Hands on the dresser, Natasha stared at her reflection. Her nut-brown skin displayed her exhaustion far too well. The circles beneath her eyes weren’t doing anything to help her either.
She had signed everything she needed to and was just waiting for the M.E. to release the body, so it could flown back to the mainland. Detective Pono Kaihale had been extremely good with her once she’d passed out. He’d stayed there until she’d come to and had personally escorted her back to her hotel along with the personal possessions they’d gathered of Ashlee’s. He’d given her his card and told her to call if she needed anything.
“I need a lot right now,” she muttered to herself. Didn’t matter, she wouldn’t be calling the cop back. The Dick. I wonder when they started being called that as opposed to detective? Her lips twitched. She would be leaving in two days back to the mainland. She needed to follow up on some things before she left. After Detective Kaihale had taken her back to her room, she’d done some digging and found exactly where Ashlee had been staying. A small place on the other side of the island from here. So she’d gone and checked into that hotel while she finished up her time here.
Slanting her gaze to the left of her shoulder, she spied all of Ashlee’s items lying in her suitcase. Natasha’s shoulders sagged before she turned and claimed a spot on the bed beside the open luggage.
Her best friend in the world was gone. The woman she viewed as a sister. There would be no more all-nighters where they indulged—overindulged—in alcohol, bad food, and talked about all the sex they weren’t getting.
At least Natasha wasn’t. Ashlee occasionally hooked up with guys while she was out gallivanting around the world. She had no family. Natasha was it. They were close—correction had been close. Now all she had were the memories and a gaping hole in her heart where the hurt poured in.
Sitting Indian style, she yanked everything out of the hard-cased luggage. Meticulously, she began folding each article of clothing and placing on the pink floral lining. She’d sat with Ashlee enough to know how she wanted her items packed. This would be the last trip, the least she could do would be to honor that request.
She got to a pair of cutoff jean shorts and began folding when she found something in the pocket. Digging it out, she frowned at the business card.
OT’s Rental Company
Flipping it over, Natasha didn’t see anything else there other than the printed number for the business and a picture of some scuba gear along the bottom of the card. The edge was frayed and for that reason alone, she didn’t just toss it aside. Ashlee had the habit of thumbing a corner of a paper she was interested in.
Placing it on her knee, she continued to pack the rest of Ashlee’s things. Only once that had been completed and the suitcase sat by the door, did she pick up her phone, log into the internet, and type in the business name on the card.
She wished for her laptop but this would work in a pinch. Staring at the address, she grabbed her hotel key and wallet, heading out the door before she could change her mind.
At the front desk, she waited for the concierge.
“How may I help you?”
“I need a ride over to Molokai.”
The clerk nodded and proceeded to explain the easiest way for her to get there.
Natasha’s stomach didn’t settle until she actually set foot on the island and paid her taxi the fare as she was dropped off outside OT’s Rental Company.
She worked to hide her sneer. This place wasn’t anything to write home about. Hell, he may as well be working out of his trailer. The place would be better called a shack.
A door slammed and a man walked around the corner.
The air shot from her lungs and she struggled to find her breath. Holy crap. Tall and fit wearing nothing more than a pair of dark blue shorts that hung teasingly low on lean hips. He had a swagger she instantly became mesmerized by.
“Can I help you?”
His deep voice took her mind down roads it shouldn’t go. Grateful her sunglasses blocked the knowledge he had of the way she stared at him, she took one more perusal of his physique. From the inky black hair cut short on the back and sides but a bit longer on the top, along the scruff lining that determined jawline. Broad shoulders, defined abdominals and the farther down, she looked the more she appreciated what she saw. “I’m looking for the owner.”
He leaned his head forward so he could stare at her over the rims of his mirrored rectangular Tommy Hilfiger sunglasses. Light yet incredibly intense blue eyes stared out at her, a striking difference from his tan skin.
This guy reminded her in a sense of Heath Ledger, the same facial structure.
He raked his gaze over her before his lips twitched. “You’ve got him, doll. What can I do for you?”
A litany of inappropriate things danced along her tongue and she gulped a few times to ensure they never escaped. She held up the card.
He pushed his glasses back up, hiding those orbs from her. Then he was suddenly in front of her and she nearly stepped back, his presence was overwhelming.
“My business card.”
Natasha nodded. “My friend had it. I want to know what she got from you?”
“Doll, it’s a business card. I leave them all over the place. I may not have even given it to her.” He lowered his head again.
Natasha could swear that he was scoping her out again.
“Are you here to rent some equipment?”
Absolutely. You and me. I’ll take at least an hour or three. We can go from there. I’ll just give you my card. She exhaled slowly and cocked an eyebrow. “Do you even have a name?”
“It’s right there on the card. OT is what people call me.”
“Of course they do.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you keep records or is this more of a cash organization that sometimes does and mostly doesn’t?”
“Don’t let the surfer boy look fool you. I keep very good records.”
“Perfect. Her name is—was Ashlee Obin. I want to know when she was here and what she rented.”
He lost all joviality in his expression. “Was?”
“She died. May I have the information please?”
He thumbed over his shoulder to the shack. “In there.”
Natasha followed him in and ignored the way he watched her as he pulled up the information.
“She was here a few days ago. Rented some scuba gear.” He lifted his head.
Once again, she was struck by how frickin’ powerful his eyes were. Almost eerie. His glasses had been tossed carelessly to the top of the table beside the computer. “What gear?” she asked.
That eyebrow jacked up again. “Why?”
“Because the cops didn’t have it and from your expression you do, which means someone dropped it off here after they killed her. And if it’s not been checked, I may be able to get something from it.”
He scratched his jaw, clean square nails disappearing beneath the scruff lining the skin. “Why are you so sure it wasn’t as the cops said… an unfortunate accident?”
Her need for the truth warred with her indecision to tell him anything. He could be in on this himself. Why else would he be hedging about what he knew? Then again, perhaps he was strictly curious. “Because she was an experienced diver, she never went without an extra bottle of air, even if she was merely free diving. She was a treasure hunter and was after something. What gear did she use? Also, her hotel was here and I identified her body on Maui. Why would she be staying over here and diving there?”
He crossed strong arms, redirecting her attention for a moment away from the task at hand. “It’s a chain of islands, lots of people stay one place and go elsewhere.”
“Not her, she wouldn’t want to waste time traveling when it would eat up dive time.” A spark of adrenaline hit her and she wondered if she’d finally stumbled onto something important and worthwhile.
No one else might give a damn, and that’s not to say the detectives didn’t but they were okay with the findings.
They didn’t know her like you did.
Truth.
He waved for her to follow him and she did, right into the back of the small shop. The warm Hawaiian air blew through, bringing with it the smell of the ocean and man.
He stopped so suddenly, she ran into him. “Sorry,” she muttered, stepping back when all she wanted to do was step closer.
In her mind, Ashlee cheered her on. She’d been all about finding and indulging in your passion and desires when the opportunity came.
Not what I’m here for. I need answers so I can sleep at night.
“Here we go.”
Once more, she followed him, this time staying a bit further back.
He set the gear down on the table and propped his hands on his hips. “I hadn’t cleaned it out yet.”
“How long has it been here?”
“Two days. I found it outside my shop one morning when I came in. I figured it was her returning it.”
“You weren’t concerned with the fact she hadn’t brought it back prior?”
He reached for two stools and pushed one in her direction before claiming the other one for himself. “No. Not at all. She paid cash, an obscene amount and said she wanted the gear for a while, was going out and may not get back before I closed. So to cover it, she paid for the gear outright, two extra tanks and some small individual air.”
Natasha blew some of her hair away from her face as she inched the stool closer to the tank. “And none of that seemed suspicious to you? At all?”