Terri Reed - Double Cross

She was upset and he instinctively doubted her distress had anything to do with overhearing Carol’s question or his answer.

He stepped closer and took her hands. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment indecision crossed her face, then she pulled her hands away from him. “Nothing.”

Her denial didn’t ring true. “Something.”

She slipped a red fabric elastic band from around her wrist and handed it to Carol. To Ryan she said, “Pano can return you to your condo.”

Taken aback, he frowned. “You’re leaving?” He searched her face. What was she thinking now?

She turned away to gather her things.

No way was he letting this opportunity to build trust between them slip through his hands. “I’m coming with you.”

Keeping her back to him she said, “No need.”

But he did need to. He needed to keep the lines of communication open between them. He wanted to.

“Yes, there is. I’m done for the day,” he replied, unzipping the wet suit, which clung to him like a second skin and peeled the thing off.

“See you two later. I’m going to go see if the boys are ready for lunch,” Ginger said, and ran off toward the water.

With a sly smile, Carol followed Ginger, leaving Ryan alone with a quiet Kiki.

“I’m afraid I’ll soak your car seat,” he said.

Kiki shrugged distractedly. “No big deal. You sure you want to leave?”

He gathered his belongings together. “Yes.”

She sighed. “All right, then. Hop to it.”

Kiki led the way back through the grass and trees to the parking lot in silence. Ryan folded his towel in half and laid it on the seat to help absorb some of the water from his wet shorts, the lack of conversation continuing.

They drove for several minutes in silence. Along the side of the road a family of mongooses foraged for food along a hedge. Kiki and Ryan passed the woman with the jewelry stand. Ryan made a note to himself to stop there some time to pick up something pretty for his mother and sister. He slanted a glance Kiki’s way.

She didn’t wear jewelry. Her ears didn’t have the piercings in the lobes and he hadn’t yet seen her slender neck adorned with a necklace. Though he wasn’t surprised that her graceful hands, with their blunt nails, didn’t sport any rings, since she used her hands so much working with the plants she cultivated.

Studying her profile, the tapered nose, the high cheekbones and the concentration on her face made him wonder what was going on in Kiki’s mind? The worry lines around her mouth and eyes didn’t sit well with him. What had her so tied in knots? Something more than a pipe bomb?

He wanted to ease her tension and break through the barrier that kept her from agreeing to sell the parcel of land. Now might be a prime moment. Ryan asked, “Would you like to stop for lunch? I’m buying.”

Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tight color drained from her knuckles. “I need to go home,” Kiki stated.

He laid a hand on her arm. The warm supple skin branded his palm. “Tell me what has upset you.”

“How do you know I’m upset?”

“I can just tell.”

She took a deep breath and seemed to be debating with herself before she flipped on the blinker and brought the car to a halt on the side of the narrow dirt shoulder. Reaching past him, she opened the glove compartment and pulled out a white envelope. “This is why.”

He slipped the folded sheet of paper out and read the words. Shock and anger spiked in his veins. “Where did it come from?”

“When I came back to the car to get Carol a hair tie, I found the envelope with the letter inside on the seat.”

Someone had been in the makeshift parking lot while they were at the beach. Concern for Kiki’s welfare arced through him and overshadowed his own agenda. “You have to take this to the police.”

“Right.” She pulled back onto the road. “What are they going to do? It’s just a stupid note.”

That freaked her out.

“After what happened yesterday? Are you kidding me? This is a threat. Any threat should be taken seriously.”

He refolded the note and tucked it back into the envelope, wishing he could as easily put away the roaring trepidation kicking its heels in his blood.

Someone wanted the flower farm sold badly enough to threaten the Kaapas.

Ryan’s client, Horatio? The syntax of the note was off, though. And certainly not something Ryan pictured Horatio Lewis, the owner of the largest land development company in the nation, doing. Though there had been rumors over the past year that Horatio’s business practices bordered on unethical. But on the previous deals Ryan had worked on with Horatio, Ryan hadn’t seen any hint of underhanded dealings. No, the note was too…unsophisticated to have originated with Horatio. Wasn’t it? “Do you think one of your neighbors could have left the note?”

“The thought occurred to me. But I can’t see any of them trekking all the way here to leave a note on my car seat.”

“They have something to gain if you sell the land, however.”

“True.” She blew out an agitated breath. “I have to check on Tutu. If something happened to her, I…I don’t know what I’d do.”

He held open his cell phone. “Call.”

She reached for the phone, but Ryan returned her attention to the road with a tilt of his head. With another sigh, she rattled off the number and Ryan dialed. She took the phone from him while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

After a moment, she handed it back, her eyes bleak. “No answer.”

“Then let’s go straight to the farm,” Ryan said.

“I’ll drop you off first.”

“No.” He wasn’t about to let her walk into some unknown situation by herself. He prayed that his worry was unfounded, but just in case…he was sticking close to Kiki. “I’d like to check on your grandmother, also.”

She shot him a quick glance. “Why?”

“Because I like her. And I certainly don’t want anything bad to happen to her. Or you.”

Her lips pursed together and she didn’t comment again as she sped down the Piilani Highway into the countryside away from town. She turned the car onto the long dirt drive running alongside the fields and leading up to the ramshackle traditional-style Hawaiian house.

The rows and rows of flowering blossoms stretched toward the sun without any signs of uninvited guests. Nor were there signs of life near the greenhouse, the big huge metal building off to the left or the tiny shed barely visible beyond that.

All was quiet and still. Almost too still.

Kiki stopped the car in a spray of gravel and jumped out before the engine had even stopped rotating. Ryan quickly followed her up the porch steps. He slipped his sandals off, leaving them beside Kiki’s flip-flops and entered the house.

“Tutu?” Kiki called, her voice a little high. She disappeared down the hall, only to reappear a moment later, her eyes wide and panicky. “She’s not here.”

Kiki looked as if she was about to hyperventilate. Ryan grasped her by the elbow and made her sit on the faded upholstered couch. “Could she be out shopping? Buying groceries?”

“I suppose.” She rose and headed toward the door.

Ryan hurried after her, but he at least paused long enough to slip his sandals back on before vaulting down the porch steps to catch up with her. She halted as they rounded the corner of the house. “Her car is gone.”

Relief eased through Ryan. “There you go. She’s out shopping, doing errands or whatever else, so there’s no reason to worry.” He hoped.

“But I told her I’d get groceries after I got back from the beach. She’s seventy years old, Ryan. Tutu shouldn’t be out driving around.”

Ryan’s mouth twitched with a smile. The lady wanted to be in control and sure didn’t like it when she wasn’t. “Your grandmother is a vital, energetic woman who’s more than capable of doing as she pleases. At her age, she’s earned the right to go shopping by herself.”