Page 14 of No Time Off (Lexi Carmichael Mystery #15)

FOURTEEN

Lexi

A fter strolling around the town for a while, we rode the bus back to the resort. Fortunately, there were no chickens on the bus to give me the willies this time. We lounged around and I spent an entire hour on the beach under a large umbrella in a lounge chair watching the waves and the seabirds. Slash did a lot of swimming and I read a bit, but nothing that involved computers. Instead, the book was a historical thriller set in Egypt. It reminded me of our trip to Egypt and a runaway camel named Arnold, but I quickly shoved that memory out of my mind.

I was on vacation, after all.

There might have been a stretch of time when I napped, but I wasn’t sure. It was really nice just to relax. Eventually Slash got out of the ocean and shook droplets of cool water on me as he leaned over to kiss me.

“It’s time to get ready for dinner,” he said, stretching out a hand. “Unless you want to order room service.”

I stood up, shaking the sand off my feet before I slipped them into my flip-flops. “I’d prefer to go out. I think I’ve relaxed enough for one day. In fact, if I relax anymore, I’ll begin to seep into the webbing of this beach chair.”

“That’s exactly the idea,” he said, grabbing a towel and drying off. “Minus the seeping.”

We returned to the room, showered, and opted for a fancy dinner at an upscale seafood restaurant recommended by the concierge. I decided to change into clothing a little nicer to match the occasion. I wore one of the three sundresses Basia picked out for me. This one was white and had a square neck with fancy yellow swirls on it. The dress fell to just below my knees, which I preferred, and I especially liked it because I could wear my favorite white sandals with it. A cropped yellow sweater and yellow earrings in the shape of small flowers were the only extra accessories I agreed to. The dress had a pocket, so I was able to slip my phone into it and leave my purse in the room. After brushing my hair and swiping on some lip gloss, I was ready to go.

Slash shaved and put on a short-sleeved burgundy button-down shirt with black slacks. He looked effortlessly perfect and smelled heavenly with a hint of my favorite cologne. Slash had arranged with the concierge to hire a taxi to take us back into Avarua, so the driver was waiting for us when we got to the front of the resort.

After the short trip back to town, we asked the driver to drop us a few blocks from the restaurant. We wanted to enjoy the evening atmosphere. Hand in hand, we strolled the side streets along the Ara Tapu. The sea breeze rustling the palm trees and the sound of the waves crashing against the beach was the perfect accompaniment to our evening.

As we approached the government center of town, which we had visited earlier, our peaceful walk was suddenly interrupted by a low, rhythmic chant.

“What’s that noise?” I asked, looking at Slash.

He shrugged. “No idea. Maybe some kind of performance?”

Curious, we quickened our pace. The parking lot, which had been busy in the afternoon, was now packed and alive with the buzz of an impassioned crowd. We moved closer to get a better look.

As we approached, I noticed two uniformed Chinese police officers eyeing us carefully from the other side of the street. I nudged Slash, but I could feel him tense, which indicated he was already aware of their presence. I found their presence odd and, for reasons I couldn’t explain, unsettling. They weren’t directing traffic or working crowd control or anything. Why they were standing there staring just didn’t feel right. As we passed them, I noted that most of the locals gave them a wide berth as well.

A makeshift stage had been erected in the center of the parking area. A woman stood on it, her presence commanding the attention of everyone around her. She held a wireless microphone, and there were portable speakers arranged around her. She spoke about social reform for the islands, her words striking a chord with many in the gathered mass. Her strong voice, amplified by the microphone, cut through the air.

“Fellow citizens,” she declared in English with a clipped Kiwi accent. “I know I’m new in my post, but I have been appointed to bring change. We must not allow our islands to be swallowed by foreign interests. We should preserve our heritage, our way of life, and our sovereignty.”

A roar of support went up from the crowd.

“Gee, I wonder which foreign interest she’s referring to,” I said to Slash.

He lifted an eyebrow. “I think that police station and those thugs back there speak for themselves.”

“No kidding.”

“You’re wrong,” a person yelled from the crowd. “They’ve helped both the economy and our defense. You don’t understand.”

Boos went up from several in the crowd, and a small scuffle started in the vicinity of the person who’d expressed an opposing view.

The woman on the platform tried to regain order. “Please, this is a safe space where we can honestly and transparently discuss our issues.”

“Then do something about the damn Chinese or get out of our way,” another voice yelled from the crowd.

I turned worriedly to Slash. “That doesn’t sound good.”

He nodded grimly. “Apparently, it’s become more of a problem than I expected. Luckily, it’s not ours. Let’s go.” He kept us moving around the periphery of the crowd as the atmosphere grew more tense.

A group of men in sunglasses and uniforms, different from the Chinese, standing at the edge of the crowd, caught my attention. They were watching the woman on the podium intently, their expressions unreadable.

I nudged Slash. “Look over there. You think it’s her security?”

“Probably the local police. They’re here to make sure this doesn’t turn into a disturbance.”

“I wonder who the woman is?”

“A politician, most likely.”

Slash stopped abruptly, and I bumped into the back of him. “What’s wrong?”

I followed his gaze and noticed a man moving through the crowd toward the stage with deliberate intent. He had dark hair tied back in a knot and a large, spiked fish tattooed on his neck. His hand was stuffed in the pocket of his billowy shirt, and when it shifted it a bit, I glimpsed the outline of a gun.

I opened my mouth to say something when Slash released my hand. “Stay here.”

He immediately started pushing through the crowd. I watched as he closed in on the jacketed man, who was now only a few feet from the stage.

The man withdrew his hand from beneath his jacket. He had the gun, and as he began to lift it, his gaze fixed firmly on the woman.

“Gun!” I shouted.

Slash was way ahead of me. He lunged at the last second, grabbing the man’s wrist and twisting it sharply just as the gun went off, the bullet hitting a corner of the stage. The gun fell to the ground with a thud as screams rose from the crowd and people scattered in panic. Almost simultaneously, the police I’d noticed earlier moved in, tackling Slash and the would-be assailant.

I lost sight of Slash as I tried to avoid being trampled. In the melee, I glanced up at the stage. The woman was clearly shaken and was flanked by a man in a dark suit and a policeman, who was speaking into a radio. Her eyes were wide with shock. The rest of the police swiftly secured the area, and the crowd began to disperse, murmuring anxiously. After a minute, I started making my way to where I’d last seen Slash.

I spotted his dark hair and saw that he was talking to a couple of police officers. The would-be assassin with the fish tattoo had been cuffed and was being dragged away by the local police. Several Chinese police officers had now joined the fray and were clearing the square. I had to avoid two of them as I ran toward Slash.

“Slash,” I called out when I got closer. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Slash said as I ran up beside him. “They’re just asking me some questions.”

“Why are you cuffed?” I asked in outrage. “What’s going on?”

“They’re just sorting things out.”

A burly man with an earpiece and his pistol out stepped between us. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lexi Carmichael. That’s my husband, and he just saved that woman up there.” I pointed to the stage. “Why is he in cuffs?”

Before he could answer, the woman from the stage and her two guardians approached. Her face was pale, but she seemed steadier on her feet than she had minutes before.

“Thank you,” she said to Slash, her voice calm despite the slight tremor of her hands. “You saved my life.”

Slash dipped his head slightly. “I’m just glad I was here.”

She turned to the burly man with a mustache who stood next to her. “Captain Enoka, please remove the handcuffs from this man. I saw what happened.”

“Ma’am, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. We have yet to fully interview him.”

“There is no need for an interview,” she said. “He saved my life, Captain. He took down that man with the gun. If not for him, I wouldn’t be standing here. There’s no uncertainty about that.”

An awkward silence fell over our group. There was obviously some history between the politician and the captain. Nevertheless, though she hadn’t said it aloud, the message was clear: Slash had stopped what the captain’s men hadn’t.

Color crept into his face as the captain nodded at the man standing next to Slash. In seconds, the cuffs were removed from Slash’s wrists. Slash came to stand beside me, putting a hand at the small of my back.

The woman extended her hand toward Slash. “I’m sorry for all of this. I’m Petra Askari, the prime minister of the Cook Islands. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Slash took her hand and shook it. “I’m Slash, and this is my wife, Lexi.”

“Slash? That is a most interesting name. I’m sure there is quite a story behind it, especially considering the way you dispatched my assailant. Anyway, I’m exceedingly glad to meet you. What brings you to our island?”

“We’re presently on our honeymoon,” Slash responded. “Quite frankly, we picked your island because we hoped it would be quiet and out of the way. And we needed some time away from any…uh…excitement.”

“Well, then, I must apologize for letting you down, but I’m personally grateful you’re here. We’re also honored you chose our island for such a special occasion. Where are you from?”

“Maryland,” he responded. “Not too far from Washington, DC.”

“Americans. How delightful. I’m quite familiar with that area, as I attended Georgetown University for one of my doctorates.”

“I attended Georgetown University, too.” It slipped out before I could stop myself.

“Well, we must compare stories.” She turned to Slash. “Are you in security?”

“Computer security,” Slash responded and left it at that. There was no way he would admit he worked for the NSA.

“And you, Lexi?” She looked at me. “What do you do?”

“I’m also in computer security,” I said. “Just a couple of geeks looking to get away from it all and spend some quiet time on the beach.”

“Brilliant,” she said smiling.

The prime minister seemed way more composed than I would have been mere minutes after an assassination attempt. Maybe it was a politician thing, or maybe she was used to getting shot at. How would I know?

She didn’t say anything else as she looked us up and down. Her gaze drifted thoughtfully back toward Slash. It didn’t take a genius to see she was curious how a computer nerd had skillfully taken down the gunman.

“Well, we really must talk more,” she finally said. “As a token of my gratitude, I’d like to invite you both to join me and my family for dinner tomorrow night at my house.”

Slash and I looked at each other in surprise. “While that’s really kind of you, that won’t be necessary,” he said.

“Oh, it would be such an honor for me if you would agree,” she insisted. “I really would like to thank you, and it’s been so long since I’ve talked to anyone from the Georgetown area. I promise it’s the one and only time I’ll bother you on your honeymoon. Besides, I can tell you all the best things to do on the island from the vantage point of someone who grew up here. And I assure you, I have the best chef on the island. You’d get a truly authentic Cook Islands meal. It really would mean a lot to me.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I glanced at Slash. He looked conflicted but finally nodded. “Of course, we’d be honored to come to dinner. What time would you like us to arrive?”

“I’ll have a driver pick you up wherever you are staying at seven. Would that suit you?”

We agreed and then hammered out the details before the prime minister was whisked away in her car. As the car disappeared, we stood in the now mostly deserted parking lot looking at each other.

“What the heck just happened?” I finally asked.

“There was an assassination attempt on the prime minister.”

“And you stopped it.”

“And I stopped it,” he confirmed. “Just in the nick of time, it seems.”

I reached out and lightly touched his shirt near his waist. “Your shirt got ripped. You could have been shot, Slash.” My stomach turned at the thought of it. “That police security detail was either wholly inadequate or poorly trained.”

“Both, in my opinion.”

“Is it normal for the prime minister to gather people in a parking lot to discuss political issues? Couldn’t they just use Zoom?”

He shrugged. “This is a small island, or islands, to be exact. Maybe it’s a thing. If I remember, her office is only a couple of blocks that way.” He pointed in the direction her car had gone.

“Maybe. But she seemed incredibly poised for a woman who was almost assassinated.”

“Politicians have tough skins,” he said. “Part of the job description these days, I suppose. But I wouldn’t recommend she hold another town meeting until she gets her security beefed up or better prepared.”

“No kidding. She said she’d been appointed to protect the nation’s sovereignty. You think she’s anti-Chinese?”

“I certainly got that vibe. I suppose we can ask her tomorrow. But as an aside, I heard one of the officers say the shooter was local. For all we know, he could just have a beef with the government or her in particular.”

“True, I guess.” But somehow, it didn’t feel right. Maybe hanging around Slash for so long, I’d started to get a nose for those things.

I turned to look at the Chinese police station. There were several officers milling around out front of the building, but no one was really doing anything.

“Do you think they’ll get any information from the shooter?” I asked. “Like why he targeted her?”

“Hard to say.” He slipped an arm around my waist. “But there’s one thing I’m sure of. Whatever just happened is not going to stop us from having a nice, quiet honeymoon dinner tonight. Let’s consider that a one-off, an anomaly, a freak moment in time. At least no one was trying to kill us .”

He took me by the arm and steered me toward a store. “So, first, we buy a bottle or two of the local wine, as planned. Then, after a fabulous dinner with delicious delicacies, we’ll have a lovely barefoot walk on the beach and then drink some delightful wine on our balcony while listening to the sound of the ocean either in or out of the hot tub.”

“It sounds really nice, Slash.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Honestly, that was enough excitement for our entire honeymoon. So, let’s keep it quiet and simple from here on out, okay?”

“Fine with me, cara .”

I lifted my head to look at him. “I just thought of one good thing that did come from this evening—besides no one getting hurt, of course.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have to add a new column to my personal black cloud spreadsheet. I already have one for assassination attempts, so there’s that.”

“Thank God. After adding the pig incident, that spreadsheet is getting out of control.”

“You think?” I kicked at a stone. “We really need the universe to stop throwing weird stuff our way.”

“We do, indeed. Maybe I need to have a talk with someone about that.”

“Maybe you do. Who’d you have in mind?”

He pointed upward with a smile. “Not certain it will do any good, but it’s worth a try.”

“It’s always worth a try,” I said as we walked into the wine shop hand in hand. “And if anyone has some goodwill there, it’d be you.”

“I’m not sure about that, but prayers won’t hurt.”

“They won’t, indeed,” I agreed.