Dinner that night was on the patio with candlelight and mojitos paired with a citrus chicken and rice pilaf. Liz kept looking up at the sky as she and Magnum ate until he couldn't stand it anymore.

Chuckling, he asked. "What are you looking at?"

She looked at him. "I'm sorry. I'm a stargazer. I can't help it. I was just curious if the stars are more visible here than in town, being less lit up and all."

"Why don't we walk the beach after dinner? There's even less light down there."

She smiled. "I'd love that."

On the beach, he took her hand to help her over a log as she carried her shoes in her hand. He purposely didn't let go, keeping an eye on the water.

"It's hard to believe there was a time when my life wasn't within driving distance to the ocean," Liz said, softly. "And if I have my way, it'll never be that way again."

He nodded. "I can't imagine not being near the ocean."

"But you're not from here either, right?"

He shook his head. "Virginia. But it's still driving distance to the beach. And my family went regularly."

She shook her head. "I didn't see the ocean until I was twenty-three."

"Really?! Was that when you moved to Miami?"

She nodded. "And it still took me several years to realize how happy it makes me." She stopped and looked up. "Oh, Thomas! You were right!"

Magnum looked up. He'd never realized how many stars hung over Hawaii. "Wow," he murmured.

She squeezed his hand. "You can say that again."

"Wow," he repeated, then looked down at her with a grin and she laughed.

"Can we sit?" she asked.

"Sure!" Magnum led her over to a spot next to the wall that allowed her an unobstructed view of the sky.

When they were seated, Magnum pulled her close to him. She nestled against him comfortably and looked out at the ocean and up to the sky.

After a time, she spoke. "Thomas?"

"Hmm?"

Sitting up slightly, to lean on his chest in a way that allowed her to look at his face. "Thank you for everything."

He squeezed her gently. "You're welcome."

She studied his face for a second. "You're making it very easy to pretend."

"Pretend?"

Smiling, she looked down to her hand on his chest. "That we might be on an actual date. That you're not just playing a part to encourage the ire of my stalker."

"Hey," Magnum turned her head with his hand on her cheek. "You make it easy. Under any other circumstance, who knows?"

She smiled at him and her eyes dipped to his mouth, then back up to his eyes. "Thank you."

He smiled at her. "You know, if there is someone watching, this would be the perfect opportunity to convince them that there might be something going on between us."

"If someone were watching," Her eyes dipped to his mouth again, then back up with a smile. "And how would you suggest we do that?"

Curling up, slightly, he pulled her closer so that they were but a breath away from each other. Her hand went up to touch is hair at his temple as he pulled her closer, pressing his lips gently to hers. She clung to him and their kiss deepened as he leaned her back to a reclining position and pulled the length of her against him.

When he broke off the kiss, she licked her bottom lip and smiled at him. "Yeah, that would definitely make someone think there was something going on."

He smiled down at him. "Should we get back?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. Let's just enjoy the stars for a little while."

He relaxed back and pulled her against his chest. They gazed up at the sky as the ocean waves lapped gently ashore only a couple of yards from their feet, until they both started to doze off.

"Hey," he said, gently, when he realized they were in danger of sleeping the entire night on the beach, rousing her. "Let's get back."

Taking a deep breath, she rose from the warmth of his side and yawned behind a well-manicured hand. "Mm-hmm."

He stood and offered his hand to her, which she took and he led her back to the guesthouse, putting his arm around her shoulder. After tucking her safely into the bed, he moved to the couch where he collapsed until morning.

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Magnum woke when he heard movement in the guest house. Reaching under his pillow to grab his gun, he moved, cautiously, to see what was making the sound.

Liz was on her toes, barefoot, in the kitchen. She wore a long, voluminous shirt with shorts that left most of her legs bare. Her dark hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that made her look more like a teenager than a woman in her thirties. She was looking into a cupboard above the sink when she heard him clear his throat.

"Oh! Thomas!" she exclaimed, in a whisper. "I didn't mean to wake you! I was just looking for coffee."

Smiling, he asked. "Why are you still whispering?"

She smiled and dipped her head, embarrassed. "Still trying to not wake you, I guess," she said in her normal tone of voice.

"The coffee is in the freezer."

"Thank you." She opened the freezer.

He stood. "You, know, you don't have to make coffee…"

"I want to do something to earn my keep. After all, I'm not paying you for your services and you gave up your bed for me, it seems the least I can do."

He moved to her side in the kitchen. "You don't have to 'earn your keep'. Come on," he took her hand and put the coffee back in the freezer. "We'll get breakfast at the main house."

"Let me get my shoes."

He grinned and led her up the stairs instead and kicked a pair of flip-flops toward her. Laughing, she slipped her small feet into the large, men's sandals.

Still holding her hand, he led her out of the guest house and around the property to the main house. They rounded the house to the patio, where they'd had dinner the night before and found Higgins sitting at breakfast.

"Hi, Higgins!" Magnum called out, cheerfully.

Higgins looked up from his newspaper to see Magnum in shorts and a t-shirt and Liz wearing what seemed to be a man's shirt and ridiculously large sandals coming across the lawn. "Ah, Ms. Bolling. You seem rested."

Liz smiled as she came to a stop by the table, even as Higgins stood. "Yes. I think it's because I felt safer than I have in quite a while."

"Would you care for some breakfast?"

"We'd love some!" Magnum smiled, holding a chair for Liz and then taking one next to her, opposite of Higgins.

"Yes, thank you. Only fruit and coffee if I may."

"Of course," Higgins smiled at her, pointedly ignoring Magnum. "I'll see to it."

When Higgins walked away, Liz turned to Magnum. "Why do I feel like this is not something you do all the time?"

Magnum smiled and poured, first juice, then coffee, for both of them. "Because you are a very intelligent and perceptive woman."

She laughed. "Are you, sir, taking advantage of my misfortune for your own ill-gotten gains?" she spoke in a southern drawl, with a hand on her collar bone.

Magnum wiggled his eyebrows at her and grinned. "Absolutely." Then he wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed, again, and sipped her coffee. "You are incorrigible."

He laughed and nodded.

Higgins brought a tray with plates and an assortment of foods. True to her word, Liz selected the fruit while Magnum took the fruit, along with bacon, eggs and toast.

Liz eyed the bacon for a while as if waging a battle in her mind. Finally, she took two slices and smiled at Magnum as she munched.

Higgins spoke. "So, Ms. Bolling – "

"Mr. Higgins, could you call me Liz? Or at least Elizabeth?"

Higgins paused, then smiled. "Elizabeth. You must call me Jonathan, then."

She smiled. "Thank you, Jonathan. Were you going to ask me something?"

"Will you be going into work today?"

She sobered and looked at Magnum, who nodded. She swallowed. "Yes. This afternoon. Thomas thinks it's best."

Higgins looked at Magnum, who had stopped eating and quietly moved one hand nearer to her as if prepared to lend her support if necessary. He nodded. "Quite right."

She swallowed. "Yeah."

"Well, music does have certain healing properties, I'm told."

She smiled again, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes like before. "'Soothes the savage beast', Jonathan?"

Higgins chuckled. "Indeed."

She speared a piece of fruit and placed it in her mouth. Then, she frowned and glanced at Magnum, who grinned at her, placing a piece of bacon in his mouth. She narrowed one eye in his direction. Then he nudged her foot with his again.

She moved her foot and frowned at him.

But his legs were long. His foot nudged hers again.

She widened her eyes at him and her face said. "Stop it!"

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. So she nudged his foot back, then moved hers out of reach again. Or so she thought until his foot nudged hers again.

If Higgins knew what was going on, he didn't let on until one of the two jostled the table. Then he looked up and said. "I say, Magnum! If you insist on acting like a child at the table, I simply must ask you to leave it."

Liz laughed through her nose, then hid her face behind her hand, her eyes dancing.

Magnum looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe he was being blamed for their antics. He looked at her, then straightened. "Well, I'm done anyway. Liz?"

She nodded. "Thank you, Jonathan," she said as she stood.

Higgins stood as well. "My pleasure, Elizabeth."

As she walked toward the guesthouse, Magnum looked at Higgins. "Thanks, Higgins," he said, low enough to keep Liz from hearing.

Higgins nodded, as if he understood completely what Magnum had been doing.

Magnum nodded back and moved to catch up with Liz.

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A couple hours later, Robin Masters' red Ferrari pulled into its usual spot at the King Kamehameha Club. Magnum jumped out and ran around to get the door for Liz. He helped her out of the car and placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked into the club. He kept an eye out for anyone paying particular attention to them as they walked through the club. He also looked for someone who was studiously avoiding noticing them.

"Hey, Thomas! Liz," Rick approached them. He focused on her. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Rick. You don't mind if Thomas hangs out with me today?"

"Sure! Are you kiddin'? When does he not hang out here anyway?" Rick smiled.

"Hey!" Magnum protested, good-naturedly.

She smiled. "I'll be right over there," she indicated to the piano.

Magnum nodded and squeezed her arm, gently before letting her go. Then he walked to the bar with Rick. About the time they arrived at the bar on the other side of the room, Liz had begun playing Yiruma's Kiss The Rain.

Magnum stood at the bar, listening for a moment.

"Ain't she somethin' else?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Magnum smiled. Then, straightening, he turned to look at his friend. "Is there something...?" His hand motioned from her to Rick.

Rick's eyebrows rose. "What? Me and Liz?" He chuckled. "Nah! She's not my type, Thomas."

Magnum's eyebrows rose. "Not your…Rick, how can she not be your type? She's…"

"Somethin' else," Rick laughed. "I know!"

Magnum laughed and looked back at her.

"Hey, what about you?" Rick asked.

Magnum shook his head. "Oh, no! I'm just playing a part to try to flush out her stalker. Nothing else."

Rick grinned. "Sure, buddy."

He looked down at his friend with a frown that turned to an embarrass grin when he saw the amusement in Rick's eyes. Shaking his head, Magnum straightened. "That reminds me. I'm going to go over to TC's. Keep an eye on her."

Rick nodded. "Yeah. Just be careful."

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Magnum had no real reason to go over to TC's. He just knew that the past victims were targeted on the road and he had to get time to catch the guy messing with his car. He parked outside the Island Hoppers Charter Helicopters office and walked in, finding TC, the owner and operator and his good friend, sitting behind the desk.

"Hey, TM," Theodore Calvin, a large, dark-skinned man with a thin mustache and dark eyes, looked up. "I can't take you anywhere. Too much work to do."

Magnum frowned. "TC! Do you think the only reason I would come here is when I need something?"

TC looked at his friend from under the brim of his navy blue and gold "Da Nang Vietnam" baseball cap with a humorless expression. "Yes!"

Magnum scoffed. "Well, that hurts! I just came to visit. I haven't seen you at the club for a few days and I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Through each part of their conversation, Magnum would glance behind the blinds on the window toward his car. TC noticed this and frowned at him.

"Thomas, what are you doing?"

"Hmm? I'm checking."

"On me? Or is something out there?"

"It's just my car."

TC frowned. "Why are you looking at your car?"

"Just in case."

TC stood and came to the window. "Just in case of what?"

"Someone tampers with it."

TC stopped and straightened to his full six-foot two-inch height. "I knew it! I knew you weren't just here to talk to me! What is goin' on?"

"You know Liz, from the club, right?"

TC nodded. "What about her?"

"She thinks she has a stalker. And that this stalker tampered with Keoke's brakes," he frowned. "And I think she's right."

TC frowned, standing. "So why would someone be tampering with your car?"

"I've set up a situation to make an outside observer believe something is going on between us."

"So as to make you a target?"

Magnum looked out the window again. "Yeah."

TC used his right arm to shove Magnum's left shoulder. "Man, what's wrong with you?!"

"TC! I'm working on it!"

"By making yourself a victim? Are you crazy?!"

"Hey, I think I can catch the guy trying to tamper with my car before he cuts the brakes, thereby eliminating the threat to Liz and myself!"

Pausing to take in what his friend said. "'Thereby'?!" TC's eyebrows rose. "'Thereby'? Since when do you use words like 'thereby'?"

Magnum frowned at TC. "Now wait a minute!"

"Alright, alright," TC held up his hand in a reconciliatory motion. "Don't get all ruffled." TC looked out the window. "Did it ever occur to you to go to the police?"

"Liz tried! They accused her of paranoia!" He frowned. "Can you believe that? A woman testifies that people she knew in Miami have been targeted the same way that Keoke was – something that is completely verifiable – and instead of investigating it, they accuse her of being paranoid!"

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When Liz took a break, she and Rick moved outside to the beach bar. Rick got her a rum punch and suggested they walk out to one of the tables on the beach. She nodded.

"I love listening to you play, Liz. You're really good. I bet it makes you feel better, right?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. It helps me forget, just for the length of the song, that anything in the world exists outside of me, my instrument and my audience."

They arrived at the table and Rick pulled her chair out and she sat. Then he moved to the other side of the table and pulled out the chair to sit in.

Rick heard a crack he recognized as the report of the gun, before he could vocalize his reaction, something impacted the table, splintering the wood top. He yelled "Get down!"

Liz yelped and dropped down, upending her chair behind her. "Rick?!"

Rick dropped down under the table as well. "Are you okay?!" he asked, breathlessly, his hand grasping his right shoulder.

"Yes! What was that?"

He groaned. "Gun."

She noticed the color of his shirt was changing under his hand. "Rick! You're hurt!"

He turned to his back. "I'm okay…" he groaned. "I gotta get you out of here," he started to lift himself on his other arm.

"No! Don't move!" Crawling under the table to him, she put her hands over his to apply pressure and screamed. "HELP!"

TC's phone rang. Magnum and TC looked from the window to the phone.

"Enough fun," TC said. "I might have a job." He walked across the room to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Island Hoppers." He frowned. "I'm sorry? Rico? Hold on, man, I can't understand you…What?! Yeah! We'll be right there!" He hung up the phone and looked at Magnum, moving to his desk to grab his van keys and announced. "We gotta go. Rick's been shot."