Paradise Crime Thrillers Box Set

by Toby Neal

  Sophie gave a wet chuckle. “Oh, I have stories. But not ones I like to tell.” She blinked moisture from her eyes, and Lei let go of her hand. They both tugged napkins out of the dispenser and Sophie dabbed her eyes while Lei blew her nose, and they both laughed self-consciously as the waitress set plastic bowls of miso soup down in front of them.

  “I’m still so self-conscious about it—especially with people who knew me before. I met all these new people here for the Maui job and it didn’t bother me.” Sophie spooned up a mouthful of broth. “I have my last scar removal laser treatment next week and have to fly back to Oahu for it.”

  “Your doctor did a beautiful job, and I’m not just saying that. I think in a year or so, you’ll hardly be able to tell but for that part up in your hairline.”

  “Well, that’s why I’m growing my hair out.” Sophie tugged at a handful of thick, dark brown curls. She’d always kept her hair buzzed short for easy care and her MMA fighting hobby, but now it was already three inches long, surrounding her head in a halo of ringlets. The skin graft had extended up into her scalp on the left side, and she arranged her hair to cover it. “So, my case. I had to talk to you about it anyway, so I’m glad you had time for lunch.” Sophie filled Lei in on the overview of the thefts at the site, and on her meeting with the three Hui leaders and Taggart. “Taggart gave me some more information after the meeting about where more artifacts may be buried on the island.”

  “How about I come out and check out the site?” Lei addressed her teriyaki beef with enthusiasm. “I can see the setup, and talk to the boys and make sure Lahaina PD is taking the burglaries seriously.”

  “Anything you can do would be great.” Sophie ate several bites of her tofu stir-fry, then picked up her cup of miso and sipped. “I’d love to be able to tell that arrogant board president Mano that MPD was doing all they could, and that I was part of facilitating that.” She described the dynamic within the Hui leadership. “There seems to be internal strife between the head of the board and the director. Thank God Taggart got me out of there today.” She took another sip and set the soup down. “It does seem like the thieves are targeting something that they’re looking for at the site. Taggart thinks it could be one of Kamehameha’s wives’ burial site.” Sophie scrolled to a note on her phone. “Kanipela was her name. The legend is that she drowned in the lagoon around the sacred island, dragged into the water by a mo`o, a Hawaiian water dragon spirit. Taggart thinks there’s a good chance she was buried on the royal island, which is where Kamehameha had his royal compound until it was moved to Oahu.”

  “Even I know that would be quite a coup to discover,” Lei said. “You mention this Taggart character a lot. Tell me about him. I’m surprised I haven’t met him around the island.”

  Sophie shrugged. “Different circles, I guess. He’s an interesting man. Very knowledgeable.” Taggart’s dark eyes, flashing with enthusiasm under the brim of his hat, were vivid in her mind from earlier. His hands moved as he acted out the story, describing the legend of the mo`o dragging the queen out of her canoe down to her death in the lagoon.

  “He attractive?” Lei’s sharp eyes never missed a thing.

  “Yes. In a rugged sort of way.” Sophie shrugged. “He smokes.” But smoking wasn’t the deal breaker for her that it was for some; she’d grown up around a lot of it overseas, and her father had smoked when she was little. “But I’m dating someone.”

  “So tell me more about this mystery man you’re going out with.”

  Sophie’s cheeks heated. She picked up a piece of tempura with her fingers and busied herself eating for a few moments, calming her heart rate. There was no way Lei knew Connor’s secret—her friend was only referring to the fact that she didn’t know Sophie’s current flame.

  “His name is Todd Remarkian. He’s the CEO of Security Solutions.” Sophie kept her eyes on her plate, dipping a piece of tempura into sauce casually. “He’s Australian. A very nice man. Fun. We like to take run-hikes with our dogs.”

  Lei leaned forward, smiling. The tiny, cinnamon-colored freckles across her nose and cheeks caught the light of the overhead paper lantern. The dimple in her cheek winked. “Dating the boss? Marcella tells me you two are thick as thieves.”

  “I guess technically Todd is my boss, but it’s a big company, and I have a different supervisor.” Sophie fiddled with her chopsticks. It was hard to talk about a relationship so new and so full of secrets. So tentative, and yet, already tested by life and death situations. So chaste, yet full of unexpressed passion. Sophie couldn’t even bring herself to tell Lei his real name—holding it close felt like a warm ember on a cold night.

  Lei sat back, grinning. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how things develop. I was sorry about you and Alika. That could have been something good. But it was time to get back on the horse, and I’m glad to see you’re doing that.”

  “What is it with Americans and getting on horses?” Sophie picked up a piece of tofu with her chopsticks. “I fail to see the connection between a relationship and horseback riding.”

  “And if you can’t make that mental leap, you’ve obviously been celibate too long.”

  This time they both laughed.

  Chapter Four

  Two nights later, Sophie was sitting in a semi-trance watching the monitors when one of the sensor lights went off, accompanied by a loud banging on the metal gate of the site’s fenced enclosure. “Sophie!”

  Sophie was already on her feet. She started in surprise at the sight of her partner at Security Solutions, Jake Dunn, in the monitor. His all-black, combat-ready clothing projected an intimidating message, as did his height and build—but his ready grin was pure masculine charm.

  Jake was a badass, but also a big softie who loved Ninja Turtle cartoons on Saturday, too much relish on his hotdog, and to give her fashion advice.

  Sophie jogged out of the trailer and unlocked the gate to let her partner in, feeling a distinct lift in her spirits. “Jake! What are you doing here?”

  Jake swung her up in his arms for a too-long hug. He never really stopped flirting in spite of her many reminders, and after months of working together, she had to admit she wasn’t totally averse to it.

  Jake kissed her cheek with a resounding smack. “Had to come over to make a pitch for another contract, and couldn’t resist breaking up my favorite partner’s exciting evening.”

  “And thank God you did. I was about to disgrace myself by falling asleep again.” Sophie pushed against Jake’s chest to get him to let go of her. “What job is this?”

  “I might as well tell you inside. We can get more comfortable.” He bounced his brows, incorrigible.

  “Come into my palace.” Sophie led him to the dilapidated trailer. “When you told me this was a job at a royal Hawaiian archaeological site, I had something a bit grander in mind.”

  Jake followed her up the rickety step. Inside, he looked around, hands on hips, overhead light gleaming on short dark hair, highlighting his shoulders in the tight black shirt. “This was not what I was told on the phone. They told me expense account. Air conditioning. A nice condo. We should never take jobs sight unseen—hence my trip over to check out this new one.”

  “Well, I suppose technically that’s all true.” Sophie hit the button on the ancient wall AC, and the unit rumbled into life. Condensation dripped into a can set beneath it. “I turned it off because somehow the noise makes me sleepier, and doesn’t really do anything temperature-wise.”

  Jake pulled a folding metal chair over to the desk and sat on it, extending long legs in black combat boots up to the desk’s surface and crossing them at the ankle. “Yeah. I was sold a bill of goods on this job. I should have taken it, not you.”

  “Well, except that I wanted it. I wanted to come see my friend Lei, get a change of scenery. I love Maui. And as for the job, except for the part where I’m a glorified night watchman, the situation at the nonprofit is interesting. It appears the thieves are looking for something sp
ecific as they dig these holes.” Sophie unlocked one of the desk drawers, and took out a thick report. “This is the interpretation of the ground penetrating radar survey done by the archaeology firm contracted by the Hui to Restore Kakela. This shows possible burial sites and concentrations of artifacts on the actual island, which is what this trailer is standing on. Most of the field you see out there is a former lagoon filled with dirt from the construction of the road leading out of Lahaina. It is unlikely to have had anything in it that didn’t decompose in the water. But the part that is the island…” Sophie unrolled the blue surveyor’s map of the site and spread it on the desk for Jake to see. “This island might even hold the burial site of one of Kamehameha’s queens.”

  Jake steepled his thick fingers. “How real is that? Because if it is, that’s something that would really put Kakela on the map.”

  “I don’t know how real it is. But, I’m getting to understand a little better what the archaeologists’ priorities are.” Sophie paged to the section in the report that seemed to indicate possible burials and relics on the island. “The GPR can’t distinguish small details, but these shapes indicate a possible buried canoe, which Brett Taggart, the archaeologist I’m working with, seems to think could be the queen’s burial site.”

  “So why hasn’t anyone excavated that? It seems like the first thing they would do.”

  “Dr. Taggart’s archaeology firm was hired to survey the site and locate all the edges of the island area. The Army Corps of Engineers is slated to come remove all the fill dirt in the former lagoon area in a few months. Once that is done, restoration of the actual island area will begin. The burial site will likely remain undisturbed. Hawaiian cultural value is to leave the burials the way they were and not excavate them.”

  “But that could leave the site open to vandals or thieves.” Jake frowned. “Which is why Security Solutions is involved at all. Wouldn’t finding the queen’s burial site increase those problems?”

  “Not if no one knew it was found.” Sophie traced the oblong shape of the possible canoe in the report’s illustration. “This report is highly confidential. Only the inner circle of leadership at the Hui has access to it. And you’re right. That’s one of the risks with a specific burial. If they build any sort of marker or monument, it could attract the kind of negative attention they’ve struggled with in Egypt.”

  “There’s no silver, gold, or precious gems here in Hawaii.”

  “No, but look at this example.” Sophie flicked open pictures on her phone. Pomai Magnuson had shared a photo of a chief’s necklace made entirely from polished dogs’ teeth. The lei had a hypnotizing, barbaric beauty. “This is a relic that was found on the site of a hotel built here on Maui. The body was reburied with this artifact, and blessed by a kahu, priest, on the grounds. It’s hidden beneath a rock formation so no one knows where it is. But don’t you think this is the kind of thing that a Hawaiiana collector would do just about anything to get his hands on?”

  Jake leaned in close to look at the photo on her phone. He pinched his fingers to open it wider, examining the detail of the polished ivory canines. “I see what you mean.”

  “And here’s a drawing of one of the human bone hooks found at this site.” Sophie scrolled to the illustration. The bone hook was an arc of the polished, tea-colored bone with holes drilled in the top and bottom. “Taggart told me these are not photographed, in order to show respect.”

  “Where is the barb to keep the fish on?”

  “The Hawaiians were master fishermen. They didn’t want a precious bone, infused with the mana of their ancestors, to be broken. Two separate barbs were lashed onto the hook’s body with animal hide at the bottom, and they could break off if necessary, from here.” Sophie leaned over to point, and heard the soft sound of a deeply indrawn breath—Jake inhaling.

  Was he…smelling her?

  Sophie pulled back, her neck instantly hot, but Jake continued to look down at the phone as if nothing had happened. She cleared her throat. “So, anyway, I wish there was a picture of a completely restored bone hook that I could show you, but this is an idea of what we’re dealing with. The bone is this color because of staining from the surrounding soil.”

  “I think I have more of an idea about these, and I can see the appeal.” Jake looked up at her. “You do any fishing?”

  “A little bit when I was a child growing up in Thailand, but nothing since.”

  “I’ll take you sometime. Great way to spend time in nature and bring something home to eat too.”

  “Sounds fun.” But would he try to turn it into a date? She’d told him she was seeing someone, but he didn’t seem to take the hint—or even the outright slapdown. “Tell me about this job you’re here to pitch.”

  “Shank Miller, a rock star with a beach house in Wailea, has become a part of a kayak tour.” Jake leaned back and away, lacing his hands behind his head. “The tour is technically staying outside of the no-harassment zone, but the tourists and paparazzi are camping out on the beach, trying to get a shot of him or his girlfriend sunning naked.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic-wrapped rod of beef jerky. “Want some?”

  “No, thanks.” Sophie sat back down in her chair to watch the monitors as he unwrapped the snack.

  “Anyway, Miller wants a full security system and he’s had a couple of incursions, so he wants to hire permanent bodyguards to keep the riffraff out of his area. As you know, no one can own Hawaii beaches, so rabid fans are able to get closer to celebrities here than just about anywhere.”

  “Sounds like you’ll be the one with the expense account and the nice condo.”

  “So far, so good on that score. Open bar and kitchen with a chef in the main house. Miller’s putting me up in a ‘cottage.’” Jake made air quotes. “It’s bigger than our office area on Oahu.”

  “I take it you’re pretty motivated to get the gig.”

  “Well, I made my best effort today, but there are several firms that sent over reps and estimates, so…” Jake shrugged. “But if Security Solutions gets the job, I’ll need a partner.”

  Staying in a cottage with Jake 24/7 wasn’t such a good idea…

  “But I’m already busy, so if these two Maui situations overlap, I won’t be available.”

  “Miller’s got his mainland security team holding down the fort, and you’re only on this Hui contract for two weeks, right? So it could work out. In fact, I’m going to propose to Remarkian that we open a satellite office over here on Maui, since we fly over so much and we both like it here.” Jake grinned, but his gunmetal-gray eyes were flinty. “Not that I think Remarkian will let you leave Oahu.”

  “We’re dating. Remarkian doesn’t own me,” Sophie said. “Time for a perimeter check.” She stood up, picking up the heavy metal flashlight and Taser. She needed to get a breath away from Jake.

  She walked outside of the trailer and deliberately out through the gate, outside of the fenced enclosure and range of the sensor lights. The cool night air, sweet with the smell of plumeria and dust, tickled her nose and calmed her nerves.

  Jake just needed to be reminded of boundaries—and that she was halfway in love with someone else.

  Connor.

  Connor, who could play the violin like a virtuoso, and computers just as well. Connor, who liked to rock climb and scuba dive and run-hike challenging trails with her and their dogs. Connor, who had told her that he loved her, and had taken a bullet to prove it.

  Connor, who had a mysterious and deadly alter ego.

  Sophie kicked an overripe mango hidden in the leaves under one of the big spreading trees that were so much a part of the Lahaina landscape. She peeked into the screened windows of the small older homes that lined the humble street, enjoying the sight of families seated around dinner tables and televisions. Barking dogs and the soft clucking of chickens, the hiss of a cat, the rustle of the wind in coconut palms—even a humble life in Hawaii was preferable to life anywhere else.

  Soph
ie wasn’t sure when that had become true for her, but it was.

  When she was good and ready, Sophie returned to the trailer, and the great big presence of Jake Dunn.

  “I brought a movie for us to watch. I thought I’d keep you company tonight.” Jake had opened the small backpack he’d been carrying. He took out a tablet. “The new Star Wars ought to keep us awake for a few more hours.”

  “Funny how it never occurred to me that I could be watching anything but the monitors,” Sophie said drily.

  Jake snorted. “Multitasking. I highly recommend it.”

  They settled into their chairs, and as the movie got going, Sophie realized how glad she was for the company.

  Chapter Five

  Sophie got up after a morning nap at her condo to recover from the graveyard shift, and decided it was better for her to see what Jake had to set up in person before she made a decision about working the job with him. She texted him that she was coming, then left the condo in Ma`alaea and headed out, yawning from the late night.

  Wailea was an immaculately groomed area of huge houses on the south coast of Maui, hidden from the public eye by high privacy gates and screening rows of ornamental palms. She passed the main hotels, and, following GPS cues, turned down into a small side road that looped along the island’s most expensive beach.

  Sophie frowned as she pulled up beside a fifteen-foot coral stone wall with a closed metal gate across the front.

  Something about the street address was familiar. She had seen that name and number somewhere.