She wasn’t going to accidentally run into Scott if she spent all her time in her room, though she’d quickly realized that despite visiting all the touristy places associated with the Naval base, like Pearl Harbor and the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Scott wasn’t going to appear out of nowhere, take her in his arms, and be overjoyed to see her.
Elodie wasn’t sure what her long-term plans were. She liked her job well enough, but she couldn’t work on a charter fishing boat forever. She was thirty-five years old, a renowned chef, a half-decent person, and unfortunately, on the run from a crazy mob boss she’d had the misfortune to accept a job from.
When the alarm on the bedside table went off again, Elodie reluctantly clicked it off and headed for the bathroom. Today, she didn’t have to make any decisions about the rest of her life. All she had to do was smile, be friendly to whatever tourists had decided to charter the boat, and make it through another day. Maybe when she got off work she’d go down to Ewa Beach. She’d heard good things about it, and it definitely wouldn’t be as crowded as Waikiki. She’d gone there just once, and that had been enough. Too many people, too many stores, and not enough space.
She knew she shouldn’t complain. After cheating death not once, but twice—first when she’d managed to escape New York and the Columbus family’s reach, and second when the Asaka Express had been hijacked—Elodie was trying to learn to be all right with her boring life. Boring was better than dead.
But she couldn’t help but wonder frequently what Scott was doing. If he thought about her at all.
She’d thought about him almost every day since he’d walked off that cargo ship. He’d sounded so sincere when he’d offered his help. She didn’t know how he’d realized Rachel wasn’t her real name, and she’d been so tempted to confide in him. But they hadn’t had time.
She hadn’t wanted to put him in danger by coming to Hawaii, but she was. She knew that. But she was scared. She had no idea what to do next. So she’d come, despite the fact that she might be putting Scott at risk.
Elodie felt weak for being afraid of Paul, for being so lonely. Scott made her feel safe. She just hoped, if she ever found him, that he was still willing to help, and that he’d forgive her for dragging him into her shit.
Late at night, when she was in bed with the ocean breeze drifting over her, Elodie fantasized about what might have been. If she wasn’t on the run. If she could be with him. Would they click in the normal world like they had on the ship? Or was the danger the only thing that made it seem as if they’d had a connection?
Elodie had dated in the past. Nice, safe men. Businessmen who’d thought since she was a chef, she’d like nothing more than to spend her days and nights off cooking for them. Instead, Elodie had always wanted adventure—and she’d gotten way more than she’d bargained for, that was for sure.
Sighing, she pulled on her bathing suit and forced herself to get a move on. Things with Scott probably never would’ve worked out anyway. He was…larger than life. A hero. She was a stupid chick on the run. She wished she was brave enough to fight back against Paul. Go to the cops, something. But she hadn’t and she wasn’t.
She also wasn’t an idiot. He’d win. He didn’t fight fair, as evidenced by the many people who’d ended up dead before they could testify against the family. She’d been ordered to participate in the killing of a man, and her refusal to put poison in his meal had led to her life on the run.
And now she was in paradise, where she was surrounded by people every day. She smiled and laughed, but still felt so very alone.
Doing her best to shrug off her melancholy, Elodie tried to look on the bright side of things. She was alive. Living in Hawaii. Had a roof over her head and food to eat. So what if she didn’t have friends? If she didn’t have a boyfriend? She was fine…just fine.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she headed out to the bus stop. She wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all herself. Coming to Hawaii was a bad idea. It just made her think about Scott even more and regret being stupid enough to lose his number. She had no idea if things with him would’ve gone anywhere, but at least she would’ve had a friend. Wouldn’t have felt so alone in the world.
“Maybe I’ll move to Australia,” Elodie said as she took a deep breath and wiped her face clear of her tears. It wouldn’t be good for the tourists to see one of the employees red-eyed and weepy.
She knew she’d been hired not only because she’d been available to start immediately and hadn’t flinched at the low pay, but also because she looked halfway decent in a bathing suit, and most of the charters were men. Sure, it was discriminatory and disgusting, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. And she did actually like Perry and Kahoni, the owners of the boat. They didn’t allow their guests to make her uncomfortable in any way. One of them went on every trip, along with the only other employee, a local guy in his early twenties, Kai.
As she sat on the bus headed for the harbor, Elodie thought about where in Australia she might want to go. Maybe Adelaide. It wasn’t as big as Sydney or Perth, and she’d worked with a guy once who’d been from there. He’d always talked about the city in glowing terms, including how amazing the restaurants were. It would be too dangerous to try to find anyone she’d worked with previously, because she knew Paul would already consider any of her past contacts. He wouldn’t hesitate to hurt or kill someone if he thought they had information on her whereabouts. But she could go to Adelaide and find a small, out-of-the-way restaurant and make apple crumble cake and meat pies all day.
The harbor came into view, and Elodie gathered up her stuff. She’d learned the hard way that sunscreen wasn’t enough to protect her skin when it came to the Hawaiian sun. She’d splurged and bought a long-sleeve shirt that had built-in UV protection. It was made of a material that would dry quickly if it got wet and didn’t leave her looking like a lobster at the end of the day.
After climbing off the bus, she walked past the row of boats parked in the harbor until she got to the Fish Tales, the boat Perry and Kahoni owned.
Perry waved at her as she climbed aboard and Kai gave her a slight chin lift. Both were busy getting the boat ready to go for the day. Kahoni would be meeting their clients back at the small shack on the pier.
“Aloha, Melody, how’s it shakin’?” Kai asked as he worked.
Elodie had learned her lesson, and she’d used a good chunk of the money she’d gotten after leaving the Asaka Express to get some custom paperwork for a new identity. She’d needed a name that was closer to her own so she’d remember to answer to it. Melody was close enough to Elodie that she didn’t think twice when she heard it.
“I’m great, but gettin’ better. You?” she asked. This was their tradition. She had the same answer every morning when he asked.
“Good. Ready to find some marlin today!” Kai told her. He said that every day, as well.
It was good to have a routine. Safe. It was what Elodie needed.
Twenty minutes later, two couples headed to the boat with Kahoni. They were smiling and looked as if they couldn’t wait to go fishing.
Saying a prayer—like she did at the start of every trip—that the clients wouldn’t be susceptible to seasickness, as it was her job to deal with the barf bags, Elodie smiled in welcome as they climbed aboard. Eight hours and counting until she was free to roam Oahu in the hopes that by some miracle, she’d run into the man she couldn’t get off her mind.