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  "So again," Mahana said, coming to a stop as the sand ran out beneath their feet. "Kindred spirits."

  Dyson stopped beside her, looking at her in the moonlight. Several long moments of silence passed between them, Dyson swinging his sandals out in either direction. "Should we head back?"

  Mahana's eyes traced the night for a moment, focusing on nothing in particular. "What is tonight?"

  "Um, Christmas Eve?"

  "No, I mean what day?"

  "Friday, I think?"

  "Come on," Mahana said, tossing her sandals down on the grass and sliding her feet into them. "I want to show you something."

  She held her hand out and waited for Dyson to do the same with his sandals.

  Once he did, he grasped her hand and let her lead him across the wide expanse of open grass towards the opposite end of the peninsula. Around them the smell of charcoal hung in the air, a few stray groups of people still huddled beneath tents or around picnic tables.

  "The city built this out of coral dredge a long time ago," Mahana said. "They renamed it something fancy and long winded a while back, but to the locals it's known as Magic Island."

  "Magic Island," Dyson repeated. "Why's that?"

  "Nobody's really sure. Some people say it was a reference to some sort of Waikiki tourist attraction that it was supposed to be a part of."

  She fell silent as she led him to the far tip of the peninsula. The thick groves of palm trees fell away on either side of them as they walked, replaced by oversized coral boulders and the rising surf crashing into them.

  Mahana pulled him out towards a flat expanse of stone before releasing her grip and dropping to a seated position on the cool rocks. Around them, white sea foam sprayed up into the air, falling just short of where they were sitting.

  "Wow," Dyson whispered.

  "Not yet," Mahana said, her eyes lifted towards the sky above Waikiki. From where they were seated they could see the entire strip lit up with twinkling lights, Diamond Head looming in the distance.

  Almost on cue, a single streak of gold floated into the sky, reaching its apex and exploding into a brilliant orb. A moment later matching fireworks of red and blue erupted on either side of it.

  "I like to think they named it Magic Island for moments just like this," Mahana whispered.

  A half smile graced Dyson's face as he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Do they do this for Christmas Eve?" he asked, watching in awe as above him the night sky reflected of the water, bathing the world in bright color.

  "They do it every Friday night at this time," Mahana said. "Kind of a welcome to new visitors, a farewell to those heading back. A kickoff to the weekend for the rest of us."

  Dyson watched in rapt silence as the night sky exploded around him, colors of gold, green and purple illuminating the sky for the whole city to see. Beside him Mahana laced her fingers around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder as they watched in silence.

  When the show ended, both of them remained motionless. The darkness and silence of the world seeming all-consuming after the fireworks display.

  Without thinking, Dyson leaned over and kissed the top of Mahana's head, keeping his nose pressed against her fragrant hair. "Merry Christmas.”

  "Mele Kalikimaka," Mahana replied, pulling herself tighter against his arm.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The two remained in place, drawing warmth from one another, for the better part of an hour. Around them, the island descended deeper into night, more stars poking out from beneath an inky veil with each passing second.

  In front of them, the tide continued to rise, battering the rocks with increasing aplomb and sending salty mist over their feet and ankles.

  "We should probably head back," Dyson whispered, his head still resting atop Mahana's.

  "Yeah," Mahana responded, the side of her face pressed against his shirt sleeve.

  Slowly they unfolded themselves and stood, Dyson looping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her near as they took the opposite side of the path down the peninsula. The stranglers were long since gone as they sauntered towards the beach, a few homeless people huddled beneath palm trees the only signs of life.

  A shiver ran through Mahana as they walked, her entire body quivering as Dyson pulled her close. Pressed together they ambled forward, their outline resembling contestants in a three legged race as they walked.

  "Don't take this the wrong way," Dyson said as they headed towards the mouth of the Magic Island, "but what if we just left our cars down there for the night?"

  "What do you mean?"

  Dyson pointed with his outside hand towards the traffic light just a hundred yards in front of them, the entrance to the Ala Moana Hotel just beyond that. "Well, from where we're now standing, we're about a two minute walk from the hotel, depending on if we catch the light."

  He then swung his arm out to the left, pointing towards the opposite end of the beach. "And the better part of a mile walk away from our cars."

  "And?"

  Dyson paused for a moment, considering his next words. He had a feeling Mahana already knew what he was getting at, but was going to make him say it. "I have a suite, and you're already shivering."

  "So it's like that, huh?" Mahana asked.

  A faint smile grew on Dyson's face. "Yes, it's exactly like that."

  A matching smile spread across Mahana's face. "I don't know."

  "Well, I haven't checked with my tour guide yet, but the draft itinerary includes another full day tomorrow, meaning you'll be going home for a total of maybe ten hours. If that."

  "True," Mahana said.

  "And I have a perfectly good couch I can sleep on," Dyson said.

  "Also true.”

  "And again, you are already shivering."

  "This is also true, though that one is your fault."

  Dyson rubbed his hand along the outside of her arm. "I'm sorry, but I'm not wearing any extra clothes to give you. I am offering to cut down your walk and get you inside though."

  Chuckling, Mahana turned and slid both arms around his waist. "I'm shivering because I just sat on a rock for an hour waiting for you to kiss me."

  The words barely escaped her lips before Dyson went in for the kiss, bending her backwards several inches at the waist. A small moan escaped her as he pressed his lips to hers, his hands sliding around her waist as hers went behind his neck.

  The two remained locked like that for several long minutes, only ending the embrace after drawing the heckling of a pair of wayward homeless sitting nearby. Pulling back they kept their arms locked together, both smiling.

  "So I wasn't the only one thinking about it?" Mahana asked, resuming her position by his side as they began walking once again.

  "All you had to do was ask.”

  "Me make the first move? What kind of girl do you take me for?"

  "And basically telling me to kiss you doesn't count as the first move?"

  "No," Mahana said. "You sort of inviting me to stay over was technically the first move."

  "So that means you'll stay?"

  "If the invitation stands," Mahana said.

  "Of course. Besides, at this point I'd just spend the next ten hours thinking about you anyway."

  The comment got a smile from Mahana, who looked up at him beside her. "And Christmas should be spent with the people you care about."

  "That it should," Dyson agreed.

  Arm in arm they crossed Ala Moana Boulevard and headed for the hotel. Skipping the front lobby, Mahana led him up the back stairs to the second floor, hoping that nobody was watching the cameras too close for the evening.

  Once inside, they peeled back the comforter and crawled beneath it. Hours ticked by as they lay there together, neither one saying much as they enjoyed the sheer pleasure of each other's company.

  Sometime well after midnight, they both fell asleep entwined with one another, the physical and emotional toll of the last few days putting them both in a
deep slumber. Encased in the comforts of the bed and each other, neither one moved an inch until very late the next morning.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  A gentle, persistent buzz pushed itself into Dyson's conscience, pulsating out in three second bursts, one after another. The first few barely registered in his mind, followed by the next few resting just on the periphery.

  By the tenth or twelfth one, he was awake.

  Blinking, he raised his head to see the room was already bathed in bright sunlight. Mahana's dark hair was just inches away from his face, her body curved against him as she slept.

  Grunting, Dyson extricated his arm from beneath her and peeled himself out of bed, straightening his rumpled clothes as he staggered for the coffee table.

  Lifting his cell-phone from the hardwood, he angled it towards himself to see the name JANICE staring back at him on the caller ID. With a heavy sigh he pressed ignore, setting the phone back down on the table and stretching his arms high above his head.

  The phone no more than hit the table when it began to buzz again. Dyson stared at it for several seconds before dropping his hands to his side and flipping it open.

  "Hello?" he whispered, moving to the window to put as much distance between himself and Mahana as he could.

  "Where the hell have you been?" Janice snapped.

  Dyson had only met the woman a couple of times before, but the image of her with platinum blonde bobbed-hair and overdone makeup entered his mind. Closing his eyes he could see her sitting behind her giant desk chain smoking Parliament cigarettes, the same way she was the last time they spoke.

  "Hawaii," Dyson said, making no attempt to mask the agitation in his voice. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

  "It's almost two here, I don't give a damn what time it is there.”

  "Well Merry Christmas to you too," Dyson said, rubbing his eyes. Rotating at the waist he stole a glance over his shoulder to make sure Mahana was still asleep, her form cocooned within the oversized comforter.

  "Big deal. I was back in the office eight hours after giving birth. Work doesn't end just because it's a holiday."

  Dyson smirked, shaking his head. "Why are you calling me Janice? I signed what you sent and faxed it back before I left Bozeman."

  "Yes, and we agreed that you would come back over your Christmas break to finish everything else. We still have to decide what you're doing with the house, who gets the dog, etc. You know the list, we don't need to go through it again."

  "I do, and we don't," Dyson agreed.

  "Good," Janice said. "It's Christmas break. You've had long enough to play. It's time to get back here and get this taken care of."

  "Um, it is my estate, I can finish it whenever I want," Dyson shot back.

  "Yes, but you are my client and must do things when I am available. Starting the first of the year I have three class-action lawsuits in a row. Either we do this now or we wait until July."

  Dyson closed his eyes and pinched his thumb and forefinger over his eyes, exhaling through his nose. "No, we can't leave it open that long."

  "You're damn right," Janice said. "Now, I've booked you on a return flight leaving tomorrow afternoon. Get your ass back here and let's get this done. I'm emailing you the itinerary now."

  "What?!" Dyson said, his head snapping up as he stared out over the sunshine covered beach. "No, I'm not flying back tomorrow."

  "No, we're not having this conversation. Good-bye."

  Without another word Janice hung up, the line falling silent.

  Dyson held the phone to his ear for several more seconds to make sure she was gone before sliding it onto the window sill in front of him. Placing his hands wide to either side he leaned forward, the warm sunshine washing over his face.

  "You have to leave?" Mahana's voice asked from behind him, her tone traced with bits of sleepy and sadness.

  Dyson closed his eyes tight and dropped his head. He turned around to face her, resting his backside against the sill and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm sorry, I was trying to be quiet and not wake you."

  Mahana ignored the apology. "Your lawyer?"

  "Yeah," Dyson said, raising his eyebrows. Using his hips he pushed himself up from the sill and walked towards the bed. "And what a Christmas miracle she was to wake up to."

  "Sounded like it," Mahana said, her eyes shifted to the side as she stared across the room at nothing in particular.

  Dropping down beside her, Dyson ran a hand along the back of her head, her glossy black hair soft beneath his fingers. "She's booked me a ticket home tomorrow afternoon. I have to go back and wrap some things up. Otherwise, they'll be left outstanding until July."

  Mahana nodded her head beneath his touch. "I remember. It's an ugly process."

  "I'm so sorry," Dyson whispered, pulling her over against him and kissing the top of her head.

  "Me too.”

  The two remained like that for several long minutes, both of them staring off into space. Any residual sleepiness was long gone from them both, their minds working on the new information before them.

  "You know," Dyson said. "That does still give me all day today. You think that tour guide of mine has any Christmas Day specials available?"

  Mahana's shoulders shuddered as she smirked at the question. "She might. Holiday rates do apply though."

  For the first time all morning, Dyson smiled. "Of course they do. I wasn't expecting preferential treatment here or anything."

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Mahana waited for Dyson to shower and change before leading him back out the rear entrance, their path cutting through the parking garage and out into the massive labyrinth of Ala Moana Mall. The expansive open halls were desolate as they walked through, the store fronts all closed tight, still festooned with Christmas decorations.

  "Wow, this is a little eerie," Dyson said as they walked through, a small breeze hitting them in the face. "Kind of like a scene out of The Shining or something."

  "Especially when you consider that for the last month solid, you couldn't elbow your way through this place."

  Dyson extended his arms out by his side and wobbled back and forth a few steps, making himself a pretend airplane as he passed through the cavernous halls.

  "You do realize if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to hide me. Might even be a little embarrassed."

  "Ah geez," Mahana said, sliding her hand into his own. "You get to fly home tomorrow. I have to stay here and deal with these people. I'd rather them not use me as workplace gossip for the next six months."

  Dyson pursed his lips and gave a non-committal twist of his head, thinking it over. "That's fair."

  Together they exited through the underbelly of the mall, coming up on Ala Moana Boulevard at the opposite end of the beach park. Morning traffic was non-existent as they crossed over to the beach.

  Gone were nearly all of the regulars, including China and Rider, their absences quite noticeable.

  "Still more people than I expected to see out here," Dyson commented, watching as a few sunbathers set up on the beach. Beyond them, a small cluster of paddle boarders worked their way back and forth across the calm waters of the lagoon.

  "You have to remember, this island is somewhere between fifty and seventy percent Asian at any given time, plus a large Native Hawaiian population," Mahana pointed out. "Most of them don't celebrate Christmas."

  "Good point. I have to be honest though, it definitely doesn't feel like Christmas. Feels more like July."

  Chuckling, Mahana shook her head. "Such a haole."

  "Such an islander.”

  They found their cars parked nose to tail where they left them the night before, no other vehicles around for a hundred yards in either direction.

  Digging into her bag, Mahana pulled out her keys. "Give me an hour? You can return your car and I'll meet you outside the lobby?"

  "Sounds good," Dyson answered, pulling up short as they approached. Releasing Mahana's hand he crosse
d over the street and stepped up alongside his car, casting his head in either direction.

  "What's wrong?" Mahana asked, crossing over and sliding up alongside him.

  With an outstretched hand Dyson pointed at a gaping hole in the plastic covering his rear passenger window. The tape around the outside remained secure on all sides, while random shards of the torn cover flapped in the breeze.

  Pulling his keys from his pocket, he went in through the front door and climbed across the driver's seat, his eyes scanning everything in quick progression.

  "They take anything?" Mahana asked, bending at the waist to peer in through the open window.

  "There wasn't anything to take," Dyson said, his voice bearing a little strain from being folded up in the front seat. A moment later he emerged, a large red chunk in hand. "But they did leave something."

  Mahana made a face and eyed the object. It was roughly square in shape and dark red in color, with a random assortment of thick white lines running across it. "What the heck is that?"

  "It's a chunk of brick, with some medical tape wrapped around it." As he spoke, a hard look spread on Dyson's face, his eyes again sweeping the road around them.

  "A brick with tape? What the heck?" Mahana asked.

  Dyson tapped at a white stripe running perpendicular to the others, the sound coming out hollow beneath his fingernail. "Nose splint."

  A long look of realization crept over Mahana as she rocked her head back. "Snowman."

  "Snowman. My guess is he didn't realize the back window was already out when he threw it."

  "Or he did realize it and just wanted to send a message without getting himself in trouble.”

  Dyson looked hard in both directions again, weighing the chunk of brick in his hand. "You're probably right, though something tells me we’re past avoiding any trouble."

  Mahana opened her mouth to speak, but closed it just as fast. She nodded her head and headed off towards her car, reaching out and squeezing his hand softly as she walked by.

  Chapter Forty

  Dyson stepped off the curb as Mahana pulled up, his flip-flops slapping against the pavement. The car slowed just long enough for him to throw the door open and climb inside before it was off again, merging onto the empty street and cutting back towards downtown.