Death of the Big Kahuna

by Catherine Bruns

  A tear leaked out of my left eye. "Jeez, what a cry baby I am."

  Keanu reached over with the pad of his thumb and gently wiped at my lashes. "It's all right. I'm here for you."

  He was so close that I was positive he must have heard my heart thundering against the wall of my chest. It echoed inside my head.

  When our gazes met, I knew what he was about to do next. His eyes brimmed over with desire as he regarded me in silence. I didn't dare breathe for fear it might break the spell.

  Keanu brushed my hair gently back from my face, his fingers lingering for a few moments on the strands. Then he ran a finger down the side of my cheek, and my entire body tingled with anticipation.

  "Is Carrie short for another name?" His tone was soft, his mouth near mine.

  "Carolyn." Unconsciously I licked at my lips as if about to taste something delicious—which of course, I was.

  "You're very beautiful, Carolyn." Keanu's voice was barely above a whisper as we continued to stare at one another. His deep-set eyes were so easy for me to lose myself in. I could forget everything now—my parents, Brad, the murder. Everything except Keanu.

  He placed a hand on my waist and drew me closer. When he lifted my chin with his finger, my lips automatically parted, like a reflex action, ready and eager to taste him.

  "Keanu!" A voice yelled.

  We both turned around, startled. Lola was running down the pier toward us, a terrified look upon her face. Instantly, we both moved apart.

  "Lola, what's wrong?" Keanu asked.

  She paused to catch her breath. "Detective Ray is here. He has a warrant for Poncho's arrest."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  By the time we returned to the café, we were just in time to catch the police car departing. The lights on top flashed merrily away, and a slumped-over, rounded figure was in the backseat. Poncho.

  My heart constricted inside my chest. "He didn't do this," I said to Keanu, Vivian, and Lola. "Someone is setting him up for the fall."

  Alana greeted us at the patio door. "And where have you two been? Busy getting a room by the hour?"

  My lips curled back in distaste. "That's it? Your chef has just been arrested, and all you care about is where we've been?"

  Keanu narrowed his eyes. "Easy, Carrie."

  "I don't care anymore."

  Alana turned on her heel, and I followed her inside the café. A small crowd of people had gathered on the boardwalk to watch as the police car with Poncho drove away. They'd been pointing and whispering. Yeah, definitely not good for business.

  I walked at a brisk pace to keep up with the Ice Queen. Maybe she'd killed Hale and wanted Poncho to take the rap for it. She didn't need this place for income—she had her blasted shopping mall, after all. "You told Detective Ray to arrest Poncho, didn't you? Maybe you helped by making up a few lies about him?"

  She gave me a brittle smile. "My, you're quite the cheerleader in Poncho's camp. Sleeping with him too?"

  That was it. I was going to kill her. Maybe they'd give me a cell right next to Poncho's. I lunged forward, and Lola caught me by the arm. "Don't, Carrie. She's not worth it."

  "We will be reopening the place in twenty minutes, so I suggest you all get busy." Alana crooked a finger at me. "I want to talk to you alone upstairs. Now."

  Maybe I should have been grateful that I was being fired. Maybe I could manage to put this mess behind me, although somehow I doubted that would be possible. This would continue to follow me like a dark shadow until whoever responsible was caught. My gut told me Poncho hadn't done this, and I was sticking to that theory.

  Keanu put a hand on my arm. "I'm coming with Carrie."

  Alana whirled around, furious. "No. I want to talk to her alone."

  "It's all right," I said to Keanu. Having no choice, I followed the queen of mean upstairs. I wasn't afraid of her any longer and suspected she knew this. She sat down behind the desk while I stood there, arms folded across my chest. "Well?"

  "Look," she said. "I'm sorry about Poncho. But I had to tell Detective Ray the truth."

  "Which was?" I prompted.

  A flicker of annoyance crossed her face. "I'm still your boss for now. Treat me with respect."

  "You have to earn respect with me to gain respect," I said. "So far, you're not doing a great job."

  Her nostrils flared. "Poncho didn't want to be here. He and Hale had some type of agreement worked out that he had to stay for five years. I didn't know all the details. Detective Ray said that Poncho's fingerprints were found all over the knife."

  "Gee, maybe because it was his knife?" How could they arrest him based solely on that?

  It was as if Alana had guessed my thoughts, and she stared down at the floor. "I heard Poncho threaten Hale the other day, and I had to tell the detective about it. I don't want to believe that he'd kill my husband, but I have no proof otherwise."

  "How can we reopen if Poncho isn't here?" I asked.

  "Leo is on his way in," Alana explained. "Lola can cover in the kitchen until he gets here. I'm about to place an ad in the paper and online for another chef. Perhaps Poncho will be let out on bail, but I can't have him working here under these circumstances. Everyone's aware of what happened. What would the customers think?"

  I clenched my fists at my side. "You're destroying a man's life without any concrete proof. He didn't do this. Someone planted that knife in my bag, and it wasn't Poncho. For all I know, it could have been you."

  She rose to her feet, trembling with rage. For a moment, I was afraid she might strike me. "How dare you. You know nothing about me or my husband. You might have seen him as a ruthless powerhead and womanizer, but there was more to him. Once upon a time he was just a normal kid trying to live up to his parents' expectations. He adored them. Then there was a horrible car accident, and everything changed."

  We were back to the accident again. "I heard about that. How did it happen?"

  She shrugged. "Hale never liked to talk about it, but it seems he and his parents might have been having an argument. He lost control of the wheel, and the car veered into the opposite lane. A young woman was driving the other car. Hale's parents and the woman died as a result. Hale didn't suffer any real serious injuries, but after that night he was never the same."

  Okay, I understood that Hale had suffered a terrible loss. But something told me car accident or no car accident, he still would have turned into a horrible person. I wished I knew more about the woman in the other car and thought of the article I'd found. Could this woman be connected to Hale's death somehow? Was that even possible, after all these years? "The woman who died in the other car. Did you or Hale know her?"

  She shook her head. "Her name was Elizabeth something. I guess she had recently moved here from the mainland. Look, I'm sorry about what's happened, but the fact remains someone killed my husband. And unfortunately, all the evidence points at Poncho. There's nothing I can do."

  "He's being framed," I said angrily. "We both are, for some reason. And you can bet I'm going to find out why." Without another word, I stomped down the stairs and was just in time to see Keanu opening the door to the lobby. We had a few stragglers come inside, but word had apparently gotten out. It seemed that no one wanted to eat in a restaurant where a killer had been preparing the meals.

  The rest of the day passed slowly and uneventfully. The dinner crowd was light, even for a Tuesday. At eight o'clock, the place had emptied out, and Alana surprised us by putting up the Closed sign and locking the door.

  "What are you doing?" Lola asked.

  "Go home," Alana said as she walked back toward the kitchen. "I can't deal with this anymore today. The phone calls from the resort, the press. We'll start over tomorrow."

  Vivian and I were silent as we wiped down the tables and counters. Leo grunted a good-bye to us and left. Unlike Poncho, he wasn't fastidious about the kitchen, so we went in to finish the cleanup. Keanu joined us soon afterward to help.

  "Hey," Vivian said to me. "I hat
e to do this to you, but I have a date tonight. And I might want to bring him back to my place." She winked. "Can you find another place to crash tonight?"

  Her speech took me by surprise, and I tried not to show my disappointment. Where was I going to find another place on such short notice? "Sure, no problem."

  Lola interrupted us. "I'm out of here, guys." She glanced at Vivian. "I'll stop by later for the rest of my stuff. Thanks for letting me hang out."

  Vivian scowled at Lola's retreating figure. "She stays at my place for a week and never even offered money. Not that I would have accepted it, but you know what I mean. She brought takeout home only once. I tell you I'm too nice for my own good."

  She went into the back to grab her purse out of a locker, and Keanu folded his arms across his chest, watching me. "But it is a problem. You don't have another place, do you?"

  When I said nothing, he placed a hand on my arm. "Come on, Carrie. 'Fess up."

  "I'll think of something. Don't worry."

  "Hey," Keanu said. "I think I might have a solution. How much longer until you're finished here?"

  I had cleaned the stove and countertops while Vivian mopped the floor. "I just need to rinse the coffeepots out. I don't know. Maybe five minutes?"

  His phone beeped, and he glanced down to read the screen. "Okay. I'm going out on the patio to return a call. I'll meet you back here in a few."

  Alana thundered down the stairs and let herself out the patio entrance without a single word to anyone.

  I needed some answers now.

  A distant memory from the night of the murder stirred in my brain. Someone had made a comment that struck me as strange at the time. What was it? I wished I could remember. Would talking to the police help? Maybe, but was there any chance that Detective Ray might be willing to talk to me about the investigation? Probably not.

  Vivian walked past me with her purse. "Are you sure you're going to be okay for the night? I feel really bad about this."

  "Sure. Keanu said he has an idea. Listen, thanks for letting me crash at your apartment last night. I do need to go back and get my stuff though."

  "My," Vivian said coyly. "What kind of an idea? I thought he might be interested. I've seen the way he looks at you."

  I rolled my eyes. "I don't think that's what he means."

  She winked. "He must be lonely since he and Tammy broke up. Such a shame to think of that hottie sleeping all by himself."

  "Oh stop," I growled, and she laughed. "Seriously, thanks for letting me stay last night."

  No problem," Vivian said. "There's a key under my front mat. Just leave it inside when you're done. I'm meeting my date at The Lava Pot for a drink first, so there's plenty of time for you to get your bags before we return to my place for what I hope will be one wild night."

  Yeah, okay, way too much information for me. "I'll see you in the morning."

  She winked. "Wish me luck." With that, she was gone.

  A minute later, Keanu reappeared. "Are we all battened down for the night?"

  "Looks that way." I watched as he set the alarm, and then we exited through the back door of the kitchen. I still had no idea where he was taking me.

  "I didn't want to say anything around Alana," Keanu said, "but that call was from Poncho. He told me that he was out on bail."

  My mouth went dry. "What's going to happen to him now?"

  Keanu shrugged. "I guess he'll have to wait until they schedule a trial."

  "We have to find some way to help him." I told Keanu what Alana had said to me earlier in her office. "I don't trust her."

  We were standing next to Keanu's moped, which he had parked at the rear of the café. "I think I'll ask my parents to call some of their friends who are in the life insurance business," he said. "They might be able to find out if Hale had any policies floating around. If we can learn who the beneficiary is—especially if it's someone besides Alana—that might give us a potential lead to go on."

  "Isn't that illegal?" I asked.

  He smiled. "You can find out anything if you know the right people. Come on—hop on. Do you need to get your stuff at Vivian's?"

  "Yes, but—"

  Keanu put his helmet on and handed me one. "I'll take you to her place and then bring you back to the resort. I got you a room there for the night. For as long as you need, in fact."

  I stared at him in amazement. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

  To my surprise, he laughed out loud. "Carrie, it's not like it sounds. You're not going to be a kept woman, so to speak. My parents have a standing suite at the resort. It's a beautiful place. Sometimes they like to use the hotel's conference room for meetings, or they'll call staff to come in from out of town. If the employees choose to stay overnight, my parents want them to be comfortable. I'm simply offering it to you in the meantime."

  It was a generous gift but one that I didn't feel comfortable accepting. "I can't do that. It wouldn't be right to have your parents pay for my stay."

  His baby blues shone with amusement as they watched me. I looked up at the sky and could have sworn that the moon winked at us, as if wanting to share in the moment.

  "They get charged for it either way, so it makes no difference," Keanu said. "Would you please let me do this? I happen to care about you and don't want you sleeping on the beach tonight."

  "All right. Thank you," I said gratefully.

  He moved the bike forward, frowned, and then looked down at the wheel. He got off the seat and bent down next to it. "What the—"

  I was clueless as to what was going on. "What's wrong?"

  Keanu swore under his breath and then sighed in frustration. "Flat tire. Let's walk back over to the resort's main lobby. We'll at least get you situated in the room first. Then I'll get the bike fixed and run you into town."

  "You've already done more than enough," I objected. "I can walk to Vivian's. It's really no big deal."

  "I insist," Keanu said, and we started down the path to the resort together.

  The wind had picked up, and the air was breezy and somewhat cooler. I'd heard rumors all day about an impending tropical storm, and it appeared as if they might be true.

  The loud roar of an engine behind us jerked me out of my thoughts. A white sedan with high-density LED lights was moving down the path at a furious pace toward us. I put a hand to my eyes to try to shield the brightness, but it was of no use.

  "That car is going way too fast," Keanu remarked. "The speed limit is only 15 miles per hour over here. He needs to slow down before someone gets hurt. Probably some crazy tourist who had one too many mai tais." He waved his hands at the car in a futile effort. "Slow down!"

  Call it intuition, but something alerted me to the fact that this was no crazy drunk. The car's speed intensified, and the engine roared again. This was no random act. The driver had his sights set on one thing only—us. The vehicle zoomed toward us at a frightening pace.

  "Look out!" I screamed.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Before I could even attempt to get out of the way, Keanu gave a hard push to my back that sent me flying. I sailed through the air and landed face down in the white sand next to a giant banyan tree. I sat up, spitting the grains out of my mouth as the car screamed past us.

  I made a low moaning sound. "Keanu?" Slowly I rose to my feet and took stock. Nothing was broken, thank goodness. There were a few scrapes on my hands, but other than that I seemed to be fine.

  "Keanu!" I screamed his name this time, panic setting in.

  "I'm okay." His faint voice was coming from behind a palm tree only a few feet away from me. He was lying on his back, his face white and drawn.

  Alarmed, I knelt by his side. "Are you all right?"

  He reached for my hand and raised himself into a sitting position. "I think I sprained my ankle. No big deal."

  "Lean on me." I placed an arm around him.

  "I always wanted to be a hero," he joked, but it was clear to see that he was in pain.

  "
It could be a fracture," I said. "You shouldn't put any weight on it."

  He waved my comment off with a look of annoyance. A couple of men dressed in the hotel uniform of polo shirts and khaki shorts came running toward us from the resort's main entrance.

  "Are you two all right?" The taller man's name tag read Jimmy. He was definitely a native Hawaiian, and I couldn't help notice how good looking too, with dark curly hair and large brown eyes. He towered over Keanu, who I surmised was about six feet tall, and made me feel about as big as a bug.

  "He might need medical attention," I said, gesturing at Keanu.

  Keanu shook his head, clearly irritated by the attention. "No. I'll be fine." He stared at both men. "Do you guys have cameras out here? Someone deliberately tried to mow us down."

  Jimmy nodded. "We'll check the footage on the computer right away. Hopefully we can get the license plate number and report it to the authorities. Are you two guests of the resort?"

  "I'm Keanu Church. My parents have a suite here."

  "Oh of course," Jimmy said. "I should have recognized you from the Loco Moco. Are you and your girlfriend on your way to the room now?" He looked at me expectantly.

  Good grief. Another one of life's embarrassing moments, and I'd had a lot of those lately.

  "As a matter of fact, we are," Keanu said, ignoring the girlfriend reference. With my assistance, he managed to stand but seemed a bit disoriented.

  "We can get a wheelchair for you, sir," the other security man offered.

  Keanu frowned. "Not necessary. I need to walk it off. I'm all right."

  But I could tell from the way he clenched his teeth together that Keanu wasn't all right. He was in more pain then he was letting on. Fortunately we were close to the main entrance, so he didn't have to walk far.

  The small crowd that had gathered near the beach dispersed as we hobbled inside. Jimmy rang for the elevator and gave us his card. I glanced toward the reception desk. "What, no check-in needed?"