Anger swelled in my chest as I read between the lines. "You cheated, didn't you?"
"Yeah." Marco had enough sense to look remorseful. He hung his head. "Louana showed up here one night and started flirting with me. I'd had a few too many drinks." His brows pinched. "Hell, I only liked her because she was easy, but she wasn't even that good of a lay. A total waste of my time."
I fought the urge to dump my daiquiri over his head. He was an arrogant, cheating scumbag, just like Bryan. "You think your ex-girlfriend was mad enough to kill?" I asked, fighting to control my anger.
Marco blew out a breath. "I don't know," he said, sounding tired. "Erin found out that I'd slept with Lou, and she dumped me. I haven't been able to get her to speak to me since. I heard she threatened to beat the snot out of Louana though. Lou actually begged me to ask Erin to leave her alone. Apparently she'd even showed up at the boutique and cussed her out."
Erin. He had an ex-girlfriend named Erin who had threatened Louana. That could be another lead. Marco turned in his seat and waved the bartender over. As he was ordering another beer, I retrieved a pen from my purse and grabbed one of the small, white cocktail napkins from the counter. "You said your girlfriend's name is Erin?" I asked, trying to sound casual. "What's her last name?"
"Malone. Why?"
I didn't answer. I was too focused on remembering the name he'd given me. Erin Malone. I slipped the napkin under the counter and set it on my knee, discreetly scribbling the woman's name onto the paper. Apparently I wasn't discreet enough.
Marco glanced down, his brow furrowed. "What are you doing?" Before I could stuff the napkin into my purse, Marco reached below the counter and snatched it out of my grasp. He stared at it, and his expression darkened. "If you're not working with a reporter, then why are you writing down stuff that I'm telling you?" He didn't wait for me to answer. Marco crumpled up the napkin and then stuffed it into my daiquiri.
"Hey!" I protested, watching the blue ink bleed into the yellow drink.
"I shouldn't be talking to you," Marco said gruffly. He climbed off his barstool and picked up his guitar case. He loomed over me, eyes burning with anger. "Stay the hell away from me."
CHAPTER SEVEN
I watched Marco go, my pulse hammering in my chest. He stomped across the bar and grabbed a seat at a table near the stage, his back turned toward me. I glanced at my second ruined pineapple daiquiri of the night and sighed. After all that, I still hadn't confirmed Marco's alibi for Saturday. What I had learned was that Marco Rossini had a quick temper—one that I wasn't so sure I wanted to cross again. I shuddered at the menacing way he'd hovered over me. Had those dark, burning eyes been the last thing that Louana had seen before her life was snuffed out?
"Is everything okay?" Noa had approached while I was digging around in my purse for my wallet. I looked up to find him standing next to me at the counter.
I blew out a breath. "Just effing peachy."
"What happened?" Noa's jaw clenched. "I saw that curly-haired guy get in your face. I was on my way over here to step in when he walked away." He squinted at the table where Marco was now seated, chatting up a busty blonde in a pink tube top. "Is that Louana's boyfriend?"
"According to him, no." I grimaced. "Listen, can we get out of here? I can fill you in on what he said on the ride home." The encounter with Marco had upset me more than I cared to admit.
Noa must have seen my bewilderment in my face. He bobbed his head. "Sure. I'll let the girls know we're leaving."
"I'll pay for my drink and meet you at the door," I told him. I flagged down the bartender and handed him my money before heading toward the entrance to the little dive bar.
A bald, beefy man in a black T-shirt was perched on a stool just inside the entrance. "Aloha," he said, nodding politely to me before returning his attention to his cell phone.
An idea occurred to me, and I tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me," I said when he looked up from the little screen, his brow lifted in question. "Did you happen to be working the door here this past Saturday night?" When he nodded, I pointed to Marco's table. "You see that guy over there?"
The bouncer's lips twisted in a smirk. "That guy," he said, shaking his head. "He's here a lot, trying to take home a different girl every time. He thinks he's Kāne's gift to the wahines," he'd said, referencing one of the Hawaiian deities.
God's gift to women? Yeah, right. I rolled my eyes. "He was here on Saturday. Do you remember when he left?" To get either in or out of the building, Marco would have had to pass the bouncer.
The man scrunched his nose. "I know he was here to collect his prize money at the end of the night," he said after a moment.
"What about before that? Any chance he left after his performance and then came back?" The resort wasn't very far from here. If Marco had been one of the first acts to take the stage, it was possible he could have sneaked away to attack Louana and had returned before the open mic competition was over. If so, the bouncer would have checked his ID on his way back in to the bar.
My new bald friend frowned. "Sorry, but I can't remember. Working the same shift night after night, it all starts to run together. Or he could've left and then come back in while I was taking my smoke break."
"Oh." I tried not to sound disappointed. That didn't really help me disprove Marco's alibi. Then again, it didn't exactly confirm it either.
Noa appeared at my side. "You ready?"
"Yeah." I glanced toward the booth. Jamie had already moved over to the bar and was flirting with one of the bartenders. Harmony was seated at our table, alone. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was squinting daggers at me. I noted with satisfaction that there was still a huge wet spot on the front of her shirt.
I thanked the bouncer for answering my questions and followed Noa to the parking lot. As we climbed into the Jeep, I filled him on my conversation with Marco. "I don't trust him," I said sourly. "He's a cheating piece of garbage. And just because he was at the bar at the end of the night to collect his open mic winnings, that doesn't mean he's not our guy." I recapped my conversation with Beachcomber's bouncer. "Marco apparently comes here often—so he might know when the bouncer typically takes his smoke breaks. Maybe he could have left and then slipped back in when the door was unattended."
"You're right," Noa said when I was finished. "I wouldn't count him out yet either. Just because the door guy can't remember if he saw him leave or not doesn't mean that Marco was definitely there the whole night. I've been to Beachcomber's on a Saturday night before, and it was packed. It would have been hard for someone in the bar to have their eyes on him the entire night."
"Plus he has a motive," I said. "Not only was Louana stalking him, but she also sabotaged his chance to launch his singing career—something that he was obviously still furious about." I fastened my seat belt as Noa pulled the car out of the little dive bar's parking lot. "And did I mention that he's a total creep? I was this close to dumping my drink over his head." I held out my hands with my two index fingers spaced barely an inch apart.
"Speaking of dumping drinks on people—you know you ruined Harmony's night, right?" Noa gave me a disapproving look, but I could see a smile trying to break through.
I ducked my head. "Believe it or not, that was an accident. Although, you did look like you needed rescuing." I crinkled my nose. "Unless you wanted her clinging to you tighter than spandex."
He lifted his shoulder and then let it fall. "What if I did?"
I shut my mouth with a click, feeling ill at the mere thought of Harmony and Noa together. Not your business, I reminded myself, though it didn't make me feel any better.
"So what next?" Noa asked after a moment. "Considering Marco probably won't be willing to talk to you again, what's the plan?"
"His ex-girlfriend," I suggested, thankful for a change of subject. "Erin Malone. Marco claimed she'd been threatening Louana." I nibbled my lower lip. "And then there's the kid from the stockroom at work, Luka Hale. He's harboring some
major bad vibes toward Lou, though he balked when I asked him why. I do know that he was at the resort on Saturday night. He told me he'd been to the luau at the Ramada Pier but that he'd left early."
"So we have two other leads," Noa said, giving me a sidelong glance. "Which should we go after first?"
I mulled it over for a few moments. "I'll keep tabs on Luka at work and see if I can find out more about his grudge against Lou. Let's also see what we can find out about Erin Malone besides just her name. Where does she live? What does she do for a living? How crazy is she on a scale of one to bald Britney Spears?"
"I'll do a search online when I get home to see if I can find her contact information," Noa offered.
"Thanks." I reached for the radio dial, scanning through the channels. "Hey!" I smiled and turned the volume up when I stumbled across an old Kings of Leon tune. "I love this song!"
"I know." Noa's mouth twitched. "We were rocking out to it when you wrecked this very Jeep on prom night."
"Oh man. That's right." I felt a faint smile touch my lips at the memory. Noa had been my date—we'd gone as friends—and I'd driven us there in the Jeep when it had still belonged to Aunt Rikki. That same song had come on the radio, and we'd started dancing and singing along. I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going and had rolled the car right into a stop sign.
The damage hadn't been severe—just a small dent to the front fender—but I'd been too scared to tell my aunt what had really happened. Noa and I had made up a story about how I'd been forced to swerve to avoid hitting a wild chicken that had dashed into the road. It wasn't until my junior year of college that I worked up the nerve to confess to Rikki what had really caused the accident. To my relief, we'd had a good laugh about it, and she'd instantly forgiven me.
"That was quite the night," Noa said, his voice softer now. "For a number of reasons."
His words brought a rush of heat to my cheeks. One of the reasons he was referring to was our first and only kiss, shared in the Jeep as he'd tried to snap me out of my post-crash meltdown. I'd been a weepy mess, complete with a runny nose and smeared mascara. When Noa couldn't calm me down, he'd kissed me. That had stopped my hysterics really quick.
I felt a pang of regret. Neither Noa nor I had made a move toward pursuing a relationship in the weeks that followed that kiss. Then a month after graduation, I'd met Bryan. What was it that held me back from just telling Noa how I felt back then? I honestly wasn't sure.
I was ready to bolt from the car as soon as Noa parked on the curb beside Aunt Rikki's driveway. "Thanks for coming out with me tonight," I said as I slung my purse over my shoulder.
"Kaley, wait."
My hand hovered over the door handle as I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked, my throat tightening.
Noa's eyes searched mine for a few moments, his expression unreadable. Then he shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He coughed. "I have a lifeguard shift at the resort pool tomorrow evening. Call me before you go off and confront another potential psycho, okay?"
I nodded. "You got it. Good night." I shut the door to the Jeep before he could say anything else. I watched him drive away, feeling a pang of longing in my chest. Despite the fact that he'd invited Jamie and Harmony to crash our night out, I'd enjoyed spending time with Noa. When he'd stopped me from climbing out of the car just then, I'd had the strong urge to kiss him. That would have been a mistake, I reminded myself. I wanted to earn back Noa's friendship, not scare him off by throwing myself at him. He wasn't interested in me like that anymore. Could I turn my feelings off and just work on being his friend again? I hoped so.
* * *
It was still dark out when Aunt Rikki knocked on my bedroom door Tuesday morning. "I'm headed to sunrise yoga before work if you want to come," she said, poking her head into the room. She sounded like she was back to her old Zen self.
Even though I was finally adjusting to local time, my body wasn't having it. I mumbled something incoherent and rolled back over.
Rikki stepped fully into the room and flipped the switch on the wall. "Come on, ku'uipo. Get your butt out of bed. A little exercise will do you some good."
I squinted as the overhead light came on. "All right. I'm awake," I groused, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Give me ten minutes."
She nodded, seemingly satisfied. "I'll meet you downstairs."
I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face. After a few minutes of digging through the mound of clothing that I still hadn't unpacked, I found a pair of purple Lululemon yoga pants and a black sports bra and matching tank top. I laced up my sneakers and joined Rikki in the living room. She was dressed in teal spandex pants and a bright yellow sports bra. "Ready?" she asked.
"Yep," I replied, pulling my hair back in a ponytail. As it turned out, I was so not ready. The sunrise yoga class was held on the shore of Coconut Cove, a secluded beach two miles from Rikki's house. Instead of driving there, my ridiculously fit aunt insisted on jogging. I liked to think I was in decent shape, but I still huffed and puffed the entire way as I struggled to keep up with her.
When we finally reached Coconut Cove, I nearly collapsed in the sand. I unfurled the spare yoga mat I'd borrowed from Rikki and sprawled across it in corpse pose, watching the day break as the rest of the class followed the instructor through sun salutations. I managed to join in several minutes later, but by the end of the session I was exhausted and drenched in sweat, feeling anything but relaxed. I was rolling up my mat, wishing I could hail a cab home, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Kaley?"
I turned around to find Jamie Parker standing on the beach, her sand-colored hair blowing in the morning breeze.
She gave me a bright smile. "I saw you and Rikki walk up just before we started. I was up front." She hiked a thumb over her shoulder to where my aunt was talking to the instructor a few yards down the shore.
"Hi, Jamie." I was surprised to see her so perky at this hour, considering she'd stayed at Beachcomber's later than I had the night before.
"I'm a total morning person," she said, as if reading my mind. She shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter how late I stay out. I always like to get an early start." She leaned closer, her blue-green eyes shining. "So you and Noa left together last night, huh?" She waggled her eyebrows at me. "How'd that go?"
I grimaced. "It's not like that," I said, chewing my lip.
Jamie shook her head. "You sure? Y'all would make such a cute couple." Her lips twitched. "And the look on Harmony's face when Noa bailed with you was priceless." She snickered. "I thought the vein in her forehead was gonna explode. I hightailed it out of the booth so I wouldn't have to deal with the mess."
I couldn't help but grin. "I thought you and Harm were friends," I said, cocking my head to the side.
Jamie chuckled. "Friends is a strong word," she said, making a face. "I only came because Noa invited me. He's one of the first friends I made when I moved to the island."
"He's a great guy," I said truthfully.
"One of the best," she agreed. "And he has some awesome friends. I'm so glad he introduced me to you." She flashed me her brilliantly white teeth. "Your aunt talks about you all the time when I'm in her store. I feel like I know you already." Her smile widened. "Finally, someone who appreciates shopping and mani-pedis as much as I do."
I had to admit that the more I talked to Jamie, the more I liked her. My lips quirked. "I do love a good mani-pedi."
Jamie brushed her hair out of her eyes as the breeze picked up. She glanced at her watch. "I should head out. I've got clients for a diving lesson in a couple of hours."
I looked at my aunt, who was jogging in place in the sand. As I watched, she dropped to the ground and began doing pushups. I cringed. The thought of having to jog back home made me want to curl up in child's pose and hide my head in the sand. I gave Jamie a hopeful look. "Any chance you would give me a lift home? It's only a couple of miles from here, and it's on the way to th
e resort."
Jamie nodded. "Rikki made you run here, didn't she?" she asked with a knowing grin. "I've passed her jogging on her way to class before."
I grimaced. "I don't know how she has so much energy." I told Rikki I'd meet her at home and then followed Jamie across the sand. A seafoam green Chevy Malibu was parked beside the road. I knew before we even came to a stop beside the vehicle that it had to belong to Jamie. A pair of scuba foot fins could be seen through the back window, and the license plate read MERMAID.
A blue Honda Accord was parked across the street from Jamie's Mer-mobile. A woman climbed out of the driver's seat and started walking toward us. "Mrs. Colfax?" she called.
I bristled at the mention of my former last name, and my heart gave a hard thump. I watched the slender woman as she approached. Her wavy chestnut hair streamed behind her as she strode toward us, her eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Despite the summer heat, she was dressed in a fitted black pant suit and heels.
"Who are you?" I asked warily when she reached us.
The woman flashed me a triumphant grin, evidently pleased that she'd managed to track me down. "My name is Felicity Chase. I write for the Aloha Sun."
Perfect, I thought bitterly. Another vulture reporter. "My name isn't Mrs. Colfax," I told the brazen woman. "It's Kalua. Kaley Kalua."
"Right, of course." Felicity made a show of smacking her forehead. "Kalua—kind of like the liqueur, right?" When I didn't answer, she shook her head. "Sorry about that. I did read that your divorce had already been processed. That was fast, huh?" Felicity ignored my icy glare and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed a button on the device and then held it out in front of her. "So, Ms. Kalua," she tried again. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?" She didn't even wait for a response. "Is it true you were the one who found Louana Watson's body on Sunday morning?"
Anger flared in my chest. I held my hands in front of my face to shield myself from her camera. "I'm not going to talk to you," I said stiffly.
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