Page 45 of Vacation Friends

Maddie excused herself from Bree and Fowler, not wanting them to be close as she talked to the detective. She had a feeling he was still hunting for information.

“Aloha,” he started as they paced through the lobby beside each other. “I was hoping to run into you.”

Maddie continued walking. “Is that right?”

“I received more information from one of our witnesses that I wanted to talk to you about.” His voice remained placid and unreadable.

“The witness who saw two people out on the beach the night Jared died?” she clarified.

“Yes. She’s the one.”

“And?” Maddie could hardly breathe as she waited to hear what the detective would say.

“It turns out she saw one of the two people who’d been on the beach return to the west wing of the resort a few minutes after the argument.”

“Okay . . .” Her steps faltered. Where was he going with this?

The detective paused and locked gazes with her. “I understand you’re staying in the west wing.”

Maddie’s eyebrows shot up. “I am. But so are a lot of other people. Was it a woman or a man?”

Kalani offered half a shrug. “The witness isn’t sure. It was too dark outside to tell.”

She crossed her arms, determined to keep her panic at bay.

Was she making too many assumptions about this investigation? It was driving her crazy that the detective was so difficult to read.

“Why do I feel like you’re insinuating I had something to do with this?” she finally asked.

He remained unreadable. “We’re trying to figure out what happened. Mr. Kline had some strange bruising on his shoulders, bruising that doesn’t fit with him being slammed into the rocks by waves. The marks almost look like hands left them.”

Maddie’s outrage turned into shock. “So you think someone shoved Mr. Kline’s head into a rock and then let the ocean do the rest of the work?”

“That’s one of our working theories. The bruising. The conflict he was having with someone right before he died. And the fact your name was written down on a paper in his room . . .”

Her throat tightened as fear tried to strangle her, making it hard to breathe. She reminded herself to keep her composure. “It’s like I told you, I have never talked to the man.”

Kalani reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. The image was of two people standing next to each other at baggage claim at the airport.

Maddie was one of them.

The other was . . . a man who looked vaguely familiar with his stout built and dominant double chin.

“Do you recognize the man in this photo?” Detective Kalani studied her, his gaze sharp and piercing.

He was watching for any sign she was lying, wasn’t he? Panic fluttered through her as she realized where Detective Kalani was going with this.

She swallowed hard before asking, “Is that Jared?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re telling me you didn’t know what he looked like?”

“I only have a vague idea. It was dark when I tried to pull him out of the ocean.”

“Do you remember this conversation?” he asked. “The video this snapshot was taken from shows you talking with him.”

“My conversation with that man lasted all of five seconds. We were waiting for our luggage, and I happened to say something about how different it was to be in an open-air airport.”

“That’s all there was to that conversation?” He cocked his head skeptically.

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