Tuesday’s Child

through it tonight. There’s probably going to be a lot since I stopped the mail the day of my retirement party. Take a big box with you.”

“No problem. I have to pick up my own. Anything else you need me to do?”

“I think that’ll do it. Thanks, Ben.”

“For you, Kala, anything.” Kala knew he meant it. She smiled at how easy their relationship was, had always been.

“Remember now, you promised to wear a white hibiscus in your hair.”

“You got it.” Kala giggled like a schoolgirl.

Kala returned to the business at hand after ending the phone call. “Does anyone know where Patty is?”

Linda poked her head out of her doorway, and said, “She told me she was going to check on Nick and would be back in an hour. You can reach her on her cell if you need her right away.”

“No, that’s okay. I can wait till she gets back.”

Kala walked back to the kitchen and poured herself an ice-cold glass of pineapple juice. She sat down at the old table and ran the morning’s activities over in her mind. She wanted to call Sophie to tell her they were almost to the home stretch and that, as of tomorrow, she would be $10 million richer, but thought better of the idea. Better to call Sophie when she had the check in hand. She finished her juice and returned to her office, calling out to Linda to send Patty to her office when she got back.

In her office, Kala flopped down and started to drum her fingers on the desk. She needed a game plan. She’d run with the moment. Ben said that was one of her major faults. Not that he was criticizing her, because when she did that, the outcome was usually positive. There was a lot to be said for confidence, and she certainly had plenty of that. Her heart kicked up a beat when she closed her eyes, envisioning Ryan Spenser handing her a check for $10 million.

Kala’s thoughts turned black when she contemplated the warrant and the suit Ben had told her about. Her mind raced back in time to the day she’d gone with Patty to the precinct to retrieve Sophie’s personal possessions. If she remembered correctly, it was three days after the sentencing that sent Sophie to prison for life without the possibility of parole. She and Patty had had a good cry before they entered the precinct’s doors. She’d signed her name on the log sheet and left Patty to wait for Sophie’s things because she had to be in court to file a motion for something or other. She’d talked to Patty later in the day to ask how it went. If memory served her right, Patty said she’d taken the box home and hadn’t even opened it. She said she just couldn’t look at Sophie’s things, and that was the same day Nick and his friends had moved her out of the apartment she and Sophie had shared.

Kala wondered if Patty had ever looked at Sophie’s belongings. More to the point, where were they? Was it possible the officer on duty had given Patty the things that were in the evidence locker along with Sophie’s personal belongings by mistake? Anything was possible, she decided. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember if she’d seen the list of items that had been tagged. She simply couldn’t remember, but more than likely no, she had not seen the list, she decided. To the best of her recollection, there had not been much in the way of personal possessions left behind at the Star mansion when Sophie was arrested. A few clothes, her cell phone, her purse and whatever she carried in it, lipstick, tissues, keys, her ancient laptop, toiletries, that sort of thing. She had a vague memory of Patty saying at some point, though, that Sophie’s laptop was at the apartment. If that was the case, then the detectives had probably taken it from the apartment. Was it in the personal possession box or the evidence box? She simply could not remember.

Patty had said that on her days off, Sophie always returned to the apartment she shared with Patty. She did her laundry and would return to the mansion with a small duffel to last her until her next day off. Spenser had not made an issue at trial over any of those things; nor had she when she filed her various appeals after sentencing. So what was the big deal?

Kala knew what the big deal was. Spenser was saying-no, accusing her of taking stuff out of the evidence locker, things he had used at trial. If somehow the officer on duty had mistakenly turned over evidence to Patty, who didn’t realize what she had all these years, then yes, this was going to be a problem. Even though Ben filed a motion to quash both the warrant and the complaint, a judge would have to hold a hearing. That was going to take a bit of time, at least a week, possibly longer. She knew how to stall when she had to stall. Just like all lawyers knew the drill. Buying time for your client was what it was called.

Kala’s fingers continued to drum on the desk. She looked up when Linda appeared with a fresh cup of coffee. Hawaiian Aulani coffee, the only kind she drank. It smelled heavenly. And it tasted pretty damn good, too.

“Patty called, she’s on her way. She said Nick is being ornery and cantankerous. Actually she said he’s being a pain in the ass. He wants to do things he can’t do, and he’s taking his irritation out on everyone. Just so you know. By the way, Kala, in all the confusion of your unexpected return, I didn’t properly thank you for that exquisite French perfume you brought back for me. Jay loves it.”

Kala smiled. She loved buying presents for people, especially people she loved.

“I’m getting married,” she blurted.

Linda blinked, then blinked again. “That… that’s great, Kala. When?”

“When this mess is all over. I’m retiring to Hawaii. Ben is going with me. The truth is, I asked him to marry me, and he said yes. It… it was one of those serendipitous moments, if you know what I mean. It’s going to be a traditional wedding. A luau, and I’m going to wear the traditional garb and do the hula in a grass skirt. The bride has to make the skirt and top herself out of leaves and… and stuff. A crown of flowers, too. Do you think I’m too old for all of this?”

“Hell no! Why would you even say such a thing?”

“Well, because of my culture. You absolutely cannot live in sin, so I have to get married. Ben is okay with it, but he said he is not going to wear a loincloth-that’s part of the tradition. Of course you are all invited. The whole office. We can charter a plane or something.”

Linda laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. “Is this a secret, or can I tell everyone?”

Kala rolled the question around in her head. The more people who knew would be good because… because then she wouldn’t change her mind. If no one knew, she could say she had a senior moment and hadn’t known what she was doing when she had proposed to Ben. “Tell everyone,” she said in a strangled voice.

So it was official. She was getting married.

Kala’s mind started to wander as she stared out the window. Life in Hawaii with Ben. Slow and easy. Family, all the little nieces and nephews to see, long walks on the beach. She would have all the time in the world to do… nothing. Maybe, maybe, she could open up a storefront law office and work when she wanted to. Everything would be pro bono. Years and years ago, she couldn’t remember how many, she’d taken the bar in Hawaii and had a license to practice there. She’d renewed the license faithfully every single year. In fact, she’d just paid to renew it in the early spring. Maybe Ben would be interested in joining her fledgling little firm.

Kala thought about her homeland. Warm golden sun almost every day of the year, gentle breezes, the sparkling blue Pacific, finer in color than any sapphire, the scent of plumeria, which she dearly loved, everywhere. All the doors and windows in her house would be open all day and into the evening. The sheer curtains would billow inward, carrying the rich scent of the flowers indoors. Paddle fans would whirl quietly. What was not to love about that scenario? Absolutely nothing. She had enough money banked that she’d earned on her own that she never needed to worry about a thing. She had no bills, and she was certainly more than solvent, as was Ben. She wasn’t even counting the monies that went into her brokerage account from the family coffee business. Time to give back. She could do that. She corrected the thought. She would do that.

That thought took her down a different road. What was going to happen to Sophie Lee when this was all over? How would she spend all her money? Would she ever recover from those ten years in prison? Sophie would have Patty and Nick. Her heart told her somehow, some way, Sophie was going to end up with Nick, and Nick would make her world right again. With Nick and Patty at her side, Sophie would take her place in the world again, Kala was sure of it. And taking her place in the world had nothing to do with money. “And that,” Kala muttered aloud, “you can take to the bank. Sophie Lee is not about money, never was, never would be.”

Kala looked up to see Patty standing in the doorway. She smiled. “I was…”

“Woolgathering?” Patty smiled in return.

Kala nodded. “In a manner of speaking. We need to talk, Patty. Come in, take a load off. First, though, how’s Nick?”

“Welcome home, Kala. It’s nice to see you sitting at your desk again. Nick is cranky. You know men. He has