Twisted Vine Part 20

"Yeah. We're good." Lei's face moved from interesting to truly beautiful with her big smile. "We've sure been through some hard times. I'm hoping they're going to come to an end soon. One way or another. Thanks for coming by."

"I'm glad I did. Hang in there." Sophie stood up, headed for the door. Lei followed.

"You know, everyone keeps saying that. I just don't know what I'm hanging in there for anymore."

"That sounds ominous." Sophie petted the dogs' heads and they trotted with her to the gate.

"I have more than just work on my mind these days. I'm thinking of making some changes."

"I bet, with a guy like Stevens. I'd be happy to just have a dog at this point."

"You should get one. Go by the pound; they'll all be begging for you to take them home. I can't go there at all myself. I'd be overrun. Thanks so much for coming over."

"I'd like to be friends," Sophie said impulsively, feeling a flush in her cheeks at her awkward words. She was so bad at this.

"Of course. I've wanted that for a while." Lei smiled. "So next time you and Marcella shoot pool, count me in. Better yet, we can just go."

"For sure." Sophie went through the gate, clicked it shut, and stopped for one last touch of Keiki's broad nose, pressed through the bars.

Yes, a dog would be a good place to start.

That night, Sophie's new companion, a two-year-old yellow Lab named Ginger, refused to stay in the laundry room. The dog employed a variety of behaviors from scratching to howling to convey the message that she wouldn't be separated from her new mistress.

Sophie ended up with company in her bed in the cool dark cave of her room. While not exactly what she'd had in mind, Ginger was most definitely warm and hairy, and Castellejos's hypnotic eyes were banished from her dreams.

Chapter 33.

The next day Stevens drove Lei in his old Bronco from Kahului Airport toward his place in Kuau on Maui. Lei gazed out at the wind las.h.i.+ng the sugarcane fields in a familiar dance off of Hana Highway. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, frowning at DR. LASOTA in the little ID window. "Special Agent Texeira."

"Dr. LaSota here." The psychologist's voice was crisp. "Just wanted to inform you that the investigation into Healani Chang's death has been ruled a suicide."

"Okay. I guess." Lei glanced at Stevens and met his concerned eyes.

"Yes. And furthermore, our Internal Affairs investigation has come back with no evidence of wrongdoing on your part. You are in the clear."

"Thank you." Lei gave Stevens a thumbs-up sign.

"We are, however, entering a note in your personnel file that you are not to be involved with any further investigation of the Chang family."

"Great. I don't want anything to do with them, either."

"Good. Also, I'm personally sorry if this investigation added stress to your injuries." The doctor's voice had softened. "I didn't like the direction things took."

"I didn't either. Thank you." Lei clicked off the phone after the psychologist hung up. "Looks like I'm in the clear over Healani Chang's suicide."

"Thank G.o.d," Stevens said. "We can really relax and enjoy our weekend together now that the Kwon thing and that investigation are over." He reached over to squeeze her leg. "I hope you like my apartment."

He turned into the small parking lot of a condo complex outside the beachfront town of Paia and parked the truck in front of a three-story tan cinder-block building facing the turquoise sea. Coconut palms gyrated in the wind around the sides of the building, and the parking lot was trimmed in plumeria trees and brilliant magenta bougainvillea.

Stevens lifted Lei's stuffed carry-on backpack out of the backseat of the Bronco while Lei opened the tailgate and unlatched the door of the big dog crate where Keiki lay, expressive brown eyes anxious. Angel had gone to live with Consuelo at her group home, and Lei missed the little dog already.

"C'mon out, girl."

The big Rottweiler jumped down from the Bronco, and Lei clipped the dog's leash on, letting her sniff and investigate the lot. Maui really did have something uniquely wonderful about it, and it was in the wide-open s.p.a.ces and warm breeze that tossed her hair.

Lei thought she could smell the salty tang of the ocean just on the other side of the complex. Her chest was tight with excitement-she was finally here.

"I scored a unit on the bottom floor," Stevens said. "Come see." He carried the backpack along the cement walkway to a teal-green apartment door marked 101. He set the backpack against the wall. Stuck the key in, turned it, gave the door a little push. It swung inward.

Lei could hear the sound of surf echoing through the sliding door at the front of the apartment. The rhythmic swish was amplified by the walls like the song in a sh.e.l.l. A lance of sunlight reflected off the ocean, bounced off the ceiling, and lit the way in.

He stood still for a long moment, then slowly turned to face her.

"What? Is something wrong?" Lei felt her chest tighten. Was he regretting this? She'd finally learned what she needed more than any job, and she wasn't going to let any more time go by without telling him so. There were big steps ahead to take, but she'd made up her mind to get through them one by one.

Keiki gave a happy bark, trotting ahead of them into the apartment, leash trailing. The sunlight from the sea reflected off the floor, lighting Stevens's eyes. There were flecks of white in that crystal blue like ice floating in an Arctic sea. She could stand there, in the doorway, looking into those eyes all day. He seemed to feel the same, looking into hers.

"You're here," he said. "You're really here."

"Yes." Lei felt tears well up. She was so happy and so scared. "I have something I want to ask you."

"What?" His dark brows drew together in confusion as she dropped to one knee, hands twisted together.

"Will you marry me?"

She'd broken his heart so many times. She'd deserve it if he broke hers. She shut her eyes, bracing herself.

Stevens threw his head back and laughed, a sound of hilarity and joy that made the tears she'd been holding back overflow.

"Yes. Yes, G.o.d help me, I will." He reached down to haul her up by the elbows. He hugged her, crus.h.i.+ng her with such power she gave a little wheeze. He swung her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing, and she squeaked and laughed through the tears. Stevens stepped over the threshold with her in his arms and kicked the door shut with his heel.

The backpack sat out on the sidewalk for a long time, forgotten.

Monday morning, Lei walked into the meeting she'd asked for with Waxman. He'd beaten them to the conference room, as usual. Lei carried a piece of paper in a sweaty hand, and Marcella and Ken followed her in as she laid it in front of the special agent in charge.

"My resignation. Effective immediately."

She'd texted Marcella and Ken of her intentions, and their set faces reflected stoicism and support as they seated themselves on either side of her.

Waxman picked it up. Read it. Steepled his fingers as he did so. Removed his gla.s.ses, rubbed his eyes, sighed. "Where's your union rep?"

"He advised me against this. I just want to get it over with. I have another job offer on Maui."

"And a relations.h.i.+p there too." Waxman put his gla.s.ses back on, looked at her. "I'm not blind. And I know this IA thing has knocked you on your a.s.s. I was prepared for this, and I have a proposal for you. How would you like to remain on in a t.i.tular capacity as our special liaison to Maui? Whenever we have cases there, you'll be our go-to support and communications agent."

Lei felt hope fluttering. "I would love that," she managed to say. "I hate to leave the FBI. But I don't know how that role would work with my new job. It's a full-time lieutenant position with the Maui Police Department."

"Congratulations on that. I'm sure Captain Omura and I can work something out that will be beneficial to all concerned." Waxman leaned forward. "I also want to let you know the investigation into Healani Chang's death has come back with no evidence of wrongdoing on your part. Personally, I never doubted it." He reached into his briefcase, brought out her two weapons and cred wallet. "For the remainder of your time with us."

"Thank you, sir. I hope I will be able to be an a.s.set to the Bureau on Maui." She took the items, shook her boss's hand.

Waxman smiled. "It's been a pleasure working with you, Agent Texeira. You'll be missed around here."

Out in the hall, Marcella embraced her. "d.a.m.n girl. Thank G.o.d Waxman came up with something to keep you connected to the Bureau!"

"It was such a hard decision, but Stevens and I-we're getting married." Lei held out her hand for Marcella and Ken to see the simple engagement band with a channel-set diamond, which they'd picked out that weekend. "You both better come and be in my wedding."

"Oh my G.o.d!" Marcella exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "You're doing it!"

"Congratulations!" Ken swept her up in a bone-cracking hug, a first from her physically reserved partner. "Count me in. Do I get to be a bridesmaid or groomsman?"

"Your choice." Lei felt those easy tears that had plagued her since the head injury rise up, and she blinked them back as she smiled at the two agents who'd become her closest friends. "I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. It was great working with you, and I learned so much from both of you."

"It was mutual," Ken and Marcella said in unison, and they laughed as they walked down the hall.

Acknowledgements:.

Twisted Vine is the book my subconscious has been planning since Blood Orchids, first in the series, came out. Preparing for Twisted, I wrote all the "loose ends" and subplots I needed to tie up (this book was to be the last in the Lei Crime Seriesa") on the whiteboard next to my desk while I was still completing the challenging ma.n.u.script that was Broken Ferns.

I started looking for a crime well ahead of time. I look everywhere for ideas: the news, rumors in the community, blogs, articles, newspapers, TV shows. Some of my favorite crime exposes have been in People Magazine and Vanity Fair-truth is often stranger than fiction!

I needed something no one had done before, something the FBI would get involved with, something new and unique.

I've included a lot of crimes in the series, from the "basics" of the genre like rape, robbery and drugs to the finer points of money laundering, ident.i.ty theft, s.e.x trafficking, burglary and of course, murder. It's challenging to find something really different in the crime mystery genre, and I was coming up dry.

In my therapy practice I saw a series of depressed people-and as part of "motivational interviewing" a technique in which there is open dialogue about why a person engages in a given behavior, and the reasons behind it, I had serious discussions with people struggling with suicidal thoughts. These talks delved into the reasons behind this complex problem-and I realized I wanted to explore the issue of suicide and right-to-death, just as I have many social issues of Hawaii and current times through my fiction.

I came home one day with the idea of an a.s.sisted suicide "club," a variation on the ever-popular "strangers on a train" scenario, updated for modern times with chatrooms and pa.s.scodes-and best yet, I'd never heard of such a plot. (It's probably been done, but I've never read or seen it-email me at tobyneal 0 @gmail.com (remove s.p.a.ces) if you find a book or movie with this plotline!) It's challenging to write modern crime fiction with only a basic knowledge of computers, and I'd dodged that bullet by having Lei be a bit of a technophobe, clinging to her spiral notebook and flip phone. Enter Sophie Ang, a character who had begun to capture my imagination when she first appeared in Broken Ferns-a woman of mystery, of foreign birth, and of contrasts: an MMA-fighting female agent who's a genius with computers. So much of this investigation was taking place online that I gave her a second point of view in the book-and if you've read my other fiction, that's unprecedented. Only the "bad guy" and Lei get a point of view-but through the device of Sophie's perspective, I wanted the reader to better understand the process of tracking criminal activity online.

From the moment she appeared on the page, Sophie Ang was in danger of taking over this important book of Lei's. The tension between writing from Sophie's POV and working through so many delicious subplot threads (Marcus Kamuela and the Kwon murder! The relations.h.i.+p with Consuelo! The twist at the end and the IA investigation! Stevens and Lei's reunion!) kept my fingers flying, and I blazed through this story in a mere three months.

I discovered, sniffling over the scene with Lei and Stevens on Maui, that Twisted Vine isn't the end of the Lei Crime Seriesa" after all.

I'm just not done with them yet.

I've really come to love this mythic couple, and I want to see them move forward into life together and struggle with the same things we grapple with: marriage, children, temptations, aging, health, and careers even as I continue to explore the way the twisted vine of the past reaches its tendrils into the present.

Many thanks go to retired Capt. David Spicer who provided valuable feedback on the procedural aspects and particulars of dead bodies and suicide victims. Thanks to Jay Allen, internet detective extraordinaire, who took time out of his busy schedule to read several of the Sophie scenes and advise me on write-blockers and other computer arcana used in computer investigation work. Thanks also to Dan, Holly Robinson's computer engineer husband, who also gave small but important language tweaks to a world I don't pretend to understand.

Matt Rogers, another writer friend, does MMA and he helped with the scene between Alika and Sophie-thanks for the "spiral ride," Matt!

My editor, Kristen Weber, earned her money as I fired the rough ma.n.u.script off to her "on deadline" before taking a month with my husband to travel the National Parks, out of internet range most of the time. Thanks Kristen! And thanks always to my awesome beta readers Holly Robinson (whose literary influence has singlehandedly deepened my characters and sharpened my writing more than any other) Noelle Pierce, Bonny Ponting and now, my mom Sue Wilson. Each of you had a hand in shaping and developing Twisted Vine, and I'm forever grateful.

Most of all, thanks to my amazing husband Mike Neal, whose creative flame fans mine. We truly rediscovered love, adventure and companions.h.i.+p on our epic road trip while Twisted Vine was at the editor-and because of twenty seven years with you, I know the best is yet to come for Lei and Stevens too.

Toby Neal, 2013.

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Watch for these t.i.tles:.

Lei Crime Series:.

Blood Orchids (book 1).

Torch Ginger (book 2).

Black Jasmine (book 3) Broken Ferns (book 4).

Twisted Vine (book 5) Shattered Palms (book 6).

Companion Series: Stolen in Paradise:.

a Lei Crime Companion Novel (Marcella Scott).

Unsound: a novel (Dr. Caprice Wilson).

Wired in Paradise: a Lei Crime Companion Novel (Sophie Ang).

Middle Grade/Young Adult.

Path of Island Fire.

Sign up for news of upcoming books at http://www.tobyneal.net/.

About the Author:.