Walking in Fire: Hawaiian Heroes, Book 1 (19 page)

Okay, she had to stop thinking about sex, or she’d never be able to go down and behave normally in front of his friend. But instead of that, as she rinsed the last of the conditioner from her hair, the water trickling over her skin reminded her of his tongue tracing the same areas.

With a groan, she grabbed the fluffy yellow towel and dried herself off briskly, then toweled her hair. She pulled on the bikini, tied the sarong around her hips and looked in the mirror as she combed her wet hair. Her face was flushed, her lips soft and her eyes bright. A naughty smile curled her lips—sex with David Ho’omalu was better than a spa day.

She toed into a pair of flip-flops, considered pulling a tank over her bikini top and rejected the idea. The sun was shining outside, the air clear from the rain, and the air wafting in through the open windows was already very warm. The kind of day to spend in and out of the ocean to keep cool.

She wondered if they’d be able to do so, or if they’d be holed up in this house with the doors locked. Surely with Malu and his equally big, scary friend, they were safe outside. Of course, if the drug runners brought those semi-automatic weapons they always seemed to carry in the movies and television shows, size wouldn’t matter.

She shivered and turned back to dig a white tank top out of her duffel. It didn’t make sense, but being more covered up just gave her a sense of security. She grabbed her purse and took it downstairs with her too.

Malu found Keone in Leilani’s kitchen, his head stuck in the refrigerator.

“Grab the juice, eh?” Malu crossed to the cupboard near the big stainless-steel sinks and took down three glasses. Taking the jar his friend handed back to him, he poured three glasses of juice and then took a drink. Ah, guava orange, his favorite. He drained the glass of sweet, cool liquid and poured another.

“Find the eggs while you’re in there,” he said to Keone’s back. “And the bacon.”

“You cooking?” Keone asked, reappearing. He held one of Leilani’s fat, gooey
malasadas
, from which he took a huge bite, chewing with a look of ecstasy. “Oh, I could eat dese fo’ days.”

“I ain’t eating your cooking,” Malu shot back, crossing to the butcher block island to grab a big skillet from the hanging rack. He put it on the stove and turned it on. “You make coffee.”

“Fair trade.” His friend tossed him the package of bacon and set the carton of eggs on the counter by the stove. “So, you found some new shahkbait, yeah? Man, every time I see you, got anuddah wahine in your bed. Dis one different from your usual. You usually go for dem shiny ones wit all da…” He sketched an exaggerated pair of breasts before him, grinning.

Malu shot him a hard look. “Don’t talk stink about her.”

Keone held up a peace sign. Malu shook his head. As long as he’d known Keone, the other man had delighted in stirring things up, then standing back and grinning innocently.

“Ah,” Keone said. “She different in mo’ way den one, eh? Dunno, bro. Whatsa matta our island girls, eh? Dey da
makalapua wahine
.”

Malu ignored the question. He wasn’t getting into a “Hawaiians only” talk with Keone, and he was not ready to talk about Melia, at least until he had things settled with her. Until she understood how he felt about her. Stubborn little wahine.

“How’d you find out about trouble here?” he asked, searching a drawer for the right knife. Hefting one, he cut into the package of bacon and began laying it in the pan. Behind him, the coffee grinder whined, then came the soft shuffle of a filter.

“Talked to Frank. Said you got in a beef, got whacked pretty good. I told him I’d hike down, check you out. Den I hear a choppa come over early dis morning. Spent lotta time hovering over the lava flow.”

Malu nodded. “Took a hit on my hard head. Feel better after a night’s sleep.”

Keone chuckled, a raspy sound. “Yeah, I see how dat happen. Shoulda known you’d land in a soft place.”

Malu pointed the spatula at him. “Keep it up, no mek plate.”

Keone rubbed his belly. “Man, I’m hungry. Been eating my own grinds too long.”

“You could help me out today,” Malu told him as the bacon sizzled in the pan. “You know Kau forest.”

Keone filled the coffee pot with water from the sink and poured it into the coffee maker. He pushed the button with one huge finger and leaned back against the counter, finishing his sweet roll.

“Yup, I do.”

“You see anything
ano’ e’
up there?”

“Nuttin’ but trees and vines. Birds.” He peered through his braids at Malu. “Sound like da choppa lookin’ for something too. Whassup?”

Malu filled him in on the events of the day before.

Keone blew out a deep breath. “Whoa. Thass bad shit, roughin’ up a wahine—even a haole. So-oo, you think da stuff is still out dere? Whassit gonna look like?”

“Not sure,” Malu admitted. “Some
pahu
that looks out of place.”

“Huh.” Keone licked his fingers. “Okay. I got nuttin’ else to do.”

“Good.”

Malu forked out the strips of crisp bacon and set them on paper towels layered on a platter shaped like a fish, then rubbed out the pan for the eggs. He cracked most of the carton into the pan and stirred.

Sensing rather than hearing anything, he turned. Melia stood in the wide doorway to the hall, fresh and pretty in her little white top and flowered skirt, her damp hair curling around her face and shoulders. As she entered the kitchen, his gaze drifted down her strong, pretty legs and fastened on her feet. He smiled at the fluffy white flowers on the straps of her little sandals. He wanted to pick her up, set her on the counter and nibble his way from her bare toes clear up those silky legs to her soft, hot center. One time soon, he’d do that.

He looked up, into her green eyes. Her cheeks flushed. He held her gaze, the heated memories sliding through his mind like silk.

She turned an even deeper pink and then looked away, one hand smoothing her little sarong.

“You hungry?” he asked.

She nodded, heading for the juice pitcher.

“Hey, I like my eggs
not
burnt,” Keone said at his elbow. “Get your mind back in da skillet.”

“Shit!” Malu jerked the pan off the stove. The eggs were definitely overdone on the bottom. He felt his own cheeks heat as he scraped the bulk of them onto the plate with the bacon and carried it to the island. Way to impress her with his cooking. Well, it had never been one of his favorite things. He liked to grill, but he usually left the inside cooking to the women in his family or one of the island cafes that would deliver.

Keone had set the plastic container of Leilani’s sweet rolls there, and Malu added plates and forks, passing by Melia close enough to sniff her faint, flowery shampoo.

“Pour me a cup of coffee?” he asked.

He and Keone carried the breakfast out onto the lanai overlooking the lawn and bay. Sitting down at one end of the table, Malu looked out over the little bay. The sun poured down hot and clear, glittering like diamonds in the clear turquoise of the waves breaking on the beach. White foam glistened as the waves broke on the sand, then caught on the black lava rocks worn smooth by eons of surf. The palms rimming the bay stood motionless, their fronds hanging still. Out beyond the bay, the ocean was calm and blue.

A day to play in the surf and then lie in the shade with his wahine. His mouth set grimly—one time soon, they would do just that. Today, they had garbage to take out.

Melia finished her glass of juice while she looked in Leilani’s cupboards for one of the insulated carafes. She found them just above the bubbling coffeemaker. Filling one carefully, she picked it up, threaded the fingers of her other hand through the handles of three mugs and followed the men out onto the lanai.

Malu stood as she approached the table and held the chair next to his for her. When she sat, he handed her the platter, which was nearly empty.

“You want more bacon and eggs?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t eat much breakfast. This is fine.” She accepted a little of the bacon and eggs and half of a coconut-cream-filled
malasada
. The sweet roll was delicious, rich and flavorful. The eggs were terrible, rubbery on the bottom and underdone on top, but as Malu watched her, a half grin on his face, she smiled at him and took another bite.

“Great,” she said, chewing quickly. Good grief, she was never eating his cooking again.

He shook his head chidingly. “
Waha he’e
.”

She was pretty sure that meant liar or some synonym, so she busied herself with her coffee cup. The rich taste of Kona coffee flowed over her tongue. She sat sipping it while the men talked.

Keone pretty much ignored her. He wasn’t her favorite new acquaintance either, walking right into Malu’s bedroom and scaring her like that. She hoped he wasn’t going to stay long. She really wanted to go swimming with Malu. Then her attention snapped back to the conversation as Malu spoke.

“We’ll look first around the place where Gifford attacked the wahine,” Malu said. “Then head up the mountain from there.”

“Up the mountain?” she echoed in dismay. “Looking for what?”

“Drugs,” he said grimly. “But I’m not sure what kind of container they’re in. They would have dropped them from a chopper—one of the rentals.”

She frowned. “Shouldn’t we wait for the police to come and look for it?”

“They’ll be here this afternoon,” he said. “I want to find the stuff now.”

“What if the drug runners are up there?” she asked.

“They may be,” he admitted. “That chopper we heard last night.”

“How will you find anything? Wouldn’t they hide it?”

“Yeah, but it had to be somewhere that Dane would spot it. I’m sure he was the courier, the one who was supposed to pick it up.”

She looked at him, startled. “How was he going to bring this—this stuff back on a little boat without one of us noticing?”

He saluted her with his coffee cup. “Good thinking, wahine. I’m guessing he had a plan.”

“What plan?” Keone said, fork in midair.

Malu put his cup down. “What did we all bring with us? Bags—backpacks and duffle bags. All they had to do was pack the drugs in a duffle, give Dane a similar bag and he could swap it, carry the stuff back on the boat with him, and none of us would notice.”

Melia sipped her coffee. His theory made perfect sense, when she thought about it.

“After we eat, we’ll go up and look around,” Malu said. He looked at her, a line between his brows. “Pua, you should stay here.”

She set her coffee cup down, breakfast churning in her stomach. “I don’t want to stay here alone.” She didn’t want to play finders keepers with drug runners, either, but the thought of being alone was worse.

He looked at her for a long moment, but finally nodded. “You have walking shoes?”

She nodded. “I’ve already been up on the trail once, remember.”

“That’s right. How far up you go?”

She raised her brows at him, trying to smile. “Weren’t you following us?”

“I had to stay out of sight,
kīko’olā
—smart ass.” He put his hand on her leg, under the table. His thumb stroked the inside of her thigh, back and forth. She relaxed into his reassuring touch, unable to help herself.

“We were high enough to see the roof of the house, and the next bay to the north. Then he wanted to come back, so we did.”

Chapter Sixteen

Recipe for trail mix—Add two Hawaiians, one tourist and one cache of drugs, if any can be found. Shake.

Malu sent Melia up to change while he and Keone cleaned up the breakfast things. She pulled on a pair of shorts instead of the sarong, tied her hair up in a ponytail under a ball cap to keep it off her neck, and put on socks and the light hikers she’d packed. Malu simply toed into a pair of leather outdoor sandals and was ready to go.

The three of them hiked up along the edge of the back lawn and into the trees, on the narrow trail that wound up the mountain. Birds called in the trees as they passed, and once she saw a flash of wings. A mongoose watched them curiously from a downed log before disappearing with a lithe twist of its russet body.

Soon they were high enough to look down on the guest house and the bay, and over into the next bay.

The morning she’d hiked up here with Dane, he’d seemed fascinated by the forest—straying off the path several times to poke around in the underbrush. Now she knew why—he’d been looking for the cache of drugs. Although she was perspiring from hiking in the humid heat, she shivered with a sudden chill. If she’d seen anything that day, he would have tried to kill her as he had Cherie.

Oddly, Dane had also fiddled with his phone half the time. She remembered thinking that if she’d been interested in him, she would have been hurt, but she was merely irritated.

After a while, though, he’d relaxed as suddenly as if he’d flipped a switch and begun to joke and laugh with her.

“I think I know where it is,” she said suddenly, stopping in the middle of the trail. She looked at Malu, elated.