Read Online Too Hot Four Hula: 4 (The Tiki Goddess Mystery Series) by Jill Marie Landis - Free Book Online

wear. All remained stoic, no doubt wishing they were anywhere else right now.
    A voice came over the two-way radio hooked to the nearest cop’s belt. “The paddy wagon is here.”
    Trish yelled, “Paddy wagon is an offensive slur against the Irish.”
    “Nowadays everything’s a slur against somebody,” Pat said.
    “Round ’em up,” the officer in charge ordered.
    Pat turned on him. “Seriously? You’re seriously going to arrest a bunch of old ladies?”
    Kiki yelled, “Hey, I represent that remark, Pat.”
    “Stand down.” The officer went toe to toe with Pat.
    Uncle Louie nudged Em. “We have to do something.”
    Aware of the news crew, Em lowered her voice. “You can’t risk getting hauled off before the contest. You’ve got to be at that orientation meeting tomorrow morning.”
    “But . . .”
    She knew Louie would protest and argued, “Look, anyone familiar with the show knows you’re connected to the Maidens in a big way. Take my advice and get out of here. I’ll do what I can.”
    He looked crestfallen. “You sure?”
    “Yes. Now scoot back to the edge of the crowd. Don’t do anything to call attention to yourself.”
    Em waited until he took her advice, then she walked over to the officer in charge. He had salt and pepper hair and looked to be in his mid-fifties, no doubt stationed at Waikiki while counting down to retirement.
    “Excuse me, Officer.” She read the name on his badge. “Officer Young. Is there any way we can fix this?”
    “Yeah. We can get these women out of here, so everyone can get back to enjoying what’s left of the evening.”
    The crowd had begun a chant on their own and was getting louder.
    “Hu-la Mai-dens! Hu-la Mai-dens!”
    “Do you know these nuts?” the officer asked Em.
    She swallowed. They were definitely her nuts, and she and Louie were indirectly responsible for them being on Oahu.
    “I do.”
    “Then convince them to stop resisting arrest. I’ll see what I can do after we get them outta here.”
    Em worked her way over to where Kiki was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Two officers followed her. She yelled to be heard over the crowd.
    “Kiki, this will go a whole lot smoother if you all get up and go with the police.”
    “We haven’t done anything.”
    “Look around. You’ve created a real mess here. Half of Honolulu will be down here in an hour if you don’t comply.”
    Kiki’s chin jutted. “Good. We can use some back up.”
    Em went down on one knee and leaned closer. “Stop this now before you all spend time in jail. It’s not cute or funny. If for no other reason, think of Uncle Louie. Don’t ruin his place in the competition.”
    Kiki tried to extract her arm from Lillian’s. The Iowan was sitting next to her, sobbing her eyes out. “I should have brought Bob! Who’s going to bail me out?”
    Precious, seated on the other side of Lillian, grabbed her hand and whispered, “Pretend we’re together. We don’t want to end up playmates for hard core prisoners.”
    Lil let out a wail that nearly drowned out the chanting crowd.
    Kiki allowed a patrolman in Bermuda shorts to take her arm and hoist her to her feet. He held on, indicating Lillian should be next. She rose with Precious clinging to her. The trio was escorted to the police van waiting on the delivery drive that ended at the sand. Their supporters surrounding them fell silent.
    Following Kiki’s example, Suzi, Trish, and Flora went peacefully, waving to their fans as they were led through the crowd. Tourists, beach-goers, and hotel guests parted like the Red Sea to let them pass. Big Estelle brought up the rear of the line.
    As they walked by Moanike’ala, the reporter, Lillian grabbed her mic. “Please, Bob, if you’re watching, send bail!” she cried.
    Em followed them to the van.
    Big Estelle wasn’t as complacent as the others. “This is your fault, Kiki!”
    Kiki made a show of huffing and puffing as she grabbed the door handle to pull herself up. She