by Toby Neal
And mentally, he planned every step of the ignition.
Lei walked through the worn doors of South Hilo Station with a sense of déjà vu. The watch officer behind the desk was unfamiliar, though, and she had to show ID and sign the logbook. After that, though, it was a slow route across the bullpen as she stopped by various desks to greet old friends on her way to Captain Ohale’s office.
Finally reaching her destination, Lei smoothed her hair back off her forehead and adjusted her tight waistband as she faced the blank wooden door with the tiny brass plaque that said Captain Ohale on it.
She lifted her hand and knocked.
Almost immediately the door opened. From his casual clothing, she could tell that the man holding the door open for her was a detective. “Welcome to Hilo, Sergeant Texeira,” he said. “I’m Jed Campos.”
She shook his hand. “Thanks! Lei Texeira.”
Ohale stood up behind his desk. “Lei! Great to see you on the old stomping grounds!”
Another detective was seated in the other chair in front of the captain’s desk, and he also rose. She met Detective Sam Kilohana, as well, and greeted her old captain with a hug. “Great to see you, too, sir.”
“Well, I hear you’re a mama now,” Ohale said.
Lei knew he was referring to Kiet and she nodded. “It’s a big adjustment, but Kiet’s an easy baby. Which, of course, means I want to wrap this case up as soon as I can and get home to him.” She didn’t mention the baby on the way. He might have heard about it, but here in a male-dominated work environment, wasn’t the place to mention it.
They sat down, and Lei told them about her confidential informant’s comments about the knee-breakers from the Big Island. “Have you heard anything about organized online gambling with mah-jongg, or other gambling games?”
Campos had a pointed goatee on his chin, and he stroked it thoughtfully. “I’ve heard a rumor about this, but we didn’t follow up. Didn’t know it was originating in this area, and with cockfighting, dogfighting, and plenty of other things to track down, it seemed pretty small—manini.”
“That’s what I thought, too, until my CI told me the stakes were high—her cousin lost his house in one of the games. She said the same organization sending ‘tax enforcers’ over to Maui is the one soliciting them to participate in gambling activities.”
“How do they know that?” Ohale asked, rubbing his reading glasses with a big red bandanna.
“She told me some of the other business owners decided to follow the men. They tracked them to the airport, where they took a flight to the Big Island.”
“Still.” Campos frowned. “Civilians tracking these guys, really?”
“Someone’s got a cousin who works the desk at Hawaiian Airlines,” Lei said with a smile. “As how they know for sure.”
“As always how,” Kilohana said, with a wry grin. “Hawaiian-style detecting.”
“Seriously, though, these folks are spooked. My CI said one of the owners refused to pay, and the next week his business burned down.”
“That is serious,” Campos said. “But how are you connecting that with us in South Hilo?”
This was the tricky part, Lei knew. She had to move ahead with her case and still conceal her real agenda. She shrugged and sat back in her chair. “Thought I’d start somewhere where I knew the players.”
“You mean us at South Hilo PD or the Chang crime family?” Ohale asked, his dark eyes unreadable. “Had a call from Lieutenant Stevens on Maui. He had some concerns about the Changs.”
“I can imagine,” Lei said, keeping her expression neutral even as her stomach clenched in response to this news—Stevens was checking up on her. She expected it, but the evidence that he didn’t trust her still hurt. “They keep turning up like a bad penny, behind sex trafficking, gambling, money laundering, and a couple of attempts on our lives.”
The two detectives glanced at each other, clearly confused, but Ohale kept his eyes on Lei. “So is there a connection that you know of between this case and the Changs?”
“No. I just came to you to see what you folks might know about this situation on Maui, and talking to you was a place to start,” Lei said. She felt a queasy roll in her gut, like the early morning sickness days, followed by something that felt like a flutter against the tightness of her jeans waistband. What a strange feeling—she probably had gas and was about to embarrass herself. She put her hands in her lap and unobtrusively pressed, willing the problem to go away before she had to run to the bathroom.
“Well, the Changs often come up as suspects. In fact, the FBI has requested we keep the compound in upper Hilo under regular surveillance. I think they may even have some wire taps on Terence Chang since his grandma died,” Ohale said. “But there’s been nothing. From what we can tell, Terence Chang is running a totally legit import-export business, most of it done online.”
“Huh,” Lei said. This was what she’d expected to hear about Chang, but she didn’t believe it. And even with her hands pressed on her abdomen, she felt the strange fluttering sensation again. Could it be the baby kicking? She’d read that could be felt as early as four months. She felt her cheeks flush as it happened again, and a buoyant feeling of exultation suffused her.
Their baby was really there, growing, making itself known, right here in a meeting. She wished she could call Stevens right this minute and tell him.
“What’s wrong?” Captain Ohale’s sharp eyes had never left her face, and though she’d gotten better at concealing her thoughts and feelings, Stevens could always read her like a book, and so could her old boss.
“Nothing,” Lei said, scrambling. “I have a lead I’d like to follow up on, a place to start at least. My CI forwarded me a photo of the guys who are collecting the ‘tax’ on Maui. I wonder if we could do some facial recognition with your database. I didn’t have time to run that on Maui.”
“Sure,” Campos said. “Why don’t Kilohana and I pull up all we have on the organized gambling? And you can go to the computer lab and work on that. Captain tells us you’ll remember the way there, from your days here.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lei said with a smile. “I’ll find you at your office when I’m done.”
The detectives got up to leave, and Lei made a motion to follow.
“Stay a minute,” Ohale said. It wasn’t a request. Lei sat back down, her hands still resting protectively on her waist. Kilohana shut the captain’s glass-inset door behind him, leaving Lei with Ohale.
Her old boss leaned forward, steepling his fingers. “Tell me about what’s going on with you and the Changs.”
Lei shrugged. “Old business. I always think something’s up with them.”
“Not good enough. Stevens was very specific. He told me you were ordered by the FBI not to have anything to do with them. I was involved from start to finish in that bust with Terence Chang when you were in the FBI, but somehow I never got the memo on that, and I don’t appreciate it.” His voice had risen. “So if you’re here on some trumped-up fishing expedition against your old enemies and using my office as a cover, that’s not going to fly.”
The accuracy of Ohale’s conclusion chilled Lei, and she knew she needed to dispel it. Instead, she decided more truth was in order. If he found out her situation later, from someone else, trust would be lost in this valuable relationship.
“I’m sorry, sir. I never thought something would come up with them again. I thought we were done with the Changs after Healani’s death, but then we started getting threats. They escalated.” Lei told him about the shrouds and the more recent deaths of those close to her associated with them. “We have the perp in custody—or I should say, he’s been deported—but we don’t know anyone who could be after us like this other than the Changs. They’ve made it personal.”
“How do you know that? Do you have even one shred of evidence?”
“No, but listen to this.” Lei told him about the attack on Stevens and about Kiet’s mother’s murder. “It’s
hard for Stevens and me to believe that this guy, a foreign national, could have navigated the US and even found our address without inside help. Accurate outside help. And I know Terence Chang is an expert with computers.”
“So you don’t have anything tying the shrouds—and that killer—to the Chang family.”
Lei frowned. “Not specifically. But who else?”
“Well, you’ve had a directive, and I’m enforcing it. No contact or messing with the Changs. Trust me when I tell you we’re all over Terence Chang like white on rice. So no make trouble over here, like you always doing.” He’d lapsed into pidgin in his agitation. “Do your job, and go home to your family.”
Lei felt her cheeks flush again. “Like a good little mama, you mean? Screw that. This shroud killer is going after my family, and I’m going to stop it.”
“Not in my backyard, Lei Texeira. Not on my watch. Let others handle this one. That’s an order.”
Lei stood up, balling her fists. “You’re not my commanding officer anymore. Sir.”
“No, but you’re in my dog patch now, and Omura’s a phone call away. Don’t think I won’t have her yank you out of here faster than you can turn around. So keep your nose clean, do your investigation with my boys, and go home in one piece. This is the last time I warn you.”
Lei narrowed her eyes, feeling angry heat flash over her, but she held herself still and let out her breath slowly. It would never do to aggravate her old boss. He could indeed get her yanked out of there, and with a police escort back to the airport. No doubt that was what Stevens was hoping. A new wave of anger, this time at her husband, flashed through her body.
“Thanks for the warning, sir, but I assure you it’s not necessary. I may be worried about the Changs, but I’d be crazy to go after any of them alone and without probable cause,” Lei said when she was sure her voice and demeanor were under control. “Thanks for the support from Vice. I’ll check back if we find a connection to my case on Maui.”
Ohale sat back, avuncular and friendly again. “Glad we understand each other, then. So what’s going on with your stomach? You feeling okay?”
Her former chief was an observant man. Lei dropped her hands from where they still covered her waist, a dead giveaway. She decided to tell Ohale—it would be obvious soon anyway. “Actually, I’m pregnant.”
“Congratulations!” Ohale’s face broke into a huge grin. “Caprice is going to be thrilled to hear this!”
Caprice. Dr. Wilson, Lei’s former therapist. Lei felt her smile freeze—Dr. Wilson was going to hear she was in town and want to see her now. She’d forgotten Ohale and Dr. Wilson were dating. “Yeah, we were waiting to tell anyone until it was for sure, but I’m about four months along.”
“Well, hell, girl, you should have said so in the first place.”
“Wasn’t the time to bring it up in front of the guys.”
“Telling me would have saved you that lecture about the Changs.”
“Why?” Lei felt angry heat brush the back of her neck again. “Because I’m pregnant, I wouldn’t go after the Changs?”
Ohale narrowed his eyes. “Of course. You’d know better than to do a damn-fool thing like that with another life at stake.”
Lei felt paralyzed, hearing it put that way. Her justifications for what she’d been planning began to crumble. This really was putting more than just herself at risk, and with the fluttering of kicks underneath her waistband, it was hard to ignore that other life.
But the hell of it was, the baby was at risk anyway, with the shroud killer still out there. They all were.
Chapter Six
Stevens worked his way steadily through his half of the list of employees at Maui Sugar, checking their records. He began with those fired or laid off in the last year. Three had old drug charges, several had misdemeanors, and some had domestic violence charges. He was disappointed to find that none had any charges related to fire setting, though. He went on to current employees and added those with records to the list.
All in all, it appeared that Maui Sugar was not particular about its hiring practices—and, sitting in his air-conditioned office, he glanced out the window at the green of the nearby trees and reflected on the hot, dusty sugar mill and its sun-struck fields. No, they probably couldn’t afford to be too picky.
He called Ferreira on his desk phone. “I’ve got a list of addresses going. How about you? Ready to take a drive out and knock on some doors?”
“Gimme another fifteen minutes,” Ferreira said. “Do you want to follow up on the complaint letters, too, today?”
“No, let’s do some drive-bys and see what we come across. We can go home from there, get to the complaint letters tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, boss. Meet out in the lot in fifteen.”
Stevens hung up, and his cell phone rang as if on cue, an unknown number. He didn’t usually answer those, but maybe it was Lei, calling from that burner phone. He hadn’t remembered to save the number as a contact.
“Hello?”
“Michael.” The way Lei said his name, bitten off and spit out, let him know she wasn’t happy. That was fine. He wasn’t happy with her either. “Just got out of a meeting with Ohale and a couple of detectives from Vice. Apparently you called and told him I wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with the Changs.”
“I sure did,” Stevens said, his temper flaring all over again. “What the hell are you doing over there?”
“I’m on a case. I told you. Nothing to do with the Changs, and I resent you policing me like this. Three days. Gambling and some sort of coercion. Omura authorized it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday, if you had nothing to hide?”
A long beat went by. “When would I have told you?” Lei’s voice had dropped to a whisper. He couldn’t tell what that whisper concealed. “At dinner with Dad and Jared? After, when we were making love? It’s no big deal. I’ll be home before you know it.”
Behind Lei’s anger he heard hurt, and in her whisper there was apology and a reminder of last night’s incredible lovemaking.
Damn, he loved her, difficult as she was, and he just wanted her back—by his side, in his bed. Another lonely night without her didn’t appeal. Stevens blew out a breath, relaxing. “I might have jumped to the wrong conclusion. You not telling me, the phone not working...it seemed like you might be going off on a personal mission.”
She laughed, but it sounded strained. “I’ve got too much to lose. But I did want to tell you something. The baby kicked. Still kicking, in fact. I think we might have a hyper one on our hands.”
“What? Isn’t it too soon?” Stevens felt something welling up inside that he couldn’t put a name to. It made him smile.
“No. Four months is when you can start feeling them move. And right in the middle of the meeting with the vice detectives, Baby started wiggling. I thought it was gas at first, but no.” Stevens could hear a note of the same cocktail of wonder and excitement he felt in Lei’s voice. “I ended up having to tell Ohale because he saw on my face that something had happened.”
“I bet he was surprised.”
“Not so much. He’s happy for us—that’s all.” She paused. “We haven’t talked about names.”
“Depends on whether it’s a girl or a boy.”
“What depends? The name?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we should start thinking about it.”
“Do you want to find out what the sex is?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
“I don’t know.”
“God.” Lei laughed. “We’re both too scared to know.”
“I don’t care, actually. As long as he or she is healthy—but you have to be okay, too.” He hadn’t expected the roughness that came into his voice.
“I’m fine. Healthy as a horse and twice as strong. Stop worrying.”
“It’ll be easier when you’re back home.” He cleared his throat. “Since you’re over there, partying, I’m going t
o invite Jared over for drinking and poker.”
“Partying? You should see the nasty dump I’m in. Nah, you have fun. I’ll try to wrap this up as soon as possible. Then we can continue where we left off.”
“Where we left off? You mean arguing?”
“No. In the bedroom.” Her voice had gone husky. “I liked that thing you were doing...in the dark. I want to be the boss next time.”
“Damn you, woman.” He felt himself tightening in response to her voice, to the memory of the other night when he’d decided to get a little creative. Knowing they’d have the rest of their lives to explore every nuance of the pleasure their bodies could give each other still felt unreal to him. “I gotta go. Ferreira’s waiting.”
“And now you have a boner. My work here is done.” She hung up with a laugh.
Stevens shook his head, smiling—but a little part of him wondered, as he slid the phone into his pocket, if he’d just been played.
The doorbell of his apartment rang, an unfamiliar buzz, and the Fireman woke up, heart thundering. No one rang his doorbell.
He hurried to the door, alarmed. He applied an eye to the peephole and spotted the brown of a UPS uniform. He opened the door and signed for the package, carrying it inside after he’d relocked the dead bolt, thumb lock, and lever security bar behind him.
There was no return address, but the Fireman knew who it was from.
He got a knife and cut the tape on the package, peeling back the flaps. Inside, wrapped in bubble wrap, were several items and a printed-out letter.
To the Fireman: Here are the items you will need to breach the security of the house. This package is being delivered by one p.m. You have two hours to prep. You must be at the address at three p.m., when the man who stays in the house during the day leaves. You will have approximately ninety minutes from three p.m. to deactivate the alarm at the gate (code enclosed) neutralize the dog with the tranquilizer gun included, breach the house if needed (additional code enclosed), and set your fire. Best time to fire the house for optimal impact will be late at night. We will be watching the news tomorrow for results.