Free I'm Kona Love You Forever (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series Book 6) by JoAnn Bassett

are a checkerboard of picnic blankets interspersed with guys throwing Frisbees and clutches of gossiping women camped out in lawn chairs. The air becomes scented with hibachi smoke and, although it’s not legal to drink in Hawaii public parks, the smoke is often enhanced with a familiar yeasty tang.
    ***
    Hatch got home at about eight-thirty on Saturday morning. He banged through the door, sending Wahine into a frenzy of barking, leaping and licking.
    “This dog is like a one- dude ticker tape parade,” Hatch said. “It doesn’t matter if I’ve been gone ten days or ten minutes, when I come through the door it’s always cause for celebration.”
    “ A one- dude parade?” I said. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen prey to Farrah’s bad habit.”
    “Nah, I know Wahine’s a ‘she’,” he said. “It’s just that a dude’s a dude, you know? I mean, like you’re a dude, even though I’m a hundred percent sure you’ve got the girl goods.”
    “Nice of you to notice.”
    “ Darn right I noticed,” he said. “Get over here and let me show you how much I love coming home to you.”
    He took me in his arms and I wanted to forget we had less than half an hour to get to the airport.
    ***
    The flight to Kona is only forty minutes long but throughout the trip the views are spectacular. There’s a good reason why Hawaii Island is called “Big.” It has almost double the land mass of the other major islands, O’ahu, Maui, Kaua'i, Moloka’i and Lana’i, put together. The entire island, all four-thousand square miles, is Hawaii County. It’s the largest county—area-wise—in the entire United States but it has less than two-hundred thousand residents. That’s roughly fifty people per square mile, which leaves lots of open space. A good portion of the island is relatively new, geologically-speaking, covered not in dirt or trees but by freshly cooled lava.
    From the plane window I watched as we climbed over the top of Mauna Kea with its telescopes and observatories. Since it was winter the ground was splotched with large patches of snow. Winter often brings light dustings of snow to Mount Haleakala on Maui, but Mauna Kea gets so much people actually ski on its slopes. There are no lifts so you have to drive up and ski down. I don’t know anyone who’s done it, but Hatch said a few guys at his station brag about skiing Hawaii in the morning and then hitting the beach in the afternoon.
    “So, what’s the plan?” Hatch said.
    “First thing, I’m going to check into what happened to Lili’s birth certificate.”
    “How long do you think it’ll take?”
    “Couple of hours.”
    “And then what?” he said.
    “And then we can do anything we want. We’ve got two full days.”
    “I’ve never been here before,” Hatch said. “I’d like to look around a little. And…” He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I’d also like to just spend time with you. No clocks, no agenda, no fire bells going off.”
    “Sounds great to me.”
    We landed and picked up our luggage from a cart they pulled up next to the plane. The airport was open-air, like Maui’s Kahului Airport used to be, with a fresh breeze blowing in from the ocean.
    We went to the rental car counter and Hatch dug out his Hawaii driver’s license. “What’s the best kama’aina deal you got going?” he said. “Oh, and you’ll want to see this, too.” He flashed his keychain with a tag sporting the Maui Fire and Rescue emblem. The emblem had the fire service Maltese cross along with his last name and employee number.
    The clerk looked like she was still in high school. Her glossy black hair was pulled into a waist-length ponytail and she had dimples in her tawny cheeks. The dimples deepened as she looked up at Hatch and flashed him a smile.
    “You’re a fireman?” she said.
    “Yeah.”
    She glanced over at me as if hoping I’d ask where the ladies’ room was and give her some “alone time” with her new-found hero.
    “ I can give