Even her pretty dark hair seems less lively, a shade paler, flopping listlessly in the breeze. Her sun-kissed shoulders droop so low I grab her arm just to help her up, to stop her from fully collapsing.
She doesn’t go down, but bows her head, pressing a fluttering hand to her temple.
“I’m sorry, Flint. So sorry. I shouldn’t have been reckless, I shouldn’t have called. I just...” Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t even know. Call it a reaction. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I guide her around to the lanai, out of the sun. “It’s done, honey. No use bickering over it.”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want him to know where I was, where I am. I swear, I never would’ve brought him to your house. But I had to know if...if he was as bad as the dream. If my own flipping brother can’t be trusted. Well, I got my answer.”
“I get it,” I say, leading her to a chair. “Sit down for a minute.”
She sits and wipes the tears off her cheeks. “I recognized his face when his picture came up on my Facebook list. I clicked it, saw King Heron Fishing, and called the number without thinking. His receptionist rerouted me. As soon as I heard his voice, I wished I hadn’t. I knew I screwed up.” She pinches her lips together, shaking her head again. “I could tell he was mad. Just furious.”
Her eyes are somber, sad, as she looks up at me.
“Mad at me for...for being alive.”
Fucking sicko, I think.
It guts me to hear her say that shit. It also makes my fists very, very anxious to meet Ray Gerard’s pompous face.
Kneeling down, I take her hand, reassuring her with my grip where words won’t do.
I consider saying he wouldn’t be pissed at her for that, nobody in their right mind would, but I know the bitter truth. People are mad she’s not in a watery grave.
Shaking her head, she whispers, “I don’t want to see him, Flint.”
“Then you don’t have to. I said Aiea because you can get there in an hour from most anywhere on the island.” I set the phone on the chair next to her. “He can’t trace the call. He can’t come here without an exact address. That phone’s ironclad.”
“It is? You’re totally sure?”
“Yeah.” I stand up.
She grabs my hand. “You’re going, aren’t you? To the coffee shop.”
I nod. “I have to feel him out, babe. We’ve played defense too long. Need to see if he’s alone, or if he’s got backup. It ends if we get a good idea what we’re truly dealing with.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Bull. You already said you don’t want to see him.”
“I don’t, but I have to.” She stands up. “I have to know what’s going on.”
I mull it over. The place isn’t far from the beach; I’ve been there a few times.
Honu Wind is popular, always crowded, so nothing traumatic can happen in broad daylight. Cornaro’s men only make their moves in the shadows, and Ray Gerard would be insane to operate any differently.
I’m also impressed with her backbone. She’s been through pure hell, yet keeps on trucking.
“Fine, you’ll come with. It’s evening, plenty of daylight left, and there’ll be tons of people around. He’ll never see us. Hell, we can even bring Bryce just to throw them off more. They’re looking for a lone wolf, not a woman out and about with her family.”
She goes quiet and flushes bright pink. “That’s sweet, but I mean, you’re not really my—”
“They don’t know that. It’s cover. You take some basic precautions, they’ll never tell you apart from any lady out with her man and kid.” I tell her. “But you do as I say, Val. Deal?”
“Absolutely.”
Nodding, my thoughts turn to my boy. If I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of this, I wouldn’t take him with.
Keeping him with us feels like the safer bet. Even though the house is secure, under full surveillance, I’m uncomfortable leaving Bryce home alone.
The place where his little buddy Louie lives down the street wouldn’t be as solid as home. Cash is tied up with his own business, and with Ma out of town, already in Maui, there’s not another option.
He’s safer in broad daylight with his old man, where the assholes after Val wouldn’t dare make a move.
Valerie stops in front of me as soon as we step inside the house. “Do you have a hat?”
“A hat?”
“One that I can wear. If I