4 Maui Macadamia Madness (12 page)

Footsteps
pounding up the walk.
I
opened my eyes.

“Aunt Eunice, what
are you doing here?” My aunt raced toward me, dressed in black, a huge grin on
her face.

“I’m here to help
you and April. You’ll need a lookout. I can blend in when I want to.” She
rubbed her hands together. “This will be so much fun! Uncle Roy doesn’t even
know I’m gone.”

I peered over her
shoulder to where April stood with Uncle Roy coming up behind her like a
locomotive. “He does now.”

“Eunice, are you out
of your mind?” He stopped beside her and crossed his arms.

“
Shhh
.
You’ll wake people up, and we’ll be found out.” She mimicked his body language.

“You are not going
anywhere.” Even in the dark, I knew my uncle’s face was darkening.

“Oh, yes I am.” She
turned to me. “Let’s go. Night’s a wasting.”

I gave an apologetic
glance to my uncle, a heavy kiss on Ethan’s lips,
then
took Aunt Eunice by the hand. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“Who is going to
take care of you?” Uncle Roy sniffed.

“I will.” April
patted his shoulder.

He nodded. “You’re
likely the most sensible. I’ll be here with Ethan until y’all get back. You
have one hour.”

And
then what?
We turn into
pumpkins? “April screams at
her own
shadow.”
Sensible, my foot.

“You aren’t helping
your case, sweetheart.” Ethan gave me a peck on the forehead. “Y’all three stay
together, and you should be all right.”

At least my husband
had faith in me.

“Where’s Joe?” I
asked April as we kept to the shadows on our way to the main house.

“Said
he had something to do.
I
think he’s doing some investigating on his own.”

No way! “We need to
solve this case first.” Then maybe my bossy cousin would get off my back about
me undertaking things too big for me to handle.

“Do you have your
tazer
?” Aunt Eunice asked.

“Yes,
why?”

“I think you should
give it to me so I can shock anyone who comes around while you’re snooping.”

“No, I think I’ll
keep it.” Was she nuts? She’d most likely
taze
me or
April, or herself.

I shoved aside a low
hanging branch and peered through a hibiscus plant. No lights glowed in the
house. I was pretty sure I remembered the way to the library slash office.
Hopefully the door would be unlocked.

The others followed
me as I stepped into the opening and dashed across the lawn. Horror! The light
over the shuffleboard court highlighted April’s blonde hair and Aunt Eunice’s
grey. What did my red hair look like? We needed to get under cover fast before
someone glanced out a window.

I grabbed the
doorknob to the front door and pushed.
Locked.
Aunt
Eunice and April barreled into me, knocking the air from my lungs. “Back off!”

“I thought Mr.
Wahine
said the main house was open to guests at all
times.” April peered through the glass.

“He did.” I leaned
against the building. “Did he at any time say anything about hiding a key
anywhere?”

“Sure he did.
At check-in.
Most likely you and Ethan were too wrapped up
in each other to pay attention.” Aunt Eunice picked up a tropical-colored frog.
“There’s one in the frog’s butt. Isn’t that clever?” She handed me the key.

“Very. Thanks.” I
inserted it in the lock and listened for the satisfying sound of it
disengaging. There. I handed the key back to my aunt and led the way inside.
“Lock it behind you. It will make it harder to be surprised.”

Aunt Eunice turned,
knocking into a table, and lunged for a swaying lamp.
“Got
it!”

“
Shh
.”
April and I hissed in unison.

“If you can’t be
quiet and careful, go back.” I shook my head and moved down the hall.

Praise God, the
office was unlocked. I slipped inside.

April joined me,
leaving Aunt Eunice in the hall. “She said she would recite a bible passage if
someone was coming.”

Good grief. “Look
for anything that might tell us whether Mr.
Wahine
is
involved in shady dealings or had worked with Mr. Jamison.”

April moved to the
bookshelves while I jiggled desk drawers. They were all locked.

I eyed the laptop
and wondered whether it required a password. If it was for guests’ use, it
shouldn’t. I pressed the button and watched as it came to life. “What’s Mr.
Jamison’s first name?”

“I have no idea.”
April shook a book. “Maybe it’s written in the guest book.”

“
Which
is at the front desk.
” This was a total waste of time.

“Love is patient,
love is kind, love is…” Aunt Eunice’s voice drifted loud and clear.

April clutched the
book to her chest and plopped on the sofa. I grabbed a book and fell into a
wingchair as the door opened.

Leroy
Wahine
marched in. “Kind of late for reading, isn’t it?”

“Is it a problem?” I
thought my heart would stop. “Your father said we could visit any time.”

“That is correct.”
He pulled a key from his pocket and opened a drawer to the desk. With a manila
folder in his hand, he stopped in the middle of the room. “Why is there an old
lady babbling to herself in the hall?”

“That’s my senile
aunt. Excuse us. I need to care for her.” I handed him the book I held and
stood, motioning for April to follow.

“Why are all three
of you dressed in black?” Leroy frowned. “I don’t think you’re being entirely
truthful with me. I’ve heard about you, Mrs. Banning.”

“From Susan Wood, no
doubt.”

“Yes. She warned us
all about your nosiness.” He smiled without humor. “My suggestion to you is for
you to enjoy your visit and go home.
Nothing more.”

That sounded an
awful lot like a threat. My hackles rose. I wanted nothing more than to stick
my
tazer
to his bum and wipe that smirk off his face.
“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” I turned to April. “Do you have the book you
wanted?”

“Yes, thank you.”
With her nose in the air, she sashayed past our unfriendly host and out the
door.

Leroy leaned close.
“People are talking about you, Mrs. Banning.” He winked and left me standing
there gaping
like
a fish.

What people? I
wanted to shout after him. Were they talking about me in a good way or a bad
one? Somehow, I guessed it was bad.

I joined April and
my aunt in the hall.
“Really?
Corinthians?”

Aunt Eunice
shrugged. “It’s the first thing that came to mind. Found out anything?”

“Nothing more than
the fact that Leroy
Wahine
doesn’t like me.”

“What else is new?”
Aunt Eunice grinned. “I’m hungry. Let’s go to your cottage and grab something
to eat.”

“What do you mean?
I’m likeable. Everybody likes me.”
Seriously.

“If everybody liked
you, someone wouldn’t be trying to kill you.”

Chapter
Fourteen

Aunt Eunice’s words haunted me into the morning hours. The only person
on the island I could truthfully say didn’t care for me would be Susan Woods. I
had no idea why. Just because she had read a few newspaper articles about my
crime solving wasn’t enough motivation. Not in my book, anyway.

I sat up in bed and
slid my legs over the side. It was hard to believe today was our fifth day on
the island and I was neck-deep in two murders.
Depressing,
really.
Not only because two people were dead, but also because all I
knew in that five day’s time was the possibility that Mr. Jamison might have
wanted to take control of the land the
Wahine
Bed and
Breakfast sat on.

Ethan rolled over.
“Can’t sleep?”

“No.” I pushed aside
a curl that had fallen over his eyes. “What do you want to do today?”

“Parasailing?” He
raised his eyebrows.

The thought scared
me
spitless
, but I’d try anything once. “Sure. Do you
think we can escape without the others?”

He grinned. “We can
sure try.
Might have a better chance if we grab breakfast in
Lahaina
.”

“I’ll get dressed.”
I jumped to my feet and dashed into the bathroom.

I reached for a
sundress. No, not if I was going to be floating over people’s heads. I opted
instead for white
capris
and a royal blue tank top
with sequins. I’d look like part of the sky. After tying my hair back into a
ponytail and grabbing the camera, I rejoined Ethan and hand-in-hand we headed
to the front of the hotel to see about renting a car for the day, which would
leave the rental van for the others.

Joy bubbled inside.
I was ridiculously excited about spending an entire day with my new husband.
Just me, him, and the island of Maui.
What could be better?

My aunt and uncle
turned the corner. I clutched Ethan’s arm. “We need to hurry.”

A young man handed
him the keys to a candy-apple red convertible. Perfect! Ethan handed him a ten
dollar bill and slid behind the wheel. I rushed to the passenger side and
climbed in.
Made it by the skin of our teeth.

“
Yoo
hoo
!”
Aunt Eunice waved.

I waved back,
then
slid what I called my Hollywood sunglasses over my
eyes. “See you later! Enjoy your day.” I leaned in to Ethan. “Floor it.” I felt
awful for ditching them, but Ethan and I deserved a day to ourselves, didn’t
we? I never should have called April after someone threw the spear at us. The
rental car roared down the road.

“What’s wrong?”
Ethan reached over and grasped my hand.

“It hasn’t been the
honeymoon you envisioned, has it?”

“What do you mean?”
He glanced at me. “Any day with you is a honeymoon.”
His
mouth quirked.
“Besides, how many guys can say they helped solve a
murder on their honeymoon?”

“Don’t tease.” I
faced out the passenger side of the car.

The wind whipped my
hair and kissed my skin with the scent of Hawaii. Maybe I would ditch my ailing
Sonata for a Mustang convertible when we got home. The candy store was making
good money. Somehow I doubted Ethan would argue too much. He looked perfectly
happy behind the wheel.

He smiled. “I’m not
teasing. Anywhere, any time with you, is paradise.”

How did I warrant
such a splendid gift from God?

“I love you.” I
pressed my lips against his neck.

“I love you, but if
you really want to go parasailing, you might want to stop nuzzling my neck.”

“Do I get to pick
which I’d rather do?” I ran my fingers through his hair.
“Because
it isn’t a difficult decision.”

He flicked a glance
at me. “We don’t have to go. There are plenty of other things to do.”

“I want to.”
Actually, I knew how much he wanted to, and didn’t have the heart to tell him
how much the idea scared me.

Settling back into
my seat, I watched the deep greens and blues of the landscape whip past. A
luxury cruise ship perched on the ocean like a whale. A smaller boat carried
passengers to shore.
Tourists anxious to explore Maui’s
treasures.
How many of them would run across a murder or two while here?
Not many, I’d guess.

I wouldn’t think of
those things today. I grabbed Ethan’s hand and gave him a shaky smile.

“Don’t worry,
Tink
,” he said. “If you decide you don’t want to parasail
once we get on the boat, it won’t be too late to change your mind. But
remember, fairies fly.”

“Very
funny.”
Even his
endearing nickname for me couldn’t alleviate my nervousness. I sent a prayer
heavenward and tried to convince myself that floating above the earth, tied to
a nylon rope, would only bring me closer to God.

Ethan stopped the
car on a gravel drive and flashed his teeth. “Ready?”

“You bet!” If faking
enthusiasm kept that grin on his face, then so be it. We’d had anything but a
model honeymoon so far.

He helped me from
the car and practically ran toward the boat guy.
“Reservation
for Banning.”

“Yes,
sir.
Climb aboard. My
name’s Paul and that young
whipper
-snapper over there
is Junior.”

My stomach churned
as I allowed Paul to help me onboard. Instead I tried to focus on how dark his
skin was. He looked Caucasian, but his skin was browned to the shade of a
walnut. If Junior’s skin was any indication, he was trying to catch up to his
senior. Blue eyes sparkled out of both faces and I’m pretty sure their white
smiles were intended to calm me. It didn’t work.