4 Maui Macadamia Madness (2 page)

Did the natives of
Hawaii ever get used to the sight of a crimson sun lowering over water painted
with magenta and pumpkin, or did they take the sight for granted? I sighed and
watched as the last wind surfer strolled across the beach and past the hotel.

“To
us.”
Ethan handed me a
wine glass and bent to kiss me.

“To
us.”
I raised my glass in
toast, returned his kiss, and then transferred my attention back to the beach.

Someone ran through
the deepening shadows.

“Looks
like one of the guests is enjoying an early evening jog.”
I took a sip of my drink as he or she ran
past our balcony, a dark-colored
hoodie
pulled over
their head. I shrugged.
To each their own,
my Aunt
Eunice always said. With the sun setting, the weather cooled off, but not
enough to warrant even a light weight jacket, at least in my opinion. The person
glanced toward us. Their steps faltered as I raised my glass, then the person
sprinted off.

A scream shattered
the peace of the night.

Chapter Two

I jumped to my feet and dashed toward the door.

Ethan shot out a
hand to stop me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To see what
happened.”
A dark figure on the beach.
An unearthly scream.
What did he expect me to do? Go to bed
and forget all about it?

“We’re on our
honeymoon. We will not get involved.” He crossed his arms. Apparently he did
expect me to ignore the scream.

“But Ethan, what
if—”

“What if nothing.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not a heavy-handed person,
Summer
,
but I will lay down the law in this case. No.” He pointed at my seat. “Please,
sit and finish your drink. If it is something we need to be concerned about,
Mr. or Mrs. Wahine will let us know.”

“You’re right.” I
plopped back in the chair. It’s possible I put too much stock in a scream. What
if someone was being tickled? Or had cold water dumped on their head? I took a
sip of my drink, the apple flavored carbonation sliding over my tongue. I
hesitated before swallowing. What if someone was being murdered? I swallowed
hard and plunked the glass on the table.

“Let’s at least go
to the lobby. I won’t be able to rest otherwise. You know how I am.” I gave
Ethan my best puppy dog eyed look.

“Yes, I do.
Fine.”
He held out his hand. “You’ve got five minutes.”

That’s all I would
need to find out what was happening. I slipped my hand in his and flashed a
grin. “You’re the best husband ever!”

“Right.
You’re only happy because I spoil you.” He
tapped my nose. “Rotten, I might add.”

“Because
you love me.”
I kissed
him and tugged until we left our cottage.

A soft ocean breeze
caressed my face as we passed others who obviously had the same intent we did.
A small group of hotel guests converged in the courtyard. Their whispers filled
the air with sound as effectively as the cicadas back home. Goosebumps broke
out on my arms. Something big happened, I just knew it!

“Well, I heard
someone found him dead.”

I turned to glimpse
a young man in khaki pants and Hawaiian shirt.
“Who?”

“Malia, the maid,
found Mr. Jamison dead in his bathtub.” He shook his head. “A box of nuts
scattered across the floor like marbles.”

“He was poisoned?” I
ate nuts. I clutched my stomach. “Wait. How do you know this?”

“Camilla
Wahine
told me. She’s Anna and Larry’s daughter.” He looked
at me as if I were an idiot.

“I haven’t had the
pleasure of meeting her.” I crossed my arms. “Who are you?”

“Manuel
Mokiao
, the gardener.” He mimicked me with the arms and
leaned closer. “They have a son, too. His name is Leroy. Who are you?”

“I wouldn’t tell her
a thing, if I were you.” Susan Wood sashayed up in a silky nightgown and robe
in a melon color that complemented her surroundings.
 
“She fancies herself a detective.” She
smirked. “Not a very attractive quality in a woman.” Her gaze raked over Ethan.
I could almost guarantee she purred.

Couldn’t she at
least get dressed before congregating with the rest of us? “I do not.” I didn’t
‘fancy’ myself anything. I was a sleuth and a very good one.

“Settle down.”
 
Ethan stepped closer and put his arm around
my shoulders. “Don’t let her get your goat.”

I could
not
believe that a murder occurred on my
honeymoon,
much less that another beautiful evil
temptress wanted me to feel inferior as a woman and looked at Ethan as if he
were something to be devoured. “I won’t.”

More people
gathered, and I scanned the crowd for someone wearing a dark-colored
hoody
. Not to say for sure that that person was
responsible, but they were the most suspicious at the moment.

While clothing
ranged from nightclothes to bathing suits to tropical wear, not one person wore
sweats and a hooded jacket. Experience had taught me that the suspect always
came back to the crime, especially when a crowd gathered. I took mental note of
those in attendance.

Manuel,
the gardener, all those from the van, a couple of strangers, nobody who stood
out as a murderer.
Well,
I’d been in similar circumstances and still managed to catch the bad guy. Of
course, it was usually because my life was in danger, and I got them before
they got me, but I had faith that this time, things would be different.

I glanced up at my
new husband. Things would be different because I was not going to get involved.
Not on my honeymoon.

A young man and
woman dressed in the floral uniform of the Bed and Breakfast sidled up next to
the gardener. They had to be the prettiest people I had ever seen.

The girl smiled from
behind her curtain of silky hair. “Welcome to Maui, I am Camilla
Wahine
.”

I returned her
smile,
taken back by the fact her welcome didn’t quite meet
her eyes. “Summer Meadows, I mean Banning. You found the body?”

“Yes. It was
horrible.” Her shark eyes filled with tears. Maybe I was wrong about her smile
feeling forced. Most likely, she really was distraught and forced her smile out
of habit. “The police are there now and said I cannot leave here.” She clutched
the man’s hand next to her. “Leroy, do they think I did this?”

“They couldn’t.” He
kept his eyes focused on the doors to the Bed and Breakfast’s main building.
“Nobody would believe them.”

The paramedics
wheeled out a body covered with a sheet. Bob Jamison’s left arm hung, the hand
dangling.

I clutched Ethan’s
arm. “His watch is gone.”

“What?”

“Mr. Jamison is not
wearing his Rolex. I noticed it on the bus.” I scanned the area for a police
officer. “Maybe his death is theft related.”

Ethan sighed. “I
thought you weren’t going to get involved. He was found in the bathtub,
correct?”

“I’m not getting
involved, but I do think I should let the authorities know, don’t you?” I stood
on tip-toe to see over people’s heads. At five foot two, most people stood at
least a few inches taller than me.

An officer conversed
with the
Wahine
family, notepad in hand, pen busy
scratching down notes. He kind of reminded me of a bulldog, the way his
forehead hung over his eyes and his heavy jowls lined his mouth. Hopefully, he
was a friendly person, unlike my cousin Joe who was an officer back home. Joe
actually treated me as a nuisance.

“Officer.”
My sandals slapped the sidewalk. “Did anyone
check for Mr. Jamison’s watch?”

“Excuse me?” Officer
Manano
, his tag read. “Who are you?”

“I’m Summer Banning,
one of the guests here. On the bus earlier today, Mr. Jamison—”

“Ma’am, I must
insist you step aside and let us do our job.” He made a sweeping motion with
his arm.

“But, sir, it’s
possible that—”

He pushed past me
and into the main building, leaving me standing with my mouth hanging open and
steam coming out of my ears. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been
treated so rudely.

I stormed back to
Ethan and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go back to our room. That man wasn’t
interested in a thing I had to say. I need to call your sister.” April, Ethan’s
younger sister and my best friend, would lend me a sympathetic ear.

“The honeymoon’s
over already?” Ethan pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head.

“Of course not,
silly, but if I don’t talk to someone, I’ll burst.”

“I’m someone.”

I was a dunce. Of
course, he was. My blond, blue eyed, Adonis. “You’re the best someone. So, tell
me, hot stuff, why wouldn’t the officer spare me a moment to hear what I had to
say?” I stopped and planted fists on my hips.

“He’s busy?” Ethan
leaned against a railing. “It’s very possible the watch is sitting on Bob Jamison’s
dresser.”

“And it’s equally
possible it isn’t.” I marched away and through the door of our cottage. The
Rolex could be nestled in someone’s pocket waiting to be sold. A piece of
jewelry worth thousands was definitely a motive for murder.

My stomach rumbled,
reminding me I’d had very little to eat since our plane landed. I headed for
the patio and the basket of fruit and cheese. This is where the latest mystery
would begin. I settled into the wicker lounge chair.

“Somebody, the
killer, maybe, jogged down the beach. Then, I heard a scream, most likely from
Camilla, since she found the body. Of course, this is only what I saw and
heard. I could be totally off track and grasping at straws.” I pulled a few
grapes off a cluster. Ethan was still inside, but I tended to talk out loud
when working through a problem, so I’d catch him up when he joined me. My hand
paused on the way to my mouth. “What if he died of natural causes?”

“Exactly.”
Ethan handed me a blended pineapple drink.
“Virgin
Pina
Colada.
Just because
nuts were on the bathroom floor, doesn’t mean there was poison involved. He
could have had a heart attack, choked, any number of things.”

“But what if there
was foul play?” I took a sip. Pineapple, coconut, and citrus flavors burst on
my tongue.
“Oh, yum!”

“You’re always
looking for a mystery to solve.”

“It’s fun.” I
shrugged. “A year ago, I never would have thought about solving a crime, much
less a murder, and now I’ve solved three.”

“And
almost died in the process.”
Ethan pulled his lounge chair closer to mine. “Now that I have you, I don’t
want to lose you.”

“Excuse me.”
I play-punched his shoulder.
“I think I did the chasing. You
didn’t think of me as anything but April’s pesky friend for years!”

He laid his hand on
my thigh and grinned. “I don’t think of you as that anymore.”

I leaned forward for
a kiss.

A spear whipped past
me and imbedded into the cottage wall.

Chapter
Three

Ethan grabbed me around the shoulders and took me and the deck chair to
the wood planks of the patio floor. His elbow slammed into my breasts and drove
the air from me in a rush of pain. I hung over the arm of the chair, rear in
the air, and prayed another spear didn’t catch me in the behind.

“Are you all right?”
Ethan tugged at me until I lay flat next to him, my heart racing, and me
gasping, trying to put together what had happened.

“Did somebody
actually throw a spear at us?” I craned my neck.

Sure enough, a spear
held a piece of paper to the side of our cottage.
“A note.”
I pushed to my feet and ripped the message free. “Go home.”

I handed the note to
Ethan and peered into the night. A person would have had to have been close in
order to throw something as archaic as a spear. I leaned over the railing and
searched both ways. “There’s nobody here.”

“Get down!” Ethan
grabbed the hem of my dress and tugged me back next to him. “We need to let the
Wahine’s
know. Good grief. We haven’t been here
twenty-four hours, and you’ve managed to get us neck deep into trouble.”

I plopped next to
him, my floral skirt ballooning around me. “We aren’t going home, are we?”

“No, we aren’t.”
Ethan took my hand and we crawled into the room. “And we aren’t going to skip
the fun things on our list, either.”

“Can we try to find
out what happened to Mr. Jamison?”
Please,
please, please
.