Sixteen
Every muscle in Bane’s body ached this morning. After dancing, traipsing through the woods, and then colliding with the intruder, as well as getting no sleep, he felt wasted. The police hadn’t left until about an hour ago. He splashed cold water on his face, then swiped it with a towel and went out into the hallway. Rounding the corner, he collided with Leia. Ajax got up from the floor by the door to greet him.
“Sorry,” Leia said. Her gaze searched his face. “You look exhausted.”
“I could use some coffee.”
“I just put it on.”
He sniffed. “I could eat a horse.” He glanced at Hina, who was winding her body through his legs. “Or a cat.” Her purr was loud enough to be a chain saw.
“T?t? is making taro hash browns and eggs.”
“How is she this morning?” Hina’s tongue felt like wet sandpaper. He slid his toes out of her reach.
“Still bright. She said she’d take us to the treasure after breakfast.”
He knew better than to let himself believe it, but the muscles in his stomach tightened anyway. “I wonder if I should call Ron.”
“I wouldn’t do that yet. Let’s see if there’s anything to her claim. I’d hate to humiliate her.”
He had started to pull out his cell phone, but he put it back. “Yeah, okay. I wasn’t thinking about that.”
“She has so little dignity left.”
He examined her face. “You look beat too.”
“I’m a little tired. T?t? is the only lively one.” Her smile held a trace of wistfulness. “She’ll likely outwalk us both. Let’s see what she knows.” He untangled his feet from Hina, then touched Leia’s arm, and she went before him down the hall to the kitchen.
She sniffed. “That smells wonderful, T?t?. We’re hungry.”
“Aloha kakah’aka,” she said in the traditional morning greeting. “Sit down, eat.” Ipo bustled toward them with a huge white apron wrapped around her. The ties went around her twice, and she’d tied them in the front. She plunked down the plates of food.
Bane pulled the chair out for Ipo. “Sit down, T?t?. You’ve worked hard all morning.”
“You take care of yourself, and let me handle breakfast.” Ipo went to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of juice. She poured it into three mismatched glasses and placed them on the table before finally sitting down.
Bane sipped the strawberry-guava nectar. “Um, good.” He took a big gulp of the sweet juice. He could drink a gallon of the stuff. “So where are we going today?”
She gave him a pained look. “You shall see. But not until after breakfast.”
“Playing hard to get, huh?” He winked at Leia, who returned his smile. She still looked a little wan. Her eyes were red, and he wondered if she’d been crying. But that didn’t make sense. Unless her grandmother had been mean to her again. He knew it was a symptom of Ipo’s illness that her sweet nature sometimes turned on a dime, and she forgot how much she loved her family, but it was wear-ing. He shot Leia a questioning look, but she turned her head away.
“I shall take you only,” Ipo announced. “I told Leia she must stay here. I cannot trust the treasure to a haole.” She turned a smile toward her granddaughter. “I don’t wish to hurt you, keiki, but I must be careful about this and think clearly.”
So that was the reason for Leia’s turned-down mouth. “Leia must come too,” he said firmly. “She is your kin. Koma was going to show her. He trusted her to pass it on to future generations.”
Ipo hesitated. “I had forgotten,” she murmured. “Perhaps it will be acceptable.”
“You can trust me, T?t?,” Leia said. “I want only to help you.” She leaned forward and put her hand over her grandmother’s. “Think, T?t?, and you will remember how close we have been.”
Ipo patted it with her other hand. “I know I am sometimes hard on you, Leia. You may go with us.” She said the words as a queen bestowing a boon on a subject.
“Thank you, T?t?.” Leia’s eyes grew luminous, and she sniffed and bent her head. Picking up the serving spoon, she began to ladle food onto her plate.
Bane decided not to say anything else about it in case Ipo changed her mind again. “You slept through all the commotion last night.” Leia’s head came up, and she gave it a slight shake. He sent her a quizzical look. In his opinion, Ipo needed to know about the danger so she could be on her guard. “An intruder was in the house.”
Ipo’s fork paused halfway to her open mouth. She closed her mouth and put down her food. “Intruder? Did you catch him?”
“Nope, he was too wily for me. But your granddaughter thumped him with your son’s bat. You should have heard her war cry.” He grinned at the way Leia ducked her head and blushed. The high color in her face made her blue eyes even brighter.