“I thought you were going to bed.” Dante set the milk down in front of Laurie.
“I’m gettin’ there. I had to come say hello to our lovely lady.” Cheyn turned and came down the stairs.
He emerged from the doorway to the living room. His grin widened when he saw Dante’s pointed expression.
Dante sat down with his back toward Cheyn, which put him right at the head of the table, next to Laurie.
Cheyn walked up to the chair across from Laurie. He extended a hand to her. She clasped it and Cheyn brought her hand up to his lips.
“Good morning, Miz Laurie.” Cheyn kissed her hand. Laurie laughed.
“Good morning, Cheyn.” She chuckled.
“Are you done? She’s trying to eat. She doesn’t want you slobbering all over her breakfast.” Dante glared up at Cheyn.
“Relax, bossman.” Cheyn released Laurie’s hand. “I won’t spoil your hard work. It’s awful nice of you to make breakfast for her though.”
Cheyn took the seat in front of Laurie, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“He probably feels guilty for yelling at me last night.” Laurie took a bite of her eggs with a wicked grin of her own.
Dante flicked his newspaper open and buried his nose in it.
“What? The bossman yelled at you? Why did you yell at the lady, boss?” Cheyn tapped the newspaper.
“Because I hit one of the guys that broke into my room. Knocked him unconscious.” Laurie glanced at Dante’s motionless form.
“Wait a minute. You took down one of the attackers? What did you hit him with, your hands?” Cheyn leaned forward onto the table, balancing on his folded arms.
“No, a porcelain lamp in my closet.” Laurie took another bite of her breakfast.
Cheyn erupted into laughter.
“He told us last night he had to fend off the two guys. He never said anything about you taking one on!” Cheyn laughed and pounded his fist on the table.
Dante crumpled his newspaper as he scowled at them.
“That’s because it was foolish, and I yelled at you because it was foolish. You could have gotten us both killed.” Dante’s face flushed.
Cheyn laughed harder.
“Come on boss, don’t lie. You just hate being the protected instead of the protector!” Cheyn held his stomach as he threw his head back and laughed.
Laurie tried not to laugh, but between Cheyn’s raucous laughter and Dante looking like he was about to kill Cheyn with his bare hands, she couldn’t keep it together. She almost choked on her toast.
“Hey David, did you hear this? It wasn’t the boss that fended off those two men, it was Laurie.” Cheyn pushed away from the table, conveniently out of Dante’s reach.
Dante sent his eyes skyward. He pulled his hands through his hair and glared.
“Well, no, Dante had one of them, I just hit the other one.” Laurie stopped talking when Dante turned his glowering expression on her.
Cheyn laughed for several more minutes until he wiped tears from his eyes. Dante crossed his arms and stared at him across the table. Finally, Cheyn’s laughter petered out to a chuckle.
“We appreciate you saving the boss’ life. Even if he did yell at you. Yelling at the poor girl who saved you, not very nice, man, not very nice.” Cheyn shook his head at Dante.
“Are you done? I have to explain the rules to her, go over the MOU, and show her the safe rooms. Cheyn, she can’t eat with you making her laugh like that. She’s about to choke.” Dante turned a deeper shade of red, as he pushed Laurie’s coffee toward her hand.
“Then you’ll be able to return the favor and save her life.” Cheyn winked at Laurie.
Laurie erupted into a fresh burst of laughter, sputtering as she tried not to spit eggs everywhere.
Dante’s scowl darkened.
“All right, all right. I’ll go to bed. Miz Laurie, it was a pleasure having breakfast with a bona fide hero. I will see you later tonight.” Cheyn gave her a wink and a little salute.
He clapped Dante on the shoulder as he walked past, chuckling the whole way out of the room.
Laurie took a gulp of coffee, still smiling.
“He seems nice.” She looked up at Dante, trying to hide her grin behind the rim of coffee cup.
Dante tried not to smile back at her as he leaned forward onto the table. He coughed and shifted in his seat.
“Don’t ever believe a word he tells you about anything.” Dante looked at her, then his gaze darted away and then back again.
“Okay.” She shook her head. “What rules do you have to tell me?”
He cleared his throat and adopted a serious expression.
“The most important rule is that you do what we ask you to do. For instance, if I say ‘stay in the closet until I come get you,’ you need to stay in the closet until I come and get you.”
Laurie’s smile faded a tiny bit, but Dante continued.
“This is just a safe house. You won’t stay here for long. Once the DA has interviewed you, and you’re accepted into the program, you’ll be relocated somewhere else. The DA left for Washington, D.C. on business. He might call to talk to you over the phone, but he won’t be able to interview you until he gets back. In the meantime, we’ll get all of the paperwork together so you can enter the program.”
“Do I get to choose where I live?” Laurie wrapped her hands around her coffee cup, and found comfort in its familiar warmth.
“No, but I need as much information from you as possible so we can find a suitable place for you to live. While you’re here, and whenever you’re in a safe house, you should never be outside, unless you’re with us. If a car pulls into the driveway, we go out to see who it is. You stay in here, until we bring that person inside. If someone ever comes up to the door, we answer—not you. We have internet here, but we don’t want you contacting anyone. Do you have any family I should contact?”
Laurie’s gaze drifted down to the table.
“No.”
“Your mom, dad—aunts, uncles?”
Laurie took a deep breath.
“No,” Laurie said. “My mom and dad died in a car accident with my little brother. I think my dad has a brother, but they live in Oregon and I’ve never met them. I don’t have any family here.”
“I’m sorry.”
Laurie looked up at him. His eyes were gentle and warm. His gaze didn’t hold the look of pity everyone else gave her when she imparted that same bit of information. There was just the slightest hint of sorrow. She nodded and sat back in her chair.
“Are there any friends we should contact then? A boyfriend?”
“Jim will tell everyone at the resort that needs to know. Stuff gets around the hotel. All my friends work there. I’m not dating anyone.”
Dante gave a slow nod and scribbled something on the newspaper in his hands.
“Okay. We don’t want you contacting any of your friends, Laurie. No e-mail. We have a switchboard you can use to call people. You can’t tell them where you are. Except for the trial, you won’t be back to Hawaii again. It’s harsh, but your friend’s accounts can be hacked, calls can be traced, and people can be followed. Kaimi has a lot of friends on the islands.”
Laurie set down her coffee cup. Her mouth dropped open.
“I can’t come back to Hawaii? Ever?” She didn’t think she would have to leave the state.
“No.” Dante shook his head. “Once you enter the Witness Security Program, you can never come back here unless you are under protection. Doing so would expel you from the program—it would also put your life at risk. Even if your testimony puts Kaimi behind bars for life, his crime ring is extensive here. You’re not safe in Hawaii anymore.”
Laurie stared at the kitchen table as the information sank in. She would have to leave her home. Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back.
“Laurie?”
She met his gaze. His voice softened.
“Do you understand everything I just told you?”
Laurie swallowed on the rising tide of sadness in her throat.