Lei Crime Series 02 - Torch Ginger

by Neal, Toby

  “Wonderful,” said Captain Fernandez, and the rest of the team nodded like marionettes.

  They were losing the case to the FBI.

  “Really, I’m late.” Lei fled.

  Another hot, sweaty day in the health food store and she’d gathered nothing useful. By the end of the day she’d begun to wonder if Jazz allowing her to work in the Guardian had little to do with the investigation and more to do with getting a free slave. For the hundredth time she wondered how the FBI was going to deal with the case, and by four p.m. she noticed a white utility van parked across the street that she’d bet was the FBI surveillance unit. They never called her to check in. That didn’t feel good, and made her scalp prickle. Maybe it was the heat and the wig—but either way, she finished the day irritable.

  After firming up Jazz’s commitment to let her come to that week’s TruthWay celebration, Lei got into the truck and rolled her neck, wondering if she should call Jenkins and deciding not to. She fired up the truck and headed in toward Lihue instead of heading for home—she’d made plans to meet her dad for dinner.

  She pulled into the parking lot of the restoration center and took off the wig, smoothing its strands, and then tried to fluff what was left of her hair. There was no discernible effect. She scrubbed at a spot on her tie-dyed T-shirt, ran the wand of her lip gloss over her mouth, and gave up any further efforts.

  She pushed through the front doors. Shellie Samson sat behind the reception desk and looked startled at the sight of her.

  “What happened to your hair?” she exclaimed. Lei rubbed her still-itchy scalp, gave a big smile.

  “Staying cool,” she said. “My dad around?”

  “It looks good on you. I’ll buzz his room.” She toggled the old-fashioned call board. “Wayne, your daughter, Lei, is here.”

  “Be right down.” Wayne’s tinny voice came through.

  “I’m sorry about your husband,” Lei said after a few minutes.

  “Me too.” Shellie shuffled some papers, her eyes down. “Our marriage was kinda rocky when he disappeared. I wasn’t into his whole hippie thing. So when he just never came home, I thought he’d decided to hit the road and start over. I never dreamed he’d been murdered.”

  The word seemed to stick in her throat like a chicken bone, and Shellie coughed, tears springing to her eyes.

  “I’m sorry.” Lei pushed the box of Kleenex on the counter over to Shellie. She wished she had her stone to rub, but there were no pockets on the hemp dress. She rubbed her hands on her thighs instead and paced back and forth in front of the stairway.

  “It’s okay. It’s actually better knowing. I just feel bad now. I was so angry at him for so long when, really, it wasn’t his fault.” The tears were flowing now, and Shellie grabbed tissues and pressed them against her eyes.

  Wayne descended the stairs, dark eyes taking in the scene.

  “Her husband,” Lei said, wiggling her fingers to remind him of the hand they’d found in the flood. His eyes widened. She turned back to Shellie, who was blowing her nose. “Well, are you okay? I was going to take my dad out for dinner.”

  “Of course,” Shellie said, visibly pulling herself together. “Wayne has been a great guest of ours and is an asset to our program.”

  “Great,” Lei said. “Well, I’ll return him before you know it.”

  “Just sign in, Wayne, when you get back.” Shellie handed over a logbook. He filled it out and followed Lei through the doors. They got in the truck.

  “How’s it going?” Lei asked.

  “Okay.” He stared at her shorn head. “What happened?”

  “I’m undercover. Wearing a wig,” Lei said. “You’ve seen my hair. It was never going to lie down and take that.”

  Her father laughed. Lei realized how seldom she’d heard it. He sobered quickly.

  “What’s this about Shellie’s husband? That was his hand we found?”

  She filled him in as she drove them to a nearby Japanese restaurant. They settled into bamboo chairs. Wayne looked around at the lighted KIRIN BEER signs, kokeshi dolls, and dangling paper umbrellas that decorated the place. He turned to her.

  “I miss that dog of yours.”

  “Yeah, she’s been a little grumpy too. I’ve had to leave her alone a lot, been busy with the investigation.”

  “Well.” He cleared his throat. “What do you think about me getting a place in Hanalei? I could babysit her during the day while you work.”

  “I have to think about that. Keiki’s a guard dog. I like to have her keeping an eye on the house while I’m gone.”

  “Okay, it was just a thought.” He fiddled with his chopsticks.

  “No, it’s a good idea. At least you could visit her, take her out during the day. She’d love that.”

  “Yeah.” He finally looked up. “Ever consider a roommate?”

  Lei was the one to look away. She didn’t want to hurt him, but it seemed way too soon.

  “Well, Dad, I’d have to get a bigger place. The cottage only has one bedroom, and I like the location on the river. I’d have to think about it.”

  “I’m sorry I asked. It’s too much. I just liked taking care of Keiki, cooking for you—it made me think we could get something back of what we lost.”

  Lei didn’t answer until after they placed their orders. She’d ordered her favorite comfort food, a big bowl of noodles. She looked her dad in the eye.

  “No one wants to get that lost time back more than I do. I’d be willing to consider it if I needed to move, and we found a place that was right for us, and . . . I knew I could count on you.”

  “You can count on me. But of course you don’t know that.” He blew out a breath. “I did stupid things when I was young. Harmful, devastating things that I can’t take back. But in jail I gave my life to Christ, and I got a fresh start. I know I can live a new way, putting others first. I want a chance to prove that to you—but I don’t blame you for needing me to.”

  Lei picked up the little cup of tea and smiled. “Dad, this is a fine start right here.”

  * * *

  The Timekeeper led the Chosen by the cable on his neck, stumbling out into the clearing outside the cave. Sunset splashed the nearby stream with golden-red beams, and the song of the water across the stones was barely interrupted by the whimper of the man as he saw the stream.

  The Timekeeper felt a stab of something almost like sorrow or compassion as the man fell on his knees by the stream, splashing water into his mouth and over his abraded wrists. He stuck his head entirely under the water, and the Timekeeper cursed, reaching in to pull him up by the hair. The Chosen spluttered as the Timekeeper flung him backward onto the bank.

  “Please,” the man said. “Just a little longer. I haven’t seen light in days.”

  “Just until the sun goes down,” the Timekeeper said.

  “You always indulge them.” His mother’s voice in his ear, a sibilant whisper. He hated that her Voice was loudest, louder than all the spirits of the aina (land) he served. He sat and endured as a different Voice challenged his mother, and they screamed back and forth in his head as he watched the sun drop behind the mountain and touch the dripping hair of the Chosen with a gold almost like kindness.

  When the shine was gone from his hair, the Timekeeper led the man back toward the cave and wasn’t surprised when he made a run for it. The collar yanked him back, and a kick to the back of the knee brought him down. But it was the Timekeeper’s fillet knife nicking off the lobe of his ear and pressed against his carotid artery with terrifying, surgical knowledge that compelled the Chosen to walk back into the cave with him, meek and bleeding.

  “My name is Jay,” the man whispered in the dark as the Timekeeper put the cable back on.

  The Timekeeper didn’t care. The Chosen had a purpose, and his name had nothing to do with it.

  Chapter 27

  Lei’s phone buzzed as she was turning off the bridge toward the cottage, her headlights slicing through the thick warm night.
>
  “Texeira.”

  “Never gets old, hearing you say that.”

  “Alika. What’s up?”

  “You’re asking me that? What’s up with the bones?”

  “Can’t really talk about it.”

  She didn’t have to try to make her voice regretful; she felt terrible cutting him out of the loop after all he’d done the night before.

  “I can tell this is going to be a tough part of our relationship.”

  “So.” She put a smile into her voice. She had to work harder on getting over Stevens, and Alika was the perfect way to do that. “We’re having a relationship, are we?”

  “Of a sort. I liked where things were going until you found the finger bone.” He laughed. “You’re never boring, I’ll give you that.”

  “You’re not bad yourself. Thanks for all you did yesterday. So helpful. I’m counting the days until they pull me off the case, now that the Feds are involved.”

  “Feds?”

  “FBI.”

  She pulled onto the grass verge at her cottage, parked the truck. Keiki ran back and forth in front of the fence, barking a happy greeting.

  “Wow. Serious.”

  “More than you know. Listen, let’s get together. Take it to the next level.” It was past time she got over Stevens once and for all. She bit her lip as she walked up onto the porch and fumbled her key into the lock.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean.” Lei reached down to rub the Rottweiler between the ears.“Continue what we started in the cave.”

  A short silence.

  “Way to cut to the chase,” Alika said.

  “I think of it as decisive.”

  “Well, much as some parts of my anatomy want to just drive over and get busy, I seem to remember telling you I was planning something more romantic.”

  “Okay, if you must. And apparently you must.” Lei went into the kitchen, turning on lights as she went. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Let me surprise you. Just be ready for me to pick you up Saturday morning.”

  “I like to drive. I’ll meet you there.”

  “You have to trust me. I’ll pick you up at eleven a.m. Wear something nice.”

  “Oh God. I’m so not this kind of girl. C’mon. You’ve seen my one dress. Now I’ll have to get another one.”

  “I’ll take you however I can get you.”

  “I’m in a hippie phase. I’m prone to hemp these days.”

  “It’s what’s underneath that counts. I’ll see you Saturday.” He hung up.

  Lei folded the phone shut and set it on the counter, gazing out the window thoughtfully. On impulse she turned off the light over the sink, and dark fell over the kitchen. She walked out onto the little porch at the rear of the cottage. Keiki followed and sat beside her, leaning her warm bulk against Lei’s side as she looked at the river.

  The moon was up and the water glimmered. A tiny breeze blew across, rippling the long grass in dark silken waves. Lei watched a limb traced in silver light float by. Kaua`i was like the river, calm and beautiful on the surface, but filled with its own power—and sometimes a raging destruction.

  The FBI coming in was going to change things dramatically. Their lab resources alone would be invaluable. Still, they would take over the case, leaving little—if any—role for her and the Kaua`i task force. There was no question KPD’s meager resources weren’t up to an investigation of this magnitude and they needed the help, but the contemptuous look in Rogers’s eyes and the suspicious one in Scott’s didn’t bode well for her own role in things.

  The phone rang and Lei sighed, saying goodbye to the river as she went in. She brushed through the barred screen door and opened the phone, turning back to close and lock the door when Keiki was back inside.

  “Texeira.”

  “Sweets, it’s J-Boy. Your task force liaison, for however long it lasts.”

  “Yeah, my thoughts exactly. What’s the latest?”

  “They’re bringing over more agents. Flying some of their Behavioral Analysis Unit out from Virginia.”

  “Oh my God.” Even though she’d been preparing for this, confirmation was a sucker punch. She went to the freezer for the emergency vodka, poured a shot into one of her jelly glasses, and sat down. Keiki put her head on Lei’s thigh, ears swiveling anxiously.

  “How long do we have?”

  “Another conference early tomorrow and we’ll see. I think a day max.”

  Lei threw the vodka back in one burning gulp. It rendered her unable to speak.

  “You okay?” Jenkins sounded alarmed. “I should’ve come over to talk to you, but I thought you saw which way the wind was blowing this morning.”

  Lei coughed and pounded her chest. The alcohol hit her stomach, a bomb of warmth.

  “I’m okay. Emergency shot,” she wheezed. “Okay, yeah, I saw it coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to take.”

  “Yeah, the captain even copped to having some idea that there were more disappearances than there should have been, but that he didn’t quote, 'have the resources’ unquote, to investigate.”

  “I hope that doesn’t bite him on the ass.”

  “Me too.” They sat a moment in morose silence. “So, Sweets, how was health food patrol today?”

  “Nothing popping. I’m having to work way too damn hard for nothing right now. I’m just waiting for this Saturday’s antics out at the papaya farm.”

  “So Haddock’s letting you attend the cult festivities?”

  “Yeah. Says I needed this week to establish myself as his ‘protégée’ and now he can bring me out there. I’m counting on you for backup.”

  “No way I’d miss it. Well, with the Feds on board at least Becky’s going to get some help with the bones. They’re bringing out a forensic bone specialist with a portable lab. Costs a fortune, but they can even extract DNA from bone and may be able to identify the vics. Agent Scott said they’re going to enter everything into that ViCAP database and see what they can find.”

  “I don’t know what the ViCap is.”

  “It’s a whole division with different aspects, and one of the main assets is the national database of missing persons and unidentified human remains.”

  “Thanks for filling me in on this. The captain did the right thing bringing them on at this stage. I just hope they let us do something. This feels like my case, like it keeps unfolding for me for some reason. I’d like to keep that going.” Lei mixed up Keiki’s dog food as she spoke.

  “I know. That ViCAP program is awesome.” Lei hadn’t heard Jenkins sound so enthusiastic in a while. “They’re scanning in photos of the bones, tool marks, the hand you found, and the MO, as far as we know it, and sending it all to the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Like I said, a couple of BAU agents are coming to help Scott and Rogers, and they’ll be looking over everything in Haddock’s binder, everything we’ve gathered.”

  “Should be interesting.” Lei took a breath. “Marcella Scott. She seemed like a hardass.”

  “In more ways than one.”

  “Great, sexism from my partner. How’s Stevens taking it?”

  “Like a man.” Jenkins chuckled. “Don’t forget he was the one pushing for us to bring them in earlier. He and Becky are cooperating better than Fury and the rest.”

  “He and Becky seem to be getting pretty cozy.” Lei wished she could take the words back the minute they were out of her mouth. She didn’t want to sound like the jealous ex, but there it was. Again.

  “Yeah, they seem to be hitting it off. You got a problem with that? Seems like you have some action of your own going.”

  “’Course not. Just kinda wish . . . he was still on the Big Island.”

  “Don’t blame you. You guys are both moving on, I guess.” He paused, a long beat. “Well, Anu asked me out. We’re going to the movies.”

  “Great, J-Boy. You deserve a little fun.” Lei injected enthusiasm she didn’t feel into her voice. “Okay, see you
at tomorrow’s briefing.”

  Lei turned off the phone. She didn’t have the capacity for any more interaction today. She went to the refrigerator and opened it. She hadn’t been to the store since Monday, and the few veggies left in the drawer were limp. She ended up making an omelet and writing herself a big note: BUY FOOD.

  It was probably going to be hippie food, but she was beginning to be okay with that.

  Chapter 28

  Friday, October 29

  Lei sat at the long conference table in the war room the next morning. A cooling coffee carafe, a stack of Styrofoam cups, and warm malasadas, delicious doughnut rounds drowned in sugar from the Kapa`a Bakery, beckoned from an open pink box. It was a typical debriefing except for the suits ranged around the wall in power positions.

  She let her wig stream in a rebellious waterfall down the back of her chair. She’d aired and spot cleaned the hemp dress and was in that again, but there was no help for the peeling tattoos on her wrists. She picked at them as Special Agent in Charge Newsome, newly arrived from Quantico’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, stepped forward to address the group.

  “Kaua`i Police Department has done a great job with a huge investigation. But sometimes the best part of being great is knowing when to reach out for help. Captain Fernandez has chosen, wisely, to access the expertise and resources of FBI’s ViCAP program. We’re formally taking over the case. Detective Stevens, thank you.” Newsome stepped forward and shook Stevens’s hand. “Agents Rogers and Scott will liaise with you for the next few days, but we’ll be taking it from here.”

  Stevens’s face was stony. He said nothing.

  “Detective Texeira.” Agent Scott spoke, and Lei snapped to attention. “You have a unique angle going with the undercover thing. We aren’t convinced the TruthWay cult has anything to do with this killer, but from where you’re positioned you can keep eyes on Jazz Haddock, who’s our best suspect at this point.”