Black Sands

by Colleen Coble

  Mano knew when special ops got in someone’s blood it was hard to get it out. Sam had been a SEAL for six months before he injured his knee. “Maybe. There’s something else. I’ve seen a man in the Aloha Shores and around town who calls himself Tab Watson.”

  “The last person to see Leilani.”

  “Right. His real name is Kim Aki. And he was involved in a plot to blow up a munitions cache at Barking Sands a few months ago.”

  Sam raised his brows. “You think it’s related?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d like to go with you to question him.”

  “I do my own investigative work.” Sam turned to speak to his men.

  At least he wasn’t going to have to explain about Tomi any further. Sam had jumped to an assumption and seemed eager to help Tomi now. But Mano would have to find a way to force Sam into taking him to talk to Aki. He went to the desk and told the teller he wanted to catch up the Tagama mortgage. Fifteen minutes later he was five thousand dollars poorer, but richer for the contentment that flooded him at finally doing something to help Annie.

  Annie dressed for worship with a sense of adventure. For the first time that she could remember in years, she actually wanted to go. She’d read her Bible two nights straight now and was beginning to see that her priorities were all wrong.

  She went to the kitchen. Wilson followed her. His squeak was the one he used when he was hungry, so she fed him first, a mixture of grubs and larvae she bought at the pet store in Hilo. Sometimes he ate cat food, but he preferred his natural diet. He growled softly as he gulped down his food, then looked up to her for more.

  “That’s it, you little piglet. If you’re good, I’ll give you a bite of my egg.” She put the skillet on to heat and got omelet fixings out of the refrigerator.

  Her father came into the kitchen. “I overslept. You should have woken me.”

  He’d been out late the night before with Gina. “I tapped on your door. I thought I heard you say okay.” In fact, she was sure he’d answered her. He’d probably gone back to bed.

  “You were mistaken.” He settled at the table. “Get that animal out of here.”

  Annie sighed and scooped up Wilson, who squeaked in protest. She stashed him in her bedroom, then hurried back to the kitchen to pour coffee for her father. She needed to tell him about the foreclosure notice. Wetting her lips, she tried to decide how to bring it up. She didn’t want to upset him when he was about to get to work. She stirred cream into his coffee, then went back to the stove. Maybe she should tell him tonight instead of this morning. She was such a coward.

  Wilson dashed under her feet. She must not have latched her door. He had something in his mouth. He nudged her leg, then dashed past her. She recognized the red seal on the top of the paper and realized he had the letter from the bank. “Wilson, give me that.” She made a grab for him, but he evaded her and ran up her father’s pant leg.

  He sputtered hot coffee on his shirt as Wilson burrowed into his lap. “That stupid animal. I want you to get rid of it.” He shoved Wilson onto the floor. The mongoose dropped the paper on Edega’s feet then broke into a series of barks. Edega frowned. “What’s this?”

  As her father leaned down to pick up the paper, Annie leaned back against the stove and closed her eyes. The fireworks were about to begin. She should have told him right away. He hated secrets. She opened her eyes and squared her shoulders. “I was just about to tell you about that.”

  He smoothed the letter out and began to read it. His frown turned ferocious when he realized what it was. “Foreclosure! A Tagama doesn’t lose his land for nonpayment. How is this possible?”

  “Our expenses here are just so high,” she began.

  He held up his hand. “This never happened when your mother was alive. I expected you to be able to handle things in her place.”

  “We didn’t have a huge mortgage when Mother was alive,” Annie said.

  He shook his head. “Don’t make excuses, Annie. You should have come to me about this before we got to this stage.”

  “I tried,” she burst out. “But you wouldn’t listen to me.” He didn’t make Leilani kick in any money toward her upkeep, but she and her father pooled their resources. Still, it wasn’t enough. With Leilani’s help, it might have been.

  “I always listen. Don’t try to make excuses for your failure and blame someone else.” He pushed away from the table. “We must take care of this. How much money is in the bank?”

  “Not enough.” He wasn’t going to listen. She wanted to crawl back into bed and drag the covers over her head.

  “How much?” he demanded. She told him. “That’s not enough to even make one month’s house payment.”

  “I know.” She shoved her hair out of her face. “That’s what I’m saying. We don’t make enough money to keep up this kind of high payment. You thought you’d get grant money back in to pay what you took out, but it’s never come.”

  “But what are we going to do?” His tone was that of a bewildered child.

  She lifted her head and looked at her father. “Tomi says he’s had an offer for our property. Three million dollars.”

  Her father gasped, and his eyes bulged. “That’s not possible. Who would offer so much money?”

  “A casino is coming in and turning this area into a resort destination with a theme park and housing subdivision. They want it right away though. They intend to break ground very soon, so we have to move quickly.”

  His eyes grew thoughtful. “If we lose the house, they would buy it for practically nothing from the bank. Why would they just not wait for that?”

  “They probably don’t know we’re in trouble. And even if they did, it would take time to foreclose. They don’t have the time to waste.”

  “Let me think it over. I don’t like to be rushed into a decision. Tomi is back now. Perhaps he will help me decide. And speaking of your brother, why has he not come to see me? You have seen him several times, yet he makes no visit to see me. He dishonors me.”

  “He’s been . . . taking care of urgent business. I’m sure he’ll be here to see you soon.” Her father was never going to listen to her. Annie watched him turn away and exit the room the way he always did when he was finished with a conversation. She pinched the bridge of her nose and wondered how she was going to fix this. If the offer to buy the house slipped away, they could lose everything.

  Twenty

  Mano jogged to keep up with Sam. Rain drizzled on his face and ran in rivulets down his neck. They’d parked at the road and had to walk through thick rain forest along the trail to Kim Aki’s shack. Mano’s shirt was drenched from brushing against the dripping tree ferns. Though Sam really hadn’t had any choice after the navy honchos learned Aki was back in the spotlight, Mano decided to be diplomatic. “Mahalo for letting me tag along, Sam.”

  “Cut the crap, Oana. I don’t want you here, and you know it. Just don’t get in my way.”

  “So much for an olive branch. You wouldn’t even know about Aki if I hadn’t told you. You might show a little gratitude.”

  “Gratitude? For a wild-goose chase? So an enemy of yours is here under an assumed name. Big deal. That probably has nothing to do with Leilani running off.”

  “He was the last person to see her. Another thing you should know—I saw him outside Noah’s cabin the other day. You don’t want to believe Tomi had anything to do with Noah’s death any more than I do. What if Aki killed him?”

  Sam stopped and turned to face him. “And you’re just now telling me?”

  “I forgot until now.” His face burned. He hated these memory lapses more than anything.

  Sam snorted. “Likely story. I don’t want any more interference in my cases. First you get involved in Leilani’s disappearance, and now this.”

  “Don’t forget about Leilani now that Noah is dead. Something has happened to her.”

  Sam held up thick fingers. “One, she’s done this before, Oana. Two, there’s been no ransom note or anythi
ng else that would lead us to think foul play was involved. What makes you all so sure this stunt of hers is unique? And three, people have seen her since she disappeared.”

  He should tell Sam about CeCe’s lie. A shadow moved up ahead before he could tell the officer. Mano squinted. “There’s Aki now.”

  Sam turned and thrashed forward through the last bit of forest. “Mr. Aki, I’d like to have a word with you.”

  Kim Aki whirled and crashed through the tree ferns that lined the path. Mano sprang after him, but Aki knew the area better and vanished in a stand of koa trees that towered over the underlying vegetation. He and Sam thrashed through stag’s tongue, woodfern, and ’olapa for fifteen minutes before giving up.

  “What a waste of a morning,” Sam grumbled.

  They returned to the squad car, and Mano glanced at the detective’s face. He was finally beginning to realize that Sam did care about the Tagama family, but he was genuinely worried about his other cases. “How about we settle our beef here and now? If we can’t be friends, I’d at least like to be civil.”

  Sam slung himself into the car, and Mano got in on the passenger side and shut the door. Sam gripped the steering wheel.

  “We’re never going to be friends, Oana.”

  “Leilani has dumped both of us. There’s no reason for us to be at each other’s throat. She’s moved on. Happens to the best of us.”

  “I think she would have married me if you hadn’t come into the picture with your flashy uniform and smooth ways.” Sam flexed his fingers.

  “If she was going to be flighty, wouldn’t you rather find that out before you married her?”

  Sam glared at Mano “You knew she was dating me.”

  Mano knew he should have an answer for Sam’s accusation, but he didn’t. He shrugged. “Look, we could argue this all night. She burned us both. Can’t we put her behind us?”

  Sam blinked, and the florid color faded from his face. His jaw flexed, and he turned to stare out the window. “It’s a little late now.”

  “Better late than never.”

  “I’m fine now,” Sam said. “I’ve got a new girl, and I don’t have time to waste on looking for Leilani Tagama. She’ll turn up.” He started the car and put the transmission in gear.

  “Can we call a truce?” Mano asked.

  “I guess. Leilani trashed us both pretty well. She didn’t stay with you long either.”

  “About a month.” Mano grimaced at the reminder. He’d been so stupid over that girl. She taught him not to trust a pretty face. As Sam pulled out, Mano’s thoughts wandered to Annie. She might be an exception. He saw a movement from the corner of his eye and craned his neck to look. Aki’s face disappeared back into the brush.

  “Stop!” Mano shouted. “Aki is there.”

  Sam wrenched the steering wheel and pulled to the side of the road. Mano jumped out and ran into the thicket of Hawaiian huckleberry. Sam followed, thrashing and cursing as he got caught in a tangle of climbing screw-pine vines. Ahead of them, Aki stumbled over a mound of a’a and went tumbling into a tree fern. He staggered to his feet, but he’d lost his advantage. Mano tackled him.

  “Calm down,” Mano panted. He wrestled Aki’s hands behind him, which was no easy task, because the man had to outweigh him by sixty pounds.

  Sam reached them. “Let him go, Mano. We just want to ask you some questions,” he told Aki.

  The big man rolled to his back and sat up. “I haven’t done anything. What do you want?”

  “For one thing, for you to stop when a police officer tells you to,” Sam said sternly. He grabbed Aki and hauled him to his feet.

  Mano got up as well. He and Sam exchanged a wordless glance, and Mano read the warning in the detective’s eyes. He moved off to the side to give Sam room to handle the interrogation.

  Sam took out his notebook. “Name.”

  Aki glared at Mano. “Kim Aki.”

  Sam looked up. “You’ve been going under an assumed name. Why?”

  “Trying to stay out of the spotlight of yahoos like Oana over there.”

  Mano ignored the big man’s glare. He studied Aki’s body language. Head thrust forward, arms crossed defensively, poised as if to flee any minute. The man was hiding something. Mano was sure of it.

  Sam grunted. “What spotlight? Do you have a record?”

  “No.” Aki’s response was instant. His smile held a trace of triumph.

  “He was offered a deal for testifying against his dad,” Mano put in.

  Aki bunched his fists. “See what I mean? How can I start a new life with that hanging over me? So I just changed my name.”

  “Changed it or assumed a new one? Let me see your ID.” Sam held out his hand.

  Aki reluctantly got out his wallet and handed the detective his driver’s license. “I assumed it.”

  “Then where’d you get the documentation for this license?”

  “I got sources.” Aki’s lips had a sulky twist.

  Sam sighed. “Look, we want to know about Leilani Tagama. Where did you see her last?”

  “About a week ago. We went out for drinks. I took her to her car afterwards. It was parked where she worked.”

  “And that was the last you saw her?”

  Aki nodded. “She was just fine when I left her.”

  “What time was this?”

  “About two in the morning.”

  Leilani was a partier. It looked like that hadn’t changed. Mano itched to question Aki but forced himself to stay silent.

  “Did she say where she was going when she left you?”

  “Straight home.”

  Sam scowled. “Did she have another boyfriend?”

  “Her and me weren’t like that. We’d only been going out a few weeks. We weren’t serious.”

  “A friend says she saw you with Leilani a few days ago in Hilo. What do you have to say about that?”

  Aki clenched his fists. “It’s a lie. I haven’t seen her.”

  “Were there any other men in her life?”

  Aki shrugged. “Not as far as I know, but you never knew with Leilani. She liked to keep men guessing.”

  Ah, they had him. “You’re talking like she’s dead,” Mano said. “You’re using past tense.”

  Aki flushed. “It’s just a figure of speech.”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I think you’d better come downtown for a few more questions. Like what you were doing outside Noah Sommers’s house.”

  It was about time Sam pounced with that line of questioning. Mano was certain Aki was involved with Noah. Whether he had killed him remained to be seen, but there was something between the two men.

  Aki held up his hands. “Don’t be framing me for that murder. It wasn’t me.”

  “I just want to ask some questions,” Sam said.

  Aki nodded, and they started toward the patrol car. When they reached the road, Aki made a sudden move to the right. He jerked his arm out of Sam’s grasp and bolted for the forest.

  “Stop!” Sam gave chase with Mano on his heels. Ten minutes later they gave up. “We’ll find him,” Sam said grimly. “Every cop on the island will be looking for him.”

  “What’s your take on this now?” Mano asked him. “Still think Leilani just ran off with a boyfriend? I think Aki is in this up to his ears.”

  “Maybe. Or he might be tied to Noah’s death.” Sam started the car. “But I’ll look into it a little more.”

  Finally. “Where can we start?”

  “There’s no we, Oana. This is my job. Let me handle it.” Sam dropped the gearshift into drive and headed toward town.

  Twenty-one

  Annie stood in the doorway to Gina’s office. She wasn’t sure whether to act as if she still had a job or to throw herself on her boss’s mercy and beg for menial work.

  Gina looked up from her perusal of a graph. Her face lit with relief and something else that Annie couldn’t read. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be coming back in today or not. Come in,
sweetie, I want to talk to you.”

  At least she wasn’t mad. Annie stepped into the office and sat on the edge of the seat, gripping her knees.

  “You look like you’re about to hear a death sentence.” Gina smiled and went to the small rolling cart against the wall. “Want some tea?”

  “Sure.”

  Gina heated two mugs of water in the microwave, dropped a tea bag into each, and handed one cup to Annie before taking her seat again. Annie used the reprieve to try to calm her jitters. Was that unknown emotion regret for letting Annie go, or something else?

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Gina said, taking a sip of tea. “And I realize I was pushing you too hard, too fast. I don’t want to lose you, Annie. You’re too good of a scientist for me to stand by and let you throw it away. I want you to see a therapist and try to get over this fear.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Annie protested. “I just need a little time. Let me do it in small stages instead of sending me right out to the most dangerous areas.”

  “I’m not sure we have that kind of time. I need you up to speed as soon as possible. The earthquake swarms likely mean something big is about to happen. I need the whole staff fully functional and operating as one.”

  “Even a therapist can’t work miracles overnight.”

  “True.” Gina took another sip of tea. “How about we compromise? Over the next two weeks, I want you to enter an area where you feel frightened, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Don’t do any work there, just go to the brink and evaluate your reaction. If you find the fear is lessening, we’ll assume you can conquer this by yourself.”

  It was a good offer, and Annie knew it. Though fear soured her stomach, she nodded slowly. “Okay. It’s good of you to do this, Gina.”

  The older woman played with a pencil on her desk. “I’m no stranger to fear, Annie. I know what it’s like to feel your heart shrivel in your chest.”

  Annie couldn’t imagine tiny but intrepid Gina afraid of anything. “I don’t believe it,” she said.

  Gina looked up. “My childhood was a nightmare. I had a father who brutalized me and my sister. I remember hiding in the closet and praying he wouldn’t find me. I decided when I was a teenager that I wasn’t going to let fear control me any longer. I don’t want to see you bow to it.”