“You know about me, about my past, during the war, yeah?” she said. He nodded. “So where are the guys I used to work for in Honolulu?” She hadn’t yet seen one face from the old days.

“The CIC? Most have relocated or are relocating. There was also the OSS around these parts, I believe. It doesn’t matter. You’re with us now.”

“And who are you exactly, mister?”

“We’re so fresh and new we don’t have a name.”

“Maybe you could try one out for size.”

“Some call us The Directorate. But that’s a placeholder.”

“So, who’s your big kahuna?”

“Why, that’s a droll way of putting it.”

“I don’t mean it that way. To us the word means priest and wizard and chief and so on. You might be a type of kahuna here, who knows. But I’m asking about the kahuna of you.”

“My big chief? I can’t tell you. This is S.O.P., I’m afraid.”

“Standard Operating Procedure. Then what’s your S.O.P. gonna mean for me exactly?”

“Your food is getting cold,” Selfer said.

“Maybe I like it cold. Go ahead—chance ’em.”

Selfer nodded. “Very well. We would like you to comfort certain important persons who might stay here or pass through. Right here, in this exact quarters.”

Bingo. Just as she suspected.

Many men would’ve looked away presenting such a notion, but Selfer kept his eyes right on hers. “Not necessarily you personally. At a future point, if things work out, we might bring in other women who are capable of operating in such a capacity.”

Kanani shot him a sideways glance, then she stood up and paced the room, though there suddenly wasn’t much of this bungalow to go around. There was only that one bedroom, the bathroom, and a combination kitchenette and dressing room along the back end that was cordoned off with an exquisite Chinese folding screen, also of great value. It had to be.

Despite the game at hand, she was on the right track—and how. Her plan was the only way for a woman to become her own person, to be free from the leash of the man and the haole land grabber. Independent means. That was what Miss Mae had. What her mother never had.

“These are our terms,” Selfer said. “Besides, you were the one who wanted in here.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” was all she said.

“Oh, and, no visitors just yet,” Selfer added. “Only the ones we say.”

She was pacing the whole room. He watched her. She passed through behind the partition and glanced out a window, where she saw nothing but sun and green and that fine DeSoto convertible, which, she realized, must be Selfer’s personal car. For her, it was just a loaner.