by Toby Neal
Sophie picked up her phone and scrolled through the list she had made of the addresses and contact information for the people and possible witnesses on the case. The Hui’s board treasurer, Aki Long, lived right beside Shank Miller’s estate.
Sophie craned her neck, but she couldn’t see Long’s entrance around the palms and the coral stone wall, but it had to be on the right of the Miller estate, according to the street numbering.
Sophie pulled into Shank Miller’s estate entrance and leaned over to a black stone obelisk on the left with a recessed security camera and coded buttons.
She pressed the intercom and a tinny female voice spoke. “State your business.”
“Sophie Ang, here to see security specialist Jake Dunn.” The rounded video dome activated, a brief flash of movement, and the metal gate retracted.
Sophie pulled the car forward into a circular drive that reconnected with the gate so cars could drive through without reversing. She pulled into an apron of parking area planted with ornamental palms, and parked beside Jake’s black Ford Escape rental.
Her partner bounded out to meet her with his trademark energetic stride, wearing his usual black. “Sophie! Glad you could make it to check out the scene. Feast your eyes on paradise!”
Sophie locked the door of her rental and followed Jake along a path of lava rocks interspersed with emerald green poufs of moss. The front door of the ocean-facing mansion was double-sided, each heavy panel inset with thousands of pieces of beach glass in a mosaic of waves. Jake took hold of one side of the double doors by a conch shell handle, and gave it a tug.
Inside, the gleam of polished, dark wood floors was counterbalanced by furniture covered in cotton canvas slipcovers decorated with aqua pillows. A bank of glass windows opened to a view of the ocean and beach, with the tiny island of Kahoolawe a violet shadow on the horizon.
Sophie could not restrain a gasp. “This is beautiful.”
“Shank is out of town on tour right now. I’ve been working on improvements around the grounds to put in the equipment we need.” Jake led her across the gleaming expanse of room to a sunken seating area. More couches created inviting seating in front of a bank of huge glass sliders.
A tall black woman wearing a Hawaiian print wrap dress approached from the modern, open kitchen area, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. Huge gold hoops almost brushed her shoulders and her close-cropped hair was colored a striking henna. “Welcome to Hale Kai. I’m Antigua, and I keep everything running around here.”
Sophie smiled as she shook the woman’s hand. “Sophie Ang. I work with Jake, and I love your name.”
“Antigua is amazing. This woman can cook like an angel and she’s my right-hand woman with the security project.” Jake looped an arm around Antigua’s shoulder, giving a squeeze. “She pretty much excels at everything.” They exchanged a smile that made Sophie blink. Was her partner involved with this woman? It was none of her business.
Sophie sat down on the edge of a white couch. “This place has a feel of some of the beautiful ex-pat homes my father took me to visit in Thailand. I can only imagine how much a place like this costs on Maui.”
“Well, Shank has the dough. But if you look out the door, you can see our security challenges right away. He doesn’t want anything in the way of his view, and that leaves the whole front of the estate open to penetration from the beach.” Jake pushed open one side of the sliders and led her out onto an artfully weathered teak deck with steps leading down toward the swath of lawn that ended at the beach. “A Plexiglas wall is already in the works,” Jake said. “We’ll have a fence then. I’m setting up motion-detecting perimeter alarms today. I had to wait until Shank was out of town for all of these improvements. He hates to be reminded of how vulnerable he is.”
“I don’t blame him for that.” Sophie walked to the edge of the lawn along sandstone pavers sunk into the grass. “So this seems like a big job.”
“The initial set up and staffing, yeah. Why I could use help. With just me, it’s taking longer. You could put in that nanny cam A.I. program a lot faster than I can, for starters.”
The ocean glittered turquoise and cobalt, ruffled by the ever-present breeze. Just beyond the edge of the yard, the beach stretched away, peopled by only a few visitors. Sophie turned to look at the mansion beside them.
Aki Long’s mansion was completely different, done in a modern minimalist style of intersecting blocky shapes in cream-colored stucco. A thick ti leaf hedge with wire embedded on the inside encircled it. On impulse Sophie walked out onto the beach and headed to the right.
“Sophie! Where are you going?”
“Just saying hi to our neighbor.” Sophie headed for the estate’s gate, a gap in the tall ornamental hedge. She knocked on the metal gate, loudly.
Aki Long tugged a logo-decorated golf shirt down over a paunch of belly and ran a hand through thinning salt-and-pepper hair as he came down off a wide white stone porch to speak to her. He was not happy to see her, judging by the way his brows drew together. “Ms. Ang. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”
“I was just in the neighborhood.” Sophie tried an engaging smile. “We are putting together a security package for your neighbor, and I was surprised to see that your home is in this area.” She made an arm gesture that encompassed the expensive real estate all around them.
“Being a CPA pays rather well,” Long said acidly. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
Sophie kept up the smile. “Of course. Have you had any security concerns? As we put together our services for your neighbor, it would be a big help to know what kinds of measures have worked for you.”
Sophie could almost hear the man thinking, though his blocky face was expressionless. Should he invite her in, play the host, or would it be better to stonewall her?
“That information is private and confidential,” Long said, with a chilly smile. “How good would my security be if I went around giving out my personal information to anyone who asks?”
Stonewalling it was, then.
Sophie inclined her head. “Well, thanks anyway. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Long.”
“Certainly hope you are able to stop those thieves at the Kakela site,” Long said. “I’m sure you’re doing the best you can.”
His tone told her he believed the opposite to be true.
Jake stood in the sand watching the exchange, his hands on his hips, but his brows were drawn together as she returned. “What was that about?”
“Nothing. Just thought I’d say hi to the Hui’s board treasurer—he’s your next-door neighbor.”
“Small island,” Jake said. “Follow me and I’ll show you the cottage. There are separate bedrooms and everything.”
The cottage was small and well-appointed, and it did look like they would have enough privacy to function. On their way back, Antigua brought out a plate of delicious shrimp puffs and melon and prosciutto. “Jake tells me you need a little persuading to take the job. Let me lure you with snacks,” the woman said, her teeth gleaming like pearls.
“I do love good cuisine.” Sophie loaded up a napkin and popped a bite into her mouth. “Thank you. You are very kind.”
Jake filled a big palm with the shrimp puffs. He tossed one into the air and caught it in his mouth. “You make me into a trained seal, Antigua. I’ll do anything for your cooking.”
Antigua smiled at Sophie. “Does he ever settle down?”
“Not that I know of,” Sophie said. “I think he’s twelve going on…what is it, Jake? Thirteen?”
“Hey! Sophie made a joke!” Jake clapped her on the back and she staggered. “Antigua, my friend here is frighteningly smart—and literal. I am honored to have provoked her first known attempt at humor.”
“English is my second language,” Sophie told Antigua. “I’m American and Thai, and I grew up there.” She glanced at her phone. “Speaking of friends, I am on my way to share dinner with another friend and her family. I must be going.”
&
nbsp; Antigua insisted on wrapping up some of the appetizers to take with her, “As a pupu. Never arrive empty-handed in Hawaii!”
Jake walked her back to the cars. “I think this is going to be fun.” His gray eyes were sincere.
“It’s certainly a more luxurious setting than my current one,” Sophie agreed. “See you soon.”
After Jake let her out of the estate, Sophie drove her rental car out to Lei and Stevens’s compound in Haiku on the east shore of Maui. She yawned—that early morning nap she’d taken hadn’t done much to restore her energy.
The Kakela site was being watched during the day by a Hui employee, but she’d be an hour or so late getting to her surveillance shift with the visit to her friends’ house for dinner—not likely to be a problem now that the thief knew the property was lighted and alarmed.
Sophie’s phone rang on the seat beside her. She picked up after checking the caller ID. “Hello, Dr. Taggart.”
“Geez, woman, are you always so formal?”
“Hey there, Brett.” Sophie hit the speaker feature and set the phone down in the drink holder. “Maui has a cell phone ban, so I have you on speaker.”
“Anyone else in the car?”
“No, why?”
“Because I’m paranoid about being caught telling one of my bad archaeology jokes. Here it goes: if you’re an archaeologist, does that mean your life is in ruins?”
“I don’t know.” Sophie frowned. “I suppose most of it would be spent excavating.”
“Never mind.” Taggart cleared his throat. “I called with some fairly big news. The Hui has received an offer to buy the site from a private company.”
Sophie was still puzzling over his question. “I don’t see what’s funny about what you said. Archaeologists deal with ruins all the time.”
“It’s stupid. A dumb joke. Never mind, please let’s forget it.”
“No. I grew up outside the U.S. A lot of colloquialisms are opaque to me.”
“See, that’s it. Colloquialisms are opaque.” Taggart snorted a laugh. “Okay. The phrase “life in ruins” means things are going bad in your life—it’s a train wreck. Things are falling apart. You’re going to the dogs.”
“Going to the dogs?”
“Oh please, please forget it and let’s move on. Did you hear my news?”
“About the private offer to buy Kakela? What is the significance?” Sophie navigated a traffic light outside of Kahului and turned onto the Hana Highway. Fields of waving green sugarcane bordered the roads, the late afternoon sun gleaming on their sword like leaves. The expanse of open space gave a sense of a green ocean, rippling with wind and leading the eye up the mauve and taupe expanse of Haleakala volcano, wreathed in clouds.
“How much longer do you have on your security contract? For the Hui?”
“It was for two weeks to begin with. I have eight more days.”
“Well, a major Hawaii real estate investment firm has made an offer to buy the Kakela site from the Hui. It’s a big deal because the offer is significant, and the board is considering it.” Taggart named a figure that made Sophie’s eyes widen.
“But what about the cultural significance of the site to the whole community, and the state?” Sophie tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as the rental approached the coast. A wind-whipped expanse of waves and cliffs opened up on her left.
“That’s a thing, but the party making the offer has included a proposal to excavate the site to the highest standards and to restore it as part of the offer. They want to create a cultural tourist attraction that earns its keep in entrance fees.”
Sophie considered this. “What are the negative aspects?”
“You mean the downside?”
“If you want to put it that way. You like colloquialisms.”
“Take to ’em like a pig to mud. Honestly, if this offer is sincere, I can’t think of one. Other than the Hui losing control of the site, and it being in private hands. I don’t honestly care about that one way or the other, as long as the site is properly excavated and restored…and they use my firm to do the work.” Taggart gave a dry chuckle. “I’ll keep you posted.” He ended the call.
Twenty minutes later, Sophie pulled up at the high wooden gate that enclosed Lei and Stevens’s property. She pushed the button on the keypad beside the gate. “Hey there. It’s Sophie.”
“Sophie! Glad you could make it.” Stevens, Lei’s husband, had a mellow baritone voice rendered hollow by the intercom. The gate retracted on its wheeled axis, and Sophie drove forward, up the curving driveway past the orange and lemon trees and Lei’s father Wayne’s cottage. She drew up and parked in front of the sturdy wooden plantation style home that Lei and Stevens had purchased with Lei’s inheritance from a recently deceased aunt.
Her friend met her at the door of the cottage, their son Kiet on one hip. The baby was astonishingly good-looking. Dark green eyes framed by long, thick lashes, a full head of curly black hair, and pale mocha skin marked his mixed heritage. Kiet’s striking looks struck a chord in Sophie. Mixed heritage was both beautiful and challenging to live with, as she knew firsthand—but Hawaii was one of the best places in the United States in which to be a person of color. She was just another drop in the sea of races that made their home in the Islands.
Kiet reached dimpled hands toward Sophie, burbling something adorable.
Sophie took the baby in her arms. “He just said ‘Auntie Sophie.’ Could he be any more beautiful?”
Lei laughed. “Don’t really think so. He’s an exceptionally cute baby, and he knows it.”
Stevens pushed the front door wide, coming out to join them on the front porch. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes! Your face looks wonderful, Sophie. So good to see you and glad you’re okay.”
Sophie felt the quick sting of tears as the tall, rangy, blue-eyed man she had come to think of as a brother embraced her, along with the baby.
“Thanks. It’s nice of you to say so, but that scar…”
“Just adds character,” Stevens said. “If anything, you look a little dangerous. And sexy.” He wiggled his brows.
Lei punched him in the arm. “Hey, I’m right here!”
Stevens winced theatrically. “Like you would let me forget it.”
Bickering playfully, the two went into the house. Sophie followed more slowly, the baby on her hip, pausing to greet Keiki, Lei’s well-mannered Rottweiler, leaning Kiet down so he could tug on the dignified dog’s ears, babbling the while.
Looking around the humble, well-worn living room, Sophie felt a painful tightness in her chest.
This.
This was something she wanted.
A home. A child. A man to joke with, laugh with, and kiss…as Lei and Stevens were doing in the kitchen, their passion for each other seemingly undiluted by marriage and parenthood.
Dinner was casual and noisy as Jared, Stevens’s firefighter brother, a recent transplant from California, joined them at the picnic table in the dining room along with Lei’s father, Wayne. Shoyu chicken, rice, a big salad, and Antigua’s pupu were enhanced by beer, and provided a simple and delicious meal. Sophie took it all in, even exchanging flirtatious comments with Jared.
Jared was just as physically riveting as his brother. Short dark hair set off a face more handsome than Stevens’s rugged one, but his blue eyes were the same crystal color. He had asked Sophie out in the past, and she had refused on the grounds that a long distance relationship was too difficult to maintain—but there was no denying the man’s attractiveness. A firefighter who enjoyed ocean sports, Jared was obviously enjoying life on Maui as he told stories of his various adventures.
Wayne doted on the baby and fed him in his highchair. Wayne’s silver-shot, curly black hair, craggy features, and many tattoos gave him a rakish look at odds with the tender manner in which he cared for the child. Watching that made Sophie miss her father, Frank Smithson. The most nurturing person in her life, her ambassador father traveled a lot, but when he was home,
he’d always lavished her with his full attention, as if to make up for her mother’s emotional absence.
Pim Wat Smithson’s chronic depression had kept her from being much more than a nominal parent. Sophie’s nannies had tried, but no one had filled the longing in her heart to be close to her mother, a longing that had led to her agreement to a disastrous early arranged marriage to much older businessman Assan Ang—a relationship that had nearly cost her life.
Jared touched her arm. “You keep making googly eyes at that baby, and I’ll start to think you’re in the market for one.”
Sophie smiled. “I would not be averse, were the situation to be right.”
“You sure you want to keep turning me down, then?” The teasing light in Jared’s eyes made Sophie laugh. “I’m not averse, either.”
“Sorry. I’m dating someone.” Sophie felt a blush heat her neck. Marcella would know how to turn his jokes back on him, but Sophie just verbally stumbled and stuttered.
“Oh, ho! Who is the lucky gentleman?” Stevens asked.
“Someone I work with on Oahu.” Sophie found herself reluctant to talk or joke about Connor—the relationship was so new and so complex that it wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted bandied about. Lei gave her a wink as she fetched the baby’s sippy cup.
The evening passed pleasantly, and all too soon she was saying her goodbyes. Out on the porch she embraced her friend. “I’m so happy for you and your family. I hope I have something half as happy as you do, someday.”
“You will.” Lei cupped Sophie’s damaged cheek gently. “It really is healing well.” The touch felt good on Sophie’s numb-but-tingly skin. She wondered when the graft would stop feeling so strange—the doctor had said it could take months for the nerves to begin to fire correctly.
“I’m so glad you came,” Lei said. “I never expected this to be my life, either, and I’m grateful. I hope I see a lot more of you while you’re here on Maui.”
Sophie had wrapped up the evening early with Lei and her family in order to get back to the Kakela site, but it was fully dark when she arrived. The grounds appeared secure as Sophie trudged to the trailer, fighting the familiar black fog of depression. She hung her backpack on the wall inside the door.
