Killer Confections8 Delectable Mysteries(7)

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An hour later, I discovered there’s hot, and there’s steaming hot.

The sun’s morning rays were hot, but with Captain Steve by my side, the sizzle level climbed so high I worried one of us might spontaneously combust.

I never realized how sexy it could be to have a handsome man help me don swim fins. The Hawaiian version of Cinderella. It almost made me forget Detective What’s His Name.

Shame on me. Here I had a boyfriend back home, one who was always there for me.

Sort of. The widowed detective not only had a young daughter to rear, but he’d recently been promoted to head of the homicide division for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department. Between solving crimes and an occasional Snack Dad moment, there seemed to be little time left for me. I could count our dates in the past two months on one hand and still have a couple of digits left over.

The man kneeling at my feet interrupted my musings. “How does that feel?”

Was Steve referring to the gigantic rubber flippers scraping against my oversized bunion  s, or the touch of his large hand resting gently on my right calf?

“Fine. Thanks for the help.” I stood and wobbled in my webbed footwear.

Steve put his arm around my waist and steadied me. “Hey, Dave’s my best friend. I promised I’d make you and your mom my priority.”

Steve grabbed my hand and we crossed to the starboard side of the vessel where a ladder hung over the side, dipping into the clear blue water of Kealakekua Bay, a popular dive spot. The white twenty-seven-foot obelisk erected on shore to honor Captain Cook glimmered in the distance. This spot was chosen to honor the sea captain because it was where the natives killed him once they realized he wasn’t really a god.

Tough crowd!

I watched Liz step carefully on the ladder, her fins jutting out at an angle. Brian patiently treaded water near the bottom rung. His bride clambered down the ladder with such dexterity one would think she’d been a duck in a former life. They kissed briefly, donned their gear and swam away from the boat, hand in hand. How nice to have someone waiting to explore the underwater magic together.

I must have looked worried because Steve hurried to reassure me. “You’ll be fine out there. Timmy and Rafe will keep an eye on everyone in your group.”

Timmy, a young man with longish dark hair, gave me a curt nod then moved to the back of the boat.

Rafe smiled wide, exhibiting a large gap where both front teeth seem to have disappeared. “Yes, missy, I look out for you. I will not let no big shark make lunch from you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. I hoped any sharks hovering near the Sea Jinx were on a low-fat no-protein diet.

I eased down the rungs far less gracefully than Liz. My vision is so bad that if I didn’t wear my contacts, I wouldn’t even recognize an octopus until it had wrapped all eight tentacles around me. I de-fogged the mask before I secured it and hoped no saltwater would intrude.

The ocean looked dark, deep and scary from my masked perspective, but I hated feeling like a wimp. Plus I was surrounded by other snorkelers. What could go wrong? I secured my snorkel and placed my face down in the water where I discovered an incredible new world.

The schools of brilliantly colored fish stunned me. Tiny yellow fish darted here and there, checking out the chubby mermaid who disturbed their play. Larger fish ogled me and I ogled them back.

I continued swimming away from the boat and a huge rock formation floated up on my right. The rocks slowly moved apart and I found myself face to face with a giant turtle. Then something tugged at my left foot. Was a shark about to turn me into an antipasto platter?

I tried swimming away, but the creature refused to let go. I thrashed my legs in a scissor-like movement disturbing the tiny schools of fish. Within seconds, they disappeared from sight.

My foot finally pulled free and I surfaced. My sigh of relief lasted less than a second before a dark shadow hovered next to me. I squinted at the large mammal, which did not possess a long snout and, oddly enough, wore swim trunks more iridescent than the fish I’d admired moments before.

I straightened and treaded water while I removed my mouth guard to scold my visitor. “Stan, why did you grab me?”

With his head above the waves, Stan fumbled with his own equipment before taking out the piece of rubber stuffed between his thin lips. “Sorry. I was afraid if I didn’t latch on to your foot, I’d never be able to stop you. You need to come back to the Sea Jinx.”

“Is it my mother? Is she okay?”

“Your mother is fine. For now.”

“What do you mean?” The heart palpitations I’d felt earlier when I thought I was about to turn into shark bait returned in full force.