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Joely went back for another shower before dinner. All she wanted to do was go to bed. While she didn’t have to be up at four a.m. tomorrow, it had been a busy day.
An exhausting day. Her eyes fluttered shut and a goofy smile stretched across her face. Wait until she told Amelia and Michaela. Amelia would give her a high five and do a happy dance. Michaela would say, “It’s about time.”
“It was about time,” Joely murmured.
As she changed into a sundress for dinner, her phone buzzed. It was an answer to her craigslist ad. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she read the message.
Sounds perfect. I’d like to arrange a time to see the place.
She didn’t recognize the number or the name. It could be anyone, but her gut said it was from her family. There wasn’t any code attached to it to make sure. Whoever was writing this wanted to meet with her.
Joely didn’t want to risk that it was her parents, but she didn’t have a choice. She wrote back:
Alexandria is off the market, but if you’re interested in a similar place. I can show you one on Maui. The town of Makawao. I’ll be showing the place on Friday around noon. Shall we meet by the post office?
If it was a person who really wanted an apartment in Alexandria, they would either not respond or say no. It was only Tuesday, so if this message was from her family, they would be able to make arrangements to get to Maui by Friday. She would go to the block party with Holt and if her parents showed up by the post office, she’d leave before they saw her. But if it was Sammy...
Joely stifled a sob. She hadn’t seen her sisters in years. It would be good to see Sammy again. That reminded her that she should put money into Katie’s commissary account. She usually did it on the first of the month, but if things started heating up, she didn’t want her sister to go without.
Of course it was possible, if not probable, that Timothy had managed to crack her parents’ code. Which was even more reason why she had to get to Palekaiko on Thursday night. That way she could be prepared for whatever happened on Friday.
She felt a little guilty about dragging another one of her friends into this mess, but if there was one person she could count on to help her out, it was Makoa.
“Aloha wahine,” he said. “How goes hiding out from the bad guy?”
“It’s an experience. I was wondering if you’ve got some time off coming? I was hoping to catch some waves on Thursday.”
“Why don’t I come up to you? We can do Hookipa.”
Ugh, no. Holt would tag along if they did that. As it was, she was going to feel guilty about ditching him. She’d have to time it that Makoa picked her up before he got back from herding cattle, but after she finished her own chores.
“I was missing the waves down by Lahaina. Any chance you can pick me up and bring me back down? I can find my own way back Upcountry afterwards.”
“Why can’t Holt take you down?”
It was a good question. Holt wouldn’t let her break and enter into Timothy’s room, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let her hack into her ex’s computer. “Ah, he’s got to work.”
“That’s a bummer. But I don’t have a ride.”
“Can you borrow one?” she asked, hope fading away.
“Nah, usually I could grab one of the resort’s vans but they’re all booked for the rest of the week.”
Well, shit.
“All right, maybe some other time this week.” Joely sighed.
“Roger dat.”
She was reluctant to get off the phone with him. It shocked her how much she missed the resort, and she’d only been away for a few days. “How are things over there?”
“Busy. Dude’s slackin’ off. Amelia’s got us runnin’ ragged. The usual.”
“How are the waves?” she asked, nostalgic.
“The storm surge has been pretty rough. No sharks though.”
“That’s good.” That was the one thing Joely didn’t miss about surfing. She tried not to think about the other animals she was sharing the ocean with—especially not the ones with big teeth.
“How are the guests doing? Did Mrs. D’Angelo in 301 get her fresh flowers delivered.”
“Every day. My cousin is thrilled for the business. Thanks for recommending her.”
“Anytime,” Joely said. “And the luaus? Are they running smooth?” Ever since Holt’s brother Mike left, they hadn’t been as well organized.
“Yeah, Amelia got some of the kids involved. A few seniors are interning for her and helping out.”
“Wow, that’s a great idea.” Joely hoped Timothy would just go home already. She wanted her home and her friends. The ranch and Holt were a fantastic substitute, but she longed to stop running and put down roots. She had started to at Palekaiko.
“That asshole, though. The one you’re running from? He’s been asking about you. No one here has said anything. Not even Cami. But you better come back quick, because she’s bucking for your job.”
She can have it.
Joely missed the beach, but she didn’t miss being the head of housekeeping. She liked cleaning rooms, and then having her entire day free. Having to deal with staffing issues had been a real bummer.
“Do you think he’s going to leave next week?” she asked.
“The old guy? Yeah, I know we ain’t gonna give him another room. But will he go home? Who knows?”
Joely could almost picture him shrugging. “Well, let’s hope for the best.” And plan for the worst.
“Always do. Take care of yourself and go easy on Holt.”
“What do you mean?” Joely cocked her head to the side.
“I mean, he’s been in love with you for years. Don’t break his heart.”
Love?
She barely registered getting off the phone with Makoa. Love was a whole other ball park. She wasn’t in the right place to have a relationship like that. The thought of hurting Holt was almost a physical pain. But this was Makoa, who told her. Sweet, lovable, and not too bright, Makoa. Maybe he saw the mutual attraction between her and Holt, and just took it to mean it was love. Makoa was a romantic that way.
Rubbing the sudden pain in her chest, she slipped on a pair of sandals. She didn’t deserve to be loved. Not when she was hiding shit from the people who cared for her. She should probably move on regardless of whether Timothy did or not. It was the safe thing to do.
As she walked down to dinner, she wondered why she felt so giddy. Could Holt really love her? Could she love him?
Joely forced that thought down where it couldn’t bubble up again and take her by surprise. She had no reason thinking about a permanent relationship when her sister might be on the way with a new passport and a new identity for her.
“I hate this thing.” Kala pounded her fingers into her laptop. “The connection is so slow.”
“Maybe you should go back to Wailea,” Holt said innocently. “Your condo gets great reception.”
They were standing in the family room. Holt was mixing martinis while Kala sat at her desk and scowled at the computer.
Kala ignored him. “It’s not just that. It keeps locking and I get the green screen of shame.”
“Huh?”
“I think she means the blue screen of death,” Joely said, walking in. Peering over Kala’s shoulder, she saw some strange flashes in the corner of the screen. “What’s that?” Joely pointed.
“I don’t know. It always does that.”
“That’s not right. Can I take a look?”
Kala shrugged. “Sure.”
“When was the last time you ran a virus protection on this?”
“We’ve got a subscription that takes care of that.”
Joely grunted and checked it out. While it was up-to-date, she knew that it didn’t always catch the newest worms or other computer viruses. She downloaded a more aggressive program and then went to work.
“Holy key logger, Batman,” she said.
“What’s going on?” Holt handed her a martini. It was mango and rum. It went down nice. She would have liked to be sharing a pitcher of these all alone with him, but Kala had come back a few hours ago with enough food to feed an army for a month. Joely didn’t think she was going anywhere.
“Is there a problem?” Kala said in her ear.
So much for a little alone time.
“Yeah, this laptop is crawling with data miners and information collectors. Everything you do is being recorded.”
“Can you stop that?”
They all turned at the deep, masculine voice from the back of the room. Joely swallowed hard. It wasn’t the first time that she met Tetsuo Hojo, but there had been a lot of other people around and his attention hadn’t been directed at her.
“Yeah,” she said. “Piece of cake.”
As she scrubbed the offending software, she was aware that Holt hitched a hip on the desk and was sticking close. Kala and Tetsuo were having a quiet argument in the corner.
“There, that should do it,” she said, starting to stand up.
“Can you track the origin of the spyware?” Tetsuo asked.
Joely thought about it. “Not all of it. But maybe...”
She dug a little deeper into the code of a few of the quarantined bugs. “Looks like the usual Russian worms. This one is from Africa. This key logger comes from a social media quiz, like which flower are you?”
Kala, apparently, was a rose.
“But where is it going to?” Tetsuo asked.
“A database somewhere.”
“What are they looking for?” Kala piped up.
“Information to sell,” she said shortly. “People will pay good money for email addresses and their shopping lists.”
“How much money?” Tetsuo said.
“Uncle,” Holt warned.
“Depends on who’s buying and how many names.”
“Is someone selling my information?”
“Not anymore.” Joely rebooted the computer. “It should run a lot faster now and you shouldn’t see any more of that flickering code across the screen. If you do, just run the Flyswatter app I installed.”
“How do I do that?” Kala asked.
“I’ll show you once it boots up.” When the screen flashed to the startup screen, Joely caught a little blip. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” Tetsuo said, coming closer.
“One of the bugs came back. It shouldn’t have been able to get out of quarantine. Unless...”
“Unless what?” Tetsuo said, and the quiet menace in his voice made the hairs stand up on her arms.
“Uncle,” Holt warned again.
“Can I take your laptop apart? I promise to put it back together.”
“Have you done this before?” Kala asked. “This is a very expensive laptop.”
Joely snorted. “It’s a piece of shit.” Then winced. “Sorry. While this may have been expensive, it’s a very basic model. Yeah, I’ve done this thousands of times. I built my own computer from parts once.”
“I didn’t know that,” Holt said.
“Why are you working as a maid, then?” Tetsuo regarded her thoughtfully.
“Uh.” He had her there. “Let me just run upstairs and get my tools.”
She took the stairs two steps at a time. This was stupid. She shouldn’t have shown them she was computer savvy. Still, Joely couldn’t deny that her insides were fluttering with excitement and she felt alive. It was like making love with Holt, only less orgasmic and easier on her sore muscles.
Grabbing her kit, she flew back down the stairs. After a few twists with her micro screw driver, she was removing the hard drive. “There you are, you bastard,” she said, using a tweezers to take out a mini recording device.
“Let me see that.” Tetsuo held out his hand and she dropped it in his palm.
After giving the rest of the parts a thorough look over, Joely put it all back together again and rebooted the machine. “That’s better,” she said.
“How did this get on my machine?” Tetsuo asked.
Joely got up from showing Kala how to activate the malware detector app and gestured for Holt to pour her another martini.
“I don’t know. Kala, how long have you been having problems with the computer?”
“Months now.”
“Did you take it in for servicing?”
“No, but I had that nice man who takes care of our gardens take a look at it.”
Tetsuo cursed. “I need his name.”
“I’ll get his card.” Kala bustled out of the room.
“I appreciate your help on this,” Tetsuo said. “I may need you to look at a few of my other computers.”
“No Uncle,” Holt said.
“It’s all right.” Joely put a hand on Holt’s arm. “Sure, I’d be glad to. It’s the least I can do now that I won’t be riding after cattle before dawn.”
“You’re cleaning the barracks, that’s more than enough.”
“Yeah, but this stuff is fun for me.”
Tetsuo nodded. “If you’ll excuse us.” He hurried after his wife.
“I don’t want you getting involved in his business,” Holt said.
“I can’t really say no. He’s allowing me to stay here rent free.”
“You and I are working to earn our keep. After dinner, you and Kala are going to put together a crockpot oatmeal breakfast along with some breakfast sandwiches that we can reheat.”
“That seems like cheating.”
“You want to get up at three a.m. to cook?”
“You know,” Joely said. “The microwave works just fine for me.”
Holt walked over to the study door and looked out. He closed it behind him.
“Oh no you don’t,” she warned him. “I won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
“Blame it on the horse.” He took her in his arms and kissed her.
She tried to stay firm, but it felt too damn good. It was like they were making up for lost time. Joely couldn’t help but think that if these were the last two weeks together, she should work on making memories.
Her phone buzzed, cutting things off before things got too heated.
“I should see who’s calling?” she said breathlessly. She was a hair away from begging him to take her on the desk.
Looking down at the text, Joely felt her smile freeze in place on her face.
See you noon on Friday, Sis.