Deadly Wipeout (Aloha Lagoon Mysteries Book 3)

by Beth Prentice

  I was grateful they were all okay and unharmed. Unlike the poor guy on the beach.

  The flashing lights of the police vehicle and ambulance moved down the wide path and came to a stop next to the surfboard shed. The paramedics couldn't help the dead guy now, but I gratefully stepped back and allowed them to check the kids.

  Two uniformed police officers walked past me dressed in black, their badges displayed on their left breasts, their gun belts heavy around their hips. As they moved to Malie, another car pulled onto the path behind theirs. This one wasn't marked as a police car, but it did have a flashing light, so I guessed it was allowed to be there.

  An islander stepped out of the vehicle and moved toward us. He wore a very loud Hawaiian shirt and slacks. I guessed this, along with his air of authority, was his uniform. His gaze raked me over as he passed. If this were a movie, that would have been the scene that would have been played in slow motion. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as he stepped up to Malie.

  I was distracted from what he was doing as parents started to arrive to collect their kids, and I busied myself giving them any information I knew. Which wasn't much, but it was a lot less embellished than the story the boys were peddling. I did tell the parents not to go very far, as I wasn't sure if the police needed to speak to the kids, so they made themselves comfortable on the reclining chairs overlooking the beach and the ocean, their backs turned firmly to the deceased.

  By the time I looked back to the sand, the coroner and her team had arrived, and the police had used a tarp to section the body off from onlookers. I gave a small sigh of relief and sat my backside on the grass, a chill working its way to my bones despite the warm morning air. The girl from the surf shop sat down next to me, dropping a surfboard onto the sand as she moved.

  "It's Alani, isn't it?" I asked her, completely impressed with how I remembered her name. I wasn't usually that good with names. She nodded.

  "Not working today?" I asked.

  "Day off," she responded, looking toward the tarp. Her warm personality radiated from her and made me feel warmer inside. "What happened?"

  I quickly brought her up to date.

  "Geez, that's not good karma," she said.

  Great. Just what I needed.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I guess so. I'm hoping I still have a job though. Mr. Mahelona didn't look too impressed with me today."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about him. He just looks scary."

  She was telling me.

  "I'd be more worried about Detective Ray Kahoalani, or Detective Ray, as we call him." She nodded to the man in the loud Hawaiian shirt.

  I gulped. "Really?"

  "Yeah. He has a reputation around here. Likes people to know that even though this is paradise, the law still applies."

  I looked at the man in question. As he spoke to the coroner, he scribbled in his notebook. He did look intimidating.

  "Is there anything I should be worried about?" I asked. "I'm sure he'll be questioning me soon."

  "Nah. Just tell him the truth. He isn't known for jumping to crazy conclusions, but he's thorough."

  "Okay. Thanks."

  We sat in companionable silence until the detective moved toward me. Sitting on the grass with him standing over me, I felt the fear rush from my stomach to my throat.

  Alani stood. "I'll leave you to it," she said before smiling at the detective.

  I was grateful for her support and wished she had stayed.

  "Samantha Reynolds?" the detective asked, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

  "Yes. That's me," I replied, also standing. Detective Ray Kahoalani was a lot taller than I, but I felt a lot better at this height.

  "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

  He asked this as a question, but I got the distinct impression that it wasn't negotiable. I nodded.

  "Can you tell me what happened?"

  I quickly recounted my version of events. He nodded a few times and scribbled in his notebook, but mostly he frowned. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it scared me anyway.

  Why? It wasn't like I'd done anything wrong. I shook off the thought and pulled myself up to my full height of five foot five. If he could look intimidating, then so could I. Oh, who was I kidding? I was about as intimidating as a church mouse.

  When I had recounted my story no less than four times, he seemed satisfied with my answers. "Okay. That's enough for now, but I may need to ask you more questions later, so make yourself available."

  "Can you tell me who that man was?" I asked quietly. The man in question had just been zippered into a body bag.

  "Not at this stage."

  "Was he old?"

  Ray Kahoalani frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

  I shrugged. "It just feels better if he was old. Like, he'd already had a long, fulfilled life."

  The detective sighed. "Yes. He was old. I'm just not sure how old at this stage."

  "Oh, okay. Thank you. That's good to know."

  He gave me what I took to be a smile and turned, moving away toward the children.

  I let out the breath I'd been holding. Probably a bit prematurely, as at that moment David Mahelona walked over to me.

  "Samantha!" he barked.

  I jumped.

  "Yes, sir?"

  "Not a good start," he continued accusingly, his dark brows reminding me of a very hairy caterpillar sitting on his forehead. I shuddered.

  "No. Not really." What did he want me to say? I mean, it wasn't exactly my fault a dead guy washed up on the beach

  "I'm going to have to suspend you."

  What?

  "Why? I had nothing to do with what's happened," I pleaded.

  "Regardless, the beach is going to be closed for a few days. Until the detective has finished with his investigations, no one is allowed on here. The police will be taping it off."

  "But that's not fair. I need this job. Is there anything else I can do?"

  "Well, as it appears you're not responsible, you will be stood down for now with full pay."

  My eyebrows shot up to somewhere around my hairline.

  "Don't get too excited," he continued. "You will be expected to be available any time you're called in. And as soon as the police tape is removed, lessons will be rescheduled. The resort will not be losing money over this. Those lessons will have to be made up, so you will be working overtime without the overtime pay. Understood?"

  "Yes, sir." I understood alright. I was going to be doing a double shift without the double shift pay rate. But the upside was I would have a few days to hone my surfing skills.

  "And don't forget you're still on probation. I'll be watching you, Samantha."

  He turned his back and moved to the group of parents, his expression filled with concern and compassion. Completely the opposite to when he was looking at me.

  * * *

  I slowly moved toward The Lava Pot, pulling my shirt on over my head. My body ached, my head ached, and I was tired. And it was only lunchtime. A bruise the size of a saucer had started to appear on my upper thigh from where my surfboard had hit me, sunburn made my shoulders sting, and I had sand in my bikini. I was a wreck. There was no other word for it.

  I'd locked the shed filled with surfboards and noted the police tape sectioning off the beach in front of the tiki bar. I wondered how this would affect the bar business. From the crowd that gathered on the terrace, I figured it was helping it.

  I pushed through the crowd and found a barstool. Lifting myself onto it, disappointment sat in my stomach as a female bartender wandered over to me to take my order and Casey was nowhere to be seen.

  "Hi, what can I get you?" She smiled a super-white smile, her shimmering blonde hair shining under the lights.

  "Ummm…lunch. I think I need lunch."

  "Sure. Here's our menu. I can recommend the fish tacos or the nachos. Both are delicious. Actually everything on our menu is delicious. Our cook is amazing." She beam
ed.

  I skimmed the menu, and she was right. Everything sounded delicious, but after the events of the morning, my stomach felt like it could only handle something light.

  "I'll have the caesar salad with chicken please."

  "Good choice. Anything else?"

  Casey flicked to mind, but then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the bar. My wet hair was still tied in a ponytail, and I was grateful for small mercies.

  "A drink maybe?" she continued.

  "Oh, a cola please."

  "Okay. It won't be long."

  "Thanks."

  Fiddling with a napkin, I noticed Alani wander in. She spotted me on my stool and waved.

  "You survived," she said, smiling as she took the seat next to me.

  I smiled back. "Yes. My interrogation wasn't so bad."

  "That's because you're innocent. Detective Ray isn't so nice when you're guilty."

  "Lucky I have nothing to worry about then."

  The bartender placed my drink in front of me.

  "What are you drinking?"

  "Just cola. Even though I feel like something much stronger."

  Alani laughed and signaled the bartender that she would have what I was having.

  "How come you're not working today?" I asked.

  "My cousin Hani fills in for me so I can take some time to myself. She's a bit ditzy and can be quite annoying. It usually takes me a full shift after her just to get the cash register to balance again." Alani gave a dazzling smile. If this was her annoyed mood, I wasn't sure if I could handle her happy. "But I do get some time off, so I can't complain, right?"

  I nodded.

  "So," she continued, "you've got some spare time on your hands."

  "How do you know that?"

  "I have another cousin, Anela, who works in reception here at the resort. She told me." Word got around fast. "Don't worry though—I also heard Dave was really impressed with how well you handled the kids after that body washed up. And he doesn't impress easily."

  "Dave?"

  "Mr. Mahelona."

  "Really? I impressed him?" I thought back to the frown he gave me. Alani nodded enthusiastically. "Wow. He didn't seem impressed."

  Alani waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about him. He's always like that."

  "Do you know him well?"

  "Not really. Only through Anela. She's always complaining about him and telling me everything he does around here."

  "But you called him by his first name."

  "Yeah. It's easier than calling him Mr. David Mahelona."

  I laughed. "But you're local. You shouldn't have any problems pronouncing names."

  "I don't. It's just quicker this way."

  "Maybe I should try that. Some of the names are really tripping me up."

  "Like the surf," said Casey, his voice filled with humor, as he placed an empty glass on the bar next to me.

  My heart missed a beat, and I nearly fell off my barstool as I glanced his way and saw his deep-blue eyes twinkling back at me. He reached out and placed his arm around my back to prevent me from slipping.

  "Goodness, where did you come from?" I asked, slightly breathless, my hand jumping to smooth my hair into place as I spoke.

  "Just cleaning some tables." He moved his arm away and stepped closer to the timber gate that prevented clientele from entering the bar area.

  "Sorry. I didn't see you."

  "No need to be sorry."

  I was sorry because I hadn't seen him, and I'd been looking.

  He moved aside as my caesar salad arrived. "Are you ready for a cocktail yet?" he asked. "From what I hear, you're officially off duty for a few days."

  Geez, did everybody know about that?

  "Cocktail?" I asked, fatigue sinking into my shoulders.

  "I recommend the Lava Flow! It's awesome," said Alani. "It's got rum and pineapple juice and more rum. I think it has some strawberries and banana in it too, so it's kind of a health drink really."

  "It would go great with your salad," added Casey.

  I thought about it as I looked at my watch. It was one fifteen. Was that too early to drink? I quickly calculated the time difference between Kauai and Sydney. If I was correct, it was 4:15 p.m. in Sydney, and as my body clock hadn't completely adjusted yet, I figured it was perfectly acceptable to start drinking. Plus, I'd had a really bad day, and alcohol would hopefully take the edge off.

  "Sure. Why not?" I said.

  Casey's grin grew as he stepped away from me and poured several different ingredients into a blender and strawberries into another. I watched as he moved effortlessly around the bar, taking a few other orders whilst the blender did its thing, smiling at the ladies and remembering their names. I could see why he was in the job he was in. He seemed to love it. And the clientele loved him. I was so wrapped up in watching him that I completely missed what Alani said to me.

  "Huh?" I said, my brain not coming up with anything better. To be fair, it'd had a lot of stress today, so I could understand why it couldn't summon a thesaurus when it needed to. And yes, it was stress related and nothing to do with Casey. Well, that was my story anyway.

  "I asked what you're going to do with your time off."

  "Oh. Probably surfing. And sleeping. I don't mind which order they come in."

  Alani laughed hard, slapping me on the shoulder as she did so. I felt the sting from my sunburn and winced.

  "Oh, my, you are so funny!" she said.

  I was? I didn't mean to be funny. I was actually being serious. Best to smile along with her, I guessed.

  I'd admit that smiling did make me feel better. Until I looked over at Casey and noticed him staring at me. Then my stomach flipped and cartwheeled, the butterfly circus performing a matinee.

  My salad suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world as I picked at it and listened as Alani filled me in on the comings and goings of the resort and who was dating whom. When Casey handed me my drink, I thanked him and pretty much downed it in one go. Big mistake.

  Coughing and spluttering as the rum burned my throat, I felt my eyes water. Unfortunately, the watery eyes turned into crying, which then turned into sobbing pretty much. I guess the stress of the day had caught up with me. But that wasn't the embarrassing part. That came when everyone around me realized I was not a quiet crier. Nope, with this girl, you got lots of liquid, lots of hiccupping, and lots of noise.

  I tried desperately to stop it, but the harder I tried, the more I hiccupped, and the more I hiccupped, the more I cried. Casey looked around wildly, probably looking for any exit he could find, and took off for the other end of the bar. Thankfully, Alani reached over and put her arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close and holding me tight.

  "You poor thing," she cooed. "It's been a really bad day, hasn't it?"

  I nodded against her shirt. "I…I'm…s…sorry," I said.

  "Now don't be. It's okay to let it out. In fact, my tutu always told me it's better out than in."

  I wiped at my nose with the back of my hand and sat up to look at her. "Tutu?" I asked. It was a term I had never heard of.

  "Yes. My tutu, my grandmother."

  "Oh, that's cool." I sniffed. "I just called my grandmother 'Gran.' Tutu is so much nicer."

  Alani smiled.

  Casey returned, handing me some napkins and a bar of chocolate. I accepted both gratefully but raised my eyebrows at the chocolate.

  "I have a lot of sisters. Whenever they cried, they wanted chocolate. It seemed to make them feel better." He shrugged, his eyes soft and compassionate.

  I felt the pull in my stomach, thinking just how sweet that was. I smiled.

  It might have been a bad day, but I had the distinct impression that if nothing else, I'd made two new friends.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Apparently time flies when you were having fun, as I lost quite a few hours in The Lava Pot. The sun was starting to drop in the sky by the time I got home. I'm not sure if drunk cycling was
illegal in Aloha Lagoon or not, but happily I didn't see Detective Ray or any other police officers along the way. And I didn't fall off once, so all in all, not a bad effort.

  I pushed the bike up the path and leaned it against the house, quietly making my way inside. I was grateful Mum was pulling a double shift today and I wouldn't have to sneak inside doing my best to pretend I was sober. Which I wasn't. Turned out I quite liked the Lava Flow cocktail.

  The last time I had done the sober act I'd been sixteen, and my friend Kelsey and I had snuck out without our parents knowing. Mum hadn't been fooled one little bit, and even though she'd grounded me for a month, she had looked after me when the hangover had hit me big-time the following morning. At least this time she couldn't ground me.

  I straightened my back and walked into the kitchen, thinking a nice cool shower was just what I needed, when I saw Luke sitting at the kitchen counter, staring into a bowl of cereal. He looked lost.

  "Hey, Luke. What are you doing home? Shouldn't you be at work?" I said.

  Luke worked at the same place Mum did, only he was a cook. It obviously didn't pay well, or you would think he would have moved out by now.

  He looked up at me, his expression grim. "I've finished for the day. Where have you been?" he asked.

  Oh boy. I wasn't getting the lecture from him, was I? "I've been at The Lava Pot."

  "I've been trying to call you."

  He had?

  "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

  Pulling my phone from my pocket, I switched it off of silent mode, noticing the missed calls and voice messages. I dialed the number for my messages and listened to the six voice calls from Luke asking me, "Where the hell are you?" and "Call me, it's urgent."

  Uh-oh. "What's wrong?" I asked, ending my call, the cocktails swirling in my stomach, mixing with anxiety.

  "It's Mum."

  "Is she okay? She's not sick or hurt, is she?" My stomach lurched, and I had to calm my breathing.

  "No, but she's at the police station. They took her in for questioning."

  Okay, that made no sense. My stomach settled with the knowledge that a misunderstanding had taken place. Mum never did anything wrong. Never. She lived her life by the book. She'd told me it was one of the reasons she and Dad had separated.