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What the hell was she going to do? Joely didn’t have a chance of ditching Holt when he was in watch dog mode. Part of her was really thrilled about that, and the other part of her wanted to roll down the window of his Accord and scream. She worked so hard to be able to leave the ranch today.
It was Thursday, and Timothy was going out to dinner at Lahaina’s hot new restaurant on her dime. It would be all worth it—if she could get to his computer. But there was no way she could get there, short of stealing Holt’s car.
She was a little ashamed that she was actually considering it. Somehow, she thought that Holt wouldn’t be appeased by a macadamia nut pie the way Dude had been.
“You’re quiet,” he said as they pulled back into the ranch.
As much as it put a crimp in her plans, she loved seeing the sunrise over Haleakala and then hiking for a bit. They had stopped for lunch on the way down, and any other day, she would be looking forward to spending the rest of the day lounging in bed with Holt. But now, she’d have to hope he fell asleep and was a sound sleeper, so he didn’t wake up until after she stole his car.
Which would really put a damper on their second date. Oh well, there was always the block party on Main Street tomorrow. If she could pull off getting to the Palekaiko Beach Resort and back by the time he woke up.
“Just tired, I guess.” Tired of lying. Tired of doing illegal things just to survive. Tired of running. Finally, when it seemed like her friendship with Holt was growing into something deeper, there was still the shadow of her ex-husband over them.
There were days when she thought her sister Katie had the right of it. If Timothy drowned snorkeling by Molokini, Joely’s problems would be over.
Was she that far gone into the dark side, that she was wishing for Timothy’s death? The thought shamed her, yet she couldn’t deny that all she would feel was relief.
“This is not fucking happening,” Holt growled.
For a moment, Joely thought he knew. That somehow, he figured out that she was planning on getting back to the resort by any means tonight.
Joely opened her mouth to explain, but realized he wasn’t looking at her. She followed his gaze to the side of the driveway. His brother Mike was standing there with an older man. They were mounted on horses.
Mike gave them the shaka. He looked like a skinnier version of Holt—if Holt covered himself with surfer tats, dyed his hair red, and styled it in a mohawk. Mike looked like a drowsy parrot. The older man next to him could have been one of the ranch hands, but she didn’t recognize him. He hadn’t been eating at the table in the main house with the rest of the paniolos.
He sat on the horse like he spent most of his life there and his boots and jeans were coated with the red Maui dirt. His expression flickered from anger to sadness and then resignation.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Holt called out of the window and shut off the car.
Mike slid off his horse and gestured for the older man to do the same.
“Stealing horses? Are you out of your mind? How far did you think you were going to get?” Holt was enraged. Joely had never seen him lose his cool before. It was a little scary.
She stumbled out of the car, which drew all their attention. Shit. That was the last thing she wanted was to be on the receiving end of Holt’s temper.
“Howzit, Joely,” Mike said.
“Hey.” She nodded back.
“This is my Dad.” Mike gestured with his thumb.
Oh.
Oooooh.
“Hi,” she managed to get out on the third try.
“You need to leave,” Holt said, taking his father by the arm.
“That’s what we were doing,” his father said, shaking him off.
The two men glared at each other and Joely could see the family resemblance in their set jaws and angry stances.
“You can’t steal Tetsuo’s property. He’ll kill you.”
Somehow, Joely didn’t think Holt was exaggerating.
“We were going to borrow them,” Mike said when his father just continued to glare at Holt.
“Ri-ight,” Holt drew out the word. “Where were you going?”
“As far as we could,” Mike answered. “Into town where he could get a cab to Palekaiko.”
Joely perked up at that. This could be a blessing in disguise. Holt would be too distracted by his father to wonder what she was up to. “Maybe, we should drive your father there,” she said.
“Good idea,” Holt said. “You and Mike take the horses back to the barn. I’ll be back once I drop my father off. What do you want me to get from your room while I’m there?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Text me when you get there and I’ll tell you what to look for,” she said, stomping over to where Mike had the horses.
Holt half dragged his father to the car.
“It was nice meeting you, Joely,” Holt’s father said. “Mike’s told me a lot about you.”
“He has?” she said, shooting Mike a confused look. Sure, they had worked together a Palekaiko, but she didn’t know why Mike would be talking about her with his father.
“Don’t talk to her,” Holt said, pushing him inside the car. He turned back to her. “Get some sleep. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.” Joely blinked at him, watching all her plans to get to Palekaiko drive down the road. “Damn it.”
“Aren’t you going to get on the horse?” Mike said, already on top of his.
“I’m going to need some help getting in the saddle.”
Rolling his eyes, Mike hopped off his horse and tried to boost her up. He didn’t have his brother’s strength, but thankfully the horse was patient. It wasn’t pretty or graceful, but she managed to get into the saddle with a few bruises to her pride.
Mike, she noted jealously, vaulted back on to his horse like he did it every day.
“Why did you talk to your dad about me?” she asked them, as they rode down the long dusty driveway.
“Because you’re Holt’s girl. He was happy that Holt found someone. I told him all about you.”
She blushed. “Why do you think I’m Holt’s girl?”
“You’re here with him, aren’t you?”
Joely didn’t want to get into the whole story with him, and besides it felt good to be called Holt’s girl. “Why is your dad going to Palekaiko?”
“He needs a job.” Mike shrugged. “Uncle Tetsuo won’t let him work here, so he’s going to try and get his old job back. I think Dude will hire him.”
“What did he used to do?”
“Everything. But he’s good at being a janitor. He knows how to clean the pool. He’s a real pro at that. He didn’t like working the front desk or dealing with people. He’s shy, I guess. Not like me.” He flashed her a grin.
“Where have you been?” She shifted in her saddle, trying to get comfortable. She needed more practice if she was going to be spending more time Upcountry. “I haven’t seen you since you left the resort.”
“I’ve been helping my dad. I liked Palekaiko, so maybe if he gets this job, I can go back to my old job too. It’ll be just like old times.”
Joely nodded, remembering Holt’s words. “You know, Mike, your dad is an adult. He doesn’t need his sons to take care of him.”
Mike snorted. “Yeah, he does. He’s shit at being an adult. Holt will tell you he’s shit at being a father, but he loves us. He does his best. It’s not his fault that his best is shit.”
That was a lot of shit. Joely sighed. “I wish Holt had taken me with him. I would have liked to go back to Palekaiko for the day.”
“Sick of this place, huh?” Mike nodded. “It can get to you. Especially with that old bastard Joe on your ass every five minutes.”
“I like Joe,” she defended him. “He’s sweet.”
“Are we talking the same Joe?”
“He’s always been nice to me.”
“I’ll bet. He always had a weakness for redheads.”
“That’s disgusting,” she said.
“It’s true. Anyway, if you want to go to Palekaiko, I can take you.”
“I’m not up for a horse ride that long.”
“Uncle Tetsuo should have his Jaguar here. I know where the keys are.”
“Then why were you riding horses into town?”
“Because my father is a stubborn idiot, which is where Holt gets it from. He wouldn’t ride in Tetsuo’s car.”
“But stealing his horses is okay?”
“Borrowing. And these guys are actually his.”
“His?”
“Technically. His mare and stallion bred these two. Their sires are long gone, but they were good stock.”
Joely wasn’t sure about the logic behind that, but who was she to argue? When they got back to the barn, she helped brush the horses down and made sure they were fed and had plenty of water.
“Were you serious about the Jag?” she asked.
“You bet.”
“Okay, but can we go around dinner time? I’m beat.”
“Sure, as long as you don’t tell Holt.”
“Deal.” She shook hands with him.
“Cool. I’m going to raid the fridge, take a shower and catch some Z’s. My room is on the third floor.”
“I know,” she said. “Holt is staying there.”
“I figured he’d be staying with you.”
“It’s complicated.”
“It always is,” Mike said.
And he didn’t even know the half of it.
Joely was surprised when she didn’t hear from Holt that afternoon. Her nerves were so bad that even as tired as she was, she slept fitfully. When it was time to go, she made sure she had everything she cared about with her stuffed in the backpack with her laptop. If she had to run, she’d leave nothing she cared about behind.
Except for Holt.
And her friends.
And the ocean.
And just her whole life.
She had been really happy at the Palekaiko Beach Resort. Sure, there were times when she didn’t want to clean another toilet or listen to Cami bitch that Lou-Lou stole her tips. But she lived in paradise. She didn’t have to grift for her parents’ approval or be involved in any convoluted schemes to make ends meet. She worked hard. Got paid for it. And her time was her own.
Joely didn’t want to begin all over again.
True to his word, Mike produced the keys and walked with her to a locked garage. Inside, there was not only a Jaguar, but a Mercedes and a Humvee.
Joely got into the Jaguar. “Are you sure your uncle won’t get mad that you’re taking his car?”
“Mad? He’d lose his freakin’ mind.” Mike put the car into gear and tore down the driveway way too fast.
She fumbled with her seatbelt. “Slow down.”
“What’s the point in driving a sports car if you’re not prepared to open her up?”
“Why aren’t you working here at the ranch?” she asked.
Mike scowled. “Same reason as Holt. Uncle Tetsuo kicked us out. We’re not coming back.”
“That was a long time ago. I think he’s had a change of heart.”
“Not towards our dad.”
“No, probably not,” she admitted.
“I wanted a job with him. But not in this shit hole.” He gestured to the ranch as they pulled out onto the highway.
“What’s wrong with Hojo Ranch?”
“This is Holt’s idea of paradise, not mine.”
“It is?” Joely craned her head to look back at the ranch, but the dust the car was kicking up didn’t give her a good view.
“Not me. I like sleeping late and spending the day in the ocean looking at pretty women. Holt likes getting up before the ass crack of dawn and smelling like cow shit.”
Smirking, Joely checked her phone. It was almost five. By the time that they got to Palekaiko, Timothy would be at dinner. Hopefully.
“I wanted to work in Uncle Tetsuo’s other organization.” Mike looked over at her meaningfully.
“You wanted to be a gangster?” she ventured.
“You bet.” He made a pistol out of his finger and thumb and cocked it at her. “But Uncle doesn’t think I have the temperament for it. Holt, on the other hand, is his dream employee.” Mike made a face. “But the joke is on Uncle Tetsuo. Holt hates his business. Blames it for our dad’s drinking and breaking up our family and home. He was going to become a cop. But Uncle tried to buy Holt’s way onto the force. So even though Holt passed all the exams, he decided to go into private security instead. But you know all of that.”
She hadn’t, but it was good to know.
“Can you put in a good word with Amelia about my dad? He’s sober. He needs a job, especially one as sweet as the Palekaiko gig. Where else is he going to get room and board?”
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “I’ve got to do a few things first. Can you wait for me, and take me back to the ranch afterwards?”
“Sure. I’m going to have to drop you off, though. I can’t risk anyone recognizing the car. Uncle has eyes everywhere on that place.”
“Don’t you think that’s kind of creepy?”
“He’s obsessed with getting it back.”
“He’s not going to. Dude and Marcus will never sell.”
“I know that. And you know that. But try telling that to Uncle.”
When they got to the Palekaiko about an hour later, Mike dropped her off in the staff parking lot.
“Give me a call when you want me to pick you up. I’ll be at a friend’s house.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. She didn’t see anyone she recognized, but she kept her head down anyway as she got out of the care.
Mike tore out of the parking lot, blaring the radio. Joely hurried to her room, looking furtively around her. Her fingers fumbled with her keys, but she finally got them to work in the lock and she pushed her way in. Closing the door and locking it behind her, she didn’t dare turn on a light.
“Holt?” she said, hoping he wasn’t there. She was in luck.
She walked around the small room, but it looked exactly how she left it, including a dirty towel that she had dropped on the floor. Out of habit, she picked it up and tossed it in the hamper. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she let out a large sigh that was mostly nerves.
Joely knew she couldn’t afford to waste time. Still, it was hard to move. She made her first call to the Sunset restaurant.
Her hands were trembling, but she forced a bright perky tone into her voice when the call was answered on the first ring. “Aloha, I’m Marjorie Pierson with Go Go Hawaii. One of our contest winners, Timothy Andrews, won a hundred-dollar gift certificate for tonight. I’m just calling to confirm that he made it to the restaurant. We have a six o’clock reservation?”
Joely waited while the hostess checked.
“Yes,” the hostess said. “The Senator’s party has been seated.”
“Excellent. Thanks for checking.”
Joely let out a shaky sigh as she hung up. Then she texted Holt.
R U OK?
When he didn’t answer, she got a little worried. But she figured he had his own problems to deal with. Stuffing a few more things that she had wanted to take with her into her backpack, Joely took a final look around.
“This isn’t goodbye,” she whispered.
But there was a part of her that thought it might be. If Timothy caught her, he’d kill her this time. She was as sure of that as she was of anything.
Feeling full of dread, she quickly changed into her maid’s uniform and grabbed her copy of the master keys. In case anyone looked too closely at her, she didn’t want them to see her backpack, so she grabbed a handful of towels. No one would think twice about a maid carrying a bunch of towels. After hiding the backpack in the pile of towels she was carrying, Joely left her room, locking it up.
Heading towards the guest rooms, she stuck to the back of the buildings, hoping she didn’t run into anyone. At this time of the evening, though, the staff that was on duty was preparing for the luau and the staff that was off duty was gone.
Right now, she’d be kicking back with drinks with Kai, Hani and Makoa at the Hilton or maybe chillin’ with Amelia and Michaela.
All the more reason to do this. If Joely could keep track of Timothy, she’d be much safer.
She made it up to the fourth floor without being seen.
“Housekeeping,” she tapped on this door, careful not to stand in front of the peephole. “Housekeeping,” she said one last time, before unlocking the door.
“Miss?”
Joely froze.
But it hadn’t come from Timothy’s room. It was the one across the hall.
“Can I have some fresh towels?”
“Certainly,” she said through numbed lips. Joely handed her two from the bottom of her pile, being careful not to let her see the backpack.
The woman went back into her room without a thank you, and Joely let out the breath she was holding. Hurrying into the room, she locked it behind her.
After a quick look around the room, she found his computer plugged in on the desk. Shaking her head at how easy this was going to be, she opened her backpack and got to work.
Joely took his laptop apart to add in the hardware she was going to need to get remote access. She also put in a chip that would log every keystroke he did, so she could read whatever he typed. It was a backup, in case she missed something when she was using her remote access to search his computer. As she worked, Joely’s hands stopped shaking. When her nervousness fled, working like this became almost Zen.
She felt like she did after meditating, calm and victorious. And a little sleepy, but that could be the past few days catching up on her. Joely felt like laughing, the relief was so strong.
This would help her from not becoming Timothy’s victim. She would be in charge, now.
After rebooting, she checked the wireless connection and was able to duplicate the laptop’s interface on an app she had wrote for her phone. With just a few flicks of her fingers, she could check Timothy’s mail and call up any document or spreadsheet he was working on.
While the laptop ran its diagnostics, Joely wanted to make the trackers almost unidentifiable. It would suck if all her hard work went away once he ran a virus scan.
Joely read through his email and looked at his schedule while the computer processed her changes. Timothy had plans with “C” tomorrow to go snuba diving out of Maalaea Harbor. That would keep him busy while she met with her sister in Makawao.
The knots in her stomach started to slowly unravel. He also had to be back in the Minnesota state senate for a meeting in ten days.
Joely closed her eyes in relief. It was finally going to be over. She just had to go back to the ranch and enjoy the rest of her working vacation. And enjoy her security chief turned cowboy. How hot was that?
She was still smiling when she was putting the laptop back to where she found it when an email popped up.
You’re late with the monthly payment. Send double by the tenth or copies of the bribes you took get sent to the press.
Joely’s jaw dropped. Timothy was being blackmailed. She glanced at the clock. She’d been here an hour and she really should get going, but she needed to know more.
The fact that Timothy was taking bribes wasn’t a shock to her. When he found out she knew about them was what caused him to beat her up so badly she had to be hospitalized. Joely had hacked into his computer back then too. He accepted campaign funds in exchange for doing favors for people. She had found the truth and was going to use it to leverage him into giving her a quick and quiet divorce.
Joely had hoped in five years he would have cleaned up his act, but apparently not. She went to work on the email address and searched for all the instances it appeared on his computer. Through a series of starts and stops, Joely finally found a locked file. She copied it onto a thumb drive to work on later. She had almost tracked where the person who was blackmailing Timothy was emailing from, when she heard the elevator ding.
Glancing wildly at the clock, she was shocked to see that an hour and a half had passed since the last time she looked.
Idiot!
“Fuck,” she said, as she heard a man’s voice and a high-pitched giggle.
The key fumbled. Thank God, the resort hadn’t gotten the electronic keys yet on this floor. Joely did a hard reboot of the laptop, and stuffed her things into her backpack. She closed the top of the laptop. As the door opened, Joely dove out the sliding doors to the lanai and quietly pulled the door shut.
Her nerves and stomachache came back tenfold as she peeked through the gap of the drapes and saw Timothy come in with ... Cami? That must have been who the C was. Oh gross! He was kissing her. They were ripping each other’s clothes off. Joely dry heaved and leaned over the railing for air. She was a long way off the ground.
Maybe she could wait until they were asleep and then crawl into the room and out the door. She heard the bed springs start to squeak and the headboard slam against the wall.
This was not happening.
She wasn’t jealous. That emotion was long since dead. It was disgust, pure and simple. When the moans and Cami’s high pitched screams hit her ear, that was when Joely had enough. Slinging her foot over the railing, she was going to jump. It was going to hurt, but hopefully the plumeria bush would break her fall.
Her phone buzzed. Luckily it was on silent mode, even though with the racket going on inside, Joely doubted they could have heard her.
It was a text from Holt.
What the fuck are you doing?
I’m a little busy right now, she texted back.
I can see that.
Joely paused. That was a figure of speech, right?
Can you?
A flashlight beam caught her straddling the railing and she could just make out Holt standing there.
I sent Hani out for a ladder. Don’t you fucking jump.
I can explain.
You bet your ass you will.
On a scale of 1-10 how in trouble am I?
11
Just 11?
Holt didn’t answer. Hani was there minutes later with Kai and Makoa in tow, carrying the ladder. They swung the ladder around, narrowly missing Holt, who had to jump back to avoid getting smacked with it.
Great. It was Hawaii’s answer to the Three Stooges.
She risked a peek into the room. Cami was happily riding on top of her ex. There was not enough eye bleach in the world for that. But it meant that both of them were too distracted to consider stopping what they were doing to investigate any strange sounds on the lanai.
When the ladder was set up and secure, Joely climbed down it as fast as she dared. Holt grabbed her upper arm in a vice grip.
“Thanks guys,” she said.
They wouldn’t look at her. She was in real trouble.
Holt marched her into his office. Flipping on his lights, he locked the door behind him.
“I’m not going to yell,” he said in a calm voice.
“That’s good,” she said, sinking into a chair. She held her face in her hands.
He pulled up a chair across from her. “What the ever-loving fuck where you doing in his room?”
Joely thought about lying. She really did. Swallowing hard, she lifted her head to give him a line of bullshit. But then her eyes met his. She saw the worry, the concern, the hurt in them and whatever she planned to say flew out the window instead of out of her mouth.
“I hacked into his laptop to give me remote access.”
Holt closed his eyes.
It didn’t sound good when said aloud.
“I needed to know what he knew and where he would be. He’s going back home as planned. At least, that’s what his schedule said.”
“You broke into a guest’s hotel room, violated his privacy, and committed an illegal act.”
Yeah that definitely didn’t sound good when you said it aloud.
“I did it to protect myself.”
“And that’s why I’m not calling the police right now.”
Joely jerked up straight in her chair. “The police? You’d have me arrested?”
Of course, he would. This was Holt they were talking about. Here they were again. She in her maid’s outfit, and he in his security chief uniform. Why did she think this would end any different? Of course, this time she actually was guilty of what he was accusing her of.
“I need to confiscate your laptop though.”
She thought about protesting. But she had her phone and the thumb drive. Holt just assumed that she would need her laptop to make use of what she did.
So, she meekly nodded and handed it over. If that was all it took to make things right, she’d gladly give him the computer.
“I’m so disappointed in you.”
“Holt,” she began, but he cut her off.
“I have no choice but to fire you.”
Joely blinked at him. Was this the same man who hours ago, fingered her to an orgasm before a beautiful sunrise. “What?”
“I need your keys.”
With nerveless fingers, she handed them over.
“I know our situation is unique.”
“You think?” she said tartly.
“But I’ll have your things boxed up and sent to the ranch for the time being. We can figure out where to go from there.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said, standing up. “Donate them.”
“Joely, I have no choice but to fire you.”
“I understand. You’re just doing your job.” She did understand. This was Holt. This had always been Holt. Joely had no reason to feel betrayed or hurt. She’d known what type of man Holt was. She’d know what type of woman she was. She had known that they would never work out. She was an idiot to have cultivated any small hope that they would make it.
“You can still stay at the ranch. Until you’ve made other plans.”
“I’ve made other plans.” She went to the door and opened it.
“When?” he asked.
“Just now.” She closed the door behind her. Joely walked slowly, hoping that Holt would fling open the door and ask her to wait.
He didn’t.
She knew he wouldn’t.
She took out her phone and called his brother. “Hi Mike. I need you to come pick me up. And I need to borrow your yurt.”