Chapter 10

CHAPTER

TEN

Ten minutes later, Bree and Fowler stood, saying they needed to turn in for the evening.

Maddie considered whether or not she should wrap up this conversation and return to her room when Adrienne's phone buzzed.

She glanced at the screen and frowned. "If you'll excuse me a moment."

She paced from the table, phone to her ear.

As she did, Maddie glanced at Brody and flushed.

She hated the reaction, but the man had saved her life, so maybe the response was completely normal. Perhaps she was experiencing a touch of savior complex with him.

Or maybe it was like your body craving a nutrient you were deficient in.

She craved security that Josh couldn't—or wouldn't—give her.

As she glanced at Brody, another surge of attraction gripped her.

Why did she feel drawn to this man? The feelings were inappropriate.

She was engaged. And Brody had a girlfriend.

She wasn't the cheating type.

She shoved her feelings down. Just because she felt attracted to the man didn't mean she would act on that temptation.

For now, she would simply try to keep boundaries in place.

She was curious, however. There was something interesting about the interactions between Adrienne and Brody.

Something that felt stiff.

Maddie couldn't put her finger on exactly what was bugging her. Perhaps the two of them had simply gotten into a disagreement before dinner. Maddie had found herself in that position many times before.

She shouldn't read too much into it.

"I think it was a valiant effort you made out there this morning when you tried to save that man."

She came back to the present at the sound of Brody's voice.

"Thank you. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move, but thank you." she shifted. "So you were special forces? I always imagine those guys being super intense."

Brody seemed almost too easygoing.

"A lot of people think that," Brody said. "The truth is, you have to be a little crazy. I think that fits me. Crazy in a good way . . . at least, I hope. As a matter of fact, my friends used to call me Easy Go Crazy Bro."

She smiled at the nickname. "I guess that's where your background in surfing comes from? The crazy side?"

"If I could have made a living at it, I would have. But I needed a more stable career, so I joined the military. In some ways, it was more stable. But when I nearly lost my leg on my last mission, I decided that was it for me."

"Almost lost it?"

He pulled his fully intact leg out from under the table. "Someone must have been watching out for me."

She smiled at his words and wondered if he believed in a higher power. That made her instantly like him.

Brody shifted. "We talked about a lot tonight, but you never said what do you do for a living."

"Up until the past six months, I worked for the state investigating elder abuse."

His eyebrows shot up. "Is that right?"

She nodded. "My granddad was mistreated while in a nursing home, and I vowed I would fight to put more protections in place to stop the same thing from happening to others."

"Sounds noble."

"I suppose. I mean, yes, it is noble," she corrected. "It's also very hard to live on the salary from that job in New York City. Josh convinced me to take a job in fundraising for a nonprofit that helps the elderly instead."

"That also sounds noble."

"I have to admit that I miss being on the battlefield." She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe one day I'll go back to my old job."

"It helps to be passionate about what you do."

Which was why she sometimes wished she hadn't listened to Josh and made the job switch.

Maddie swallowed hard and decided to change the subject. "And you work security?"

Brody nodded. "I do. I love it. The job gives me freedom to experience new places and meet new people—like on this trip."

"I'm certainly glad you're on this trip. I might not be here right now if you weren't."

He pressed his lips together in a solemn expression. "I'm just glad I was there at the right time."

So was she. So was she.

Maddie stared at him another moment, hoping her gratitude showed in her gaze.

Adrienne returned to the table and apologized for taking the phone call.

"Work?" Brody asked.

"Yes. It was Logan, one of my colleagues in event planning. We were just hashing out a few details about tomorrow's schedule."

"How many are on your team?" Maddie asked.

"Just three. We did most of our planning beforehand, and the resort has been great about heading up the excursions and evening activities. But we still need to be around to oversee things. If anything goes wrong, then we're to blame and our heads are on the chopping block. No one wants that." She cut her eyes, as if half-joking and half-serious.

"I can imagine." Maddie knew Josh was difficult to work for.

She'd shown up at the office one day in time to see him raking his administrative assistant over the coals. Apparently, she'd written down the wrong time for an important meeting.

When Maddie had talked to him about it afterward, he said greatness was found in the details.

He claimed that was what made him good at his job—that he demanded excellence from the people around him. Sometimes Maddie wondered if he took that to the extreme, however.

"Maddie Waters?" someone asked beside her.

She looked up to see a man with dark hair, graying at the temples, standing beside her. If fifty-something Anthony Hopkins was Polynesian, he would look like this man.

Something about his posture and button-up shirt indicated he wasn't here on the company retreat. He looked too tired and his clothing too cheap.

"Yes?" She swallowed hard, a bad feeling already simmering in her gut.

"I'm Detective Kalani with the Kauai PD." His gaze was as hard and unyielding as his voice. "I need to ask you a few questions."

Maddie sat up straighter. "Questions about what?"

"About Jared Kline."

Her heart pounded harder. "Yes, of course. I don't know how much I can tell you, however. I didn't know the man."

His expression remained stony. "Would you like to go somewhere private?"

She glanced at Adrienne and Brody and decided that she'd like to stay here with her new friends. Somehow, she felt more secure with them. "No, I think I'm fine here."

"Very well then." He pulled out Josh's empty seat and slowly lowered himself into it. He carefully placed his wrists on the table and glanced around. Then he turned back to Maddie. "I'll just jump right in. You said you didn't know Jared. Is that correct?"

The man's tone was lackluster, as was his expression. But she had the feeling that behind those dull eyes was someone perceptive and quick.

She already had the feeling that his man didn't like her. She'd become an expert at picking up on undertones of accusation. She sensed those now.

"That's right," she finally answered. "My fiancé is the acting CEO for the company, but I don't work at Benchmark. I only know a handful of employees."

"I understand. So you just happened to see Jared in the water this morning?"

"Correct. I went out to get some fresh air. I thought I saw something unusual in the ocean. When I took a closer look, I realized a man was struggling in the surf. He called out in distress, so I tried to help him."

"And then?"

"And then . . . the waves overtook me." She glanced at Brody. "Thankfully, a former military guy was nearby because it turned out the rescuer needed a rescuer."

"And you're that former military guy?" The detective glanced at Brody.

"Yes, sir. By the grace of God, I was in the right place at the right time."

Maddie shifted, her gut telling her there was more to this conversation than the detective was letting on. "What's all this about? Jared's death was an accident, right?"

His expression remained unreadable. "A few things have come up that we're looking into."

"Like what?" The question came out before Maddie could stop it.

She knew it wasn't any of her business and that it wouldn't be appropriate for the detective to share. But she felt personally involved in this, even if she wasn't.

She had, however, nearly lost her life trying to save the man.

Should she tell the detective what he'd said to her as waves pummeled them? At least, what Maddie had thought he said? Something about murder?

Probably.

She rubbed her throat, suddenly anxious. "When I tried to rescue him, he was still lucid. He . . . well, I thought he said something about murder."

Everyone around her went silent.

Finally, Detective Kalani asked, "Something about murder?"

"It was garbled, and the waves were loud, and my adrenaline was pumping. But he looked at me and muttered the word ‘murder.' And before you ask, I have no idea why."

Kalani didn't react with surprise, like Maddie thought he might. His deadpan expression remained.

Instead, he asked, "What's your cell phone number, Ms. Waters?"

She rattled it off.

He nodded slowly. "We found Mr. Kline's phone earlier. Not long before he died, he sent a message to an unknown number. We traced that number back to you."

The blood drained from her face. It was Jared who'd sent her that message.

"Do you want to rethink what you told me earlier?"

She snapped her attention back to the detective. "What? Why would I do that?"

"Why would a man you don't know text you a message like that? Maybe it spooked you and . . ."

Maddie shook her head, maybe a little too quickly. "I have no idea why he sent me that message. I didn't even know it was him for sure until now."

"Then why did you go to meet him?"

"I was curious about what he meant."

"What if he said something you didn't like and you decided to silence him? What if you were in the water, not to rescue him but to drown him?"

She gasped at the absurdity of the detective's words. "You've got this all wrong."

"He was heard arguing with someone on the beach about thirty minutes before you found him." The detective's gaze never left her. "Were you that person?"

Panic raced through her as the detective's implications hit her. "I wasn't arguing with Jared earlier. It's like I said, I didn't know him. I'd never met him before. I'm still not sure why you think his death was anything other than an accident."

"We're just exploring every possibility."

"I had nothing to do with his death. Nothing." Maddie sliced her hand through the air as she shook her head, trying to drive home the truth in her statement.

"One more thing. A piece of paper was found in his room." He paused, possibly for dramatic effect before finishing with, "Your name was scribbled on it."

The blood drained from Maddie's face. "What? Why would my name be on a paper in his room?"

"That's what we're all wondering." The detective's words sounded pointed as he stood. "I'll be in touch if I have more questions."

Maddie knew what that meant.

She was a suspect.

Panic raced through her, quickening her pulse.

How was this even possible?