Coffee in the Canal (Maile Spencer Honolulu Tour Guide Mysteries Book 3) by Kay Hadashi

Author:Kay Hadashi [Hadashi, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

If Maile wasted no time in having some oatmeal and getting a shower, she could get two hours of sleep that morning. She sent a quick text message to Lopaka to pick her up at her apartment at ten. That allowed time to get to Waikiki, pick up their tour group of Midwestern farmers’ wives, and go to the zoo for an 11 AM start time. That would give them two hours at the zoo, an hour walk through Queen Kapiolani Park and the history lesson that went with it, and a late lunch at Denny’s across the street. A strolling pace was as fast as they would go that day, and it would end in air-conditioned and iced tea comfort of a restaurant. Perfect for the day after spending the night in jail.

“You look a mess,” Lopaka said as soon as she was seated in the tour van.

“Thanks, brah. Love you, too.”

“Seriously, have a date last night or tie one on?”

There was nothing she could do about the bags under her eyes, but she got out a tube of ancient lipstick and swiped some on. “If only, to answer both.”

“What is it, then?” he asked as he drove.

“You know how Ota told me to stay away from the Vietnamese and the gold ingots?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t.”

“Girl, you gotta wise up about that stuff. Those guys in Chinatown mean business when it comes to their businesses.”

“So I found out last night.”

“Don’t get in trouble with them, or with Ota.” Lopaka laughed. “What happened, anyway?”

“I stuck my big, nosy snout in Chinatown business.” Giving up on looking like the living, she put her things away. “For some dumb reason, I thought it was a good idea to go back to the canal and look for more gold ingots. Honestly, I was going to share with you if I found anything.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. I found someone else already there, pulling up ingots by the handful.”

“Police divers?” he asked.

“That would’ve been easier. It was that Binh Nghiem girl we met at the pho restaurant the other day.”

“The hot one with the hair and the hips? What’s she got to do with the gold?”

“A lot.” Maile went on to explain what she knew about Binh’s family and their possible connections with the Vietnamese underworld in Honolulu. “Somehow, it’s not just flower shops and noodle houses, but something a lot bigger. Ota said it might even involve smuggling through Honolulu Harbor, but they’re not sure of what. If they could figure that out, they could figure out who’s involved and put an end to it.”

“I don’t understand. Is the gold being smuggled in or out of the country?” Lopaka asked.

“That’s the problem. Nobody knows. If they did, they could follow the gold to the smugglers. All they have right now are untraceable gold ingots and a Vietnamese girl with a captivating way of walking out of a room.”

“I’d be equally captivated by both the gold and the girl,” he said, pulling into the lobby driveway of the hotel.

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