.”

  Still holding her hand, Zach stroked her palm with his thumb. “The things that have happened to me are likely from the same guy who tried to take you.”

  She nodded. “So let’s look at everything. The flowers are a weird development. It’s like someone is obsessed with me, but you’re the one who’s nearly died twice.”

  “You sure you haven’t seen anyone you recognized?

>   Maybe an old boyfriend from high school who has changed a lot?”

  She dug her fist into his stomach. “I’m not that old!”

  He grinned. “Hey, he might have lost his hair early or something.”

  Her gaze grew thoughtful. “What if it’s someone who just saw me and I’m his type, you know? You see it sometimes in the movies—a guy gets obsessed with a woman. That’s the only thing I can think of. I mean, there is no one here I knew from a long time ago. I have a great memory for faces.”

  He nuzzled her neck. “You’re great at everything.” Having her in his arms soothed his fears, but only a little. He had to keep her safe and not let her out of his sight ever again.

  Who was after them? Nothing made any sense.

  He reluctantly lifted his lips from her soft skin. “Okay, let’s go over what we know. No one can tell us who delivered the flowers. Possible answers to that are the guy brought them to our door himself after borrowing a uniform, or he hired a steward to bring them.”

  She nodded. “We could talk to stewards we see and ask about it in a nonthreatening way, maybe even offer a reward for anyone leading us to who brought the flowers. If it’s a steward, he might be able to tell us who hired him. If it’s someone obsessed with me, maybe he wants you out of the way.”

  “But how did he carry out the deeds? How would he know which bike I would take?”

  “Maybe he paid someone to make sure you got that bike. The bike company employee might not even have known the cable was cut. He could have given you the bike unaware it was dangerous.”

  He reached for the bottle of water on the table and took a swig. “Okay, possible. Then there’s the food poisoning. That’s a lot more problematic. How would he know you wouldn’t eat the soup, too, and get sick?”

  A frown furrowed her brow. “Didn’t I mention something about fish soup sounding awful?”

  He had a dim memory of that comment. “Yes, I guess you did.”

  “And then there’s my attack. I only know it was a man, and he was strong. It was too dark to see his face or any identifying marks.” She slipped off his lap. “Let’s go get some dinner. At least we have some direction on what to check out.”

  He feared it wouldn’t be enough to lead them to the lunatic, but they had to try.

  Chapter 10

  After dinner Zach decided to make a systemic search of the starboard side of the ship where their suite was located. He guessed the stewards and butlers had specific duties in adjacent rooms. The first few they stopped and talked to were polite enough, but every time he asked about a flower delivery, he got a blank stare and a shake of the head. One referred him to guest services where they’d gone first.

  Shauna’s black hair was falling out of its updo, and she looked a little frazzled. “This feels a little hopeless.”

  Zach glanced at his phone. “It’s nearly eight. Let’s head to our room, and we can ask any steward we encounter on the way, but we won’t go down any random hallways.”

  “Sounds good. I’d like to veg out on the deck for a while. There’s a beautiful moon.”

  “I can’t think of anything I’d like better.” He took her hand, and they went up the stairs to their deck.

  A steward in a black uniform exited a cabin ahead of them on the left. Zach thought he might have seen the man before. When the steward spoke politely, Zach detected an Indian accent.

  Zach stopped and smiled. “Busy time for you.”

  “Yes, sir, it is. May I help you in some way? I am at your service always.” The man’s friendly smile widened.

  Zach looked at his name tag. Sal Chopra. “Sal, I have a few questions if you have time.”

  “Of course.” The man’s relaxed pose didn’t indicate he needed to hurry away.

  Zach decided to take a different direction with his questions. “I would guess the employees are always looking to make a little extra money.”

  Sal raised a black brow. “I am very satisfied with my salary, sir.”

  “But a little extra never hurts, does it? Do you know of anyone who would want to make a hundred dollars delivering some anonymous flowers? Maybe a steward supporting a family who needs some extra?” He knew many of the employees came from other countries where parents and siblings were dependent on money sent back home.

  Sal locked gazes with him as if searching for the truth behind the questions. “There are a few employees like that. However, I am happy to assist you for no charge.”

  “Someone delivered flowers to our suite a little while ago. They weren’t ordered through guest services. We’d like to talk to that delivery person and see who hired him. Would you know who we might talk to? We’d just like to thank him.”

  Shauna took a step closer. “It’s our honeymoon, and someone was very thoughtful.”

  Sal went silent for a moment as if contemplating what he should say. “There is a steward who works this deck. He’s from Belarus and is supporting his widowed mother and three younger siblings. He might know something.”

  “Could you ask him to stop by our suite?”

  “I can ask, but he might be afraid he’s in trouble.”

  Shauna brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “He’s not in trouble. We won’t talk to any ship management about this. That’s why we are asking privately. We wouldn’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

  “I will see what I can do.”

  “Could you tell us his name?” Zach asked.

  “I would rather not until I know he’s willing to speak with you.” Sal’s large brown eyes held an apology. “I hope you understand.”

  “That’s fine. Tell him I’ll give him a hundred dollars if he comes to talk to us. He won’t be in danger of losing his job.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sal glanced down the hallway. “If there’s nothing more you need, I should get back to work.”

  Zach stepped out of his way. “Of course. Thank you for your help.”

  Sal smiled and moved past them to slip into another cabin. Zach took Shauna’s hand, and they went down the hall to their suite. Sal must have already been there because a towel rabbit was in the middle of the bed with chocolates. The large suite was spotless, and the refrigerator had been restocked with goodies and drinks.

  Shauna slid open the sliding glass door, letting in the distant sound of laughter and the lapping of waves against the ship. “I’d take some water if you want to grab it and come out here with me.”

  “Sure.” Zach took two bottles of water from the fridge and joined her on the sizable balcony.

  She was already stretched out in one of the turquoise lounge chairs. The moon was huge in the sky and glimmered on the sea as the ship plowed through the waves on its way to Lihue. The shimmer of ship lights reflected off the water too, and the scene was almost magical.

  Zach handed her a bottle of water, then dropped onto the chair beside her. “I’m not hopeful the guy will talk to us.”

  She uncapped her water and nodded. “Even a hundred dollars might not sway him. This job is probably a godsend for him and his family. He might not be willing to risk it, even though we assured Sal he wouldn’t get in trouble.”

  “And the poisoning was clearly a murder attempt. The stalker would have had to pay a lot of money to convince someone to do that.”

  Shadows gathered in her green eyes. “I can’t lose you, Zach.”

  “You won’t.”

  “I’m not sure what to investigate next.”

  “Maybe we should just go home. I can’t lose you either.”

  She shook her head. “It’s only two more days, and

  I love it here so much. We’ll be extra vigilant. What do you have planned for tomorrow?”

  “I’d arranged for us to camp out on the Kalalau Trail. I’ve already notified the ship we won’t be arriving back tomorrow night but will be back before we sail back to O’ahu the next morning.” He reached over and took her hand, then kissed it. “It’s one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Though I think
right here with my gorgeous wife is better than anywhere else.” He tugged her off her chair and onto his lap.

  With only two nights left to execute his plan, he’d almost begun to despair, but Bannister couldn’t have chosen a better place for this to work. He had the perfect cave all picked out and had taken in supplies earlier this morning. Food, water, sleeping bags, and extra clothing for them both. This time of year the tour companies didn’t run. He’d have the place all to himself. And Shauna, of course.

  He had everything ready by two when the rental car pulled into the parking lot. It was hard to miss her beautiful black hair in the open-air vehicle. He stood in the shadow of a large tree and watched them haul out their supplies. She danced around with excitement, and he had to bite back a chuckle. He loved her exuberance so much. That hadn’t changed at all. She would soon remember everything.

  But what about Bannister? He was stubbornly hard to get rid of. He should have died of food poisoning. That ride without brakes should have sent him straight over a cliff. Other people had died biking down Haleakala. How had Zach managed to escape?

  But did he have to die? Once his beloved recovered her memory, she wouldn’t want to go back to him. They could disappear to their new life, and he’d never find them. His lip curled, and he clenched his fists at the sight of Bannister dropping a kiss on her mouth. He’d had all he could stand of the man’s liberties with the woman who belonged to him. It would be over soon though.

  Was there a way to end Zach’s life out here? If the man would get in the water, maybe the ocean would do the job for him, but he doubted Shauna would let Zach try to swim in those rough seas—even if he wanted to. His gaze drifted to the Na Pali spires to his right. He had no gun handy, and even though he had a knife, Bannister was no wimp. Killing him wouldn’t be easy.

  No, it was too late now. He’d just have to go with the plan. Once she realized she belonged with him, she’d settle down.

  Chapter 11

  Shauna stood exulting in the ferocious pounding of the waves on the shore far below. Her leg muscles felt quivery from the hike along the Hanakapi’ai Trail, but the views had been outstanding. The blue of the ocean and the vivid greens of vegetation in the valleys literally took her breath away. They’d even seen the outline of the coral reef protecting Ke’e Beach.