Black Sands (12 page)

Her eyes burned, and she tried to tell herself it was the salt water. There had to be some way to uproot these feelings. She’d walked in the shadow of Leilani’s beauty too many years to ever think a man who followed her sister with starry eyes could see past her own plain exterior to her heart and prefer her. It wasn’t going to happen.

M
ano watched Annie step off the boat. The black wet suit she wore made her appear even tinier. Her mask hung around her neck, but she’d already dropped her air tanks off her back. Her black hair clung to her head, and she trailed seawater as she stepped onto the dock. She came toward him with a guarded expression, and he wondered if she was ever going to be her old self around him again.

She tugged her mask off over her hair. “We got some good readings,” she told him.

Mano looked at the slipper in her hand. “What’s that? A souvenir?”

“It was lodged under a rock on the seabed. Nani got it for me.” She nibbled on her lower lip. “Leilani has a pair just like it.”

“Ah.” No wonder the color had leaked from her face, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “And you think it might be hers? What would it be doing clear out here? Did she swim here much?”

“She never swam much, and certainly not out by a live lava flow. Her favorite pastime in a bikini was to lie on a beach somewhere and accept the admiration that came her way.”

“Sometimes you sound like you didn’t like your sister,” he blurted before he could bite back the words. He regretted it when he saw the way her face changed.

She blinked rapidly. “I love my sister, but I see her for who she is. Which is more than I can say for most men.” She bit her lip and looked away.

It was a jab, and the barb pricked him. Maybe he deserved it. He’d joined Leilani’s legion of admirers without resistance. It had taken him awhile to get over her, but he’d finally accomplished it. He decided to ignore her comment. “Has Tomi called you?” he asked her.

Her face clouded even more. “I haven’t heard a word from Tomi or Leilani. I thought you said he promised to call soon.”

“He did. Does he have your cell phone number?”

She nodded. “I should check it.” She angled a glance up at him. “I had a weird phone call Saturday night from someone using a voice synthesizer. Whoever it was said our family was going to pay for something. And the person insinuated Mother didn’t kill herself.”

He straightened. “Did the person mention Tomi’s money?”

She shook her head. “But they said they were sending Leilani to hell.” She shuddered.

A fierce wave of protectiveness washed over him, and he wished he could embrace her. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his denim shorts. “You called the cops?”

She nodded. “They said they’d consider putting a tap on the phone.” She left him and Jillian and moved toward her Nissan, which was parked along the road. Fawn trailed her.

Mano turned to Jillian. “Any call from Noah since the shooting at the motel?”

She shook her head. “I told you I’d call if he contacted me. What makes you so sure he was the target? You deal with dangerous types all the time. What if someone followed you here?”

He shrugged. “It was just the way he took off, like he knew the danger was more than I even realized. Tell me about the research he published. Do you have any idea why he released it in his own name?” He didn’t want to tell her what Noah had said about it until he heard her version.

Jillian shook her head. “I’d been working with GPS receivers out along the southwest rift zone. I had a model I was pretty sure was accurate. It suggested the area was overdue for a lava flow. The GPS showed expansion, and I postulated that there was a new magma chamber growing.” She wiped at her nose. “As to why he would publish it under his own name, I have no idea. Only Noah could tell you that. He quoted my stuff but changed the data to hide any likelihood of a lava flow. He trashed everything I’d been working on.”

“This is near the Tagama property, right?”

She nodded. “Annie knows about the danger out there. But there should be plenty of forewarning. Earthquake swarms and the like.”

How did Tomi and Leilani fit into all of this? Maybe they didn’t. Maybe what they were involved in had nothing to do with the volcanoes. Though that was the likely scenario, it didn’t feel right to Mano. There was some link he was missing.

Annie came back toward them with rapid steps, nearly running. “There’s an unidentified missed call on my cell phone,” she said, out of breath. “Maybe it was Tomi. Do you think he’s on the island?”

“He said he was. He’ll call back.”

“I’m going to strangle him when I get my hands on him!” she burst out. Her eyes reddened, and she bit her lip. “I’m going to call Sam and tell him to get that tap on the phone done.”

“I’ll try calling him,” Mano promised. He walked away from the women and went toward the pier. No reason to let them watch him crash and burn with Sam.

The detective was in. “Detective Briscoe,” he barked.

“Sam, it’s Mano. The Tagama family has still heard nothing from Leilani. Annie wants that phone tap done.”

“We’re working on it,” Sam said.

“What about the phone call Annie got on Saturday? Any idea what that was about?”

“That might have been a prank,” Sam said. “If it happens again, the tap will give us more information.”

“When will it be ready?”

“Get off my back, Oana! I’ve got more problems than you know. A stabbing in Pahala, two break-ins in Volcano.” He let out his breath in an impatient sigh. “Look, I’ve got to get back to work.”

“But—” Sam was gone before Mano could finish his question.

“Nothing,” he told Annie when she joined him by the rolling surf.

She pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. “I want to talk to Tomi, but since he’s not calling, I can’t sit idly by. I’m going to talk to Leilani’s friends. Maybe one of them has seen her.”

“Good idea. Sam will howl about it though,” he reminded her.

“At this point, I don’t care. I’m not sleeping and neither is my father.” She stood. “Do you have any ideas about the money in Tomi’s account? Other than espionage, of course.”

“Not a clue.” He didn’t like admitting it. He would have sworn Tomi held nothing back from him. Not ever. He didn’t know his best friend like he thought he did. “What shall we do first?”

She glanced at her waterproof watch. “I have some number crunching to do with this data we just got. Can you meet me after work? I’d like to talk to Leilani’s best friend, CeCe Dillon. I have no idea if Sam has even talked to her, and I’m going nuts waiting.”

“I’ll go with you. I have something to do first. I’ll meet you at your house.”

“Fine.” She walked away to join the other women.

His gut told him Noah’s problem with the casino developer might be tied up with Leilani and Tomi. Mano needed to find Noah. He’d have to sneak onto the Aloha Shores, but it was the middle of the day and maybe the residents would be at work. He probably should tell someone where he was going in case they caught him and threw him to the sharks. He grinned at such a melodramatic thought.

Nine

W
hat do you want with me?” Leilani Tagama huddled against the wall. The meager light from the lamp cast her in a sickly yellow glow. A dirty handkerchief hid her eyes.

The big man felt a stab of regret that surprised him. He didn’t want her to identify him. He didn’t like his orders anymore than Leilani did. But it had to be done. She’d seen too much. The boss wasn’t taking any chances. “You hungry?”

“Starved.”

Her arms appeared thinner, and there were hollows under her eyes. She’d probably lost weight in the three days she’d been here. Most of the time he kept her drugged, so she was easier to handle. Once she ate, she’d be sleepy again from the sedative mixed in the rice. He wrapped her hands around a bowl of rice and Spam.

She took it eagerly and began to cram it into her mouth. He gave her a cup of water as well. “Can I have another blanket? I’m freezing.”

This deep in the rain forest, the temperature was hovering around fifty-five, and the cabin had no heat. The cold and damp pierced deeply. “I’ll get you an extra blanket once I tie you up again.”

Tears spilled down her dirty cheeks. “Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone I was kidnapped.”

He knew her better than that. She spilled her guts to anyone who would listen. She would have to die sooner or later. But not yet. The boss had plans for her.

A
nnie clicked
save
and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed the aching muscles at her neck, then glanced at the palm-tree clock on her desk. Nearly three. She’d skipped lunch so she should be able to go in another half hour. CeCe would still be at work, but by the time Annie hooked up with Mano and got to Kapa Technologies, she would just be getting off. Anxiety gnawed at her stomach. Where was Leilani? Surely she was okay. Annie had to keep believing that. She shut down her computer and went down the hall to tell Gina she was leaving at three thirty.

Her boss was kneeling on the floor with a watering pail in her hand. She saw Annie. “All done?”

“Yep. It’s saved on the server for you to look at.” She stepped forward and held out her hand to help Gina to her feet.

The older woman took her hand and struggled up. “I need to lose about ten pounds,” she muttered.

“You look great,” Annie said.

Gina smiled. “You’re nothing if not loyal, Annie. The last time I looked great was when I was your age. See these wrinkles?” She pointed to her eyes and smiled. “They show my age rather effectively.” She nodded toward the picture hanging on her wall. “On the day I was married, my husband said I looked like Aphrodite. I’m afraid I’m more like Medusa these days.”

“You’re beautiful still.” Annie turned to look at the picture, thinking it was Gina’s wedding picture, but it was an artist’s rendition of Greek gods and goddesses. On a shelf below the picture were several figurines of the same deities. “Who’s this one?” she asked, picking up a marble figurine.

“That’s Athena. Isn’t she beautiful? This is Apollo.” She picked up another figurine made from jade. “This is Nemesis. I picked her up in Athens last year. Isn’t she exquisitely made? I collect Greek mythology figurines to remember my heritage. She’s my favorite.”

Annie put it back and nodded. That answered the speculation in the office about Gina’s background and accent. “I was just leaving.” Gina could talk all day about her passion for Greek mythology, and Annie didn’t have time to listen. It was kind of cute though. The scientist enamored with myths.

Gina’s smile faded, and her expression grew more businesslike. “Jillian needs some help with her data. It’s not coming out right, and I suspect she has an Excel formula wrong. Can you give her a hand before you go?”

“I really don’t have time today. Can it wait? Leilani still isn’t home, and I wanted to talk to her best friend.”

Gina studied her face. “Aren’t the police working on it? What do you hope to accomplish?”

“The detective in charge still thinks she’s just off with friends.”

“That’s happened before, hasn’t it? I remember about a year ago when she left for a couple of weeks.”

“But she called then. We’ve heard nothing from her.” She told Gina about the weird phone call.

“I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Kids play with those machines all the time. Even Jason used to have one. I confiscated it when he played a practical joke on his grandmother. I need you to get your head together. The results of this project need to be ready for publication next month. I hate to play hardball, Annie, but some of our grant money is riding on this.”

“I know, I know.” Annie went toward the door. “I’ll give her a hand for a few minutes. I skipped lunch though, so I could leave early.”

Gina sighed. “Okay, you can leave at three thirty today, but I need you to start focusing. I’d find Leilani for you if I could, but sometimes we have to leave it to the professionals.”

Annie just nodded and went down the hall toward Jillian’s office. Jillian wore a frown and chewed on a pencil as she stared at her computer screen.

“I got the data entered,” Annie told her. “It’s on the server.”

Jillian’s face cleared. “You’re too efficient. Think you can do anything with this computer model?”

“Let me take a look.” Annie sat in the chair Jillian vacated and pulled up the database. She began to go through the lines of data. She was so tired that the numbers began to run together. Her head throbbed, and she pressed her temple as she looked at the screen.

“I don’t see anything,” she said finally.

“Me neither. But it’s not working right.”

Annie glanced at her watch. It was time for her to go. “I’ll look at it in the morning when I’m fresh.”

“I hope to have it figured out by then.” Jillian sighed. “Gosh, can you believe the tension here lately? Monica has been biting everyone’s heads off.”

“She’s mad at me.”

“I know. Watch your back. I think she’s out for your job.”

“I suspected as much. The way I feel today, she could have it.” Annie smiled to show she was joking. She went toward the door. “Good luck with the model. If you don’t have it back up by tomorrow, I’ll look at it again.”

She stopped at Gina’s door. “I’m gone. See you tomorrow.”

Gina looked up and nodded. “Try to get some rest tonight. You look terrible.”

“I’ll try.” Annie stepped into the hall. Her cell phone rang, and she grabbed at it. “Hello.”

“Are you alone?” The whispered voice sounded like Tomi. Her chest tightened, and she caught her breath.

“I’m just heading to the car.” She continued on toward the door.

“I need to see you.”

It had to be Tomi, though he seemed hoarse. Maybe he was just trying to disguise his voice. She clung to her hope. “Tomi?”

“Who else?” He chuckled.

The laugh convinced her, and joy surged through her heart. Her brother was alive. She couldn’t quite take it in. “Where do you want to meet?” She peered at her watch. Mano would be at the house in fifteen minutes.

“How about the Place of Refuge? Seems appropriate somehow.”