Distant Echoes (26 page)

Jesse came back into the galley. He looked terrible with the blood black and caked in his blond hair. Like a Frankenstein monster. “She woke up enough to say she could change into dry pajamas.”

Kaia nodded. “Let me wash that out of your hair,” she said. “I want to see your wounds in the light.”

“My head is throbbing like this engine at full bore,” he admitted. He went to the nearest chair and sank into it. Dark circles cupped his eyes, and he was pasty under his tan.

Kaia got out some Tylenol and gave it to him with water. He downed it and closed his eyes while she probed his hair.

“You’ve got another cut back here,” she said.

“He clocked me with something from behind,” he murmured, his eyes still closed.

“I wonder why he didn’t drug you?”

“I think he was going to, but I woke up before he had the chance.”

Kaia cleaned the cuts she could see. She got a cloth and washed as much of the blood from his hair as she could without dunking him in the sink.

“That will have to do for now.” She stepped back and regarded him critically. “You’re getting a little more color to your face.”

“Your torture would make anyone red-faced,” he said. He opened his eyes and grinned.

Kaia found herself smiling back. Before she could react, he had pulled her down onto his lap. The shock held her still.

He put his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her neck. “Um, you smell better than chloroform any day, my little mermaid.”

She smiled and smoothed his stiff hair. He must be concussed. “You’d better not go to sleep until we get you checked out by the doctor.”

“I’m fine, Kaia. Even my headache is getting better.”

He sounded better. Stronger and more like himself. But he was still holding her, and she was still liking it. She moved to free herself, and he immediately released her. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m not a shark,” he said, his grin forming like a wave. “I won’t bite. Well, except for maybe a nibble.”

“Maybe a killer whale?” she suggested.

“Nope. Not even a beluga. I’m your plain, ordinary, garden-variety tang. Yellow and all.” He rubbed his blond head. “I’m totally harmless.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Not if her racing pulse was any indication. She felt like she’d just swum across the ocean to Ni`ihau.

“You’re way more dangerous than me,” he said. His gaze lingered on her face then sank to her lips.

If he kept looking at her like that, she’d be back in his lap in no time. She backed away. “I should go clean up the blood on deck. You need to call someone to tell them about this kidnapping attempt.”

His smile faded. “You’re right. I get way too distracted by you.” His smile surged back. “But it’s a welcome distraction.”

Even more flustered, she grabbed some paper towels and went to the ladder.

“Don’t clean that up yet,” he called after her. “We might need some evidence.”

She rushed up the steps to get away from him. In school and later in college, she’d never had much time for guys. Her work was too important to risk messing up her plans for a man. Now she found herself questioning that decision.

Jesse was hard-headed and opinionated, but gentle with his niece and his family and a rock in times of trouble. She found herself leaning on him and didn’t like that dependency.

He followed her up the ladder and examined the pool of red on the deck. “I bled enough to have been the lu’au pig,” he said. He grabbed the ship-to-shore radio and called in the attack to the Coast Guard.

“I thought you might call it in to the captain,” she said.

“I thought about it. But I think our patrol out here is going to yield more results than trolling navy waters. Better to leave things alone with the navy for now.”

“Captain Lawton may hear of the attack anyway.”

“He might,” Jesse agreed. “If he does, I’ll explain it to him then. In the meantime, we have to figure out what’s going on with Heidi.”

“Could her father be trying to get her?”

“All he’d have to do is show up at the door and ask to see her. I wouldn’t deny him visitation rights. He wouldn’t drug everyone and try to open my skull. Me and Noah have always gotten along pretty well.”

“Maybe he wants her all to himself. You hear about fathers stealing kids.”

“I don’t think Noah would do that. He loves her too much.”

“So much he left her and hasn’t called.” Kaia couldn’t keep the asperity from her voice. Maybe their similar histories were what made her feel such a connection to the
keiki
.

Jesse shook his head. “I just don’t think it’s Noah.”

“Then who would want her?” Kaia was almost afraid to ask.

“The fact that I have no idea scares me spitless.”

Twenty

A
misty curtain of rain hung over the ocean, giving it a soft, dreamy look. But the man was in no mood to appreciate the beauty. “You nitwits! I give you a perfectly simple assignment and you blow it. How hard can it be to snatch an eight-year-old?”

“We had her. But that dolphin woman was too quick. She woke up before I had time to drug her. When she saw me with the kid, she came after me with a frying pan.” The younger man rubbed his head where a massive swelling had parted his hair.

“And it didn’t occur to you to
both
go aboard?”

“We wanted the boat ready to get out of there in a hurry.”

“There would have been no need for hurry if you’d drugged them all!” There was no use in talking to them. They were as dumb as a piece of coral. He took a deep breath. There was still time. The test would be in two days. Even if they snatched the kid hours before the test, it would work out.

Maybe there was some other way. He still hated to involve the kid. He looked down at his hands. No, it had to be this way. And he’d enjoy watching Matthews squirm on a hook he couldn’t get off of. The man gave a grim smile then looked back at his men. “You’d better not screw up again,” he barked. “I’ve got too much riding on this now.”

F
aye paced the floor in the living room. She’d made the first step in healing the breach with her family. Her son hadn’t thrown her off the property. She’d expected hostility, but he had been open enough to talk to her. Until he’d run away. But she still had hopes Bane would come around. She knew meeting him had been the first and easiest step in an uphill climb as steep as Na Pali.

Her euphoria faded, and she felt tired. A dull headache began to gather at the base of her skull, and she pressed on it. Curtis was reading the morning paper, and Heidi should be here any minute so Jesse could get a little rest. It was going to be hard to keep her attention on the little girl when she wanted to go back to the cottage by the sea.

Curtis put down his paper. “Why so glum, sweetheart? I would have thought you’d be floating on air this morning.” He patted his lap.

Faye tried to smile as she went to perch on her
husband’s knees. “I don’t think it’s going to be so easy with the rest. Especially my father. He’s going to be so angry with me.” She blinked rapidly to keep the tears from rolling.

“I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised how well it goes. The prodigal daughter’s return is probably something that he’s dreamed of and prayed about for years. Remember what Kaia told you about him wanting to find you?”

“You’re more optimistic than me. My father was never that way. I couldn’t do anything right while I was growing up. I don’t expect that to change now.” Faye leaned over and kissed him. “You’d better get going. You’ll be late.”

“I’m not too eager to get in today.” He frowned and picked up his coffee cup.

“What’s wrong?”

“Two more investors bailed on me yesterday. Our funds have dwindled to practically nothing. I never would have gone into this if I’d realized it would be such a drain on our resources.”

“Are we going to be okay?” Her muscles stiffened. Faye had worried about money all her life until she married Curtis a year ago. She wasn’t eager to be living on a shoestring again.

“Don’t worry; we’ll be fine. But I’m not going to continue to let Seaworthy lose money. If I can’t come up with a way to make it a viable business, I’ll sell off the assets.”

“The equipment?”

“And the animals.”

Faye frowned. “The dolphins are wild, aren’t they?”

“Now you sound like Kaia. I bought those animals. All eight of them are listed as assets.” He was sounding more annoyed by the minute.

“You can’t sell Kaia’s dolphins! You’ll alienate her from me for good.” The thought of it made Faye jump to her feet. Her movement spilled coffee down the front of Curtis’s shirt.

“Ouch!” He held his shirt out from his skin.

“Oh, Curtis, I’m so sorry.” Faye rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a towel. She soaked it in water and hurried back to her husband. He was already peeling off his shirt. “Let me take it. I’ll get you a clean one.”

“I’ll get it. I need to get out of here.” He hesitated then kissed her. “Don’t worry about this, Faye. You keep your mind on meeting your family, and I’ll take care of the business stuff. We might turn things around yet. I don’t want to sell the dolphins, but I may have no choice.”

“We could just take a loss,” she pleaded. “I could get a job if I need to.”

His gaze softened. “That won’t be necessary, sweetheart. We’ll be fine. It’s the principle of the thing for me, I guess. I don’t like to lose. I’ll try to figure out something.” He kissed her again then went down the hall to the bedroom.

Faye wrung her hands. Kaia would hate her if Curtis sold the dolphins. She took the empty coffee cups to the kitchen. The phone rang as she put the last dish in the dishwasher and turned it on.

She glanced at her watch. Heidi was late. “Latchet residence.”

“Faye, it’s Jesse. I’m not bringing Heidi today. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh no, that’s fine. Is everything all right?” She thought his voice sounded strained.

“Someone tried to take Heidi last night.” Faye gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “I’d better keep her close until we figure out what’s going on.”

“Oh, Jesse, that’s terrifying! Is she all right?”

“She was fine once the chloroform wore off. I hope we’re not messing up your day too badly.”

“Not at all. I’ve got some errands to run. But how will you get any rest?”

“We’ll all take turns guarding her. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well, give Heidi my love. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I will.”

The phone clicked in her ear, and she put it down slowly. She wished she’d told Jesse she could come there to be with Heidi. Jesse was competent though, she reminded herself. No harm would come to Heidi while he was around.

She heard the garage door go up then saw Curtis drive his car onto the street. The day stretched ahead of her. She could spend it cleaning house or shopping, but she knew what she needed to do.

W
here are we going?” The wind tugged tendrils of hair loose from Kaia’s braid, and she pushed them out of her eyes as she turned in the seat of the Jeep to face Jesse.

Jesse tried not to watch her. He imagined that glorious hair flying in the wind. “My brother-in-law bought a security business. Remember when he mentioned it at church? He might be able to help us. I thought we’d get some motion detectors for the boat and maybe some security lights.” Jesse turned the SUV into the parking lot of Prickett Security. He pulled into a spot near the door. “You’d both better come with me. I don’t dare leave you alone.”

“I think I did pretty well by myself last night,” she reminded him. “I’m not some insipid female who faints at danger.”

He grinned. “Sorry if that sounded chauvinistic. You were amazing.” He got out of the Jeep and flipped his seat forward to let out Heidi. He noticed Kaia’s cheeks turn pink and hid a grin. Maybe she wasn’t immune to him. He’d tried to ignore his attraction to her, but after last night, he realized there was something more between them, something he couldn’t blame on the goose egg on his head.

Slamming her door behind her, she followed him into the first building. The complex consisted of four slump-block buildings painted an institutional gray and trimmed in navy.

A receptionist greeted them and went to tell Steve they would like to see him. Steve stepped out of his office. His shirt was rumpled and his eyes shaded with fatigue. His face brightened when he saw them though.

“Jesse, it’s good to see you.” Steve grabbed Jesse’s hand and pumped it.

“Looks like you haven’t been home all night,” Jesse remarked after making small talk for a few minutes.

“I haven’t,” Steve said. “You know how a new business is. Let’s go back to my office.”

“Things that busy?” Jesse pointed out a chair to Kaia then dropped into the one closest to Steve’s desk.

“It’s crazy here. We’re behind schedule, and my foreman quit, so I stayed to keep things on track.” He went to a coffeepot on a caddy by the door. “Coffee? I’ve got Red Bull in the fridge too.”

“Coffee’s fine.” Kaia and Jesse spoke together.

He poured them all coffee and asked the receptionist to bring Heidi some juice. “Now what can I do for you?”

Jesse told him what had happened. Steve’s abstracted air turned to sharp focus as he listened.

“I’ve got just the system for you. I’ll have it delivered this afternoon. Will you be at the boat?”

“We’ll be there by six or so.” Jesse sipped his coffee. He glanced at Kaia. She needed to get some rest. She looked ready to fall asleep in the chair. They were going to need someone to keep guard while they slept a few hours.

Walking back to the parking lot, he tried to think of who he could call.

“I see that look,” Kaia said. “You’re worrying.”

“We need help. I’m all in and so are you. We won’t be much good without some shut-eye.”

“I’ve
been thinking about that too. We could stay at
Tutu kane
’s cottage. No one will look for us there. I can call some cousins to hang around while we get some rest. Bane is there too.”

“You think your grandfather wouldn’t mind?’

Kaia laughed. “He’d relish the chance to smother me.”

“Should we call him first?”