Maui Madness (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 7) by Kathi Daley Read Free Book Online Page A

aside before the burlap that had covered the object wrapped in chicken wire and seaweed was removed. The pig was lifted out and set on a table, where the chicken wire was cut open. As the seaweed was peeled away, I heard one of the men gasp. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to look at the eerie sight of the roasted beast, but for some reason I found that I couldn’t quite quell my curiosity. I inched toward the edge of the table and took a peek. What I saw caused the small amount of food I’d nibbled to work its way up toward my throat.
    “It can’t be that bad,” Z ak teased as I stood with my hand over my mouth, struggling not to vomit.
    “Oh my God,” a man standing next to me uttered.
    Zak frowned and walked toward the table and glanced at the charred flesh. “Get Keoke,” he told one of the men.
    He covered the body and returned to my side. “I think you should wait with the others.” He took my hand and led me down the path to the lawn, where the rest of the guests were waiting. After locating Levi, he handed me off before returning to the pit with Keoke and a few others.
    “What’s going on?” Levi asked .
    “The body in the pit wasn’t a pig.”

Chapter 5
Sunday, June 29
     
     
    When I’d agreed to call Tiffany at nine o’clock in the morning , I’d failed to take into account the time difference. She was going into work on her day off because she’d sensed my discomfort at not having anyone there with everything that was going on, so I felt I needed to get up early to make the call. The problem was that there wasn’t enough caffeine on the planet to wake me up after the long night I’d had.
    The body in the pit had been Anton’s. No one knew exactly how he came to be there. Keoke had personally overseen the burial of the pig, although he hadn’t stayed in attendance once it had been left to cook. Keoke said he and Pono had gotten up early to get the pig prepped for the day-long roasting. They’d covered the pit at around eight and Keoke had returned to the house to do some work before the guests began to arrive. He reported that he’d remained in his grandfather’s office most of the morning but had heard Pono and Anton arguing on the lawn from an open window. He hadn’t seen either of the men after that and had no idea what it was they were arguing about.
    The only people on the island prior to the arrival of the first boat filled with guests at two o’clock had been Keoke and his grandparents; Anton and Leia; Anton’s best man, Jeffrey Highlander, who Keoke hadn’t met prior to that morning; Leia’s best friend and maid of honor Cora Bell, who Keoke had known for years; Pono; the household staff and plantation workers; and four men from the catering company who’d arrived early to set up. Additionally, the florist and her assistant had stopped by but left after dropping off the flowers.
    The police didn’t want anyone to leave until everyone had been interviewed, so it was well into the early morning by the time Zak, Levi, and I returned to the house on Maui.
    The last I heard , they still hadn’t located Pono, but that was hours ago, so there might very well be a reasonable solution to this horrible murder by this point.
    Zak, Levi, and Ellie were still sleeping soundly , so I made coffee and took it out onto the deck. Charlie sniffed around on the beach while I sipped the dark brew and willed my brain to work. It was light, but the beach was still deserted. The only sign of life I saw other than a boat in the distance was a school of spinner dolphins out for a morning swim. It was peaceful and relaxing to watch their antics, but deep in my gut I knew that this trip, which had started off so peacefully, had suddenly become much more complicated.
    I knew that Anton’s death was n’t my business. I’d never even met the man, but I’d seen the depth of despair in Leia’s eyes and the realization of his cousin Pono’s probable detainment on Keoke’s face. I’d promised