Page 11

“Impressive spread,” he said.
“Thanks.” She picked up a napkin, blew out a breath. “Most of it was Rosa, but it was my idea to do the floating fire in the fountain. Did that once for an EmPowerPlay event.”
He chose a conch. “That’s right—you ran your family’s charitable organization.”
Her eyebrow quirked. “You know that?”
Now his eyebrow rose. “My brother is dating your sister.”
She popped the conch into her mouth, nodding, then choked, covering her mouth.
“Hey, you okay?” He stepped back, and she managed to swallow, took a drink.
“Yes.” She coughed again. “Sorry.”
“I have Heimlich skills, and I know how to use them.”
Was that a hint of a smile?
“We should mingle,” she said, setting down her plate at a discard table. “When does the program start?”
“Program?”
She stared at him, her eyes wide. “I thought you... Aren’t the kids going to sing?”
Oh...“Aw, you were serious?”
“Of course I was serious. I thought...” She turned away, shook her head. Turned back. “Okay. No problem. Maybe I could interview a couple of them.”
“Sure. I’ll ask Aliyah and... maybe Jamal.” Get them in front of the audience. And he had it on his list to meet Elise and Hunter Jameson, who’d asked him about adopting Jamal... and hopefully Kemar.
“I see Declan.” She raised her hand, and he turned.
Not only Declan Stone, who walked through the crowd wearing a linen shirt, dress pants, and loafers, but beside him, similarly dressed, although probably hiding an armory, Doyle’s brother Stein.
Stein had cut his dark-blond hair shorter, shaved, and wore a hint of a tan. No smile, though, so he hadn’t changed that much. Doyle followed Tia over to the pair.
Tia gave Declan a hug. “Thanks for bringing in so many potential donors.”
“Aw, Tia, you’re the brains behind this. I knew I could count on you.” He turned to Doyle. “And there’s my other director. Thanks for whipping this place into shape. Rumor in town is that you’re training up a coed soccer team to compete in the tri-island competition this fall.”
“We have some great kids, sir.” Doyle shook his hand, then nodded to his brother, who gestured to him to step away for a private chat. “How are you doing?”
“Me?” Stein asked. “I don’t have a BOLO out with my face on it from a local gang.”
Oh.
Stein’s mouth pinched. “If you needed backup, you should have called me.”
“I didn’t need—” Doyle sighed. “I had it under control.”
“Bro—”
“Stein. Listen. Small altercation. It’ll blow over.”
“Doyle. These S-7 guys are dangerous. Yes, they mostly live on the other side of the island, but they’ve been creeping over into Esperanza, and we think they’re trying to gain control of the port. And if they do that, they get control of the fishing, and then local businesses are affected and...” He ran a hand across his mouth. “Just watch your back. This Sebold character is... There are stories.”
“What kind of stories?”