4 Maui Macadamia Madness (9 page)

“No, the others are
enjoying the view.”

He took my face in
his hands. “I mean home. Mountain Springs, Arkansas.”

“No.” I bolted to my
feet. Tears stung my eyes. “We’re on our honeymoon.”

“I can’t spend it in
fear for your safety.” He wiped away the escaping tears with his thumbs.

I locked gazes with
him. I could drown in his blue eyes. What should I do? Agree to go home or stay
and pray God kept me safe? I’d been locked in a trunk before, chased at
gunpoint through a carnival funhouse, and dropped into a dry well. A Hawaiian
island offered a whole new sphere of dangerous ways for a person to try to
murder me.

But did I want to go
home yet? I glanced down the summit. The clouds separated, offering a glimpse
of Maui in all her glory. No, I wasn’t ready to go home. I’d have to be more
diligent and do my best not to further anger whoever thought I was mixed up in
all this … whatever
it
was.

“No, I want to
stay.”

Ethan expelled a
rough breath. “I wish you would reconsider.”

I cupped his cheek.
“When we go back, our lives are crazy again. You’ve got school and coaching,
I’ve got the store to run. Let me live in fantasy land a little longer. I’ll
stay glued to your side, which isn’t hard now that we’re married.” My attempt
at a flirty smile failed, instead wavering and calling attention to my false
attitude of serenity. Inside, my nerves twanged like an out of tune guitar.

“That was a waste of
time.” Aunt Eunice plopped next to me. “That woman is a real good liar. Nobody
can be that chipper all the time.” Her eyes narrowed. “What’s the matter with
you?”

“Somebody tried to
push her over the railing into the crater.” Planting his hands on his thighs,
Ethan pushed to his feet.

“What?” Joe stomped
up. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m
sure.” Could he not, just once, believe me outright without my having to prove
myself?

“Where were you?”
Uncle Roy put his arm around me. “Why weren’t you looking out for our girl?”

Ethan’s jaw clenched

“I wandered off to
take pictures.” I slipped free and stood by Ethan. “While I appreciate your
concern, Uncle Roy, I’m Ethan’s girl now.”

His eyes reddened.
“You’ll always be my girl. A ring on your finger won’t change that.”

A mountain set up
residence in my throat. “I love you, Uncle Roy. You, too, Aunt Eunice, but
Ethan is perfectly capable of watching out for me.”

“Maybe I’m not.” He
glanced down. “If I hadn’t been close enough to hear you scream
,
you could have gone over before anyone knew you were even
in danger.” He ran his fingers through his windswept hair. “I think we should
go back, but
Summer
says no.”

“I don’t think I
would want to let the killer win, either,” April said. “It’s bad enough you
have all of us here on your honeymoon. I say you go about things as if nothing
happened. Don’t get involved in gathering information or anything. Just have
fun and keep one eye peeled behind you.”

“Or,” Aunt Eunice
added. “We solve this darn thing and enjoy the rest of the trip.”

I kind of liked that
idea. “What did you find about Mrs. Aldrich?”

“Other than that she
is infernally happy?” Aunt Eunice crossed her arms.
“Nothing.
Boy howdy, it’s chilly out here.”

“Yes, but so
beautiful.” I slipped my hand into Ethan’s. “I’d like one more look before we
go, okay?”

He nodded and led me
to the crater. He positioned me in front of him and leaned against my back, one
arm on each side, providing a protective barrier.

I looked down. Way
down, and gave thanks to God that I wasn’t a part of that awesome landscape. I leaned
into Ethan’s strong chest.

“I want to stay and
find out who is trying to kill me.” I turned and stared into his face. “If I
don’t, I’ll always wonder. Always be looking over my shoulder.”

He nodded and
blinked rapidly before pulling me tight to his chest. “You scare me to death.”

Chapter
Ten

“
Here.
” April slipped my
tazer
into my hand right before I entered my cottage. “I brought it as soon as we
knew what was going on out here.
Thought you might need it.”

“Thanks.” I hugged
her. “You’re the best.” I slipped the small box-shaped object onto the entry
table by the door the moment I followed Ethan into the room.

He sat in the
armchair, head in his hands.

My heart melted at
the sight of him so dejected, so worried. Maybe we should go home. It was selfish
of me to put him through this. A knock sounded at the door, stopping me from
uttering words I really didn’t want to say.

I turned. Officer
Manano
, accompanied by his sidekick, Williams, stood on the
sidewalk. “Officers, how may I help you?”

“This is not a
pleasure call, Mrs. Banning.” Officer
Manano
pushed
past me. “So, I will get straight to the point. Did you visit Haleakala Crater
today?”

“Yes.” Had someone
told him about my close escape from death? My gaze fell on the
tazer
. I stepped in front of the table and slid the object
behind the lamp. It wouldn’t do for Officer Five-O to confiscate my only
weapon.

“Did you speak to
Mrs. Aldrich?” He nodded to Williams, who pulled a notepad and pen from his
pocket.

“No, I did not. Why
would you ask me that?”

“What’s this about?”
Ethan stood next to me.

“Mrs. Aldrich is
dead. Someone thought she needed to dry her hair while taking a bath.”

“What?” Was this
building too old to have a breaker that would trip if an electrical appliance
fell in the water? I glanced toward the bathroom. “Isn’t there a code or
something that prevents buildings from being archaic enough to allow someone to
be electrocuted?”

“Apparently not,” he
answered.

“Someone needs to
check into that.”
Seriously.
Someone else could be
killed.

He peered at me from
under thick brows. “I’ll get right on it.”

My legs refused to
hold me. I collapsed onto the sofa. “She was so happy earlier.”

“I thought you
didn’t speak with her.”
Manano
leaped on my words
like a bird on a June bug.

“I didn’t, my –” I
ducked my head, not wanting to give up my aunt to this man I didn’t trust.

“
Your
what?”

“Aunt.”
I sighed. “Aunt Eunice said Mrs. Aldrich was
happier than anyone had a right to be.” Why did I feel like a stool pigeon?
Anyone in their right mind would know Aunt Eunice couldn’t kill anyone. Well,
maybe a deer or a rabbit, but nothing human.
Poor Mr.
Aldrich.
He must be devastated. He and his wife had seemed so in love
with each other.

Williams’s
pen scratched the surface of the paper. When
I craned to see what he wrote, he turned away.

“Any reason your
aunt might want to stop Mrs. Aldrich from being so happy?”

“That’s pure
ridiculousness.”

Manano
gave me a cold stare. “I sincerely hope you
aren’t planning on leaving Maui any time soon, Mrs. Banning.”

Well, there went
Ethan’s opportunity to spirit me away.

“Not before the
thirteenth,” Ethan said. “By then, we’ll all know for sure who the killer is.”
The frigid tone of his voice gave me goose bumps.

The two men stared
unblinking until
Manano
turned away. “Stay out of
police business. There’s more going on than you know.”

From the determined
look on Ethan’s face, I knew he was set on finding out just what that was. The
thought scared me a bit. He had helped me a lot in the last two mysteries I
solved, but with this one, he might be even more fixated than me.

After the police
left, Ethan turned to me. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

He tugged me to my
feet. “I need to talk to Joe. We need to come up with a plan to solve this
thing before you’re either killed or thrown in jail.”

Neither option
appealed to me, so I slipped my feet back into the flip-flops that had slipped
off when I plopped to the sofa, and followed my husband outside.

No sun peeked
through the trees as it said farewell to the day. Instead, the moon hovered
above an inky ocean. Water lapped the shoreline with the relaxing sounds of
waves against sand. A paradise soured by two deaths.

“We weren’t home for
long, Ethan.”
I quick-stepped to keep up with him.
“Someone needed easy access to Mrs. Aldrich. I think we need to look closer at
her husband.”

He peered at me.
“You don’t think he’s too obvious?”

“Maybe he wants the
police to think just that.”

“What’s his motive?”

I shrugged. “That’s
the million dollar question.” I slipped my hand in his, loving the feel of his
callouses
.

No lights shined
from my family’s cottages.

“Let’s go down to
the beach.” I squeezed Ethan’s hand. “We have a suspect list. The two of us can
maybe come up with some motives.”

“Maybe.
But it’ll be tough without asking some
questions.” He turned toward the main building. “What do you think about trying
to get into Mr. Jamison’s room?”

“You mean illegal
entry?” I grinned. “I’m all for it!”

“
Shhh
.”
He laughed and pulled me behind a bush. “We need a plan.”

“We can be
drunk
newlyweds looking for our room. Maybe no one will be
around other than the maid, and she might not know exactly where we’re staying.
I haven’t run into her much.” Adrenaline coursed through me. I didn’t think,
God forgive me, I could ever get tired of spying on people or sneaking into places
I wasn’t supposed to be.

Most likely, I’d
have to answer to God someday but I was certain He would understand. After all,
He gave me my insatiable curiosity.

“Do you know how to
act drunk?” Ethan’s eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

“I’ve seen actors do
it. How hard can it be?”

“Let’s just be so
engrossed in each other that we are oblivious to anyone around us.”

“That will work
too.” I slipped my arm through his and snuggled close.
“Lead
on, handsome husband of mine.”

“We need a glimpse
of the guest book to see which room is his,” Ethan said. “Pray it’s left where
we can find it.”

The foyer of the Bed
and Breakfast was empty. The dining room was set for breakfast. The living room
was dark but for a single lamp burning. I remembered Mrs.
Wahine
saying guests were welcome to sit and read at any hour of the day or night.
Closed on the welcome desk was a burgundy leather book.

“That’s it.” These
people were either very trusting or very stupid. I flipped open the cover to
April 3 and ran my finger down the page. “Here it is. He was in cottage number
two.”

“Back
of the property.
Convenient for a killer.”
Ethan pulled me along with him and
out the double French doors leading to the cottages farther away from the
ocean.

“Who has access to
the nuts?”

His steps slowed.
“Nuts?’

“The
gift box that’s given to every guest.
Wasn’t he poisoned by them?” We continued our walk. “Do we know what
kind of poison?”

“Maybe Joe can find
out. It would have to be something undetectable by the guest.”

I know if I wanted
to poison someone, I would use plain old easy-to-get rat poison.
Or arsenic, maybe.
Anything I could dilute in water and
inject into something would be my weapon of choice. If I were a murderer, that
is.

We stopped in front
of cottage number two. Yellow crime scene tape, having come loose from a nearby
bush, waved an eerie welcome in the night breeze. Not a good advertisement for
the
Wahine
B & B.

I figured the front
door would be locked, but used the hem of my dress to turn the handle anyway.
Yep.
Locked.
Ethan motioned toward the side of the
building.

Staying in the
shadows, we made our way to the back where approximately two feet above my head
was the bathroom window. Open and beckoning us to enter.

“Give me a boost.” I
put my hands on Ethan’s shoulders. “Once I get inside, I’ll unlock the door for
you.”

“No, open a bedroom
window. I don’t want to be seen going in the front door.” He hefted me up and
almost tossed me through and onto my head. My flip-flops fell outside
somewhere.