Mali tensed. Arin wasn’t just away for the morning. Asking for the team to help until her sister returned was too much of an imposition. But where else would she go and what should she be doing while she waited?
Raul stepped up behind her then and gave her a light nudge with a hand at the small of her back. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll be nearby if you need anything.”
There were undercurrents, but Mali was too sun-tired to really understand what was going on. The idea of Raul and Taz walking away caused a sharp hitch in her breath, and her vision darkened. “No. Don’t go. Don’t leave me.”
The room contracted and tilted sideways in her field of view. Her chest constricted.
A cold nose touched her thigh, and Taz slipped his head under her hand. The big dog pressed against her leg. Raul murmured gently, “We won’t leave you.”
Mali swallowed hard. She wasn’t prone to panic attacks in recent years but she’d had them enough as a kid to recognize what was happening. She opened her eyes wide and looked around the room, filling her vision with the homey items in the simply decorated place. This was a place to rest. No black suits. No guns. The sounds were of dogs panting and someone cooking in the kitchen. There were no safety whistles firing off a shrill warning pattern for her to run.
“I guess it might be better for all of us to go see what’s for dinner.” Todd’s words were low as blood rushed through her ears at a dull roar. He gestured for them to head toward the kitchen.
Mali jerked her chin up and down in an affirmative, but her feet remained frozen in place until Raul stepped to her side and offered her his arm with a rakish grin. The ridiculousness of his expression startled a smile out of her. Her jangling nerves settled and gave her a chance to suck in some air. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and let him lead her to the kitchen. There was the large table off to one side, big enough to seat six or even eight people if they got friendly and still be out of the way of anyone cooking. There was a lot of counter space, too, and a big range top over a full-size oven.
Kalea glanced up as they entered, her dark eyes landing on Todd first. She gifted her husband with a warm smile before focusing on Mali. Mali tightened her grip on Raul’s arm. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Kalea or anything. More the opposite. She was sunburned and off balance. Years of traditional Thai upbringing welled up with expectations of being a good, proper, polite guest. Mali wanted to try; but at the same time, tears of exhaustion welled up in her eyes.
She was a mess.
Kalea murmured something lyrical and gentle. “Aloha. Welcome back. I’ve some nice iced tea and fresh cut pineapple to cool you down. Why don’t you sit?”
Mali wavered. “Fruit sounds very nice. Thank you. Um, mahalo.”
Kalea came to her and folded her into a huge, gentle embrace. “No worries here. You’ve had a hard day. Anyone can see that. You just be you. We’ll get a little bit of food into you and then a nice nap, yeah? Your sister will be back tomorrow, and that will be soon enough. Raul can tell my Todd what is needed now.”
There was more, though. Mali wasn’t sure how much she should tell all of them but they didn’t know everything yet. A part of her dreaded voicing the rest out loud because she couldn’t think straight, couldn’t explain why she’d made the decisions she’d made.
And she was horribly afraid her choices might have caused all this.
But it was the last fear that forced words to tumble from her mouth. “We need to call the police. They need to look for my colleagues, my friends. I need to tell them what I saw and remember every detail. I had my rest. I can’t wait any longer.”
Todd stepped forward. “Sit first. Breathe.”
She was sobbing. She didn’t know when she’d started, but here she was. As a chair was pulled up for her, she sat and gritted her teeth. Damn it. She didn’t want to be crying. She wanted to be collected and able to express herself clearly. She wanted to get back the logical part of her brain. Only it was burned away from overexposure to sun and fear. It hadn’t been this bad at all when she’d been cooling down at Raul’s hotel room. But during the car ride over here, she’d been thinking over and over about what she needed to tell her sister and what she needed to remember for the police. She figured they’d have questions, and she was trying to recall the university training for these situations when researchers went abroad. But then she wasn’t abroad. She was still in the United States. Yet looking at the inside of the kitchen and the plate of assorted fresh cut fruit Kalea placed in front of her, this felt more like her childhood visits to Thailand.
Her thoughts were disjointed and tumbled together. She wasn’t making any sense.
“It’s okay.” Raul was kneeling next to her. “We’re listening to it all and I know enough to connect the pieces we need to figure out what to do next. It’s okay.”
She’d been talking the entire time, she realized. Her fingers closed convulsively over Raul’s. He’d been holding her hand. “There’s no reason to be this hysterical.”
“Ah.” Kalea made a comforting noise. “You’ve been in the sun too long. No one thinks straight after that much exposure. Let the boys do what they do with the information we already have. You rest.”
Todd nodded. He was sitting at the table now and pushed a tall glass of tea in her direction. “Sip slow. Take your time. Kalea’s ginger peach tea will settle your stomach while you rehydrate.”
Mali clutched the cool glass. Her mother used to make her ginger tea to soothe her sore throat and settle her stomach. Better than water, her sister used to say, because drinking too much water when you were overheated could upset a person’s stomach more.
There were so many childhood memories rushing up to crowd her thoughts today. Too many.
“I’ve got a friend at the local police department,” Todd was continuing. His mention of police added a new drop of reality to the ripple effect going on inside her. “Instead of taking you down there, why don’t I invite him here for dinner so we can keep this an informal chat? It’ll be easier on you than formal questioning down at the station.”
Mali sipped. “Is that allowed?”
Todd nodded kindly. “If it’ll help you feel more comfortable and communicate easier, then definitely. What’s important is that you give us as much information as possible. We can go with what works. Far as Raul tells me, your teammates could also be making their way back to the hotel overnight. They might be fine. You weren’t directly assaulted. Your team might not have been, either, if they all managed to stay out of harm’s way as well as you did. So to be honest, there’s technically no incident to report. We’ll just make sure he has a heads-up in case things did go south.”
True. She could be making a big deal out of nothing. Scattering the way they did was intended to have this exact outcome. It was a way to avoid harm and also ensure they were free to carry on with their research without any fuss from local law enforcement.
She laughed unsteadily and took a sip of the tea. It was cool with a light flavor, the peach and ginger balanced but not too sweet. Her stomach warmed a bit as the ginger hit. There was obviously real ginger in there, not just a hint for flavor. “I’m sorry to be so upset over nothing.”
“Hey.” Raul waited until she met his gaze. There was his kindness again, patience. He’d let her go at her own pace all day today, and she appreciated it. “This isn’t nothing, and there isn’t anything wrong with your sense of urgency. Better to know what we can do now than to wait without worrying. If the need arises, we’ll be ready to react because you prepared us. Being upset, being afraid is absolutely real. Bottling it up will only hurt you.”
She didn’t know what to say. She was frustrated with herself but instead of trying to talk more, she sipped the tea. Maybe having her big sister nearby, calling Arin for help, had been a knee-jerk reaction. In Mali’s confused state, she was floundering and reverting back to the days when she’d relied on her big sister to make things right. She didn’t like admitting that
she was second-guessing herself despite Raul’s reassurance, but it was exactly what she was doing.
The exercise of logically working through her emotional state helped settle her and made it easier for her to decide on what she could do for now. “Let’s talk to your police friend, please. Then we’ll see if my colleagues are back safe tomorrow.”
Raul sat back on his heels and smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Five
Raul climbed up the stairs from the basement level, tired and maybe a little punchy. He had one nagging concern eating away at him. There were any number of things he could be doing next, but Mali’s situation kept occupying the forefront of his mind.
Miller was still in the kitchen, his chair pushed back so he was easily visible as Raul hit the landing. Dan and Ann lay on the kitchen floor by his feet. Like their master, they were showing their age but the two Redbone Coonhounds were still lean and muscular. Raul hadn’t expected the breed, even if he recognized them, but then again, this private outfit was unique and their primary object was search. Hounds were excellent scent dogs.
The older man lifted his chin as their gazes met. “You made good time cleaning out those kennels.”
It was no surprise the kennel master had waited up to ensure the job was done. The care and well-being of the dogs was Miller’s utmost priority, and in a military environment he would outrank all of the handlers but Zu. Raul figured Miller would be going down to check on the quality of the work, too. Raul was new, and any good kennel master would see to it that the dogs received the best care possible. Most likely, the man would provide a few notes but Raul had been thorough. There shouldn’t be any complaints.
The kitchen light was the only one on, but it was more than enough to see by so Raul headed into the kitchen with Taz at his side. “Nice setup you have down there. I like the direct access to the yard out back. Appreciate the big sink to wash up, too.”
Miller extended his prosthetic under the table, using it to push out a chair at the kitchen table, an invitation to sit. “This morning was all hustle, getting Zu and Arin out to provide supplementary search support to the police on one of the other islands. Otherwise, I’d have been around to brief you on our general hours of operation and give you more of a tour around the house.”
Miller pronounced both names with the ease of frequent use. Zu was uttered as “zoo” and Arin was pronounced “ah-rin” with a softer ah and r sound rather than the way most U.S. personnel tended to try to turn the name into “Erin.”
It was a sign the team had gotten the chance to get to know each other in the few weeks before Raul had managed to join them. Arin, he’d known from prior service. And hell, she was probably his best friend in the English-speaking world. But he wanted to be sure he got along with the rest of their team, too. A soldier’s existence could be uncomfortable at best or far worse than miserable when he didn’t fit in with his team. His previous time on active duty had been closer to the latter than the former. Here, with this team, he’d wanted to start off on a positive note and he’d failed, for a good reason but that might not matter.
“There’s been a lot going on today.” Raul took a seat, giving himself a mental shake.
Dinner seemed like a long time ago. Miller’s police friend, Officer Kokua, had joined them and Mali had told her story. She’d been calmer with a solid dinner in her, but reliving it had obviously taken her to the end of her energy reserve. When Kalea had suggested she rest the night in Arin’s bed, Mali had immediately agreed. He’d gone down to kennel duty and even making good time, it’d been a couple of hours.
“Could say that.” Miller paused, then grunted. “My wife, Kalea, left you some musubi in case you needed a late-night snack.” He tilted his head forward to indicate a plate in the middle of the table.
“Appreciated.” Raul awkwardly thought about how to bring up his concern about Mali while he had Miller here. As he considered ways to broach the topic, he lifted a snack sealed in plastic wrap from the plate. Miller did the same and unwrapped his without hesitation.
It looked to be a block of tender rice topped with a portion of omelet and a slice of…Spam, all wrapped together with a thin band of seaweed.
“Can’t remember the last time I had Spam,” Raul commented, then took a bite. Flavor burst across his tongue in a savory combination of salty and the barest hint of sweet. The rice was soft with every grain still holding its own shape. It was so much better than the mushy, overcooked stuff he’d had out of his eight-dollar rice cooker back on the mainland. “S’good.”
A grin spread across Miller’s face as he tossed the other half of his into his mouth. “You can find these in any convenience store on the island. Some are just the Spam and the rice. Others are made with different kinds of soy marinade.”
“Betting the convenience store musubi aren’t as good as homemade.” Raul tripped over the unfamiliar name of the snack but he figured he’d get used to it quick.
“You think?” Miller raised an eyebrow.
Raul shrugged. “Nothing store bought ever is. These are real good. Please pass on my thanks.”
Yeah, complimenting a cook’s food was brownnosing some, but he was sincere. He bit in a second time and savored the flavors. Taking more time to taste, he thought he got a hint of sesame oil on the Spam along with the stronger presence of soy sauce. Sugar must’ve been added to make the flavors pop. The omelet was fluffy and a contrast from the rice and the firmer Spam.
Miller reached for another. “Well, you’re welcome to these any time they’re here. If my wife says she’ll feed you, you are welcome in this house.”
A simple concept, being welcome. One Raul had never realized was so very important until he hadn’t been in the past. He was hungry for it here. To have it offered even after today’s SNAFU had him swallowing past a hard lump in his throat. He covered the awkward moment by taking another bite and chewing carefully.
“Thanks.” Raul studiously avoided glancing over at Taz. His partner and the coonhounds were all lying on the cool kitchen floor watching them eat but Raul didn’t feed his partners at the table. Besides, marinated Spam would probably give Taz all sorts of gastrointestinal issues later. Raul preferred to maintain as healthy a diet as possible for a canine under his care.
That line of thought reminded him of the pineapple earlier in the day, and Mali.
“Sir—”
“Miller or Todd will do.” Miller waved his hand. “We’re not as formal in this team. Zu is the founder and our lead. If he needs formality, it’s usually in front of clients. When we’re working among ourselves, we can keep it familiar.”
Raul nodded. “The situation with Mali seems handled for the time being, but the more I consider what happened, the more concerned I am about what comes next.”
Miller grunted. “You mean if her colleagues don’t show up at their designated meeting place in the morning?”
Raul shook his head. “Even if they do, whoever made them scatter is still out there. I’ve only met Mali Siri today, but she doesn’t come across to me as someone who walked all that way from downtown to the Waikiki beach area because she imagined men in suits were following her.”
“The suits are weird,” Miller agreed. “It’s not local behavior, not even among the more affluent criminal elements here on the island. It’s either incredibly stupid or making a statement to send your men out dressed like that in the middle of the day.”
“If it’s the latter, they’re not going to be satisfied with scattering a few scientists.” Raul wished it would’ve been enough. He didn’t think Mali had thought beyond the need to know her colleagues were safe. “Your police friend is going to do some preliminary investigation, but is there any additional intel we can gather?”
Miller’s bushy eyebrows came together as he considered and then nodded. “Might not turn up any hits before dawn, but we can get together the descriptions and send them on to a contact here on the island, a sort of intelligence specialist.”
Even if it meant a sleepless night, Raul would give up the rest to ensure the fear in Mali’s eyes could fade away. “Anything we can get on these men would be good. Once we locate Mali’s colleagues, even if they’re fine, they won’t be able to continue their research.”
If they tried, whoever had sent those men in the first place would be forced to escalate. The next time, someone could be hurt or worse.
“Best case, the scientists are going to have to leave off their current research.” Raul kept his voice low, in case Mali was a light sleeper. He had no idea how thin the walls were. “Worst case, they’re all going to need security detail until they can leave the island and go back to the mainland.”
That was the worry eating away at Raul. If Mali’s pursuers were still looking for her, she was in danger.
Chapter Six
Mali lay staring at the ceiling in her sister’s room, torn between wanting to sleep more and being driven to find out if the rest of her research team was okay.
Guilt immediately crashed over her again, and she sat up. Of course, she should be headed back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. Hopefully they were all safe, and they’d be worried about her if she didn’t check in soon. They had to be there, all of them.
She rubbed the heels of her palms over her eyes, still blurry with fatigue. Her limbs were all heavy and sore. Yesterday had been a marathon of adrenaline spikes and tension. After the evening spent speaking to Todd’s police friend, she’d been worn out. Talking through the events of the day had wrung out the last bit of energy she had.
Going through it all again had calmed her, though. She’d been borrowing guilt, worrying about her line of research and related activities. Those were things that could wait, though. They hadn’t caused yesterday, and she needed to check in with her PI before getting back to her research.
Total Bravery (True Heroes Book 4) Page 4