Rolling in the Deep: Hawaiian Heroes, Book 2 (6 page)

Fortunately, the waiter arrived with their entrees. Julienned vegetables topped lightly sauced fish fillets, rice pilaf and vegetables, the plates augmented with tropical blooms. It was almost too pretty to eat.

Claire’s fish was delicious, delicately seasoned, perfectly cooked. Daniel’s ahi turned out to be a slab of tuna, seared on the outside, raw in the middle. She shuddered to herself as he took a bite and chewed with relish. Probably chewed his steak raw too, like one of his man
ō
.

Talk turned to the wedding. First on their agenda the next morning would be trying on the bridesmaid dresses. Claire and Bella had been measured for them and had viewed pictures on the bridal shop’s website, but last-minute adjustments might be needed.

“The weather forecast is perfect for your wedding day,” Claire said. “‘Sunny, with light afternoon breezes’.”

David chuckled. “That’s pretty much how it is every afternoon here in Kona. Although we get the occasional afternoon rain, or vog, which is worse.”

“Vog?” Bella asked. “Is that Hawaiian fog?”

He nodded. “Volcano particulate combined with moisture in the air. Looks like smog, smells worse.”

“Is the volcano exuding any lava?” Grace asked, patently trying to join back in the conversation.

Homu shook his head, smiling. “Madame Pele is fairly quiet now. Her Kilauea never sleeps, but it does not roar.”

“You mean you can see live lava flowing on Kilauea?” Claire asked excitedly. She would find a way to see it, right after the wedding.

He looked amused. “You may view it on the national park webcam or fly over in a helicopter. Otherwise, it is now in too remote and rugged an area to see.”

“Oh.” Claire tried not to pout. There was no way she could afford a helicopter ride.

“Well, I’m glad it’s too far away to interfere with your wedding,” Grace said to Melia. “Will the ceremony be at the beach?”

“It will,” Melia said happily. “The hotel has a place down by the shore.”

“And tomorrow evening we luau,” Tina said. “You will come to our home for a Ho’omalu family celebration.”

“And we have a special surprise for you,” Melia told them, her eyes alight with mischief.

“A surprise at a luau. Hmm, hula dancers?” Claire asked.

Melia giggled, looking up at David. “Mm, yes, but very special hula dancers.”

The twinkle in Melia’s eyes made Claire’s stomach clench in hope. “Who will they be?”

Bella’s eyes lit up as she looked from David to Daniel. “Is it the family, like the evening David proposed?”

Melia nodded, and Claire caught her breath. The huge Ho’omalu brothers—especially Daniel—dancing. She might faint from the excitement. She wondered if he actually smiled when he danced, or kept the forbidding scowl that seemed habitual.

“I dance pretty well,” David said. “Daniel… Well, those big muscles of his get in the way.”

“Not so much. I just keep tripping over your ego.” Daniel gave Claire a sidelong glance. “That and the lava boulders.”

This time she did snort her drink and spent the next few moments coughing into her napkin. He almost smiled.

Chapter Four

The Kona Brewery sat a few blocks above the beach. From the parking lot, the façade looked like light industrial, with two huge metal tanks emblazoned with the company’s gecko logo, but once past the entrance, a shady lanai opened up, set with canvas umbrellas, a profusion of plants and the occasional quirky sculpture.

At seven forty-five that evening, Daniel threaded his way through the crowd to the back, where a large table was roped off. A sign lettered by a local graphic artist read
Hope Loa
K
ū’oko’a o
David
.

He spoke briefly with the manager and sat down to wait for the others. The waist-high brick wall of the lanai wrapped partway around this smaller area, dividing it from the brewery’s main lanai, full of the usual assortment of tourists and locals. A group of giggling, young women in brief sundresses walked through the lanai and into the bar, to the interest of a table of young navy men from Oahu.

Daniel watched the girls without interest. They were too young, too skinny. Unbidden, Claire Hunter’s breasts filled his mind's eye. They’d filled out her little top like two ripe papayas, begging to be freed from their lavender peel and enjoyed. His groin tightened, and he moved restlessly on his chair. Damn, she was irritating as sand in his shorts.

In a few moments, his father and David walked in. Carved from the same big tree, Daniel thought with an affectionate sculptor’s eye. Although Homu’s hair was silver and his broad, golden-skinned face lined with age, he was still a handsome man.

Daniel watched David ignore the admiring looks women of all ages cast as he sauntered through the tables in a black silk T-shirt and shorts. It had been that way since his little brother hit puberty. There’d been a time, not so long ago, when David would have been looking back and choosing his next casual hookup. He was a nice guy; women loved him.

But since he’d met Melia, Daniel hadn’t seen him look at another woman. Of course, the two had been through Pele’s fire together—that kind of thing had a way of tempering attraction into either love, or fear and hatred. In their case, love.

That didn’t stop the women from looking, though. Wouldn’t change anytime soon either. The Ho’omalu men aged slowly and well, thanks to Pele’s patronage. She took good care of her ho’omalu, her guardians.

David rolled his eyes at the sign. “‘David’s final liberty’? You make me sound like a sailor heading out on a long sea voyage.”

Daniel clapped him on the back, grinning. “In irons, brah. Fo’ life.”

Homu reached over to give Daniel a hug, never shy about showing affection in public. “Thank you for coming to dinner with us. You made your mama happy.”

Daniel patted his father’s back.

“Ah, here comes Hilo,” Homu said. 

His brother sat down, face wreathed in smiles. “Where is the beer?” He spread his hands in comic dismay. “What good is freedom with no beer?”

Daniel signaled, and the pretty waitress hurried over to take their order for two pitchers of the beer brewed on site. When she’d gone, Daniel leaned forward, sobering.

“The others will be here soon,” he said in a low voice. “I wanted to talk before they arrive.”

His father and uncle nodded. The casual geniality of the dinner party was gone, replaced by grim purpose.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking,” David said. “Whoever dropped that kula for Apana might have dropped more.”

“If they have, it will be found,” Daniel told him.

“How do you know?” David challenged. “There are thousands of miles of coastline out there, brah. Denas Helman doesn’t know what happened to his brother Stefan and his men at Nawea, no one does, but who knows where he and his men may try again? The organization may have lost one of their leaders, but they’re still powerful.”

Daniel allowed himself a smirk of satisfaction. “Got some friends on it.”

David groaned. “They wouldn’t happen to eat fish, would they?”

As Daniel shrugged, their father and uncle chuckled.

“Kanaloa watches after his own,” Hilo murmured.

“As does Pele,” Homu added.

“
’Ae
, yes, but we still don’t know how the hell they got da kula here this time,” David went on. “Customs is going over every plane and passenger with fine-tooth combs.”

“Apana found his cache in the water,” Daniel said. “Probably came in that way too.”

“By sea?” David frowned dubiously. “What about Coast Guard inspections?”

“Wouldn’t inspect every tourist boat,” Hilo put in, his eyes narrowing shrewdly. “How ’bout da big-ass yachts? We get a few every month, right in Kailua Bay.”

“Have to be a real big one to come clear from the mainland,” Homu reminded him.

“Well, we get plenty big boats in here. Lot of money floating around these islands.” Hilo looked at Daniel. “You might as well tell them, boy.”

The hair on the back of Daniel’s neck stood up as he looked into his uncle’s eyes. “I have a feeling,” he said. Hilo nodded. “There is something brewing in the seas. Trouble comes by water this time.”

In another family, his brother and father might have stared at him in incomprehension or made some kind of joke. But the Ho’omalus shifted in their chairs like large predators gathering themselves to spring. Homu nodded slowly. “Then you’ll keep looking. And when you find something, you’ll tell us.”

It was not a request. Daniel didn’t take it as such. “’Ae.”

“And you’ll call me when you need my help,” Hilo added.

They all knew they couldn’t risk Kona kula getting loose on the island. The Helman cartel had managed to disperse some several weeks before, and a local who lived on the mountain above Nawea, Keone Halama, had swallowed Stefan Helman’s story hook, line and sinker that his kula was an herbal religious concoction. He’d raved about the wonderful traditional visions he’d had and tried to force David to hand a cache of the drug over to him.

But mainland law enforcement had warned the Hawaiian police that the Helmans dealt in hard drugs, and there were rumors they had a new hallucinogen that was not only more powerful but even more addictive than meth.

David had mingled with a group on a dive trip to Nawea to catch the smugglers in the act and wound up saving Keone and Melia as well. He’d been forced to use his own Ho’omalu powers, calling Pele’s fire forth from beneath the island to destroy the drugs and the men who possessed them.

Keone was now a sadder and wiser man, but there were many native Hawaiians who longed to return to the old religion and, like him, might not be swayed by warnings about the drug’s dangers. As for Akeo, Daniel figured he’d just been in it for the money and drugs.

“I want in,” David began, his eyes turbulent. “Those po’ino tried to—”

“Shh.” Homu looked past him and raised a hand in greeting. “We’ll talk more about this later. Hi, Frank. Come sit.”

Frank Lelua, a short, wiry Hawaiian with a deeply lined face from spending his life on the water, smacked David on the shoulder before sinking into one of the chairs. Since he was followed by the waitress with their beer, conversation lagged until they all had full glasses of Kona brew before them.

“To David,” Daniel said, raising his glass to his brother. “And his bride.” He smiled, but there was a fierce edge to it. The Ho’omalus could not avoid the battle to come, and indeed he looked forward to the chance to kick
some ass, but their fight wouldn’t include David—not if Daniel had anything to say about it. David had responsibilities now—a new ohana.

“To David and his bride.” They all drank.

“And to the
keiki
,” Hilo added. “Been a while since we had one around.”

Homu nodded, indicating his sons. “Although it seems only yesterday these two were tumbling about my feet like puppies.”

David grinned at his father. “I can’t wait.”

“Yeah, diapers, sleepless nights, spit-up on your shoulder,” Daniel said dryly. “
No ka oi
, da best.”

The other men laughed. David did too, clearly not worried.

“How was the dive trip today?” Hilo asked Frank.

“Good.” Frank nodded. “Happy clients. No one got seasick; no one fell in.”

“Kailua Harbor sure is busy,” Homu said casually. “Lot of boats. I even saw one of those big yachts drop anchor this morning.”

“Saw her too,” Frank said. He narrowed his eyes reflectively. “The
Hypno
—nah, some fancy foreign words. The
Hypnautique,
that was it.” He drawled the word, exaggerating the last syllable.

“Weird name,” David said. “Sound like da kine magic.”

Frank snorted. “Or something else. No telling where the millions came from to buy a boat li’ dat.”

David nodded. “Some kine kula, yeah? That would be just like those po’inos, like da Helmans, to wave their drug money under our noses.”

Frank, an ex-cop, gave him an odd look. “How come you know so much about them?”

David shrugged. “One of them died above Nawea Bay, so I was curious. Don’t like what I’ve learned. That family is into all kinds of bad shit on the mainland. Don’t think Stefan Helman was just here on vacation.”

Frank’s eyes narrowed, and Daniel shared a look with his father. Frank had taken the bait; time to let him chew on it.

“David’s been surfing the Internet again,” Daniel joked. “No wonder he looks so peaked—like shark bait, brah.” Shark bait was the nickname islanders gave pale haole newcomers.

David, who glowed with life and health, grinned. “Nah, I got something betta keepin’ me indoors.”

Daniel hid a pang of envy behind a chuckle. His brother deserved every bit of happiness he’d found.

“You meet Melia’s friends this evening?” Hilo asked.

“Yeah, had dinner at the Royal K.” David looked at Daniel, his eyes twinkling. “So, now you’ve met the bridesmaids— What d’you think?”

Daniel nearly choked on his swallow of beer. “Ah…they’re okay. That Bella, she looks Hawaiian.”

“What about Claire?”

“What about her?” Daniel cursed his surly response as his little brother’s eyes twinkled, and the older men’s gazes all swung his way.

“The two of you argued through dinner,” his father observed slyly. “I’m sorry you don’t like her.”

David snickered. “He likes her. If the air had been any hotter on their side of the table, the tablecloth would have had scorch marks.”

Homu and Hilo chuckled, and Daniel’s cheeks burned. Kanaloa save him from his family, who wanted only the best for him.

They just didn’t understand that he was only one reckless move away from landing back in trouble again. Last time, the family’s lawyers had gotten him out of it, but if he made another wrong move, he doubted any judge would be so merciful, even a Hawaiian one.

Damn him for a fool for sitting next to Claire at dinner and for giving in to the temptation to place that lei around her neck. Her scent had mingled with that of the flowers, heady and enthralling.

And damn him further for hanging on her every word too. She was not only sexy as hell, she had a sense of humor. Empty peanut-butter jars indeed. He didn’t want to like her, didn’t want to chuckle at the memory of her little sidelong glance as she’d made her joke.