Page 9 of Just My Luck

“Someone’s at the front door. Come with me and I’ll find a place you can stay out of sight.”

The girl stared at him suspiciously. “We’re supposed to trust you? You’re just a rando dumb enough to get stuck under the sink.”

Eddie giggled. Neither of them was taking this seriously.

“Uh…” Good point. “Here, take these.” He handed her a pair of garden shears from the work bag slung across his chest. She opened the door farther to take hold of them. “Feel free to stab me with them if you feel the need.”

“Seriously?”

“I mean, yes, but please don’t stab me. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m trying to keep your sister from getting busted.”

Mia’s eyes narrowed. She looked quite a bit like her sister, although her hair was cut short and dyed black, and she wore an inordinate amount of black eye makeup. “You like Zara? Is that what this is about?”

“No!” He scrubbed a frustrated hand over the back of his neck. Out front, he heard the sound of a car door open, and then slam closed. “That’s not it. I mean, she’s fine. Not fine fine. Well, that too. Come on, you two need to clear out of here and I’m not playing around. Please. How about a…” He cast around for something two kids might like. “A guava Danish?”

“Oh my God, this is like textbook. We’re not supposed to go anywhere with strangers, especially if they offer sweets. That’s like, red flag city.”

Fuck. He was completely screwing this up. “Fine. I’ll stay right here. I won’t go with you. I’ll just show you the way.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m just fucking with you. I’m not at all scared of you. I have the loudest scream in the whole state. I once broke a glass just from screaming.”

“Are you supposed to use the F word? Zara really has her hands full, doesn’t she,” Lincoln muttered.

“I heard that. The disrespect.” She shook her head. A thud at the front door shifted her expression. “Come on, Eddie.”

She put her arm around her brother and shepherded him out of the hale. Lincoln quietly closed the sliding door behind them. “Stay quiet,” he told them. “See that bromeliad over there, with the big spiky flowers?” He pointed it out. “Hide there and I’ll meet you in a minute.”

“I have no idea what a bromeliad is, but okay.”

“I had to Google it myself, as a matter of fact.”

“You did? Aren’t you a gardener?” Oops. Now she looked suspicious again.

“Shhh.” He made a shooing gesture, which, fortunately, she obeyed. She and Eddie scurried past the pool and nested themselves behind the bromeliad.

As soon as he was sure they were completely out of sight, he grabbed the end of a hose and crept around to the side of the house and crouched under a window. Hopefully no one would pay attention to the unassuming gardener watering the shrubs.

He oriented himself so he could take occasional glances through the window. Tanaka’s man eased himself into the hale and stood in the entryway. He seemed to be scrutinizing every inch of the place.

Had Tanaka discovered that Lincoln was here? If so, how? Or had he come to the same conclusion that Lincoln had, that the CHUM had to be somewhere on this property? This was where it was seen six weeks ago. It had caused a power outage when it had been exposed to the sun. All of Kona had gone dark. The woman who’d had it in her possession had gotten knocked into a coma and taken to the hospital.

Lincoln had paid a hefty sum to interrogate the staff at the Kona Community Hospital. None of them had seen any hint of a two-inch tall, jagged crystal-like object, either on Mathilda or in her room. Tanaka had probably done the same thing, and come to the same conclusion.

It must still be here on the property, perhaps stuck in a drainpipe or hidden under a pile of dead hibiscus flowers. Since it was worth literally billions of dollars, of course Tanaka would send his people here to search.

But were they willing to embed themselves at the Royal Leilani the way he was doing?

He watched as the man dug something out of his pocket. Not a gun, but Lincoln couldn’t see what was in his hand. Then the door swung open behind him and a sunburned resort security guard walked in, followed by Zara.

Her hair was in a tight knot at the top of her head, and she’d clearly tried to slick down the strands that wanted to fly free. She wore the hotel uniform of white slacks and a retro Hawaiian-print blouse, with a plumeria flower tucked behind one ear.

Damn it. He hadn’t wanted her to come too. He wanted her far away from these guys. That was why he’d told her to send the security guard.

Note to self: Zara was entirely unpredictable and did what she liked. Two qualities that he considered to be red flags. How was he supposed to deal with someone who just…did whatever they wanted?

5

Zara’s heart raced as she followed Big Joe into hale twelve. He was the largest, most intimidating security guard who worked here, but he was also a romantic with a huge crush on her. The fact that she’d called on him would probably keep that torch burning for another few months.