Mano chuckled. “Fawn is just feeding Edega so Annie could come to dinner with me without guilt.”
Relief lit Gina’s eyes. “Annie is a good and dutiful daughter.” She touched Annie’s shoulder. “I’d better sit down. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds like love is in the air,” Mano said. He snaked out his hand and grabbed hers.
Annie curled her fingers though his and smiled. “Gina would be good for my father. He’s been lonely since my mother’s death.” She studied his face. He could be someone to lean on. The thought appealed to her on one level but frightened her on another. Maybe she didn’t know how to turn loose the reins of worry. Maybe that was her way of controlling her life.
She looked away. What would he say if she told him she’d been in love with him for years? Not that she would ever be brave enough to tell him. He released her fingers, and they finished their dinner. The warmth of Mano’s hand under her elbow unsettled her as they walked back to his car.
She felt almost smug and definitely desirable on the drive home until her gaze touched the exotic skirt she wore. Leilani’s skirt. Instead of trying to find her sister tonight, she’d stolen her skirt and makeup and was trying to steal an old boyfriend. Her sister might even be dead, though the thought made her chest constrict. Was she trying to become her sister? Could she have subconsciously been happy if Leilani was out of the way? She rejected the idea, but the magic of the night dissipated like the vog after a rain.
“Want to come in for some Scrabble?” she asked.
“Still a Scrabble fanatic, huh? I’m not a masochist. You’d pummel me.” He grinned and got out to open her car door. “I’ll take a rain check. I’m beat tonight.” He helped her out of the car then stopped at the front door. “I had a nice time tonight. You’re comfortable to be with, Annie.”
Comfortable. Like an old shoe. It was hardly a compliment, but Annie decided it would have to do. She’d never be the type to make a man’s heart beat faster. She’d never be Leilani. She whispered a hurried good night and raced inside to her bedroom where she scrubbed her face and took off Leilani’s skirt.
Fifteen
The small town of Na’alehu moved sluggishly in the late-afternoon sun. Tourists strolled the streets and poked their heads into small, quaint shops. Mano sat in his car across the street from the Shark Head Bar. He’d been told Tab Watson would be working tonight, and he had to stay alert though he’d like to lean his head back and take a nap.
Still no word from Tomi. Mano wondered if he’d gone to the bank yesterday by himself. A mauka breeze blew through the open window and lifted the hair on his head. The wind cooled the thin film of perspiration that dampened his face. The cooling action awakened him to the fact that he was hot. Too hot. As the realization came that his body was reacting, the alarm on his watch beeped. Maybe he should set it fifteen minutes ahead. All the activity might be throwing off his usual blood-sugar levels.
He dug out some cheese and munched it. The jitters began to leave, and his blurry vision cleared. With his brain once more focused, he turned his attention to the building. The employees began to arrive at the bar. An older man unlocked the building and opened the door for two women. Mano waited. The man didn’t fit CeCe’s description of Tab Watson. He unscrewed the top of his water bottle and took a swig. His gaze strayed down the street to the bank. Maybe he should have staked out the bank yesterday. Tomi might have shown up dressed in female clothing.
Mano straightened up when a tan pickup truck pulled into the parking lot across the street and parked. A man got out, and Mano held his breath. Kim Aki. Kim moved quickly for such a big man. He darted between two parked cars and hurried to the front door of the bar. Once he vanished inside, Mano got out and went to the door.
Could Kim be Tab Watson? He was big enough to be a bouncer. And he fit the description, though CeCe hadn’t mentioned the birthmark on his face. At the door to the bar, Mano hesitated. Maybe now wouldn’t be the best time to confront Kim. He might not want his employer to know his real identity.
A murmur of voices drifted out the open window. Mano sidled up to the window and listened, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. Still, something in the tenor of one of the voices caught his attention. He peered through the window and saw two men standing at the bar. Kim’s back was to the window, but there was no mistaking the man who faced the sunlight.