Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Mia paused at the entryway into Kehola’s gym and scanned the crowd. The great thing about growing up around here was she knew who to ask when she wanted to locate Akela. Her assistant from the café said she’d be at the gym watching Kai’s session with his physical therapist. There was only one place on the island that Kai would go, so it was a no-brainer.
Akela was in the far corner, sitting on a yoga ball, watching her brother stretch. As Mia made her way across the floor, she took several deep cleansing breaths and tried to remind herself to be calm. Screaming at Akela wouldn’t help keep the situation under wraps. The last thing she needed was for anyone to find out what the hell had been going on at the café. She’d been calling Akela since seven a.m., but the other woman wouldn’t pick up. Since Akela was maintaining radio silence, Mia had been forced to track her down. A fact that soured an already pissed-off mood.
“Akela.” Mia’s voice held a bit of a bark as she came to a stop in front of the other woman.
“What the hell?” Akela looked up, her large eyes startled. “You scared me.”
Mia dropped her voice. “I’m about to do a lot more than scare you. We need to talk.”
“Hey, Mia,” a voice called from behind her.
She turned. “Hey, Kai. Looking good,” she offered him a smile. Kai was a nice kid and he didn’t deserve what happened to him. So few people did. Turning back to Akela, Mia said, “You’ve been avoiding my calls all morning. We’re gonna talk now. Do you want to do it here in front of your brother and the rest of the world, or are you going to get up and come with me?”
Akela paled slightly and then glanced around. She stood up. “Fine.” Turning to Kai, she waved. “I’m going to get a coffee with Mia. Back in a bit.”
“Yeah, no worries. I’ll be here.” Kai went back to stretching.
The two women crossed the workout space toward the little coffee shop that was in the corner of the gym. After they both ordered, they took their Americanos to a table in the back.
“What the fuck?” Mia snarled.
Akela blinked and bit her lip. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t even try to play me, Akela. I know you told Bobby that I knew about the second set of books. He kidnapped me from Ohana’s last night and then drove me home and threatened me.”
Akela’s face paled. “I’m so sorry.” Her whispered apology was barely audible. “I didn’t have a choice.” A single tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. “Someone at work told him you’d been by and that you’d gone in the back room by yourself. One of my staff is a spy for Bobby. I didn’t know. I swear it. I had no idea. I don’t even know who it is. Anyway, he was at my house when I got home from seeing you. He threatened Kai. What was I supposed to do?”
Mia stared at her friend. She really did understand and might have done the same thing if the situation had been reversed. But, honestly, she didn’t think she’d ever give up a friend that way. She blew out a breath. “He wants me to go back to my old life. He’s threatening to start a rumor that I’m cooking your books. It would ruin my reputation and kill my livelihood.”
“I’m so sorry, Mia. I truly am but what was I supposed to do?” Akela asked again.
“You should’ve known better from the beginning and then none of us would be in this mess,” Mia snapped. She rubbed her face. That wasn’t fair. She’d made mistakes with Bobby too. “Sorry.” Her shoulders slumped. “That was harsh. I know how persuasive Bobby can be and I know how much you love Kai.” She stared at her former teammate. “But Bobby wants me to start gambling again to make him money. I…I just don’t want to go down that road.”
Akela gripped her coffee mug as if she was freezing and the paper cup was the only thing that could keep herself warm. “I don’t see a way out. If there was one, I’d take it.” She met Mia’s gaze. “You know that, right? If there was any other way, I’d do it?”
Mia’s stomach sank. “Wait, you deliberately told him, didn’t you? You told him that I could earn his money back.”
Dull pink washed up Akela’s cheeks. “I didn’t have a choice. Bobby says the only way out for me is if I pay him one hundred thousand. That’s what I owe him.”
“Are you serious?” Mia swallowed hard. “A hundred thousand? He expects me to win him a hundred thousand dollars?”
Akela hesitated. “More. He needs money. A lot of it.”
Mia stared across the table. “Did he tell you that?” Why in the hell would Bobby confide in Akela? Shit. Were they dating? “Are you with Bobby?”
Akela’s mouth dropped open. “What? No way!” she said loudly and then immediately glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention. “No way,” she repeated in a quieter, but still vehement voice. “I heard him and Donny talking. Bobby is laundering money for someone. I don’t know who. Knowing him, I think he’s even skimming some. He’s trying to set up again. He lost everything when he went to prison, and now he’s trying to rebuild. He said to Donny that he was tired of being told what to do. Now that he’s been out for two years, he claims he’s done taking orders. Whoever is running things right now doesn’t like him, or trust him, or something because they won’t let him in. He thinks if he gets more money he can branch out.”
It was Mia’s turn to stare. That was an awful lot of information for Akela to have if she wasn’t dating Bobby. “Are you sure you’re not together with Bobby, or maybe Donny?”
Akela shook her head. “Voices carry from the vent in my office to the one behind the counter. I overheard Bobby talking to Donny. He wants to take a run at whoever the boss is, but he needs more money to do it. He’s pissed off about being held down. Bobby has big plans to take over the whole gambling ring or whatever the hell he’s a part of. But he needs enough money to buy guns and whatever else he needs.”
Mia sat back in her chair. “Are you sure?”
Akela nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. Bobby is pissed that he’s not calling the shots like he used to be. He said he’s already paid his dues and now is his time. He wants back in the game. That’s why he wants the money so badly.”
Mia stared at her coffee. She had no interest in drinking it. Her stomach had already turned sour. “What did he tell you exactly?”
Akela tucked her hair behind an ear. “He said that I owe him one hundred thousand dollars. If I give him that we’ll be even.”
“But how is that going to stop the money laundering at the café? If he’s not in charge then how is he going to stop it?”
She shrugged. “He thinks that once he has the money that I owe him and whatever else he wants you to win for him, he can take over and be in charge again.”
Mia frowned. “Do you believe him?”
Akela paused and then shook her head. “No, but what choice do I have? At least if he gets his money, maybe he’d forget about me, and I can rebuild my business. Once he stops hanging out, then people will come back. I know they will.”
Mia wasn’t sure that was true but that was Akela’s problem, not Mia’s. Her problem was Bobby. He thought she was his ticket to making money. “Does Bobby think I’ll help you get the money because we’re friends? Is that it? And he’s just threatening me to ensure that I do it?”
“He’s desperate. He’s not gonna say anything about you to anyone because it would cause him problems if the boss finds out. But, Mia, if you don’t do it, he will hurt Kai.”
Mia ground her teeth as frustration burst behind her eyeballs. She really wanted to walk out of there and go see Emery. Tell her the whole thing and let the chips fall where they may. But seeing the terror on Akela’s face, she knew she couldn’t do that. She’d been stupid before and managed to get out of it without too much damage. Or so she’d thought until her parents died. The cops still believed it was an accident, but Mia wasn’t so sure. Bobby had vowed revenge, and it probably wasn’t coincidence that her parents’ accident had happened so soon after he’d gotten out of prison. She’d tortured herself about being the root cause of the accident on and off for the last two years.
“Why has it taken Bobby two years to get fed up? He doesn’t seem like the patient sort. Why now? What’s going on that he wants to make his move now?”
Akela shrugged. “I’ve no idea and I don’t really care. I just want to be done with this.” She pushed her cup away. “Will you do it? Will you play again?”
Mia stared across the table. She wanted to say no but she couldn’t if it meant someone innocent, like Kai, could be hurt. “Let me think about it.” She stood up. “I’ll be in touch.”
With that, she left the gym and walked out into the sunshine. Cold seemed to have seeped into her bones as she sat with Akela and now it was glorious to be out in the warmth. Too bad the sun couldn’t burn away garbage like Bobby. She was stuck with him.
Mia got in her vehicle and then drove home. It was Saturday and she usually spent the day sorting out paperwork. Today, with nervous energy to burn, she cleaned her house until it was spotless, trying to erase any trace that Bobby and his goons had been there. Then she made some cookies and a lasagna for the week—anything to keep her hands and her mind busy. She did not want to think about the problem at hand.
Finally, with all of her chores finished and the afternoon stretching before her, Mia sat down at her dining table and started on the paperwork. She didn’t last ten minutes before jumping to her feet to pace. Setting aside the problem of Bobby, there was another issue. The reason Mia didn’t gamble anymore was because she liked it. She liked it a lot.
A sudden knock at the door startled her. Heart doing a two-step in her chest, she checked the peep hole. Carter. Shit. Would this guy never give up? She opened the door. “What do you want?”
He studied her face. “Nice to see you, too.”
She frowned.
“I brought food.” He held up a brightly colored bag. “Tacos.”
She recognized the bag from her favorite taco place. Her stomach rumbled as she caught a whiff. Lasagna was fine but tacos were much better. “Fine,” she said less than graciously as she backed up and let him in.
“I’ll take it,” Carter said with a grin.
She walked over and cleared the papers off the table and gestured for him to sit down. Then she went about getting plates and cutlery. “Do you want something to drink?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” She nodded and got out a bottle of wine. She poured herself and Carter glasses of the dry white wine and carried them to the table.
Mia sat down and Carter handed her a couple of tacos. She nodded her thanks and put them on her plate but didn’t unwrap them immediately. She suddenly realized she owed this man a thank you. He’d come to her rescue last night and she’d been less than grateful for it.
“About last night. I just want to say thank you. It was…a tense situation and you helped. I guess I owe you one.”
Carter gave her an appraising look and she couldn’t help but notice his blue eyes. They really were spectacularly blue, like the sky at twilight. His t-shirt stretched across his chest in a way that made her want to see more and if she was truly being honest, he had the nicest ass. She’d noticed it when he’d walked across the room in front of her. None of those things were helpful but they sure made him easy on the eyes.
“You know what you can do to pay me back?”
“Surfing. Yes, I’ll teach you.” She smiled and then started unwrapping her taco.
“Well, that too, but I’d rather you tell me what the hell is going on with that guy and his goons.”
She froze. It hadn’t occurred to her that Carter was going to want to know more about the situation last night, but it should’ve. Stupid. If she hadn’t been distracted by those eyes and the tacos, then she would’ve been smart enough to tell him no when he said he wanted to come in.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s none of your business.”
He cocked his head. “True, but it appears to me that you’re in trouble. And chalk this up to my savior complex, but I’d like to help.”
“I don’t need help.” God, the last thing she needed was to involve anyone else in this mess.
“I beg to differ. You needed my help last night and you’re gonna need it again. That guy isn’t going away, is he? He wants you to do something for him. Something you don’t want to do. I can help you.”
She pushed her chair back from the table and stood. “Carter, I appreciate what you did last night, and I thank you for dinner. I will teach you to surf, but I need you to stay out of my business. It doesn’t concern you. I can take care of myself. Please leave.”
He stood and started to say something when his cell phone went off. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and closed his mouth. His expression went blank. “I’ve got to take this. But this isn’t over, Mia. You need help that I can provide. Take advantage of me. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then he was gone, leaving her staring after him. What the hell just happened and why did she suddenly feel so alone?