Veils and Vengeance

by Rachelle J. Christensen

  Chapter 20

  GUAVA CAKE

  1 yellow cake mix

  1 1/3 cups guava nectar

  3 eggs

  1/3 cup vegetable oil

  1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

  1/3 cup sugar or 1/8 cup Stevia

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  1 cup of whipped cream

  2 cups guava juice

  1/2 cup sugar or ¼ cup Stevia

  1/4 cup cornstarch

  Grease and flour round cake pans. Bake cake according to package directions, substituting guava juice for the water. In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat. Slowly fold in the whipped cream and refrigerate until ready to use. In a medium sauce pan, bring the 2 cups guava juice and sugar to a boil.

  Make a paste out of the cornstarch and a small amount of water. Remove guava juice from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil for one minute. Cool in refrigerator.

  Ice the cake with a thick layer of the cream cheese mixture. Glaze the top of the cake with guava gel. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

  Courtesy of www.mashedpotatoesandcrafts.com

  I waited until we got in the car to unleash my ideas on Luke. “We have to find the initials on that bracelet. I think it will lead us to the killer.”

  “I don’t know. What if it had Charly’s initials on it?”

  “I don’t remember seeing any initials on the bracelet from Charly’s body, but I guess I wasn’t really looking for them. If they were small, I could have missed them.”

  “Could Neil have engraved them somewhere that only the wearer would recognize?”

  “That’s a good point.” I jotted down Luke’s idea on my notebook. “Do you think we could stop by the police station and talk to Officer Kinau about this?”

  “Sure. All he can do is say no, right?”

  I nodded as I entered the address to the Kapa’a police station into my navigator and set it.

  “Listen, Adri. About the other day.” Luke glanced at me, and I forced myself to appear unaffected.

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I doodled in my notebook, keeping my gaze averted from his face. It didn’t work because I still saw him in my mind—his blue eyes that always held more than what he let on, pulling me closer to him with a magnetism I couldn’t ignore. The dimple in his chin reminded me of his laugh and the way his chiseled jawline relaxed when he let his guard down. When I thought of the Harley he drove back home and how good he looked in jeans, I nearly groaned out loud.

  “But I am worrying about it.” I could feel him looking at me. “I know you’re getting fed up with my issues, but I wanted you to know that I appreciate you. It’s hard to be patient with myself. I must drive you crazy.”

  I laughed. “You just described me.”

  He tilted his head. “Oh?”

  “Everyone has issues. I’m afraid of things, but I don’t want my fears to keep me from living my life so I keep pushing forward, even when I’m uncomfortable.”

  “Is that what you’re doing with Jon?”

  Heat rushed to my face. “He’s a really nice guy, and you’re wrong about him. He’s not a player.”

  The muscle in Luke’s jaw twitched. When he didn’t speak I continued, “Why are you jealous of Jon? Every time I spend time with you, you end up pushing me away.”

  Luke stiffened as if I’d slapped him. “I’m not jealous. I just hope you’re not pushing past your comfort zone so hard that you’re missing the big picture.”

  “And what’s the big picture, O mighty lens of the universe?”

  He shook his head. “Sorry I brought it up.”

  His apology only made me angrier. “When was the last time you ever pushed yourself past your fears?”

  “Stop it, Adri. I’m not fighting with you.”

  He gripped the steering wheel, and I looked down to see that my own fingers were curled tightly into my palms. I leaned my head against the seat and blew out a breath. “Why won’t you talk to me? Every time we just skirt the issues, I’m left feeling confused and angry that I tried to reach out to you again. What do you want?”

  Luke pulled into the police station and parked the car. He turned and grabbed my hand as I reached for the door. “Wanting something and being able to have it are two very different things.”

  I frowned, trying to decipher what he was saying.

  “I’m not trying to push you away.” He covered my hand with both of his. “You’re the only one who really sees me. I can’t hide from you, and that scares me.”

  I opened my mouth to retort, but he shushed me. “I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m sorry if I keep coming across that way.”

  It was hard to stay mad at him when I heard the sincerity of his words. “I know you’re not a jerk on purpose, but it sure wouldn’t hurt if you figured that part out a little quicker.”

  Luke covered his heart. “Ouch.” He leaned forward and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t give up on me, okay?”

  My cheek tingled where his fingers had brushed it, and the temperature inside of the car was rising. I held out my hand. “Truce?”

  With a laugh, he shook my hand. “Truce.”

  “Let’s go get some answers.”

  Luke mumbled something about that’s what he was trying to do, but I chose to ignore it as we entered the police station.

  We waited for nearly ten minutes before Officer Kinau met with us. I told him about the bracelets and how they had been engraved. “I know the bracelet is now evidence, but I wondered if you could check? Or if maybe we could take a look?”

  Officer Kinau frowned. “I don’t know. We’re busy here. There’s a lot going on right now.” His patience with me was wearing thin, and I wasn’t sure what I could do to convince him to consider Neil’s innocence.

  “You don’t have the murderer in custody. I think that bracelet may contain a big clue as to who that is.”

  “Okay, let me see what we can do. The evidence is no longer here, it’s at the lab, but I’ll make a call and see if they can check it out. If we find anything, I’ll get back to you.” He stood to leave.

  “Wait. Can you check Neil’s bracelet? He would have been wearing it when he came in today.”

  Kinau studied me and gave me a curt nod. He probably wondered how I knew that Neil was wearing a bracelet, but I wasn’t about to give that away. “Thanks so much for taking time to talk with us.”

  Luke and I left the police station and headed back to the hotel. We rode in silence for a few minutes while I jotted more notes, crossed out possibilities, and finally doodled in my notebook. “I wish I would have taken pictures of that bracelet when I had it, but I probably still wouldn’t have noticed any initials.”

  Luke raised an eyebrow—a reminder that he didn’t know everything yet. Great, now he would think even less of Jon. “I guess I forgot to tell you about how Jon took the bracelet off Charly’s body when we found her in the ocean.”

  “What?” The car jerked as Luke just about swerved off the road.

  “Maybe I should wait to tell you the rest until you park the car.”

  “That might be a good idea.” The car picked up speed as Luke hurried toward the hotel. When we parked, he helped me out and kept a firm grip on my hand. “Let’s walk down to the beach and talk about this.”

  We skirted the main part of the lobby, in case Mrs. Harper and her thugs still had ideas about threatening me, and headed out past the swimming pools, cabanas, and happy vacationers that stretched to the golden sand on the beach. We stopped about ten paces from the ocean and Luke turned to face me. “Did Jon have something to do with Charly’s death?”

  “No.” I held up my hands. “It sounds way worse than it is.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Jon saw the bracelet on her arm and thought he recognized her. He knew how it would look for his dad, so he took it off.”


  “That doesn’t make sense. You don’t just hide evidence in a murder investigation because you’re worried your dad did it.”

  “He turned it into the police.”

  “On his own?”

  “I found it in his board shorts and confronted him.”

  “Okay, I won’t ask what you were doing with his board shorts.”

  “Luke!” I tried to slug him, but he moved out of the way.

  “But still, think about it. Was Jon really covering for his dad, or someone else?”

  I rocked back on my heels. Luke had a point. Jon hadn’t hesitated to confront his father about the murder, yet he had hidden the bracelet for two days and never said anything.

  My phone rang as I considered the new angle Luke had just brought to my attention. It was the police station. “Hello?”

  “Adri, this is Officer Kinau. I wanted to let you know that we checked Neil Connelly’s bracelet. It had tiny initials carved on the inside of the band. We think they were N.C. for Neil’s initials. We talked to Neil, and I’m only sharing this information with you because you’re the one that brought it to our attention. Can I trust you to keep this confidential?”

  “Yes, sir. You can trust me.”

  “We questioned Neil about them, but he said it didn’t mean anything. Just a mark on the sample. I don’t believe him.” Officer Kinau paused, and I heard other voices in the background. “Neil denied having the bracelets engraved, but I think he’s lying. Whatever is on that bracelet could lead us to evidence that will either exonerate him or put him away for good.”

  “I just talked to a man at Tri-C named Osamu. He claims that Neil was taking two bracelets to be engraved. Why would he lie about it if it could prove his innocence?”

  “That’s a good point. We’ll check into it. We’re retrieving the evidence now so we can find out what is on the other bracelet. If I can, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate this.” I wanted to say more but didn’t know the best way to express my thanks when Neil was still believed to be the top suspect in the murder investigation.

  “Please be careful, Miss Pyper.”

  “I will.” I ended the call and chewed on my bottom lip for a moment.

  The ocean filled my ears with roars and I slumped down into the sand.

  “Adri?” Luke crouched next to me. and I held the phone in front of me, watching the screen wink against the sunlight. “Do you need to lie down?”I shook my head as beads of sweat broke out across the back of my neck. Neil knew something, but why wasn’t he cooperating with the police? I had been so sure of his innocence, but what if I was wrong?

  “Who was that on the phone?”

  The sand blurred before my eyes. “It was Officer Kinau.”

  Luke cleared his throat. “Um, are you going to tell me what that’s all about?”

  “I want to, but Officer Kinau asked me to keep it confidential. Do you think I should tell you?”

  Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “Agh. Of course you should tell me, but I understand if you can’t.”

  I vacillated for a moment. “You’re a lawyer. Can I get into trouble for telling you?”

  “No, and if you end up helping the police because you told your expert lawyer friend and he ended up thinking of a great idea to find the real murderer, it would definitely be okay.”

  “You definitely have issues.”

  Luke tickled the sides of my waist and I jumped away from him with a shriek. “Okay, you have a point. I’ll tell you.” I lowered my voice and relayed my phone conversation with Officer Kinau.

  “The initials will identify the killer. That’s what I think,” Luke said.

  “Unless the initials are C. W. for Charly Wilks, or maybe even S. F. for Stacia Fletcher.” I shook my head. “But no, that would mean Neil knew her true identity, which he didn’t.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  I knew what Luke was thinking. If the initials did indicate Stacia’s identity was known then it would look even worse for Neil. I thought back to just a few hours before when Jon and I had confronted Neil. He had proclaimed his innocence, and we both believed him. There were still doubts, but inside, I couldn’t make sense of the fact that Neil had been arrested for the murder. “Why would someone hide evidence to a murder they didn’t commit?”

  Luke blew out a breath. “The only reason I can think of is to protect someone they love.”

  “Do you think that Neil is covering for someone else in his family?” I pictured his sons, Jon, and Kyle, and his wife Heather. Each of the Connellys were kind and genuine. “No, it couldn’t be family, but who?”

  “I was going to guess family,” Luke ventured. “But that doesn’t look good for his sons.”

  “I know. It’s so confusing.”

  Luke held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll help you inside.”

  He pulled me to my feet, but I was off balance and ended up stumbling into his chest. “Whoa. Are you okay?” Luke put his arm around me, steadying me, and then he stepped back keeping a hand under my elbow.

  “Just dizzy. I think I’ll lie down for a while.” But what I really wanted was for him to hold me, smooth my hair, and whisper that everything would be okay, and I didn’t need to be afraid anymore. For a moment, when our eyes locked, I thought I saw something in Luke’s gaze. A part of me wondered if he was seeing the same thing, but I took a step forward and the magnetic pull was broken. He put his hand on the small of my back as we walked toward the hotel, and he kept it there until he dropped me off at my room.

  I kicked off my sandals and curled up on the bed, my skin burning where Luke had touched me. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend for a minute that everything was simple, but I’d eventually have to open my eyes again. If I did and Jon had something to do with Charly’s murder, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to trust anyone again.

  Chapter 21

  BEST BEACHES TO VISIT IN KAUAI

  For snorkeling: Ke’e Beach, Tunnels, and Lydgate Beach Park

  For sunbathing: Poipu Beach, Secret Beach, Donkey Beach

  For watching wildlife: Beach House Beach, any beach around Poipu for whale sightings

  Courtesy of www.mashedpotatoesandcrafts.com

  The beeping of my phone alerted me to two new voice messages. The first was from Malia.

  “Hey, Adri. I know you’ve been at the police station, trying to help Neil. Kyle and I appreciate your help. This is a nightmare. Please cancel everything for our wedding. I’m so sorry about all of this. Don’t worry about me and Kyle. It’ll all work out.”

  I archived the message and swallowed the lump of tears in my throat. Poor Malia. This was supposed to be a dream destination wedding. We’d planned for over six months to get everything just right. I thought about her veil waiting at the concierge desk—just one more detail in this dream wedding gone impossibly wrong. I dialed her number, but it went straight to voice mail. Maybe the stress was too much and she’d simply turned her phone off, but it didn’t seem like her. The only option was to leave a message in return, telling her that I would take care of everything.

  After I left the message, I stared at my phone for a moment, struggling to deal with the torrent of emotions circling around the failed wedding plans. Resisting the urge to call Malia again, I looked at the next message in the queue and pushed play.

  “Hi, this is Heather Connelly. I’m really worried about Jon. We’re all upset and you’ve helped him a lot so I wondered if you might be able to come over to the house. I hope you don’t feel like I’m interfering.” Her voice cracked. “I just don’t know what to do. Give us a call if you need a ride.”

  I knew Jon was hurting. I’d definitely head over to the house. I thought about calling Heather back for a ride, but it didn’t feel right. I’d already used Luke on one adventure today, and I didn’t think he’d appreciate giving me a ride to see Jon. Taxis were too expensive, plus I didn’t want to hassle with ordering one, and walking the six miles to Jon�
��s house was out of the question. No options presented themselves for easy travel, so I decided that first I would make sure everything was cancelled at the Hyatt.

  Even if Chelsea was manning the concierge desk, it’d be worth it to find out if Malia had picked up her veil. I gathered my things and tried to straighten my slumping shoulders as I headed to the lobby.

  My chest tightened and released when I saw Chelsea. There would be no more confrontations because Mrs. Harper would win, not because I’d consented, but because the groom’s father was under arrest for murder.

  Chelsea’s eyes were red and her cheeks were splotchy. I didn’t ask why she’d been crying. She fixed me with a vicious glare as I sat down. “I need to cancel all of the Connelly/Wright wedding plans. I’m sure Mrs. Harper will be thrilled to know that she will get her way.”

  If possible, Chelsea’s eyes narrowed more. “Yes, I’ve already flagged all of the events. I heard about Mr. Connelly.”

  “How?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  “I’m trained to do my job. Thanks for the notification. We’ll refund the agreed upon amounts, but the retainer is non-refundable at this point, you’ve passed the forty-eight hour window.”

  I nodded. “Yes, I know. Can you tell me if Malia Wright was able to pick up her veil?”

  “She did. I gave it to her yesterday. Little good it will do her now.”

  I was about to say something else when someone came up behind me.

  “Chelsea Forrester. You’re under the arrest for destruction of property.”

  I whirled around to see a set of officers brandishing cuffs in her direction. Her face paled as they rattled off a list of offenses and pulled her hands behind her back.

  “You’re making a mistake. I’m not involved with any of that.”

  “You PFI people must have handed out a script at your rally because they’ve all said that exact thing. Good thing for us you didn’t notice the cameras set up. Everyone is coming in for questioning, and I doubt you’ll be returning here.”