Going Hard: Divemasters, Book 3 (10 page)

T
osin kept
his hand low on Kahori’s back, not letting her out of his reach. Both to make sure she was steady on her feet and to remind himself that no one was actively threatening her.

She’d woken up bright and early, eaten a full breakfast, then refused to take any more painkillers, insisting she was sore but fine. He suspected she also intended to keep her mind fog-free so that they had no legitimate reasons to block her from assessing the damage at her house.

Her strategy had worked, though he’d had a hell of a time letting her leave the safety of the
Divemaster
without having a panic attack. They’d had enough near misses in the past year to put him on high alert. The rest of the crew, too.

So they were making a quick run, unannounced, over to her place. Then they’d have to figure out what came next based on anything they uncovered. The first batch of subjects in Sabine’s trials were set to arrive in a few hours, along with Marta. Waverly would be shuttling them in, so she’d stayed behind also. The security on the ship had been beefed up in anticipation, but Captain Alex and Banks were both opposed to stretching their resources too thin.

Finally Tosin fully understood how hard it had been for Archer and Miguel when their women had been the ones threatened. Both guys shot him sympathetic looks as their tenders docked and they strode as quickly as possible toward Kahori’s house.

“Hanging in there?” he asked her, wincing at their pace.

“Tosin, I promise I’m good.” She flashed him a tight smile that called her a liar. More on the emotional side of things than the physical ones, he’d bet.

He squeezed her hand. “Keep in mind I give awesome piggyback rides, okay?”

“Will do.” She smiled up at him, weak compared to her usually brilliant grin. Even that faded though when they reached her yard. Archer and Captain Alex went inside to scan the place while Banks, Miguel, and Tosin stayed on the porch with her.

“It’s all clear,” Archer announced when he returned. Then he winced. “Kahori, the place is a mess. Are you sure…”

“Yes.” She put her hand on his chest and thanked him before pressing steadily until he backed out of her way.

Tosin loved that she wasn’t a pushover. It would make her submission in bed worth even more to him than it already was.

To her credit, Kahori didn’t flinch. She stepped over her ruined belongings, including the smashed jar and the flowers he’d given her yesterday, which were now dead. Ignoring her personal space, she made a beeline to her workshop and to the cabinet in the far back corner. When she opened the door, revealing her safe, she gasped. The door was covered with massive scrapes and dents that had obviously been caused by unsuccessful attempts to break into the locked box. Or a velociraptor.

“I’m guessing it didn’t look like that yesterday?” Banks asked.

She shook her head then spun the dial until she’d entered the combination. Tosin never left her side. He rubbed her back as she yanked on the handle.

Inside, neat trays held pearls in graduated sizes. One rack was loaded up with glimmering jewels and precious metals. As if she didn’t care that her inventory was still intact, she stayed tense. He realized why when she plucked a pearl at random then took it to her workbench and scoured the floor in search of her loupe.

When she had it in hand, she turned on some powerful gooseneck lamps and examined the pearl carefully. “It’s real.”

“Should we pack up the safe contents then?” Archer asked. “The
Divemaster
has secure facilities onboard for just this sort of thing. We installed them after we discovered a sunken treasure then sort of had part of it stolen temporarily.”

Kahori gawked at him for a moment. Then she shrugged and laughed. “Sure, why not? I didn’t realize you had experience in this sort of thing.”

“Unfortunately,” Miguel grumbled.

She paused then, growing much more serious. “I guess I’m lucky you all happened to come along when you did. I don’t know what I would do right now if it wasn’t for you. Thank you.”

“We’re happy to help.” Tosin leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Now, is there anything else you want to check out or need to pack up? I don’t think it’s smart to hang out here any longer than necessary.”

Kahori swallowed then, glancing around as if there would be a note from her dad telling her he’d gone out on a long fishing voyage or something equally as innocent. No such luck.

Instead, she wandered over to the opposite corner of the room then began to dig beneath a pile of crumpled invoices that had been dumped out of her filing cabinet. Beneath it all, in a tiny woven palm basket, she withdrew a plain brown paper covered package. “I hadn’t finished weighing this one and putting the postage on before Pāpā took the rest of the orders to the post office on One Foot Island for me.”

“Does he usually handle your shipments?” Archer asked.

“No, Hemi does. He runs the store on Rarotonga, too.” She closed her eyes. “I thought he was just being helpful as always. But something was strange about it. On the way to island night I forgot my fire poi, and when I came back, Hemi was in here searching for the packages. Pāpā hadn’t mentioned his mail run to Hemi even though he knows Hemi always takes care of that. Looking back…”

For the first time she wavered. Tosin was right by her side to hold her steady.

“I feel like the world’s worst daughter for even considering that he could have done this. But besides that, the men in the jungle asked me where ‘he’ was. The only person missing is Pāpā. Nothing else makes sense, does it?” She hiccupped.

“While I hope you’re wrong, I’m glad you’re keeping your eyes open.” Tosin rubbed her upper arms, which were chilled despite the heat. “And if it turns out that he did this, then I think it’s
him
that’s earned the title of world’s worst.”

“For shits and giggles…” Miguel looked to Tosin, then Kahori. “I think you should open that. If they’re real too, then maybe the switcheroo is happening on Rarotonga. Maybe it’s Hemi we should be worried about.”

Kahori looked ill. She plopped into her office chair as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her. “They’re my family. I can’t believe we’re even having this discussion. Besides, Hemi was at the island night the entire time last night, right?”

Banks nodded. “I was sitting right next to him when everything went to hell.”

She turned the package over in her hands a few times before psyching herself up. When she grabbed a letter opener from a tipped earthen cup and went to slice the packing tape, she froze. “It’s been tampered with. I can see two layers of tape already.”

As if she still didn’t want to believe, she practically stabbed the package then ripped it open. A pearl necklace poured into her hand. Kahori took one look at it and began to sob. She grasped the strand in each of her hands and yanked, snapping it in half.

Fake pearls rained on the floor among the rest of the rubble.

Tosin rushed to her and crouched by her feet. He hugged her, guiding her face to his shoulder as she cried.

“Pāpā! Pāpā
,
why?” She broke their hearts as she expelled her misery.

No one had an answer to that question except her father. And he was definitely missing. Either he’d realized they were on to him and he’d run, abandoning his daughter to madmen…or they’d gone after him too, and he hadn’t been as lucky as Kahori.

When her bawling had slowed to weeping, Banks and the rest of the guys huddled around. “We really should get moving.” Banks told them.

“But where?” Kahori asked. “You said it yourself, the ship has a lot going on right now. I won’t endanger anyone else over my family’s problems.”

The guys winced. They’d like to argue, but the reality was they couldn’t take chances anymore. They’d learned from past mistakes and wouldn’t put anyone at risk.

“Look, we only need to buy a little time.” Archer told her. “As soon as we’re back to the
Divemaster
, Captain Alex and I will meet with the security team. Banks can have reinforcements flown in from New Zealand. It can probably be done in the next twenty-four hours. Where can we hide you until then?”

Tosin suggested, “How about the glowworm cavern? I’m staying with you. We can hide out there pretty comfortably for a while.”

“I have a better idea.” She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the shirt she’d borrowed from Sabine. “Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely.”

K
ahori appreciated
Tosin holding her hand for the entire boat trip over to the
motu
that housed her uncle Kimo’s resort. Even that simple connection was enough to stabilize her. In the end, Archer and Miguel had decided to stay with them while Captain Alex and Banks returned to the ship to make the arrangements they’d agreed to.

Archer drove while Miguel searched the ocean around them with a pair of high-tech binoculars. Every minute or two he checked in with the head of their security detail back on the
Divemaster
.

They glided along outside the barrier reef, staying out of sight as much as possible before she directed Archer to duck through a slit in the coral on the backside of the
motu
. It was less than a minute before they had beached the rigid hull inflatable boat with its ridiculously overpowered engine then hauled it into the trees where it practically vanished from view.

The men walked in a triangle, keeping her at the center.

It felt so strange to be this cautious. To worry in a place that had only ever been peaceful before. The loss of that purity nearly shattered her again. Instead, she put her shoulders back and marched through the open-air lobby of Uncle Kimo’s resort and into his office.

He stood as they entered, a spear gun in his hands. When he recognized her, he propped it in the corner then flew to her side. Tosin stepped in front of her, blocking her uncle from invading her space.

“Because I appreciate what you did for her, I won’t hold that against you,
papa’a
. But I suggest you move now so I can see my niece.” Kimo spoke softly. The
tā moko
—decorative scarring around his eyes and along his jaw—he wore gave his underlying threat some heft, too.

Still, Tosin didn’t budge.

“It’s okay.” Kahori touched his arm softly. So he relented and let the man pass. When Kimo carefully enfolded her in his embrace, Tosin relaxed.

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Hearing the disbelief and pain in her gruff uncle’s voice made Kahori feel better about how she’d broken down in her workshop.

“You’re hurt. Ruru is missing.” At the mention of his brother, Kimo let Kahori go then pounded his fist on his desk hard enough to rattle everything on it. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’re not sure yet.” Kahori glanced at Tosin. He shrugged, leaving it to her discretion to confide in Uncle Kimo or not. They had to start asking some questions to find the answers they needed. This was as good a place as any to start.

“But you have some clue?” Kimo narrowed his eyes.

Kahori told him about the fake pearls and how they suspected the brutes who’d chased her had been some sort of collection crew that her father may have attempted to double-cross.

“They’ll be back.” Kimo sagged against his desk. “You can’t go home, Kahori.”

“I know.” She considered how he might take the news of the rest of their plan. In the end, she divulged everything. If she trusted her family and that ended up being the wrong call, she’d have to accept the consequences. But mistrusting even the people who’d loved her most seemed like a greater crime. “These guys are going to help me out. They’ve got more security coming in first thing in the morning. Until then, I was hoping Tosin and I could hide out in the honeymoon suite. Archer and Miguel will stay too, to guard the entrance.”

Her uncle frowned at first. Thinking of his gorgeous niece and a foreigner in the same sentence as “honeymoon suite” probably didn’t sit well, though as the island’s resort owner he certainly had more exposure to visitors, which had softened his traditional views. Eventually, he relented. “You’re right. It’s the easiest spot to protect. Since there’s only one way in…”

Kahori thought about the overwater cabana. It would be like a mini fort. No one could sneak up on them. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

“Go ahead, Kahori. The longer we talk, the more likely it is someone might see you.” He shooed her. When she turned around, Hemi stood—feet spread, thick arms crossed—blocking the doorway.

“You’re letting them stay here?” He spat the question as if it were an accusation.

“She’s family—of course. Your uncle Ruru would do the same for you if something happened to me.” Kimo gestured for his son to move.

He didn’t.

The three divemasters huddled around her like a living, breathing shield.

“See…here you are inviting them in when they probably killed Uncle Ruru and fed him to the sharks,” Hemi snarled, viciously enough that spittle launched from his ruddy face.

“Right now you seem more violent, and far less civilized, than our guests.” Uncle Kimo put Hemi in his place.

“
I
can take care of Kahori.” Hemi bucked against his father’s authority. “We don’t need them.”

“If Tosin goes, so do I,” Kahori objected at the same time Tosin simply said, “No.”

“I never expected you to be the sort to choose a
papa’a
over your own blood.” Her cousin scanned her appraisingly. Then he shrugged. “Have it your way.”

Then he retreated to the check-in desk, where he answered a ringing phone, speaking quietly into the receiver as if he hadn’t been shouting moments earlier.

Kahori thanked her uncle then edged out the door toward the honeymoon suite.

“
Tamāhine
,” Uncle Kimo called for his niece. “Ignore my foolish son. He is hurting too. Don’t lose hope. Your
pāpā
is coming back. He would never choose to leave you. Understood?”

“Yes, uncle.” She wished the sickness in her gut didn’t say otherwise.