4 Maui Macadamia Madness (10 page)

It wasn’t until I
stood up, that I realized Mr. Jamison had died in the bathroom.
The very room where I now stood barefoot.
Eeew
.
I
rose on the balls of my feet. Had they laid his body here after pulling him
from the tub?

The
tub.

I forgot my
squeamishness and stared through the gloom into the white porcelain coffin
shaped tub.

Both Mr. Jamison and
Mrs. Aldrich had died in their bathtubs.

Chapter Eleven

I would
not
take a bath while
on Maui.

“Summer, let me in.”
Ethan’s loud whisper drifted through the open window.

I padded out of the
bathroom and into the bedroom where I shoved up the window. “Sorry. I was
transfixed by the tub. Are you aware both deaths occurred while taking a bath?
I’m so glad I’m a shower person, because no one is going to convince me to take
a bath on this island.”

“I love you, you
silly goose. I never know what you’re going to say.” He pulled me back into the
bathroom.
“Now, what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do we do next?
You’re the expert.”

Usually I stumbled
across evidence by accident. I considered it a strange gift from God. I chewed
my pinkie nail. “Look for anything out of the ordinary.” I turned in a slow
circle and kept my eyes open.

The bed lay unmade.
A rumpled towel lay on the bathroom floor. A popular brand of men’s shower gel
and deodorant sat on the lip of the tub. Discarded clothes were on the floor by
the sink.

A box of
chocolate-covered macadamia nuts sat on the bedroom dresser. I dashed into the
bathroom and glanced at the empty counter. Next to the tub, someone had pulled
up a vanity stool. To set a different gift box of nuts on, perhaps? And the
outlet sported a lovely red button to prevent electrocution when dropped in the
water. I started to think Office
Manano
had lied to
us about Mrs. Aldrich’s death. Wasn’t it building code to have outlets updated?

Manano
definitely fed us false information to try
and determine how much we really knew about these two deaths.

“Ethan?”

“Yeah.”
His voice came from the closet.

“Did we get more
than one box of nuts?”

He appeared in the
doorway. “What?”

I grabbed his hand
and pulled him toward the dresser. “I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure the
police would have taken the poisoned nuts. Why does Mr. Jamison have more than
one complimentary box?”

“Maybe he bought
one.”

“Maybe, but I don’t
think so.” I propped on the edge of the bed. The box was stamped with the
Wahine
Bed and Breakfast logo. The hotel didn’t have a gift
shop, so purchasing the box didn’t sound feasible to me. “The police obviously
took the box that contained the nuts that killed him.” It seemed strange to me
that they would leave this one here, untested, but I’d seen stranger things.
“We need to talk to the maid.”

“In
a minute.”
Ethan pulled a
folded sheet of paper from the closet. “I found this in an inner pocket of a
suit. It’s an email about building a resort in
Kihei
,
and it isn’t a very nice one.”

“Here? Where the B
& B is?”

“Maybe.”
Ethan sat beside me. “That could give us a
possible motive.”

I skimmed the
printed message. “It reads more like a hate letter. Mr. Jamison seems to have
stiffed someone in regards to the proposed resort. We need to find out
who
.”

“Then we have our
killer.” Ethan took the paper from me.

“That’s what I’m
hoping.” I still had no idea why someone wanted to kill me, though. It couldn’t
be because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That made absolutely no
sense.

“I’m going to show
this to Joe.” He slipped the letter into the back pocket of his jeans.

I grinned. “I’ve
corrupted you. You’re tampering with possible evidence.”

“Only
to keep my girl safe.”
He
pulled me to my feet and into his arms. “Let’s get some sleep. We can try the
maid in the morning.”

###

I rolled over and pounded my pillow for the umpteenth time. The thought
that the attempts on me weren’t because of Jamison’s murder, or even Mrs.
Aldrich’s, wouldn’t leave me.

My first attempt at
crime solving had been an accident. Diamonds buried under my prize rosebush.
The second, a family affair because of the first.
The third
mystery turned out to be a love triangle slash computer scam and had nothing to
do with the previous two. How did the two current deaths relate to me? Did
they? Were they tied in to my prior crime solving, or complete coincidence?

I stopped tossing
and stared at Ethan. I lightly traced his lips with my finger and then ran my
hand over the stubble on his cheek. Although having him along while I tried
solving a mystery and keeping myself alive, I worried. What if I caused him to
be hurt?
Or worse?
I would jump off the volcano if
that happened. A fiery lava death would be too easy for me.

“That tickles.”
Ethan smiled and opened his eyes. “Can’t sleep?”

I shook my head.

“
Wanna
talk about it?” He leaned on his elbow, his dark gaze searching my face.

“Our honeymoon’s
been ruined!” A sob threatened to choke off my words. “That’s a selfish
thought, isn’t it?” I wiped my eyes on the sheet, leaving a trace of mascara
behind. “But I can’t help it. Every time we leave this room, someone tries to
kill me. What if they hurt you in the process?”

“We could just stay
in the cottage.” He winked. “We’re safe here.”

“I’m being serious.”

“I’m sorry.” He
pulled me close for a kiss. “The honeymoon isn’t ruined, just more exciting.
We’ll still see the sights we wanted, but in a group. And, we’ll solve this
thing before we go home.”

“How can you be so
certain?” I sniffed.

“I just am.” He
pulled me close. “I’ve got something that will help you sleep.”

Yes, I knew he did.
I closed my eyes and pressed closer.

###

Someone pounded on the door.

I jerked to a
sitting position and squinted against the sun squeezing through the slats in
the blinds. One glance at the clock told me I’d slept in, as had Ethan.
Something I rarely did. I stretched, remembering our time of lovemaking, then
shook Ethan awake. “Someone’s at the door.”

He groaned. “If
that’s your family, call the police, because I’m going to kill them.” In one
fluid motion, he wrapped the sheet around him and climbed from bed. “I ought to
go out there stark naked and show them what they interrupt when they knock on
the door of honeymooners.”

My face flamed. “We
were sleeping.”

“We could have been
doing something else.”

I burrowed deeper in
the pillows. I did love my grouchy morning bear, and agreed with him that if it
was my family pounding on the door, they needed to learn boundaries. Wait. What
if it wasn’t them?

“Ethan? What if it
isn’t Aunt Eunice or Uncle Roy? What if it’s the killer?”

He glanced over his
shoulder at me. “Hide in the bathroom.” He wrapped his fist around the lamp and
yanked it from the wall. “If you hear a ruckus, call the police.”

Taking the blankets
with me, I scuttled to the bathroom and slammed the door. I hated hiding like a
frightened child. The tiny room had nothing I could use as a weapon. Mine or
Ethan’s razor would be of little help. I supposed I could brandish the toilet
brush and throw an attacker off guard.

“Summer, it’s your
family.” Ethan’s disgruntled voice came through the door. “Get dressed.”

Heavens! Their
timing wasn’t the best, but still wonderful considering. Although, I suppose
most killers wouldn’t bother to knock.

When I walked into
the small living room, all heads turned in my direction. Ethan raised his
eyebrows and shrugged as if to tell me there wasn’t much he could do to keep
everyone out. Joe’s face resembled a tomato.

“What did I do now?”
I headed for the tiny kitchen for a glass of water.

“You and Ethan were
seen going into Jamison’s cottage.” Joe crossed his arms. “You put my friend up
to this, didn’t you?”

“Wait a minute—”
Ethan stood.

Joe held up a hand.
“It’s okay, buddy. I know my cousin, and she can be quite enticing when she
wants to be.”

I cocked my head and
decided not to respond to his outrageous accusations. Instead, I guzzled my
drink like I didn’t have a care in the world and silently rejoiced at April’s
warning look toward Joe.

“Who saw us?” Ethan
frowned.

“I did.”

“Well, if it was
you, what’s the big deal?” Ethan plopped back to the sofa.

“The deal,
sweetheart…” I took my time moseying my way over to the group. “Is that my
cousin likes to be dramatic. He spends his time being nosey and is stung by the
fact that we actually gained entrance. Obviously he tried and didn’t. Isn’t
that right, Joe?”

His face darkened to
the point I thought he might have a stroke.

“He’s too big to fit
through the window and wouldn’t think about asking April to help.” I patted his
shoulder on my way to balance on the arm of the sofa next to Ethan. “Well?”

“You’re right.
Partially.
I chose not to break and enter when I discovered
the front door locked.” He pouted. “How do you get away with that type of
behavior?”

“Lucky, I guess.” I
tossed him a grin. “Besides, I now have Ethan’s help.”

Joe sighed. “Did you
find anything?”

“Just the curious
fact that apparently Mr. Jamison had two boxes of nuts in his room. One is
still sitting on the dresser.” I sat my glass on the coffee table with a
flourish, enjoying the fact of having ‘got one up’ on Joe.
Neither
one of us really knows when things got so competitive between us and
while I know Joe would die for me and me the same for him, life wouldn’t be the
same if we weren’t trying to outdo each other. “And a really mean email from
someone called
antiresortbuilder
who seems to have a
grudge against the late Mr. Jamison.”

“Y’all did
good
.” Joe rubbed his chin. “Now, we need to decide the next
step. You also need to lay low. The last thing you want is to be arrested.”

It wouldn’t be the
first time. “We thought I’d try getting information out of the maid.”

“How do you plan on
doing that?” Uncle Roy snagged a banana from the fruit basket. “You need to be
subtle. You can’t just prance up to the girl and say, ‘Hey, heard you found the
body.’”

“I know that.
Besides, Camilla found the body, but maids often know everything that goes on
in a place.” I twirled my hair “We’re suddenly going to be low on towels.”

Chapter
Twelve

“Do you know who the maid is?” Joe asked.

“A
young, pretty Hawaiian girl in a muumuu.”
I grabbed my purse.

“They both are young
and pretty and wear muumuus.”

“Two
maids?”
I’d only seen one
on the night they found Jamison. “Do you have names?”

“They’re sisters.
Malia and Micah, I think.
Twins.
Also, depending on
the number of guests, sometimes Camilla helps the maids out.” Joe reached for
an apple. “Are we going to breakfast? They stop serving in thirty minutes, and
I’m starving.”

“In
a minute.
Why would the
cops lie about the cause of Mrs. Aldrich’s death?” I kept my gaze focused on
Joe. No way was I allowing him to give me a mundane answer.

He sighed.
“To keep certain pertinent information out of the press.”
He
crossed his arms. “If only the killer knows the truth, the authorities can weed
out the thrill seekers and story tellers.”

“Did you know from
the beginning they were
lying
?”

“Yes.” He looked at
me as if I were stupid. “Nobody dies from a hair dryer in the bath, unless the
house is not up to code.” He chomped his apple.

Apparently
‘everyone’ was smarter than me. I grabbed my purse from the counter. “If I’m
not back in an hour, call the police.”

“Slow down, hot
shot.” Ethan laid a hand on my arm. “We’re going to breakfast. Then, you and I
will get up and search for the maid.”

I shook my head. “I
think April and I should excuse ourselves to go to the restroom. The girl is
more likely to talk to women than men.”

“I agree.” April
spoke up. “And since I gave
Summer
her
tazer
, then…”