flight.”
Kala stopped in her tracks. “Don’t you think you should have consulted with me first, Ben? What if I’m not ready to go home?”
“Oh, you’re ready, my dear. You’ve been ready since the day we left. I’ve known you most of your adult life, and I can truthfully say I have never seen you more miserable than you’ve been since we left Georgia. We have not had one moment of fun, and I say that lightly since we are of an age where fun is whatever we want to make it. You don’t eat, you aren’t the least bit interested in sightseeing. We don’t even have conversations about our day at the end of the day. This vacation is a chore. You’re working at it harder than you would work at preparing for a six- month murder trial. Now, go take your shower, get dressed, and we’re outta here.”
In a flash, Kala was in the huge marble bathroom, stripping off her clothes. She turned on the shower, talking past the door she’d left slightly ajar. “Have I really been that bad?”
“Yes.”
Inside the shower, Kala grinned as she lathered up her thick dark hair. She was going home. Yessss. “You could have sweet-talked that just a little, doncha think? What was the final decision breaker for you?” she called out.
“A week ago when you saw Nick Mancuso take that tumble at the airport. And all those transatlantic calls to Sophie and your people in Hawaii.”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“Yeah,” Ben drawled. “You know, this might be a good time to talk about that plan you have to retire back in Hawaii. When were you going to tell me about it?”
Kala’s heart fluttered in her chest. There it was, the thing she couldn’t bring herself to talk about to Ben. Now or never. She’d thought when it was time, they’d be sitting on her nubby wheat-colored sofa with wineglasses in their hands. She never thought she’d be naked in a shower in Paris, when she had to confess to her plans. She felt like crying for some reason.
“I was trying to find just the right moment. Originally, I thought when the trip was over, and we were back home. I never in a million years thought life would turn upside down the way it is now. I love you, Ben. You know that. I know your life is back in Georgia, your friends are there. I realize you have no real family to speak of, but your friends are your family, as you’ve pointed out to me time and again. You like going to the courthouse, you love talking to your fellow judges. You enjoy playing golf with them, and you live for the days those very same judges call or want to meet with you to ask your opinion on cases. I didn’t want… I didn’t think I should… what I’m trying to say here is, if you knew what I was planning, why didn’t you say something? We’ve been together over thirty-five years; that gives you the right to ask, to demand answers. Besides, I didn’t want to be rebuffed.”
“And you figured this out all on your own, is that it?” Ben held up a huge white towel for Kala to wrap herself in the moment she stepped out of the shower. Ben wasn’t sure if what he was seeing were tears on Kala’s cheeks or just water droplets from the shower. He thought they were tears.
“Well, yeah, I did. You’re telling me I was wrong to do that? Okay, do you want to retire with me to Hawaii once this Sophie mess is all settled?”
“Hell, yes, I do.”
“Really, Ben? Truly you do?” They were definitely tears, he decided, as he took her in his arms.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Haven’t you noticed how my friends have all migrated to other climates? You went with me to four funerals this year. The younger judges aren’t the least bit interested in this old fart’s opinions. I can play golf anywhere. What I can’t do without is you. For a top-notch lawyer, you can be pretty dense sometimes, my love. Maybe I can teach some law classes at the University of Hawaii. If they’ll have me. How many cousins do you have at the university?”
Kala laughed. It was a joke about her family and all the cousins, nieces, and nephews. “Quite a few, actually. I’m sure we can get you a gig there.”
“What will you be doing?” Ben asked curiously.
Kala whirled around and stared up at Ben. “I thought I’d plan my wedding. No way in hell can I move back home and live in sin. The elders would never permit it. So I’m thinking a real island wedding with a luau. I’m going to wear the traditional garb, do the hula for my new husband in my grass skirt, which I will make myself, and I will wear the traditional crown of flowers. That’s
“Are you asking me to marry you, Kala Aulani? Because if you are, I accept. What I won’t do is wear a loincloth to your grass skirt.” Well damn, he was excited.
“Sure you will,” Kala said, tweaking his cheek. “Well, now that that’s all settled, how do I look for our trip back home?”
“Marvelous. No loincloth.”
“Then I can’t marry you,” Kala said, sashaying to the foyer, where all the bags waited. She opened the door and crooked her finger in his direction. “I promise to make it worth your while.”
“Well, in that case…”
Twelve hours later, thanks to a four-hour layover, Kala and Ben were pushing a dolly with all their luggage toward the EXIT sign at Hartsdale-Jackson International Airport.
Outside, in the cool evening air, Kala looked around as she sniffed a familiar scent. Plumeria. Plumeria there in Georgia? Impossible! It must be perfume. Walking toward her, decked out in flowered Hawaiian shirts, was a couple she vaguely recognized. They both wore leis. Just another vacationing couple returning from Hawaii. My ass, she thought. She wouldn’t bet the rent on it, but she thought the couple were assistant DAs who worked for Ryan Spenser. She gave Ben a slight nudge to the side so that he could see what she was seeing. She watched the frown build on Ben’s face as he tried to figure out if he knew the colorful couple or not.
A van slid gracefully to the curb, and Jay and Jed hopped out. Within seconds, the mountain of luggage was stashed in the back, and Kala and Ben were inside, buckled up and ready to go.
“Take a good look and tell me if you recognize those two decked out in Hawaiian garb,” Kala hissed.
Jed craned his neck. “Oh, yeah, that’s Ginger Albright and Don Clark, Spenser’s ADAs. Looks like maybe they’re just coming back from a vacation in Hawaii.” He laughed. Jay joined in.
“They fit the description your people called in to us daily, Kala. They had pictures of Sophie they showed to practically everyone on the island. With no results, of course. They gave it their best shot. They were everywhere, didn’t miss a beat. Grocery stores, beauty shops, nail salons, various spas, all the hotels, the banks, the post office. They hired some kids to patrol the beaches. They handed out copies of Sophie’s picture like she was a wanted criminal with a bounty on her head. But, I am happy to report, they came up dry, and as you can see, they returned home with their tails between their legs.” Jay laughed again, the sound so contagious the others laughed with him.
“Damn, it’s good to be home,” Kala said. Ben reached for her hand and squeezed it hard. She squeezed back.
Ryan Spenser looked at the mountain of paper on his desk. Then he looked down at the entire transcript of the Sophie Lee trial. He’d been lugging it back and forth from home to the office for days. Then he looked at the newspapers his secretary had placed on his already cluttered desk alongside a deep pile of phone messages, most of them from reporters and, of course, the Speaker and his uncle the governor. As much as he didn’t want to, Spenser picked up the
Spenser spit on his finger and turned the page. Top left-hand corner in bold print, the words glared at him
Spenser felt sick to his stomach. This would go on for years, destroying all his dreams of stepping into the governor’s mansion. He’d be damn lucky if they didn’t cart his ass off to some federal prison. He goddamn well did not deserve this.
Rage filled Spenser at the situation he was in. Blind rage. All-encompassing rage.
Spenser felt like he was in a trance. It was almost impossible to pull his eyes away from the Sophie Lee transcript when he heard the knock on his door. He bent over and banged his head so hard on the desk he literally saw stars. The pain brought him back to reality. He barked an order to come in. He glared with narrowed eyes at his two ADAs.
