She turned around and looked at Tina to check on how the blonde reacted.

“You want me involved, too, Bette?” Tina asked, thoroughly surprised.

Bette nodded emphatically. “I’m going to need you to be part of this, going forward, honey. There’s no one who knows me better, yet can also tell me if I’m going off-track. No one I trust more, baby.”

But Jackson was frowning a little, “That well may be the case, Bette, but I thought you didn’t want her to be a target.  Tina could become one if it becomes more and more obvious that she’s involved, the way you seem to be planning. You don’t want them to target her do you?”

Bette nodded, and slowly explained, “No, I don’t. But I do have a plan to get that core group, and anyone else who plans to take its place, off our backs. Now that my tasks related to the gold cache have changed, the dynamics of everything else have been altered, too.”

“They don’t know it yet, but their chase is done. Over. Finito. And Edward, Lady Beatrice, and Captain John, and everybody else down through the years who have protected the gold cache are going to win, finally!”

Tina’s arms re-tightened around her waist unconsciously. Tina could feel Bette’s body fairly vibrate with excitement. “Are you planning to do something about that while you’re out in Hawaii, then, honey?” The blonde couldn’t keep her worry and anxiety off of her voice this time.

“No … not about this. But I do have a plan that addresses our vulnerabilities that I intend to execute once I get back,” Bette answered softly, and then gave Tina a quick, reassuring kiss. “Our lives are going to change, T.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

The man walked out of the beach access lane carved out between two buildings, flipping his sunglasses to his nose as he emerged onto the busy street that curved into the luxury mall area strategically located near a few of Waikiki beach’s luxe resorts.

Miller was casually walking out of the Starbuck’s in one of the buildings that bordered the beach access lane, about to take the stairs down to the sidewalk, sipping on a frappuccino, and sending a text to Jackson when a tattoo on the man’s wrist crossed her peripheral vision briefly. As he combed his fingers through his hair, waiting for the light to change, the tattoo on his wrist showed more clearly.