Last Night (9 page)

"
I have no intention of letting Vanessa take Jason away.
"
There was more than a note of menace in his voice, and Dana held her breath, waiting for him to mention the knife and the note.

When he didn
'
t, Dana asked, "What does Eric say? After all, he
'
s Jason
'
s father."

"Nothing. My sons are as worthless as tits on a bull. Do you seriously think they can lead Coltrane Consolidated into the twenty-first century? I need Jason."

She nodded, surprised that he understood what mental lightweights he
'
d fathered. True, both Eric and Travis were outrageously good-looking, with full heads of hair that would turn a lush white like their father
'
s and square jaws with cleft chins that belied their weak personalities, but they weren
'
t in
tellectually capable of—or interested in—running a multifaceted company.

The original Coltranes had made their fortune in macadamia nuts. Local society matrons liked to dip the nuts in warm chocolate and eat them. Soon the Coltranes began exporting not only nuts, but boxes of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Big Daddy
'
s great-grandfather had also purchased the rich pa
s
tureland at the base of Haleakala and began raising cattle.

The family fortune had been made and the Coltranes became one of the wealthiest families in the islands, but that was then and this was now. Today
the vast groves necessary to cultivate the nuts were costly to maintain, and environmentalists were constantly pressuring them about using pesticides on the crop. The ranch itself carried an unbelievable tax burden. No d
oubt about it, Coltrane Consoli
dated, which also included numerous buildings in Honolulu and several exclusive hotels in Maui and Kauai, needed top-flight management. But Jason was a good twenty years from being able to help.

"
I
'
m not as old as I look,
"
Big Daddy answered her unspoken question.
"
I'm fifty-two. I'll be in my seventies when Jason
'
s ready to take over. I can hang on until then.
"

Not for the first time, Dana wondered who really ran Coltrane Con
solidated. Big Daddy seemed con
tent to laze around the ranch and ride out each day with the
paniolos
to check on the herd. She doubted he had much more ambition than his sons. Why would he expect so much of Jason?

"I married young, too young,
"
Big Daddy said, an unusual wistfulness to his voice. "When my boys were growing up I was still sowing my wild oats. I didn't give them proper guidance. I
'
m not going to make that mistake with Jason.
"

R
ob spotted Dana among the swarms of tourists in Maui
'
s air terminal. She was dressed in white shorts and a T-shirt with splashes of pink and aqua on it. She looked incredibly young, incredibly sexy.

He gave her the slow grin that could coax most women out of their panties in two shakes. Naturally
it didn't work on Dana. She parted her lips, revealing an even set of white teeth, which was about as close to a smile as he was likely to get.

She didn't like him, didn
'
t like being forced to work with him, and for an instant he wondered why he was trying so hard to change her mind. Because he felt challenged, truly challenged, not just by the case, which was proving to be a doo
z
y, but by the woman herself.

"
What did you find out?
"
she asked the minute he was within hearing range.

He put his hand on her shoulder.
"
Hey, is that any way to greet someone you
'
re crazy about?
"
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, knowing it would piss her off.
"
You can at least notice I cut my hair. And I have new clothes.
"

She gave the navy blue polo shirt and his khaki shorts a quick once over.
"
You look nice.
"

"
That's better,
"
he said with another encouraging smile that had about as much impact as the first one.

They started walking toward the baggage claim area and Dana asked,
"
Did you test the knife? What did it show?
"

"
The knife is brand-new. Someone hammered it and rubbed it with dirt to make it look old. There were scratch marks where someone deliberately loosened the screw so the blade would wiggle.
"

She stopped dead in her tracks and put her hand on his arm. Her green eyes echoed the disbelief in her voice.
"
Someone knows. How?
"

Rob was betting on Vanessa Coltrane, but he didn
'
t verbalize his thoughts. Dana was unbelievably touchy about her sister. He could hardly wait to meet Vanessa and confirm his suspicions.

"
Someone told.
"
Rob started walking again and Dana followed. She seemed to be taking care not to stand too close to him, he decided, as they stopped at the baggage carousel.
"
You know, Dana, we
'
re not going to fool the Coltranes for one second if you act like I'm dog shit.
"

"
What do you mean?
"

"
For starters try smiling at me. Pretend you
'
re glad to see me.
"
She responded with a halfhearted smile.
"
And whenever you
'
re near me, stand in my space.
"

"
Your what?
"

"
About three feet around everyone is their
'
space.
'
We
'
re uncomfortable if strangers stand too close to us. Lovers always stand close. They want that intimacy, and people pick up on that closeness. If you just stand closer to me it'll send a silent message about your feelings.
"

She moved closer, her body not quite touching his, and tried a smile that made her look adorable.

"That's better,
"
he said. "If you make certain to stand close it'll make it easier to whisper anything I don
'
t want the Coltranes to hear.
"

"Good idea,
"
she said so earnestly that he almost kissed her. "My sister says Big Daddy has the servants eavesdrop and report back to him.
"

"
Wanna hear about the blood on the knife?
"
he
asked, leaning close to her, his voice low.
"
It was snake blood.
"

"
There aren't any snakes in the islands.
"
Her eyes widened as she spoke, and he decided being this close to her was damn nice. He caught a whiff of her perfume, a light floral with a trace of spice, and he could see the double tiers of her lashes. They were long and unusually thick for a blonde.

"
It was harder than hell to identify the blood. My friend at UH did the tests. Cost me nothing except a round of drinks at Panama Jack
'
s.
"
He couldn
'
t resist bragging just a little. He didn
'
t want her to think of him as some sleazeball reporter. He wanted her to know that there was more to him. Much more. "This tells us a lot about the perp. Snake blood can be bought in Chinatown, if you know where to go.
"
She was looking at him now with genuine admiration in her eyes, and he experienced a charge of excitement that he hadn
'
t felt in years.

"
Really?
"

"
They sell so much snake blood in Chinatown— it
'
s an aphrodisiac, you know—that I couldn
'
t ID the person.
"
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope.
"
This came for you in yes
terday
'
s mail.
"

She took it and quickly opened it. They
'
d agreed that he
'
d open any of her mail if it appeared to be a blackmail letter. This plain white envelope with no return address and a Honolulu postmark had been a dead giveaway.

The note read:
Get out of Hawaii or I'll go to the police and tell them what you did.

7

F
or a second Dana looked so shocked, Rob thought she was going to fall into his arms. "Hey, at least we know what they want.
"

"
It's the Coltranes,
"
Dana informed him.
"
They're blackmailing me.
"

"
What makes you think so?
"
Rob pulled his bag off the luggage carousel. He guided Dana over to the car rental desk while she told him about the pig hunt. He rented a
red Mustang convertible and es
corted her to it, listening to Dana
'
s explanation that Vanessa planned to leave the ranch during Big Daddy
'
s birthday luau and divorce Eric Coltrane.

"
Somehow Big Daddy knows about Hank Rawlins,
"
Dana said as he tossed his bag in the trunk.
"
If he can get rid of me, then Vanessa will think twice before divorcing Eric. She has no money of her own. Without me she won
'
t be able to fight the Coltranes. They
'
re too rich, too powerful.
"

"
The way things work in these islands, anyone
'
s crazy to tackle one of the big-five families.
"

"The Coltranes know we were orphaned as children. Vanessa doesn't have anyone but me. She has no education beyond high school. Without me it'll be impossible for her t
o fight them—though she might tr
y.
"
Dana turned to him as he helped her into the convertible.
"
Believe me, Big Daddy
'
s worried. Last night he tried to convince me that Vanessa should open a boutique here on the island.
"

"
That's interesting.
"
Rob climbed into the car and started the engine.
"
From what I
'
ve heard that
'
s not Coltrane's style.
"

"It isn
'
t. I don
'
t think he wants a confrontation with Vanessa. That's why he
'
s trying to frighten us. That
'
s why he
'
s trying to placate her with a boutique. For some reason Big Daddy's acting out of character.
"

Rob stepped on the accelerator and passed a slow-moving truck filled with sugar cane. "Maybe you
'
re right, but I
'
ve been thinking. This threat seems more directed at you than at Vanessa. I'm betting Davis Binkley is pissed—big time—that his name wasn
'
t on the list for superior court. Hell, he's been presiding judge for years. You come in and do an end run around him. When I get back I
'
m checking the guy out.
"

"
I'm telling you, there
'
s something wrong at Kau Ranch. I can
feel
it. Big Daddy is the prime suspect.
"

Rob wasn
'
t certain that he agreed with her analysis of the situation. He figured he
'
d have a much

better idea of what was happening when he met Vanessa and the Coltranes and could judge for himself.

They lapsed into silence as he drove down the Haleakala highway, the wind ruffling his hair and bringing with it the scent of pineapples. He couldn
'
t help smiling. As much as he loved the excitement of Honolulu, there was nothing quite like Maui, where fields of pineapples and sugar cane covered much of the island. Between fields, thickets of ferns and dense bamboo encouraged the birds to take sanctuary. Their songs, as bright as the sunshine, brought him an astonishing sense of peace.

He glanced over at Dana. The wind had whipped her hair aside, leaving the gentle curve of her face exposed to the sun. He wondered if she knew how attractive she was. Probably not; she
'
d grown up in the shadow of a beautiful sister. She deliberately minimized her look
s, concentrating on her intelli
gence.

He had the feeling it wasn
'
t as simple as that. Dana Hamilton was a complex person. She hid so much about herself that he couldn't help wondering what she was really like.

"
Where are you going?
"
Dana asked when he turned off the highway.

"
I
'
m taking you to lunch at Mama
'
s." He didn
'
t add that he planned to spend as much time alone with her as possible and still thoroughly investigate the Coltranes.

"
You know your way around Maui.
"

"
Yeah. I
'
ve been here a lot.
"
He could have said
this was Ellen
'
s favorite island. When they
'
d been married they
'
d come over as often as they could. This was the first time he
'
d come back since the divorce.

D
ana had always liked Mama
'
s. The restaurant sat on a bluff overlooking a cove buffeted by the trades. The perpetual wind and the high waves brought dozens of windsurfers to the cove. From Mama
'
s, people could watch the windsurfers with their colorful sails jet around the cove and fly off waves with awesome agility.

Rob sat beside her, making it hard for Dana to keep her mind on the surfers. She'd managed to get herself under control, but since Rob had walked off that plane, looking incredibly attractive with his fresh haircut and new clothes, she
'
d been off-balance.

As he
'
d walked toward her, a welcoming smile making him even more handsome, she
'
d been stunned to realize how much she
'
d wanted him to come despite all the negative feelings she had about him. He could look at the situation with an outsider
'
s detachment, she
'
d told herself. It horrified her to think she actually needed him. She
'
d been on her own for so long and had been able to control most situations. Not this time. Now she needed Rob.

If he
'
d been what she
'
d thought, a crude reporter with a shady past but a talent for investigating, she could have easily dealt with that man. Instead, he was someone else entirely—and he wanted her to
know it. Intelligent and streetwise, Rob was also a keen observer of people.

Of her.

He
'
d picked up on things no one else had discovered. Worse, he seemed to know
exactly
how to get to her. That unexpected kiss in her kitchen had been one thing. What h
ad gone on today was another en
tirely.
His space.

Didn't he know what he was asking?

Of course he did. And he was clever enough to veil his intentions by insisting the Coltranes would notice if they didn
'
t appear to be lovers. He was right, but she had to be a total idiot to go along with it. Still, here she was smiling at him, leaning across the table at Mama
'
s into
his space.

They ordered the fresh fish that was Mama
'
s specialty. Dana braced herself, knowing if she didn
'
t explain their sleeping arrangements before they arrived at the ranch that Rob would see the room and misunderstand.

"
They
'
ve given us a really small cottage,
"
she began. "I tried to get it changed, but because of all the guests coming for the party, I couldn
'
t. There
'
s only one king-size bed. You can have it. I
'
ll sleep on the love seat.
"

He greeted the news with a wolfish grin.

"I don
'
t have any intention of sleeping with you,
"
she insisted.
"
This is a business arrangement.
"

"
Suit yourself, but you don
'
t know what you
'
re missing.
"

"Rein in your ego and concentrate on this case.
"

"Ooookay.
"
He pulled the cover off his camera and leaned so close to her that she could see the stitches of silver that made his blue eyes so unique.
"
This isn
'
t any ordinary Nikon. See this flash? It blinks twice, not to tell me the battery is low, but to indicate the pres
ence of electronic listening de
vices.
"

"
Surely you don
'
t think the Coltranes—
"

"
Did I ever mention that I was trained by the FBI at their facility in Quantico, Virginia?
"

"You know you didn
'
t.
"

"The United States is divided into crime districts, and the FBI trains
someone from a local police de
partment to work each territory as a perp pro.
"
She knew perp pros were specially trained to create psychological profiles of criminals, but she was surprised to learn Rob had been chosen to go to FBI headquarters to receive the advanced training. Obviously he
'
d been an exceptional detective. Why would he leave the force?

"Perp pros have been damn successful with repeat offenders like serial killers, who are often outgoing, seemingly trustworthy,
"
Rob said. She knew all this, but didn
'
t interrupt him, noting the boyish enthusiasm in his voice. Clearly he was in his element. "They usually keep something to remember the crime—pictures, tapes of the killing, something belonging to the victim.
"

Dana shuddered. "Gruesome, just gruesome.
"

"
The HPD still calls me in to consult—unofficially, of course. Remember that woman who was murdered on Kauai last year?
"

"The one who
'
d been strangled with a silk scarf?
"

"That
'
s right. It was a ritual killing, and I suspected the killer had done this before, even though there hadn
'
t been any similar crimes in Hawaii. Ritual murderers get a thrill from the ritual, and they tend to repeat their crimes with astonishing accuracy. I put the details in the FBI
'
s master computer and found murders in other tourist meccas.
"

"So that
'
s how they found that travel agent who
'
d strangled all those women,
"
she said as the waiter served their lunch. She couldn
'
t help being impressed. Despite h
is sexual overtures, Rob was ex
tremely competent.
"
What have you decided about the person blackmailing me?
"

"Well, I think t
he blackmailer is nonconfronta
tional.
"
He put his hand on her arm, his strong fingers exerting just the slightest pressure as he gazed directly into her eyes. "Someone you
'
d never suspect.
"

"If Vanessa hadn
'
t mentioned it I
'
d never suspect Big Daddy.
"

Picking up his fork Rob said, "I did a little checking on Thornton Col
trane. Big Daddy's a real hard-
case.
"
He chewed a bite of
opakapaka,
obviously savoring the pink snapper before continuing. "This isn
'
t his style, but it
'
s possible he might deliberately do something out of character so he wouldn
'
t be suspected.
"

"
That's what I think. As I told you earlier, he really doesn
'
t want a fight with Vanessa.
'