Veils and Vengeance

by Rachelle J. Christensen

  About the time I started to think about the last man I thought was gentle and kind, I slammed my laptop shut.

  Gripping Officer Kinau’s card, I dialed his number and paced the floor in front of the loveseat. It took a couple tries, but when I finally reached him, I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest.

  “This is Officer Kinau,” he answered.

  “Officer, this is Adrielle Pyper, I’m really worried. I just found a picture of the woman who died in some photos from the Connelly’s. I’m almost positive it’s Stacia. I found some pictures of her on the Internet, but I don’t know how recent they are.”

  “Hang on. Take a breath.” His voice was mellow, but I detected a note of concern.

  “Okay, sorry,” I said. “I just don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “Can you send me over the picture right now?”

  “Yes.” I sat down and opened my laptop again.

  “I’ll stay on the line while you do that.” He spelled out his email address, and I repeated it back to him as I typed.

  I had to look at every key because my hands were shaking so badly. A minute later, he cleared his throat. “That’s her. What is she doing with the Connellys?”

  “I think her name is Charly Wilks and that she was a secretary at Tri-C.”

  “Why did you think this was the same woman?” he asked

  I hesitated, knowing that my next words would implicate the Connellys. “Because she’s been missing since I arrived on the island.”

  Chapter 17

  CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA HAWAIIAN TURTLES

  On waxed paper, arrange one whole pecan with four halves of macadamia nuts as legs for the turtle’s body. Dip pecan into homemade caramel and set on wax paper, push macadamia nuts into the caramel and allow to set up. Dip the caramel nuts in chocolate and arrange on wax paper to dry.

  Alternately you can sprinkle wet chocolate turtles with finely shredded coconut.

  Courtesy of www.mashedpotatoesandcrafts.com

  “Can you meet me in the lobby in about thirty minutes?” Officer Kinau asked.

  “Sure, I’ll be waiting.” I hung up and stood looking out the window. The haze over the ocean was burning off and the sun cast a warm glow on the beach. I didn’t want to sit idle in my room and stew about the possibility that I’d been on a date with another murderer. Slipping on a pair of flip-flops, I grabbed a bag and put my phone and the notebook with pages full of notes and questions about the case inside and headed out. My plan was to walk to the beachfront and then circle back to the lobby in time to meet with Officer Kinau. None of my plans seemed to be working the way I wanted on this trip.

  I’d just walked past the first turquoise pool outside the hotel when someone called my name. Whirling around, I saw Jon waving at me and smiling as he picked up his step to catch up with me.

  All of the implications of my search from last night seemed to scream warnings at me. Big warnings about murderers and their secrets. My first impulse was to run, but I still had too many questions. I had to find out the connection between the bracelet and Jon. Maybe it was providence that he had found me before Officer Kinau arrived. My mind raced through the clues I’d pieced together—I had to tell the police everything, even if it was just a hunch, and especially if the woman had been wearing the bracelet.

  Rolling back my shoulders, I stood up straight. I would confront Jon and find out what I needed to know. But first I had to shake off the anxiety attack threatening to pounce, and act normal.

  “Adri, you’re a speed-walker,” Jon said as he approached. “I had to jog to catch up to you.” He held a single pink rose in one hand and a white box in the other. “I brought you a little something to brighten your day. I hope you don’t mind me interrupting your walk—you looked like you were deep in thought.”

  The smile I gave him was probably more like a grimace because my nerves weren’t cooperating. “I have a lot on my mind this morning.” I took the rose, hoping he wouldn’t notice the way my hand shook. “Thank you. This is sweet.” I brought it to my nose, inhaling the fragrance. “All of the flowers have a stronger scent here. It’s lovely.” I struggled to infuse a cheerful note into my voice and at the same time, quit babbling.

  “I’m sorry. You probably were looking for some peace and quiet after yesterday’s accident. I can go,” Jon said.

  Dang. I wasn’t doing a good enough job of fooling him. I reached out and squeezed his arm. “I am still a little sore from yesterday, but I’m happy to see you. So happy to have my head above water.” I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

  That seemed to reassure him and he held out the white box. “Maybe this will help.”

  I lifted the lid and studied the assortment of chocolates dotted with macadamia nuts and coconut—a Hawaiian version of the chocolate turtles I loved. “Definitely a good start.” I bit into one of the chocolates and even if my stomach was already full of suspicion, I couldn’t deny that the caramel, nut, and smooth chocolate tasted divine. I held out the box. “You’d better have one too.”

  Jon groaned. “I shouldn’t ’cause I already had some at the store, but I will so you don’t feel bad.”

  I laughed and took another bite. As I chewed, I took stock of Jon. He looked good, as usual, sporting cargo shorts, a gray t-shirt, and flip-flops. His curly hair was mussed, and he didn’t seem nervous or suspicious. It made me wonder how much he really knew.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but if I didn’t take the chance now I might chicken out. “Jon, I need to talk to you about something important. Let’s sit.”

  His brows quirked and his easy smile faltered, but he nodded and sat next to me in a woven beach chair. At least if he tried to kill me, I could scream for help and someone would hear. Clasping my hands together, I pushed away my dark thoughts and scolded myself for jumping to conclusions.

  Jon looked out at the ocean, frowned and turned to me. “Am I still moving too fast?”

  I shook my head. “No. I need to talk to you about this.” I pulled a bracelet out of my pocket. Not the same one I’d found in Jon’s board shorts—that one was packaged up, hidden in my suitcase.

  “The company bracelets my dad ordered for everyone in the wedding party?” He shook his head. “I know it’s tacky. I tried to talk him out of it.” He shrugged. “Kyle said Malia was okay with it.”

  I turned the bracelet over slowly in my hands, not responding to his questions. With as much determination as I could infuse into my own dark brown eyes, I met Jon’s gaze and spoke. “The woman at Tunnels Beach was wearing this. Do you know why?”

  Jon lurched as if I’d stabbed him. His eyes widened with fear and his lips parted, but then he shook his head and groaned. He glanced at the bracelet and dropped his head into his hands. “I knew I should have said something when I recognized her.”

  I sat up straighter, surprised at how easily he was going to confess. My eyes darted to the grounds around us. There were a few people milling about, but it was still early in the morning and the pool remained quiet. I tucked the hair behind my ear and glanced behind us. Was he going to confess and then take me somewhere and try to kill me? I thought about going back to the lobby before continuing our conversation, but he was still talking, and he didn’t look dangerous.

  “I was afraid.” Jon paused and bit his lip, sucking in a breath. “I’m afraid that my dad killed Charly.”

  My feet were rooted to the ground, the chair seemed to hold me captive as the shock drained my energy.

  Jon covered my hand with his. “I don’t know what to do. I recognized her. I thought my dad did too, but when the police never came to Tri-C, I figured I’d been mistaken.”

  I held my tongue. The police hadn’t questioned Tri-C because they knew the victim as Stacia Fletcher, but I wasn’t about to show my hand. Jon reached for the bracelet.

  “May I?”

  I nodded and dropped it into his palm. He turned it over and the mother of pearl glimmered with a rainbow of
colors in the sunlight.

  His shoulders slumped. “When I saw it, I panicked. I knew that Charly had worked on the design with my dad and that they’d ordered samples. That bracelet on her wrist would link her directly to Dad. I just couldn’t believe that he would actually kill her over a few files, so I took the bracelet and waited. I was going to confront him and find out what was really going on, but then the police didn’t identify the body. After that, my Dad said that Charly had quit abruptly, and it made everything look ten times worse.”

  I leaned toward him. “What files?”

  Jon blinked. “Dad said Charly was trying to steal some files on the nutrient seed we’ve been developing. He thought that maybe she was going to sell it to a competitor. He took everything from her, even her cell phone, had IT hack into her accounts and block them all. Then he fired her, but told everyone else that she quit.

  “I think Charly had stored some of the information on a server in the cloud, and they had a hard time accessing it—that’s where the missing logo has been.”

  His eyes held a deep worry, and I found it surprising that he’d been able to act so carefree with the knowledge he was packing around. “Did you confront him?”

  Jon dropped his head. “I chickened out. I didn’t ask him about the dead woman. I just badgered him about Charly. He explained what Charly had been trying to do to somehow sabotage the company. I didn’t say anything about the bracelet.” He paused and looked at me. “I’m sorry. I should have gone to the police, but I worried that they would just arrest my dad, and what if he’s innocent?”

  I gripped the arms of the chair. “Are you prepared for the possibility that he might not be? Because the woman who died was Charly.”

  Jon stood and leaned against a palm tree. “It doesn’t make sense. Why kill her if he already fired her? And why would he leave the bracelet on her?”

  He had a point, but he didn’t know as much as I did either. Did Neil know about Stacia Fletcher? “We need to go to the police. It won’t hurt to have them question your dad and find out what is really going on. If he did kill her, that would be horrible, but letting him get away with murder would be much worse. This woman probably has a family.”

  Jon bowed his head. “You’re right. I’ve just been scared. I didn’t know how to approach it after I had initially talked to Dad and he didn’t say anything. I kept thinking that maybe I had been mistaken. And then Kyle’s wedding is almost here. I didn’t want to mess up everything.”

  He had a point, but wedding plans aside; it was still murder we were talking about. “What about your mom? Did she recognize her?”

  “I don’t think my mom ever met Charly, and if she did, I doubt she’d recognize her in that condition.” Jon rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “She’s been pretty upset over the whole thing, so at first I wondered if Dad had confessed to her. Then I found out she just felt bad that the police still hadn’t been able to contact any of her family so they can’t release her identity.”

  So Jon hadn’t been keeping tabs on the news either. “Your dad has to talk to the police, and so do you.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want to ruin Kyle and Malia’s wedding.”

  “It won’t ruin anything.”

  Jon raised his eyebrows. “I think if the father of the groom is arrested for murder right before the wedding, it would be a pretty bad thing.”

  I winced. “You do have a point.”

  Jon moved and knelt in front of me, placing his hands on my knees. “Adri, did you think that I killed that woman?”

  Heat rose in my cheeks. I closed my eyes, wishing I could escape from the situation.

  “I’m so sorry. I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. You probably hate me now, especially after what you shared with me.” His hands covered mine.

  Opening my eyes, I saw that his face was only about six inches from mine. “I don’t hate you. I understand what it means to be afraid and unsure of the right thing to do.”

  Jon placed his hand on my cheek. “I like you, Adri. I never want to hurt you. The body scared me, and then my mind kept coming up with different scenarios that all cast guilt on my father.” He blinked rapidly to clear the moisture in his eyes. “I don’t know how to handle the idea that my dad might have killed Charly.”

  He stood and paced in front of the pool. I rose slowly from my chair. “I don’t think you killed her, but I’m scared and second-guessing myself, afraid to trust you.”

  Jon turned and came toward me. “Will you help me talk to my dad first?”

  “Me? Why me?”

  “I just—I think it would give me courage.”

  “Okay, I can do that.” I was curious to hear what Neil might say, but I didn’t want to walk into a death trap. “But only if we go to the police first.” Jon didn’t know that a policeman would be arriving soon, so whether he agreed or not, he’d be talking to Officer Kinau.

  Jon flinched. “Do you think they’ll arrest me for tampering with evidence or something?”

  “No, but they might arrest you if they think you’re a suspect and are withholding evidence. If you go to them and tell them what you know, it makes you less suspicious.”

  “I wish I hadn’t taken it.” He stopped and looked at the bracelet I held. “Is that the same one from the body then?”

  “No, I found that one in your board shorts when I was looking for my ring, but I was too scared to say anything.” I ducked my head and mumbled. “I didn’t want to get myself killed.”

  Jon stepped toward me. “I’m sorry. If you’d rather not be around me, I understand.”

  I lifted my head with a question in my eyes. “How do you feel?”

  Jon groaned. “Like things are pretty messed up and I need help.”

  “Well, I want to help you.”

  “You’re not scared of me?”

  “Maybe a little.” I smiled to soften my words. “I’m not very sure of people anymore, so don’t take it too hard.”

  “Do you trust me?” Jon asked.

  “I think so.” My words sounded cruel to my ears so I squeezed Jon’s arm and looked into his eyes. “What I mean is that I want to trust you. I think you’re a trustworthy guy, but I’m still going to be careful.”

  “You’re a smart woman. That’s what I like about you.” He reached for my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine.

  “Well, you might not like me as much when I tell you that Officer Kinau is waiting in the lobby to speak to you and me.”

  Chapter 18

  BEACH WEDDING WELCOME SIGN

  Paint the following message with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date on a wooden placard with directional arrows

  Malia & Kyle * February 26th Forever

  Sandy Toes

  Salty Kisses

  Shoes Optional

  Courtesy of www.mashedpotatoesandcrafts.com

  Jon’s eyes widened. “Right now?”

  “That’s why I was out by the pool. I was waiting to talk to him.” I tugged on Jon’s hand. “Come on.”

  “But why were you going to meet with him here?” Jon took a few steps forward and stopped.

  “Because I called the police when I found a picture of Charly in the photos Malia gave me for the wedding collage I’m making.”

  “How did you know it was Charly?”

  “I didn’t at first. But then I saw a picture of the woman who died, Stacia Fletcher.” I held onto Jon’s hand and kept moving forward.

  “Stacia who?”

  I hesitated, wondering how much I should share with him. “It’s pretty interesting, but I’d better let the police fill you in.” We hurried toward the lobby.

  Officer Kinau hadn’t arrived yet, so I decided it was time to come clean and hand over the bracelet stashed in my suitcase. “Hey, I need to grab something from my room. Are you okay to wait for a few minutes?” I wanted to trust Jon, but I decided to take extra precautions with the bracelet. He didn’t know where I had hidden it, and
I didn’t want anyone besides the police to handle it.

  Jon had his head down, with his arms crossed over his knees. “I guess it’s best to get this all over with,” he mumbled. “I just wish I knew if my dad did something wrong. I need to talk to him.”

  “Let’s talk to the police first, okay? Don’t do anything until I get back. I’ll be less than five minutes.”

  Jon nodded, and I left him sitting there with a pained expression on his face. As I rummaged through my suitcase, I thought of how Jon couldn’t bring himself to say the word we were both thinking. What if Neil was a murderer?

  I grabbed my laptop in case Officer Kinau wanted to look at any other pictures. My fingers tightened on the smooth black surface—what if the police confiscated my laptop for their investigation? I still had so many questions that I needed answered, and so far the Internet had helped me unravel a portion of the mystery. Hopefully, I’d be able to keep searching for answers. When I returned to the lobby with the bracelet in the pocket of my laptop bag, Jon grabbed my hand and gave me an intense look laced with anxiety.

  “I don’t want to tell the police, but I have to confront my dad before the police bring him in. I’m sure they’ll tell us not to talk to him, not to scare him off.”

  “They may be right,” I said.

  Jon shook his head. “No. Dad won’t ruin Kyle’s wedding. I want to talk to him first to give him a chance to turn himself in if he did this. Don’t you think it would be better for him to go to the police on his own?”

  “That’s a good point.” I looked at my hand in his and wondered about the emotions rocketing through my body. With Jon, things were different, but I still had the tentativeness that had defined me for some time. And now I was in the middle of a murder investigation and my own sleuthing had just cracked it wide open. A feeling of dread washed over me, coupled with the questions hovering over the green-eyed Stacia/Charly I had discovered at Tunnels Beach. I didn’t want to think that Neil might have killed her, but that was where the police would look first.