Black Sands

by Colleen Coble

  Annie tried not to show her shock. Gina seemed so calm and put together. Sometimes she seemed too controlled, though now Annie could see why. Gina would be good for her father. “I’m sorry, Gina. I had no idea.”

  Gina waved her hand airily. “It’s all in the past. You’re like me in many ways, Annie. Even in your family life. I’ve noticed your father is a little hard on you. You need to remember that you’re a strong woman. You don’t need his approval. Make your own way.”

  “My family needs me,” Annie said weakly.

  “I think you overestimate your importance to them. They’ll survive without you. You need to look out for yourself. No one else will.”

  Gina had it all wrong. Insulating herself against hurt was no way to live. But for the first time, Annie was beginning to realize that being a doormat wasn’t what God intended either. Was there a happy medium where she could open herself to her family and yet be her own person as well? She wanted to rush home and look through the Bible to find out.

  Gina interrupted her thoughts. “As long as we’re in agreement, you can get back to work. I want you to go out as far on the lava as you can go today. Then come back here and work on your data. And get that formula fixed for Jillian.”

  “Okay.” Annie rose and went toward the door. She hesitated. “Mahalo for everything, Gina. I hope things work out with you and my father.” Gina smiled without answering, then bent her head and went back to studying her graphs. Annie went down the hall, checked her e-mail, then went outside. She had to go out on the lava bench.

  Someplace dangerous, but not too dangerous. She got on her ATV and drove out across the rock. Though she didn’t like the thought of going back to where she’d vomited the other day, she had to face her fear. She got as far as the path but couldn’t make herself get off the vehicle. Maybe Gina was right and she needed professional help. She turned around and went back to the observatory.

  Annie frowned as she stood in front of the seismograph two hours later. The earthquakes were increasing at the rift. She’d never seen so many in a twenty-four-hour period. She went to the bank of computers on the other side of the room and began to call up data that she could check. Wilson batted at the mouse, then tried to nibble on the cord. Her father had been unusually grouchy about him, and she decided to keep him out of the house.

  “Forget it, mister.” She nudged him away. He squeaked, then hopped to the floor and went to the sofa by the door that they used for guests. He raced up the sofa and perched on top to look out the window.

  “You’re frowning.” Fawn had come into the room behind her. “Is something wrong?”

  “All these earthquakes make me a little uneasy.” Annie showed her the data.

  Fawn perused it, then handed it back to her. “Looks like we might be about to have another eruption. Maybe Mauna Loa is ready to sound off again.”

  While it was impossible to predict eruptions, Mauna Loa was said to be “overdue” for one. The volcano had erupted thirty-nine times since 1832. In the last century, the events had occurred every one to twelve years. This latest lull, however, had gone on since 1984. The islands breathlessly awaited a new light show.

  Annie’s excitement rose. “Maybe.” She looked back at the computer. “With this much activity, though, I wonder if we might get an explosive event.”

  Jillian came into the room as she spoke. “You think? I’ve been wondering about it.”

  “Don Swanson proved there have been some in the past,” Annie pointed out. “It could happen again. And my father’s data shows the same thing.”

  Jillian leaned over Annie’s shoulder and looked at the computer. “Looks like we’ll be getting something. Let’s pray for a nice, gentle flow that doesn’t hurt anyone.”

  Wilson growled, and Jillian turned to look. “I don’t know how you get away with bringing Wilson in here. I’m surprised Monica hasn’t complained.”

  “She has, but Gina told her to mind her own business,” Fawn put in with a sly grin. “And Annie doesn’t bring him every day.”

  Annie got up and grabbed her purse. “I think I’ll go put out some new GPS receivers on Mauna Loa.”

  “Speaking of receivers, did you get Orson Kauhi to agree to let you plant them in his neck of the woods?” Jillian asked.

  “No, but I’ll go to talk to him about it while I’m out.” She picked up Wilson and headed for the door.

  “I still need your help on that computer model,” Jillian called after her.

  “I know. Later, I promise.” She kept going, grabbed some GPS receivers, and headed to her SUV. Maybe she could get somewhere with her neighbor if she went out by herself. Orson might be more amenable to a woman alone. He’d always been more courteous to women. She stopped at her house and dropped off the mongoose, then drove on down the road to the Kauhi property. She parked where the road ended and walked up the hillside. It was a hard climb over the jumbled black lava rock. The hillside could have been a play yard for a giant tossing balls of lava rock.

  At the crest of the hill, she paused and looked around for her neighbor. The air was still and silent but fragrant with the scent of flowers. The extreme silence gave her the willies. She saw movement to her left, so she began to wander toward a small structure. As she neared it, she realized it was a heiau. Constructed of lava rocks, the small structure held an altar. Orson knelt before it. A lei circled an offering of fruit and vegetables. He was chanting as he bowed. A ki’i frowned over the scene.

  Annie clasped her arms around her and waited. How could he think praying to a god made of wood would gain him anything? Watching him, she was struck again by what Fawn had said to her about idolatry. Had Annie herself been worshiping at the feet of the god of her family? Had she really let her desire to be needed become her god? She was afraid her friend was right.

  And the yearning would so easily creep back in. Though she’d begun to read her Bible every night before bed, she sensed it wouldn’t take much for the old habits and attitudes to take over her life again. Recognizing how much she loved her family, she knew her tendency was something she was going to have to guard against a long time, maybe all her life.

  She shook away the thoughts as Orson rose. Dressed in traditional hula costume with ti leaves and a shell lei, he wore a contented smile. He turned and caught sight of her. The beatific expression on his face changed to a scowl. “I told you not to come here.”

  “What god are you worshiping?” Annie blurted, her horrified gaze still on the temple.

  “You have lived on the island all your life and still do not recognize Ku?” Orson shook his head. “How typical of the young ones.”

  “Ku likes human sacrifice. How can you worship him?” Annie half expected to see blood dripping from the altar.

  “Only on certain holy days. Ku’s four days of worship are here. Are you offering yourself as a sacrifice?” Annie backed away, and he smiled. “You can’t take a joke? I wouldn’t hurt you, Annie. We’re neighbors.” He said the words almost gently.

  She dragged her gaze from the heiau. “Did you introduce Leilani to Ku worship?”

  He studied her for a moment without answering. “Your sister is searching for meaning for her life. How could I not show her?”

  He had gotten her involved. Annie’s excitement rose. “Do you know where she is?”

  “I haven’t seen her.” He picked up a walking staff and began to walk back toward his cabin.

  Annie fell into step beside him. “The mountain has been shaking lately. I really need to put out some GPS receivers. I promise to pick them up in a few days. I won’t leave them here indefinitely.”

  Orson stopped, and his dark eyes glared out of his face and into her eyes. “I have told you no before.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry to keep bugging you, but this is really important to my career.” She told him about the dramatic increase in recent activity, then fell silent. She hated to beg. He was quiet, and she thought he was going to refuse her again.

  T
hen he nodded slowly. “Show me where you want to put them.”

  “I’ll get them from the Nissan.” She hurried back to her SUV and grabbed the receivers. Her foot ached from all the walking, and she was limping heavily by the time she got back to Orson.

  “You are limping,” he observed.

  She nodded but didn’t explain.

  “Your sister said you now fear the rivers of fire.”

  “Leilani mentioned my accident?”

  He thrust his staff into the hard, rocky soil and followed her up the mountain. “The old gods were trying to get your attention.”

  Annie gave an involuntary shiver. All this talk of gods— demons, to her mind—made her want to run back to her vehicle.

  He noticed her shudder. “You are a fearful girl, Annie Tagama. You must conquer your fears.”

  At least he was right about that. Annie wished she could be brave and strong like Fawn. Maybe someday. They reached the first spot she needed to get coordinates on. She showed Orson what she planned, and he consented to letting her plant the receiver. They walked the hillside together, and she marked the spots. She’d never been this high on this side of the mountain. There was so much to discover up here. Unexplored lava tubes, hot springs and pools, old fissures . . . it was a volcanologist’s dream. Now that the ice was broken between her and old Kauhi, maybe he’d let her look around once in a while.

  She and Orson walked back down toward his cabin. Annie saw movement at the front door. “Looks like you have company.”

  Orson scowled. “Not for long. I’ve told them three times I will not sell my land.”

  “Who wants to buy it?” She suspected she knew.

  “They want to put a casino here. It’s sacrilegious!”

  Annie glanced toward the road and recognized the big car that was parked behind her Pathfinder. Evan Chun must be here. She was tempted to hang around and see if he’d talk with her, but after glancing at her watch, she realized she needed to get back to the office and work on Jillian’s computer model. And she had to get home on time. Her father would be flustered if she was late tonight. He was planning on taking Gina to a slack-key guitar concert at seven, and he wouldn’t be able to find the right shirt without her.

  As she drove past her home, she wondered again what she was going to do if her father remarried. The thought of not being needed anymore terrified her, though she knew it was time she learned to live her own life.

  When she reached the observatory, she stopped by Gina’s office and got the file she needed. She took it to Jillian’s office and seated herself in front of the computer. Annie began to go line by line and check the formulas in the model.

  After an hour her eyes ached and her head throbbed. It had to be here somewhere. Some equation had to be wrong. Something was throwing the entire computer model off-kilter. She’d backtracked through all the formulas and had only five more to review. Maybe she should start at the beginning and go through it all again.

  She glanced at the root formula and then blinked. It had been right here in front of her the whole time. The spreadsheet drew its results from the basic temperature and gas-mixture formula. That formula was transposed. No wonder the model wasn’t working. With the foundational equation wrong, nothing could come out right.

  She corrected the formula, then launched the model. It began to spew out data that, for the first time, made sense. Annie smiled. Fawn had been saying something similar about Annie’s life. When something else is in God’s place, nothing comes out right. Annie’s life was meant to be lived with God at the center of everything, the driving force of everything. Instead, she tried to hold onto some control. God wanted to be her all, the reason she lived and breathed. She bowed her head and surrendered.

  Mahalo for the ride, buddy.” Tomi stood lightly on his toes with his hand on the car door as if poised for flight. He glanced around, then got in with Mano.

  “I wanted to talk to you anyway.” Mano pointed his car toward the Tagama house. “You vanished after Noah died. That’s looking real bad. Where are your dog tags?”

  “My tags?” Tomi’s eyes widened. He felt his pocket. “I must have dropped them someplace.”

  “Like at the murder scene.”

  Tomi went white. “They were found by Noah’s body?”

  “Yep. And Sam is looking to talk to you.”

  “I had nothing to do with it! I don’t even know Noah, not really.” His face fell. “I’ve been set up!”

  “Maybe.” Mano rubbed his forehead. “I have no idea how we’re going to get you out of this one, Tomi. You’ve got the Iranians after you and now the cops.”

  Tomi leaned his head against the window. “Maybe I should just go to the cops. Throw myself on their mercy. I want to talk to my dad first though.”

  They’d reached the Tagama house. “Let’s go,” Mano said. He shut off the engine and got out.

  “There might be yelling,” Tomi said.

  “Yeah, but having someone along might help keep it to a dull roar.”

  “My hero,” Tomi said, grinning as he slapped Mano on the back. The two men went to the front door. Tomi pushed open the door. “Annie? Are you here?” He stepped inside, and Mano followed.

  The aroma of teri beef made Mano’s mouth water, and he realized he’d skipped lunch. He and Tomi went toward the kitchen. Wilson dashed under their feet, and Tomi nearly stumbled. He caught himself and mumbled, “Stupid mongoose.” They stepped into the kitchen.

  Annie stood at the counter sliding beef onto wooden sticks for kebabs. A lock of hair had fallen forward and touched the gentle curve of her cheek. The heat of the stove brightened her face with a hint of color. She looked up and saw them, and her blush deepened.

  Something in Mano’s chest expanded, filling him up from the inside. He couldn’t explain it to himself how he knew, but he realized in that moment he loved Annie, really and truly loved her in a way he never expected. She was beautiful outside but even lovelier inside. In the past, a woman would catch his eye because of her shape or her smile or her eyes. But with Annie, he’d been attracted first to her spirit. Weird, but true.

  He couldn’t drag his gaze from hers. It was all he could do not to shoulder Tomi out of the way and take her in his arms. Before he could figure out what to say, Edega came in from the garage.

  “It’s about time you showed your face, Tomi,” he said.

  Twenty-two

  Watching her father embrace her brother, Annie wondered if she was invisible to them. The two of them needed no one else. Tomi was her father’s favorite in so many ways, in spite of Edega’s rebuke. And that was as it should be, maybe. Tomi was the only boy, and her father looked to him as holding the future of the Tagama name.

  Did he even see her as his daughter—or as anything more than his secretary and maid? Annie didn’t think so, but she found that she didn’t mind. Not anymore. She wanted to please God now. Her glance moved to Mano, and she realized he’d been staring at her. The expression on his face nearly made her gasp. Could that be— yearning? She must be tired.

  “I just talked to Sam,” Mano said. “Still no sign of Leilani, but he figured out that CeCe lied. He needs to talk to Tomi about those dog tags, though. Tomi says he hasn’t seen Noah.”

  “I knew Tomi wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Annie rubbed her forehead. “Maybe everyone is right and Leilani is just off on a lark. You’d think we would have heard something by now.” Something crashed behind her, and she whirled.

  Wilson wore as guilty an expression as was possible for a mongoose. The plate of teri shish kebabs lay on the floor. He sniffed, then crouched as though to jump down and explore the food on the floor. “Don’t you dare,” she said. She swooped him up, and he wiggled to get away, but she held tightly. “What am I going to do with you?” she scolded.

  “Toss him to the dogs?” her brother suggested.

  Mano stepped forward and scratched Wilson on the head. “He just wanted a bit of that tasty food. Didn’t you, Wilson?”
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br />   The mongoose squeaked and nuzzled Mano’s fingers, then crawled up his arm and down the neck of his shirt. Mano’s eyes widened, then he grinned and caught Wilson before he crept past his neck to his stomach. He fished him out and held him up to stare in his face. “I think you need to go to mongoose training.”

  “I’ve had it with that animal,” her father said. He grabbed Wilson by the nape of the neck. The mongoose growled in protest as Edega stepped toward the door.

  “No!” Annie jumped between her father and the door. “Give him to me.”

  “You should never have been allowed to raise this thing. He’s going outside where he belongs.”

  Annie faced him. “He’s mine. You have no right to get rid of him. I’m not a child.” She tried to take the mongoose, but her father held it out of her reach.

  “You will obey me in my house. I should never have let you bring that animal in here.”

  “Then maybe it’s time I had my own house.” Wilson was her solace, her companion when loneliness stalked her. She sent Mano a silent plea, and he stepped forward and plucked Wilson from her father’s hand and deposited the mongoose in her arms. “Mahalo,” she whispered, then ran for her bedroom.

  Ignoring her father’s angry shout, she dashed down the hall and slammed the door behind her. Wasn’t she allowed to have a life of her own, things of her own, a pet? She’d given up everything for her family. They had no right to dictate her life to this degree. Her chest heaved. She wanted to throw something, but she kept Wilson tucked under her chin and tried to control her distress.

  She should pray. The thought came out of nowhere, but she obeyed it anyway. She had to let God be the boss, the center. Her life was to be about pleasing him now, not herself. The tension began to ease from her body as she turned her hurt and confusion over to her real authority.

  She heard a sound when she lifted her head. Wilson moved at the soft knock on her door. “Annie?” Mano called. “You okay?”