North Shore Nanny

by Terry Ambrose

  Another of the women, this one was a little chunky and wore a green tank top, did the introductions. “I’m Willie. This is Maisy and Leilani. Maisy thinks you’re about as hot as they get and Leilani plays for the pink team, so you’ve got no worries there.”

  Leilani glared at Willie and yanked strands of blonde hair away from her face. The movement was useless because they fell back a few seconds later.

  Willie cocked her head at me while watching Chance. “Your friend have a name?”

  Maisy sat on Willie’s right, her face about the color of a stop sign. Obviously flustered, her mouth moved, but nothing came out.

  “Willie’s had a couple too many,” Leilani snapped.

  “McKenna,” said Chance. “His name’s McKenna.”

  “I had a puppy named McKenna once,” Willie said.

  Chance’s eyebrows went up and a smile crossed his face. “Seriously?”

  The woman shook her head. “Nah, I just wanted to see how gullible you were.”

  “He’s pretty green,” I said as I approached. I grabbed a chair from a nearby table and dragged it close to Willie’s, then I sat and rested my arms on the back of the chair. I fixed her with my best steely-eyed gaze. “But, I’m not. In fact, I’ve seen this same thing play out so many times. You’re the leader. You rule the others with an iron fist. Maisy’s meek and mild, so is Leilani, but she’s learned to overcompensate. You, on the other hand, get bossier the more threatened you feel. So, that leads me to believe you’re worried my partner and I might disrupt your little power play. How’d I do?”

  Willie pursed her lips. The smile on Maisy’s heart-shaped face had grown. I figured she agreed with me. And, Leilani kept a poker face while she took another gulp from her glass. Chance sat next to Maisy, who kept glancing sideways at him. All I could figure was she really had the hots for him, even though she never made eye contact with him.

  “Nobody’s called me on the attitude in years. Not even my husband.” A moment later, Willie looked at Chance. “You’re a PI? Guess you’re trying to figure out who killed Trinity Kraft.”

  “Correct. Let’s begin with where you all were on the day of the murder.”

  I glanced around the table. Great. We had three half-drunk women and none of them wanted to talk. We waited. Finally, Maisy broke the silence.

  “I dropped off my two kids at school first thing. I was at a rehearsal until I picked them up in the afternoon. Friday’s are super long days.”

  “Rehearsal?” Chance asked.

  “I’m getting my Masters in Dance from UH.” She had a rosy glow on her otherwise pure white skin. “We’re doing a benefit for charity in a few weeks. They give us extra credit, so it’s totally worth the long days. Mrs. Starling got home shortly after I fed the kids at five. I went to my room and crashed for a couple of hours before coming here.”

  "You live with them?" I asked.

  She bit her lip and nodded. "It's a big place."

  Right. Big place. Share it with the nanny. Why not? “Where’s your rehearsal?”

  Maisy’s shoulders slumped and she leaned forward. “All the way down in Mānoa.” She reached out as though she might put a hand on Chance’s arm, then pulled it back. “Do you know how long it takes to drive there in traffic?”

  There was something odd in Maisy's story, but if she was telling the truth, there was no way she could have taken time out to murder someone. “What about you, Leilani?”

  “I have about a million witnesses. I was on a school field trip for two of Becky’s kids. She’s got three, twins in second grade and one in preschool. I ramrodded a bus full of screaming second graders most of the day. By the time my day was done, I needed several of these.” She raised her glass.

  The ladies had barely touched their drinks when Chance motioned for Haku to bring another round. This time, I pulled out one of the bills June had given me. No way was he going to embarrass me twice in one night. When Haku arrived with the order, I paid, told him to take fifteen percent for himself, and bring me the change. He returned and doled out $65.45.

  I winced at the tedious change-counting process Haku put me through and wished I could change my penny-pinching ways. Thank goodness Chance was ignoring me.

  “So you were busy all day, too, Leilani. What about you Willie? Where were you the day Trinity Kraft was killed?”

  “I’d been off island for a few days. The Morningstars had business in LA, so we all packed up and went to the mainland. They do this at least a couple of times a year. You can check the flight schedule if you want. We didn’t get back until about two. I spent the afternoon getting my kids settled down while the parents went into work.”

  “What do they do?” I asked.

  “Calendars.”

  “Calendars?” I blinked, not sure what she meant.

  “Yeah, calendars. You know—babes on the beach. Hunks showing off their abs. Dogs all dressed or doing circus tricks. Crazy stuff like that. You see them everywhere.”

  I had. And it never occurred to me someone actually made a living off them. Good for the Morningstars, they'd found a way to make a living doing what they liked.

  “Were you both being paid on time?” Chance had a handy little notebook in his left hand, a pen in his right. He looked positively official with his forward-leaning posture and practiced attentiveness.

  All three women shook their heads. “No,” Willie said. “Trinity kept putting us all off. Now, I doubt it we'll see anything at all. That’s what makes no sense. If Juliana wanted to get paid, the last thing she would have done was to bite the hand—you know what I mean?” She paused for a moment and her brow furrowed. “Unless . . .”

  “Unless what?” Chance and I asked in unison.

  “There was something weird about the relationship between the two of them.”

  “Willie!” Maisy gaped at her. “I can’t believe you’re going to bring that up. Juliana’s a good person.”

  “We’re not out to hurt Juliana.” I felt like I was coaxing a child into the ocean for the first time.

  Chance echoed my sentiment. “We just want the truth.”

  “The truth will set you free,” grumbled Maisy. “Juliana’s so screwed. It’s gonna come out sooner or later.”

  A nod, a creasing of her brow, and Willie began. “Trinity ran background checks on everyone before they started. She must have found something about the VA scandal because she was asking us questions. She always wanted to know if Juliana ever talked about how she got fired. How the whole thing went down. Seriously bizarre.”

  Once again, Leilani pulled back the strands of hair hanging over her face, but they didn’t stay in place. “That night—you know, the day Trinity was murdered—Juliana drank more than usual. It was like she wanted to forget something—or didn’t care anymore. I don’t know, maybe Trinity had something on her.”

  “You think she was being blackmailed?” I asked.

  Before Willie could answer, Leilani’s phone rang with the Hawai‘i Five-0 theme song. Chance, who had been writing furiously, stopped and held my gaze. “McKenna, I just remembered something. We need to talk.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Chance and I stepped out into the coolness of the night. Overhead, stars sparkled against a black canvas. Through the front window, we could see the three nannies. They were chatting among themselves but snuck occasional peeks in our direction. The abruptness of Chance’s request to talk had me worried. What could he have remembered that would be so urgent?

  “Well?” I asked.

  “When I was following Juliana out of the marina, she met with someone. It was only for a couple of minutes, and I didn’t know who it was—until now.”

  “Willie?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Leilani. It’s her ringtone.”

  I blew out a puff of air and waved off his observation. “Jeez, Chance. Hawai‘i Five-0? You're basing your identification on—there have to be thousands of people who use the same one.”

  “
I know, but it was the hair thing, too. She keeps pulling it away and it falls back over her face. Juliana met with a woman who did the same thing. When she came out of the marina, Juliana called a number and I heard the ring. That’s when Leilani came out of the shadows. They didn’t talk long, maybe a few seconds, then split up. It’s possible Leilani drove Juliana to the marina. I’m wondering if maybe they were involved.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. But, I haven’t picked up anything in Juliana's behavior—I can't believe she's gay. We can always ask around the question. I think Leilani will simply deny it. Let me handle this one. Why don’t you pursue the question of the ladies getting paid?”

  Chance seemed to be pondering something. He had a vacant “wheels turning” look in his eyes. I waited while he worked through whatever line of reasoning he was following.

  “There’s another issue here, McKenna. Why did the nannies even got together that night? I mean, if someone murdered my boss, the last thing I’d do is go out to celebrate.”

  “Unless you wanted people to think you didn’t know it had happened. It’s the old ‘make people think you’re clueless when you’re not trick.’”

  “So you think they faked it?” Chance peered at me.

  I wish I knew. “We won't know until we find out who killed Trinity. It’s a good question, though. The other is why Juliana would choose that particular night to get drunk unless she had something big on her mind.” I tilted my head at the door. “You ready?”

  Moments later, Chance and I were settling in at the table for the second time. Other than Chance’s round being gone, and there being a healthy dent in mine, it didn't look like much had happened during our absence. Chance must have decided alcohol was our friend because the next thing I knew, another round arrived and Haku patted Chance on the shoulder as he passed behind his chair.

  Maisy’s eyes widened as she contemplated the wine glass before her. She leaned toward Chance and giggled. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

  Fortunately, Chance didn’t have to answer because Willie raised her glass and proposed a toast. “Here’s to Juliana beating this bogus murder charge! And to her new friends, McKenna and Chance!”

  We all raised our glasses, took a sip, and I saw the opportunity to ask about the ringtone. “Hey, Leilani, I’ve got to know, where’d you get the Five-0 theme song? I’m such a dufus when it comes to all that techno-gobbledegook. You must be really good at it. Maybe you could give me a tip?”

  Leilani’s smile brightened. “I’m a total Five-0 fangirl. I downloaded the song, then clipped it. It’s not hard to do. You could pull it off for sure.”

  “I still remember the original series. Loved it. In those days, I never dreamed I’d be living here. The islands have changed so much since then. What am I saying? The whole world has changed. Just think how tough it would have been for you back then.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She looked ticked off as she cast a black look in Willie's direction. “Willie has a big mouth. My sexual preferences are my business, no one else’s.”

  “Oops. My bad. Sorry if I offended you. I’m not judging. Look at me. I finally have a great girlfriend after too many years of being a curmudgeon. Do you have someone now?”

  “We’re on hold.” Leilani crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.

  What did that mean? She and Juliana couldn’t see each other until this problem blew over? Was she with someone else? Maybe they’d had a blow-up. This was going nowhere. Her body language telegraphed a strong message, also—she was shutting down.

  Chance came to my rescue. He asked, “So, Willie, you guys meet here every week?”

  He sounded chipper and not even close to drunk. I, on the other hand, had a solid buzz building. It wouldn’t be long before I’d be snoozing on the table.

  “It’s become a tradition,” Willie said. “All of us don’t always get here, but the night you’re looking at, yeah, we had a full house. And we weren’t celebrating Trinity’s death, none of us even knew about it until the next day.”

  Chance looked first at Maisy, then Leilani. Both did exactly the same thing. They shook their heads and denied having any knowledge of their boss’s death. After that, they avoided eye contact.

  “Do you think Juliana did it?” Chance continued to watch Leilani.

  “No way.” Her tone was emphatic.

  Spoken like someone in love, I thought.

  Turning to Maisy, Chance repeated his question. He seemed anxious to control the interview for a bit, so I settled back to watch.

  “I don’t see Juliana as a murderer," Maisy said. "I kind of agree with Leilani. I told the same thing to the police.”

  No surprise, the cops had already made the rounds. Too bad they couldn't use our secret weapon. Alcohol. It was definitely our friend.

  “But?” Chance let the question hang in the air.

  Maisy stammered, “What—what do you mean?”

  “You said you kind of agreed. That means you have some doubts.”

  “Oh. Nothing.”

  “She said she agreed with me. Leave her alone.” Leilani’s tone, along with her eyes, burned with a smoldering anger.

  “Actually, she did throw in a caveat.” Chance’s voice had been smooth as butter. "She said she kind of agreed."

  To my surprise, Willie had turned complacent. No longer was she ruling over her roost, she’d turned into a curious watcher. It was as though she were hearing this news for the first time.

  “What I meant . . .” Maisy wrung her hands, then buried her forehead into her palms.

  Chance raised an eyebrow at me. He rubbed his chin with one finger while watching Maisy.

  “We need to know why you had doubts,” I said.

  “She’s my friend. I can’t betray her again!”

  Again? Had she said something to the police? Or—

  Leilani exploded. “It was you! You’re the one who told her about Juliana? We always wondered who did it.”

  Willie looked bewildered and Chance, curious. We were running out of options and still hadn't gotten anything solid. It was time to invoke McKenna's Skip Tracing Secret #6—people have a weakness, find it and use it against them. Would a little drama push everyone's weaknesses over the edge? I slammed my palm on the table hard enough to make them all jump. “Enough!”

  Haku edged toward us from behind the bar, but he stopped when I flipped him a shaka sign. No worries, brah, all is well. “It’s true confession time, ladies. Believe me, it’s far better to do this now than in open court. Now, you . . .” I pointed an accusing finger at Maisy. “You’ve done something you feel guilty about. You said you couldn’t betray her again. What did you do the first time?"

  Maisy stammered, but I didn't let her answer. I was enjoying the moment far too much. I turned the fickle finger onto Leilani. "And you, you’re going to tell us about your relationship with Juliana. Chance saw you talking to her the night we met in the marina. Maisy, you’re first. And don’t lie to me. I can smell a lie from ten feet away.”

  I thought they might all bolt for the door, but they just sat like a group of scolded children. They must have been drunker than I thought. "Maisy, you start."

  She bit her upper lip and gazed at Leilani with eyes that begged for help. “Lei? Were you seeing her? I didn’t think she was . . .”

  Leilani reached out and took Maisy’s hands in hers. She sighed and closed her eyes, and when she again looked at Maisy, her eyes brimmed with tears. “I can’t believe this. How could you? I told you it was a secret.”

  Maisy sniffled, then her perpetual smile broke. “Leilani and I are lovers. I’ve always put on the guy-crazy act to keep the busybodies like Willie off balance. Juliana saw through it and I guess I felt threatened. The Starlings are so proper about everything. They're always asking me when I’m getting married and having my own kids. Between the two of them, they're worse than my mother. I’m positive they’d fire me in a second if they knew the tru
th. After Trinity died, I realized life’s too short to hide the truth.”

  Gazing at Leilani, Maisy sucked in a breath before she continued. “Were you two—?”

  Leilani jumped up from her chair and went around the table. She knelt beside Maisy, took her hand, and kissed it. “We were just friends. You and me, we’re done telling lies.” She swallowed hard and gazed at Chance. “I work for Elvira Pike. She’s a single mom who does freelance writing. The bulk of her business is under government contract. Her specialty is writing instruction manuals for new systems.”

  “What’s that got to do with Juliana or Trinity Kraft’s death?” I asked.

  “Mrs. Pike was working for the VA when Juliana blew the whistle on Dr. Wayford. One day we were talking about how hard it can be to make new friends and I mentioned Juliana's name. Mrs. Pike said she knew who she was. She told me about the nepotism, the shoddy care—she even knew about the veteran who died after he was misdiagnosed. That night I told Maisy. I never thought she’d say anything to Trinity.”

  “Did you?” I asked.

  Her shoulders and voice shook as Maisy dipped her head. “I didn’t mean to. She just always—intimidated me. And when Juliana said something to me about us . . .” She gazed at Leilani. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could be strong like you.”

  "You are strong, but in different ways," Leilani said.

  Maisy took a deep breath. “I told her the whole story. Trinity got this funny look on her face and I thought about warning Juliana. I felt like anything I did would only make things worse, so I never told her what happened.”

  “What do you think Trinity did with the information?” Chance asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I do,” Willie said. “She was blackmailing Juliana.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Willie’s statement about blackmail triggered a chorus of questions and accusations around the table. Anyone who’s ever been to a dog pound at mealtime knows exactly what it was like. The clamoring took in everything from “are you sure” to “no way” to expletives not fit for repetition. Once everyone settled down, we all just sat there, silent with our shock.