Paradise Crime Mysteries

by Toby Neal

  “It’s professional. Once I showed him who’s boss, we’ve been fine.”

  Lei laughed. “Good luck with that. I’m sure he’s just waiting for you to trip up.”

  “Yeah, it’s all right. So, keep me up to speed on anything you see or hear tomorrow.”

  “Of course.” A long pause. Lei found herself reluctant to close the phone. Memories of being in his arms flashed through her mind, lighting nerve endings like tiny electric shocks. She listened to his breathing across the miles, a tangible connection.

  Not so many miles that they couldn’t be crossed.

  “I miss you. Can I come over, bring some Chinese for dinner?” He was the first to say what they were both thinking.

  “I don’t think that’s a such good idea,” she said softly. “It can’t lead to anything—and I can’t trust myself alone with you.”

  Another long pause.

  “I don’t give a shit where it leads,” Stevens said finally, his voice rough with emotion. “You’re making me crazy.”

  She pictured dark brows lowered over laser-blue eyes, the hard set of his mouth. His rough-planed face was better than handsome. It was lived in, intelligent, charismatic. Sexy.

  “I’m sorry. I never wanted you to come here. You’re making me crazy too, because I can’t be with you. I can’t be what you want!” Lei cried.

  He hung up, an abrupt severing.

  “Dammit!”

  She couldn’t seem to stop hurting those who wanted to love her. She was messing with Alika’s head now, too. God, how she hated herself—and it was all Charlie Kwon’s fault. That pedophile was the one who’d made her Damaged Goods. He was the one who’d made sure she was too messed up to know how to love.

  Or be loved.

  She felt an overwhelming urge to cut herself, to feel that purging fire of pain that somehow released inner anguish and sometimes brought relief. Her mind pictured the knife drawing a shallow line of welling blood. Maybe she’d carve their names into her arms. Blood and darkness, that was all that was in her; that was all she was.

  Self-loathing mounted, that she was even so tempted, that she could regress so far even in her own mind. She looked at the insides of her arms, laced with white threads of scar tissue from the past, rubbed them hard, a replacement she’d learned in therapy. Keiki, who’d been napping at her feet, leapt up to nose her, whining.

  Lei went down into the darkened yard and threw herself into her Tae Kwon Do routine. In the dark, kicking, spinning, and leaping, her mind emptied of confusion. Chest heaving, legs trembling, she eventually exhausted herself until there was nothing to do but go to bed, hoping things were better tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Wednesday, October 27

  “Hey, your tip about Hines’s mother paid off.” Jenkins’s voice was becoming her lifeline as she checked in during her midday break the next day at the Health Guardian. “Fury said to thank you for the intel you gave him yesterday. They’ve got a line on Hines—he took a plane off Kaua`i a few days ago to Oahu. We have an alert on him at the airports and the Oahu PD is looking for him.”

  “Anything confirming Hines was involved with the ice production?”

  “Yeah. His name is on some orders for supplies used at the Island Cleaning factory. They also got one of the cleaning team people; she’s talking about the whole operation as we speak. Anything new at your end?”

  “No. I’m starting to think Jazz is just doing this to get me as a free slave.” She’d tied the wig back, but she was overheated, as usual. Her phone chimed and she saw an incoming call from Alika. “Anything else?”

  “No. Check in tomorrow, Sweets.”

  “Will do.” She clicked the phone over to the new call. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Ginger. Any news on Lisa?”

  “Investigation’s proceeding. Thanks for your intel; you’ll probably be getting a call from the main investigator, Detective Furukawa.”

  “Sounds like you can’t tell me anything. That’s okay. I was just wondering if you wanted to come for a swim after work.”

  “God, that sounds perfect.” Lei swiped her damp brow with a forearm. “But I’m a long way from being off.”

  “No worries. I didn’t mean at my house anyway. Somewhere special, out on the North Shore.”

  “Oh yeah. Today’s totally sweaty; I can’t wait to jump into something cool and wet.”

  “Okay. I’ll tell you how to get there.” He gave directions.

  The location was only another fifteen minutes past her house. Rejuvenated by the prospect of going swimming, she went back into the café just as Jazz led a tall man out of his office.

  “Lani, meet my brother, Cal. Cal, this is Lani, my newest employee.”

  “Hi.” Lei had the reading glasses on, blurring the edges of a craggy face, and she took them off and shook the calloused hand that met hers. “Didn’t know you had a brother on island. Good to meet you.”

  “Hello.” Cal had dark eyes, shared his brother’s lean build, and his skin was leathery, as if he spent a lot of time in the sun. “Pleased to meet you too.”

  The distinctive scent of marijuana clung to him like musk.

  “Cal works on an estate out on the North Shore.”

  “Oh, I love it out there. So spiritual,” Lei burbled, in character.

  “Don’t know what you mean. It’s just land, and a lot of work to keep nice.” Cal shook his head.

  “Oh. Well, I just think, the energies…” She was left staring after Cal as he turned and walked away. She glanced at Jazz.

  “He’s not much of a people person,” Jazz said. “Looks like you’ve got some customers.”

  “Looks like I do,” Lei said, and went to the juice bar.

  She’d been getting used to people affirming her vague comments about “energies” and “mana” and “spiritual centers,” and Cal’s rebuff snapped her out of that. She’d even kind of begun to believe it. Maybe it was Esther’s influence. Kaua`i seemed to bring out the paranormal in people.

  “Detective Texeira.” Lei looked up, eyes widening at the sight of Kelly Waterson, a stack of flyers pressed against her pillowy chest. “I thought it was you.”

  Lei’s head swiveled as she checked for who might have overheard. No one in earshot. She hustled out from around the juice bar, towed Kelly to a table in the corner, gave her a little shove into a rattan chair, and sat down next to the girl.

  “Not so loud. I’m undercover.”

  “You haven’t called me back.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t have anything I could report.”

  “Are you here for Jay’s investigation? Because he hung out here. I wanted to put these posters around on the tables.”

  “I can’t talk about it, Kelly. Just know we are doing all we can and things are progressing. Good initiative on the posters.”

  “I have to go back home soon. I have to get to work.” The girl’s eyes filled. Lei took a paper napkin out of the dispenser, handed it to her. Kelly dabbed her eyes. “No one seems to know anything. Jay’s dad is offering a reward.”

  “Well, if you get any leads, make sure they come to us at the police station. All I can tell you is that we have more manpower on the case and a full task force going. We are taking Jay’s disappearance very seriously.”

  Kelly stood up. “Okay. Call me. Keep me informed.” The green in her changeable eyes glittered. “I’m serious.”

  “Of course.” Kelly handed her a few of the posters and walked out.

  Lei let her breath out in a whoosh, looking around. No one was paying attention. She picked up the posters and tacked one onto the front of the bar, her stomach knotted.

  Jay’s eyes could accuse her from everywhere in the café now.

  Several hours later she turned off the main road onto a rugged, rock-strewn dirt track leading uphill at a steep angle. She put the truck in four-wheel drive and bucked her way up to the cleared area at the top, parking next to Alika’s black Tacoma.

 
; Alika leaned against the hood of his truck, working his cell phone. He looked up and waved. She snagged her swimsuit off the seat, slipping out of her underwear and wriggling into the bottoms. She reached behind and unhooked her bra, slipping it off one arm and then reaching in with the other hand to pull the bra out of her sleeve without taking the dress off. She dropped the polka-dotted top over her head and reached backward under the dress to tie the strings, then whipped the dress off and gave her scalp one last rub, enjoying the springy softness of fledgling hair without the scratchy wig.

  Alika whistled as she got out of the truck in nothing but the yellow bikini and her rubber slippers.

  “That was amazing. I kept hoping to get a glimpse of something, but you have changing in the car down to a science.”

  “We local girls know a few tricks.” She put her hands on her hips, swiveling to take in the view.

  They were halfway up a precipitous mountain in a rough clearing. A boulder-strewn path led farther up the incline. She could look down the road and see the ocean, a wind-whipped blue tumult in the distance. Jungle stretched away in either direction.

  “So where’s the swimming? Don’t tell me you lured me up here under false pretenses.”

  “Oh, there’s swimming, all right.” He shucked his shirt off over his head. “You’re not the only one who got sweaty today. I had to spend the day filling in for one of my carpenters, who called in sick.” He reached back into the cab of his truck for a couple of towels and tossed her one. “Follow me.”

  He turned and headed up the trail. Lei wrapped the towel, a huge bath sheet printed with palm trees, around her torso and hurried up the trail after him.

  The path ended at the lip of a cavern. Lei caught her breath at the soaring depth of it, rough stony edges softened with hanging ferns. She glimpsed the black shimmer of water far below. “Oh my God. This is awesome.”

  A draft of cool air wafted out and poured over her. Alika was already picking his way down the steep path inside to the water. His upturned grin gleamed in the dim light.

  “You said you like to go swimming.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “What’s this cave called?” She picked her way down the precipitous rocky trail. “You can’t even tell it’s here from below!”

  “It’s Waikapala`e Cave. This is an old lava tube, and the water comes through the stone from underground springs.”

  They reached the bottom of the cavern, where crystalline water lapped at the shore, and Lei stuck her foot in. She shrieked and jumped back. “It’s freezing!”

  “You wanted to cool off.” Alika tossed his towel over a nearby rock. He climbed onto an outcrop on the side of the cave. Small, sparkling white stalactites dripped into the pool. Maidenhair fern clinging to rocks reached for light coming through the cave mouth far above, a lacy scrim trimming the jagged lava.

  Alika dove in, then burst up out of the water with a Tarzan yell, shaking his head.

  The icy splash sprinkled Lei and she gasped, goose bumps erupting. She followed him up onto the outcrop and jumped in, holding her nose. The cold hit her like a fist, driving the air out of her lungs in an explosive burst, and she surged up to the surface with a matching yell. They laughed spontaneously, the sound echoing around the chamber and making the fragile ferns shiver.

  “Follow me.” Alika struck out for the shadowy rear of the cave. A little hesitantly, Lei followed. He swam all the way to where the rock face touched the surface and pointed down into the deep, clear water. The reflection of distant light was captured in the lime-lined depths, and she could see the cave went on underneath.

  “We need to dive under and swim through a short tunnel. We’ll come up inside a chamber. It’s something you have to see to believe. You game?”

  “Of course.” Lei’s heart pounded so hard it hurt her ears.

  “Okay. I know my way, so I’m going to hold your hand. Just keep your eyes open and swim after me. It’s less than thirty seconds. Let’s fill our lungs.”

  They both oxygenated their bodies with deep breaths; then Alika took her chilled hand in his and dove under. She sucked in one last big breath and followed him, kicking and swimming with her free hand as hard as she could. With her eyes open she could see the light reflecting off the bottom of the cave far below, but above her head was terrifying black. Imagining being held beneath the water with nowhere to escape to pumped adrenaline through her veins and used up oxygen faster than it should have—so when Alika swam upward, she flew up beside him into the underwater cave with a gasp.

  They treaded water, assimilating their surroundings. The water glowed, lit from reflections beneath, filling the dark, enclosed chamber with an eerie blue light.

  “They call this the Blue Room.” Alika’s voice echoed in the roughly spherical space. Lei looked up—blue reflections danced across the rough ceiling, bounced off the walls. Her limbs looked foreshortened in the water, azure and alien.

  “Follow me.” Alika struck out for the side of the chamber. Along one wall, nearly invisible, was a narrow shelf. He hauled himself out of the water, turning to sit. He reached down and grasped her wrist, and with one powerful heave pulled her high enough for her to clamber onto the ledge. She turned around and sat beside him, their feet dangling into crystalline blue.

  “This is amazing. Magical.” Even though she whispered the words, they sent ripples around the enclosed space.

  “Being here with you is magic.”

  “Bet you say that to all the girls,” she said, trying for banter.

  “None of them ever had the nerve to come here.” His words fell like stones in a pond, sinking into her.

  When his hand touched her chin, turning her face toward him, she felt like the only woman in the world. His lips were the point of heat in that universe, and she sank hungrily into the kiss, welcoming his tongue into the cave of her mouth. Her arms came up and around him just as he reached for her, the coldness of their bodies clashing on the narrow ledge in a timeless embrace.

  She couldn’t get enough of him. Her hands flew over him, rubbing marble-cold skin into warm pulsing life. His hands were all over her too, friction between them bringing her to the edge of frantic desire. He pushed her top aside to touch her breasts, and her nipples became tactile points of intense sensation. When his hot mouth touched her there she cried out, and the sound of it bounced around the cave. She moved up and onto his lap, powerful legs encircling him, a haze blinding her—and that was when she felt something odd.

  Something poking her in the knee. Something small, roundish, hard. Something that shouldn’t be there. She raised her head from where she’d been biting his neck, stillness falling over her like a cloak.

  “What’s wrong?” His harsh whisper had a ragged edge of desperation to it. “I don’t have a condom, but…”

  “It’s not that.” She moved off his lap and he groaned, reaching for her. She pushed him away, patting the ledge beside them until she found the object. Held it carefully. Moved over to sit on the ledge and lean out over the water for whatever reflected light she could pick up.

  It was a cylindrical shape a little bigger than a cigarette butt, flared at the ends, light and slightly porous to her fingertips. Even in the dimness she could tell it was bone.

  She straightened her top back into place. Continued to pat the surface of the ledge carefully as Alika watched, brows drawn together.

  “What are you doing? Are you okay?”

  “I found something important.” She kept feeling, then shoved him. “Get off. I need to check this whole ledge.”

  He dropped into the water. She continued her slow patting of the ledge, then moved up onto the wall. About two feet up near the middle she hit pay dirt—a hollow depression in the wall, with a cache of bones in it. She touched them lightly, enough to feel their contours, but she didn’t want to disturb them in situ and it was too dark for her to see into the depression.

  She needed to see if the bone was what she thought it was. Lei tucke
d it deep into her swimsuit top, tightened the strings so there was no possibility of losing it, and slipped back into the water.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I think I found something major. I need to bring some backup in here. They’ll have to bring scuba gear.” She swam for the entrance to the cave, the enchantment of blue light lost on her.

  “What? What is it?”

  “I think it’s human remains. Seems like someone’s been using the ledge for some sort of shrine.”

  “Oh shit. Now, there’s a mood killer.”

  “I have to get to my phone. C’mon.” She swam to the wall, looked underneath it to the tunnel, and gulped a few quick breaths. Before Alika could catch up, she ducked and swam through the tunnel, coming up on the other side and breaking into a fast crawl across the pool. Alika was just getting out of the tunnel when she climbed out of the water and wrapped herself in the bath sheet, digging the bone out of her top and holding it up to the dim light.

  “Finger. Maybe toe,” she muttered. She pushed her feet into rubber slippers and bounded up the precipitous trail. Alika finally caught up with her back at her truck, where she was placing a call to Becky.

  “Becks—I have something for you to check out. A bone.” She held it up so the setting sun could light the macabre little object. She was almost sure it was human.

  “So bring it in tomorrow.” Becky’s voice sounded tired. “I’ll take a look if I have time.”

  “No. It’s more urgent than that. I think this might be part of the big investigation I’m working on with Stevens.” She described the bone. “It’s a little blackened, as if it might have been in a fire.”

  “What about it being old? I mean, this could be part of some Hawaiian burial site or something.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it.” Lei described the cache of bones in the hollow in the wall. “The Hawaiians did hide their high-ranking dead in the cliffs in caves—but not a wet cave like this. And the bones at this site are small, nowhere near enough to be a whole body. That’s why I’m calling you first. I want you to check it out, see if it’s worth calling out the full team for.”