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Maybe I shouldn’t have been watching her so closely, but it wasn’t like these booths were all that difficult to construct. I’d been making them with the same group of people for the last couple of years and we had it down to a science. We wouldn’t get all of them done tonight, but we were usually finished before the other groups, and it allowed us to assist everyone else.
My eyes kept drifting to Haley, laughing and smiling with the kids. She was a natural with them, and it reminded me of the plans we’d once made for children.
Thankfully, my dangerously wayward thoughts were interrupted by Mahina in my ear. “You know, I don’t think you’re the only one watching her tonight,” she said in a low voice, startling the hell out of me.
Trying to calm my racing heart, I looked at her and breathed out, “Jesus Mahina, you ‘bout gave me a heart attack.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Oh please, you’re such a drama king.” Her not so quiet declaration was met with laughter from the other guys and I glared down at her. She refused to be deterred. “Pay attention to what I’m saying, blockhead. Follow my eyes—six o’clock.”
Noting the seriousness of her words, I did as she said and looked straight ahead. Just beyond the square, someone was hiding on the other side of a hedge.
“What the hell?” I muttered as we monitored the stranger. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, but I watched as they raised up an object—a camera—and it was pointing directly at Haley.
I immediately went into action, working my way to the outer edge of the square so I could blend into the crowd and sneak upon whoever it was. Haley may not have been back for long, but she was a part of this community, and Hanalei didn’t take kindly to strangers harassing one of her own.I would not allow her to be harassed... or hurt again.
I felt that conviction so deeply in my bones that I felt nearly ten feet tall by the time I came upon the man squatting behind the hedge, so focused on his shot that he didn’t notice me sneaking up behind him.
The man was snapping pictures rapidly with a camera that had an obscenely long lens zooming in on Haley...my Haley.
I snatched the man by his collar, and he cried out. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I growled.
The man rose to his full stature, which only came up to my chest. “Hey, unhand me, this is assault!”
“No, it’s not...” I said, looking into his greasy face, “but it’s about to be,” I promised, my hands itching to show him how wrong he was to show up here.
I snatched the camera from his neck, the strap ripping loose while the man made a yelping sound like I’d punched him.
That’s when Mayor Kahale and Mahina appeared behind the shrub, looking sternly at the intruder.
“Help! I’m being attacked!” the man insisted to the mayor and Mahina, but they were unmoved.
“What? You don’t like our welcoming committee?” Mahina asked the man with a grim smile.
“What are you doing here, sir?” the mayor asked the man evenly.
The man was still huffing and puffing dramatically. “I am just doing my job, that’s all. I swear there’s nothing untoward about what I’m doing.”
“That’s debatable,” Mahina muttered.
“Sir, if your job involves you hiding in the bushes and taking pictures of unsuspecting people, might I suggest you find other, more respectable employment?” Mayor Kahale said.
“Hey don’t judge me,” the man spat out. “You have the runaway bride over there. Do you know how much money I could get for pictures of her hiding out?” he asked, waving his arms around frantically.
“You mean to tell me your payday is in this little camera?” I asked him, holding up the very expensive piece of equipment.
“Yes!” the man exclaimed.
Maybe I should have given pause, thought about my actions, but I was working off adrenaline. I swung the camera down hard, letting it crash into a million little pieces on the rocky ground.
The mayor and Mahina stepped back to avoid getting hit by debris and the man squawked indignantly. “That was a thousand-dollar camera, I will sue!” he said, pointing an angry finger at me.
I was unmoved and so were Mahina and the mayor. “Well, in order for that lawsuit to have any merit, you will need to have proof and witnesses,” the mayor said an even tone, as if he was merely discussing the weather. “This mess will be cleaned up in no time—and sadly, there are no witnesses. Unless...” he trailed off looking to Mahina, “did you see anything?”
Mahina rubbed her chin dramatically, looking at the crushed camera and shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! This corruption!” The man insisted.
“That’s the last thing I would worry about if I were you, buddy,” I told him tightly. “If you think what I did to that camera is bad, wait until you see what I have planned for you,” I warned.
