Page 58 of The Wrong Fiancée

"No shit," my lawyer said. She rose, closed her briefcase, and picked it up.

The detective looked at me, and I saw regret in her eyes. "We got some video from the resort, andit looks like…well, someone came in and out of your cottage this afternoon. Apparently, everyone knows that you leave your door open."

"Everyone does," I interjected.

She nodded. "Yeah. But everyone also knows you go to Ka Pono on Wednesday mornings."

"Who was it?"

She shook her head. "Ongoing investigation. Can't talk about it. But I will say we're sorry for jumping the gun. But we got a complaint and a credible witness?—"

"Who's not looking so credible now?" Sara said sarcastically.

"Give it a rest, Sara," Detective Akina chided.

Kauai was a small island. Everyone knew everyone, so it wasn't surprising that all these people in law enforcement were on a first-name basis.

"Come on, Elika, let's get you home," Sara urged.

The female detective groaned at that. "Ah, Elika, can you stay somewhere else for a night or two? I'll make sure your cottage is cleaned up before you go there. We searched the place, and…it's a bit of a mess."

I swallowed. It wasn't much, but it was mine, and it had been violated. It was all I had.

"No, I have nowhere else to go," I stated the truth. "I'll go home and…fix…I'll go home." The words were getting hard to get out because my throat was tight.

I didn't deserve this. I wanted so badly to have a pity party and rail at the world for being so unfair—but that would get me nowhere. I'd just have to pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over building a home for myself.

As we walked out of the interrogation room, Detective Akina called out, "Mama is expecting you for Sunday dinner, Sara."

Sara just waved without looking back. She glanced at me and sighed. "She's my sister."

"Right. And Detective Palakiko?"

"Cousin."

I nodded. "Ah…not that I'm not grateful, I am, but…how did you know to come to help me?"

"I was hired."

"By whom?"

We were out in the bullpen now and she raised her chin toward a man who looked completely out of place in casual but expensive linen pants and a shirt, a fedora, and an unlit cigar in his mouth. He was leaning against a doorway, looking through his phone. When he saw us, he smiled and straightened.

"I don't know who that is," I whispered.

"Let me introduce you." Sara led me to the man. "Elika Hamlet, meet Tate Archer."

The man held out his hand. "You know my son Dean.”

I stared at his hand for a long, uncomfortable moment before shaking it. "I…what?"

He smiled widely. "Come on, darling, let's get you out of this police station."

"But…how?"

"I came to Hawaii this afternoon and found out what happened from a very nice woman named Leilani, andVoila!"

"I don't know what to say,” I mumbled as we walked out of the station toward a blue Range Rover Sport convertible.

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