The phone on the other end clattered in her ear. She returned the handset to its cradle. If only Mano were here now to talk this out. Could Jason be the one behind it all? She remembered him saying he’d seen men outside their house; she’d wondered then if he was stalking Leilani. She should take a hard look at him.
She looked at her computer. No time like the present. She launched her Mozilla browser and typed in BANOS LLC CASINO. Hundreds of hits popped up. She began to go through them one by one, marveling at the width and breadth of the company. They had projects in dozens of countries and many of the states. She ran across a blog of someone who railed about the company’s scare tactics to get him to sell his property. Annie pinched the bridge of her nose. That hadn’t been the Tagamas’ experience with Banos.
People began to file into work. She closed her browser and pulled up her data. Working would help the time pass until she could talk this over with Mano.
The aroma of the fish tacos made Mano’s stomach rumble. At least that’s what he told himself. It was better than admitting his heart echoed with loneliness. Woo her, his mother said. How should he go about wooing someone who was as likely to take flight as a Hawaiian honeycreeper?
He parked beside Annie’s Nissan and ran through the rain. Muddy water splashed on his legs and over his feet clad only in rubber slippers. Just inside the door, he shook the rain from his hair and went to Annie’s office. Annie sat at her computer wearing an intent expression. Unobserved, he let his gaze roam over her face.
Small, even teeth caught her lower lip in an expression of intense interest. Her busy fingers twiddled a paper clip. She was so tiny, so perfect for him. He just had to convince her of that. She looked up, and color ran up her neck to her cheeks.
She dropped the paper clip and stood. “You startled me.” She swept her hand toward the window. “So much for our picnic, huh?”
“I was sure it wouldn’t dare rain on our day.” He stepped into her office.
Her gaze turned uneasy, and she nodded toward the door. “Shut the door, would you?”
“Sure.” Something was up. He saw it in the stiffness of her shoulders. He hoped she wasn’t going to tell him she didn’t want to see him anymore. “What’s wrong?”
“Jason Sarris. I found out today that he works for the casino developer.”
“Gina’s son? How’d you find out?” Mano opened the sack of food and handed her a fish taco and chips.
She took it. “A guy called this morning from Banos LLC looking for Jason. He said he was Jason’s employer.”
“It’s unlikely they’d hire workers when they’re still six months away from ground break.”
“And the night we stayed with Gina, I talked with Jason the next morning. It sounded like he might have been a little obsessed with Leilani. Like maybe he’d been stalking her. We’ve never really checked him out.”
“No, you’re right,” he agreed. “I’ll go have a talk with him, and we can talk about it tonight over dinner.” He said the last with a hopeful tilt to his eyes.
She laughed, a soft sound that gave him hope. “Okay. But I’m cooking.”
“I can fix a mean salad.”
“In that case, you’re on.” The color came to her cheeks again.
When he left her half an hour later, he was whistling. The sun had finally come out, and its rays sparkled on the wet vegetation. He drove out to the Sarris house, but no one answered his knock. He got back in the car and thought. What about Aki? If Jason really was involved with the casino plan, maybe he and Aki were connected. It was worth a try.
He drove to Aloha Shores and stopped in front of Aki’s house. A yellow Volkswagen was parked in the driveway. Aki’s or Jason’s? Mano got out and went to the front door. No one answered his knock. He decided to go around to the backyard. The sloping yard contained only pots of herbs and a few lawn chairs. Where could they be?
He went back around front. Maybe they were just ignoring him. Subtlety would get him nowhere. He went boldly to the front door again and pounded with his fist. “Open up, Aki. I know you’re in there. I’m not going anywhere until I talk to you. I can come back with Sam if you’d rather.”
He pounded so hard, the glass in the front windows rattled. Finally, he heard footsteps, and the door swung open.
Kim Aki’s face was red, and the birthmark stood out in livid relief. “Knock it off, Oana. You’ll have the neighbors out with their guns.”
Mano tried to see past his bulk but spied only a living room that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. “This will only take a minute. I’m looking for Jason Sarris.”
“Don’t know him.”