Synopsis:
Tritonia ‘Salty’ Casavant has spent her entire life out at sea on her parents' sailboat. Raised by a marine biologist and her mother’s extended family of modern day pirates, her perception of the world isn’t exactly normal.
Now a single mother herself and living alone on the boat her parents left her, she enjoys her private paradise as she cruises back and forth between the Islands of Hawaii.
Everything changes when a local gang begins using her strip of ocean as a dumping ground for smuggled drugs and firearms. Soon Salty is in the middle of an all-out turf war she inadvertently started and the only way out is through Detective Finn Murphy.
Excerpt
As the challenger approached,
it became apparent that Chick was bringing visitors. Salty frowned as she
spotted two haoles standing at the helm. Even from where she was positioned she
could tell that they were cops. Given her life experience, she knew the type
inside and out. Then, having written those characters a hundred times over in
her stories as the antagonists and the nature of the heroine in her novels, it
was hard for Salty to muster any warm fuzzy feelings at the sight of the two
police men as they pulled up beside her sailboat.
From the look on Chick’s face, she could tell that he wasn’t
thrilled either, although those feelings were probably partially directed at
her now that he had likely discovered Amaui’s identity. Regardless of the reason, the strangers’
presence seemed to be a necessary evil for the time being, so Salty made her
way to the stern and waited for Hani to toss her a rope. Once the speedboat had
been securely rafted off the Salty Kisses, all four of the men aboard the A'ole
Aina found themselves standing on Salty’s front step.
“Salty, this is Lieutenant
Pierce and Detective Murphy. They’re colleagues of Detective Mahelona’s.” Chick
made a face as he said Amaui’s name.
“That’s nice. Why the hell did you bring them here?” Salty
replied, completely ignoring the two men wearing badges.
“Because we asked him to,” Lieutenant Pierce interjected. “Ms.
Casavant, you were witness to a crime. We were hoping you could recount the
events that took place the night you met Detective Mahelona for us.”
Salty eyed the man from top to bottom. He was almost as tall as
Chick, but considerably leaner. His hazel eyes had a youthfulness about them,
but the flecks of grey he had spread throughout his hair and goatee had Salty
gauge him to be at least in his early forties, forty-five at the most. Even
though he was a white guy, he had the distinct look of someone who had lived on
the islands for a very long time. With his loosely fit grey cargo pants and
navy blue polo shirt it was about as lax a uniform as you could find. Not
uncommon for Hawaii though. Pierce’s partner, on the other hand was as much of
an outsider as the tourists who trampled the beaches year after year, season
after season.
Murphy was shorter than Pierce with dirty blond hair and blue
eyes that matched the surrounding waters. He was stocky and muscular and wore
his black pants and fitted blue button up shirt nicely. The sleeves had been
rolled up, but that was the only indication Murphy gave that he was aware of
the summer climate and its accompanying 83 degrees.
Salty glanced back and forth between the two one last time,
trying to decide whom she would rather deal with, when she heard Murphy mutter,
“This is a complete waste of time.”
“Whose time is that exactly, Detective?” Salty demanded.
“Ours. We should be out following real leads, not wasting our
time taking boat rides out to see some modern day pirate princess who’s
probably been out at sea for so long she no longer has a real grasp on
reality!” Detective Murphy ranted at her.
While Salty had been sizing up
the two officers, Murphy had apparently done the same with her. Judging from
his little speech, he hadn’t been too impressed with what he’d seen. Maybe it
had been the fact that she was barefoot and wearing nothing more than her standard
shorts and bikini top. Or perhaps it had been the sight of her tattoos which
spanned the greater part of her body. Salty had to take a mental account of
what her hair might look like at that very moment. She had washed and brushed
it just that morning, but the ocean air and constant breeze wreaked havoc on
her long brown locks, and most days Salty found herself staring at a wild woman
anytime she came face to face with her reflection. She never bothered with
make-up, but her permanent golden tan, sparkling green eyes and wind burned red
lips had made it unnecessary anyway.
“What are you doing, Finn? You can’t just insult these people!”
Pierce sounded appalled as he scolded his partner. He turned to Chick and
Salty, looking mortified. “I am so sorry. Please, let me apologize for
Detective Murphy.”
Salty was starring daggers at Finn Murphy and he was locked onto
her returning fire.
“No, I agree with your partner. This was a complete waste of
your time. You should go.” She turned on her heel and began to walk away. “For
what it’s worth, this wasn’t the first drop the Kakumei have made. I’ve counted
at least seven, always between the hours of midnight and 2am. By sunrise some
local fishing boat comes tugging along to retrieve the shipment. It’s never the
same boat, but twice I noticed they had the same colors. I was never close
enough to make out any lettering, but I could still give a pretty good
description if I needed to.” Salty didn’t know what had possessed her to
divulge all of that. Probably the part where that idiot Murphy had implied that
she was crazy and incompetent. It’s not like he could have known that it would
strike a chord with her, but it had…and not in a good way.
So much for not getting involved, she thought. She could already
feel Chick’s glare burning through the bare skin of her back and she reached up
absentmindedly to rub the spot.
“How do you know it was the Kakumei?” Murphy asked.
“For starters, I’m not an
idiot. Just because I don’t spend my time on land doesn’t mean I don’t know
what happens there. It’s all about perspective, haole. When you’re standing
directly in front of a tree, all you can see is that tree’s bark. But, if you
back away a bit, you start to see the entire forest…or, as it is in my case,
the entire island.” Salty was slowly meandering back over to where the men
stood. “Look, if you don’t believe me, send a dive team out. Last week they
made a drop. Three times I heard something hit the water, but the next day the
crew only pulled out two shipments. I’m guessing whatever else they dumped is
still sitting at the bed of the ocean in hopes of never being found.”
The officers exchanged a glance. Both Chick and Salty noticed.
“What?” Salty asked. “You already know what it is, don’t you?”
“Eric Choy’s father went missing ten days ago. He’s been a
prominent player in the business world for many years, not just on the island
but internationally. We think his shipping company may have been compromised
somewhere along the way…and we think the Kakumei had something to do with it,”
Pierce expounded stepping forward.
“That explains what they were doing with Eric. How did Detective
Mahelona end up in the mix?” Salty wasn’t even sure why she wanted to know. If
nothing else it was potential material for her next novel.
“Amaui’s his girlfriend. It was just an unlucky coincidence that
she was there when they grabbed him,” said Murphy. Pierce shot him a look
suggesting he zip it, but Murphy just shrugged and said, “What? Now we’re not
disclosing important information regarding our highly sensitive, open
investigation? My mistake. I was just following your lead, buddy.” For the
first time since meeting Finn Murphy, Salty had to fight back a smile.
“Anyway,” Pierce continued, “any information you can give us
regarding that night, or any others involving these ‘drops’ would be greatly
appreciated.”
Salty twisted her mouth from side to side as she mulled it over,
purposely avoiding eye contact with Chick as she did so. Finally she said,
“I’ll tell you whatever I can, but honestly I don’t see how any of it will
help. I mean, sure, I can identify boats, but not people. I doubt any of my
information will trump what Amaui already knows.”
“That might be less than you think,” Murphy said, shaking his
head and turning away. Neither he nor Pierce elaborated on it any further.
So, Salty began to recount
everything that had happened, starting with the first night she had heard the
plane down to the night she pulled Amaui and Eric from the water. She was sure
not to leave out even the tiniest of details, not because she wanted to be
thorough, but because she simply couldn’t help herself. Details in descriptions
had become a hazard of the job a long time ago. Even Finn Murphy seemed pleased
with everything she was able to give them.
“That was incredibly meticulous. Are you sure you don’t have a
background in law enforcement?” he joked.
Salty snorted. “Not exactly. I write about a lot of cops in my
books though.”
Chick chuckled.
“Why’s that funny?” Murphy asked.
“Because the cops I write about aren’t exactly the most
observant. They can’t be. I mean, it wouldn’t work very well for my heroine if
they were stellar members of the force,” Salty explained. She knew she wasn’t
coming off well, but then Murphy and Pierce had to have known when they were
coming on board that they wouldn’t be held in the highest regard. Cops and
pirates just didn’t mix.
Meet The Author
Author K.S. Thomas
Dog Lover who likes her pastries
full of cream and sugar….oh…and I write some
Aside from being an author, I
am also a mom to a beautiful 5 year old little girl. I tell everyone I named
her after my great-grandmother (because that’s the mature answer), but really,
I named her after my favorite princess – just so happens I got lucky and they
had the same name…If I wasn’t a writer, I would work on a horse ranch – I’m an
animal lover (in addition to dogs, horses are at the top of my list). I wear
flip-flops pretty much everywhere I go. I would rather stay awake until 5 am
than get up at 5 am (years of bar tending have left their mark), if I can, I’m
going to the beach AND I will always be nice to people who bring me
chocolate…or coffee…if you bring me both, I’ll probably love you forever.
A gypsy at heart, I write the way I
live, following the story wherever it may lead, always ready to start the next
one. This is clearly reflected in my body of work which to date includes
everything from Children’s Lit to Thrillers.
I happily reside in sunny Florida
(for now) and can be contacted via my blog, my website or the following social media sites ~
Twitter: @friedgatortail
Other Books by K.S. Thomas include ~
Upcoming Releases for 2014
Diner Guy
The Final Descendants “Et Calceum”
(Book Two of The Final Descendants Series)
To purchase Salty
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