Burning up the Rain (Hawaiian Heroes) (3 page)

Zane laughed. “I wish. Nah, marine biology.”

Jack lifted his brows in surprise. “Really? My little sister’s majoring in that at UC Santa Barbara.”

“That’s cool, love to meet her. Later, man. Gonna swim out past the reef a ways.”

Jack thought about following him, but there was a cold beer calling his name. He turned and swam back toward the beach.

David came strolling down to the beach as Jack waded out. Malu held up a bottle of beer and a soda from the large cooler behind the chairs.

“Beer,” Jack said, holding out his hand. He took a long pull of the cold brew and sank into one of the comfortable loungers arrayed along the beach lanai in the shade of the palms. Gabe and Sara stood on the dock, holding snorkel masks and flippers, listening while Frank gestured at the reef.

“Aren’t we supposed to be setting up for the wedding?” he asked as Malu sat next to him in the shade.

“Got about half an hour before I get busy.” Malu pointed the neck of his bottle at Jack. “You’re here to relax. You look beat.” He scanned Jack’s face with a frown.

Jack shrugged off his friend’s concern. “Been working hard. Where’s Melia?”

“She’s in town with Claire. Last-minute shopping before they pick Claire’s folks up from the resort and bring them out. My parents should be here soon too.”

“Thought this was just an informal evening wedding on the beach. Daniel said he and Claire don’t want a lot of fuss.”

Malu smiled absently, jigging one leg, his bare toes digging into the sand. “Yeah, but you know women like an excuse to shop.”

Jack nodded before taking another drink. Most certainly did, like birds choosing just the right twigs and pieces of grass to line their nests. He’d asked his assistant to shop for a gift for Claire and Daniel. She’d happily chosen some high-quality cutlery online and all he’d had to do was approve her choice.

Jack’s last girlfriend had enjoyed clothes shopping and had even managed to drag him along a few times. He didn’t mind holding her tiny dog while she modeled pretty clothes, but he drew the line at following her through kitschy pet boutiques. When the fluff-ball peed on his favorite leather jacket, Jack realized he didn’t like her enough to put up with her dog. He sent her expensive flowers and made himself scarce.

His sister was the only woman he knew who didn’t like to shop. Emme lived in swimsuits and jogging shorts, just throwing on a jacket and a pair of jeans in the winter. With her affinity for the ocean, she’d definitely like the informal atmosphere on the Big Island. Next time he came over, he’d bring her. They hadn’t spent much time together in the last few months, and he missed her, even if she was a pesky little brat, nagging him about his drinking and his long work hours.

“Where are Bella and What’s-his-name?” Jack asked, draining his beer. “The TV survival dude. Thought they’d be here. Don’t they live right up on the mountain?”

“Joel Girand. Bella had to drive him in for a doctor appointment. He’s recovering well, but it’s only been a month since he was shot. They should be here soon, though. His appointment was early afternoon.”

“A semiautomatic round at close range, it’s damn surprising he lived,” said Jack. He rubbed his own ribs in sympathy. “Damn surprising any of them lived.”

He’d watched the news stories with horror. Bella, her celebrity client and three models hired to showcase camping gear and clothing for her sporting goods company had been kidnapped by the crazed heir to a California drug syndicate. They’d apparently survived only because a freak wind storm had struck before they could all be murdered in cold blood, and because Frank Lelua had managed to get his hands on a gun. The tough ex-cop had survived a beating to help save Bella and the others.

“The grace of God,” Malu agreed. “And Mother Pele.”

Jack nodded respectfully. Hawaiian legend credited Pele with having created these islands. While the Ho’omalus were Christian, they were comfortable with their cultural legends as well. The older Ho’omalus could send chills down his back when they “talked story” around an evening fire here at the beach.

On this untamed island, he could believe many things he’d scoff at back home. He just wished he were Hawaiian himself—he could use a little help shoving the world off his shoulders.

Chapter Three

“So what else is new?” Jack couldn’t put his finger on it, but he wasn’t the only one who was stressed. Malu wasn’t his usual mellow self.

The big Hawaiian turned to him. “Jack, I gotta tell you, we can use your advice. You remember the Helmans, crime syndicate out of LA trying to get in here, sell their drugs?”

Jack shrugged. “Yeah. But they’ve all died in freak accidents here on the island, haven’t they? Weird, but not a bad thing, if you ask me.”

Malu nodded. “We thought so too. Thought Hawaii was rid of them. But it turns out they were fronting a billion-dollar land deal here on the Big Island. Most of the financing is from the Helmans’ CalTrend Corporation.”

Jack stared at his friend, beer forgotten in his hand. “No kidding? Where?”

Malu shook his head, his handsome face grim. “On our back doorstep. Right up the mountain.”

Jack set his bottle on his thigh, barely noticing the chill. “
What?
I thought you were surrounded by National Forest.”

“Kau Forest to the south of us, but there’s another strip of private land between us.”

“Oh, man. How long have you known about this?” He could barely wrap his mind around the idea of development on this country flank of the volcano. There were houses, sure, but they were mostly small or half hidden in trees and shrubs.

“We’ve known only for a few weeks—since the last Helman died in that, ah, freak storm at Na’alele.”

“
Shee
-it,” Jack breathed. “What’s the timeline on this? There’s a whole process of hearings and such. The developer had to get permits. Who hands those out here?”

“Hawaii County planning board, over in Hilo.”

“Well, I’m here to tell you these things take months, even longer over here, from what I’ve heard. You should have plenty of time to come up with objections.”

“From what we’re hearing, they’re working hard to speed things up.”

“And you just found out? Your family must have friends over there, people who’d let you know about something like this. Anyway, aren’t they supposed to have public hearings for adjacent landowners, anyone affected by the development? Or is this just some bed-and-breakfast, some real small thing?”

Malu snorted humorlessly. “I wish. No, it’s a major resort. Main lodge, cabanas, golf course, the whole deal. On a par with the Hilton Waikoloa up on the west shore. As for the permits, they’ve been mysteriously rushed along.”

Jack whistled slowly. “What about shore access?”

“That’s the best part,” said a deep, rough voice behind Jack, heavy with irony. “They want to punch a road right past my house and build a huge marina.”

Daniel Ho’omalu walked around the loungers to join them. He wore a forbidding scowl on his tattooed face as he gestured at the pristine reef where Gabe and Sara bobbed along, flippers catching the sun. “All this? Crowded with boats, a big breakwater, noise and people. Our privacy, gone.”

“I can’t believe that,” Jack said. “For one thing, aren’t there laws here, something about native Hawaiians having first choice when land is up for sale?”

Daniel snorted contemptuously, turning to face him. “Supposedly. In reality, very little of our land falls into the Homestead classification. Even Hawaiians with money to buy a house can wait decades to get a chance.”

“But doesn’t your family own some good chunks of land here?”

“We do,” Malu put in. “We have the farm up on the mountain, some land on Maui, the marina and some other small places.”

“Including the
Ahupua`a
that includes Nawea,” Daniel added. “An Ahupua’a is a strip of land running from the top of the mountain, clear to the sea, widening out at the base. The islands were once entirely divided this way, with an
ali’i,
or chief in charge of each one. The chief and his people had access to every kind of resource, from farm ground to the sea.”

“How the hell did these people manage to get title to any of that without you knowing?” Jack asked, morbidly fascinated.

Daniel shook his head. “The Great
Mahele
, back in the 1800s. They registered all the land, some of it too vaguely. Now there are lawyers suing on the grounds the old contracts aren’t valid because they weren’t filed properly.”

“Jesus.” Jack pushed himself out of his chair. “I need another beer.” His mind worked furiously as he grabbed another bottle from the melting ice in the cooler, twisted the top off and took a long pull.

“Hey, the girls are here.” Daniel levered himself out of his lounger, tossing his empty bottle into the recycling basket waiting on the sand beside the cooler. “Better go up.”

“And I’d better carry whatever Melia bought,” Malu said, rising to follow his brother.

“Can I help?” Jack offered.

“Here come Suzy and Benton Choy. You mind playing host for a few minutes? I’ll be back.”

“No problem. We’ll talk more about this land deal later, okay?” Jack took another drink of his beer. He was reeling from his friends’ horrifically bad news. He needed time to process, think about the implications.

As Suzy Kai tiptoed across the lanai on her escort’s arm, Jack nodded politely. The two wore their dress clothes, obviously not here for a swim. He felt underdressed in his damp trunks, as if he should whip a shirt on. Except they were on the damn beach.

“Here, sit in the shade.” Jack gestured at the two upright chairs on either side of a small table. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Water, please.” Suzy smiled as if conferring a favor on him.

“And for me,” Choy said curtly.

Jack’s hackles rose at being spoken to as if he was a cabana boy, but he hid it behind his professional face. Walking around to the cooler, he chose another beer for himself, opened it and then grabbed two bottles of water. Beer in hand, he walked back around the loungers, set his beer down, handed one of the bottles of water to Suzy Kai. He tossed the other to Choy, who looked startled but caught it.

Jack walked back toward his own chair. As he glanced up the lawn, he saw a group of people in the driveway at the back of the house. Claire, blonde hair shining in the sun, was beaming as Daniel exchanged handshakes with a tall, weathered man and hugged a woman, both with faded blond hair. Her parents, he guessed. Melia was supervising while David hefted a big box from the trunk of her SUV.

And near at hand, Lalei Kai strolled down the lawn like a Hawaiian princess. Clad in a gauzy white cover-up, the outline of a swimsuit visible underneath, her hair bundled up on her head with a big clip, she gave him that snooty little smirk through the palms.

The opposite of his kind of woman. So why did he once again have the beginnings of a major woody? Time for another swim.

Huh. Jack had seen her coming and turned tail and run. Absurd to feel hurt by that, but Lalei couldn’t help it. Well, fine, she could ignore him too. As the big blond mainlander swam out toward the reef, Lalei dropped her cover-up on one of the loungers.

She held herself proudly, refusing to cringe as Benton’s gaze crawled over her. Her cocoa-and-white flowered tankini was the most modest swimsuit she owned—she’d chosen it purposely to wear around him. Even so, the legs were cut high on her hips, and only a thin spaghetti strap held up the halter top.

“The snorkeling is great here,” she said quickly, gesturing toward the gear hung neatly under the thatched roof that shaded most of the dock. “Would you like to try it, Benton?” At least in the water, he wouldn’t be able to talk.

He smiled indulgently. “No, thank you. I’ll take you on a dive from my boat. So much more to see that way.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Suzy approved. “Lalei will enjoy that.”

Lalei preferred to snorkel. Most of the colorful fishes lived right on the reefs in shallow water. One was more likely to see sharks while diving, and it was the way to watch the manta rays feed at night, but the last place Lalei wanted to be was alone with Benton on his yacht.

He would expect…things. Things that made her skin crawl. She was a normal, healthy female with her share of cravings. But the thought of assuaging them with Benton made her hurry into the water. She’d head out for the reef and sit for a while.

She swam out under her mother’s and Benton’s watchful gazes, holding her head up to keep her hair dry. She would have liked to don a snorkel mask and fins to view the reef. But that would take too much time away from her mother’s scheme for Lalei to enchant Benton. Besides, she would have to blow her hair dry again.

She pulled herself up on the smooth rocks that stair-stepped up onto the reef. Jack had splashed away toward the far end of the bay. But another swimmer stroked through the opening in the reef, wet black hair gleaming in the sun, long arms flashing rhythmically. He lifted his head as he neared her perch.

“Hey, Lalei,” he said, grinning at her. “Howzit?” He tossed his head, flipping his wet hair back out of his eyes.

“Zane.” Delight replacing her nerves, she smiled back at her younger cousin. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”