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KATIE

In a tidy little two-room duplex in Kihei, Katie McHenry stamped her feet and yelled at a flat-screen TV. “No, no, no! Don’t do that!” On the screen, a purple unicorn had been frozen by a spell from a mage figure who was stealing all the unicorn’s gold. “That jerk got me again, dang it. Violet Steed has been neutralized.”

Her best friend, Diana, looked up from her phone and smiled. “The Dark Wizard doesn’t play well with others, does he?” She snagged a slice of pizza from the box on the coffee table.

“Why do you guys let him stay in the game?”

“Oh, you know, he’s been around awhile, so he has standing. Also he’s got a lot of treasure. He can be a target too,” Katie said. “Hand me a slice, por favor .” She was currently online, playing ‘World of Magic’ with her regular posse of video gamers: her buddy Pete, who lived in Kahului; her younger brother JD, who was in the Army on Oahu; her youngest brother Mel, in his college dorm room in California. The Dark Wizard was the only player no one knew anything about.

“Come on, Katie, you’re a cop, go arrest that guy or something,” Diana said, laughing.

“As if I’m not in enough trouble already.” Katie signed out of the game. “One more month of probation and I’m solid, though. If I can get my supervisor to sign off.”

“So what exactly did you get as a consequence for that stunt you pulled with the ATM burglar? You just got transferred or something, and not fired?”

“I got assigned to Investigations as a trainee detective with the famous Lei Texeira. I leveled up, actually.” Katie grinned as she flung herself onto the couch, hard enough to bounce. She took a massive bite of her pizza slice.

“You’ve always been lucky that way. And who’s Lei Texeira?” Diana asked, searching for a blob of cheese that had landed on her shirt.

“You’ve got to be kidding. Don’t you keep up with the news?”

“Who needs that crap? Especially crime news. No offense.” Diana used the remote to turn on some background music—Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, their favorite go-to soundtrack for girls’ night in.

“Lei’s a homicide detective. She’s famous for always getting the bad guy, but she’s got a reputation as kind of a loose cannon. Doesn’t like to play by the rules.”

“Should be a perfect match for you, then.” Diana elbowed Katie.

“Hey! It was only that one time—or maybe a few others.” Katie batted blue eyelash extensions that matched the streak of cobalt in her hair. “Anyway, Lei is great. You watch—they’ll be writing books about her someday. Or maybe making movies. They could do a whole different take on Hawaii Five-0 except with a female detective lead and people right here on Maui.” Katie reached for another piece of pizza.

“Okay, but what are you doing for her? I thought they kicked you off Patrol?” Diana wiped her delicate hands on a paper napkin.

Katie waved her floppy pizza slice. “I’m an investigator now, specializing in high-tech research.”

“So, basically, they’re paying you to play with computers all day? You’re a cat, Katie. You always land on your feet.”

“I like to think so. Meanwhile, I’ve got my eye on someone.” Katie smiled. “He’s so fine.”

“Who?” Diana leaned on the couch arm, propping a hand under her cheek. “I want to know who’s worthy of the small but mighty Katie McHenry.”

“This guy I saw standup paddleboarding at the Cove in Kihei. I asked at the beach about him and found out his name is Matt. He seems to have a flexible schedule and he’s a firefighter.”

“Oh, firefighters are hot. Except for that ‘going into danger every day’ thing they do.” Diana frowned. “Which you know about more than most.”

“I know. I grew up with that life.” Katie set her pizza down on a paper towel, going serious. “I don’t actually want to date a firefighter. But I get lonely for a relationship, you know? I’d like to have someone to come home to, someone who ‘gets’ me and who’s awesome all on his own. I don’t want to settle.”

“Same,” Diana said. “I wish finding a soulmate was as easy as swiping left on a dating app, but that’s been more like an elimination process: nope, nope, double-nope.” Diana frowned, eyeing her friend. “Katie, this isn’t about your dad, is it?”

Katie turned away. Tears welled up. She grabbed a fresh paper towel and sniffed into it. “Today’s the anniversary of Dad’s death,” she whispered. “I’ve been trying to keep busy and forget.”

“Oh no.” Diana hurried to hug Katie. They rocked side by side on the couch for a minute. “Let’s get through it together. Alcohol? Chocolate? Ice cream?”

“All of the above. And a sad movie to help me cry. It might work better to let it out than to try to pretend it isn’t happening.” Katie dabbed her eyes and honked her nose. “Let’s watch Backdraft .”

“For you, I’ll watch that tearjerker movie one more time,” Diana said. “I’ll go fix the drinks and you cue it up.”

“Thanks, friend.” Katie bent her head; a tear fell on the photo of her dad, handsome and smiling in his turnouts, that had come up on her phone as a screensaver for this day. “Miss you always, Dad. You’re my hero.”

* * *

Later, after Diana had left for her own place, Katie dug her childhood photo album out of a box on her top closet shelf. A tumbler of good, aged whiskey—Dad’s drink—at her elbow, Katie leafed through the album’s pages.

Her parents had once been a happy couple. Her mother, Yumi, had never remarried, though she had a boyfriend now, and was a manager at the hotel outside Lahaina where she coordinated the hospitality department.

Katie was the oldest of their children. As she paused at a family portrait, taken at Christmas before her father’s death that year, she could finally acknowledge she’d been Dad’s favorite. That special place she’d had at his side was evident in the photo: Mom bracketed Dad on one side, Katie the other. Both had their arms around his waist, and his encircled them. Her brothers sat cross-legged on the carpet with the family dog between them. A massive Christmas tree, studded with bright glass balls, shimmered in the background.

They’d lived on a five-acre farm back then. Mom had a job working as the part-time administrator of a small business in town, but Dad’s firefighter career provided the backbone of a good living for the family.

That Christmas, she, Dad, and her brothers had cut down their own enormous tree. The excitement of the tree falling and the hard work of getting it back to the house had brought them together. Even then the project wasn’t done; they’d had to put it in a pail of water and set it up in the high-ceilinged living room, stabilizing it with cord attached to the walls and ceiling.

“Total fire hazard,” Dad had said, standing back with his hands on his hips to view the final result. “I’d have to cite you if I found this on the job.”

“Cite me. Then I’ll bite you,” Mom replied. Their kiss was passionate enough to make the kids groan and pelt them with popcorn.

Everything had changed when he died.

His death benefit had kept them going for a year, but Mom hadn’t been able to replace his income with her job, and the memories had been too crippling at the house. In the end she’d sold the farm and taken a big chance on a fresh start, moving the kids to Maui when she got a full-time hospitality position.

Katie still remembered the shock of going to public school in Lahaina, where she hadn’t fit in at all with her unique style. Fortunately, she’d qualified for an academic and financial need scholarship at a private school, Seabury Hall. Her social and emotional life had stabilized—only to spin out again, after her college dream of getting a job at the observatory on Haleakala hadn’t worked out.

“I’ve been finding myself ever since, Dad,” she whispered aloud. “But I think I might be on the right track at last. I can make a difference and catch criminals. I know you’d understand. You thrived on helping people.” Katie traced the plastic film covering Dad’s smiling face with a fingertip. Thankfully, Mom had printed out all these pictures and assembled them before he died; she hadn’t done anything since, and everything was online now, as if Katie’s childhood and family history ended with the album— but at least she still had it.

Next year she’d spend the anniversary of Dad’s death with her brothers. She’d share the photo album with them. As far as she knew, JD and Mel didn’t have any reminders of their early life together. Nothing but memories were left.

“But I’ve got this,” Katie said. She took the photo out carefully and set it aside. “I’ll make copies and have it framed. We should each have it on the wall.”

Mind made up, Katie was ready for bed—and instead of drinking it down, Katie lifted the glass in toast, sipped, and got up to pour the whiskey down the drain. “Tomorrow’s another day at the Maui Police Department, and I need to have my wits about me. I know you’d want that, Dad.”