Shaved

by Gina LaManna

  “I’m sure you’re worried about your wife,” Kai said, turning to Anthony. “But I promise I’ll take care of her. She’ll be safe with me. I realized that I was a part of this whole mess when I accepted payment from Coco and hired Lacey on—that move put your family’s life in danger, and I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to Lacey or your daughter.”

  While I had already decided what to do, I didn’t interrupt. It seemed like Kai and Anthony were having a moment, so I let them stare one another down in peace. After a long pause, Anthony gave a single nod.

  “Be back in an hour,” he said to me. “And keep this phone on you at all times.”

  Somehow, Anthony had secured a spare phone and gotten Carlos’s car returned to the hotel lot from the luau location. I didn’t ask how he’d accomplished either task, though I suspected he might have packed a spare phone anticipating I’d somehow lose mine. I didn’t dwell on the details.

  “I will,” I said, leaning in to give him a hug. “I promise I’ll be back soon.”

  At first, Anthony held back with a nose wrinkle, but eventually he caved.

  “Consider this your third favor,” he said. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and pulled away with frosting on his cheek. “Be careful. Bella and I will be waiting for you.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to shower first?” Kai asked as I turned to face him. When I glared his way, he shrugged. “Then you won’t mind if I put a towel down on the front seat of my car?”

  Chapter 18

  “What is this place?” I asked as we pulled up to a small shop with rainbow-colored decorations strewn across the front. “It looks like a day-old birthday party for a five-year-old girl.”

  “You like shaved ice?” Kai asked as he parked his jeep and climbed out.

  I daintily stepped out the other side of the vehicle and adjusted the towel so it covered the seat. It sent up a whiff of smoke scent, and I hurried to slam the door shut before I gagged. “I don’t know, I guess. If it has sugar, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

  Kai’s face paled as he glanced at me. “You’ve never had it?”

  “You say that like it’s a mortal sin.”

  “I’ll have Louie make you one while you chat with Sam,” he said. “Would you like a snow cap on it?”

  “A snow what?”

  “Condensed milk drizzled over the top. A bit of heaven.”

  “Duh,” I said. “I drink sweetened condensed milk through a straw.”

  “This way,” Kai said, pushing open the door. “He’s in the freezer.”

  “Excuse me?” I stopped mid-stride into the building and paused to look up at Kai. “You froze him?”

  “It’s just a little chill.” Kai shrugged. “He wasn’t cooperating.”

  I felt a prickle down my neck as I glanced around the small shop. The fact that there was a man waiting in the interrogation freezer didn’t jive at all with the rest of the décor. The small hut looked like a diner spiked with sprinkles and explosions of color with bright decorations strewn upon the walls, flickering neon signs that said things like Party! And Fun! Fun! Fun! For some reason, I didn’t expect this visit would be fun one time around, let alone fun, fun, fun!

  Kai strode up to a large man who looked just like Kai behind the counter, and I trailed cautiously behind. All it would take was the broken tune of an ice cream truck for me to know that I’d been transported into a twisted horror flick. I waved a greeting to Louie, and he offered a grunt in return.

  “Are you guys related?” I asked, gesturing between the two big men.

  “How can you tell?” Kai laughed as he shouted an order to Louie and waved me onward. “Sorry for the chill, but this shouldn’t take long.”

  Kai showed me into the sort of shiny, metallic room that I’d only ever seen when said horror films took a turn for the awful. This was the sort of place where people were found dead with blue faces and purple lips. I shuddered, only partly because of the cold.

  We turned to the left, and I found myself face to face with Sam. His teeth chattered as he looked up at me, and his skin had a surreal touch of pale blue to it.

  “Kai?” I whirled on him. “What have you done?”

  “He’s only been in here two hours,” Kai said, raising a shoulder in apology. “We tried to find you sooner, but you were not able to be found.”

  I grunted and turned back to Sam. One wrist was chained to a metallic table that was bolted into the floor.

  “Hi, Sam,” I said, watching carefully as he gave me a pitiful look mixed with frustration. “I don’t like this any more than you do. Unfortunately, my cousin is missing, and he’s supposed to get married this week.”

  “T-that’s not cool,” Sam quipped. “But I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Maybe not, but I understand you might have some information for me?”

  “You’ve gotta promise to get me out of here if I talk.”

  “You have my word. I never wanted you in here in the first place. I didn’t even know I’d find you here until Kai showed up at my hotel tonight. Regardless, if you help me get my cousin back, I’ll make sure you’re released.”

  “Look, woman, I already said that I didn’t have anything to do with your cousin’s disappearance.”

  “Fine,” I said and turned to Kai. “I’ll take that shaved ice now and get going. This was a waste of my time.”

  “No—wait!” Sam called as I took a step toward the door. “I’m still going to help you. I have info.”

  “Start from the top,” I said. “Who’s Coco?”

  “I don’t have a face or a real name,” Sam said, “and that’s the honest to God truth. I don’t know a soul on the island who has that information. If they do, they’re so far on the inside they’re not talking. If anyone spills Coco’s secret, they and everyone they told ends up dead. Understand?”

  “Loud and clear. What’s your involvement with him?”

  “Employment. But I’m nobody big, I’m just an errand boy. I make collections from time to time and drop money for Coco to pick up at the bank. I never see him. I don’t interact with him. Sometimes, if someone is having trouble paying, I chase them down. Stuff like that. Menial odds and ends.”

  “But they keep your bills paid, usually,” I said. “Except when May had to pay them.”

  Sam scowled. “I struggle to manage money.”

  “Uh-huh,” I said. “Tell me what you know about May, Coco, and my family. The links between us. Why am I wrapped up in this? Why did Coco hire me through Kai to investigate May’s death?”

  Sam’s face went through an immediate change. His eyes lost their fire and his shoulders slumped. He gave a shake of his head, and with it, all fight seemed to slip away. “May wasn’t supposed to die.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means,” he said, turning blood-shot eyes up at me. “That I got my girlfriend killed.”

  “Did you set the bomb?”

  “Not exactly, but I did enough. Her death is my fault.”

  “Explain,” I demanded. “In detail.”

  “Coco came to me with a proposition. Not in person,” he said quickly, “but through someone else. I don’t know who—we met on opposite sides of a confessional.”

  “How very covert of you.”

  “This guy came to me the morning you arrived at the hotel. He told me that Coco was planning to kill me unless I helped him on a mission.”

  “Why was he planning to kill you?”

  “Intimidation?” Sam shrugged. “He’d do it, too. I’m disposable. One in a million minions. But I had something that Coco wanted, and that something was May.”

  I squinted at him, trying to piece everything together as he spoke.

  “May had access to your room,” Sam said, hesitating. “Don’t you see? He wanted you dead. The bomb was meant for you.”

  If possible, my already chilled body temperature dropped a few more degrees. I stood stock still. Even my shiv
ers were spooked away.

  “I’ve never been to Hawaii before,” I said. “I have no clue who Coco is. Why would he come after me?”

  “I don’t get a write up of his reasoning, I’m just told what to do. If I don’t do it, I die. Very simple.”

  “And Coco chose you because he knew you loved May, and she loved you,” I said. “She’d do anything for you.”

  Sam gave a mournful nod. “I was promised a reward. Once I accomplished this certain task, I would be rewarded with a healthy payout. I talked it over with May, and we agreed that we should do it and then ditch town once the money came in. Move to Fiji, or Jamaica. This was the end for us.”

  “How did Rachel play into all of this?” I asked. “We know she loved you, too.”

  “She thought she did, but that was a long time ago. Things started getting serious with May, but Rachel kept thinking we were going to get back together.”

  “You weren’t?”

  “No,” he said. “But May and I were planning to run away together, so I just let Rachel think we might get back together in the future.”

  It was my turn to frown at him.

  “I know I should have handled the Rachel situation better,” Sam admitted, “but I never claimed I was a nice guy. And Rachel is a bit cuckoo. Every time I tried to break up with her she threatened to do something to May. I told May about it, and we agreed to let Rachel keep thinking I was going to dump May. There was no hidden love triangle or anything—May was in on it the whole time. It was for her safety that we let Rachel keep thinking she might have a chance with me.”

  “Because you both were getting out of Dodge anyway,” I said, “and then it wouldn’t matter. Rachel would be here, and you and May would be off on some beachy island thanks to the cash you got after you killed me.”

  Sam winced. “I’m sorry about that. It was nothing personal.”

  “You gave May the bomb from Coco,” I said, filling in the gaps, “and she wheeled it into the room. But somehow it went off early.”

  “Yes,” Sam said, and his bottom lip trembled. “She died, and you were fine.”

  My mind was so conflicted with thoughts it was hard to stay focused. I was grateful to be alive, horrified May had died, and mystified as to why anyone wanted to launch a bomb at us in the first place.

  “My cousin,” I said, clearing my throat, “what do you know about him?”

  “Just that you’re one hard woman to kill,” Sam said. “I suspect Coco took your cousin as a form of insurance. I don’t know anything about it, nor have I heard a word from Coco since my botched job. I keep waiting for my car to blow up or my house to catch on fire any day now. I debated running, but... what’s the point? May’s gone. I killed her.”

  I heard the remorse in Sam’s voice and, though I found it strange, I felt bad for him. Despite the fact he’d meant to kill me and would probably still have me trade places with May, he’d suffered a great loss... and it was his fault. He’d probably never get over it. And while he had done a very bad thing, all of it stemmed back to Coco. Everyone that man touched got sucked into his ugly games until they were in too deep to get out.

  “You said you had information on Clay specifically,” I pressed. “I need to get him back before Coco gets any ideas about harming him.”

  “It’s not my fault you’ve got beef with Coco!”

  “I don’t have beef with him!”

  “Maybe not,” Sam said. “But someone does. Coco might be ruthless and a little... well, coconuts, but he usually has a reason for the things he does.”

  “I’ve never been here before! I don’t know who he is. How could I have possibly upset him?”

  Sam shrugged.

  “Whatever. Give me the info you have on Clay.”

  “There’s this one spot that he tends to keep...” Sam stopped, then cleared his throat. “Once, I was responsible for picking up a ‘cargo’ load for Coco. It was a dude, sort of around my age. Coco’s guys had stashed him in this hut up one of the mountains. It’s pretty remote, but you can hike to it. Nobody ever goes there, and they don’t keep it heavily guarded.”

  “You think Clay might be held there?”

  “It’s my best guess,” he said. “It’s pretty safe because tourists don’t wander off the path. And any locals know not to veer too far into the woods up there. It’s Coco’s territory.”

  “How do I find Coco’s territory?”

  “You don’t want to go there alone. It’s not heavily guarded, but still. I’d advise you not to go alone.”

  “Seeing how you tried to kill me, I assume you won’t be offended if I take your advice with a grain of salt. I want specific directions.”

  Sam hesitated, then barked for a piece of paper. Kai disappeared then returned carrying a napkin and a pen. With shaking hands, Sam sketched me a map.

  “Drive to the end of the road,” Sam said, his fingers walking over the roughly drawn lines. “The rest of this side of the mountain is uninhabitable and impossible to get to by car. Once you’re here, park and start the hike like any tourist.”

  “I am a tourist.”

  “Climb up and up, but when you see this staircase, go left—off the path—and not right. The hut will be a few hundred yards up the hill tucked behind a cave. It’s not visible until you’re right in front of it—hence the lack of guards. Once someone’s chained up there, they’re not going to be found.”

  “You’d better hope your directions are correct,” I said, snatching the napkin from between Sam’s fingers. “Or else I’m coming back for you, and I won’t be as nice the next time around.”

  I stomped out of the freezer and heard Kai following close behind. It irked me that I’d had to promise Sam freedom when he should be locked up for attempted murder—or something of the sort. His attempt to kill me had ended in May’s death. And while she hadn’t been innocent either, she’d been trying to get away from it all and found herself in the middle of a disaster.

  “Shaved ice?” Kai asked, grabbing a cup from Louie. “It might cheer you up.”

  “Nothing can cheer me up,” I said with a scowl. “I smell like a bucket of rotten eggs, I’m the target of a mob hit, and I have to do exercise to rescue my cousin. This is the worst.”

  “Just try it,” Kai urged. “I swear it will help.”

  “Fine,” I agreed vehemently. “But only because I’ll need energy for tomorrow.”

  By the time Kai pulled up in front of the hotel, my shaved ice was gone.

  “So?” he asked, hiding a smug little grin.

  I gave him a very irritable snarl. “It was delicious.”

  Chapter 19

  The next morning, I rose with Bella at the crack of dawn. My early morning rise and shine time didn’t improve my grumpy mood, but at least my skin had a light scent of lavender and perfume instead of rotten eggs thanks to a late night jacuzzi session with some major strength bath salts.

  Despite the exhaustion, it was hard to stay grumpy for long. Bella was singing to herself when I entered her little space, and it was impossible not to smile at her chubby little cheeks, or the way she grinned and gurgled when she saw me. She must have worn out her daddy the night before because Anthony didn’t so much as flinch when I climbed out of bed.

  “How about you and I have a girl’s day?” I whispered to Bella after we read some books and got dressed. “It’ll be fun, and we’ll make sure not to tell daddy, capisci?”

  My daughter gurgled and cooed, and then she farted. I took that to mean she agreed.

  “I think girl’s day calls for a shaved ice breakfast, don’t you?” I buckled her into her stroller. “We didn’t come to Hawaii to eat eggs. We can eat eggs anywhere.”

  Bella threw her sippy cup, and I took that to mean she agreed again.

  We set out and had ourselves a very successful morning. We strolled up and down the beach and slurped on two—three—shaved ices. We watched depressingly motivated runners trundle up and down the beach. While they burned calorie
s, I licked the whipped cream off my latte and let Bella throw Cheerios in whichever direction she wanted. Everyone knew calories didn’t count on vacation.

  By the time we were ready to head back and wake up Anthony, Bella could barely hold her eyes open. She was ready for a nap, while I was zooming around, hopped up on sugar and caffeine and feeling like I could fly to the top of the mountain and rescue Clay.

  Our trip had been so chaotic and busy that it hadn’t felt like much of a vacation at all, but after a fun morning with Bella, things had begun to look up.

  With a blissful sigh, I pushed open the hotel door to our room and called a greeting to Anthony while tucking Bella in for a nap. She was out before she hit the crib, and I headed to the bedroom thinking Anthony might like a sniff of my lavender scented skin before we set off on the hike. However, my bliss evaporated quickly when I found a visitor lounging against my dresser.

  “Meg?” I asked, catching a glimpse of Anthony cowering with the sheet on the bed pulled up to his chest. “What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?”

  Meg grinned from her perch. “I’m ready to go find my husband-to-be. We’re gonna drag him back whether he likes it or not.”

  “Of course Clay wants to come back. Don’t be ridiculous. He loves you a crazy amount.”

  “Oh, I know,” she said. “I mean, I’m pretty fabulous, what’s not to love?”

  Anthony snorted. At my glare, he turned it into a cough.

  “Where have you two been this morning?” Anthony asked with a suspicious glance over my figure. “You look... happy.”

  “Bella and I went for a nice stroll on the beach,” I said. “Dunked our toes in the water and our fingers in the sand. Ate a nice, wholesome breakfast. Just a mother-daughter day.”

  “You had cake.” Anthony watched me carefully. “You’re only this peppy in the morning if you’ve had cake.”