Winter in Waianae (Love in Oahu Book 2)

by Aubree Lane

  He checked his watch. With any luck, he’d catch someone as they headed out for lunch.

  Footsteps clacking down a connecting hallway caught his attention. As they drew closer, David stood and waited. A man wearing a white lab coat turned the corner. His lanyard held the name of the man he was waiting to see. David stepped forward and extended his hand. “Dr. Chou. My name is David Crandall. I was hoping to speak with you.”

  Dr. Chou smiled. His teeth were yellowed and David caught a whiff of stale cigarettes. The doctor was probably headed out of the building to sneak a smoke.

  “I figured. I received approximately seven messages from you this morning. I only have a few minutes.” Dr. Chou continued down the passageway. “Walk with me.” They made their way outside, and after the coroner lit up and sucked in a deep drag, he asked, “What can I do for you?”

  Not finding a way to avoid the second hand smoke the good doctor was omitting, David tried to make this conversation as short as possible. “My father-in-law passed away recently and you performed his autopsy.”

  “You’re referring to Larry Wright, correct? Your wife is Marissa Crandall. I released his body to her. I recognized the name.”

  “You have a good memory.”

  Dr. Chou chuckled. “We’re not always this swamped, and brain aneurysms are rare. Your father-in-law was hard to forget.”

  David rubbed his neck. Brittany’s theory about foul play wasn’t looking good. “Is there a way for someone to induce an aneurysm?”

  The doctor cocked his head and filled his lungs with nicotine. “You suspect murder.”

  “Not exactly,” David explained. “But I’d like to rule it out.”

  “Consider it ruled out. The lab results confirmed that Mr. Wright wasn’t taking his high blood pressure medicine as prescribed, but that was only one of the contributing factors. His arteries were in bad shape and his cholesterol level was off the charts. With his lifestyle, it was only a matter of time before something happened. It was just his bad luck he also had a weak area in the lining of his internal carotid.” Chou glared at his cigarette and dropped the butt to the ground. “Nasty habit. If I’m not careful, I could end up like your father-in-law.” His eyes filled with compassion. “If it’s any consolation, the aneurysm saved him from a long drawn out illness. His death was relatively quick. I doubt he felt pain after he lost consciousness.”

  An emotional pit formed in David’s gut and tears stung his eyes. He hadn’t cried since he first heard the news. He pushed his personal sorrow aside to be strong for his wife and kids. David was fine as long as they kept to the facts, but the moment the doctor expressed sympathy, his throat began to tighten. All he could do was nod in reply.

  The coroner squeezed his shoulder and headed back inside the building.

  David made it to the parking lot before he was unable to control the sobs. People turned at the sound, but he pressed on. The moment he closed the door to the rental, he let the grief engulf him.

  • • •

  Brittany scanned Lena’s cove for the spinners. “Are they really gone?”

  Grady brushed against her shoulder. “I haven’t seen them since Mr. Kaplinger’s departure. Every last one of them left with the Winter Solstice, just like Lena predicted.”

  Brittany wished she hadn’t been right. She missed Mr. Caprice, and the spinners. What she didn’t understand was how they could leave before their troubles were over. According to Lena, they brought luck and love. Her relationship with Grady was blossoming in multiple shades of hearts and flowers, but they were sucking fumes in the luck department. They hadn’t heard a word from Agent Tam, and other than Warden walking by, absolutely nothing useful showed up in the feed from the security cameras.

  Her shorts were just a little too skimpy and sand crept into a few unwanted places. She stood and walked down to the shoreline.

  Grady followed. “Wanna go for a swim? I’ve been getting in the water a little every day. I’m trying to move on with my life.”

  “You’re serious about swimming?” she asked. “Not just wading out to your knees?”

  “I’m a good swimmer. Don’t worry,” he teased, “you won’t have to save me again.”

  Brittany stepped into his waiting arms. “I’m proud of you.” She nibbled on his neck. His skin tasted salty. He wasn’t lying. Grady had already been in the water today. She wanted to see his progress for herself.

  Brittany broke away and skipped out into the waves, kicking up a copious amount of water in her wake.

  Grady planted his feet solidly in the sand. “You don’t think I can do it.”

  A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes. “You talk pretty big for a kid who almost drowned because of a panic attack a couple weeks ago.”

  “You really don’t believe me,” he called out.

  “Catch me if you can.” Brittany turned and dove into the sea. When she broke the surface, she looked to see if Grady was following her. He wasn’t on the beach, so she scanned the surrounding water. Grady was propelling himself with powerful strokes down a parallel line from the shore. The boy was way ahead of her. She was going to have to hustle if she wanted to catch him.

  Brittany felt excitement bubble up inside her. She was happy. Really happy. Barging into her sister’s life, home, and family was the best decision she ever made. She dallied a few moments too long and Grady pulled further away. Brittany would never be able to catch him, so she swam back to shore to admire his performance. Back on the beach, she sat and watched the boy she loved overcome his worse fear.

  Mr. Caprice’s voice spoke inside her head. Luck and love, Brittany. You and Grady get both.

  She looked around to make sure the old guy wasn’t somewhere nearby, but she only saw sand. Britt decided to trust the voice and not over analyze it. Kap was either with the dolphins, or not. Nothing she believed or imagined would change reality.

  Grady made his way back towards her. He was a strong and confident swimmer. His fluttering feet propelled a wake behind him. Stroke after stroke, his shoulders rolled side to side to enhance his pull.

  Suddenly, he stopped. His head jerked out of the water in search of something.

  A spinner exploded high into the air and flipped above his head.

  Grady reached out. His hand grazed the dolphin’s smooth underbelly. The spinner landed with a splash, and with a quick flip of his tail, disappeared into the depths.

  “Did you see that?” Grady shouted.

  Brittany grinned and gave him a cheery thumbs-up.

  Grady stayed in the water, hoping for more, but Brittany knew that was Mr. Caprice’s final goodbye. He wouldn’t return again, at least not this year.

  • • •

  David sat in the car and tried to get a grip on his emotions. When he felt more in control, he pulled out his phone and called his wife.

  It went straight to voicemail.

  He drew in a ragged breath and hoped his crying jag was over. “Hi, babe. I just spoke with the coroner. Your dad died of natural causes. Brittany was wrong. There was no foul play involved.”

  He disconnected and memories of Larry took hold. David leaned his head on the steering wheel. He wanted this case over. He wanted to see his kids, and he wanted to attend Larry’s memorial service back in San Diego. He needed to show his respect and tell the old guy goodbye.

  Three years ago, after Marissa’s father permanently moved to Hawaii, his wife took command of his law firm. She hated the job from day one, but with her family in crisis, Marissa felt it was necessary for her to step in. Now that the eye of the storm had passed, and the family was once again on firm footing, she wanted out.

  David was oversimplifying the reason she was giving up the powerful position. Marissa had a lot of reasons. Her father’s departure to Hawaii and Annie’s marriage changed the dynamic of the office. In the past, whenever she had a bad day or made an unpopular decision, she could always drop downstairs where Annie worked or pop in on her dad to blow off steam. Wit
hout her support system intact, work wasn’t fun anymore. The pressure she felt was released in harsh words directed at her children and David. Something had to give, and it wasn’t going to be her family.

  At least that was what she was telling everyone.

  David knew better. Marissa was afraid for him. She was petrified he would be hurt again. He couldn’t blame her. He came pretty close to losing his life a few months ago, and although he liked to play the tough guy, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t just as frightened as his wife.

  He and his partner, Woody Hooten, provided security for one of Josh Howard’s clients. This was not part of their job description as the in-house detectives of the law firm, but they agreed to step outside the strict boundaries Larry Wright set in place.

  The client’s husband had a nasty reputation for beating his wife. After seeing her bruises and medical records, the two felt they needed to help the petite woman who had unwittingly become a punching bag.

  They stashed her in the apartment Larry kept in San Diego.

  His partner was young, but not inexperienced. Woody had all the instincts for being a first rate private detective. He survived an unsupervised childhood on the streets of one of the worst sections of Los Angeles. Woody walked away relatively unscathed and had the sense to get a good education, courtesy of Uncle Sam and the United States Marine Corps.

  Woody worked for the firm as an independent contractor for about a year before David urged Marissa to put him on full time. The young detective was racking up so many hours, it was costing the company a bundle. It was much more cost effective to put him on the payroll permanently, with benefits and all, than to pay out the hourly rate he charged.

  Now, Woody was confined to a wheelchair and David had his own set of scars to deal with. The client, only twenty-five years old, with her whole life ahead of her, was dead. So was her violent husband, but the damage he did before David killed him was immense.

  The husband discovered their whereabouts and waited for an opportunity to present itself. He didn’t have to wait long. David was tired and didn’t notice he was being followed. He underestimated the husband’s ingenuity and inadvertently led the estranged spouse directly to his wife.

  Armed with a sawed off shotgun, the husband bashed David in the back of the head with the butt of his weapon. The first shot the man fired hit his wife in the head, killing her instantly.

  Woody dove for cover. He was quick and smart enough to grab hold of the edge of the table and take it over with him as he fell. He was shot in the back three times before he hit the ground, but the table did its job and took the brunt of the deadly spray. The fact that he survived was a miracle. He would probably never walk again, but he was alive and grateful for every minute.

  As Woody recovered from his wounds, his wife discovered she was pregnant with their first child. God kept Woody alive for a reason that day. He wasn’t going to blow it by throwing himself a pity party. Legs didn’t make the man. Woody was determined to make a life for his family, and whether he was able to walk was not something he factored into the equation.

  Good luck shined on David that day as well. He couldn’t remember a thing. Woody credited him with killing the bastard. Before David lost consciousness, and the memory of killing another human being, he cracked the husband’s skull in with an iron lamp he managed to get his hands on.

  “You have to thank that decorator chick,” Woody said when David finally opened his eyes after being in the hospital for several days. “I always hated that lamp, but it came in handy. I guess you never know.”

  That decorator chick Woody referred to was Annie Javier, Marissa’s best friend and the former design consultant who decorated the apartment.

  David and Annie didn’t always get along. Over the years, they managed to smooth out most of their differences, but it still rankled him to have to thank her for presenting him with a means of defense at a time when he needed it most.

  “I didn’t know a lamp could be that multifunctional,” Annie laughed, when they spoke shortly after he came to. “But I’m glad it was.”

  Annie dropped everything, leaving Terence, Erika, and Max to fend for themselves to be with Marissa and the kids after the incident.

  The incident, David couldn’t bring himself to describe what happened any other way. Using the word enabled him to keep the reality of how close he came to dying a safe distance away from his psyche. He was grateful for his loss of memory and didn’t want to do anything to restore it.

  Glaringly absent from his hospital room was Marissa’s father. He was livid that his protocols had not been followed.

  David heard through the grapevine that Josh Howard, the partner who set up the disastrous operation, was almost fired. He should have been, instead, he came out smelling like a rose and would soon take the reins from Marissa.

  David didn’t fare as well. Larry fired him while he was still in a coma. The relationship they shared made no difference. He messed up and Larry wasn’t going to give him the chance to do it again.

  Since that day, he and Larry were cordial to one another, but their easy relationship had been permanently damaged. David always thought there would be one more trip to Hawaii to make things right.

  He was grateful Marissa hadn’t been sucked into staying at the firm. They worked and sacrificed too much to backslide now. David loved living in Tahoe. The only thing missing was his wife. Marissa stayed in San Diego to oversee the transfer of power to that douchebag, Josh Howard. Now that the firm planned on buying out her interest, he could see a light at the end of the tunnel. The separation was especially hard on the kids. None of them imagined it would go on this long. He looked forward to the day when Marissa signed it all away and their family life could begin again.

  His phone buzzed on the passenger seat. He picked it up. It was Marissa. “Hi, babe.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  David ran shaky fingers through his hair. “Mostly. Why?”

  “You sound upset.”

  His wife was far too perceptive for his own good. “I got a little choked up talking about your dad with the coroner. I’m going to miss him.”

  Marissa didn’t answer right away.

  “Daddy moved on, babe,” she said, trying to reassure him. “Looking back, I doubt he was ever angry. I truly believe he fired you so our kids wouldn’t grow up fatherless. He wanted to keep you safe.”

  David scrubbed his face. He wanted to believe Marissa’s theory, but it didn’t explain the cold reception he received ever since.

  Rehashing the past and reducing himself to a blubbering pile of mush wasn’t on the day’s agenda, so he changed the subject. “Did you find anything on Warden and Callie or Grady’s parents?”

  “Grady’s parents look clean. You’re much better at this than I am, so you’ll probably want to look over my work later. Maybe you’ll catch something I didn’t.” She paused a moment, trying to shift gears. “Not much on the Johnsons either. Warden and Callie don’t appear to be related. I couldn’t find anything about Warden’s parents or where they live, but I think there might be an older brother. I found a newspaper article about them when they were little tikes. They came in first and second place in a local spelling bee. The older kid’s name is Oliver.”

  “That’s okay. Text me any addresses you have and I’ll pass the information on to Agent Tam.”

  “I’d do just about anything for you, but that isn’t one of them. No current address is available for either of them. Do you think they’re homeless?”

  David rested his head on the back of the car’s bucket seat. Warden and Callie were definitely on the island. Warden worked at Lena’s. He would double check with her, but it was usually difficult to hide living on the streets. “So the Johnsons are flying under the radar. That alone sends up red flags. I’ll call Agent Tam anyway. I can’t imagine Callie and Warden aren’t related somehow. The DEA has a few more resources than we do.”

  “I hope she can figure it out. I want
this wrapped up.”

  “We all do,” David agreed. “If Lena is around, could you ask her if there was any indication Warden was homeless.”

  “I’m way ahead of you, my dear. Warden’s clothes were always clean, and although he stunk after Brittany put him through his paces, he never started out that way. Lena does not believe he was living on the streets.”

  David scratched his head. This was getting curiouser and curiouser. “Did Warden ever mention his brother?”

  “No. The only thing he told Lena was that he lived nearby, with his parents.”

  He looked up at the rental’s roof and tried to decide their next move. They were running out of options. “Try digging deeper into the family. There are only so many ways you can have a home without leaving a paper trail. Odds are they are staying with a friend or relative.”

  “On it, boss.”

  David chuckled. “Only when it suits you.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” With that, Marissa made a few kissy noises and disconnected.

  20

  “Thanks for the insight, but we already have Warden and Callie Johnson in custody,” Agent Tam arrogantly informed David. “We aren’t totally inept. We know how to work a case.”

  The lady DEA agent didn’t sound pleased to hear all his valuable information. David wavered between apologizing for wasting her time or sending home a zinger. He opted for the zinger. “What about Warden’s brother? Do you have him in custody, too?”

  David could almost feel Agent Tam’s eyes narrowing. “What brother?”

  “Marissa found him. Hang on a second. She texted me his name.” David fumbled around with his phone, found Marissa’s text, and toggled back to Agent Tam. “His name is Oliver.”

  “We have no information on anyone with that name. You might as well give me everything you have. We would have discovered it, eventually, but I want you and your family out of my hair, once and for all.”

  Her voice was harsh and firm, but David did not give her the satisfaction of being cowed. “My sentiments exactly. Unfortunately, that’s all I have.” A grin smirked at the corner of his lips and David pushed harder. “Can I expect you to be just as forthcoming with the information you discover?”