Deadly Wipeout (Aloha Lagoon Mysteries Book 3)

by Beth Prentice

  "Sorry, what's that?" said Casey, looking at me over his shoulder.

  "Nothing! Just coughed." I added a little cough to cover my lie.

  I watched, mesmerized, as he made my drink and handed it to me, smiling as he went. He then made one for himself.

  Shaking myself, I reached into my pocket for some money, ready to pay for the drink.

  "It's on the house," he said. "We never officially met yesterday. I'm Casey." He held out his hand for me to shake. I noticed his long fingers and short nails, his personal grooming immaculate.

  "Oh, umm. Samantha. Samantha Reynolds," I replied, feeling his palm slide into mine.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you properly, Samantha."

  His skin felt cool against mine, and I wished I wasn't feeling so clammy. I could only imagine what he was thinking. I groaned inwardly as he let go.

  "Same," I said, grateful to have my hand back. I really wanted to wipe it on my shorts now, just to remove the excess moisture, but I thought that would be rude. Plus, it now felt kind of tingly, and that was nice.

  "I haven't seen you around here before," he continued, placing his elbows on the bar and leaning his body forward.

  I blinked as I felt him enter my personal space. "I only moved here a week ago," I explained, grabbing at my glass. Moisture broke out around my hairline, and my hand shook as thoughts became jumbled. I watched as he lifted his glass to his lips and emptied it in one go.

  I took a sip of my drink and felt calmer the second the sweetness touched my tongue. That's what his tongue would taste like, I thought, my mind jumping to places it didn't usually go.

  "Samantha?"

  "Huh?" I asked, pulling myself back to reality.

  "I asked you where you're from. You have an accent," he said, laughing.

  "Sorry. I'm from Sydney, Australia, but I was born in the States. I only just moved back to be closer to my family."

  "Cool. I spent two years in Sydney training at the European Bartender School in Chippendale. Then I worked at the White Rabbit for a year."

  "Oh my goodness! Really? I've been there—to the White Rabbit, that is. Not the bartender school." I probably didn't need to clarify that, but there you go.

  "Wow. I don't remember seeing you there."

  "I only went once. It was a work party thing. Personally, the White Rabbit was a bit too nice for my liking. I'm more of a casual sort of girl," I rambled.

  Casey smiled. He was just teasing me. Bugger. I felt my cheeks flame.

  I cleared my throat. "Where were you from before that?"

  "Portsmouth, England. Not quite as sunny as Sydney."

  I nodded. I'd never been to Portsmouth, but I realized I was right in my earlier assessment of him being from the south of England. At least that was where I thought Portsmouth was.

  "But we can't complain about the weather here," he finished.

  Just at that moment I heard someone coughing behind me. I pulled my eyes away from Casey and turned to see Mr. Mahelona frowning at me from his spot on the boardwalk outside the bar. The distance wasn't that far. I could see him clearly. I quickly checked my watch to make sure I was still on my time and not his. Yes. Still had half an hour to go.

  "It's okay, Dave," called Casey. "It's nonalcoholic." He lifted his glass in the air to demonstrate what he was referring to.

  Mr. Mahelona kept frowning, but he did continue on his way. I made a mental note to remember his promise to be watching me today.

  "Does he always frown like that, or is it just me that brings out the best in him?" I asked.

  "He's always like that, but you do seem to bring out the best in him."

  I groaned. Great, I hadn't even started yet, and I'd already made HR frown. Could today get any worse?

  "I should go," I said as I put down my empty glass. I could already feel the caffeine kick in. "Thanks for the drink. It helped a lot."

  "No problem. Glad you enjoyed it. I have a double shift today, so pop back when you've clocked off, and I'll make you something stronger."

  He gave me a huge smile. So big I felt the ground move. Or maybe that was the electric floor polisher the cleaning lady was now using. Either way, the ground definitely shook.

  My stomach lurched at the thought that shortly I would be standing in front of my very first class, and I had never felt so underqualified for a job in my life. I certainly hoped that Casey couldn't see me from his spot behind the bar.

  * * *

  Alright, this wasn't so bad. I don't know why I was worried.

  I had my back to the water, my board in front of me. I had ten boards lined up on the sand, all with the decks facing up, and ten preadolescent children standing beside them, all beaming at me expectantly. I also had twenty parents all walking away, waving as they went.

  My lesson was planned out. I was going to teach them the correct names of the parts of the board, some beach safety, and the proper names for the waves. All I needed to do was drag all that out to last an hour. I was sure I could do it.

  These kids weren't getting anywhere near the water today, but I'd already checked the location of the lifeguard Malie, and I'd introduced myself to her just to be on the safe side. I did have my first aid certificate; I'd just never had to use it. I wasn't about to start needing it today.

  "Okay, guys. Who's ready for their first-ever surfing lesson?" I asked the group excitedly.

  "It's not our first lesson," said a boy who was so big, I didn't even think I could call him a boy.

  "Pardon?" I asked.

  "It's not our first lesson," he replied, attitude dripping from his every word.

  "What do you mean? Of course it's your first lesson." I laughed to cover my shock.

  "No. We've already had three lessons with Brad."

  They had? No one had told me that! In fact, I distinctly remembered being told that they were newbies, but I guessed that didn't mean they'd had no lessons at all. Crap! Now what was I going to do?

  "Oh," I said, taking some deep, calming breaths. "Okay. Of course you have. Silly me for forgetting."

  "You're really pretty," said a sweet little girl with dark curls.

  "No, she's not," said another boy, who stood taller than me. "She's hot!"

  God help me.

  The class consisted of four girls around the age of ten, and six boys who I was assured were all under the age of fourteen. The boys all started to snicker. I hoped my next classes were all prepubescent.

  "Okay," I said, panic starting to bubble. "Maybe today we can recap what you've already learned!" Was that quick thinking or what?

  "But Brad's already taught us," complained the boy with fluff growing on his lip. "It'll be boring."

  "Shut up, Nathaniel," said his mate, slapping him on the back. "If she has to help us in the water, that means she'll have to take her shirt off." He said this as a whisper, but everyone in the group heard him. The other boys all snickered again.

  My head started to pound. I moved my neck from side to side, hoping to alleviate the tension building there, and noticed Casey standing on the terraced deck, overlooking the sand. He was opening the beach umbrellas over the tables, and I could see his smile from here. Shoot me now.

  "Alright," I said, attempting to get the lesson back on track. Even though, if it kept going along like this, I had no worries about them getting into the water. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves."

  "We already know each other," said Nathaniel, obviously the smart mouth of the group.

  "Well…yes, but I don't know you, do I?"

  "Where's Brad?" asked one of the girls.

  "He's got appendicitis," I explained. "Now, my name is Samantha, but you can all call me Sam." I waited for the "Hi, Sam" to come back to me, but when they all stood staring at me, I figured it wouldn't be that easy. "So, what's your name, sweetie?" I asked the girl who'd been speaking.

  "Emily."

  "It's lovely to meet you, Emily."

  I turned to the girl next to her. Her name wa
s Bree. By the time I'd gotten around the group, I found I also had identical twins, Kayla and Shayla (I'd never be able to tell them apart), Nathaniel (the loud mouth), Mitchell (the one who thought I was hot—wasn't sure if I should be insulted or flattered), James, Elliott, Lee, and Nyall. I just needed to remember them all.

  I looked at my watch. The lesson had been going for five minutes. What? It felt like the hour should be up already!

  "Okay, now we all know each other…" I said.

  "Of course we know each other. She's my damned sister," said Nathaniel, pointing to Emily.

  I wanted to pull him up for his language, but I also wanted him to think I was cool. Casey was frowning.

  "Nathaniel, please don't swear. Your mother might hear you," I added quietly so Casey wouldn't hear me. Mr. Mahelona had moved to stand behind Casey.

  Nathaniel quickly turned around to see if indeed his mother was standing within earshot. Relief swept his face when he realized she was nowhere to be seen. Relief swept my face when Mr. Mahelona moved away. He may not be my boss, but I remembered his promise to be monitoring me.

  "Alright! Time to start!" I chimed. "Now first thing's first. Are we all wearing sunscreen?"

  "I'm not," said Mitchell. "Could you rub some all over me please, Sam?"

  Nathaniel laughed. I sighed. "James, could you please rub sunscreen on Mitchell?" Mitchell and James simultaneously scowled. "Anyone else not wearing sunscreen? Hmm?" The remaining boys kept quiet.

  "Good. Now, let's have a rundown on the terminology of the board. It's very important to use correct terminology so that nobody gets confused as to what we are talking about."

  One minute later, we all knew the correct terminology.

  "Beach safety is very important," I continued, undeterred. "Now before you ever get into the water, you should do a check of the conditions. First of all, survey the water. Are there any rips you need to avoid? Which way is the tide going? Look for other surfers in the water. What they are doing can give you a lot of clues as to what is happening out there." Thank goodness I remembered Learn to Surf lesson three. I mean, I knew to do this stuff. I just had to think to tell the kids to do it.

  Kayla put up her hand (at least, I think it was Kayla).

  "Yes, Kayla?" I asked hesitantly.

  "I'm Shayla."

  Crap. "Sorry, Shayla. What's your question?"

  "What's a rip?"

  Ha. Brad hadn't taught them everything! "A rip," I said, racking my brain as to how the heck I could describe it, "is where the water coming into the beach is being pulled back out to sea."

  "That's an ocean," said Nathaniel.

  God, I'd be ready to kill him by the time the lesson was over. "Yes, thank you, Nathaniel. I'm well aware that it's an ocean."

  "But you said it was the sea."

  "Forgive me. I used the wrong word."

  "You said that it was very important to use the correct terminology," he added.

  "Yes. Thank you for reminding me," I replied through gritted teeth. Somehow this lesson was going downhill fast.

  "Can we get in the water yet? I'm hot," complained Bree.

  "Oh, I thought we would stay on the sand today, to make sure we go over everything important."

  "But we know it all!" added Lee.

  I distinctly got that impression.

  "Look," he said, bending to his board and standing it up. "This is the deck." He pointed to the deck. "This is the rail." He pointed to the rail. "The nose and the tail."

  Bree started to laugh. "Ha-ha-ha, that's funny. You made a rhyme!"

  Ten kids joined her laughing. I didn't.

  "Well, yes," I said, attempting to take control of the now giggling class. "But can you identify the rip out there?" I asked. "Huh?"

  I had my hands on my hips, losing patience by the second. I was also starting to panic, because it appeared that these kids did know everything I had planned to teach them. I still had forty-five minutes left in the lesson, and it seemed I was not going to be able to avoid them getting into the water.

  "Yes," Lee replied. "It's over there. The lifeguard has signs out for it."

  I turned to where he was pointing and saw the sign on the beach about a hundred meters up the sand. "Great, I'm glad you noticed that. Very good."

  To be honest, I hadn't seen the bloody sign. I was sure it wasn't there when I'd set up the class. I felt my stomach flip with the knowledge that I was going to have to get into the water. And it had been a good couple of years since I'd last been on a board. Why, oh why had I applied for this job? The Loco Moco Café would have been easier than this.

  "Alright, do we all know how to get up on our boards once we are out there? And what to do once you have caught the wave?"

  I'd had a brain wave of an idea that might keep them out of the water for a bit longer. I could teach them the one-foot-forward-squat-on-your-board thing.

  Ten faces smiled back at me as they all nodded. I sighed. So much for that idea.

  It appeared I had no other options. "I don't know how Brad did this, but this is how I'm doing it! We will get into the water one by one." There was no way I wanted them all in the water at the same time. "I'll get in first, and then Emily, you can join me. Together we will paddle out, and I'll help you catch a wave back to shore." Sounded easy, right?

  I pulled off my shirt and shorts, throwing them on the sand behind me. Tomorrow I would go back to Lahela's Surf and buy a one-piece swimsuit after I realized a bikini was a really bad idea when Mitchell's mouth hung open, and the other five boys all stood staring at me in silence.

  I turned my back to them, tied on my leg rope, and picked up my board.

  Signaling to Emily to wait until I was in the water before following me, I tucked my board under my arm and made my way into the water. The size of the waves had grown slightly since I'd been standing on the beach, and they were now about a foot and a half high. Not huge but big enough for my heart to palpitate thinking Emily would soon be joining me.

  I waded out into the surf. A larger wave rolled in, making me lose my balance and knocking me off my feet. I suddenly remembered the part of surfing I hated. Spluttering, I stood back up and saw eleven faces laughing at me. Ten were kids. One was Casey.

  The water rushed back out to sea, the sand moving as it went, giving me the sensation I was being moved with it.

  I regained my composure and signaled to Emily when a second, bigger wave came in. Once again I was knocked off my feet. Argh!

  Emily waded out to meet me. When we were both out past the breakers, I helped Emily onto her board. Not that she needed it. She got on a heck of a lot more elegantly than I did.

  We waited for the perfect wave to come along, and I pushed her board with all my might. I beamed as she held on tight to her board and rode the wave in. I made a mental note to remind her that this was not body boarding and that she needed to stand up, but she was lost in the water as it crashed to the shore. Only when I saw her huge smile beaming back at me did I let out the breath I'd been holding.

  Sitting on my board, I checked my watch, thinking this lesson must nearly be over. I still had half an hour to go. I tapped the face of it, hoping that it had stopped working. The second hand ticked away. I sighed and rode my own board to shore.

  "Okay, who wants to go next?" I asked, moving my attention back to the kids. "No volunteers? Okay, then I choose Mitchell."

  He looked happy as he stepped up to his board, his smart mouth now gone. Maybe I was going to be okay at the teaching thing after all. I had a small moment of victory that I'd at least achieved that.

  "Okay, Mitchell, stay here until I signal for you, okay?" He nodded his agreement, and I waded back into the water, my board firmly under my arm.

  Reaching the depth I wanted, I did a quick head count of the kids on the sand. That was when I noticed the female lifeguard, Malie, running down the beach toward us. Panic took over for a moment as I saw the faces of ten children looking back at me, horrified.

  Wha
t was wrong? Was a shark coming for me? I squealed and looked over my shoulder out to the ocean, but as I did, a wave came in causing someone to slam into me.

  The person knocked me into the shallows, and I took in a lungful of salt water as I went. My board hit me in the leg, and I knew a bruise would appear later. I cursed the person who wasn't watching where they were going.

  As the water rushed back out, I stumbled to my feet, spluttering out what I'd inhaled. I hated the taste of salt water. Hated it. I could feel my bikini bottoms filled with sand and made sure they hadn't moved down my legs. That would be embarrassing. My board was still caught in the water being pulled back out, dragging my leg with it as it went. I was unprepared for it, and the water pulled it from under me. I fell, landing on the person who'd knocked me over.

  Rolling onto my back, I managed to pull at my leg rope and control my surfboard before the next wave brought it back to shore, hitting either me or the person facedown in the sand. I was about to stand and help him to his feet, when Malie reached us and pulled the man onto his back. I watched in horror as she put her arms under his shoulders and dragged him to shore.

  It was only as the water rushed back in that I realized why the man hadn't been watching where he was going.

  This man was dead.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Thank goodness for Malie. She acted fast and professionally. Not like me. I wanted to crumble to the ground, crying and freaked out, but Bree, Kayla, and Shayla beat me to it. I'd never seen a dead body, and honestly, I didn't want to see one now.

  The resort's head of security, Jimmy Toki, and Mr. Mahelona had run down to the beach as soon as word reached them. I watched them from a distance as Malie recounted what had happened, her hands doing a lot of the talking for her. She was tiny, but judging by the way she had dragged that body from the surf, she was strong.

  I'd managed to keep my Coffee Cola Cooler in my stomach and had rounded the kids up away from the body. I'd moved them up to the grassed area above the sand and used my cell phone to call for their parents to come back for them.

  I struggled to remember my first aid training. I'd finished my course top of the class, but under pressure was a whole different story. The day was hot enough, but I knew that shock could set in, so I found the kids' towels and had them all wrapped up nice and warm.