“ALOHA!” AVA CALLED, WHEN SHE spotted Letty and Joe approaching the rec room with Maya. “Oh, if y’all don’t look too stinking cute!” She whipped out her phone. “Joe, stand right there with those girls, and for God’s sake try to smile. Put your arm around Letty. No, closer. Maya, sweetheart, look at me now.” She quickly snapped half a dozen photos.

The motel owner was dressed in a floor-length fuchsia flowered muumuu, with a flower crown balanced on her graying blond curls and half a dozen leis draped around her neck.

“You look pretty cute yourself,” Letty said.

“Are we done yet?” Joe asked, deliberately baiting his mother. “This shirt itches. What the hell is it made of? Aquarium gravel?”

“Quit your bitching and get inside and start working the bar,” Ava directed. “We’re gonna have a full house tonight. Letty, can you sit by the table and sell bingo cards?” She looked over at Maya and smacked her forehead. “Oh Lord. I am getting senile in my old age.” She leaned in closer to Letty and lowered her voice. “I’m so sorry, hon. I completely forgot. We can’t let Maya stay. It’s illegal for a minor to be on the premises when gambling is going on.”

“She’s right,” Joe admitted.

“But it’s only bingo,” Letty protested. “Who’s going to mind?”

“Vanita Dunn,” Ava said promptly. “The bitch who owns the Islander. A couple years ago, Joe arrested Vanita’s son for stealing from her hotel guests, and ever since then, she’s always trying to make trouble for me. I wouldn’t put it past her to have one of her spies here tonight. She’d rat me out in a heartbeat. It wouldn’t be so bad for me, but Joe’s a cop. It could look bad for him.”

“I’ll keep Maya tonight.”

Letty turned to see that Vikki Hill had joined the small group clustered around the four-year-old.

The FBI agent was dressed in jeans and a pale pink button-down blouse, with a plastic flower stuck behind her ear as her only concession to the evening’s theme.

She nodded at Joe. “Nice shirt, DeCurtis.”

“Oh no, Vikki, I couldn’t ask you to babysit,” Letty said, uneasily. “You’re sweet to offer.…”

“What? You don’t think I could keep a kid alive for three hours? I’ll have you know I had a pet goldfish in a bowl on my kitchen counter for three years. That’s longer than either of my marriages lasted.”

“You don’t want to play bingo?” Ava asked.

“Nah. I just came out because those four walls in the crummy efficiency were starting to close in on me—no offense, Ava. Plus I was hungry.”

“If you’re really serious, you could watch her at my place,” Letty offered.