There was a long silence.
“You.” Kenny stopped playing. His eyes held a melancholy knowing. “You are lucky he didn’t get a hold of you. Pretty little thing. Oh no.” He resumed playing.
Goose bumps rose on her skin. Mali had considered the risk intellectually and had been warned, of course. But her research had been specifically about the ways a young person could find themselves trapped in the sex trade. She figured she’d recognize the danger before she could be sucked in.
“We were careful.” She defended the entire team. “Most of the girls we interviewed were approached in public places like the mall. Some guy had told them they could be models or actresses and asked them to show up at some hotel for a test shoot. The girls were lured in or maybe even thought they were dating the man that’d eventually become their pimp. Once they thought they were in love, they’d be asked to do some favor to save their boyfriend. In other cases, their family would be threatened if they didn’t sell themselves.”
She balled her hands into fists as Kenny listened to her politely, with too much kindness in his eyes.
The possibility of being pulled in herself hadn’t been a real danger in her mind. Now? She cursed herself for assuming being a US citizen and affiliated with the university protected her. Her entire research team had assumed they were secure in their status.
“Those are some of the stories, yes.” Kenny’s confirmation was sad and infuriatingly matter-of-fact. There wasn’t anything normal about the awful reality of the situations these girls found themselves in.
Kenny kept strumming his stupid ukulele. “You spoke to the girls allowed on the street. They have the most freedom to be away from the business because they’ve lost the will to leave on their own. Sure, they talked to you, but most of them won’t take the chance to save themselves even if you offered it to them. Despite recent legislation improvements, the law mostly punishes the victims as much as the people who trapped them in that way of life. There are some people who will always be afraid enough to stay in the hell they know.”
Hell, in Paradise. There were government and private nonprofit organizations to help people start over. But they were far away from the mainland. Mali was working with a team of mercenaries to handle what local law enforcement wouldn’t even acknowledge as a situation here.
Tears welled up in Mali’s eyes, and she blinked rapidly before someone thought she was melting into frivolous panic. She was angry and frustrated. This wasn’t what tears were for as far as she was concerned.
“He’s a frugal kind of businessman,” Kenny continued. “Waste not. If he took your research team off the streets, he’ll take the ransom for them, and they’ll still disappear. You don’t have much time to find them.”
“How much time?” Mali asked, jumping to her feet. She’d assumed her colleagues would be safe if there was a ransom demand, that their captor would have the ransom as incentive to keep them in good health. Now it was becoming clear she’d been naïve to assume their well-being. Damn. It’d been more than twenty-four hours at this point.
Statistics on kidnappings and the chances of finding the victims zipped through her head with rapid calculations on the time of disappearance. Facts, data, quantifiable information—she could absorb those and make sense of them. The events of the past two days had been action and reaction. They’d thrown her off her stride, and she wanted to get back to what she was good at doing.
Zu shifted his stance. Mali looked up, startled. The big man had moved around the fire until he’d blended into the shadows on the other side. He wasn’t facing them. Instead, he was looking out into the trees. “The island makes it hard for this man’s victims to escape. He’s just as trapped. There aren’t many places he’ll keep his assets, and he isn’t hiding.”
“True,” Kenny agreed. “Given some time, I can give you details on his estate and warehouses at the shipping yards. Probably can dig up a list of his current businesses in Chinatown and on the east side of the island, too—for appropriate compensation, of course.”
Zu snorted, keeping his words directed at Kenny. “You do that. We’ll send our standard gratuity.”
Kenny smiled and nodded, shifting to major chords. “Rock on. I’ll keep watch for a hit on facial recognition and look closer at his business transactions and see if there’s patterns. I’ll have something for you tomorrow after Laki’s surfing lesson.”
“Tomorr—” Mali choked as his words sank in. “Laki surfs?”
“Oh yeah.” Kenny gave her a broad smile.
* * *
Raul winced at the incredulous look on Mali’s face. He was caught between how cute he found her expressions and how much he wanted to react on her behalf. This was a serious situation, and it didn’t seem that Mali had experienced the grim sense of humor Arin and Raul had developed from being in too many dire moments. The levity they used to keep themselves on an even keel might leave Mali puzzled, even hurtfully confused. He didn’t want it for her but also didn’t have a way to help her immediately.
Instead, he glanced at Arin. Was this guy for real?
Arin was wearing her relaxed look. Interesting thing he’d learned about her over the years was how rarely her face revealed her actual train of thought. Plenty of people adopted the blank mask when they didn’t want to betray their thoughts, but lack of emotion could be just as much of a giveaway. Ninety-nine percent of the time, Arin’s expression was a deliberate affectation and in no way indicative of what she was actually thinking or feeling. It was one of the skill sets that made her an incredibly adaptable asset on a team.
Right now, all he could guess about her opinion of Kenny was that she was willing to let this play out. Mali had the man’s attention, and they’d learn more reading his reactions to her than if the man spoke directly to them.
“Maybe it’s best to be clear.” Kenny continued to strum but looked at Arin and Raul. “Zu and Arin have worked with me before but we’re all still getting to know one another. I’ll be starting to send out feelers tonight. Searches take some time. We don’t get hits as fast as they show on television, after all.”
Mali’s eyebrows drew together, and she started to say something, but changed her mind and paused. After a moment, she tried again. “Fine. I get that queries might not turn up immediate hits, but you’re making it clear to me that time is critical. Is this the best we can do? Is there anything else we can be doing in the meantime to find my colleagues?”
Raul liked that about her. She was a person of strong emotions, and she balanced her reactions with logic and rationale. While she may have been intellectually prepared for the eventuality of a kidnapping or similar circumstance as part of field research, the reality of it was hitting, and she was adapting quickly. He wouldn’t have judged her for running to the police and letting them take over. It wouldn’t have made things better but it would’ve been easier. She’d have had someone else to blame if it didn’t end well. But here she was, taking on accountability and doing everything she could to contribute to bringing her coworkers back.
“Do we meet you here tomorrow then?” Raul asked. “We can regroup in the meantime and check into actions we can take in parallel.”
“Could be.” Kenny smiled. “We go by the tides here. I try not to look at the time in any particular time zone if I don’t have to. We’ll catch waves before we move on. If you come after, you should be able to find me on some beach or other.”
“This is time sensitive, as you said.” Zu’s quiet statement carried weight, and the light strains from the ukulele stopped.
“Right on.” Kenny set his ukulele aside. “I’ll keep an eye on the message boards then. Put up a post, and I’ll let you know where you can find me.”
“You don’t have a phone?” There wasn’t any anger in Mali’s voice, just sheer puzzlement.
Kenny gave her a quiet chuckle. “I’ve been in a lot of bad places. I’ve been too curious, too many times, and I am very good at working the magic in information system
s. Best way to stay out of harm’s way is to stay off the grid unless I absolutely have to be on it. So no phone. If I ever need one, I can always buy a burner. I’ll check in often enough to help you find me when I have the intel you need. That’s a promise.”
The man did come across a few marbles short, but he also seemed honest. Raul would wait to see what kind of intel the man turned up before judging any further.
Maybe Mali had decided the same because she rose to her feet and brushed sand off herself here and there, staying careful of the backs of her legs and arms. Her skin must still be feeling tender. She would probably need more aloe before the night was over.
The thought of smoothing cool aloe over her hot skin caught and replayed in his mind. The idea of bringing relief to her with his touch was both incredibly tempting and stupid. Mali was likely sharing Arin’s room tonight, and he ought to be headed back to his hotel room, alone. Trying to have any one-on-one time with Mali would be basically impossible.
He also shouldn’t be trying. He’d decided he wasn’t going to. He needed to quit thinking those thoughts. Anything from here on out should be strictly platonic.
Should.
He was either going to prove himself a saint or go to hell for lying to himself.
Chapter Thirteen
Frustration welled up in Mali until she thought she might throw up or scream or cry. She didn’t want to do any of those things so she started walking. The breeze cooled her skin and filled her aching lungs.
“If there isn’t anything more we can do here, I’ll head to the car.” She figured they could go back. Maybe they’d talk more. But she wouldn’t feel better until they were taking action, and at least walking to where they’d parked was something, however small. Motion from point A to point B relieved at least a small portion of the anxiety she had coiled in her chest.
“Mali—” Arin started to come after her.
“I am capable of finding my way at least that far.” Mali heard the bitterness in her clipped tones and couldn’t dredge up any kind of regret for lashing out at her sister. Since Arin had arrived, it’d been more about keeping Mali pent-up and wrapped in bubble wrap than about what really mattered: finding her colleagues who could be in trouble.
Once she was away from the small campfire and beyond the tiny shelter Kenny had erected around it, there really wasn’t any residual light. Even if police patrolled the beaches for vagrants, they wouldn’t come upon his camp unless they stumbled directly on it. The team, her sister, and especially Kenny were so secretive, skirting the edges of what was strictly legal.
Mali appreciated the help, from all of them, but she was also wrestling with resentment. They weren’t just protecting Mali from danger; they were also keeping her sheltered from the questionable aspects of their operation. She didn’t know if she wanted the respect of full disclosure, or if she was naïve for thinking things were always clear-cut with a right and a wrong approach, and thus shouldn’t need to be hidden from her.
She’d been in a constant state of caution, too, since Raul had come to help her evade those men in suits. She couldn’t help but look back on the situation with a weird blend of fear and a sense of the ridiculous. Part of the reason she preferred academia was the way she could shed light on harsh realities while still maintaining a certain objective distance. The current situation didn’t allow for it, and she wanted desperately to be able to function, be useful, help.
She strode carefully across the sand, trying to walk along the same path they’d created on the way here. It was dark, but there was moonlight to see by. If she proceeded with caution, she could avoid tripping or stumbling or doing something else to bring her sister running and embarrassing herself.
“Give her space. A few meters will be okay.” Zu’s deep voice carried, and she assumed his comment was in reference to her.
Grateful, she kept going. Mali had a modicum of outward calm established, and talking to her sister would only crack the façade and bring her frustration bubbling up to the surface where it wouldn’t be helpful at all. Raul would be better but Mali didn’t want to grow to rely on him either.
Waves crashed in the night. Her sister loved the ocean and Mali enjoyed it, too, when she could quiet her constant thought process enough to listen. It would be fine to walk ahead. She was just going back the way they’d come. Besides, there were three dogs beside them with superior senses of sight, hearing, and smell.
I’m just going to the car.
She put one foot in front of the other, concentrating on placing her feet on the shifting sand without turning her ankle or losing her balance. It was more effort to walk across loose, deep sand on a beach. When she’d had time to enjoy the ocean earlier in the trip, she’d chosen to walk along the area where the waves ran up on the shore. The sand was firm there and she could enjoy the cool kiss of water as the sea washed around her toes. Not this time.
As she stepped down her foot contacted an odd-shaped root or stick in the sand and she stumbled. Cursing, she put out her hands to catch herself.
Fwwp. Something hit the sand next to her.
“Mali!” A man’s shout came from behind her. How closely had he been following? She hadn’t heard him as she’d been walking. “Down!”
A sudden weight pressed her flat on the sand; one knee caught awkwardly under her. She struggled instinctively, heart pounding.
A hand covered her head and pulled her in closer to a hard chest. “Shh. It’s me. Stay with me. I’ve got you.” Raul.
A warm, furry body pressed along her side. Taz.
Mali tried to look around as best she could, covered as she was by Raul’s entire body. Through the tiny space under his armpit, she saw a knee come down on the sand beside them and heard an odd click.
“I’m here too, Mali.” Arin’s voice was pitched in the old tone she remembered from childhood, on the nights she’d woken from nightmares to find her sister at her bedside.
Heavy steps scrambled up beside them: probably Zu.
“Where did the shot come from?” Zu’s words were quiet. “Any idea?”
Arin answered, and Mali strained to listen as her own heartbeat pounded in her ears. “Not a lot of possibilities. It wasn’t from close by. None of the dogs were alerted to the presence of a stranger. Pig wasn’t spooked either. Has to be a sniper, and I won’t find them unless they get another shot off. We need to move.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Raul’s mouth was so close that his lips brushed her ear. “Move with me. We’re going to need to try to get back to the SUV. I’ll keep you covered.”
If he did and the attacker shot again, he could be hurt instead of her. “No.”
“Yes.” Raul didn’t raise his voice but his tone grew hard. “This is what we do, our expertise. The more you cooperate, the better chance we all have of coming out of this together. You don’t work with us and someone is going to get seriously injured trying to keep you safe. Understand?”
Mali swallowed hard and nodded. She didn’t want anyone to be hurt for her sake.
An engine started up somewhere behind them and fresh fear spiked through her.
“It’s Kenny.” Zu’s statement was almost incredulous.
“How is that vehicle moving on this terrain?” Raul asked. No one answered him.
The rusty little RV? It’d seemed like a battered piece of junk, as if it’d been there sheltered in the copse of trees for years. It could really drive, over sand. Mali had no idea how that was even possible.
The engine sound changed as it pulled up beside them.
“Maybe we want to surf at a different beach after all.” Kenny still sounded relaxed and even cheerful. “I’m guessing you’d appreciate an assist?”
A second shot hit the sand with the muffled thud she’d heard earlier. Oh god.
People scrambled around her, creating a wall of humans—and dogs—to keep her from being exposed as Raul pulled her to her feet crouching and stumbling. His hands were gentle but firm as he urged he
r to board the RV, and she did, glad somehow that he hadn’t had to pick her up to get her out of harm’s way fast enough. Once aboard, she slipped as far out of the way as she could and tucked up onto a bench to make room for everyone else.
She watched as each of them boarded, human and dog, counting each and whispering their names. All of them, there with her and unharmed. A hot tear escaped and rolled down the side of her cheek.
None of this made sense.
* * *
Raul darted into the vehicle and barreled past Mali, giving her a quick visual check as he moved by to clear space for the rest of the team to climb into Kenny’s RV. He pushed aside hanging blue curtains and let out a low whistle as he continued to the back of the tight space.
The back half of the RV contrasted starkly with its exterior and suddenly a whole lot of things made sense to him. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling, the area was packed full of high-tech computer equipment. The space was immaculately clean, and the cool whisper of air-conditioning almost froze the sweat on Raul’s forehead. Damn, but Kenny had everything and anything he needed in here to tap into the wide world of information technology whenever the man chose to log in.
Taz pressed up against the back of Raul’s knees, and Raul dropped his hand down to rub around the base of the dog’s ears. “So ist brav.” Taz had been great, and Raul didn’t hesitate to tell him how good he was.
It’d been a split-second reaction when he’d heard the initial shot hit the sand, and Raul had taken Mali down to the sand without a thought. He hadn’t issued a command to Taz. The big dog hadn’t worked with Raul before on this kind of positioning but the GSD had placed himself alongside Mali protectively in perfect coordination with Raul. It blew his mind. Dogs weren’t telepathic, but over and over again, Raul had learned some dogs were not only sharply intelligent but amazingly intuitive, too. Taz was one in a million, even among working dogs.
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