Distant Echoes (20 page)

She was trembling so hard she could barely lift her head. Jesse got up as the sound of the helicopter’s engine rose. He pulled Kaia to her feet then put his arm around her shoulders, and they watched the “bird” hover then veer off toward Na Pali. The sound faded into the distance. Jesse was talking softly on his phone with the navy base. He clicked it off. “Help’s on the way.”

“Are you hurt?” She wanted to run her hands over his torso to make sure he was unharmed.

“I’m fine. Did they hit you?”

“No, no, not a scratch.” She became aware that he had his hand wrapped in her hair. The look on his face as he stared into her eyes made her cheeks hot. She should step away, but the strength seemed to have left her legs. She saw a muscle work in his jaw, then he released her and stepped back. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

“Could the Morse code have been coming from the copter?” Jesse asked her.

So he was going to ignore the emotion that had zipped between them as briefly and brilliantly as Hawai’i’s green flash. She collected herself. “It was in this area, so yeah. I wonder what they were doing out here?”

Jesse flipped on his flashlight. The powerful halogen beam threw the rocks and plants in the area into sharp relief.

“I think we’re going to have to start digging deeper ourselves,” Kaia said. “How about talking to Jonah Kapolei’s family? Has the navy done that yet?”

“The dead diver? Probably. But maybe you could get more out of them. Do you know anything about the family?”

“No, but Mano might.” She told herself if her brother could pump her for information, she could do the same. She squinted in the moonlight and could make out a dark figure moving around on the deck of Jesse’s craft. “Looks like he’s awake.”

Neither said much as Jesse rowed them back to the navy boat.

Mano was scowling when they stepped back onto the deck. “You should have woken me up. What was up with the helicopter?”

“Nothing. We decided to go for a walk along the beach and happened to see it,” Jesse said. “We didn’t know it was there until it lifted off over our heads.”

“Sounded like gunfire.”

“It was.”

Kaia watched her brother. She saw concern and a trace of guilt arc over his face. She was going to have to press him, and she feared it might cost them their relationship.

Fifteen

J
esse stood on the white sand of Polihale. The bullets from early this morning had dug ridges in the soft lava rocks. He’d retrieved several samples, but he didn’t expect them to prove much. He glanced down the beach and saw Kaia coming toward him. The lack of rest was beginning to show on both of them. He glanced at his watch. He needed to get Heidi at ten.

“I don’t get why the helicopter cared that we showed up unless whatever they were doing was illegal,” Kaia said as she approached him. “There’s nothing out here but sand.”

Jesse nodded toward the mountains. “Waianae Range has the munitions storage in the caves up there. I sent some men up to check it out. I’m wondering if the helicopter planted the explosives to carry out their plan.”

Kaia winced. “They’re not wasting any time. Maybe they were just scouting it out.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. It’s possible. Maybe I should go take a look myself.”

She clutched his arm. “I wish you wouldn’t. What if they managed to plant explosives and they went off while you were up there?”

Did she care if he got hurt? The thought left him smiling. There was something developing between them, and neither of them wanted to talk about it. Jesse was afraid to look at it too closely. He didn’t want to care about another woman. What if he failed again?

He pulled his arm free of her grip and turned away. “I’ll be fine. I’d better check it out.”

“I’ll go with you then.”

He stopped. “No, I don’t want you up there. You’ll be safer here.”

“So would you.” She stuck out her jaw.

He nearly laughed at the pugnacious expression on her face but knew it would make her madder. “You’re not military anyway. This is my job, Kaia.”

“We were nearly shot last night. This is getting scary.” She clasped her arms around herself as if the warm wind were thirty degrees cooler than the balmy eighty degrees.

“I know. And I need to make sure the next missile test is secure.”

“When is that?”

“Next week. Thursday.” He didn’t want to tell her how uneasy he was about that test. He’d been thinking about the Morse code from last night.
Hammer fall.
What if it had something to do with the missile test? Lawton still believed the problem with the first test had been a malfunction of the computer and that everything was fixed now.

But what if it wasn’t?

F
aye cracked eggs for omelets into a bowl and got out the juice. Curtis entered the kitchen, kissed her, then sat at the kitchen table. She whipped the eggs with vigor and didn’t look at him.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked. “You’re beating those eggs like they have personally offended you.”

Tears flooded her eyes. “I’m going to make a hopeless grandmother. I’m tired and cranky and want to go back to bed. I’m feeling my age.”

He stood and put his arms around her. “You’re jumping the gun a little. The kids aren’t even married yet. Besides, it’s different when the children are your own. Heidi is sweet, but she’s not your own flesh and blood.”

Faye leaned against his chest. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long week.”

“What time is Jesse coming?”

“He called a little while ago and said he’d be here around ten when he finishes an errand. I’m so tired, Curtis.” She sighed and laid her cheek over his heart. Its steady beat calmed her nerves.

“You could tell him to find someone else.”

She pulled away and hurried to flip the omelet. “No, I can’t do that, and you know it. Besides, Heidi needs me too.”

“We could figure out another way to keep you and Kaia connected. If nothing else, I could pull her back to the office. Maybe that would be best anyway.”

Faye shook her head. “No, I’m just overreacting. I had a nice talk with her yesterday.”

“Did you ask any questions?”

“No. The time didn’t seem right. I’m not sure it ever will be. Maybe you’ll have to do it.”

“I think you can handle it better than I could.” Curtis sat back down at the table, and she put his breakfast in front of him.

“I don’t know if I can talk to her or not. Maybe I should talk to one of the boys.”

“I thought you wanted to start with Kaia.”

“I did. Now I just don’t know.” Faye pulled out her chair and sat at the table. The omelet looked unappetizing, and she picked at it. She wished she could go to her bedroom, shut the door, get out her novel, and forget what was happening in her world.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Faye. We agreed this was the best way to handle it. You can’t give up before we’ve even started.”

“I want to give up,” she said. “I want to get on the plane and fly away from here. This is too hard.”

Curtis put down his fork. “You have to stop running someday. It’s time to face up to what you’ve done.”

“I’m not sure I can.” The old, familiar panic clawed at her chest. She couldn’t handle this. It was too much. Though Curtis didn’t know it, she had a voucher for an airline ticket to Chicago in her dresser. The safety net it gave her had calmed her more than once. Maybe it was time to use it.

But no. She couldn’t leave Curtis. She loved him. He would be so hurt and disappointed in her. Even if the future brought pain, she needed to see this through. She was too old to keep running. Faye had thought she’d grown up, but she was beginning to see the old habits were harder to kill than she’d realized.

She must have some kind of defect that made her hate confrontation and trouble. Maybe she would never overcome it. And if she didn’t, what would she do with her life? Where would she go? She wouldn’t be able to stay here and face all her failures. Was there ever a woman with more regrets than she carried?

J
esse parked at an overlook with the panorama of Waimea Canyon spread out before them. “You sure this is the place?” he asked Kaia.

From here Kaia could see the reds and greens of the canyon that nearly took her breath away. Dubbed “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific” by Mark Twain, the smaller canyon was no less spectacular than its larger namesake. The colors were deep and rich and spoke to her soul.

Kaia nodded. “Mano gave me directions.”

“How’d you weasel them out of him?”

“I told him the truth that I wanted to talk to Jonah Kapolei’s family. He tried to talk me out of it, but he knew I could find out in town if I asked.”

“Did he ask to come with you?”

She nodded. “I told him you’d be along to protect me.” She turned in her seat and smiled at him. It felt good to be here with him. When had she begun to drop her defenses? She needed to be careful. He was not the type of man she’d always thought of marrying. He was older and not Hawaiian.

“We’d better get moving. I need to pick up Heidi at ten. And you look beat.”

“I am,” she admitted. “I’m hitting the bed as soon as I get home.”

“Want to go on a picnic with me and Heidi after church tomorrow?”

“Sure,” she said before she thought. What was she thinking? She’d just decided she needed to be more careful. She got out of the Jeep and wished she could find a way to bow out gracefully.

“I thought we’d go to Po’ipu and watch for monk seals. Heidi loves them.”

“Sounds fun. Where have you been going to church?”

“Nowhere yet. I haven’t had a chance to look for one, but I thought I’d figure out where to go.”

“I haven’t been in ages,” she said. “I’ve been feeling pretty guilty about it. You could come with me and my grandfather,” she offered. She was getting herself in deeper and deeper. Maybe he’d refuse.

“I’d love to. Want me to pick you up?”

“Okay.” She slammed her door and headed toward the path that led down the hillside.

The house they approached looked as though it had been perched on the ledge since King Kamehameha had ruled the island. Wood weathered to silvery gray covered the small home, and a stone porch added substance to the structure. Wild orchids, plume-ria, and ginger grew in profusion along the brick path to the front door. The trade winds brought the sweet scent to Kaia’s nose.

“Let me start us off,” Kaia whispered as they got to the door. With Jesse in a uniform, he was liable to choke off any information the woman might give.

He nodded and let her go in front. From inside she could hear the strains of a ukulele. Kaia rapped on the door. There was no answer at first, then the sound of footsteps echoed on hardwood floors.

The woman who opened the door was about Kaia’s height. Her Hawaiian features were framed by black hair cut into a short bob. She wore khaki shorts and an orange top. Maybe the outfit would have been attractive on a twenty-year-old, but it made her forty-something skin look sallow. Kaia guessed she was at least five years older than her husband had been.

“Mrs. Kapolei?” Kaia held out her hand. “I’m Kaia Oana and this is Lieutenant Commander Jesse Matthews. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Jonah, but first I’d like to say I’m so sorry for your loss.”

The woman blinked rapidly and bit her lip. “
Mahalo
. Who are you? I already told the other military guys and the police everything I know.”

“We’re also investigating for the base,” Jesse said. “Do you have any idea why he was diving by himself? Did he usually dive with a partner?”

“I’d begged him not to go out alone, but he always laughed at me. He thought he was invincible.” Mrs. Kapolei rubbed her forehead.

“Did he always dive with a dart gun?” Jesse put in.

Kaia shot him a look. He wasn’t paying any attention to what she’d told him, and Kaia could see the woman bristling.

The woman took a step back. “I know the military is trying to pin that dart gun on Jonah, but I’ve never seen him with anything like that. I doubt he would have known how to use one.”

“So you think he was murdered and didn’t shoot himself by accident?” Kaia asked, her voice gentle.

“Of course he was murdered! And I can tell you who the culprit is, though no one will
listen.” Mrs. Kapolei stepped onto the porch and shook her finger in Kaia’s face. “It’s that no-good Nahele Aki. He hated Jonah.”

“I thought your husband was a member of Pele Hawai´i,” Kaia said.

“He was. But he’s been trying to get Nahele out of power for months. Aki is taking the organization in a radical direction.” Her eyes flooded with tears. “And Nahele couldn’t stand the competition, so he got rid of my husband and made it look like he was involved in something suspicious.”

“Did you tell the military this?” Kaia asked.

Mrs. Kapolei nodded. “But I could tell they didn’t believe a word of it.” She rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. “As far as they were concerned, he’d been tried and found guilty.”

Kaia opened her purse and pulled out a tissue. She pressed it into the other woman’s hand.

Mrs. Kapolei blew her nose. “
Mahalo
. Are you going to do something about Nahele?”

The hope in her eyes rattled Kaia. This was beyond her reach. “We’ll do what we can,” she promised.

The light in Mrs. Kapolei’s eyes dimmed. “In other words, no.”

“We’ll follow what leads we can find,” Kaia told her. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Did Jonah have a best friend who might be able to help us?”

The woman’s jaw hardened, and her dark eyes closed to mere slits. “You might ask his girlfriend. I doubt she’ll talk to you, but you can try.” Mrs. Kapolei opened the screen door and stepped back into the house. “She works at the Waimea Brewing Company.”

Kaia knew the pub. She exchanged a quick glance with Jesse. “What’s her name?”

“Lindy Martin. She lives in a gray house next to the school.”

The door shut, and Jesse took Kaia’s elbow and guided her back to the path. “That was informative. You think she knows what she’s talking about?”

“I don’t know. She knew about the girlfriend though, so she’s no dummy.”

Jesse looked at his watch. “I’ve got forty-five minutes before I need to pick up Heidi. You game to see what this Lindy Martin has to say?”