She turned back to us. "Go. Get in your car, and go straight back to the resort. Don't talk to anyone. I'll take care of these two, but if you don't give me time to get out of town, they won't be the only ones who end being taken care of."
I stared at Darcy, then the others, and shuddered. She had my guarantee. I just wanted to go home. Unsure if they were going to seriously let us go, I glanced at Alex, and he stared back for a long second before grabbing my hand and darting straight into the bushes. I cursed, tripping and banging my way through the prickly bushes, strangling on low-hanging branches. I got it. He wanted them not to have an open view in case someone changed their mind, but he was killing me.
"We've got to help them," he hissed behind him as he dragged me.
"Help the people who wanted to kill us?" I just needed to clarify that one.
"Look—regardless of what they did, we can't just leave Darcy there to kill them. But since we're not armed, there's not a lot we can do except call for help."
We emerged on the other side of the bushes within seconds, and I struggled to keep up, letting him pull me until we reached the nearest open shop, the local bakery, normally closed at this hour. It was probably open in celebration of the festivities, or merely because Aiden, the baker, had come here after enjoying the lighting ceremony and left the door unlocked.
We stumbled inside, dirty and covered in scratches, me wearing a single shoe. We looked almost as bad as when we'd come out from Strangler's Cove.
"I need to use your phone," Alex gasped out when Aiden, standing near the counter, continued staring at us, eyes open wide in horror.
I didn't blame him. We were pretty alarming.
Alex dialed 9-1-1, and this time he was patched through to Detective Ray's mobile, explaining the entire situation in scrambled words. However, when we saw flashlights disappear into the jungle, I figured that the message had been received and understood. We apologized profusely to Aiden, who hadn't yet spoken, and stumbled to the car.
* * *
Detective Ray arrived two hours later to tell us that the candle-lighting ceremony had gone off without a hitch. The criminals had never returned closer to the crowd. Big Steve had been found dead on the beach. I was almost one hundred percent certain that could be attributed to Darcy, though Henry had certainly been ready enough to murder the guy. Squid, Johnny Castle, and two other men, including Mo, turned themselves in to Detective Ray when they were discovered trying to drag Big Steve's body off the beach.
Darcy and Henry were gone. Ray saw evidence that a helicopter had approached the beach, and it was very likely we'd never see either one of them again, but I had an inkling that Big Steve's opium-growing operation wouldn't be dying the way he did. Somewhere, Darcy would be running that machine with an iron fist tipped with hideous nails.
Seth Peterson had come out of the woodwork right after he wasn't of any use anymore, and he and Detective Ray contacted the ATF, FBI, and a number of other acronyms, and they were confident they would track Darcy down. I wasn't so sure. She was wily. With the help of Squid and Mo, Detective Ray was sure that there were no other members of the drug group, and peace had been restored to Aloha Lagoon, with most people none the wiser.
Big Steve's operation wasn't that big. Not a massive cartel. Just a small danger to Aloha Lagoon, but I was still glad it was gone. I wasn't certain it would stay that way. I had an inkling Darcy and Henry had resources and bigger ideas. At least they'd be having them someplace else.
* * *
I slept until nearly noon. No one woke me up. I shot up in alarm, scrambling for the ringing hotel phone, heart thudding when I saw the time. The call was probably someone saying the whole place was burning down, and I'd slept right through it. Instead it was Alex. "Hello, what's going on?"
His low, throaty laugh shot straight through me. "Merry Christmas, Charlie."
"You…let me sleep in?"
"I figured you needed it. Juan is going to come up with breakfast in about thirty seconds. Enjoy."
"Alex…"
But all I heard was dial tone. I wasn't fast enough. I took a couple of slow, deep breaths and dialed my mother. I gave her a rundown of Mallory's murder, of what had really happened. That Mallory had stumbled on to an ugly truth and tried to do her best to rectify it, and then died for her efforts. I wanted her parents to know that their daughter had left the earth for something, at least. She'd tried to keep others safe, to the extent she'd failed to save herself. It seemed important that they know. Mom said she would pass the information on, and I truly felt hearing it from her would soften everything much more than hearing it from me.
As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again. I snatched it back up, expecting Alex on the other end. Instead, it was the breathless, shrill voice of the VP of Freemont, Nadine. She was one of the two I'd begged to leave town yesterday. Hearing her voice today made my stomach sink.
"Charlotte, darling, I guess you still want to leave Aloha Lagoon?"
Did I want to leave? My stomach twisted brutally. "Yes." The word barely existed. I was ashamed of myself, but my fear was bigger than anything else. I just needed to accept it. The way Georgie accepted who she was. I couldn't shake it, so maybe embracing it was the ticket to breaking out of my self-made prison. At least it had to be a step in the right direction.
"Well, Merry Christmas. You're out of there. There's one flight out of Kapa'a to the big island tomorrow morning. Be on it. Your flight to Chicago will leave the big island two hours later. Take the rest of the year off. We'll see you at corporate on the second."
The words were not a pleasant kind of shock. I wanted out, I reminded myself. I wanted out.
"Tomorrow?" I couldn't stop the way my voice shook when I spoke.
"Yes, you'll have to catch a taxi up to the airstrip in Kapa'a tonight, or you'll never make the six AM flight. Better get packing."
We spoke about flight details, and I hung up the phone in a daze. I sat in silence for a long time, maybe hours, before Juan knocked on the door. I took the tray of food and thanked him as sanely as possible. I put the tray on the dresser and grasped for my motivations that were driving me away. I was feeling curiously heartbroken right now. I was very sure I was risking my sanity either staying or going. There was no winning in a situation like this.
Loving something doesn't make you Mom.
I stared at my brunch for a moment and turned away when my stomach heaved. I rubbed my eyebrow and reminded myself that I didn't cry. Not for anything. If I had cried for Mallory, and because of Alex, in the last few weeks, well, these were extreme times, and this was what I wanted, not a reason to mourn.
I took a deep breath, plastered on a happy face, and went to find Georgie. She and Marty were on the pier, talking quietly, standing too close for me to still believe their "just friends" story in my heart of hearts. Maybe they both believed he wasn't into her, but from the outside looking in, I didn't.
"Hey, sorry to break up the Christmas party, but I got a call from corporate."
Georgie's eyebrows rose. "Corporate? You're being relocated?"
"Yeah." I struggled to sound excited or at the very least not completely miserable. "I'm supposed to fly out tomorrow."
Marty was clearly unsure how he was supposed to greet this news. "Is that a good thing?"
I shrugged. No! It wasn't. It was. I knew it was. I just had to keep believing that I knew what was best. "Of course. It's my job to move from resort to resort. I'm an interim manager. I shouldn't have been here even this long."
"Charlotte…"
I cut Georgie off. Whatever she was going to say, I didn't want to hear it. I couldn't stand to hear it. "No worries about your jobs. As long as you guys want to stay, you're welcome here."
Georgie shook her head and glanced at Marty. "Can you excuse us for just a second?"
He nodded and moved down the pier, watching the ocean with a still contentment that I deeply envied. I didn't know Marty Gentry, but I wanted to. It was too bad I neve
r really would.
"I wasn't kidding about wanting to be with you," she said grimly.
"Oh, come on. You came to ditch Marty."
Her mouth twisted. "I could have ditched Marty in Colombia, in Puerto Rico, in Milan, or in a thousand other ports of call. I left in Hawaii because I wanted to see you. I don't actually need money. I never did, because I'm Marty's assistant, and he pays me grotesquely well. Even I can't possibly spend it all. I just didn't have a better excuse to stay. I wanted to be with you. I just…I miss you, and I'm sorry, and I wanted my sister back."
I took a deep breath, fighting back another layer of crushing emotion. If people didn't stop, I would never make it out of here alive. "I missed you too," I whispered, giving her a quick hug. "But I can't. I can't stay here. I can't."
"Why don't you just give yourself a chance, Charlotte? Why don't you just try?"
At least she focused in on what was really driving me away. Not my fear of what Alex would turn out to be but my fear of what I would.
"I'm sorry, Georgie. For so many things. I can't. I'll see you again, I promise. I…I have to go."
I pasted on my brightest smile, though I had no idea who the presentation was for. Georgie knew I didn't want to go, and no one else was here. Maybe it was just to try to convince myself. I had to go and pack.
I kept my back straight as I packed up everything I'd brought. It wasn't much. Just a few suitcases. I was moments from falling completely apart, and I had to hold it together with all that was in me. If I cracked, it would all come pouring out. Then I would break. I couldn't afford that. Not any of it.
The lobby was empty when I brought my bags down. It was Christmas day. Our staff was a skeleton crew. Everyone in Aloha Lagoon was partaking in another Hawaiian holiday tradition—hanging out at the beach. The other employees had their radios. They weren't otherwise required to be present.
Alex came out of the back office behind the front desk, stopping in his tracks when he saw me. He didn't ask me why I had my suitcases. He'd either already known, or it wasn't hard to guess. He didn't say anything for a long time.
His eyes were like lasers, burning my flesh wherever they touched. I just couldn't handle it. I looked away, staring at the bag at my feet.
"Please see me in your office for one minute before you leave, Charlie." The words were spoken softly. It was begging. Or as close to it as Alex ever got.
I shut my eyes hard, willing myself not to cry. "I can't," I whispered. He had no idea how much I couldn't. I couldn't do anything but concentrate on getting out of town, because I was barely holding on already.
"Please," he whispered back. If I went into that office with him, it wouldn't matter what he said or did. I wanted so desperately to cave, to find some excuse to stay here when we had no real future together. And we didn't have a future because of me. Because I couldn't bear to own my feelings.
I shook my head. "I can't." It came out stronger this time.
He took one long, slow breath, then nodded at me. He turned and left, headed in the direction of the grand ballroom. This hurt so bad. I could barely breathe. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to be gone before this ever happened. I was supposed to be gone before I ever lost my heart. Because moving before I cared was how I kept my sanity.
The desk phone rang. There was no one around to answer it. I considered, for a wild second, just ignoring it, but I couldn't do that. "Aloha Lagoon Resort and Spa, Charlotte Conner speaking."
"Oh thank goodness I caught you." I recognized the voice as Nadine's. I watched a group of employees return, practically glowing from happiness and sunshine. Nadine continued, but I could barely pay attention. "Can you please reconsider? I know that Alex said you could go, but there's no one to take your place, and Juls is in Florida for another month. I really need you there, at least until everyone else gets back from the holiday and someone can take over."
It took a moment for the words to really sink in. Not that she was trying to torture me and wanted me to stay another month. The ones before that. "Alex…said I could go?" What did Alex have to do with anything?
"Oh yeah, you know. Or maybe you don't. We were going to pull you out of there four months ago. He said if we pulled you, he was going to quit. Aloha Lagoon just won't run right without him. He's too important to that particular operation. So we did what we had to do."
The words were like rushing in my ears. Alex. Alex had threatened to quit if they sent me on to a new assignment. Alex was the reason I was still in Hawaii after almost seven months. He was the reason I'd had such a regrettably long time to fall in love with him.
Rage warred with the pain of leaving, and thankfully, rage won. I could handle anger. It was a safe place in a sea of agony. I absently hung up the phone without responding.
I put down my suitcase and grabbed the radio from the desk. "Alex Cho, I need to speak to you this instant. Please meet me in your office."
My voice sounded as sharp and hard as every atom inside me felt. He didn't come back to the lobby, and it was a long moment before he responded at all. Even then it was only a single word.
"No."
I pressed my eyes closed. Depression was trying to creep back in when I heard his voice. I needed the anger to stay with me. It would keep me sane. "I need you to come see me, now."
There was a short, harsh laugh from Alex on the other end of the line. Across the room, the returning employees paused, staring at their radios. Even Georgie did as she entered the front door. "I don't think so," he returned, voice hard. "You're not my boss anymore, Charlotte."
Charlotte. My stomach lurched. He'd betrayed me. Kept me somewhere he knew very well I didn't want to be. For what? Just to torture me? And still I had a soft spot for him a mile wide. "You need to come and talk to me now, or we're going to have this discussion right here on this open line. And assuming you don't want the entire staff to know about your behind-the-scenes manipulations, you're going to want to come. Now."
The anger was finally back. There you are, my old friend. I needed it to keep me sane.
He appeared in the doorway of the ballroom but didn't come any closer. "Your taxi is going to leave," he pointed out, his tone as lifeless as his expression.
"Corporate just called me. They asked me to stay a little longer, even though you said it was okay if I left. Then they told me all about what you said to them. Your demands. Did you seriously do that? Did you seriously threaten them to keep me here even when you knew how badly I wanted to leave?"
There was absolutely no guilt in his expression. There was nothing. He crossed his arms over his chest, the radio held loosely in his right hand. "Yes."
He didn't even try to excuse it. He didn't try to pretend it had never happened or justify his actions. He didn't do anything. Tears threatened again. Anger wasn't enough. Nothing would be.
"Why? Why would you do that?"
He rubbed a hand over his eyebrow. "Because I'm a dumbass. That's why."
It was no answer. At least not one I could understand. Every employee was now completely still. Several more had wandered into the lobby. A few had their radios out, probably to hear this hot mess all the better. I couldn't bring myself to care.
"That's not an answer, and you know it."
"Go catch your plane, Charlotte. We can handle it alone until Juls comes back."
It threw me off, confused me, because it was so unexpected. "What? What the hell, Alex? Why did you do this to me? There are dozens of people who would have killed to come down here from corporate if you wanted help."
I realized I was raising my voice, and I tried to keep it down. There was no reason any stray guest needed to hear this, even though every employee was listening.
"I didn't want help, Charlie. I wanted you."
The words were a hard shock, and they kept me immobilized for a long moment. Then the practical reality of what he must mean finally sunk in. He wanted me to help him. He wanted someone who already knew this business. He wan
ted to keep the person Freemont qualified as the best.
He snorted, and then suddenly he smiled, though it wasn't one of his familiar grins. It was bitter and hard. "I wanted more time."
"More time for what?"
"More time to make you understand…" His voice trailed off. "You need to go."
I blinked slowly, the words sinking in. Make me understand what? Now I desperately needed to know. "Alex," I repeated softly, the anger draining out, no matter how much I might be relying on it to help me not give in. "Please come and see me in your office."
He stopped, and for a long second I thought he might say no. He looked like he was going to. His slow, shuddering breath hurt my heart. He looked like a man defeated, and nothing ever defeated Alex Cho. It was one of the things I loved most about him. And I loved a lot. I loved him. I was in love with Alex Cho. My stomach twisted hard. It didn't matter what I said to myself or how many lies I told. It was already too late. I loved Alex, and I loved Aloha Lagoon.
I would never tell him, even if I were to stay, but it was too late.
Then he slowly nodded and started walking toward the offices. I followed behind, insanely, embarrassingly aware of every eye on us. I was always professional at work. Every moment of every day. If I stayed until Juls came back, if I stayed for longer, they would probably never look at me with respect again. I couldn't think about it.
He held the door for me, gesturing wide that I should come inside. I swallowed hard, then walked past him. He shut the door behind us with a quiet snick. His arms crossed over his chest, blocking me out with his unmistakable body language.
I had no idea what I was going to say, but it had to be something. I couldn't let this sit. I needed clarification. I needed answers, from myself. So first I needed answers from him.
"What did you want me to understand?"
His jaw clenched. "Does it matter?"
I shook my head, befuddled that he even had to ask. "Of course, it matters. I…I care about you. About what happens to you. And now it's too late. I need to know."
Mele Kalikimaka Murder Page 22
