Double Cross. Terri Reed

beach to leave the note. Unless…unless Ryan left the envelope on the seat when he got out and was going to pretend the threat was from someone else.

      She dismissed the idea. That didn’t feel right. He might want her to sell the farm but he wasn’t a criminal. She couldn’t see him stooping so low now. He seemed more straightforward and honest.

      Then who?

      The same person who blew up the truck?

      Angry at the note, the note writer and herself for being spooked, she grabbed a scrunchie out of the glove box, shoved the note among the other hair bands and slammed the compartment closed.

      She’d figure out what to do about the note later. Right now she needed to go home and make sure nothing bad happened.

      Apprehension scraped along her nerves. She shivered even as the sun beat down on her shoulders with enough heat to redden her brown skin.

      Was Tutu in danger?

      THREE

      Ryan come up for air after being smashed into the ground for the umpteenth time in the last hour and noticed a certain tall beauty missing. He immediately headed for dry land and refused to look at the reason for his concern…no, make that curiosity.

      He accepted the towel Ginger held out with a smile. “Thanks. Where’s Kiki?”

      “She went to get me a scrunchie,” replied Carol, her dark eyes assessing him as she gathered her thick hair in her hand and lifted the mass up off her shoulders, exposing the long brown-skinned column of her throat in a practiced move.

      “She’s not true Hawaiian, you know,” Ginger remarked.

      Ryan’s smile tightened in annoyance. He didn’t like the way the woman made Kiki’s mixed heritage sound second-rate. “Beats not being Hawaiian at all.”

      “You like Kiki?” Carol asked, her gaze speculative.

      Hmm. Good question.

      He’d certainly enjoyed verbally sparring with her since he’d first contacted her for his client last spring. He appreciated her loyalty and dedication to her grandmother and the family business that produced some beautiful product. “Sure.”

      He liked her. To his surprise, a lot. But his feelings for Kiki had nothing to do with his purpose for being on Maui.

      The smirk on Carol’s face made the hair on the back of his neck rise. He could feel Kiki behind him.

      Prepared for some smart remark, he put his most lethally charming smile in place and turned around, but one look at Kiki’s tense face killed the smile.

      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