Murder at Midnight

by Kathi Daley

  “That’s wonderful, Lani. I’m happy for you.” While Luke’s words sounded happy his tone was flat.

  “I won’t have the official invite for a couple of weeks, but once I do we’ll go out and celebrate. I can’t believe after a lifetime of hoping and planning I might actually get my shot.”

  “I’m very proud of you and we’ll celebrate.” Luke sounded tired. “When I get back.”

  “Do you have any idea when that might be?”

  He sighed. “I’m not sure. We were planning to have a Halloween party at my place. When we talked about it I was certain I’d be back, but now it looks like I’ll have to miss it. I want you to use the house, though. I know the invitations have all been sent and you have a lot of people planning to come. You have a key and Brody can help you with anything you need.”

  I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. Luke had enough to deal with without having to worry about me. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I really hope you can make the trip home, but I understand if you can’t. I’m off today, so I’ll probably buy some decorations and go by to begin decorating. If that’s okay…”

  “That’s perfectly fine. Brody is seeing to the animals, but feel free to stay at the house if you want to. I realize things have become a bit more awkward at the condo now that Cam and Kekoa have hooked up.”

  “Things here are okay, but I may take you up on your offer. I know Sandy misses hanging out with Duke and Dallas. I bet they miss you as well. Even if you can’t come home permanently yet, perhaps you can manage a short visit?”

  Luke didn’t answer right away, but I could hear someone talking in the background, so I imagined his focus was divided. After a short pause he came back on the line. “I’m sorry; I have to go.”

  “Okay. Will you call me later?”

  “I’ll try. It might be late.”

  “Any time is fine. Really.”

  “Okay. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I sat and stared at the phone after Luke hung up. He sounded so tired and sort of defeated.

  Sandy jumped onto the bed. He seemed to understand I was sad because he put his paw on my stomach and cuddled his head up against my face. I put my arms around him and cried the tears I’d been holding at bay. I didn’t know what I was going to do if Luke and I were over. I’d finally gotten to the point where I’d begun to think I might be ready for the next step in our relationship. Luke had mentioned my moving in with him on several occasions, but until recently I’d felt I wasn’t ready. Maybe my subconscious had known things were going to get difficult and had warned me to wait rather than jumping in.

  I cried myself out, then got up and took a warm shower. Agonizing over Luke and what may or may not occur in the future wasn’t going to make a bit of difference to the eventual outcome.

  “Morning,” I said to Kekoa, who was sitting at the dining table drinking coffee. “Are you going in late today?”

  “I’m off. One of the other girls wanted to trade for two Saturdays from now and I figured a day off in the middle of the week would be nice, so I agreed. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” I tried for a smile even I knew was flat.

  “No. It’s not nothing. We’ve been best friends since we were in diapers. I know when something’s wrong. Spill.”

  I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Kekoa was waiting patiently for me to reply, but her patience only extended so far. I took a sip of my coffee and then tried to find the words to satisfy her without breaking down again.

  “I spoke to Luke this morning,” I began. “I was happy to hear from him, but hearing his voice reminded me how much I miss him. I guess I’m just feeling a little sad.”

  Kekoa tilted her head as she studied my face. I turned away. “No,” she said. “It’s more than that. I realize you miss Luke and I understand that makes you sad, but I’m sensing something else.”

  “I promise there’s nothing else.” I couldn’t quite make myself look Kekoa in the eye when I said it and that was going to come back to bite me.

  “You’re lying,” Kekoa challenged. “We made a pinky swear in the first grade never to lie to each other, so what gives?”

  I took a deep breath, clenching my fist as I fought for control. “Look, I know you mean well, but I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m really not up for an interrogation. My boyfriend has been gone for over three weeks with no immediate plans to return and I miss him. That’s the end of the story.”

  “Anger,” Kekoa said. “The emotion you don’t want me to know about is anger.”

  Damn.

  “Are you angry with Luke?” Kekoa asked.

  “Of course I’m angry with Luke. And I’m angry with myself too. I feel like such an idiot. I knew from the very first moment I met Luke that he’d eventually go back to Texas, but I let him get under my skin anyway. I let him love me and I let myself fall in love with him. I’m such an idiot.”

  Kekoa knelt on the floor in front of me. She gathered me into her arms for a tight hug. I thought I’d cried out all my anger, fear, and pain that morning, but apparently, I was wrong. After a while I pulled myself together and Kekoa handed me a tissue.

  “Feel better?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Actually, I do. Until you forced it out of me, I didn’t even realize I was angry. What does that say about me?”

  “It says you’re human. It says you’re suddenly in a position where you see your biggest fear confronting you and you don’t know how to handle it.”

  “But Luke’s father has been injured and his life will never be the same. I must be a horrible person to try to make this all about me.”

  Kekoa placed her hand over mine. “You aren’t horrible. You’re scared, and fear can make you angry. It’s a natural progression. The more scared you are, the angrier you become.”

  Kekoa was right. I’d been scared about this very thing since I first let Luke into my life, but I’d chosen to push it to the back of my mind. The longer Luke had been gone, the more scared I’d become until all that fear had turned into anger. “What should I do?”

  Kekoa didn’t answer immediately. Finally, she said, “I don’t know. I understand your fear and your anger, and normally, I’d say you should talk to Luke about it, but he has a lot on his plate already. It’s not like he’s on vacation. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be away any more than you want him to, but he’s doing what needs to be done. I admire him for that.’

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I do too. And I don’t want to make this harder for him.” I squeezed Kekoa’s hand with mine. “Thanks. I do feel better. Maybe I just needed to acknowledge my feelings.”

  “I’m glad I could help. How about we do something fun because we both have the day off? I could use a girls’ day.”

  “I planned to go shopping for Halloween decorations today. Do you want to come with me?”

  “Sounds like fun. Are you still planning to have the party at Luke’s house with everything that’s happened?”

  I nodded. “He said he was fine with it even if he doesn’t make it home. In fact, he said I could stay at his place if I wanted to. I might do that. At least until after the party.”

  Kekoa frowned. “Are you sure? Won’t you be lonely? Won’t it make it harder to be in his home when he isn’t there?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. I just figured his house is empty and you and Cam could probably use some privacy.”

  Kekoa got up and poured us each a second cup of coffee. “This is your home. Neither Cam nor I want things to be awkward for you.”

  “I know. This may sound strange, but I think being in Luke’s home, sleeping in his bed, and helping Brody with the animals will make me feel closer to him. At the very least I think it will help me to feel I’m doing what I can to help him. Sitting on the sidelines while he has to deal with this extremely difficult situation has been frustrating for me. Maybe if I feel like I’m part of the solution I won’t feel quite so bad.”

 
“Okay. If you’re sure that’s what you want to do I think you should.” Kekoa stood up. “Let me grab a shower and then we can go shopping. I might get a few things to decorate the condo as well.”

  ******

  We decided to head toward the south shore, where there were more shopping options. We figured as long as we were both off we’d make a day of it. We’d buy the decorations, have some lunch, and she could even help me find the perfect costume. The first stop we made was to the Halloween Store. We filled our basket with black and orange streamers, black and orange balloons, small orange and white lights, a mechanical monster, and even a fog machine. It would be fun to decorate the patio area and pool. Halloween in Hawaii tended to be warm, much like every other holiday.

  “Check out these little ghosts.” Kekoa held up some glow-in-the-dark ghosts strung on a line. “They have white, green, and purple. We could buy some of each color and wrap them in the shrubs at the end of the patio. It’ll look like they’re invading once all the lights are off.”

  “Grab a couple packs of each color,” I said. “I saw some packages of webbing. We can string that around the house with some of those plastic spiders.”

  “Should we get one of these coffins to serve the food out of?”

  I walked over to where Kekoa was standing. “It’s really awesome, but it’s kind of big. I’m not sure we could even get it home. We could get one of these tubs for the drinks.” Kekoa picked up some paper cups and I was about to add some cute paper plates to the basket when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. “It’s Jason. I should get this.”

  “You might want to take it outside,” Kekoa suggested. “I’ll get in line.”

  I did as Kekoa suggested and stepped out into the warm sunshine. “Hey, Jason. What’s up?”

  “I’m going to follow up on some leads regarding the Cramer case this afternoon, but I wanted to ask you a few questions first.”

  “I thought it was being investigated by a rookie.”

  “Yeah, well, this rookie is a lot greener than I’d like. I spoke to Dad last night and he told me some stuff that got me thinking. I decided to take a look myself.”

  I sat down on a brick wall under a tree. “Okay; shoot.”

  “When you discovered Clifford Cramer’s body at the bottom of the bluff was the tide on its way in or out?”

  “Out. The body was mostly covered with water when I first arrived, although by the time you got there the body was completely exposed.”

  “Did you notice anything in the water near the body?”

  I paused to consider Jason’s question. “I saw several plastic bags floating on the surface of the water, but they were quite a way out. In fact, the reason I went over to the rocks at the base of the bluff in the first place was because of the bags. I know plastic can be dangerous to sea life, so I was going to swim out and grab them when I saw the body.”

  “I don’t remember seeing plastic bags in the surf,” Jason commented.

  I furrowed my brow as I tried to remember. “They were gone by the time you arrived. You know how strong the current is in that area. The tide started back out and took whatever was in the water with it. I remember thinking that if the body hadn’t been tangled up in the rocks the way it was, it would have been washed out to sea as well. Is there a specific reason you’re asking about items floating in the water?”

  Jason hesitated. “Maybe. I have a hunch. I know you said the bags were pretty far out, but can you describe them? Were they large or small, heavy-duty or lightweight, colored or clear?”

  “They were black. And large. I’d say they were the size of liners used for a small indoor trash can. Those bags looked sturdier than trash bags, though.”

  “Did it seem as if they were waterproof?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Like I said, they were floating out to sea by the time I got there.”

  “Did they appear to be empty or did it seem they contained something?”

  “If I had to guess they were empty. They were just floating on top of the water. It didn’t seem like anything was weighing them down.”

  “And how many were there?”

  “Maybe eight or ten. Why all the questions about the bags?”

  “Just following a hunch. Did you see anything else?”

  “There was something shiny. I’m not sure what. Maybe a fishing lure? It could have been something else. To be honest, once I realized the thing I saw between the rocks was a body I stopped looking at the water.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “What about Mrs. Cramer? Do you think she was dumped in the same area Mr. Cramer was?” I asked.

  Jason cleared his throat, then answered. “We aren’t sure. Based on the location Cramer’s body was found and the tides, we have a general idea as to where he would have entered the water. And based on where the arm was found, combined with the tide pattern around Dolphin Bay Resort, we believe Mrs. Cramer’s body entered the water from a different location altogether. Either that or a shark severed her arm from her body and dragged her for some distance before the arm detached, which put it in a different current, heading away from the bluff.”

  “I’m going to put my money on the shark theory. It would be strange for one person to dispose of two bodies in different locations.”

  “I agree. It would seem logical to dump both bodies at the same time. Listen, I need to get going. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Okay. I hope I was able to help. Kekoa and I are on the south shore shopping, but if I can help in any other way just let me know.”

  After I hung up I went back into the store. Although the place was packed, Kekoa had managed to make it to the front of the line.

  “Maybe we should have bowls of candy sitting around,” Kekoa suggested. “I mean, it’s a Halloween party.”

  I picked up two cute pumpkin bowls. “We can get candy when we get the food. Let’s head to lunch after this. I’m starving.”

  “Okay. I could eat. Did Jason have news?”

  “More like questions.”

  “Did you help him?”

  “Maybe. I feel like he has a theory he’s trying to verify. I guess my answer to his question either verified his suspicion or not.”

  Chapter 4

  After Kekoa and I finished our shopping we headed out to Luke’s to drop everything off. Duke and Dallas seemed happy to see me and I thought about staying, but it was late and I didn’t have Sandy with me, so I decided to go back to the condo with Kekoa and maybe spend the night at Luke’s the following evening. It was only a few days until the party, so I had to jump on the decorating sooner rather than later. I was off on Sundays and Mondays and the party was on Tuesday, so I could do whatever still needed to be done while I was off.

  When Kekoa and I arrived at the condo my brother Jeff was sitting on the lanai. He was the youngest of my five brothers and closest to me in age, which meant that growing up I was much closer to him than I was to the others. Even given that, I was surprised to see him sitting in the swing Kekoa and I had gone in on together that summer. Jeff, who was Mom’s favorite of the boys and the most spoiled of all my brothers, lived on Maui and worked as an officer for their police department. He’d gotten married over a year ago and, since that time, hadn’t visited me even once at the condo.

  “Jeff.” I set my purse down and hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

  Jeff hesitated before answering. It was then I noticed the look on his face, and my stomach sank.

  “Oh God. What’s happened?” I demanded.

  “It’s Jason.”

  I put a hand to my chest to keep my heart from pounding its way clean through. “What happened to him?”

  “He’s been shot.”

  Now I was pretty sure my heart had stopped beating altogether. “Is he…?” I wanted to ask if he was dead, but I couldn’t quite get the words out.

  “He’s in surgery.”

  I glanced at Kekoa, who had tears running down her face.
“I have to go. Will you take care of Sandy?”

  She nodded. I could see she was fighting for control.

  I let Jeff lead me to his car. I don’t remember anything about the ride to the hospital. Maybe we talked, maybe we didn’t. Looking back, I must have been in shock because all I remember was feeling numb. When we entered the waiting area we found my oldest brother, John, a detective for the Maui PD, and my second youngest brother, Justin, a street cop for the Honolulu PD, sitting on brown sofas. John stood up and I walked into his arms. Because he was the oldest I’d lived with him for the shortest time. He was already fourteen when I was born, so by the time I remember hanging out with my other brothers, he’d already moved out. Still, when I was hurting or in trouble, he was the one I was most likely to run to. I’m not sure if it was because he was the oldest, or if it was because he was the largest physically, but when he put his arms around me he had a way of letting me know he’d take care of things and everything would work out fine.

  “Have you heard anything?” I asked as John tightened his arms around me.

  “Not yet.”

  “Jimmy?” Jimmy was the middle brother, the jokester of the group, and a cop on Kauai.

  “On his way. Let’s sit down. I think it’s going to be a long night.”

  I sat down next to John and looked around the room. There were a few people milling around, but other than us, the room was mostly empty. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

  “With the kids,” John answered. He was referring to Kala and Kale, Jason’s daughter and son.

  John put his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his arm. When he spoke it was in a soft, even manner. “I offered to stay with them until Alana’s sister got here, but they were hysterical and wanted Grandpa and Grandma.”

  “And Alana?” I asked, realizing for the first time that Jason’s wife wasn’t in the room.

  “She’s with her parents in the chapel. As you would expect, she’s taking this really hard.”

  I felt so helpless, just sitting there doing nothing, and was about to volunteer to go sit with Kala and Kale when my parents walked in. I stood up and my mother walked into my arms. I glanced over her shoulder at my dad, who looked about as lost and forlorn as I’d ever seen him.