I caught my reflection in the mirror that ran behind the bar. It wasn't pretty. My clothes were dirty, my hair was frizzy, and my mascara had run. I was a mess. Life could be so unfair.
Owen waved to us as Casey ordered our drinks. From Casey's body language, I figured he was filling him in on what had happened this morning. Owen frowned and shook his head as he pulled the tap, allowing the amber liquid to fill the glass he was holding.
Casey returned with two beers in his hand. "Owen's going to bring the cocktails over once he's made them," he explained, giving me a small smile and once again scanning to see how I was feeling. "You okay?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't believe the difference a few hours can make. This morning we were setting off on a bit of an adventure. Now, somewhere in Aloha Lagoon there's a murderer running around."
"What makes you think the murderer is in Aloha Lagoon?" asked Alani, frowning. "Coconut Cove is a good half hour away from here. The murderer could be anywhere."
She was right, of course. "I just figured it must have been someone who knew Ryan. I mean, why would a stranger do that to him?"
"He was alone on land he shouldn't have been on. Would a local Hawaiian get angry enough about that to have done that to him?" asked Luke.
Alani shook her head. "I wouldn't think so. I just think we shouldn't discount that it could be someone not from here."
"Do you think Ryan found what he was looking for?" asked Luke.
I shivered against the chill that had just run up my spine.
"I still want to know how he found his way," said Alani.
"I did see Lori running out of there in a big hurry," said Casey. "Would she know the way?"
"Really?" I said, surprised. This was the first that Casey had mentioned seeing her.
Casey nodded. "Yeah. She looked like she was in a hurry. I didn't care. I was just hoping she wouldn't come and talk to me. She's a bit hard to get rid of sometimes."
"How long had you been there waiting?" I asked.
"About half an hour. When I first got there I decided to follow the path and see if I could find you."
"What do you think Lori was doing there?" I asked.
"I could take a guess," grinned Luke, his dirty mind working overtime.
"Luke!" I yelled.
"In the forest? Surely not!" said Alani, flashing a grin.
Casey just smiled.
"Well, I'm just saying she has a bit of a reputation. She's been caught more than once in a public place," said Luke.
"She has?" Geez, I needed to catch up on local gossip.
"Poor Martin," whispered Alani.
"Poor Martin nothing," said Luke. "He's the one who stays married to her. He can choose not to."
"It's not just her," said Alani, her mood turning serious. "Martin couldn't be that easy to live with."
"In what way?" I asked.
"He's a bit weird, don't you think?"
I guessed I could see Alani's point. Martin did come across as strange at times. "I just figured he was depressed," I added.
"And anxious. Did you see how he massacred that paper napkin at the bar last night? He dissected it better than my paper shredder could have."
We pondered that comment as Owen approached us, two delicious-looking Lava Flows balanced on a tray.
As he placed one in front of Alani and the other in front of me, he turned to Casey.
"Hey Case," he said. "What do we do with lost property?"
"What is it?" Casey asked.
"Someone just left a pair of sunglasses on the bar."
"You can give them to me. I'll hand it to Reception in the resort lobby. Often people will check there before coming to us."
"Sure man. Whatever." Owen turned and walked back to the bar.
"Oh that reminds me," I piped up. "Ryan dropped something in his glass last night. I meant to give it to you, but I forgot all about it this morning."
Casey frowned. "That's weird."
"Yeah, it was lucky I saw it, 'cause the glass still had ice in it. I hope the moisture didn't wreck it."
"Have you still got it?" asked Casey.
"Yeah, it's in my wallet. Hang on." I picked my wallet up from its place on the table and zipped it open. Squashed in amongst a month's worth of receipts was the black USB flash drive I had found in Ryan's glass.
"Do you think it means anything?" I asked, handing it to Casey.
He turned it over in his palm and then shrugged.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," said Casey. "But I'll have a look at it in case it's filled with family photos that should be sent home."
I studied Casey for a beat before asking, "How did you know Ryan?"
He lifted his glass, contemplating my question. He then cleared his throat and gave me a small, intimate smile.
"Ryan and I met in Portsmouth. We worked in the same pub."
"And Travis?" asked Luke.
"We met at the Backpackers in Sydney."
"Is he an Aussie?"
"No. American."
"And they were both your friends?"
"At the time, yes."
"And now?"
"Not now."
Geez, this was like pulling teeth.
"And…what happened that made you no longer friends?" I asked, slightly impatiently.
Casey sighed, and an emotion flickered in his eyes. It was momentary, but I saw the sadness. He quickly replaced it with a smile.
"We drifted apart, I guess. It happens."
"So Ryan was a good friend?" I asked, not relenting. There was something Casey wasn't telling me.
He sighed again and signaled to Owen to bring him another beer.
Luke, Alani, and I all sat quietly, almost holding our breath. We could all sense there was a story that needed to be told.
"Yes, at one time Ryan was a good friend."
It was my turn to sigh. "I'm sorry to be pushing you, but, geez Louise, can you please be a bit more informative?"
Casey smiled at my impatience.
"Ryan got in with the wrong people. Got caught up in some illegal poker games and owed some bad people a lot of money. I tried to help him, but…it didn't work."
I believed what he was telling us, but it still felt like we were only getting part of the story.
"What about Travis?" asked Luke.
"The three of us would hang out at the bar I worked at in Sydney. At one point we even shared a two-bedroom flat. Ryan and I had the bedrooms, and Travis kipped on the sofa."
"Kipped?" I asked.
"Slept," explained Casey.
I added this colloquialism to the data bank I was building. When you have a relationship with someone from another country, you need to keep up with what the heck they were talking about.
"So what happened to Travis?" asked Alani.
"When I left Sydney, both he and Ryan were still there. But I did hear later that he was off in South America treasure hunting. He and Ryan always had a fascination for it."
"Why were you so unhappy to see Ryan at the bar the other night?" I asked, my memory flicking back to the trivia night.
Casey turned his eyes away from me and looked into his empty glass. "I was just surprised to see him there."
I studied him for a second. There was that sadness again. I wanted to question him more about it, but it didn't feel right. Maybe it was a question for a time when we weren't in public.
Owen approached with Casey's beer. Personally, I'd been so caught up in listening to Casey I'd forgotten my drink was even on the table.
* * *
By the time we were leaving The Lava Pot, we'd consumed far too much alcohol. Well, I had at least. Thank goodness for our surrogate mother, Alani. She'd been responsible and had changed to water after her first Lava Flow.
"Sam, where do you want to be dropped off?" she asked, pulling the car keys from her pocket. "Home, or are you going to Casey's?"
Casey looked at me. "Do you mind if I have the evening to
myself?" he asked me.
I felt the disappointment sit heavy in my stomach.
"No that's okay," I said, attempting to sound upbeat. "I could do with an early night anyway. It's been a really long day." And I never did get my nana nap.
I pushed my chair under the table, avoiding eye contact with him.
"Okay," said Alani. "Luke, what are you doing?"
"Coming with you," he replied, as if she'd just asked a stupid question. He grabbed Alani around the waist and pulled her close, kissing her just above the ear.
I felt the pull in my belly as I looked at Casey and felt a distance from him. Something was going on in his head, and I just needed to give him some space. Everything would be okay. I hoped.
I followed Luke and Alani out of the bar, Casey walking a few steps behind me. He'd been quiet all afternoon. Ever since I'd questioned him about Ryan and Travis. I just hoped I hadn't pushed him too far. Maybe he was angry with me about it?
I didn't like that thought and wanted to ask him. I turned to look at him as he reached out and took my hand, giving it a small squeeze. Okay maybe he wasn't angry. Maybe he just didn't like me intruding into his personal life. Just because I was completely open to anything he wanted to know about me, it didn't mean he was.
Unexpected tears stung my eyes. I blinked them away as we walked into the evening air and straight into Detective Ray.
"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," he said, looking directly at Casey. "I was hoping you would accompany me to the station. And I'll need that T-shirt for forensic testing, thank you."
* * *
I'd wanted to accompany Casey to the station, but he'd said no. He wanted me to go home and said he would call me as soon as he was finished. I didn't like that idea, but I'd seen the look in his eye, and I didn't want to push him any further than I had already today. So like a good girlfriend, I went home and had the shower I'd been longing for.
After that I googled lost treasures in Aloha Lagoon and found the story Ryan had been talking about. The only fact I learned that I didn't already know from Ryan and Alani, was that the diary had surfaced three months ago in a personal collection. It was sold at auction to a man named Frederick Hart. I googled Frederick Hart and found that he was a well-known collector, and he died last month in an accident with a garbage truck. Apparently, the crash was so horrific they had trouble identifying his body. Ick!
I then lay awake worrying about what Detective Ray had wanted to ask Casey.
By midnight, I had tossed and turned so much that my sheets were in a big knot. I got up to straighten it all up and sent Casey a message asking if all was okay and if he'd finished at the station. He messaged back yes finished at the station. Everything's okay, nothing to be worried about. I'll call you in the morning. Sweet dreams x.
That was it. There was no explanation of what happened with the police, no explanation of why he and Ryan had no longer been friends, and definitely no explanation as to why he didn't want to snuggle with me tonight. Okay, I hadn't actually had the courage to ask that bit.
The house felt lonely. I heard every creak of the timber as the wind blew against the walls, and I thought of Mum. She may have only been gone for a day, but I missed her, and right now I needed a Mum hug.
Earlier I had been tired. So tired my bones ached. Now I was wide-awake, and sleep was nowhere on my radar. I gave up and read a book.
By 7 a.m. I had managed to get a few hours' sleep, but it was filled with dreams of dead bodies, garbage trucks, and monsters. I woke bleary-eyed and cranky, and if I hadn't got a hurry on, I would have been late for work.
When I had been hired at the resort, it had only been a temporary position while the head instructor, Brad Buchanan, was on sick leave with appendicitis. My job was to keep the kids' classes going until Brad came back to work. Well, Brad did come back, but it seemed the head of Human Resources, Mr. David Mahelona, apparently liked me enough to give me a full-time position. Brad didn't mind. Turned out he hated teaching kids. Thankfully I loved it. Sure the kids could be a challenge some days, but I got to spend my time in the sun and on a surfboard. It sure beat my last job as a personal assistant at an accounting firm, where I'd been stuck in a cubicle.
But some days were harder than others, and this one was turning out to be a tough one. The nine-year-old boy standing on the sand in front of me had a personal lesson booked, and I was trying to teach him to move from lying on his board to jumping up to standing. Somehow he just couldn't manage it.
I looked at my watch and restrained myself from cheering with joy. We had exactly ten minutes left in the lesson.
"You know what, Sebastian?" I said to him, a renewed energy filling my spirit. "Why don't we forget this bit for today and just go out in the water for a paddle?"
He looked up at me and smiled. I noted his crooked front teeth and thought maybe his parents would be better putting this tuition money towards braces.
"Yes please," he said politely, picking up his board and walking towards the water's edge. He wasn't a bad kid. Just a little uncoordinated. Like I could talk.
The day was turning into a hot one, which wasn't unexpected, as the temperature here didn't vary that much.
Entering the water, I kept close to Sebastian as we both waded out past the breaker. I helped him get onto his board and then got onto my own, sitting in silence as we watched the shoreline of Aloha Lagoon. The water was warm, yet refreshing after standing in the sun for the last fifty minutes. I looked at Sebastian and grinned. He might not be able to stand up on his board yet, but I could already see he had fallen in love with the ocean. Time and practice would make him a surfer.
The beach around the resort was pretty private, and not too many of the locals chose to surf here, most of them choosing to surf at Poipu Beach. Sitting on my board, the gentle waves bobbing me up and down, the feeling of last night's dream finally left me, and my mind felt at peace.
Well that was until I spotted Detective Ray standing on the sand watching me.
The detective was actually an alright guy. He had the whole Hawaiian island time thing happening, which was pretty common around here. Traditionally nothing happened quickly. I was still trying to adjust to this after life in corporate Sydney, where everyone and everything moved with a time constraint.
"Are you ready to go in?" I asked Sebastian.
He didn't look like he was ready. In fact, I made a note to get him in the water a whole lot earlier during his next lesson.
"Do we have to?" he asked.
I looked to the detective as he waved to me, and I nodded my head.
"Lie on your board, and I'll push you in on the next wave. Just hold on."
I waited until the perfect wave came along and gave his board a good hard shove. His whoop of joy could be heard over the noise of the water, all the way to shore.
By the time I reached him, his smile was contagious.
"So will you be back tomorrow for another lesson?" I asked.
"Sure will. Same time?"
I nodded. "Yep. See you here."
With that he ran up the sand towards his mother, who'd been watching from under one of the table umbrellas outside The Lava Pot.
I collected my towel as Detective Ray moved closer.
"Good morning, Samantha," he said.
I squinted against the glare of today's Hawaiian shirt. Every time I had seen him, he was wearing one. Today's was white with large lime green flowers all over it.
"Morning, Detective." I had yet to decide if it was going to be good or not. "Are you here for a surfing lesson?"
He spluttered a response I took for a no and fiddled in his pocket, his hand coming back into the sunlight with his trusty notebook in it. Damn. The lesson would probably have been easier.
"I just need to ask a couple of questions about yesterday. I wanted to go over the series of events once more."
I figured he didn't really need to go over anything. He was just checking that my story wouldn't change. I once ag
ain repeated what I'd told him yesterday.
He nodded. "Yes, yes. So where was Casey Dalton while this was happening?"
I jolted at his question. "Oh, umm, well I thought he was at work."
Detective Ray gave me a hard stare. I squirmed under it.
"Was he?"
"Well no. But you already know that. You saw him with us."
"So where was he while you were in the rain forest?"
"Standing in the car park."
"So he was in the car park the entire time? You know that for a fact?"
"I…well…I guess I don't actually know that for a fact. He was there when we came back to the car to call you." I didn't like this line of questioning, and I used my towel to wipe the sweat that was starting to break out above my lip.
"And you weren't expecting him?"
"No."
"So why was he there?"
I explained how I'd spoken to Casey about what we were doing, but he'd been stuck at work. Once he'd finished, he came to be with me.
"Hmmm…" said Detective Ray, scribbling some notes.
I tried to see what he was writing, but all I could make out were large swirly loops, the pages bent and tattered around them.
"Did he explain how he managed to have blood on his clothes?" he asked, looking up from the paper.
"He said he fell over in the bushes."
"But you said he was in the car park."
I gulped. "Yes, but he came to try to find me and fell."
"So he says."
"What do you mean by that?" I had a bad feeling starting in the pit of my stomach.
"Do you know about the history between Mr. Dalton and the deceased?" he asked, ignoring my question.
I nodded. "Yes. Casey told me they shared accommodations and that they were friends."
"Did he tell you why they were no longer friends?"
"He just said they drifted apart."
"Uh-huh. And the woman?"
Okay the feeling in my stomach had just erupted into a full-fledged anxiety attack.
"I'm guessing he didn't tell you about her," said Detective Ray, once again scribbling in his notebook.
Lethal Tide Page 5