by Dylan Keefer
"Well, if I wasn't awake already, I am now. What are you doing here?" Malanie asked.
“I came to talk to Tai,” Raine said. She nodded to the plate of food. “I assume he's stuffing his face with the mother load.”
“He calls it energizing,” the girl said as she scooted by Raine. “I gotta get to school. See you.”
Tai didn't seem surprised to see her. He looked at Lao with a knowing smile when Raine appeared.
“Called it,” he said.
Raine looked at him amused. “Called what?”
Tai sat back in his chair. "You came for some relationship advice from da man himself. Micah has been on yo' mind."
Raine chuckled nervously. “Micah hasn't been on my mind.” Technically, that was true. He hadn't been on her mind. Of course, that was due to Naia's case being at the forefront. Take away the case, and she would have probably sought some sort of advice. She wasn't sure if Tai would have been the source though.
“So why you here den?”
Raine pulled up a chair to the table and put on her best puppy dog look. “Tai? My dear friend. My number one guy. I need your help.”
Tai smiled. “I got you.”
“I need your help with Naia Maitai's case.”
Tai's smiled faded. “Wait? What?”
“Naia asked me to help her prove that she's innocent and to find her fiancé,” she explained. “Why? Da military police are handlin' it. We got dis?”
Raine wanted to tell him everything, but she was very careful about taking everything that Eli said seriously. He told her not to mention him or his deal to anyone, and she wasn't going to put Alex's life in danger with one slip up.
“You've got to trust me on this one, Tai.”
Tai shook his head and pushed his plate away. “I trust you, but da evidence against Naia is a lot. You tink she's innocent?”
“I do, and I think that we can prove it. I just need your help.”
Tai narrowed his eyes. “You ain't talk to Micah bout dis, did you?”
She shook her head slowly. “I don't want to put you in a bad place with him, but there is a lot at stake. He and I---we need to talk...” “Yeah, you do,” Tai snorted.
“But this needs to get fixed first.”
Tai looked at Lao, who nodded her approval. “Dat doesn't help. You tink Raine's awesome.” He looked back at Raine. “Whachu need?”
***
“So, you tell us what you found, and we'll tell you what we found.”
Mano and Naia both seemed excited that morning, and Raine hadn't been too keen on seeing that both were at her place. When she had answered the door, Naia had appeared in an oversized shirt—his oversized shirt. Now that she and Tai were in her apartment, Mano must have noticed Raine looking at his disheveled appearance and the fact that he only had a wife beater on. He immediately grew wide-eyed and raised his hands to her.
“We didn't...”
“I know,” she said. She looked at Naia. “She loves you and Alex both too much to do something so stupid. She's not the same girl she used to be.”
That caused Naia's eyes to widen for a whole different reason. Tai looked around at everyone. “I dunno what's goin' on here, but you wanna know what we found?”
“What?” Naia asked. “Chloroform,” Raine said. Naia and Mano looked at her strangely. Raine explained. “You were knocked unconscious at the restaurant. Plausible. In the dark, El—our person could have easily come up behind her quickly and hit you with something to make you pass out. Obviously, this isn't the movies, and you wouldn't have been knocked out for hours. That's why you were tested for drugs.”
"And they didn't find anything in my system," Naia said.
"Dey weren't lookin' for chloroform," Tai said.
Raine pointed to her face. "Been using a lot of chapstick lately?"
Naia nodded. “My lips have been dry.” “Chloroform will dry out the skin around the mouth if it's used in high doses. In this case, all this person needed to do was knock you out, and then continuously make sure that you were exposed to the chloroform consistently.” “And,” Tai continued, “da body purges it quickly. Dey wouldn't have found it at dey hospital.”
“That's good then,” Mano said. “At least, we've got something working for us. Well, two more things.” “Two more?” Raine raised an eyebrow. “There's something that you want to share with us?”
Naia looked at Mano apprehensively. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Raine wants to help you. She'll be okay with this.”
"Why I got a feeling like you ain't gonna be okay with dis?" Tai mumbled to Raine who crossed her arms and looks at the both of them.
“What did you do?”
Naia grimaced. “You might want to come with me.”
Raine and Tai followed them farther into Naia's apartment where the girl led them into a make-shift office where a huge desktop sat amongst a myriad of tech equipment. Tai whistled.
“You prolly do some mad gamin'.”
Naia frowned. "I'm tech savvy, not a tech nerd," she said turning the main desktop on.
“Remember how we figured that whoever did this would have to have a canoe or kayak, and no one would be able to see them in the dark?” Mano reminded Raine. “Well, no one would be able to see them, but something would.”
Naia began to pull up several media players, and all of them had a clear view of what looked like a body of water. "All of the houses around the corner from the restaurant that line up around the inlet are filled with incredibly wealthy people, and incredibly wealthy people have expensive things in their expensive houses. Expensive houses have security cameras."
"Oh snap!" Tai said but clamped his mouth shut when Raine glared at him.
“Naia,” Raine closed her eyes. “Please tell me that you didn't hack into people's personal security cameras.”
Naia shrugged. “I didn't know what else to do.” Raine groaned. “We needed to find out what happened to the boat, and we did. Look.”
She turned back to the screen and moved the position of the video on one screen. She hit play. Raine had to squint a little, but there was a view of a kayak coming from the direction of the restaurant. Raine clicked on a different video once the boat moved out of frame in the first one. Camera angles from several different houses followed the kayak along the water. The person in the kayak wore an all-black wetsuit. The face wasn't recognizable.
“Right there,” Mano said. “See the kayak heading to that dock?”
The person steered the boat toward a dock with a house far in the background. They grabbed onto a rope hanging from the end of it and pulled the kayak to the side of the wooden structure where they climbed out.
“That has to be the house of the person that did it, right?” Mano said excitedly. Naia looked up at Raine. “I got an address,” she said softly.
Just then, Tai's phone rang. He looked at and produced a funky facial expression. “It's Micah,” he said to Raine. “I gotta take this.”
He walked out of the room. Naia cleared her throat. “Mano, could you get me a glass of water?” Mano didn't hesitate. When he left the room, too, Raine shook her head.
“He's a little excited, huh?”
“Well,” Naia sighed. “I told him my secret last night.”
Raine raised an eyebrow. “You told him everything?”
“Not everything. I told him about my dad's job, and what I did. I told him about the co-worker and his son.” She looked down. “He was so patient. He was so kind about it. I wanted to cry. I didn't tell him about Eli Samuels though. He would have been very upset.”
"Then you know that this kayak was probably stolen and that the house in this video isn't the place we're looking for."
“I know,” Naia said.
“But I need to go check it out anyway.”
Mano returned with the water. “Can we come?” Raine was about to protest, but Mano continued. “You can't go alone. You're going to need someone there to help.”
“Do
n't you have an internship to go to?” Raine questioned. Mano looked at Naia. “I told our boss that I was helping Naia out in this. He gave me some time.”
“And me?” Naia asked. “What do I do?”
Tai's footsteps stopped at the entrance to the doorway. He scratched his head as if wondering how he was going to say what he wanted to say.
“What did he say, Tai?” Raine asked. Tai looked at Naia.
“I'm sorry, kid,” Tai started off. “Dey coming to pick you up? And dey got a warrant to search your place.”
***
Mano was quiet as Raine drove. He stared down at the GPS on his phone, totally zone out. Raine knew that at this point in time, Micah had gotten to Naia's house. Tai said that he would stay behind and pretend that he had gotten to her place before the other officers. Raine couldn't imagine what the girl was feeling. There were going to be some repercussions, but Eli had ruined her life. He fiancé was missing, her family would be destroyed, and her life was going to drastically get worse if Raine didn't figure this out. Or...or she could let nature take its course. Eli had said for her to choose: Naia or Alex?
“You still sticking by her?” She asked Mano. He nodded. “Even knowing the mistakes she's made?”
"They're mistakes," Mano said. "She never meant to hurt anybody. I think that if she is faced with a decision, she'll do the thing that she feels is right even if it hurt her."
"This is hurting her, Mano. She could really be in trouble."
He tightened and flexed his jaw to hold back what he really wanted to say. Instead, he pointed ahead of them. “Take a left here.”
The house was easily a hundred-thousand dollars, and being lakefront property, it was probably more than that. The gravel driveway flattened out into the grass, and Raine pulled up close to the house. There was a man and a toddler in the yard. Mano looked at her. She turned the engine off. “Let's just see what we find out.” The man's hair was scattered all around his head as he walked forward to greet them. The little boy tugged on his father's pants for a few steps, then started to explore the area around them.
“Can I help you? I wasn't expecting visitors?”
“My name is Raine Michelson. I'm with HPD.”
“Raine Michelson?” A slow smile appeared on the guy’s lips. “You aren't the Raine that was engaged to Donnie Echols, are you?”
Her body stiffened. Immediately, she felt vulnerable and exposed. “Um—do I know you?”
“I'm Garret Henry. Donnie and I were in the same command,” he pointed at her. “You were at the birthday party that I helped throw for him. I'd remember it like it was yesterday. That was some night.”
Raine had been in the kitchen with another girl—a girlfriend or fiancé of one of the other officers. They were concocting a mixed drink, both being tired of just beer.
“So, you're with the birthday boy, huh?” The other girl had said. “How is that going?”
“Wonderful,” Raine said. “I'm actually surprised that I got him out here. He isn't the party type.”
“A military man, but not the party type? That's a laugh.”
The place was full, and once the two of them set out the pitchers of mixed drinks, the house erupted in a cheer. Raine poured her cup quickly before the masses took it all. She wandered around the house and joined a group that was standing outside by a fire pit.
"Well, boys. Are you just sitting out here talking?" She asked.
They all laughed. "What do you suggest that we do?"
Raine put her finger to her chin. “How about I tell your fortunes?” She took the guys had next to her and turned his palm up. She began to trace her finger across his hand. “You are a hard worker. Grew up on a farm, but you hated it. You want to live in the city someday, but you know that you'll just wind up being a country boy after you're done in the navy.”
“Damn,” he said laughing. “You really know how to make a guy feel like he's got it good, don't you?”
“You didn't let me finish, “she said. “You're going to live a happy life with a beautiful wife.”
“Aww,” the other guys chimed in. Raine swiveled on her feet and pointed to a stocky blonde.
“You,” she said. “Come on, give me your hand.”
He smiled and reluctantly gave it to her. She closed her eyes and smiled. “Ahh. You're a newbie.” The other guys laughed. “You've never found the love that you've been looking for, and you've given up. But, you're going to find someone that you never want to let go. You're going to help people see who they truly are.”
She squeezed his hand, and he blushed a little. Raine pointed to a third guy. “And you.” He started to give her his hand, and she waved him off. “I don't need to read your palm. I know your future is losing to me in a game of beer pong.”
The entire group laughed and jeered as they made it to the beer pong set up. Raine felt someone grab her shoulder. It was the second guy whose palm she read. He smiled at her. “I'm Eli,” he said.
Raine swallowed hard as she tried to regain her composure. Garret Henry looked apologetic.
“I'm sorry for bringing that up,” he said. “I remember being at his funeral. He was a great guy.”
Raine's mouth felt dry. She tried to speak anyway. “It's not your fault. I—I'm really here to talk to you about a case that I'm working on. Did you hear that there was an abduction the other night at the restaurant down at the end of the inlet?”
Garret nodded. “I heard about it. What does that have to do with me?”
“We believe that the person behind it used a kayak to pull up to the back of the restaurant in the middle of the night so no one would see them. We actually have video footage of a person kayaking from the shore by the restaurant over to your dock and pulling the kayak up this way.”
Garrett laughed. “We keep our kayaks locked in a shed, and I know that we haven't taken them out. My wife and I actually just got back yesterday from a vacation we took for a few days.”
“Really? Well, I'm glad that your family got to get away,” Raine said. “Where did you go?”
“Took the wife and my son on a trip to Texas, and trust me it was a long flight.” Garrett's eyes found the little boy twirling around in the grass. “We won a package to a resort there. I thought it was a joke, but this guy gave us a call a few weeks ago and said that we had been entered into some sort of contest, and we won the package.”
Raine looked at Mano. “And neither you nor your wife knew anything about a contest?”
"Nothing. Airfare paid food and lodging. It all checked out." He held up a finger and grabbed his phone. "The website on here had a phone number. That is who I contacted, and the guy confirmed everything."
Raine and Mano both looked at the screen. “www.heroesgetaway.net?” Raine groaned. This was a huge jab from Eli. Everything was planned perfectly to mess with her. She didn't need to see it, but she asked Garret where the kayaks were kept.
“I'm telling you that there is no way someone used our kayaks,” he said as he walked them towards the water and the shed not far from there. He took hold of the combination lock, and it popped open a few seconds later. The door opened, and Raine and Mano stepped in two examine the canoes.
“There's the green one,” Mano said. Raine looked at it. It was perfectly cleaned like it hadn't been used in a while. Her eyes scanned what she could see with the light from the shed and sunlight from the open door.
"You said that you hadn't used these in a long time," she said to Garret. "But this one has dust on it, and the green one is spotless. Almost like it's been recently clean."
Raine guided her fingers around the inside and then smiled.
“Right there,” she pointed to Mano, “on the seat. See it.”
"See what?" Mano wasn't used to looking for it, but she almost was attracted to it when it was around. It could have been mistaken as a small streak of mud that had been missed. She pointed to the spot and looked at them both.
“That—is blood.”
/> Garrett and Mano both looked at the spot that she pointed to. “You're sure,” Mano said. “Looks like mud.”
“No,” Garrett said. “She's right. I'd seen plenty of blood and mud, enough to know the difference.”
Raine knew that all they needed was to get a crime lab tech down there to get the sample and get it analyzed. Then they would be able to confirm it was Alex's blood. It would clear Naia—at least, it would clear her from the abduction. Whatever Micah had found on her was probably not good.
Eli had given strict instructions for her to make Naia suffer. Well, she was suffering, and Raine knew that she was only going to make things worse if she didn't bring Micah in on this to help her.
“I need to go make a phone call,” she said. Looking at Garrett, she sighed. “I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to call this in. Your property is going to have some more company very soon.”
“Eh,” Garrett said. “If I can help, I want to. Fellow Navy guy and all.”
Raine nodded and walked out of the shed and into the afternoon air. She grabbed her phone and started to look up Micah's number. The device vibrated before she could finish what she was doing. The number showed up as restricted, and Raine stopped walking. She knew who it was. Did she dare make him angry by ignoring the call? Her eyes scanned the area. Was he here?
“What is it?” She answered, trying to mask the worry in her voice. “Funny. I had this feeling that you were going to call your boyfriend and tell him you found evidence that would clear Naia,” Eli said. “I'm just paranoid, right? Because I told you what would happen if you did.”
Raine breathed in and out through her nose while trying to keep herself composed. “Naia will suffer the consequences for what she did. You wanted her exposed.”
"You didn't listen! I said prove that Naia is guilty for kidnapping her fiancé, and for what happened years ago. I don't want her just exposed. I want her to be ruined!"
"I won't let you do that," Raine said. "I'm not going to let you ruin her life because she found love, and she wanted to do everything to keep it. If you really want to ruin someone, then you want to ruin me. Why don't you leave her alone, Eli? You've always wanted me."