Page 24 of Hidden Falls

“Truth,” Lei said. “Don’t I know it. By the way, I called Sophie. Briefed her on the situation. She has an extraction team on standby. I thought I’d give Peter a call after dinner and tell him about that option. Harry’s phone is just going to voice mail, but I’ll leave her a message too.”

“Good to lay the groundwork for that,” Marcella agreed.

They turned into Lei and Stevens’s familiar driveway lined with tropical plants, and Lei punched in the code at the gate. The barrier rumbled open, and Conan greeted them with his deep bark. Kiet, Rosie, and Stevens came out to welcome them from the porch.

This time, Stevens’s mother Ellen and Lei’s father Wayne joined them, along with Lei’s grandfather Soga. Marcella enjoyed the simple delicious food Stevens had served, and the warm family dinnertime around the big picnic table outside under a monkeypod tree.

After the meal and cleanup, the two women went to the office in back of Lei’s house to complete the tasks and calls they’d planned.

Marcella sent Lei the data on the links from Bateman and listened in to Lei’s call to Harry’s phone. She left a detailed message about Security Solutions’ extraction team and included a contact number in case Harry decided to go that route.

Lei then called Peter, who answered on the first ring. “Have you heard from Harry?” Lei asked after informing him he was on speaker with Marcella.

“No. That’s why I’m riding the phone,” the lawyer said.

Lei repeated the information about the Security Solutions team. “I left Harry a message regarding this already, but as the other parent in the situation, I encourage you to consider it.”

“I’m pretty sure Harry is planning to handle it herself with that Cruz guy. I don’t have much to say in the matter,” Peter said bitterly. “But I’ll be sure to mention it to her when I hear from her next. Whenever that is.”

Lei wrapped up the call, then glanced at Marcella. “Trouble in paradise,” Lei said. “Those two need a marriage counselor.”

“Not the only counseling they need,” Marcella said. “Let’s go get a glass of wine if you’ve got any. We’ve certainly earned it today.”

“Great idea.”

Marcella waited as Lei shut down the computer, lights, and locked the door of the office, which also doubled as a guest room—Marcella would be sleeping on the single bed in a corner. “Kiet and Rosie are pretty curious. Can’t have them poking around back here,” Lei said.

“You don’t have to tell me about curious kids. Jonas considers a closed door an opportunity to explore.”

Back in the kitchen, Lei poured herself and Marcella a generous glass of chardonnay.

“You two can go visit outside if you like,” Stevens said from the couch, where he was watching a cartoon, flanked on either side by Kiet and little Rosie. “I’ll put the kids down for the night.”

Lei went over and leaned down to kiss him and then each of the kids. “You da bomb,” she told Stevens. “I love you.”

“Go on. Enjoy your time with your friend.”

Marcella smiled as she held the front door open for Lei, and they stepped outside into a night lit by decorative fairy lights. “You’re a very lucky lady. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do.” Lei tapped her full glass against Marcella’s. “But then, so are you. Marcus is taking care of Jonas so you can be here, right?”

“Absolutely. Our husbands actually do fifty percent of the parenting. You don’t know how rare that is.”

They descended the porch steps. Ellen and Wayne, who had brought the sides for dinner from Wayne’s restaurant, had cleared away the food but left the citronella candles that were burning to discourage mosquitoes. Lights glowed through the curtains of their neighboring cottage, and from Soga’s tiny house in another corner of the yard.

Lei and Marcella took their former seats at the table. “I envy you how close you are with your extended family,” Marcella said. “This shared property idea is fabulous. I could see it working with us and the Kamuelas, Marcus’s family. But not my parents. I adore them, of course, but I need a little distance.”

“It works for us this way, but that’s because everyone stays in their lane,” Lei said. Her dimple showed for an instant. “I’m not sure your parents are capable of that.”

Marcella laughed. “I know they’re not! If they were on the same property, we’d have to eat together every night, only food they wanted and prepared, and Mama would be up in my business about everything.”

“So maybe it’s better the way it is.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Marcella sipped her wine. She switched gears. “How close are you and Harry?”

“We had that early experience together near Cabo San Lucas. Lost touch after that. Then reconnected when she moved with her girls to Maui. It’s been about six months since we’ve been in each other’s orbit at work and socially.”

Marcella leveled Lei a look over her wineglass. “You didn’t really answer the question.”

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