Page 17 of Fast Fury

Guilt smothering him, Hani got out and rushed to take them from her. “Hi,Tutu,” he murmured, bending to kiss her papery cheek as she threw her arms around his shoulders.

“Been too long since I saw you,” she chided, squeezing him tight. It hurt him, deep inside. She loved him so fiercely, and he didn’t understand why.

“I know. Been busy. Come on, I’ll drive you home.” He hated that she wouldn’t drive. He’d offered to buy her a car so many times, but she’d refused unless the money he paid for it with was clean money. So she stubbornly continued to take the bus into Kahului three or four times a week, carrying her groceries and supplies home with her. Today, she’d come to Happy Valley instead.

He put the groceries into the back seat and helped her into the front, lifting her slight frame into the leather seat.

“New ride?” she asked, her tone making him groan inwardly.

“Yeah,” he muttered, shutting her door quickly before she could start in on him about where he’d gotten the money. She knew exactly where he got it.

She eyed him with those piercing, dark brown eyes when he slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “I heard they found a local boy down in Makena today. Shot dead by someone. Police say he was a drug dealer.”

Hani hid a wince. Pedro. He’d been far more than a simple drug dealer. “I heard that too.”

“I don’t want it to be you one day, Hani. I couldn’t take that.”

The sadness and fear in her voice made him squirm inside. His whole downward spiral had begun with hanging out with the wrong crowd in middle school. They’d shown him how to earn money. Fast money. Lots of it. Stealing stuff, delivering drugs, selling it.

Some had died since then, others moved away or become addicts themselves. While Hani was still here, stuck in the rut he’d created for himself. Sometimes he dreamed about getting out, starting over someplace new. But he couldn’t without the cartel coming after him. He was trapped.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He cleared his throat, changed the subject before she could continue. “So, what’s the latest with you?”

“Kai’s coming home.”

Hani’s entire body stiffened. “What?”

“Called me the other day. He’s going to Oahu for something, and then he’s coming to spend a few days here after.”

Panic burst inside him. “When?”

She shrugged. “He wasn’t sure of the dates. Maybe within the next week or so.” She shot him a sidelong look. “He’ll be staying with me. Would be nice if you would be there too.”

Him in the same house with a DEA FAST member who had a bounty on his head? “Tutu, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for him to stay with you.”

She frowned. “Why not? I barely ever get to see him anymore.”

Because theVenenosare gunning for him, and he could put you in danger.

We both could.

Hani wracked his brain, but couldn’t think of a good reason to give her without incriminating himself. Dammit.

“Will you come see him?” she pressed. “You boys were so close for most of your lives. It breaks my heart to see this rift between you.” She reached for his hand, pried it from the steering wheel and folded it between hers, her skin papery against his. “Please. For me. I’m getting older. I don’t know how many years I have left, and I need to know you boys are both going to be okay after I die. I need to know you’ll both look after one another.”

The plea undid him. This woman had given him so much, and she’d never asked him for anything, except to turn straight. She was almost eighty. Didn’t have much longer on this earth.

His conscience pricked at him like hot needles. He’d denied her everything else. He couldn’t deny her this too. “Yeah, all right. I’ll come by.” He’d figure something out.

Even as he said it, an ominous weight settled in the pit of his stomach. If the cartel found out that Kai was here on Maui, Hani would be put in the position of either watching someone kill his cousin…or becoming a target himself.

****

The boat bobbed gently on the waves, the water beneath it a deep, cobalt blue. In the distance, the shoreline of Lahaina was just visible.

Diane stood at the stern of the charter catamaran with the alabaster urn in her hands, alone as the warm, salt-tinged breeze blew around her. The captain and first mate were both inside the wheelhouse, giving her total privacy.

Bailey had loved the ocean. She’d loved sailing, surfing. Even just sitting on the lanai looking out at the water. Making this her final resting place seemed the most fitting spot.

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