by Gina LaManna
“Good,” Meg said. “Let’s go to the pool. I’d really like to teach Bella how to swim.”
“She can’t swim,” I said. “She’s six months old. We can float around with her maybe, but don’t you dare toss her in alone.”
“Well, fine,” Meg said, “but she’d better learn how to walk. And quickly.”
“Give her another five months, and then we’ll be close.”
Meg sucked on her teeth and shook her head. “I can’t wait that long, honey. I need her as a flower girl by Friday, so let’s see if we can make those little legs useful.”
“I’m going to take a nap,” Anthony said, which was a lie. The man didn’t need sleep.
“That’s the best idea you’ve had in your entire life,” Meg said. “Lace, if you won’t let me train Bella for her wedding debut, then I think I’m going to take a nap now, too. I’ll catch you later. And by the way, I think Bella stinks. Maybe check your daughter’s diaper.”
“Now she’s my daughter,” I grumbled, letting Meg out of the room and closing the door behind her. “The second she has a dirty diaper, Meg dumps her on me.”
“She is your daughter,” Anthony said, once we were alone. “Unless I’m missing something.”
“Don’t try to change the subject! Where are you off to, anyway?” I asked. “You have the endurance of a robot and don’t need rest.”
“I know,” Anthony said mildly. “But I have a little thing to take care of for the groom. Remember? I believe you volunteered me for the job.”
“Oh,” I said. “Right. Well, okay then, but make it quick.”
“And you,” Anthony said. “Don’t get yourself into any more trouble.”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll do my best.”
Which wasn’t any sort of promise, and we both knew it.
Unfortunately, I was right not to make him any guarantees. As it turned out Bella’s diaper was more than a little dirty. I wasn’t sure if she’d been aiming to hit her neck with the mess or if that was pure natural talent, but the surprise in her pants required a full body bath. Anthony deftly chose that moment to duck out claiming it was suddenly urgent he help Clay.
I distracted myself by plunking my daughter into the most adorable little bathing suit—bright yellow with white polka dots and fluffy ruffles—and decided us girls would get in some quality relax time at the pool while dad went hunting explosives and Auntie Meg soaked in some beauty sleep.
In an attempt to feel a little festive, I plucked the big floppy hat Meg had left behind off our dresser and smashed it on my head. Bella and I made our way downstairs and passed through the hotel lobby to fill the stroller with free snacks before heading outside.
Once we were in sight of the pool, my shoulders relaxed the tiniest amount. A wash of clear blue water and bleached white lounge chairs spread as far as the eye could see. Just a few steps further and a row of tiny, colorful pebbles signaled the start to the local beach. Beyond that, the ocean stretched majestically into the distance, peppered by caps of white waves and bobbing surfers.
Bella and I took our places on a lounger and arranged ourselves cozily among the towels. I’d just popped Bella’s sunglasses over her eyes and slathered her in sunscreen when her eyes started to droopily close. I smashed the hat further onto my head, situated Bella onto my chest, and closed my eyes as well.
Not five minutes later, Meg’s hat was plucked directly off my face. I blinked, curling a sleeping Bella closer to my chest to shield her from the invasion of sun, and looked up into the shadowed face of a man staring back at me.
“Lacey Luzzi?” the man asked. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Kai?” I threw my legs over the side of the lounger and put up my hand to shield the sun from view while shifting the baby lower. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to ask a favor of you,” he said, glancing around behind him. “But we can’t talk here. Can you meet me inside?”
“What’s it about?”
“The explosion,” he said. “And I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say.”
Chapter 4
We met at the lobby bar inside. I ordered a Perrier while Kai ordered a coconut water and downed it in a second flat. He could give Meg a run for her money. While he was busy polishing off his beverage, I studied him, wondering why he’d sought out me of all people to discuss the explosion.
If his name was anything to go by, Kai was Hawaiian. He was big and round and tan. His hair was dark and cut short, and I was willing to bet he had muscles tucked somewhere behind all his extra mass, though I didn’t particularly want to find out.
“You might have guessed,” he said, “that I’m from the area. I’ve lived here my whole life. Born and raised—both of my parents lived here, and their parents before that, and their parents—”
“Yeah,” I said, shifting Bella higher onto my hip. “I get the pattern. Your family has been here for ages.”
“Exactly.” Kai eased his body onto the bar stool, his gaze flicking over Bella before he signaled for another beverage from the bartender. “Well, it’s clear you heard me and Joe discussing the, ah, incident this morning.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more at the time... I hadn’t heard of you before.”
“That’s to be expected.” Bella grabbed for my hat. “I’m not exactly famous.”
“I looked you up after you left. You’re a little famous.”
“You must have the wrong gal.”
“Not according to Google,” Kai said. “There are a few articles that mention your name in conjunction with crimes being solved. You have an uncanny way of falling into big problems, or so it would appear.”
“Yeah, heard that one before,” I said dryly. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that May was a friend of mine. She was a local, and a regular at the coffee shop.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss. If you haven’t guessed, I’m as clueless as anyone as to what happened.”
“I know, but that’s the problem,” Kai said. “I’m not as clueless as I might have let on. See, the last few weeks, May was acting a little shifty when she’d come by for her order. She was quieter, popped in and out without saying much.”
I squinted, nodded for him to continue.
“I know it doesn’t sound like much of a change, but it was. She used to come in with her friends, sit and chat. I mean, most of us knew May. She’d been living on the island forever, too.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with her death.”
“Ah, but I think you do,” Kai said, sticking a finger that looked like a bratwurst in my face. “I think you know exactly what I’m getting at.”
I gave a huge sigh, and Bella took the opportunity to see how far down my throat she could stick her fist. After pulling her hand from its death grip on my lip, I shook my head at Kai. “Do you want me to believe that May had a target on her back because she was a little quieter at the coffee shop? Even you have to admit that’s a stretch.”
“It would be a stretch if the timing hadn’t coincided with May getting back in touch with her ex-boyfriend.”
Bella grabbed the sunglasses from my eyes and began flailing them around with a chimpanzee-style shriek. It was very difficult to have a professional sounding conversation with a mini me in my arms. “Tell me more about this ex-boyfriend.”
“At the end, I suppose he wasn’t an ex any longer,” Kai said, biting his lip. “They got back together. That’s when she started withdrawing from everyone else. See, we all knew he wasn’t good for her, but she claimed it was love.”
“And you think he killed her?”
“No, not directly. However...” He trailed off, glancing past my shoulder. “How do I put this nicely? Let’s just say he had an interesting way of making a living. I don’t know exactly what he does, but it’s not the kind of job where one pays taxes, we’ll put it that way.”
> “Ah,” I said. “So, his affiliations might have gotten her killed.”
“That’s what I think. I think someone killed May to send Samuel a message.”
“Why come to me?”
“Lacey Luzzi Security Services,” he wheedled. “I saw the name. I saw what you’ve done for others. You might not think you’re famous, but you’re making a name for your work.”
“I’m sorry, Kai,” I said. “I’m off duty. Maternity leave. Vacation. Whatever you want to call it. My husband would kill me if I got involved.”
“You almost got killed when you weren’t involved,” he said. “Don’t you think it’d be safer to know more?”
“I’m confused,” I said, retrieving my sunglasses from Bella before she cracked them in half. “May is already gone. It’s tragic. But why would I be involved? The bombing of my room was random.”
“I know, but...” he hesitated. “The police are refusing to look into it. At least, not seriously.”
“Why?”
Kai glanced around as if the Bloody Mary mix had ears. “Because,” he whispered eventually. “Because of them.”
“Who is them?”
“The mob,” Kai said in a hushed whisper. “The local mafia.”
I let out a loud, gut-busting laugh. “You’re telling me there’s a mob here on Kauai?”
“In a sense,” Kai said. “I’m not talking Al Capone, maybe, but our little town has some corruption issues. I think Sam got in over his head with these guys—they’re the only people cold-blooded enough on this island to kill May. Everyone else loved her. I’m asking you on behalf of me, on behalf of everyone at Java Hut, and on behalf of May, to please help.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m here for my friend’s wedding, and I have to focus on that.”
“We’ll pay,” he said. “It’s... we’ve been talking down at the hut. A lot of us are sick of this—the corruption, the lack of police coverage on certain incidents. Maybe we can arrange something for your friend.”
“What sort of something?”
“You name it. We’re the locals—we can provide the best wedding your friend could ask for. Better than whatever they’re putting on in this hotel.”
“Keep talking.”
I listened for quite some time as Kai detailed a special wedding ceremony that could be administered on a gorgeously decorated boat, followed by an evening dinner high amongst the trees with breathtaking ocean views.
One of his friends owned the most famous restaurant on the island, and Kai promised he’d cook the food for our small party. He promised a helicopter ride from his neighbor, a professional pilot, and he promised enough flowers from his florist cousin—so many he guaranteed I’d have a headache from the scent. The cake would be four tiers. There’d be live music from his uncle’s quartet.
“I’ll tell you what,” I said eventually. “I’ll ask around. But I can’t promise anything more than that.”
“That’s all I’d dream of asking from you,” he said. “If you don’t find anything, then we’ll accept that it was an accident as the police are saying. But I doubt that will be the case.”
“If I do find something,” I said. “What do you want me to do? If the cops are corrupt...”
“Not all of them are,” Kai said. “We just need enough evidence to bring to the station that says there’s no way May’s death was an accident. They’ll re-open the case then, I guarantee it. Already, it’s been declared accidental. Which is pure—” Kai glanced at Bella—“baloney. May didn’t ‘accidentally’ carry a bomb with her to work, and we both know that.”
“Her boyfriend,” I said. “I’ll start there. Do you have an address?”
“Better yet,” Kai said. “I have directions. Take the one lane road out front and go north. Turn left at the palm tree that looks like a pineapple. Turn right at the papaya grove. Left at the beach. He lives in the yellow bungalow.”
“Well,” I said, pulling Bella closer as her head drooped against my chest. “Those are the most Hawaiian directions I’ve ever heard. Let me get my daughter set up with her grandparents, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“LOOK,” I TOLD ANTHONY while Bella napped, “Kai is a small business owner, and he needs some help.”
“But why must you be the one to help him?” Anthony laid on the bed while I changed out of my sundress and into a more investigative attire of jean shorts and a pink tank top. Anthony had returned from wherever he’d been shortly after my surprise visit from the Java Hut owner. “Why can’t they go to the cops?”
“We’ve gone over this, Anthony. They tried that already.” I turned to him and expelled a sigh. “I can’t help that my work is famous around these parts.”
Anthony barely smothered a smile. “Is that right?”
I shrugged. “Apparently. Plus, he’s going to coordinate the best wedding ever for Meg.”
“The hotel is throwing a perfectly acceptable wedding. There are two cakes.”
“There’s a helicopter and a boat and a four tier cake with Kai,” I said. “Meg would love it. And I told him nothing might come of it—I might ask around and find out that it truly was an accident after all, and that’s fine.”
“First, our romance hour was blown up yesterday,” Anthony said, “and now our second day is going to be filled with you running around town chasing a potential murderer?”
“Think of it as sightseeing,” I said stubbornly. “In a very local sort of way. Plus, it’s not like you and I didn’t have our own—rather explosive—chemistry this morning.” I gave an awkward cackle that had Anthony rolling his eyes at my lame attempt to change the subject. “I just want to help, Anthony. It’s in my blood.”
“I know you do, but sometimes your heart is too big,” Anthony said. “I want it all to myself.”
“You have my whole heart,” I said, sidling over and looping my arms around his neck. “I’m just sharing my brain with the rest of the world.”
Anthony laughed even louder, and I didn’t have time to decide if I should be offended before he nuzzled against my neck and let out his own sigh.
“Fine,” he said, “but promise me if you don’t turn over any evidence by tomorrow afternoon, you’ll call it quits. I fully intend to make this trip a romantic, relaxing vacation for us whether you like it or not.”
“Thank you, Romeo.” I gave him a kiss on the forehead. “You’re okay with Bella for the next hour or so while I go talk to Samuel?”
“Shouldn’t I go with you?” Anthony asked. “Maybe Nora could spend some time with Bella.”
“Nora is a bit busy,” I said. “She’s planning a hula dance that she’s going to make us all do at Meg’s wedding. Be prepared.”
“I’m not going to hula.”
“Grass skirt and coconuts,” I said, giving my arms a silly sort of wave. “Be ready.”
Anthony picked up the pillow and tossed it across the room. “I’m letting you investigate a murder! The least you can do is get me out of the damn dance!”
I grabbed my purse. “I’ll be back soon. We’re taking Carlos’s car.”
“We?”
“Me and Meg.”
“Do you need a weapon?”
“Nope,” I said. “I’m armed with one bridezilla.”
“Ah.” Anthony said. “Nothing like a dead body to liven up a bachelorette party.”
I clucked my tongue at him, then swung around to the living area to check on Bella. She was still napping peacefully, so I blew her a kiss and headed on my way to pick up my weapon of mass destruction.
“There she is,” I said, finding Meg in a plastic-looking, skin-tight bikini. “Where are your clothes?”
“It’s my wedding week,” Meg said. “I’m wearing white all week.”
I eyed her white bikini. “Right. But, clothes.”
She rolled her eyes and tossed on a swimsuit coverup that looked like a child had played a bad game of cat’s cradle and sold the tangled strings on Etsy. “Bet
ter?”
“Sure,” I said, though nothing had really changed. “Ready? We’re taking Carlos’s wheels.”
“Carlos rented a car?” Meg asked. “Why?”
“An escape route. His words, not mine.”
“I like the way that man thinks,” Meg said. “It’s a good thing he came with us for the wedding. It just wouldn’t be the same getting married without my BFF there for moral support.”
“I thought I was your BFF.”
“Sometimes,” Meg agreed. “There’s a lot of competition for the spot.”
We climbed into Carlos’s rented car, a sleek black thing that looked like every other car he owned—except for the bulletproof exterior—and followed the directions Kai had laid out for us.
Unfortunately, I got a little turned around at the papaya grove and swung a left at the wrong palm tree, which had us ending up in front of a bakery instead of a bungalow.
“Well this is a sign from Moana,” Meg said. “We should probably stop, don’t you think?”
Ten minutes and several pounds of doughnuts later, we retraced our steps and found the correct yellow bungalow past the correct palm tree and the correct papayas.
“You go on ahead,” Meg said. “I’m gonna collect some papayas while we’re here. They’re good for my wedding diet.”
“What wedding diet?”
“It’s not your standard diet.” Meg chomped into a doughnut as she set off in search of fallen papayas. “It’s more of a... try one of everything sort of diet, and I’ve heard fresh Hawaiian fruit is the best.”
While Meg went off in search of her fresh fruit, I turned my trajectory toward the bungalow. It wasn’t impressive, to say the least. The yard was more of a weed patch, and the garden was a slew of overgrown, crusty bushes sprawling onto a swatch of gravel that served as a driveway. The exterior paint of the house was dismal at best, and from what I could tell, part of the roof had blown off and never been replaced.