Running Hot

that about?”
    “Just Ray being Ray. He warned me to be careful.”
    “Probably picked up on the vibes the rest of us are giving off. We’re all a little jacked tonight because we’re watching over Grace.”
    Luther thought about the occasional icy tingles he’d been experiencing all evening.
    “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go get some of Milly’s soup. It’s been a long night.”
    “Damn tourists.”
    “This is Waikiki, Wayne. You’ve got to expect that occasionally a few tourists will find us.”
    “Maybe we should put up a sign.”
    “ ‘No Tourists Allowed’? Somehow I don’t think the Visitors and Convention Bureau would approve.”
    By the time they had finished the bowls of udon, Grace was yawning.
    “When this is over, I’m going to write a self-help book titled How to Build Stamina and Lose Weight Washing Dishes and Frying Stuff Eight Hours a Day ,” she announced.
    “You’ve been living the soft life in the Bureau of Genealogy for a year,” Petra said. “You’re out of shape.”
    “I know.” Grace stretched. “But it’s like riding a bicycle. It’s all coming back to me.” She sniffed the sleeve of her shirt and wrinkled her nose. “Including the smell. Funny how the scent of fried fish permeates your clothes.”
    “You get used to it,” Wayne said.
    “Time to go home,” Luther said. “I’ll get the Jeep and meet you out front.”
    The routine had been established after consultation with Wayne and Petra. Under the circumstances, no one thought it was a good idea for Grace to be walking back to the Sunset Surf Apartments late at night even if she was accompanied by a bodyguard. The plan was simple. Luther parked the Jeep in a nearby garage. After the Rainbow closed for the evening, Wayne and Petra stayed with Grace at Milly’s place while he went to get the vehicle.
    He walked toward the garage, cane tapping on the sidewalk, and thought about the rest of the new nightly routine. Within twenty minutes he would be back at the condo with Grace and they would both tumble into bed together. Maybe they would make love if she wasn’t too exhausted. Afterward she would press close to him and fall asleep in his arms. In the morning they would sleep late. When they woke up, they would make coffee and slice some fresh papaya.
    He could definitely get used to this routine. Hell, he was already so deeply into it that he did not want it to end.
    There were still a fair number of people on Kuhio. At the end of the block he turned up his senses, rounded the corner and went down the narrow street toward the old hotel garage. The hotel had been closed for a couple of years. It’s upper windows were boarded up and the pool was covered. A nightclub had recently opened on what had been the first floor. It was operating at full volume tonight. The hard rock pounded into the night, accompanied by the roar of a crowd fueled by alcohol and a day at the beach.
    The garage was full, thanks to the club patrons. He walked toward the far end where he had parked the Jeep, automatically watching for the flash of an aura in the dark canyons between vehicles. The deep thunder of the music spilled through every opening in the concrete walls and cascaded down the stairwell.
    His leg was aching again tonight. He would have to take some more anti-inflammatory tablets when he got back to the condo. The thought made him want to snap the cane in half and hurl the pieces into the nearest trash bin. The memory of the shooter coming out of the bedroom, surprising him, flashed in his head. Get over it. Could have been a hell of a lot worse.
    He went toward the Jeep, keys out, still on alert for movement in the shadows or anything else that didn’t seem right. The garage was empty, except for the hulking shapes of the vehicles. There was nothing out of the ordinary to disturb his cop intuition or his psychic senses. So why the whisper of unease? Thanks for giving me the willies, Ray. After all I’ve done for you.
    When he got close to the SUV he used the remote to unlock it. Automatically, he gave the garage another quick survey. The concrete stairwell that led upstairs to the old hotel lobby and the entrance to the nightclub was to his right. The light was off inside. It had been on earlier when he parked.
    Adrenaline scalded his veins.
    The narrow beam of a penlight appeared first, prowling around the stairwell landing, illuminating the concrete steps.
    The person gripping the small light rounded the corner a