Distant Echoes (35 page)

“How? All the boats are gone,” Kaia reminded him.

He rubbed his forehead. “Oh yeah.” He disappeared back into the helm.

Faye stood off to one side, holding Heidi’s hand. She was looking at Kaia with love shining out of her dark eyes. At least Kaia thought it looked like love. A lump formed in her throat, but she couldn’t look away.

“I am so proud of you,” Faye said softly.

Kaia swallowed hard. She turned away and went to join Jesse.

He threw the mic down. “I can’t fix it. I don’t know what we’re going to do.” He stood, and his gaze met hers. “I thought we were dead. If I had died without telling you how I felt . . .”

He held out his arms, and Kaia went into them without hesitation. He was soaked and shivering, but so was she. She rubbed her face against his wet suit. He tipped her chin up and kissed her. She closed her eyes when his lips touched hers. Wrapping her arms around him, she put the love she’d just discovered
into the kiss.

She was trembling when they broke apart. “I love you,” Jesse whispered. “I didn’t want to. I’m too old for you—old and jaded. But it happened anyway.” He cupped her face with his big hands.

“I love you too.” Kaia felt tongue-tied. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“We’re entering uncharted territory,” he said. “And I want to explore it with you as soon as we get a chance.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Let’s finish saving the day first. We’ll have to take the boat to rendezvous with the
Porpoise II
.”

Twenty-nine

J
esse put his hand to the engine ignition. “Duncan took the key. Great.”

“Can you hot-wire the boat?” Kaia asked. “It’s nearly eight thirty. You said the missile test is at nine.”

Jesse glanced at Brad, who was trussed up and lying in a corner. “You have a key to this thing?”

“Nope.” The man smiled. “You think you’ve won, but time has run out. You’re stuck out here in the ocean.”

“Duncan’s equipment is here, and you’re in custody,” Jesse pointed out.

“What makes you think he was going to take control of the missile from here?” Brad’s smirk deepened.

Kaia heard the smugness in his voice. “What’s he talking about?”

“Hide and watch,” Brad said.

“Where’s Duncan going?” Jesse demanded.

Brad laughed. “I’d love to tell you and watch you stew since you can’t do anything about it, but on the slim chance you manage to get to shore before nine, I’d better keep my mouth shut.”

Jesse went to where Brad lay. He checked the man’s pockets for a key but came up empty-handed. Brad’s grin grew wider. Jesse turned to Kaia. “Something’s about to happen. We’ve got to get some help. Let’s swim for it.”

“I don’t think so.” She pointed at the sharks still circling the boat as they searched for more of the raw meat Duncan had thrown out.

Jesse paled, and Kaia remembered his fear of sharks. “I hate sharks,” he muttered. He hesitated. “I’m going to have to risk it. Can you call Nani?”

She didn’t want Nani in danger. “Sharks eat dolphins, you know.”

“We can’t stand by and let thousands of people die! Look, we have no time to stand here and argue.”

She rushed past him to the aft side of the boat. “The sharks are mainly on the other side. They don’t usually attack divers. I wish we had our tanks.”

“Maybe there are tanks aboard.” He began to rummage in the storage compartments, but they found nothing. “I have to try. I’ll get the boat and come back for you.”

“I’m coming too.” These were tiger sharks, one of the most dangerous species. She swallowed and pressed her lips together. “Let me call Nani.” She grabbed her whistle and blew it. A few moments later, she pointed. “There she is! But she’s not coming close.”

“If she sees me in the water, maybe she will.” Jesse sat on the railing and slung his legs over.

“Uncle Jesse, you can’t go! There are sharks in the water.” Heidi ran to grab his hand.

He squeezed it. “You pray for me, okay? I have to go. It’s really important.” His gaze met Faye’s. “Take care of her. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“We’ll pray,” Faye promised.

“Try to ease into the water with as little splash as possible,” Kaia said. “And dive as deep as you dare. We don’t want them to mistake us for seals on the surface.” She grabbed the railing and let herself down toward the water. She was halfway submerged before she let go, and she entered the waves with hardly a ripple.

Jesse saw her and motioned her back, but she shook her head. “You may need my help. Make sure you come up for air as little as possible,” she told him.

He nodded and pulled his mask into place. “See you aboard the boat.” His head disappeared into the water.

Kaia took a deep breath and dove. She saw a large shadow off to her right and paused to look. A large tiger shark loomed in the murky water. She dove deeper, trying to emit as many bubbles as she could to let it know she wasn’t a seal. That’s what she’d always been taught, but this particular shark didn’t seem to get it. It followed her down.

Her lungs burned. She was going to have to surface for air soon. She glanced up and saw Jesse moving toward the boat. The tiger swam past, nearly brushing her with its tail. It was checking her out. She was going to die in its jaws.

The shark turned and started back. Its hungry mouth displayed rows of razor-like teeth. She didn’t have a chance. Then Kaia saw another form come toward her. Nani. Six other dolphins followed. To Kaia’s amazement, they circled the shark. Then Nani rushed in, ramming her nostrum into the belly of the shark. The attacks from the other dolphins came thick and fast.
Wham, wham.
In moments the shark was bleeding and beginning to turn belly up.

Nani brushed by Kaia, and she reached out and grabbed the dolphin’s dorsal fin. Nani pulled her quickly to the top, and Kaia took a deep breath, sucking air into her oxygen-starved lungs. Glancing behind, she saw the sea beginning to boil with sharks as they zoomed in to scavenge the fish the dolphins had attacked.

She had to get out of here. Grabbing Nani’s fin again, she let the dolphin pull her toward the
Porpoise II.
She saw Jesse standing on deck with the ship-to-shore phone in his hand. Moments later, she grasped the side of the boat, almost too exhausted to pull herself up. She found the last vestiges of her strength and got to the ladder. She climbed aboard and fell onto the deck.

Jesse bent over her. “Are you all right?”

“Shark,” she gasped. “Nani saved me, she and her friends.”

Jesse helped her up. “I’ve got to get through to the captain. It’s almost nine.” He listened. “He’s not answering his phone.” He dialed another number and spoke to an SP. “Interrupt him,” he shouted in the phone. “You can’t let that missile launch! Tell him to call me before he gives the order.” He clicked off the phone and went to the helm. “We’ve got to find Duncan just in case we can’t reach Lawton.”

She dropped into the seat beside him. “Where do we look?”

“I have no idea.” His face betrayed unutterable weariness.

“I’ll ask Nani.” She grabbed DALE from the deck and dropped it over the side. “I’ll punch in
shark
and put a man’s face on the screen. Nani used
shark
when she wanted me to know Heidi was in danger. Maybe she’ll get it.”

Nani chattered and rose on her tail in the waves. She plunged into the sea and zoomed off toward shore. “Follow her, Jesse!”

Jesse revved the motor, and the boat zoomed into the wake left by the dolphin’s fin. She veered toward shore just past Makaha Point. Jesse slowed the boat and strained to see into the valleys and crevices of the Na Pali coastline. There was no sign of Duncan’s motorboat.

Nani stopped and danced through the waves. She chattered and whistled.

Kaia touched Jesse’s forearm. “She’s saying ‘shark’ again. You think Duncan is here somewhere?”

Jesse grabbed binoculars and focused them. “I think I see something.”

Kaia waited, barely daring to breathe.

“There
he is!”

“Where?” Kaia asked. He pointed, and Kaia made out a speck of movement on the slope of the mountain.

“Let’s get in there.” Jesse steered the boat to the shore until the bow touched sand. He dropped the anchor overboard. The radio crackled to life. “Finally,” he said. He picked it up. “Matthews.”

The captain’s voice came on. “What’s wrong, Jesse? Over.”

“I think we’ve located the terrorist, sir,” Jesse said. He gave his commander a brief report.

The radio crackled again. “I just launched the missile. You’d better stop that man now. Reinforcements are on their way.”

Too late. They were too late. Kaia clenched her fists in her lap.

“Understood. Over and out.” Jesse tossed the radio mic down. “I’m going ashore.”

Kaia dropped the anchor overboard. “Let’s go.”

They hopped over the side and waded ashore. A steep path led straight up into a small valley. Jesse took Kaia’s hand, and they raced to the path. Kaia’s breath came hard as she climbed.

She glanced at her watch. Two minutes had already elapsed. The seconds were ticking by. They broke through the vegetation into a small valley. The remains of a
heiau
, an ancient Hawaiian temple, lay in front of them. On it was a portable satellite. Jesse, ahead of her, raced for it. Duncan was reaching for it.

“No!” Jesse tackled his friend as Duncan swung around with the satellite contraption in his hands. It went flying through the air to shatter against the stone of the crumbling temple structure. Both men rolled over and over on the ground.

Duncan’s face reddened. “Arrghh!” He grabbed Jesse by the shoulders and tried to roll him off, but Jesse outweighed him by forty pounds. He beat ineffectually at Jesse’s grip on his biceps.

Jesse rolled him over onto his stomach and pulled Duncan’s hands behind his back, then dragged him to his feet while still keeping hold of Duncan’s wrists.

Kaia rushed to his side, her breath coming in gasps. “You got him!”

“Take your hands off me!” Duncan twisted vainly in Jesse’s grip then went limp. He began to sob. He sank to the ground, and Jesse let him. Duncan was a beaten figure with his head bowed and tears streaking his face.

“Let’s go get Heidi and Faye,” Kaia said.

T
he navy came and took Duncan away. He seemed smaller somehow. Shrunken and defeated. Captain Lawton congratulated Kaia and Jesse on a job well done and told them the missile test had been a complete success. With the Akis in custody as well, the munitions were safe too.

Kaia waded back to the
Porpoise II
with Jesse. Nani chattered her greeting, and Kaia studied the dolphin with tears in her eyes. “She did it. She talked to me. We communicated with
words.
I don’t know what we would have done without her.”

Jesse patted the dolphin’s nostrum. “She was wonderful. So were you.” He put his arm around her and helped her board the boat. They sat down in facing chairs.

Kaia’s face grew hot at the love in his eyes. They now had time to explore that uncharted territory. The thought left her both terrified and elated.

Jesse leaned forward and took her hands in his. “Seeing what bitterness did to Duncan made me realize something, Kaia. We can’t go forward, either of us, until we can forgive the people who hurt us and let go of the past. I’m willing to do that if you are. When we get back to the boat, can you tell your mother you forgive her?”

She stared at him. “I don’t think I can,” she whispered. “Not yet.”

The elation in his eyes faded. “Try,” he said.

She closed her eyes against the plea in his face. “Let’s go get Heidi,” she said.

He gave her a quick look then turned the key and fired the engine. They said nothing as they headed out to the boat where they’d left Faye and Heidi. Heidi waved to them as they pulled alongside.

Jesse gave Kaia a quick glance as he helped her mother aboard, but she avoided his gaze. Heidi rushed to hug her. Kaia clung to the little girl. Tears stung her eyes at the feel of Heidi’s arms around her neck. They were all safe. She could hardly believe it.

Clenching her hands together, Faye stood off to one side. When Kaia released Heidi, Faye took a step toward Kaia. Kaia reflexively took a step back, and Faye’s smile faltered. “I prayed and prayed you’d be all right,” she whispered.

“We’re fine. Duncan was caught in time. Ready to go home?” She tried to sound friendly, but when she saw Faye flinch, she knew her words had come out cold. So be it. Bridging this gap was going to take more strength than she could muster right now.

She caught the disappointment in Jesse’s face and turned away from it. If forgiving her mother was a necessary prerequisite to a relationship with him, she might have to keep her distance for now.

Thirty

K
aia hadn’t seen or talked to Jesse for two days. He’d called, but she’d seen his name on the caller ID and not answered. She didn’t know what to say. He’d made it clear he didn’t want a relationship unless she got rid of her baggage. She wanted to do that, but she didn’t know how.

Sitting on her garden bench with her cat in her lap, she could see the blue expanse of the Pacific over the cliff where her house perched. When she’d looked down on
Tutu kane
’s cottage earlier, she’d seen her mother’s Volvo parked in front. The feelings the sight evoked had not been worthy of a Christian, but she couldn’t help herself. All her mother had to do was come back, and she was suddenly the family darling again.

Hiwa was licking her paws with relish. Kaia ran her hand over the cat’s silky fur. She knew what she should do. The right thing would be to march down the stone steps and see her mother face-to- face. Talk to her.

Kaia rubbed her forehead and put the cat on the ground. Hiwa yowled and shot off toward the palm tree by the fountain. Kaia wished her grandmother were here. Her presence had been as calming as jasmine. Almost lonelier than she could bear, Kaia wished she could lay her head in
Tûtû
’s lap and feel her grandmother’s fingers in her hair.

A shadow blocked out the sun, and Kaia looked up to see her brother. Bane wasn’t smiling.

“We need to talk,” he said.