Maui Madness (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 7) (18 page)

“Most of my life. Pono and I have been best friends since we were in diapers, and Leia and I have always been close as well, although things got pretty awkward once Anton dumped me for her.”

“
How long ago was that?”

“Three months.”

“Really?” I was surprised. Leia and Anton had been engaged to be married. I guess I assumed they had been dating for quite some time. Poor Malie. It was no wonder she felt awkward socializing with Leia. The wounds were still fresh.

“Three really long months,” Malie emphasized.
“Now that I’ve had time to gain perspective, I can see that Anton and I might not have been right for each other, but it really stung that Leia would be so callous when it came to my feelings. I’m not sure if Leia and I can ever return to the friendship we once shared.”

“I can imagine. I hadn’t
known everything had happened so recently. I apologize for not realizing how much Anton’s death must have affected you as well.”

Malie wiped away a tear. I could see she was deeply affected by everything that
had happened in spite of the fact that she fought to appear unaffected. “That’s okay. Sometimes I look back and wonder how things would have turned out if I hadn’t taken Anton to Keoke’s party. Part of me thinks Anton and I would still be together, but then, if I am honest with myself, I’m pretty sure the only reason he asked me out in the first place was because Kingsley convinced him that it might make a difference in my actions regarding the project we were arguing over.”

“Did it?” I had to ask.

“No, not really. Although I suppose I might have been more willing to listen to Anton’s side of things, so maybe Kingsley was right after all.”

“Is Kingsley here today?” I wondered.

“I saw him earlier.” Malie looked around as she attempted to find the man in the crowd. “See the man in the black coat?”

I
turned toward a group of men, one of whom I recognized as Jeffrey, Anton’s best man. I’d met him briefly at the luau. He was talking to a short but elegantly dressed man who looked to be of Japanese descent.

“You mean the ma
n talking to Jeffrey?” I asked.

“I never met Jeffrey
,” Malie said, “but if he is the tall man in the black shirt, then yes. The short man with him is Kingsley.”

I frowned. “
He looks Japanese. Kingsley Portman isn’t much of a Japanese name.”

“His mom is Japanese
and his dad is Caucasian. I think his father was from England originally. Kingsley grew up in Japan.”

“I didn’t realize you
’d never met Jeffrey. He was Anton’s best friend. At least I assumed he was, considering he was Anton’s best man.”

“Anton never mentioned anyone named Jeffrey to me,” Malie
said. “I know that seems odd, but there were a lot of things Anton and I never spoke about. It was just easier that way.”

T
he three men seemed to be having a serious conversation. I couldn’t be certain what they were discussing, but it seemed to be of a contentious nature based on the fierce expressions on their faces and their wild arm movements.

“Who is the other man with them?” I asked. Th
is man had his back to me, but somehow he seemed familiar.

“Never s
een him before in my life,” Malie answered.

I studied the men.
Almost everyone was gathered on the patio near the pool or on the lawn, just beyond the pool, but this trio was standing well away from the crowd.

“I feel like I’ve seen him before. Could he have
been at the luau?” I asked.

“Maybe.
Pono . . .” Malie turned and interrupted the conversation Pono and Zak were having. “See the man talking to Kingsley? Was he at the luau?”

“You mean Jeffrey?” Pono asked.

“No, the other man,” Malie clarified.

Pono studied him. “I don’t recognize him
, although if he was a friend of Anton’s, he might have come later. I left shortly after Anton and I argued, so I was long gone before most of the guests arrived. Why do you ask?”

“Zoe
thought he seemed familiar.”

As I continued to watch the men
, a fourth one walked up. When he turned around, I gasped.

“That’s odd,” Pono commented.

“The man on the boat,” I blurted.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Zak agreed.

The fourth man was definitely the one I’d seen with the gun, and the other man was most likely the one who had been standing next to him. I realized that these men might very well be the kidnappers. We’d seen them on Monday as we were leaving Kaho‘olawe. Judge Gregor had mentioned that the kidnappers had brought them food every few days. We’d rescued the men on Thursday, and the kidnappers had been there just that morning, so it made sense that the previous delivery would have been on Monday.

“Let’s remember that we have no idea why the men were on the boat that afternoon,” Zak cautioned. “Just because we felt threatened by them
, it doesn’t mean they intended any sort of harm. They may simply have been taking a pleasure cruise.”

“In three
-piece suits?” I asked.

“It
was
hot to be out in suits,” Malie agreed. “And they were miles away from Oahu or anywhere else other than Kaho‘olawe.”

“I bet they were making the supply delivery,” I
said. “We need to get in contact with Judge Gregor and ask him what the men who brought the supplies usually wore.”

“Why would the kidnappers wear suits?” Pono asked.

The man facing us must have noticed us watching them because he said something and the other three men turned to look at us. I could feel the man I knew as Jeffrey glare at us. They were too far away to actually make eye contact with us, but I had a feeling a warning had been implied.

“Do you think Leia knows anything?” I asked as I forced myself to look away.

“Like what?” Pono wondered.

“She must know Jeffrey pretty well if he was Anton’s best friend
, and I’m sure she must have had reason to interact with Kingsley. If Anton’s death and the kidnapping of the three men are related, maybe she overheard something.”

“I spoke briefly to Leia on the morning of the luau,” Pono
said. “She told me that Anton had never mentioned Jeffrey until the day he arrived for the party. She was hurt that he’d never talked to her about the man he cared enough about to make him his best man.”

Odd
, but that jived with what Malie said about Anton being secretive.

“As for Kingsley, I think Anton was careful to keep his work life and his personal life separate.”

“Here come Keoke and Leia,” Zak noted.

Keoke came from the house
, with Leia following behind him. She looked like a lost soul in a dress that was at least a size too large.

“She’s lost a lot of weight in just a few days,” Pono commented.

Leia sat on a chair behind the spot that was outfitted with a microphone. She looked straight ahead, but it was hard to tell exactly what she was focused on because she was wearing dark glasses.

“Thank
you for coming,” Keoke began. He gave a brief speech in which he talked about what a great man Anton had been and how much he’d be missed, and then he invited everyone to help themselves to the refreshments that had been provided. Leia returned to the house without saying a word.

“Go talk to your sister,” I encouraged
him. “The poor thing looks broken.”

Pono hesitated.

“I know you and Anton didn’t get along, but did you and your sister have a good relationship before Anton came into the picture?” I asked.

“Ye
s. We were always very close, but after our parents died, we became even closer.”

“Then go talk to her. Offer her comfort. I’m sure she needs to be with you at a time like this
.”

I watched as Pono made his way to the house. I hoped I was correct in my assumption that Leia wanted to see him. I didn’t know Pono all that well and had never even talked to Leia
, but deep in my gut, I knew that Leia needed her big brother.

“I see a couple of friends over by the bar,” Malie
said after Pono left. “Meet up with you later?”

“Absolutely. Go have fun,” I encouraged. “So Mr.
Zimmerman . . .” I turned to face Zak and put my arms around his waist. “What would you like to do now?”

Zak grinned.

I slapped him playfully. “Not that. Should we attempt to mingle? Go for a walk? Get some food?”

“It looks like Keoke is coming this way,” Zak pointed out. “We’
ll say hi and then maybe get some food.”

“I’m so happy you made it
.” Keoke walked up and stood next to Zak. The men slapped each other on the back, the way men do in greeting. Then Keoke hugged me.

“How is Leia?”
I asked.

“As well as can be expected. This has obviously been very hard on her
, but she is a strong woman. I’m sure she will be fine once she’s had time to grieve.”

“
This has been difficult for your entire family,” I sympathized.

“
Are your grandparents here?” Zak asked.

“No.
This whole thing has been very hard on them. I’m sure that if Leia asked, they would have come, but we talked about it and decided that we didn’t want to do anything that might cause them additional stress. I was glad to see you managed to convince Pono and Malie to come today,” Keoke added. “I know Leia is anxious to speak to Pono. She tried calling him, but he wouldn’t return her phone calls.”

I frowned. Pono
had made it sound like
she’d
never contacted
him
.

“I really should min
gle, but how about we get together and catch up later tonight? Maybe we can have a drink after the others have gone. You are planning to stay over?” Keoke asked.

“We
brought our overnight bags,” I answered.

“Excellent. Enjoy the day and we will talk later.”

“So about that food . . .” Zak began.

We walked over to the dining tent
, where long tables were filled to overflowing with every type of traditional Hawaiian fare imaginable. It was hard to decide where to start, but after much consideration, I decided to take a bite of everything so that I could sample the wide array of offerings. After filling our plates, Zak and I went in search of an empty table. We were lucky to find a table for four squeezed in between two larger tables, each of which sat eight. Zak seemed to know the two men already sitting there and quickly entered into a conversation about fishing. I wasn’t interested and didn’t recognize the people at either of the other tables nearby, so I began to eavesdrop rather than attempt to join in.

“It’s a shame what happened to Anton,” a woman in a red sundress was saying to the other seven women at her table. “Poor Leia looks like death.
And that dress she had on looked like something she found in a secondhand store.”

“Leia is having a rough time at the moment
, but I have to say I’m not unhappy she didn’t end up married to that man,” a woman in a yellow hat responded.

“That’s a terrible thing to say,”
came from a woman holding a teacup poodle.

“I wasn’t trying to imply that I was happy that Anton was murdered
,” Yellow Hat defended herself, “only that I feel it is fortunate Anton and Leia didn’t end up married. Poor Luke has been a mess since the engagement.”

Luke?
I made a mental note to find out more about this Luke.

“If Luke
was so broken up about Leia and Anton, why isn’t he here today?” Red Dress asked.

“His uncle Brian is still missing
, and I know he was staying with his aunt,” Yellow Hat said. “She’s pregnant, you know. Poor thing, about to have her first baby and her husband turns up missing.”

T
hey must be referring to Brian Boxer. I assumed Luke was not only Leia’s old flame but Brian’s nephew as well. Interesting.

“You know I’m not one to gossip,”
a lady in a purple blouse added, “but I overheard the woman from the deli telling the woman from the bakery on Second Street that the missing men hadn’t really had a boating accident but were being held for ransom by members of a drug cartel from South America.”

“Why
would a drug cartel be interested in Brian and the judge?” the woman holding the poodle asked.

“Br
ian is an attorney,” Purple Blouse pointed out. “Maybe he was responsible for convicting one of the cartel members.”

“Brian is an environmental attor
ney, not a prosecutor,” Poodle Lady corrected her. “If the men Brian went sailing with are being held for ransom, it is much more likely that the kidnapping has to do with some big development.”