4 Maui Macadamia Madness (13 page)

Taking a deep
breath, I sat in the middle seat and remained as still as possible. What if I
got seasick?
Or airsick?
What if I passed out while in
the sky? I clutched my stomach.

This was ridiculous!
I had stared down people pointing a gun at me. Surely I could handle this.

Once Ethan sat next
to me, Paul gunned the engine, and we bounced across the water’s surface. I
figured we cruised half mile off shore before Paul slowed and turned to me.
“Ladies first?”

I shook my head hard
enough for pieces of hair to come loose from my ponytail.

Ethan laughed and
stood. “I’m ready.”

Paul and Junior
strapped him into the harness and instructed Ethan to stand on a small platform
at the rear of the boat. “We’re going to let the wind carry you out and then in
twenty minutes we’ll reel you in like a fish.” Paul smacked Ethan on the chest.
“Ready?”

“Yep.”
Ethan winked in my direction, gave
a thumbs
up as the boat roared forward, and then sailed into
the sky.

I couldn’t help but
grin along with him. Soon, he was nothing but a speck in the sky. My palms
sweated. It would be the fastest twenty minutes of my life, followed by the
longest.

Remembering I’d
slung the camera around my neck before leaving our cottage, I zoomed in on
Ethan’s rapturous expression and snapped a few photos. Thank the good Lord for
a good camera with a twenty-five times zoom lens. I’d be able to get some great
shots.

Way too soon, Paul
and Junior reeled Ethan back to the boat and strapped me into the harness. I
closed my eyes and shrieked when the boat increased speed.

“You’ll love it!”
Ethan shouted.

I shook my head and
felt my feet leave the boat. Help me, God. Help me. I gripped the ropes on each
side of my head. My knuckles ached. I opened my eyes and gasped.

The ocean was so far
below.
So blue.
To my left rose the buildings of
Lahaina
.
To my right, a small island.
Below me, lots and lots of boats.
The scene was truly
idyllic.

Wrapping my arms
around the ropes, I lifted the camera to my eye and zoomed in on
Lahaina’s
main street. Expressions were hard to see, but
people dotted the sidewalks and cafes. Families strolled along the shore. I
stopped on a familiar face. “Aunt Eunice!” I waved and followed her progress
down the street.

Why did she look as
if she were sneaking up on someone? I moved the camera a ways in front of her.
Susan Wood and
Manano
sat side-by-side at a table in
the shadows. At least, I thought it was them. No way to be completely sure, but
whoever it was looked mighty cozy and didn’t seem worried that someone would
see them. I scanned the shore with the camera, which was proving to be every
bit as good as binoculars.

I leaned forward.
Was that the
Wahine
siblings waving their arms at
each other? It looked as if they were arguing. Oh, I wished Paul would lower me
just a bit so I could see and hear better. I snapped a few photos and lowered
the camera.

Oh! I froze.

Someone should have told
me that leaning forward while parasailing could result in the world’s worst
case of vertigo. For a while, I’d forgotten to be afraid, now the feeling
rushed back like a tsunami, stealing my breath and causing the blood to rush to
my feet.

Not a moment too
soon, the rope tugged and I lowered, much too slowly, back to the boat and into
Ethan’s arms. I took deep breaths and rested my head against his strong chest.
“I survived.”

“Were you really
that frightened?”

“Not for a while. I
was busy taking pictures of suspicious activity, but once I realized how far up
I was—let’s just say, I don’t want to do that particular activity again.”

His chest rumbled.
“We’ll snorkel Molokai tomorrow, okay? That ought to be tame enough for you.”

“Maybe, but the
papers we got with our rented gear said there were
barricudas
and sharks.”

Chapter
Fifteen

I sipped my pineapple drink and watched as Ethan body-surfed. Having
recovered from my parasailing ordeal, I wanted nothing more than to enjoy the
late afternoon with a yummy drink and the company of my family.
Especially since I had oodles of questions for my aunt.

“I saw you in
Lahaina
today.” I peered at her over my sunglasses.

“I saw you and Ethan
ditching us this morning.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I, uh…”

“It’s your
honeymoon, I know.” She reached over and patted my arm. “Don’t worry. I’m glad
you didn’t say anything in
Lahaina
. You would have
blown my cover. While you were off playing, I was being a detective.”

“What did you find
out?” I turned on my side and took a long draw from my straw. “Through my
camera lens it looked like you were spying on Susan and
Manano
.
Is that right?”

She frowned. “Where
were you?”

“In
the sky.”

“Fine, don’t tell
me.” She shrugged. “April and Joe ditched me, too. Roy wasn’t feeling well,
so—”

“You went
investigating on your own?” That straightened me up. “Do you realize how
dangerous that is?”

“Like
you don’t do it all the time.”
She waved a hand at me. “Anyway, I took a shuttle to
Lahaina
to do some shopping and saw our little lovebirds—”

“Susan and
Manano
, right?” I sat up and shoved my toes in the sand.

“Would you stop
asking that? You sound like a broken record. Yes, it was them.” Aunt Eunice
exhaled sharply and shook her head. “Anyway, they were arguing—”

“Like Leroy and
Camilla
Wahine
.”

“I don’t know about
them, but.” She gave me a stern look. “Susan was upset because our dear police
officer hadn’t taken care of some kind of ‘
business’
”
She made finger quotes in the air. “And that ‘she’ whoever that is, but I have
my guess, was still nosing around.”

Hmmm, sounded
sinister, and I could lay money down on who ‘she’ was. “I could see the dear
brother and sister arguing, too, or at least that’s what it looked like.” What
could possibly have everyone in an uproar?

“Howdy.” April
plopped into a chair next to me. “Guess what I found out?”

Aunt Eunice peered
around me. “That it’s rude to disappear from the people who paid for your
vacation?”

Her face reddened.
“Sorry about that, but Joe wanted to spend some time together.”

“We’re your
chaperones. Y’all aren’t married yet.” Aunt Eunice crossed her arms and settled
back.

“Never mind her,” I
said. “Spill your guts.”

“Jamison’s first
name is Bob, or Robert, rather. He owned Jamison’s Resort Construction. Guess
who
is his partners
?”

“Susan Wood is one.”

“Bingo!”

“Who is the other?”
My straw made slurping sounds on the bottom of my empty glass. I glanced behind
us for a server. The
Wahine
might be a bed and
breakfast, but they treated the guests as if it were a resort. Pure paradise,
when people weren’t dying anyway.

“It’s a corporation.
Plumeria
Builders, based in Honolulu.” She sure
looked proud of herself.

“More drinks?”
Camille stepped beside us, pretty in a
fuschia
flowered dress.

“Please.
Pineapple Mango all around.”
I waved my hand with a flourish.
We were finally getting somewhere with the case. It all centered
around
Jamison’s business and the
Wahine’s
being desperate for money.

Of course, you
couldn’t tell by our surroundings. The grounds were immaculate, the service
impeccable, and the rooms top-of-the-line. Something smelled rank in this
tropical oasis. I reclined back in the lounger. Yep, we were going to solve
this mystery same as the previous three. I knew it. I just needed to dig deeper
into Jamison’s background.

Ethan waved from the
water, looking every bit as fine as a cover model for some risqué woman’s
magazine. With the sun highlighting his blond hair and bronzed muscles, his
bathing suit riding low on his hips, I almost tossed caution to the wind,
forgetting my best friend and aunt sat beside me. I wanted to run to him, throw
my legs around his waist and tumble into the surf. My breath quickened. Mercy!

“Earth to
Summer
.” April wiggled her fingers in front of my face.

“Huh?”

“Where are you?” Her
brow furrowed, then her gaze followed mine and she grinned.
“Never
mind.
I think I know.”

My face heated. “I’m
thinking of the goings on at
Wahine’s
B & B.” We
stopped talking for a moment while our drinks were delivered.

“Sure you are.” She
sipped her drink.
“Oh, good.
Here comes Joe. Maybe he
has some news for us.”

Joe bent to kiss her
then perched at the foot of her lounger. “Good news, ladies.” He waggled his
eyebrows.

If Ethan weren’t
strutting toward me, sparkling with water drops, I might be able to
concentrate. My beloved broke the spell when he shook his hair off on me. I
shrieked and swatted at him.

“What did you find
out?” He plopped beside me, almost toppling me into the sand. Sometimes my
gallant knight was anything but.

“Well,” Joe said. “I
contacted a buddy of mine on the LAPD. Seems our friend Jamison has been on
their radar for quite a while on suspicions of lending money in less than
reputable means.”

“A
loan shark?”
I
straightened.

“Possibly,
although there isn’t yet sufficient evidence to convict him.”

“Impossible to
convict a dead person,” Aunt Eunice stated. “But I’m thinking it’s time to get
cozy with the Mrs.”

“
Wahine
?”
Why didn’t I think of her? The quiet woman stayed in the background of her
husband’s stronger personality. Everyone knew still waters ran deep. She
probably knew everything about everyone. “I think that’s a great idea, but I’ll
have to go with you. It’s too dangerous.”

Ethan snorted.

“What?”

“We’ve been telling
you that for over a year. Now, when it’s your aunt doing the sleuthing, it’s
another story.”

“Well, of course it
is.” What did he think? That I would let a sixty-year-old woman confront a
possible criminal alone?

Aunt Eunice shook
her head. “I think I should do this alone. Mrs.
Wahine
is around my age and won’t suspect anything.” She nodded. “Yep, I’ll talk to
her tomorrow when she’s puttering in her flower garden. She does that every
morning.”

My aunt was more
observant than I ever thought. Pride rose in me. Ever since I’d needed her help
in solving the murder at the county fair, she had been itching to get involved
again. “Okay. But we have to know where you are at all times.” Uncle Roy was
going to kill me.

“Stop!”

I swiveled to look
behind me.

Susan ran, high
heels in one hand, the other holding a floppy hat to her head, after a little
wire-haired dog. “Somebody stop that animal. It stole my mail.”

Ethan, ever the
hero, dashed to the rescue and tackled the fiend to the ground. The dog
rewarded him with the mail and dog kisses.

“Thank you so much.”
Susan grabbed what looked like a bill and an invitation from Ethan’s hand. “I
plan on extending my stay on Maui, so had my mail forwarded here. I have no
idea where this monster came from.”

“He’s a sweetie.” I
kneeled beside the dog and searched for an ID tag. No collar. “I wish I could
take you home, sweetie. Truly would love you.”
Maybe.
My Cairn was fickle when it came to strange animals.

“Rambo!”
Leroy
Wahine
jogged down the beach. “Sorry. He tends to get loose once in a while. He’s
harmless.”

Rambo?
I stifled a grin and stood. “No harm done.”

“Easy
for you to say.”
Susan
huffed and whirled to make her way back to the hotel.

“Aloha.” Leroy
picked up his dog and headed back the way he had arrived.

The beach sure was
busy. I grabbed my towel from the back of my chair. “I’m heading up to shower
before supper.”

As I turned to
leave, a caught a glimpse of something white under the green of a hibiscus
bush.

Chapter
Sixteen

After glancing around to see whether anyone was paying attention to me.
Of course Ethan was. I grabbed the envelope and read Susan’s name. I smiled and
waved at my husband and continued my trek to the cottage. It wouldn’t do to let
him know it was Susan’s. Especially not after the ruckus she caused with the
dog.