Primitive Flame

by Lakes, Lynde

  A sickening picture flashed in Cort’s mind. Kimo, tall and muscular pitted against Brandy, a mere slip of a girl. And pregnant to boot. Bile rose in Cort’s throat. Dammit. Men should never hit women!

  Cort had never seen any evidence that Kimo would do something like this. The kid had used the same creative cussing some of the other men spouted when things got hot, but he’d never punched anyone. Cort had heard from the guys that Kimo was raised in a home where a daily beating was the norm, but that was no excuse.

  “I’ll talk to him.” Cort’s stomach knotted. He could make things worse. Kimo could get mad at Brandy for telling on him and hurt her even more. God, give me the wisdom to handle this without stirring up more trouble for the girl.

  ****

  Lani’s clash with Cort made her blood boil. She felt like pacing and throwing things, but her reeling head kept her rooted to the couch. She touched the lava stone and was instantly calmed as though she were in the arms of a loved one. What if the gift mailed from her birthplace was from a relative who could tell her what she needed to know? She craved the richness, substance and connection that knowing about her family would provide. Her face grew warm, remembering Cort’s question about her birth parents. It was ludicrous not to know the details of her life. All she knew was that Papa died just before the adoption and Mama shortly after. She’d asked Grandfather Keo endless questions, trying to fill a void the painful uprooting in her childhood had caused. Grandfather hadn’t helped so far, always changing the subject or finding a pressing job that couldn’t wait. If he thought she’d give up, he was wrong.

  Lani went outside for air, then reentered the house to make some iced tea. She’d stepped only as far as the couch when a new wave of dizziness washed over her. She sank to the plump cushions and waited for the lightheadedness to pass. Blast it. She needed her strength to knock down the barriers the imposing construction boss would build to defeat her.

  She touched her throbbing temples. What had caused her to faint at the oceanfront site? Blood had drained from her head—then everything went black. It was a jumbled puzzle: her blackout, fantasy dreams, horrific nightmares, the off-course flight, and her obsession with what she now believed was a burial ground. Her life had been twisted and hurled into a shadowy world where nightmares and reality collided, connecting past and present—with Cort Wayne a major player.

  He’d dominated her dreams, nightmares, and now she’d brought him into her waking hours. Because he’d appeared repeatedly in her dreams, she felt she knew him well, both the man and his soul. It was ridiculous, of course. She didn’t know him at all. She couldn’t let her strong attraction to him and her concern for his well-being get in the way.

  If only her heart didn’t beat faster when he was close by. Her face warmed from the memory of his protective grasp as he helped her to the car. That protective side of him had been missing in the dreams. Amazingly, this flesh and blood man actually had dimensions other than magnetism and raw power.

  Persuading him to shut down his project would be a challenge. When she made her move, he’d make her life miserable. But two could play that game.

  How quickly they’d gotten under one another’s skin. There’d been a flicker of something in his eyes when he’d boasted that he could keep her away. Perhaps uncertainty? A triumphant quiver shot through her and strengthened her resolve to close down the construction. More like destruction, she thought, thinking of his ground eating machines, coming closer and closer to the sacred bones.

  A flash of alarm gripped Lani. She stroked her lava stone necklace and forced away the anxiety. Calmer, she turned and faced the back of the couch. Her eyes burned and her eyelids felt like lead. Her mind churned, then drifted for a while.

  Dreaming, she raced barefoot through the grass. The night was black, the moon visible only through a translucent silvery cloud. Out of nowhere, a blazing fireball streaked in front of her, ricocheting as if hitting invisible walls. Its fury filled her world, and the fiery orb zoomed by so close its heat scorched her flesh.

  In the center of the frenzy, Cort Wayne’s construction trailer blazed with orange flames. Instinct told her he was inside. She ran, yanked open the door and charged into the inferno. Flames licked at the ceiling. With a cupped hand, she covered her mouth and nose against billowing smoke. Coughing and teary-eyed, she made her way through the haze.

  Cort, naked and glistening with sweat, thrashed about on a day bed, trying to free himself of the ropes of maile vines that bound him like iron manacles. Panic contorted his rugged features.

  “Get out!” he shouted. “Save yourself.”

  “Not without you,” she cried, feeling that her heart beat only to save him.

  Flames blocked her way. In the firelight, he struggled like a trapped animal. Fury whipped spun-gold strands of hair about his face and neck. Any second the ceiling would thunder down on them. One of his powerful hands broke free from the vines. She reached for it…

  Lani heard engine noises outside her dream, but she shoved them from her consciousness. She had to stay and help Cort escape the fiery world!

  The blazing ceiling thundered down. Sparks and wood splinters exploded about her like shooting stars…

  She woke from the dream trembling. With the back of her hand, she wiped away the warm tears trailing down her cheeks. Stay strong, she told herself. She lay still. Wispy questions had floated around the edges of her consciousness since she’d opened her eyes and found her dream man was a living, breathing person. Was he in danger like the old woman in her dreams had said, or was he merely an obstacle to overcome?

  She was still fighting her maelstrom of confused emotions when Grandfather Keo lumbered into the house, followed by a man half his size.

  Amusement left Grandfather’s eyes when he saw her. “Lani, honey, you look pale. Are you okay?”

  She forced a smile and shrugged. “Not used to the humidity, I guess.” She’d wait until they were alone to tell him more.

  Grandfather flicked a switch to start the overhead fan and opened several of the louvered windows. “I don’t believe you’ve met Lako Kishimoto.”

  Colliding with Lako’s gaze, she forced another smile. “No, but I certainly recognize the name. Grandfather talks about you all the time.”

  “Mostly good things, yeah?” Lako bowed deeply, exuding the charm of his Japanese-Hawaiian heritage. His laughing Buddha eyes and cheeks made Lani like him at once.

  “Totally.” She stood unsteadily and extended her hand to him.

  He surprised her by kissing her knuckles. “You did us a favor by coming here, Lani,” he said. “Keo was getting to be a real grouch.”

  His gallant gesture and teasing words lightened her heart. “We can’t have that.”

  Grandfather laughed. “Don’t let us bother you, Mo’opuna wahine,” he said, calling her granddaughter in Hawaiian. “We’ll get something cold to drink, then work on Lako’s jalopy.”

  After the men got their cans of papaya punch and went outside, Lani watched them from the window. She rubbed her arms. A gnawing feeling told her Grandfather had some of the missing pieces to the puzzle.

  She needed to talk to someone or she’d come unglued. But who? Not Mom or Dad. Not her ex-fiancé, David. His warning—you’ll regret this—still rang in her ears.

  That left her best friend, Bev, the dark-haired pixie with deep dimples and a true heart. Lani dialed Bev’s cell number, aware of the three-hour time lag. Bev answered on the second ring. After Bev assured her it was a good time for the call, Lani got right down to business. “I need to talk to you,” she said. “But our conversation has to be kept a secret. Okay?”

  “Sure. Sounds mysterious. What’s up?”

  Lani twisted the cord around her fingers, wondering how much she dare tell Bev about the weird happenings. “Promise you won’t beg me to come home.”

  Bev gave a high-pitched laugh void of any humor. “Now you’re scaring me, friend.”

  What if Bev felt obligated to t
ell Mom and Dad everything to save willful Lani from herself? “I’m not having a breakdown or anything.”

  “Hey, chum. Tell me quick before I have a coronary from hearing what isn’t the problem.”

  “There’s this big secret about my childhood that no one seems to want to talk about.”

  “Not even your grandpa?”

  “Especially him. When I first arrived a flicker of fear came into his eyes, and he avoided talking about the past. Then the weird stuff started happening.” She had a strong feeling the otherworldly events had resulted from something that had happened long ago, and that the burial ground by the ocean had something to do with her heritage. It was preposterous to think that bones buried on the oceanfront site might belong to her ancestors, but it was equally laughable that she’d met the man in her haunting dreams. These phenomena fit together somehow. “I believe the weirdness has something to do with my adoption. Mom and Dad must’ve known why my Hawaiian mama sent me away.”

  “They told you it was because the family was poor,” Bev said.

  “Yeah, but if that was all there was to it, why did they worry all the time and watch me as though they’d feared something bad might happen?”

  “They are a little overprotective,” Bev agreed.

  “A little? Their constant vigil always made me feel different, smothered. Even now they seem fearful.” When she’d called them shortly after arriving, they’d begged her to make her visit short. “They refuse to accept that I’m staying here with Grandfather for as long as he wants me.” She could imagine their uncool reaction if she’d told them about the horrifying flight, not to mention the fact that the man in her nightmares really existed.

  “I know you feel there’s this missing piece, Lani. But we all miss you.”

  “I miss you guys, too. But I need to be with my grandfather for a while.”

  “Yeah. That’s important.” Lani heard the wistfulness in Bev’s voice. Bev had lost her grandpa to cancer last year.

  Lani closed her eyes briefly as a wave of empathy washed over her. She paused, then said, “The weirdest part is I’ve been having dreams and nightmares about this guy. And he’s here. I met him!”

  “You mean someone who looks like him?”

  “No, it’s him.”

  “I’m in your corner, kiddo, but I’ve never put much stock in metaphysical stuff.”

  Lani knew she’d been expecting too much. “I know. Maybe it’s like you said. He just looks like the guy in my dreams.” It was more than that, but she wasn’t going to convince Bev over the phone. “Have you seen David?” How different David was from the hard-driving construction boss. Cort was a decisive, passionate man. David was lukewarm and predictable. How her affair with him had lasted two years was now a source of amazement. The chemistry had always been missing. They both deserved better. She realized now she couldn’t marry a man unless they shared a strong mutual desire and something deeper she couldn’t define.

  “David’s taking your breakup in stride. He’s staying busy, filling his hours with work. And we talk a lot.”

  An odd flip-flop in Lani’s stomach caught her off guard. She hoped the reaction only meant it took a while to get completely over a two-year relationship.

  Confused, Lani ended the conversation quickly, but Bev’s parting words, “Let common sense be your guide,” stayed with her even after hanging up.

  Common sense told her she should leave the islands at once. But how could she leave with all these unanswered questions? And what about the danger lurking over Cort? The old woman’s voice echoed in her head: The man will die if you don’t save him. Lani heart pounded. She must stay and face whatever lay ahead. Perhaps she was being tested, and her life would bloom and grow, or wither and die, according to her courage.

  She had to face facts. Bev and her mainland family couldn’t be part of this. Grandfather was her support system now. She had to persuade him to tell her everything. To have any peace of mind, she had to unravel the secrets of the past and learn how the burial ground and the dynamic Cort Wayne fit into her life.

  Chapter Six

  What the hell did a man say to a wife beater? Cort faced Kimo in the construction trailer office, hoping he’d say the right thing. He tried the man-to-man approach first. Kimo denied any problem, forcing Cort to use more blunt tactics. “We saw Brandy. Get some anger management sessions, buddy.”

  “Go to hell.” Kimo’s face reddened. “I’ll do whatever I damn well please to my wife.”

  Heat shot up Cort’s neck. “Attend sessions, or quit!” He knew Kimo couldn’t beat the pay and benefit package anywhere.

  “You can’t fire me.”

  Cort knew that. Knocking the hell out of his wife wasn’t a reason the union and courts would accept as legal just cause for job termination. “Who said anything about firing? But a man who beats his wife and refuses to get rage counseling might find working here as unpleasant as hell after today.”

  “Yeah?” Kimo jumped to his feet, knocking the chair over, and shook a fist at Cort. “Well, I quit!” He switched to pidgin and F-words to tell Cort just what he could do with his job, then added, “You’ll wish you’d stay’d da’ hell outta my life!”

  Kimo slammed out the door.

  Cort shook his head. Damn, damn, damn. This wasn’t what he wanted. He needed Kimo. He was already shorthanded. But he couldn’t do nothing and let the kid abuse his wife. Cort called Brandy and told her what happened. “It might be safer if you stay at your folk’s house until Kimo cools off.”

  Brandy started to cry, breaking Cort’s heart. “I can’t believe he’d quit with the baby coming,” she said. “What are we going to do?”

  “His job’ll be waiting. All he has to do is get into rage counseling.” He gave Brandy the number of the Domestic Abuse Center. “Ask for Mrs. Lotus. I’ve already talked to her, and she’s expecting your call. She’ll tell you about their services and your options. And, Brandy, if you need anything, honey, day or night, call me, okay?”

  She broke into tears again. He squeezed the receiver so tight his fingers cramped. He felt so damned helpless. He’d only wanted to help, and he’d made things worse.

  Nothing is going right, he thought as he hung up. He reached for the file on the top of his in-basket and flipped it open. He checked the numbers and made some notes, trying to concentrate on writing a progress report for his Wednesday meeting with the apartment complex developers and the project broker, but worries swirled in his head.

  His troubles started the week before Lani showed up. Chinn signed the loan papers incorrectly, and they had to be done over, causing days of delay. The heavy equipment arrived at the site late, and his two surveyors didn’t get their reports to him on time. The final blow had been when his best crew chief fell off a ladder and wrenched his back. He couldn’t return to work for at least six weeks. Now he’d lost Kimo. What had he done to displease the gods? Not that he believed in that stuff, but if not, why were the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickling? And why did an optimistic guy like him suddenly feel like things were going to get much worse?

  Tom rushed into the office out of breath. “Another problem, boss. Bill had to leave. His father-in-law had a heart attack.”

  Cort groaned. “Is the old man going to be all right?”

  “Don’t know. This’s gonna leave us shorthanded.”

  “More than you think. Kimo just quit.”

  “What the hell are we gonna do?”

  “I’ll have to pick up the slack,” Cort said. “Tomorrow I’ll bring in a general laborer to help out until we can locate some skilled guys or gals. Who’s taking care of Bill’s kids?”

  “Maggie’s sister, Jan.”

  “I’ll call her.” After dinner he’d go by and help out for a few hours before he came back here to burn some midnight oil.

  Tom chuckled. “Jan’s single and a looker, isn’t she?”

  Cort wadded up a piece of paper and threatened to throw it. “Get outta here,”
he growled good-naturedly. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  “Better Jan than that wahine who fainted here. You looked ready to explode after you took her home.”

  Cort guessed what Tom was thinking—a construction boss with big problems shouldn’t ask for more headaches with a troublemaker like Lani. Hating that his foreman was right, Cort let the wad of paper fly.

  Tom ducked out the door, laughing. From a safe distance somewhere outside, he called, “Struck a raw nerve, did I, boss?”

  Dammit, why did Tom have to mention Lani? Cort frowned. He’d been trying to forget the way her eyes flashed when she talked, forget the silvery sound of her voice, the feel of her in his arms.

  He forced his attention to the dates on the job schedule. He couldn’t let anything stand in the way of completing the work on time. Two other big contracts depended upon strict adherence to the timetable.

  He’d never had a problem he couldn’t solve, and he wasn’t about to let things go sour now. Too many people counted on him: the land developers who had a bundle wrapped up in the project, the broker, and Cort’s own men who needed their pay.

  Before he could stop it, Lani filled his mind again. She was unique, alluring, but her fixation to close him down spelled trouble. With all the available women in the world, he didn’t need to complicate his life with an overzealous, misguided activist.

  He crossed out something he’d just written.

  What was her game? If she’d planned to feign an injury with a lawsuit on her mind she wouldn’t have fainted. Unless that was something she hadn’t counted on. Or was she the Tanaka brothers’ spy, working some kind of scheme to undermine the project? It’d be just like the sneaky bastards to send someone like her, innocent-looking and beautiful.