Chapter 20

Aunt Fae beatme to the interior door from the garage. It wasn't a fair race, since I was still in pain and fading fast after hours of Security Solutions surveillance and a couple of hours of social activity with the lively members of the Ohia Red Hat Society.

The moment Aunt Fae opened the door into the house, Tiki flew at us in a fury of indignation, hissing and spitting. Her tail was twice its normal size, and her ear was pinned back. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my bandaged rib cage.

"What is it, girlfriend?" I cooed, hoping my solicitous demeanor would calm her.

Tiki turned and streaked through the kitchen. It was all I could do to keep up. She bolted to the living room and skidded to a stop under an open window.

Aunt Fae pointed to the window. "What's that doing open?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I didn't open it."

"Well, I certainly didn't either."

"I think we had an intruder."

Aunt Fae's eyes widened, and she said in a whisper, "Do you think they're still here?"

I thought about my weapon in my upstairs nightstand. What I wouldn't give to have had it in my pocket at that moment.

From under the window, we heard a tiny hoarse squeak, like a dog toy that had gone eight rounds with a bullmastiff.

"Misty!" we exclaimed at the same time.

"Tell you what, Auntie," I said. "Why don't I check the house and make sure it's clear, while you rescue Misty?"

"On it," Auntie said, but she swung through the kitchen and armed herself with her favorite iron skillet before she hurried to exit the house.

I retrieved the thumb-sized can of Mace from my keyring and began a thorough search of the house. I held the Mace as I would a pistol as I sidled around, using corners of the room as cover in classic defensive mode. My ears were tuned for anything out of the ordinary; there were no unusual sounds now that Tiki had followed Auntie to supervise the rescue of her kitten.

When I reached my room, the first thing I did was check the Glock 19 former service pistol I kept in the top drawer of my nightstand. Its position had been changed—not taken but moved.

I always left it in the handle down position so I could easily grab it out of the drawer. Now it was turned so the barrel was facing my bed.

I racked the slide to check it. The one round I always left chambered was still there, so it hadn't been fired. I kept the bullets and spare magazines in a secure box on a top shelf in my closet. When I brought it down and unlocked it, the box was exactly as I'd left it.

I ducked into Aunt Fae's room and the two upstairs bathrooms. I checked the closets, under the bed, the bathrooms. Everything seemed in order.

By the time I got back downstairs, Aunt Fae had brought the kitten inside and wrapped her in a dishtowel. The poor thing was a wet, pitiful ball of gray fur. Tiki wound around Auntie's legs, purring loudly in an attempt to comfort her baby.

"Seems the sprinklers went off while we were gone," said Aunt Fae.

"Maybe that's what scared off the would-be intruder."

Auntie set Misty down on the floor. Tiki, who only days earlier had batted her baby away when she tried to nurse, got right to work licking her offspring back to warmth. The two of them twined together on the dishtowel in the middle of the kitchen floor were a heartwarming sight.

"Did you find anything missing?" said Aunt Fae.

I wrestled with whether to alert her that someone had been upstairs and had touched my weapon, or fib so she wouldn't worry about it. "Seems okay."

"This makes no sense," she said. "Why would someone break in and then not take anything?"

"We live in a state park," I said. "Maybe a curious visitor just wanted to look around the house. I don't think we locked the window."

"The park closes at six. It's nearly ten."

"Since when does anyone around here follow the rules?"

Neither of us remembered the last time we'd checked the locks on the windows. We often kept them open during the day to allow the breeze to cool the house, but the windows had screens. Aunt Fae had found the screen from the open window in the bushes below.

"Maybe Tiki jumped onto the window ledge and the screen fell out," Aunt Fae offered.

"That doesn't explain how the window got opened in the first place."

Troubled, I replaced my stretched-out elastic bandage with a new one before getting into bed.

The out of place firearm and open window continued to trouble me. If park visitors were going around snooping in the houses, I owed it to our new neighbor, Elle Beane, to advise her about securely locking her windows and doors. I made a mental note to talk to her about it in the morning. It'd also be a great excuse to get her take on Edith and Josie's upcoming wedding plans.

* * *

I woke latethe next morning groggy and sore. The bed felt unexpectedly lonely. I glanced over to see Tiki twined around her kitten in their bed, making a multicolored cinnamon roll.

Sunday was my day to kick back. If Keone's schedule allowed, we usually hung out together. Surfing was our favorite activity, but depending on the weather and our moods, sometimes we'd take a hike or do something else outdoors, then watch a movie or cook a homemade meal together at his place or with Auntie. (When I say "we cooked" I mean, "he cooked" because I'd proven to be deficient in kitchen skills.)

Staring up at the ceiling, I considered calling Mr. K.

No, I wasn't ready to deal with how I felt about him possibly leaving Maui for an extended period if he got the promotion. His interview in Honolulu was tomorrow morning. I didn't want to sway him one way or another, even though I was clear in my own mind which way I hoped it would go.

Auntie was still in bed. Good. I probably wasn't the only one who'd had trouble falling asleep after last night's disturbance.

I slipped into shorts and a T-shirt baggy enough to not chafe my healing bruises by catching on the elastic bandage around my chest. I then put on my Nikes, snagged a coffee in my favorite Do Not Speak to Me Until this Mugis Empty cup, and carefully made my way down to Pikake Court.

Elle greeted me as if we were old friends. "Hey, Kat. Great to see you. What brings you down this way?"

After the pleasantries I said, "I wanted to alert you to something that happened at our place last night. Seems we have prying eyes here in New Ohia." I explained about the open window and Misty's tumble into the bushes. I assured her nothing had been taken from our home, but the circumstances were still troubling.

"Hmm. That is concerning," she said. "I haven't seen anything suspicious, but I'll keep an eye out. And yeah, I haven't been locking the place. I'll start now. " She was wearing athletic shorts, a T-shirt and new, blinged-out trainers.

"You a sneaker person?" I said, pointing to the expensive-looking gold and black athletic shoes.

Elle smiled. "I'm a runner. I'm getting in shape for the Honolulu Marathon."

"Isn't that almost a year from now?"

"It is. But the training is year-round. I try to get in five to ten miles every day during the off-season. You want to join me sometime?"

I pointed to my wrapped chest. "I'm pretty much on the bench for a while."

"Ah, yes, I heard you fell." She scrunched up her nose; her dark brown eyes were sympathetic.

I'm not comfortable with sympathy, empathy, or any other display of pity; it's fine for other people, but not for me. Pity equals weakness, and weakness is the root cause of failure.

"I'm healing fast," I said. "When I do, I'd love to join you. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was Edith and Josie's wedding. They announced it last night at the Red Hat gathering. What's the scoop?"

Elle turned and walked to a padded workout area she'd set up in one corner of the garage. She picked up a weight and began arm curls. "Oh, no big deal. It's going to be an intimate little wedding. They want to have it outside, weather permitting, and we have a lovely, secluded grotto right behind the hotel where we can hold it in relative privacy." Her gaze sharpened. "Hey, I have a number of fun little responsibilities I need to recruit for. You up for doing something?"

"Uh. What did you have in mind?" I didn't want to get tied up in anything too fussy.

"Minding the guest book. Someone needs to monitor and make sure everyone signs it. You'd also need to keep an eye on the gift table."

"Sure," I said with relief. As long as I didn't have to precede the brides down the aisle wearing some ill-fitting flowery getup, I was down with it.

Elle grabbed a bag-style water bottle and slung it on her back, draping the flexible straw over her shoulder for easy sipping. "I'd better get on the road if I want to get my miles in today. I have an event this evening to prep for."

"Sounds good. See you." I shuffled off as she closed up her house with the new level of security I'd suggested. I was sad we all had to worry about that now.