by Toby Neal
“So tell me more about this mystery man you’re going out with.”
Sophie’s cheeks heated. She picked up a piece of tempura with her fingers and busied herself eating for a few moments, calming her heart rate. There was no way Lei knew Connor’s secret—her friend was only referring to the fact that she didn’t know Sophie’s current flame.
“His name is Todd Remarkian. He’s the CEO of Security Solutions.” Sophie kept her eyes on her plate, dipping a piece of tempura into sauce casually. “He’s Australian. A very nice man. Fun. We like to take run-hikes with our dogs.”
Lei leaned forward, smiling. The tiny, cinnamon-colored freckles across her nose and cheeks caught the light of the overhead paper lantern. The dimple in her cheek winked. “Dating the boss? Marcella tells me you two are thick as thieves.”
“I guess technically Todd is my boss, but it’s a big company, and I have a different supervisor.” Sophie fiddled with her chopsticks. It was hard to talk about a relationship so new and so full of secrets. So tentative, and yet, already tested by life and death situations. So chaste, yet full of unexpressed passion. Sophie couldn’t even bring herself to tell Lei his real name—holding it close felt like a warm ember on a cold night.
Lei sat back, grinning. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how things develop. I was sorry about you and Alika. That could have been something good. But it was time to get back on the horse, and I’m glad to see you’re doing that.”
“What is it with Americans and getting on horses?” Sophie picked up a piece of tofu with her chopsticks. “I fail to see the connection between a relationship and horseback riding.”
“And if you can’t make that mental leap, you’ve obviously been celibate too long.”
This time they both laughed.
Chapter Four
Two nights later, Sophie was sitting in a semi-trance watching the monitors when one of the sensor lights went off, accompanied by a loud banging on the metal gate of the site’s fenced enclosure. “Sophie!”
Sophie was already on her feet. She started in surprise at the sight of her partner at Security Solutions, Jake Dunn, in the monitor. His all-black, combat-ready clothing projected an intimidating message, as did his height and build—but his ready grin was pure masculine charm.
Jake was a badass, but also a big softie who loved Ninja Turtle cartoons on Saturday, too much relish on his hotdog, and to give her fashion advice.
Sophie jogged out of the trailer and unlocked the gate to let her partner in, feeling a distinct lift in her spirits. “Jake! What are you doing here?”
Jake swung her up in his arms for a too-long hug. He never really stopped flirting in spite of her many reminders, and after months of working together, she had to admit she wasn’t totally averse to it.
Jake kissed her cheek with a resounding smack. “Had to come over to make a pitch for another contract, and couldn’t resist breaking up my favorite partner’s exciting evening.”
“And thank God you did. I was about to disgrace myself by falling asleep again.” Sophie pushed against Jake’s chest to get him to let go of her. “What job is this?”
“I might as well tell you inside. We can get more comfortable.” He bounced his brows, incorrigible.
“Come into my palace.” Sophie led him to the dilapidated trailer. “When you told me this was a job at a royal Hawaiian archaeological site, I had something a bit grander in mind.”
Jake followed her up the rickety step. Inside, he looked around, hands on hips, overhead light gleaming on short dark hair, highlighting his shoulders in the tight black shirt. “This was not what I was told on the phone. They told me expense account. Air conditioning. A nice condo. We should never take jobs sight unseen—hence my trip over to check out this new one.”
“Well, I suppose technically that’s all true.” Sophie hit the button on the ancient wall AC, and the unit rumbled into life. Condensation dripped into a can set beneath it. “I turned it off because somehow the noise makes me sleepier, and doesn’t really do anything temperature-wise.”
Jake pulled a folding metal chair over to the desk and sat on it, extending long legs in black combat boots up to the desk’s surface and crossing them at the ankle. “Yeah. I was sold a bill of goods on this job. I should have taken it, not you.”
“Well, except that I wanted it. I wanted to come see my friend Lei, get a change of scenery. I love Maui. And as for the job, except for the part where I’m a glorified night watchman, the situation at the nonprofit is interesting. It appears the thieves are looking for something specific as they dig these holes.” Sophie unlocked one of the desk drawers, and took out a thick report. “This is the interpretation of the ground penetrating radar survey done by the archaeology firm contracted by the Hui to Restore Kakela. This shows possible burial sites and concentrations of artifacts on the actual island, which is what this trailer is standing on. Most of the field you see out there is a former lagoon filled with dirt from the construction of the road leading out of Lahaina. It is unlikely to have had anything in it that didn’t decompose in the water. But the part that is the island…” Sophie unrolled the blue surveyor’s map of the site and spread it on the desk for Jake to see. “This island might even hold the burial site of one of Kamehameha’s queens.”
Jake steepled his thick fingers. “How real is that? Because if it is, that’s something that would really put Kakela on the map.”
“I don’t know how real it is. But, I’m getting to understand a little better what the archaeologists’ priorities are.” Sophie paged to the section in the report that seemed to indicate possible burials and relics on the island. “The GPR can’t distinguish small details, but these shapes indicate a possible buried canoe, which Brett Taggart, the archaeologist I’m working with, seems to think could be the queen’s burial site.”
“So why hasn’t anyone excavated that? It seems like the first thing they would do.”
“Dr. Taggart’s archaeology firm was hired to survey the site and locate all the edges of the island area. The Army Corps of Engineers is slated to come remove all the fill dirt in the former lagoon area in a few months. Once that is done, restoration of the actual island area will begin. The burial site will likely remain undisturbed. Hawaiian cultural value is to leave the burials the way they were and not excavate them.”
“But that could leave the site open to vandals or thieves.” Jake frowned. “Which is why Security Solutions is involved at all. Wouldn’t finding the queen’s burial site increase those problems?”
“Not if no one knew it was found.” Sophie traced the oblong shape of the possible canoe in the report’s illustration. “This report is highly confidential. Only the inner circle of leadership at the Hui has access to it. And you’re right. That’s one of the risks with a specific burial. If they build any sort of marker or monument, it could attract the kind of negative attention they’ve struggled with in Egypt.”
“There’s no silver, gold, or precious gems here in Hawaii.”
“No, but look at this example.” Sophie flicked open pictures on her phone. Pomai Magnuson had shared a photo of a chief’s necklace made entirely from polished dogs’ teeth. The lei had a hypnotizing, barbaric beauty. “This is a relic that was found on the site of a hotel built here on Maui. The body was reburied with this artifact, and blessed by a kahu, priest, on the grounds. It’s hidden beneath a rock formation so no one knows where it is. But don’t you think this is the kind of thing that a Hawaiiana collector would do just about anything to get his hands on?”
Jake leaned in close to look at the photo on her phone. He pinched his fingers to open it wider, examining the detail of the polished ivory canines. “I see what you mean.”
“And here’s a drawing of one of the human bone hooks found at this site.” Sophie scrolled to the illustration. The bone hook was an arc of the polished, tea-colored bone with holes drilled in the top and bottom. “Taggart told me these are not photographed, in order to show res
pect.”
“Where is the barb to keep the fish on?”
“The Hawaiians were master fishermen. They didn’t want a precious bone, infused with the mana of their ancestors, to be broken. Two separate barbs were lashed onto the hook’s body with animal hide at the bottom, and they could break off if necessary, from here.” Sophie leaned over to point, and heard the soft sound of a deeply indrawn breath—Jake inhaling.
Was he…smelling her?
Sophie pulled back, her neck instantly hot, but Jake continued to look down at the phone as if nothing had happened. She cleared her throat. “So, anyway, I wish there was a picture of a completely restored bone hook that I could show you, but this is an idea of what we’re dealing with. The bone is this color because of staining from the surrounding soil.”
“I think I have more of an idea about these, and I can see the appeal.” Jake looked up at her. “You do any fishing?”
“A little bit when I was a child growing up in Thailand, but nothing since.”
“I’ll take you sometime. Great way to spend time in nature and bring something home to eat too.”
“Sounds fun.” But would he try to turn it into a date? She’d told him she was seeing someone, but he didn’t seem to take the hint—or even the outright slapdown. “Tell me about this job you’re here to pitch.”
“Shank Miller, a rock star with a beach house in Wailea, has become a part of a kayak tour.” Jake leaned back and away, lacing his hands behind his head. “The tour is technically staying outside of the no-harassment zone, but the tourists and paparazzi are camping out on the beach, trying to get a shot of him or his girlfriend sunning naked.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic-wrapped rod of beef jerky. “Want some?”
“No, thanks.” Sophie sat back down in her chair to watch the monitors as he unwrapped the snack.
“Anyway, Miller wants a full security system and he’s had a couple of incursions, so he wants to hire permanent bodyguards to keep the riffraff out of his area. As you know, no one can own Hawaii beaches, so rabid fans are able to get closer to celebrities here than just about anywhere.”
“Sounds like you’ll be the one with the expense account and the nice condo.”
“So far, so good on that score. Open bar and kitchen with a chef in the main house. Miller’s putting me up in a ‘cottage.’” Jake made air quotes. “It’s bigger than our office area on Oahu.”
“I take it you’re pretty motivated to get the gig.”
“Well, I made my best effort today, but there are several firms that sent over reps and estimates, so…” Jake shrugged. “But if Security Solutions gets the job, I’ll need a partner.”
Staying in a cottage with Jake 24/7 wasn’t such a good idea…
“But I’m already busy, so if these two Maui situations overlap, I won’t be available.”
“Miller’s got his mainland security team holding down the fort, and you’re only on this Hui contract for two weeks, right? So it could work out. In fact, I’m going to propose to Remarkian that we open a satellite office over here on Maui, since we fly over so much and we both like it here.” Jake grinned, but his gunmetal-gray eyes were flinty. “Not that I think Remarkian will let you leave Oahu.”
“We’re dating. Remarkian doesn’t own me,” Sophie said. “Time for a perimeter check.” She stood up, picking up the heavy metal flashlight and Taser. She needed to get a breath away from Jake.
She walked outside of the trailer and deliberately out through the gate, outside of the fenced enclosure and range of the sensor lights. The cool night air, sweet with the smell of plumeria and dust, tickled her nose and calmed her nerves.
Jake just needed to be reminded of boundaries—and that she was halfway in love with someone else.
Connor.
Connor, who could play the violin like a virtuoso, and computers just as well. Connor, who liked to rock climb and scuba dive and run-hike challenging trails with her and their dogs. Connor, who had told her that he loved her, and had taken a bullet to prove it.
Connor, who had a mysterious and deadly alter ego.
Sophie kicked an overripe mango hidden in the leaves under one of the big spreading trees that were so much a part of the Lahaina landscape. She peeked into the screened windows of the small older homes that lined the humble street, enjoying the sight of families seated around dinner tables and televisions. Barking dogs and the soft clucking of chickens, the hiss of a cat, the rustle of the wind in coconut palms—even a humble life in Hawaii was preferable to life anywhere else.
Sophie wasn’t sure when that had become true for her, but it was.
When she was good and ready, Sophie returned to the trailer, and the great big presence of Jake Dunn.
“I brought a movie for us to watch. I thought I’d keep you company tonight.” Jake had opened the small backpack he’d been carrying. He took out a tablet. “The new Star Wars ought to keep us awake for a few more hours.”
“Funny how it never occurred to me that I could be watching anything but the monitors,” Sophie said drily.
Jake snorted. “Multitasking. I highly recommend it.”
They settled into their chairs, and as the movie got going, Sophie realized how glad she was for the company.
Chapter Five
Sophie got up after a morning nap at her condo to recover from the graveyard shift, and decided it was better for her to see what Jake had to set up in person before she made a decision about working the job with him. She texted him that she was coming, then left the condo in Ma`alaea and headed out, yawning from the late night.
Wailea was an immaculately groomed area of huge houses on the south coast of Maui, hidden from the public eye by high privacy gates and screening rows of ornamental palms. She passed the main hotels, and, following GPS cues, turned down into a small side road that looped along the island’s most expensive beach.
Sophie frowned as she pulled up beside a fifteen-foot coral stone wall with a closed metal gate across the front.
Something about the street address was familiar. She had seen that name and number somewhere.
Sophie picked up her phone and scrolled through the list she had made of the addresses and contact information for the people and possible witnesses on the case. The Hui’s board treasurer, Aki Long, lived right beside Shank Miller’s estate.
Sophie craned her neck, but she couldn’t see Long’s entrance around the palms and the coral stone wall, but it had to be on the right of the Miller estate, according to the street numbering.
Sophie pulled into Shank Miller’s estate entrance and leaned over to a black stone obelisk on the left with a recessed security camera and coded buttons.
She pressed the intercom and a tinny female voice spoke. “State your business.”
“Sophie Ang, here to see security specialist Jake Dunn.” The rounded video dome activated, a brief flash of movement, and the metal gate retracted.
Sophie pulled the car forward into a circular drive that reconnected with the gate so cars could drive through without reversing. She pulled into an apron of parking area planted with ornamental palms, and parked beside Jake’s black Ford Escape rental.
Her partner bounded out to meet her with his trademark energetic stride, wearing his usual black. “Sophie! Glad you could make it to check out the scene. Feast your eyes on paradise!”
Sophie locked the door of her rental and followed Jake along a path of lava rocks interspersed with emerald green poufs of moss. The front door of the ocean-facing mansion was double-sided, each heavy panel inset with thousands of pieces of beach glass in a mosaic of waves. Jake took hold of one side of the double doors by a conch shell handle, and gave it a tug.
Inside, the gleam of polished, dark wood floors was counterbalanced by furniture covered in cotton canvas slipcovers decorated with aqua pillows. A bank of glass windows opened to a view of the ocean and beach, with the tiny island of Kahoolawe a violet shadow on the horizon.
Sophie
could not restrain a gasp. “This is beautiful.”
“Shank is out of town on tour right now. I’ve been working on improvements around the grounds to put in the equipment we need.” Jake led her across the gleaming expanse of room to a sunken seating area. More couches created inviting seating in front of a bank of huge glass sliders.
A tall black woman wearing a Hawaiian print wrap dress approached from the modern, open kitchen area, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. Huge gold hoops almost brushed her shoulders and her close-cropped hair was colored a striking henna. “Welcome to Hale Kai. I’m Antigua, and I keep everything running around here.”
Sophie smiled as she shook the woman’s hand. “Sophie Ang. I work with Jake, and I love your name.”
“Antigua is amazing. This woman can cook like an angel and she’s my right-hand woman with the security project.” Jake looped an arm around Antigua’s shoulder, giving a squeeze. “She pretty much excels at everything.” They exchanged a smile that made Sophie blink. Was her partner involved with this woman? It was none of her business.
Sophie sat down on the edge of a white couch. “This place has a feel of some of the beautiful ex-pat homes my father took me to visit in Thailand. I can only imagine how much a place like this costs on Maui.”
“Well, Shank has the dough. But if you look out the door, you can see our security challenges right away. He doesn’t want anything in the way of his view, and that leaves the whole front of the estate open to penetration from the beach.” Jake pushed open one side of the sliders and led her out onto an artfully weathered teak deck with steps leading down toward the swath of lawn that ended at the beach. “A Plexiglas wall is already in the works,” Jake said. “We’ll have a fence then. I’m setting up motion-detecting perimeter alarms today. I had to wait until Shank was out of town for all of these improvements. He hates to be reminded of how vulnerable he is.”
“I don’t blame him for that.” Sophie walked to the edge of the lawn along sandstone pavers sunk into the grass. “So this seems like a big job.”