Katrina leaned forward, making Dex fight the urge to stretch out his long arm and touch her attractive face. “Well, the job doesn’t pay particularly well, but does require a couple of hours of your time five evenings a week and two afternoons. Moreover, as my regular piano player may or may not return once her maternity leave ends, it might only be a temporary gig.” She paused. “Does this still sound like something you would be interested in?”

  She was giving him a way out of this, as if to undercut her own need for a pianist. Was this an attempt to play it safe as a drug trafficker who had second thoughts about having someone new around? He waited a long beat, pretending to be reconsidering whether he wanted to take the position, before eyeing her directly and responding coolly, “Yes, definitely. As I alluded to, I’m in pretty good shape financially, so pay whatever you like. I enjoy playing the piano and entertaining folks with a blend of Hawaiian, contemporary, easy listening and soul music. I’ll gladly work whatever hours and days you need me until your regular piano player returns.”

  “Hard to argue with that.” Katrina’s full lips curved upward at the corners. “I guess that settles it. You’re hired.”

  Dex flashed his teeth. “Great.”

  “I’ll just need to verify you’re with the private investigation agency you indicated you’ll be working for on Kauai...”

  Smart of you to ask, Dex mused. “Of course.” He gave her the cell phone number of the agency and the contact there, Glenn Nakao, who had worked with the DEA in the past and been briefed in advance, agreeing to play along. Being a real detective firm that could easily be looked up on the internet would solidify Dex’s cover that much more.

  Katrina seemed satisfied with the ease of his cooperation. “When can you start?” she asked eagerly.

  Not wishing to appear overeager himself, while at the same time needing to ingratiate himself into her world as soon as possible to get some answers, he replied evenly, “Whenever you like.”

  “Tomorrow at noon would be great,” Katrina said promptly. “We tend to get many of our guests around that time on a Wednesday. It would be wonderful to welcome them with a drink and some entertaining piano music.”

  “Tomorrow it is.” Dex kept his tone relaxed and sure. It would give him some extra time to acclimate himself to the surroundings and size up the lady herself.

  “Perfect.” She offered him a pleased smile and got to her feet. “Why don’t I give you a quick tour and introduce you to the staff.”

  “Sounds good to me.” The more people he met, the better the chances to get a read on them and assess if any or all could be involved in illicit drug activity and murder.

  * * *

  “ALOHA AND WELCOME to the Maoli Lodge,” Katrina greeted the new arrivals, who had been introduced to her as Sylvester and Lynda Hayashi and were wearing floral leis.

  “Aloha,” they returned in unison. “Happy to be able to spend some quality time at your fabulous lodge,” Lynda voiced enthusiastically.

  Katrina smiled. “If you need anything, just let me or a member of the staff know,” she told them.

  “We will,” Sylvester promised, and gave a friendly nod to Dex, before the couple went on their way.

  “Looks like the guests are already feeling right at home,” Dex remarked.

  “That’s the whole idea,” Katrina uttered, knowing it was what she and Joseph had envisioned from the start. Even if he was no longer there to share the experience, she knew it was all about providing a welcoming atmosphere for visitors, who would hopefully come back again and again.

  “It’s working,” he declared, making her wonder if Dex was referring to himself as well.

  Katrina continued to show her new hire around, surprising herself in already starting to feel somewhat close to him, if that was possible. She sensed she could trust Dex, though she had yet to even check out his reference. With his ID seemingly legit, this was likely only a mere formality and nothing to worry about. She admitted that there was something mysteriously enticing about the piano player that attracted her, even beyond his handsome features. Would she get to know him more? Or was that asking for trouble, considering she wasn’t in the market right now for romance. Was he?

  She introduced him to Alyson, her assistant manager. “Nice to meet you formally,” Alyson said, after they had exchanged words earlier.

  “You too,” Dex said.

  “Can’t wait to hear more of your piano playing.”

  He grinned. “I’ll try not to disappoint.”

  For whatever reason, Katrina felt a spasm of jealousy, which she had no right to. Alyson was a natural flirt and Dex had admitted, essentially, to being a single man and was presumably available to the right woman. Maybe that was her assistant manager, who was divorced and looking for love again. She generally didn’t encourage workplace romance. But Dex was a part-time employee and would likely move on once Gina returned, and Katrina had no desire to try and dictate his or anyone else’s love life. Especially when her own love life was nonexistent these days and had already hit the skids in her marriage before Joseph’s death, whether she wanted to face up to it or not.

  They finished the tour back where they’d started in the Kahiko Lounge. Katrina introduced Dex to her bartender, Gordon Guerrero. The thickly built, forty-year-old half Hawaiian had a black-blond Caesar crop top short hairstyle, a short black boxed beard and large brown eyes. “Aloha,” Gordon said tonelessly, as they shook hands.

  “Aloha,” Dex said back, not seeming at all intimidated by the bulkier bartender. Not that he had reason to be, as Katrina felt Gordon was actually a teddy bear in spite of his hardened demeanor.

  “Dex is our new pianist,” Katrina told him.

  “What about Gina?” Gordon threw out worriedly. Their piano player was married to his cousin, Marciel.

  “When she’s ready to return, she has a job waiting for her,” Katrina promised.

  This seemed to ease his concerns and Gordon said, “I’d best get back to work now.”

  “Is he always that friendly?” Dex asked as they walked away from him and toward the piano.

  “Yes, pretty much.” Katrina chuckled. “Seriously, Gordon’s a good guy, if a little rough around the edges.” He had never given them any trouble and had actually become friends with Joseph, even doing things away from the lodge, such as deep sea fishing together.

  “I’ll take your word for that.” Dex’s voice was laced with sarcasm, but he seemed able to adjust easily enough to each different personality he encountered amongst the staff.

  Dex’s dog, Barnabas, sat quietly beside the piano. Katrina loved domesticated animals and would have one or more of her own, had the demands of running a lodge not been too much to properly care for a pet.

  “Have you been a good boy?” Dex asked, untangling the leash from the piano leg. He petted the dog, who reacted favorably, clearly smitten with his owner. “Yeah, I think you have.”

  Katrina imagined that the two were inseparable, other than when Dex was doing private investigation work. Barnabas stood and sniffed her hand playfully. She giggled. “I like you too.”

  Dex seemed glad to hear that by his agreeable expression. “I better take him home and get out of your hair.”

  “Okay.” She almost hated to see them leave, as though Katrina would never lay eyes on the man and his dog again. Which was silly, of course. After all, Dex was the new piano player. Meaning that Barnabas would also likely make a return visit. “See you tomorrow at noon.”

  “On the nose,” he assured her, and their shoulders brushed, sending electricity throughout Katrina’s body. Had Dex noticed too? Or could the whole thing have been her overactive imagination?

  Katrina watched as they headed for the door and the humidity and sunshine that awaited them outside, before she went on her merry way. Even then, for whatever reason, she had the feeling she was being observed. Which was odd, considering that she was inside and saw only a few people wandering about seemingly caught up in their own worlds. That included the new guests, Sylvester and Lynda Hayashi, who were busy studying a brochure as if it held the secrets to the universe. Was she really being surveilled? If so, by whom? And for what reason? Or was that, too, only in her head?

  Katrina chewed on those uneasy thoughts as she headed back to her office to verify the identity and work reference of Dex Matheson.

  * * *

  DEX STILL HAD Katrina Sizemore very much on his mind as he loaded Barnabas into his rented dark gray Ford Expedition XLT, then hopped behind the wheel. Her striking features notwithstanding, was the lodge owner hiding something relevant to their investigation? It was up to him to find out, whatever it took, with the help of undercover agents Krause and Ishikawa. Along with, of course, his trusty companion who was making himself comfortable beside Dex. He started up the vehicle and drove around the property, looking for entrances and exits that might be employed by traffickers, along with angles and out-of-the-way places and spaces that could provide cover or hideaways for drug activity. There was a black Ford Transit full-size cargo van parked out back that could possibly be used for transporting illicit drugs. What had Roxanne uncovered that likely cost the DEA agent her life?

  Knowing he had time to make some determinations with his new piano gig, Dex left the lodge grounds and headed down Poipu Road en route to the rented cottage he would be calling home during his stay on Kauai. It was the same place Roxanne had operated from before she was killed. He soon reached his destination on Nakoa Street in the nearby unincorporated community of Koloa, but far enough away so as not to draw attention from the locals. Leaving the car, he let Barnabas out and they headed to their new temporary home away from home.

  The one-story, two-bedroom farmhouse-style residence had merbau hardwood flooring and vaulted ceilings, with large picture windows covered by fabric blinds. A spacious kitchen had slate countertops and stainless steel appliances as part of an open concept architecture, with modest contemporary furnishings. As Barnabas sized up the place, Dex walked through while imagining Roxanne being made and having to make a hasty escape for her life. It had been scoured for DNA, fingerprints and other evidence, but nothing had stuck with respect to clues as to her killer. Dex couldn’t help but think they may have missed something crucial toward getting some answers.

  He peeked through the blinds and saw a covered lanai that overlooked a fully fenced backyard with fruit trees and plenty of room for Barnabas to play and get some exercise. Dex let the dog out the back door. “Stay out of trouble,” he teased him. After unloading his things from the car, Dex went back inside and plotted his strategy for learning more from and about Katrina, even while the better part of him was just as interested in getting to know the lady herself. Or was that a dumb idea? Maybe not, as he sensed her assessing him with more than a passing glance. If she had no dirty laundry in the closet, who knew if something could be there waiting for them both to explore.

  Just as he contemplated that tantalizing thought, Dex heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up to the cottage. He looked out the front window and saw a blue Hyundai Elantra GT in the driveway. Lynda and Ishikawa got out and approached the house. Dex opened the door and greeted them teasingly, “I was beginning to think that you were too caught up in your honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi, to break away from the Maoli Lodge.”

  “Yeah, right.” Lynda rolled her green eyes. “This coming from the man who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the lovely widow.”

  Dex didn’t deny it, but countered with a more defensive tone than he’d intended. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s what I’ve been tasked with.”

  “Such a grueling task, Adair,” she quipped, “but someone’s got to do it, right?”

  “That’s why I get the big bucks.” He went along with the ribbing, while knowing that in reality being a DEA special agent was anything but a get rich scheme. But it did give him a general sense of satisfaction that could never be measured in dollars and cents. Something he was sure motivated his colleagues as well.

  “We’ve all got a job to do,” Ishikawa said forthrightly, moving past him and into the cottage. Dex allowed Lynda to follow and he went in afterward. “I take it you were hired?”

  Dex nodded. “I start in earnest tomorrow at noon.”

  “Good. Hope you can pull it off with your piano skills without arousing suspicion.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be able to hold my own,” Dex assured him, “while seeing what I can dig up.”

  “Never had a doubt.” Ishikawa patted him on the shoulder and looked around. “So, where’s your sidekick?”

  “Out back. There’s lots of space for Barnabas to run around without getting lost, till he’s called upon in the line of duty.”

  “Good for him.”

  Dex eyed Lynda, who had taken out her cell phone to check for messages. “Come up with anything yet on your end?”

  “Still in the honeymoon phase,” Ishikawa replied, metaphorically speaking. “We’ll be scoping out the lodge in the coming days and seeing what we can learn about its possible ties to drug trafficking.”

  “I studied the grounds and can see some possibilities for trafficking drugs in and out,” Dex said. “Barnabas and I will look into it.”

  “Good. Maybe we can nip this thing in the bud sooner than later.”

  Dex gazed at Lynda, who was still glued to her phone. “Care to let us in on who or what’s got your attention?”

  “Sorry.” She cut the phone off. “That was Martin,” she said apologetically. Lynda was currently dating Martin O’Sullivan, an investigator for LA County Sheriff’s Narcotic Bureau, who was part of the downtown drug bust. “According to him, drug kingpin Louis Johansson is already starting to talk.”

  “Didn’t take much to get him to look out for number one,” Dex stated, sure that Johansson was trying to cut a deal to save his own neck. He was also certain that the trafficker couldn’t be trusted as far as you could throw him. Dex was confident this would be a factor in seeing what they could get from him and what it was worth, if anything.

  “Never does when the screws start to tighten,” Ishikawa remarked flippantly, scratching his jaw.

  “Martin believes that the ties between the trafficking of drugs in Southern California and Hawaii—Kauai, in particular—may run deeper than we think. So it’s even more important that we make the case with the Maoli Lodge as a possible vector for illegal drugs and the related murder of Agent Yamamoto.”

  Dex furrowed his brow. “I hear you,” he muttered. “We’ll do what we need to and find out if there’s a case to be made. And, if so, how deep it runs.” He considered that Katrina could be nothing more than an innocent pawn in a complicated scheme. Or deceptively attractive on the outside, but inside guilty as sin of one or more serious offenses, including responsibility for the death of a federal agent.

  “So, this is where Agent Yamamoto laid her head when away from the lodge?” Lynda peeked into the master bedroom. “It’s almost as though she’s speaking to us from the grave.”

  “You mean like a ghost?” Ishikawa’s mouth hung open.

  “Like someone who had unfinished business and can’t rest till it’s done.”

  Dex put more weight on one leg than the other. “Can’t say I believe in the supernatural,” he had to admit. “But I do believe in justice being served when crimes are committed. And since Roxanne was my friend, I’m definitely keen on doing right by her. If that means speaking back to Agent Yamamoto, as such, while caught in spiritual unrest, so be it.” To be successful in this endeavor, he sensed that they would need Katrina’s cooperation, voluntary or not.

  Chapter Three

  The following day, Katrina was still rattled by a feeling of being spied upon as she sipped passion fruit tea in the loft suite she called home and her safety net. Claiming the largest of the four suites when she and Joseph bought the lodge, it had three bedrooms, tigerwood exotic flooring and bamboo ceiling fans throughout, and a tropical-style kitchen with smoky quartz countertops, a distressed oak kitchen island and farmhouse apron front sink. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the great room offered plenty of natural light, with plantation shutters. She marveled at the carefully selected custom-made furnishings, an eclectic mixture of woven seagrass and rattan pieces, accented with areca palm and bird-of-paradise plants. While it created a warm and cozy atmosphere, Katrina knew this could not compensate for the loneliness that had started to set in. But when did it truly began? Was it after she had lost her husband? Or before? Would that all-important sense of completion and being loved ever return? Or had it ever been there in the first place during her marriage?

  Exactly what am I trying to say? she questioned, while standing barefoot and still in her short satin chemise nightgown. That Joseph never truly loved her? She rejected this, believing that he did in his own way. And her love for him was real too. She just wasn’t sure that what they had together was everything she’d signed up for when marrying him and relocating to Kauai. Whether that was widow’s remorse or something more, Katrina tried to put it out of her mind as she watched a gecko crawl up the wall before she headed into the master bedroom. It was spacious with wicker furniture, a private lanai and an en suite bath that included a jetted tub.

  She got dressed, tied her hair into a side ponytail, and was ready to begin her morning chores and responsibilities. Afterward, she looked forward to listening to Dex work his magic at the piano, believing he was more than capable of delivering for their guests for as long as Gina was away.

  When Katrina stepped inside her office, with plans to go over the budget, work schedules and other items that commanded her attention as owner of the lodge, she couldn’t help but notice the folded piece of paper sitting on her desk. She picked it up curiously and unfolded it, reading the message. It was sloppily written, as though the writer was in a hurry, but still legible.