by Neal, Toby
She’d never looked better.
She shook her hair out of its wadded ponytail, ran her wetted fingers through so her curls reared up like a lion’s mane, and decided there was nothing to do but knock his proverbial socks off.
She strode out of the bathroom like a model working the ramp. Alika was already in the pool, and she got the pleasure of seeing his mouth drop open before she executed a smooth dive in and came up next to him, gasping.
“The water feels great.”
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes alight with appreciation. She pretended not to notice and went into a tidy overhand crawl, doing ten laps before she took a break at the shallow end.
He was still lapping the pool with a smooth, powerful backhand. The cobalt tile made the water look clear as sapphire, and with the sunset gilding the gracious plantings, catching the splashing water shooting off his arms, it was a scene out of a fantasy.
He pulled up beside her, blowing water off his lips, drawing her eyes to their well-cut form.
“I could get used to this,” Lei said.
“I hope you will.” His dark eyes were serious as he moved in on her. She moved away, keeping several feet between them.
“Ha-ha. I bet you say that to all your pickups.”
“I told you. You got me wrong. But I can see I’m just gonna have to put in the time and prove it to you.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
“Yes, I do. You think I’m this big playboy. I’m a little bit of a player, yeah. But mostly I work. I don’t have time for any ‘relationships.’ I haven’t wanted to get to know someone in . . . well, a while. You interest me. On all levels.” He was turned away from her, addressing his remarks out into the shimmering air in front of them, so Lei was able to tolerate the intimacy of what he was saying.
She floated into the warm water surrounding him, put her lips near his ear. “I like you too.”
Then she moved away, breaking into another set of laps. He seemed to chase her, and back and forth they went.
Purple darkness spread from above, stars filling the sky like night-blooming jasmine. The pool went dark as a well. Lei got out, wrapped herself in a towel from the cabana. Alika stayed in the pool, his arms draped along the tiled edge, his head thrown back, eyes closed.
“Wanna show me the rest of your burglary?”
“Sure I can’t show you my etchings upstairs?” Teasing in his voice.
“Not tonight, but I’m sure they’re . . . unforgettable. I really do have to get going.”
He sighed with exaggerated disappointment, getting her to smile, and hoisted himself lightly out of the pool, belting on one of the terry cloth robes. He handed her another and they padded through the Mexican tiled kitchen to the garage.
He flicked on powerful overhead lights. The garage was in disarray. He pointed out buckets partly full of paint left behind while full ones were gone, empty pallets where supplies would have been, and the area where a truckbox of expensive construction tools had been. Only a rolled carpet remained.
Lei photographed the scene. “Your insurance should cover this.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the point. I don’t like the idea that someone’s got access to my place. I’ve changed the locks and alarm codes, but too late already.”
“I thought this was a model home.”
“It is. But I’m going to live in it—might as well. I always pick one of the houses and live in it while it’s on the market. Actually helps it sell.”
“Nice to be able to live like this.”
“It’s a gamble.” He shrugged. “With the economy what it is, I could be in this one awhile.”
Lei couldn’t muster any sympathy so didn’t try, finishing with the photos.
“Okay. I’ll open a new report for you tomorrow, and if you need copies for the insurance company I’ll send them to your e-mail.”
“Think this could have anything to do with Lisa and her problems?”
“I know she was your friend, but we haven’t been able to find her and we want to question her anyway. I’d say she’s definitely a possibility as one of the burglars. She could have taken a key from you, had it copied. Maybe she thinks you can afford it.”
He cleared his throat. “She had a key. I’d told her she could use the pool.”
“Did you change the locks?”
“Yeah. Yesterday.”
“So when exactly did you notice the stuff was missing?” She picked up the clipboard again, noted Lisa Nakamoto as a possibility.
“Two days ago. Can’t believe she’d do that to me.” He shook his head, and gave the e-mail info to her for the insurance claim. They went back into the kitchen, where Lei picked up her dirty clothes, wrinkling her nose.
“Ugh. I don’t want to get back into these. Can I borrow the robe?”
“Only if you bring it back and use it again,” Alika said. “In fact, I’ve got something coming up I think you’d enjoy.”
“What kind of something?”
“An event. I need a date. Interested?”
“What kind of event?” Lei kept her eyes on the incident report, trying not to notice her heart had sped up.
“An event. You know, music, food, you wearing something tight and silky. Maybe some heels . . .”
“Wait a minute. Really? You’re asking me out.”
“My God, woman, you aren’t making it easy.” Alika’s deeply injured tone made her smile. He went on. “It’s a ball to benefit the National Bird Refuge at Kilauea. They have a lot of outreach programs to schools and so on that rely on donations. It’s at the Princeville Hotel.”
Lei had driven by the hotel’s magnificent edifice and speculated on the view it must have, perched on the cliff overlooking the entire Hanalei Bay. She did want to see that. And the Bird Refuge sounded like a good cause. The feeling of attraction-apprehension he elicited rose up in her again.
“When is it?”
“Tomorrow night, which as you know is Friday night.”
“That’s pretty soon,” she hedged.
“I figure, strike while the iron is hot. And the iron is hot.”
A blush prickled up her neck. She decided to shut this down.
“I don’t know why you’re bothering with me, Alika. I can tell I’m not your type—heels? Come on. And you’re definitely not my type.”
“I like you, hard as it is for you to believe. Plus I want to see what you look like in a dress.”
“Do I get to see what you look like in a dress?”
“It’s not entirely out of the question, if you’re into that.”
Lei couldn’t help laughing.“Incorrigible!” she exclaimed.
“Ah. Everyone eventually discovers my middle name. We could have some fun. You aren’t entirely opposed to fun, are you?”
“Not entirely.”
“Okay then. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“No. I’ll drive myself and meet you.”
Long pause.
“Don’t you trust me? I won’t drink more than a glass or two of champagne. I promise.”
“No. I’ll drive myself, or no deal.”
He threw up his hands in mock surrender, teeth flashing in the dim light.
“I’ll meet you then, at the portico at seven p.m. I’ll be the man looking insecure, with a red rose in his teeth.”
“Okay. But you gotta behave. I get snappy when I’m embarrassed.”
“Imagine that.”
When she pulled the truck out, he was still standing in the driveway, his hands in the pockets of the robe, watching her go.
Chapter 8
Lei was putting away the natural food groceries from the health food store, still in the cotton robe and bikini, when Keiki burst into Intruder Alert barking.
No one dropped in on her out here. She slipped the Glock out of the holster hung over the back of the kitchen chair and slid it into the roomy pocket of the robe, tightened the belt, and went to the front door. A tall curly-haired ma
n, backlit by the headlights of a taxicab, stood near the chain-link gate.
Keiki let him know Lei was well guarded.
“Lei?”
“Yes?” Her hand curled around the reassuring pebbled grip of the Glock in her pocket. That cool weight had come to feel like an extension of her hand.
“Lei, it’s me, Wayne. Your dad.”
She switched on the porch light.
Her father stood behind the crisscrossed wire in creased dark jeans and a plain white T-shirt with a small duffel in his hand—post-prison issue. Light gleamed off his silver-shot hair and craggy features. She couldn’t see into the shadowed hollows of his eyes.
Her thoughts flew away in shock. She hadn’t seen him in months, since she’d visited him at Halawa Prison, a brief reconciliation never consolidated beyond a few phone calls and letters.
“Hey, Dad. What’re you doing here?” She was aware of the rattling idle of the taxicab’s engine, the harsh glare of its lights, the total awkwardness of the situation. She came down the steps to the gate.
“I got out,” he said simply. “I heard you moved, so I came here.”
“Aren’t you supposed to stay on the island your parole officer assigns you? Isn’t there a halfway house you’re supposed to go to?”
“Yeah.” A flush of embarrassment marked red flags on his high cheekbones. “But there’s no room for me there yet. A condition of my probation is that I’m on the same island as my daughter, the police detective. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Lei stared at him hard. “But you should have told me, called me, something. You can’t just show up here, at my home, and expect me to—I don’t know what.”
“I’m sorry. I can come another time.”
“No.” She gestured impatiently to the cab, waving it off. “Come in. We’ll figure something out.”
Her heart thudded, nervous energy making her hands sweat. That visit last year had been the first and only time she’d seen him in twenty years, and she felt like she hardly knew him. Lei turned and gestured to Keiki. “Sit.”
Wayne extended his hand, fingers down, for the dog to sniff, and Lei patted the big square head. “This is my girl, Keiki. I told you about her.”
“She’s beautiful.”
They both looked down; Lei took some relaxation breaths as they patted the dog. Keiki dropped to the ground for a tummy rub, milking the attention.
Lei cleared her throat.
“I’m just getting some dinner on. It’s not much, but you can join me. Do you have somewhere to spend the night?”
“I got nowhere to go. I got off the plane and just came. I wanted to see you.”
“All right.” Lei sucked in another breath, blew it out. “You can stay at my place tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can stay at a motel. But I’d like to join you for dinner.”
“Okay. We’ll start with that.”
She led the way up the weathered wood steps onto the porch, through the front door into the modest little cottage. He set his bag down inside, looking around the spare living room with its sofa, coffee table, and ancient television.
“It’s so good to see you.” For the first time, he smiled, a grin that must have been devastating when he was younger and still dazzled.
“It’s good to see you too.” Lei was surprised to find it true. “Come and join me for a really unimpressive dinner.”
After they cleared the remains of two Lean Cuisines into the trash, Lei gestured to the back door. “I like to sit out here and look at the river at night. Come check it out.”
They sat side by side on the top step of the back porch. Patchy moonlight gilded the smooth-skinned river as it wended between black jungled banks. Lei cleared her throat.
“I’d like you to stay. It’s a chance for us to catch up a bit.”
“You sure? I know I should have called . . . I just couldn’t find the words.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. You have anyone you have to check in with?”
“My reintegration specialist—a fancy name for a parole officer. I’m supposed to let him know I’m with you. He’s working on getting me into a halfway house—pardon me, a restoration center. I’m supposed to get ready for a job.” He gave a short bark of laughter.
“Well, why don’t you make the call while I’m in the shower? I’ve got to get out of this suit.”
“Sounds good.” His voice was reluctant. Lei refused to feel sorry for him—he’d just landed on her doorstep after being out of her life for twenty years.
Wayne had gone to prison for dealing when she was five, leaving her with a drug-addicted mother who eventually overdosed when she was nine. That had left her in the care of his sister, Rosario, to be raised in California. Aunty Rosario had kept her father’s letters from Lei until last year, after which Lei decided to visit her father in prison.
She got up, fetched her cell phone, and handed it to him.
“I don’t have a land line,” she said. “I’ll be out in fifteen minutes or so.”
A short time later she came out of the bathroom, squeezing her hair with a towel, a loose tee over sweatpants enfolding her in cozy comfort. Her father came in from the porch with the phone.
“Done. The fancy name parole officer thinks it’ll take a few days, though. Can I stay with you until then?”
“What’s his name? I’ll call and verify.”
“Okay.” He handed her the phone as he went past her into the living room. She looked at the Numbers Dialed and called the most recent one.
“Hello, Corrections Aftercare Solutions. This is Aaron Spellman.”
“Corrections Aftercare Solutions, that’s a new one,” Lei said. “Is this the parole officer for Wayne Texeira?”
“It sure is. Is this the daughter?”
“Detective Leilani Texeira. Badge number 2367.”
“Thanks for getting back to me, Detective. I told your father you would have to call in.”
“I know. What’s the situation on the halfway house?”
“Kauai Restoration Center is what we call it. Well, it’s full right now. I’m trying to get a space for him in the dorm across the street; it’s cheap but clean, and he can go to the meetings with the social worker and job skills classes easily, on foot.”
“How soon?”
“Not sure, but I’m working on it as fast as I can. Can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip, as we say here on the Mainland.” He had a humorless chuckle that abraded her nerves.
“What are the alternatives?”
“Well, I need for you to be responsible for him until he gets into the program. Can you do that?”
Lei blew out a breath. She’d wanted to get to know her father a little more; now it looked like it was going to be a crash course in togetherness.
And if so, there was something she had to tell her father. Finding a way to do it was going to be the tricky part.
“Okay. Call me back at this number as soon as you have something.”
She went back out on the porch, and a few minutes later Wayne rejoined her.
“Appreciate you having me. I wish things were different, that I was doing something for you.”
“It is what it is.” That phrase had carried her a long way.
“Your mother and I had some happy times when you were little,” Wayne said. A candle Lei had set in an empty mayonnaise jar gleamed on his silver-streaked curls. “She loved to dance, that girl. You know, your grandparents on Oahu—strict Japanese. They weren’t happy when she fell in love with a paniolo. A cowboy wasn’t what they had in mind for their girl.”
Lei had never heard much of anything about her grandparents, the Matsumotos, and Rosario and Wayne’s parents had died before she was born. She turned toward him, eager to hear more.
“We met at a rodeo. I was doing calf roping. She was with friends, sitting in the bleachers. She was wearing a white dress, probably not the best choice for a rodeo, and she had on a red straw cowboy
hat.” He sighed. Lei almost held her breath, seeing her petite young mother through his eyes. “I brought her a shave ice, and it spilled on that dress. She gave me her number and the rest is history.”
“So my grandparents. They didn’t approve?”
“Turns out they were right.” He sighed again. “They wanted her to date a Japanese boy. I was too Portagee, too Hawaiian.” The racial and cultural lines of the islands often were hard to understand for outsiders, but like elsewhere, people tended to stay in their groups.
“So why . . . didn’t they ever look for me?”
“I don’t know. We can look them up if you want.”
“No. If they didn’t care enough to find me after Mom died, I don’t want to know them either.” Her words came out more forcefully than she meant them to.
The rain pattered gently on the roof, and patchy moonlight glimmered on the swollen chocolate river as the clouds thinned and parted in a restless wind, revealing a mercury drop of moon.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s okay. I see a lot of how people treat their families in my job and it isn’t pretty most of the time. I’m used to it now. So where did you get married?”
“We eloped. We were only eighteen. Got married at the county courthouse. Maylene had on that same white dress, and carried an armful of wild orchids I’d picked for her.”
He went on with a few more stories from when Lei was little, before he was arrested and her mother went down into the darkness of her addiction. They’d been a happy family once. In the flickering light of candles, Lei was almost able to forget all that came after he was taken away.
Chapter 9
Friday, October 22
The smell of coffee woke Lei. She propped herself up, pushing curls out of her face as she peered at the clock on the nightstand—and groaned when she saw the time. No time for a jog this morning. She flung her covers back and belted on her old kimono. The sight of that robe always reminded her of Stevens—of all the times he’d taken it off her, or taken her with it on . . . She hated to be reminded, but she couldn’t bear to part with it—a familiar tug-of-war.