Luckily, however, a week before Christmas Jason promised me a nice weekend away, and after a long Friday spent taking care of a group of animals, I made my way home and got ready for the special trip.
To my surprise, Jason drove us straight from Willow Bay to the airport, and my mouth dropped open when I saw my boarding pass: Portland to Honolulu, direct flight. We were going to Hawaii.
“I haven’t packed a bathing suit,” I complained. “What with that whole ‘it’s December’ thing.”
“Don’t worry, I got Charlotte to pack a bunch of warm clothes for you one night when you were out,” Jason said with a grin. “That way you won’t look like a 30-year-old male picked out your clothes for the weekend.”
“I appreciate that,” I laughed. “Not that you dress badly, but I did catch you wearing socks with sandals that one time.”
“Hey, I was hungover that day,” Jason replied with a grin. “Now come on, let’s find some warm sun.”
Five hours later we landed in Honolulu, and I took in a deep breath as I stepped off the plane and was met with a burst of hot air. It felt like I hadn’t been warm in months, and I grinned at Jason as we made our way through the semi-open air space of Honolulu airport. Even though it was nearly nine o’clock at night – it was just about midnight back home – the temperatures had to be in the eighties.
Jason grabbed us an Uber, which took us to our hotel, right along the beach in Waikiki. I’d seen this view so many times while watching episodes of Hawaii Five-0, but I had never imagined I’d actually be here. Certainly not on such short notice, anyway.
While it was too dark to actually see the ocean, the rhythmic pounding of the waves against the shore reached my ears from the open balcony door as Jason and I fell asleep that first night, ready for the most amazing weekend away ever. Little did I know just how amazing it was going to be.
Jason and I woke up pretty early the next morning, thanks to the time zone shift, and found ourselves seated at an Oceanside table at Duke’s restaurant, featuring the best breakfast buffet I’d ever had in my life.
Between the freshly-squeezed orange juice, made-to-order omelette bar and the coconut bread pudding, I was completely and totally stuffed by the time we left.
“Let’s go walk along the beach,” I suggested. “Unless you had something else amazing planned.”
“No, I know how you eat at buffets,” Jason laughed.
“Like a bear preparing to hibernate for the winter?”
“Exactly. I figured you’d probably want to walk it off after.”
“You know me so well.”
I took off my shoes as the two of us walked along the beach hand-in-hand, the warm sand sinking beneath my toes.
“Hey, watch it!” I heard a tiny voice say, and managed to avoid stepping on a little crab who was busy scurrying out of the way.
“Whoops, sorry,” I said to him with a smile as Jason and I continued. “Have you ever been to Hawaii?
“No,” Jason answered. “When we went somewhere warm in the winter, it was always nearby. The Bahamas, Bermuda, that sort of thing.”
“Me neither,” I said. “To be honest, I’d never actually left the Pacific Northwest, except for a trip to New York I took one summer when I was in college.”
“This place is pretty amazing.”
“I agree,” I smiled. It was nice to be able to finally relax. There were no murders to solve. There hadn’t been any more issues between the beavers and the guy living by the creek. Charlotte was getting ready to move, and I was completely comfortable with it.
Yeah, life was pretty good right now.
Eventually, Jason and I settled on the beach and spent a few hours just lazing around in the sun. It was so nice, lying down in mid-December, with the warm rays beating down on me, warming me down to my bones and refreshing my soul.
This was definitely exactly what I needed.
By the time the sun began to make its way towards the horizon, my stomach began to grumble and Jason smiled. “What do you feel like for dinner?”
“I’ve heard Hawaii has amazing Japanese food,” I replied. “Let’s find something good.”
A quick search on my phone later and we found ourselves waiting in line with other people for udon noodles that were apparently the best in Hawaii. I was kind of worried that we weren’t going to get a table, but luckily, the turnover seemed to be pretty quick despite the line, and right as Jason and I grabbed our bowl of noodles along with some tempura vegetables, a couple got up to leave and we managed to snag their spot.
“So, there’s only one thing that I still wonder about,” I said to Jason as we were eating.
“Oh yeah?”
“Where did the money end up? After all, Chuck admitted that Michael never told him where the money was, and Gloria had absolutely no idea either. Presumably that secret went to the grave with Francis.”
Jason grinned. “Only you could be sitting here in Hawaii wanting to wrap up loose ends about the murder investigation.”
“I’m just curious,” I laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on going treasure hunting.”
Because of the time difference, Jason and I woke up pretty early naturally, and took an Uber to the entrance to Diamond Head, where we arrived right as the gates opened at six in the morning. The climb was long, but not the most strenuous, and about forty-five minutes later we found ourselves at the top.
My mouth dropped open as I gaped at the view of the ocean and Waikiki as the first light of day began to creep up over the horizon. The orange glow grew deeper, giving the ocean a surreal look as the eastern side of the buildings all began to be covered in the light. The sun began to climb higher and higher and Jason and I watched in silence, his arm around me, as the sun rose over the horizon to the east and began to climb up towards us, on the far western side of Oahu.
When daylight finally appeared, I turned to comment on the beauty of the scene to Jason, but he wasn’t right beside me anymore. He had moved about two feet away, and he was down on one knee.
He was down on one knee.
My hands rose to my mouth as he held out a small, black box.
This couldn’t be happening. No way.
“Angela, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” Jason asked with a smile on his face.
“Oh my God, of course. Yes!” I practically squealed. I didn’t even have to think about the answer. Of course I was going to marry him. Jason’s smile turned into a huge grin as he stood up and placed the ring on my finger. A few other onlookers clapped for us as I admired the ring. It was gold, with a large princess-cut diamond in the middle, surrounded by two smaller diamonds on either side.
The first light of the sun hit the diamond and it glistened on my fingers, matching the tears that welled up in my eyes. I normally wasn’t the sort of person who cried when they got emotional, but this was definitely an exception.
“I love you so much,” Jason said. “I can’t imagine spending another day of my life without you.”
“I love you too,” I replied breathlessly. Was this seriously happening? I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Jason took me into his arms and kissed me; our first kiss as an engaged couple instead of just boyfriend and girlfriend.
“You have no idea the stress I’ve been under trying to get this ring done,” Jason laughed. “I saved a whole bunch of posts of diamonds on my Facebook account, so I’ve been keeping my account logged out, to avoid you accidentally coming across them, and I’ve had to reset my password about six times.”
“Oh,” I said with a laugh. That explained why his account had been logged out before.
“Then, when I actually went into town to pick up the ring, that was the day you texted me asking if I was home. I half freaked out, thinking you and Sophie must have known where I was, and that you would have figured out I was going to the jewelry store to pick up the ring.”
“Don’t worry, we had absolutely no idea,” I replied truthfully. I felt a
little bit silly; while Sophie had been trying to convince me that Jason might have been doing something a bit untoward, she was completely wrong. Jason had been hiding something from me, that was true. It was just the greatest surprise ever.
The rest of the day absolutely flew by, and the next morning, as we flew back from Honolulu to Portland, I couldn’t help but think that while I didn’t want to leave, I was also really looking forward to celebrating with everyone.
Chapter 22
As soon as we finally got home and I stepped through the front door, my jaw dropped open in surprise. Rather than the empty house with a cat ready to complain that Charlotte never fed her anything and she was starving, I found myself facing a dozen or so of my family and friends. Sophie and Taylor were there, as was her mom Lisa and her boyfriend Austin. Karen and her husband stood by the entrance to the kitchen, and a huge cake sat on the kitchen counter.
“What is this?” I asked, looking around at everyone.
“Jason told us to hold a surprise party for you after your trip,” Sophie said. “But he wouldn’t say why.”
I held up my left hand and straight away the entire room burst into a cacophony of noise.
“Oh my God!”
“That’s amazing!”
“Let me see the ring!”
“When did he propose? Was it romantic?”
I laughed as I quickly found myself the center of attention, answering question after question about the proposal.
After a few minutes, I felt a furry presence against my leg. “Hi, Bee.”
“Yeah, like you care about me at all. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten?”
“Oh, yeah, you definitely look like you’re starving. I’m sure Charlotte hasn’t given you anything to eat at all.”
“That’s right! Don’t ever leave me again. Also, if anyone was going to put a ring on that finger, I guess Jason is an ok human to do it.”
I smiled as Bee ran off straight after that last comment. That was definitely her way of congratulating me.
After eating some celebratory cake and entertaining partygoers, eventually everyone began to leave, until finally only Charlotte, Sophie, Jason, Taylor and I were left.
We sat around the table chatting about the trip. “It was amazing. Absolutely incredible,” I gushed. “The hotel room we stayed in literally looked exactly like a place from a brochure. Like, the view was actually even nicer than the ad for vacation rentals in Georgetown or wherever in Michael Carlton’s apartment.”
“Georgetown?” Charlotte repeated, and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Was it one word, or two?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Two, I guess. Why?”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you know where George Town is?”
“No. The Caribbean somewhere?”
“Yes. Specifically, it’s the capital of the Cayman Islands.”
My eyes widened. “Isn’t that supposed to be some sort of major place where people hide money?”
“Like the proceeds of a bank robbery,” Sophie nodded.
“Would Michael Carlton have gotten ads from there even if he’d never been?” I asked nobody in particular, and Jason shook his head.
“I wouldn’t think so. More popular places, sure, maybe. But the Cayman Islands is kind of niche enough that I don’t think they would. Especially not here on the west coast.”
“So Michael’s half of the money is hidden in a bank in the Caymans somewhere,” I said.
“We’ll have to tell Chief Gary,” Charlotte said. “With him dead, maybe law enforcement can get some of that cash back.”
“That reward money should help pay for an epic wedding,” Sophie grinned. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. Well, I can. Maybe this will help Taylor get a move on and put a ring on my finger,” she said with a pointed look at her boyfriend.
“I’m just never sure I can tame such a free spirit as you,” Taylor teased.
“Trust me, if the diamond is big enough, I’ll do anything you want,” Sophie replied.
As we all laughed, I wondered if Charlotte was right. Maybe they were going to be able to uncover the lost money after all.
Lying in bed that night, I couldn’t sleep at all. It was no wonder; the last few days had been among the most hectic – both physically and emotionally – of my life. Was Charlotte right? Did Michael Carlton hide his money in the Cayman Islands? What about Francis? Where would his money be hidden? Had he also picked an overseas bank that couldn’t be traced?
Then, Betty’s words came flooding back to me. The last time she had seen Francis was when that woman killed the hitman her husband had hired. That was right around the same time as the bank robbery, right?
Why would Francis Romano pick that time specifically to come back to Willow Bay for a quick visit?
Obviously, the answer was he’d come back if he had a bunch of stolen cash he wanted to hide. But where would he hide it?
I sat up in bed as I began to think things over.
“Are you ok?” Jason murmured sleepily.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I think I know where Francis Romano might have hidden his cash.”
“Really?” Jason said, sitting up.
“Well, not exactly where. But I have an idea. You coming?”
“To go on a treasure hunt with my fiancé in the middle of the night? Absolutely.”
The two of us slipped on our clothes in silence and made our way to the front door.
“Where are you going? Can I come?” Bee asked.
“No, I need to talk to some animals to figure out where to go, and you always scare the birds away.”
“It’s not my fault I’m a ferocious predator descended from the jungle hunters of old.”
“Well, either way, I can’t have you scaring them off. Stay here, Bee, and I’ll take you to work in the morning.”
This was definitely going to be a day powered by coffee, seeing as I’d barely gotten a wink of sleep and it was already 4am.
As Jason and I left the house, he turned to me. “So what’s the plan?”
“We need to find the place Francis Romano found,” I said. “He said he had found some old bunkers in the woods, maybe from World War 2.
“Seriously?”
“It wouldn’t be super weird. They did do a bunch of training around here before shipping soldiers out to fight in the Pacific.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Do you know where the bunkers are?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m hoping the animals can help with that.”
The two of us walked down towards the park, but on the way there, I spotted an owl sitting on a lamppost, his keen eyes eagerly looking for his next meal.
“Excuse me, Mr. Owl,” I said, and the owl hooted at me.
“Well, if it isn’t the human with the ability to speak to animals. I have heard of your existence many a time, but I had quite believed you to be a myth.”
“I’m not a myth,” I said with a smile. “I’m very real.”
“So I see. I believe I owe my friend the doe an apology. Why is it that you are out in the middle of the night, when the rest of your kind are sleeping?”
“I’m looking for a place that another human might have found. It’s very important. Do you know of a human-built structure in the woods, one which no humans use anymore, which may be partially hidden in the ground?”
The owl tilted his head for a moment as he thought about my words.
“No, I don’t believe I know of such a place. But then, I spend most of my time in more open spaces. The deep forest is a more difficult hunting ground. However, let me go and find my friend the doe. She may be able to help you. Stay here, and I will return with her.”
“Alright,” I said. “Thank you.”
The owl flew off without another word, and I recanted his side of the conversation to Jason.
“You know, if you told me a few years ago I’d be out here at 4am waiting for a de
er to come by and tell me where to find a hidden treasure, I’d have called you insane.”
“Life comes at you fast,” I joked, and a few minutes later, a gorgeous doe hopped over a fence and came towards me on the street.
“You are the human looking for the concrete home?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s us,” I said. Concrete home certainly sounded promising; that sounded like what I imagined a bunker would be.
“Come, follow me. I can take you to it.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, motioning for Jason to follow as the doe made her way down the street before crossing back into the woods.
“We have always wondered why the humans built a concrete home, only to never use it,” the doe told me as Jason and I scrambled through the bush to keep up with her. “It has been there since at least since the time of my mother’s mother’s mother.”
“Yes,” I replied. “It was built around seventy years ago, as far as I know. We humans had a war, and it was likely built to train humans to fight before they went to battle.”
“Oh, I really do hate fighting,” the doe replied. “I’m glad the war is over now.”
“So am I,” I replied as we made our way deeper and deeper into the woods. How on earth Francis had found this place – if we were going to the right place – was beyond me.
After about fifteen minutes of strenuous walking through the forest, with the doe leading almost effortlessly past us, we reached a small clearing. The full moon’s glow lit up just enough for me to see a small concrete bunker built into the ground against a hill.
“This is what you seek, I believe,” the doe said.
“Thank you so much for bringing us here,” I said. “Would you mind staying and taking us back to town afterwards? I’m not sure we can find our way back on our own.”
“Of course,” the doe replied. “I am at your service.”
“Thanks,” I told her with a smile as I made my way towards Jason, who was already at the entrance to the bunker. The concrete had been a little bit worn with age, but there was no graffiti or anything on it which would have indicated that anyone had found it since the second world war had ended.
Busy as a Beaver Page 12
