Page 18 of Forgotten Promise

John cleared his throat. “Or this is a distraction.”

They both looked at him.

“It feels like a distraction,” he said. “If I took this case, and found out there was a fire at the same time someone accessed a safe…”

Kailani shook her head. “But that would mean they’d have to know I was going to the vau— Safe. Or about to. They’d have to know about the keyholders, and no one knows.”

“Unless they were able to get the information from the Grand Master,” John said softly.

Kailani looked ill. “I…I have to go. I should already be at the airport trying to catch a flight.” She glanced around. “But if this was an attack, if someone knows about the keyholders and the…” She shook her head. “I can’t leave the hotel defenseless.”

“If you’re about to get on a plane, you’re going to be defenseless,” Benjamin countered. “You can’t fly commercial.”

“Why can’t you just call these other keyholders and tell them to come here?” John asked.

“It used to be that way,” Kailani said. “It used to be you’d send a coded telegram, but when commercial air travel became easier the orders were changed. I have to go in person.”

“Can you just change the protocol and text them?” John asked.

“I need to follow the instructions I have,” Kailani insisted. “Which means getting on a plane.”

“But you, personally, may be in danger,” John said.

Kailani’s expression was stark. “There wasn’t… There’s no plan for what we do if someone knows about the keyholders.”

“You need security, both additional security at the hotel and for yourself,” Benjamin insisted.

“I need to call my brother, Makani,” Kailani said, pulling her phone from her pocket, dialing, then stepping away to speak.

Benjamin muttered something under his breath that sounded like “shit.”

John gave him a curious look, and a disgruntled Benjamin admitted, “Makani isn’t exactly my biggest fan.”

“So what you’re saying is you’ve pissed off the entire Iona family at some point in time?”

Benjamin lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “In a nutshell, yeah. At least she’s not calling her tutu. I’m hoping to avoid running into her grandmother while I’m here.”

John shook his head, torn between amusement and the same frustration he’d been feeling ever since meeting these two at the binding ceremony. Separately, they were both nice people and he’d enjoyed their conversations and getting to know them.

It was when they were together that things took a turn.

Kailani returned to them. “Makani is on his way.”

The hotel manager walked over. “Ms. Iona, the police are here. They’re helping with crowd control in the parking lot.”

Kailani murmured, “Excuse me,” to them and walked away just as the firemen emerged from behind the plastic.

A half hour passed before Kalani returned.

“Everything okay?” John asked.

“Yeah. The fire’s out.”

“That’s good.”

“It is, but…” She ran a hand through her hair, releasing a long, slow, exhausted breath. It made sense. “They’re calling in the arson investigator.”

None of them reacted to the news that this was probably deliberate. It was hardly a surprise.

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