Free Murder at Dolphin Bay (Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery Book 1) by Kathi Daley

which was covered on the top but open on the sides. Unless the wind was blowing hard enough to affect the sheltered portion, the interior of the drinking establishment would be nice and dry.
    I hurried through the rain to find a few patrons taking refuge inside the hut-shaped room, but not so many as to prevent Kimo and me from having a conversation.
    “What can I getcha?” Kimo asked.
    “Just water. I’m still on duty until someone tells me otherwise.”
    “Heard the rain and wind is supposed to continue through the night. I’m kind of surprised Mitch hasn’t sent you home.”
    “He wasn’t in the office when I checked in. Drake said something about a break, but it seems an odd time to take one, so I’m thinking something else is up. Anyway, I’m here to ask you about Patrick Anderson.”
    “What about him?”
    “Did you know he was part of the company that wants to build the resort around the bend along with Branson Cole and some guy named Devlin?”
    “Pat might have mentioned it. Why do you ask?”
    “I was just curious, given the fact that Mr. Cole died on our beach a few days ago under mysterious circumstances.”
    “Thought the old guy had a heart attack.”
    “Yeah, maybe. So what can you tell me about Anderson?”
    Kimo shrugged. “Not much to tell. The man spent a lifetime working for another development company. A year or so ago, maybe less, someone named Devlin approached Pat and asked if he would be interested in teaming up to build a resort on the land down the beach. Of course Pat was interested. From what he said, designing his own resort had been a dream of his. Pat didn’t have a lot of money, but Devlin said they’d bring in a third partner with connections to wealthy investors.”
    “That must have been Branson Cole.”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “So other than coming up with the idea, do you know what Devlin brought to the deal?”
    “Relationships. According to Pat, Devlin knew the owner of the land where they wanted to build, and it was through that relationship that they were able to work out a deal. At least that’s what I was told.”
    Okay, so Devlin had the idea and the relationships, Anderson had the knowhow to plan and build a resort, and Cole had the resources and connections to get the money. Made sense. What didn’t make sense was how this could have gotten Cole killed.
    “I heard the project might be in trouble. It seems there’s a group of environmentalists that wants to block it.”
    Kimo refilled my water. “Pat mentioned that was a risk. In fact, the environmentalists created problems in a lot of the places the resort he worked for built. He said the issues usually work themselves out, so he wasn’t too worried about it.”
    “When was the last time you saw Anderson?”
    “Guess about a month ago. He was here with a woman. A real looker.”
    I showed Kimo the photo of the woman in the bar. “That her?”
    “Yep, looks like.”
    “Do you know her name?”
    “Nope.”
    I wasn’t sure my conversation with Kimo had brought me any new information, but I supposed it did verify what I already suspected.
    “Were you working in this bar on Wednesday?”
    Kimo nodded.
    “Do you remember selling a rum punch to Cole, or maybe to an attractive dark-haired woman who might have delivered the drink to him?”
    “I sold a lot of rum punches on Wednesday but none to Cole. At least not directly. I do know he wasn’t much of a drinker. In fact, he was in here the day before he was found on the beach and ordered a soft drink. I tried to talk him into one of our signature drinks, but he said something about a heart condition and needing to watch his alcohol intake.”
    Okay, that was odd. Based on the evidence left near Cole’s chair, it had looked like he’d drunk the potent drink. As usual, something wasn’t adding up.
    Mitch had returned by the time I returned to the command headquarters. He informed me that he was releasing all of us for the remainder of the day and