Dangerous Depths (32 page)

“We’re looking for Eva. I thought she might be at the old cabin up the trail from my grandmother’s. Bane went to look, but she’s not there.”

“I could help you look,” Candace offered. “The guy said he’d be here a couple of hours and I have nothing else to do.”

Leia glanced at Candace’s attire: slim-fitting sundress and high-heeled sandals. Not suitable for hiking through the jungle. “It’s okay, we’ll find her.” She tried to keep her tone light and unconcerned. Word about what her dad had done couldn’t be allowed to get out, not even to friends.

Twenty-six

M
ynahs squawked from the trees, and Bane looked up. He wished he had a clue where to go. A fishpond. No other places came to mind. Kicking ajar the unlocked door, he stepped inside the empty cabin. Its dampness enveloped him. It didn’t feel as if anyone had been inside recently. He prowled the room, looking to see if anything appeared different from when he was here last. His gaze settled on the old table. EVA had been carved in block letters on the surface.

He touched the lettering. She had been here! He dug out his cell phone and dialed Mano’s phone again. When his brother answered, Bane told him what he’d found. Mano told him they were at Ipo’s cottage and could be at the abandoned cabin in minutes. Bane shut his phone and continued his search. He checked the cabinets, the rusting metal cooler, and the heap of sleeping bags in the corner. He pulled the blankets from the bed, but there was nothing under them but stains. He tossed them back onto the cot and looked around. He’d checked everywhere. His gaze fell on the cot again. Except for under the mattress.

He dragged it from the metal frame and hit pay dirt. A small yellow Big Bird backpack he’d seen Eva tote around forever was pushed under the cot, clear back to the wall. He tossed the mat-tress off to the side and pulled the cot out from the wall, then grabbed the satchel. It was heavier than he’d thought. As he unzipped it, he heard Mano’s voice calling him. “In here,” he yelled.

Mano and Leia rushed through the door. He held up the bag. “It’s Eva’s, isn’t it?”

Leia
nodded wordlessly. She held out her hand and walked toward him. He gave her the bag. “Look inside and see if there are any clues to who has her, anything unusual.”

“She usually carries her paper and watercolors in it. And any-thing else that’s important to her.” Leia went to the dusty table and set the bag down and began to rummage through it. Bane and Mano stood behind her and looked over her shoulder. She drew out a snorkel mask and fins, then drawing pads and colored pencils. “Her
honu
.” Leia held up a rock that looked like a sea turtle. Leia picked up the sketch pad and began to flip through the pages. “I haven’t looked at her drawings in a while. Maybe she did a picture of the guy she’s with. She likes to draw people best of all.”

Bane nodded and watched her turn the pages. Eva’s talent shone in her attention to detail and the colors she chose. His gaze landed on the landscape scene Leia was about to pass over. “Wait, I know that place. Dirk took Tony and me to that cabin once to go fishing. There’s an old fishpond there, now that I think about it. I knew there was some old pond that I couldn’t remember. It’s been driving me crazy.”

“Dirk? Could he have anything to do with this?” Mano asked.

“I don’t know,” Bane said. “Dirk said the cabin was owned by his grandfather, but it’s rarely used. Maybe someone just took advantage of its accessibility.”

Leia was still looking at the sketch pad. “Look here.” She showed him a picture of a man Eva had drawn. It was clearly Dirk Forsythe.
Hotshot
was written under it. “Dirk has her.”

E
va held her father’s hand as Hotshot made them walk along the narrow strip of sand. She’d been here before, snorkeling with Hotshot.
Makua
gave her hand a squeeze that made her feel better, and she held on to it with all her strength. With her father here, she wasn’t as scared, but she still wanted to go home. “Mama will be worried,” she told him.

“We’ll see her soon.” They climbed a small hill and soon reached the cabin where she’d changed into her suit when she snorkeled before. It was nicer than the other one. There was no dust on the tables here, and no mouse doodoo. “Now what?” her father asked Hotshot. “You have what you wanted—why don’t you just let us go?”

“Cooperate with me and you’ll be freed. I know there’s more.”

“There isn’t,” her father said.

His voice boomed in a way that usually scared Eva, but Hotshot didn’t seem to flinch. Eva huddled closer to her father, and he put his arm around her. She watched Hotshot’s face and wondered why he looked so mad. Her dad had been nice to him and had even brought him some boxes of stuff. It didn’t look very interesting to Eva: old broken pottery and creepy bones. It made her shiver to look at them.

“I read the list. I know one of the items is a priceless
lâ’au
pâlau
. I want it.”

Her father’s eyes widened. “I forgot. There is one small box of things that Koma didn’t get down to the cave before he broke his hip. It’s in the tree stand at his cabin. I meant to get it yesterday, but when you took Eva, I forgot about it.” He stared defiantly at Hotshot.

Eva began to hum. She didn’t want her dad to make Hotshot mad. She’d seen him knuckle a boy’s head once when he got an attitude. It was Joe Leoki, and he had cried. Joe was a big boy, so she knew it hurt. She didn’t want Hotshot to hurt her dad. She tugged on his arm. When he looked at her, she shook her head. “Don’t make him mad,” she whispered.

“Your daughter is smart. Don’t make me mad. Sit.” He pointed to two blue camp chairs against the wall. Taking out his cell phone, he punched in a number and spoke into it. “The rest of the stuff is in the tree stand at Koma’s. Get it, and come here.” He listened, then grunted and hung up. “If it’s not there . . .”

T
hey decided the easiest and fastest way to get to Dirk’s cabin would be to hike back to the cottage, get Leia’s bike, and drive to the boat. They could take the boat to the beach near the cabin. The plans went without a hitch until they raced to the dock and got into the
Eva II
. The engine wouldn’t start.

“It’s got plenty of gas,” Mano said, wiping the grease from his hands after trying to tinker with the engine. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Leia’s gaze landed on Candace’s boat. “Let’s take Candace’s boat.”

“Can you find her to ask her?”

“I don’t want to traipse all over the village looking for her. She said she’d be here awhile.” Nodding toward the old man casting nets from the pier, she started toward him. “I’ll tell Jeb to tell her we’ll be back as soon as we can. Maybe he can get this boat going and use it to run her customer back.” He promised to keep an eye out for Candace and tell her Leia had taken the boat. He got his tools and headed toward the Kahales’ boat.

When she got back, the others had already boarded Candace’s boat
.
She untied the rope, threw it to Bane, then hopped onto the boat. Mano started the engine, and the craft pulled away from the dock. She looked back, hoping to see Candace and wave an apology, but her friend was nowhere to be seen. It was probably just as well. At least she knew Candace wasn’t going to need it anytime soon.

Bane directed Mano on where to head the boat. Fatigue hit Leia, and she felt shaky. She sat down on the seat. Maybe if she had something to eat she’d feel better. Leia began to rummage through the cabinets in search of food. She found some Cheese Nips and grabbed a handful. They were stale, but she ate them anyway. As she put the box away, her gaze fell on a weight belt. It was damaged, the cut edges sticking up in the air. She picked it up and looked at it, then flipped it over. A red label bearing Tony’s name was still attached.

She made a sound, and Bane looked up. “What’s wrong?”

Wordlessly, she held out the belt. “It’s Tony’s. The one we couldn’t find.”

He absorbed her words in silence, then took the belt from her fingers. “How would she get this? She wasn’t even down there.”

“Dirk uses this boat too.”

“That means . . .”

“That Dirk not only has my sister, but he also killed Tony. He’s probably got my dad too,” Leia finished for him in a choked voice. “We’ve got to find him! He’s capable of killing them. This proves it.”

Bane went to tell Mano what they’d found. Leia held the weight belt and tried to figure out where this all led. Dirk wasn’t with the divers. How had he killed Tony? He’d been at Candace’s house when she went to offer her condolences to Candace the night Tony died. Candace was the usual pilot of the boat, and she hated to let anyone take the boat out without her. If Dirk was onboard, so was Candace. She glanced at Bane and saw the same doubt in his eyes.

Bane’s eyes widened. “I’d say Candace is involved too, Leia.”

Leia didn’t want to believe it. Could all Candace’s tears about Tony’s death be hiding the heart of a black widow? “I don’t believe it, Bane. She’s been just crushed by all this. Maybe Dirk is trying to implicate her.”

“Maybe. But consider this—Candace was an actress. Tony was always bragging about how good she was.”

“That’s true,” Leia whispered. “But she wasn’t down there that day.”

“Neither was Dirk,” he pointed out. “What if she was having an affair with Dirk and got sucked into the whole thing?

“I’d like to believe that she never intended Tony harm, and that Dirk did it. But how? He must have taken a separate boat out and waited for Tony.”

She nodded. “He was handling the shop that
day. He could have closed it a few hours, gone out to kill Tony, and gotten back.”

“He would have had to tell her about it.” Bane picked up the belt. “Otherwise, this wouldn’t be here.”

He had a point. At the very least, she was an accomplice after the fact and had helped hide his guilt. At the worst, she’d been in on it from the beginning. “Should we go back and confront her? Make her tell us where Dirk has Eva and my dad?”

He shook his head. “It’s all speculation. She may know nothing, and we’ll have wasted valuable time. At least we have an inkling of where to look right now.”

She was beginning to feel hopeless. “I hope you’re right.”

“I think I can find this place.”

She looked up to see the boat heading for shore. The barren stretch of beach held no sign of habitation other than a rickety pier that jutted into the heavy surf. “I don’t see the cabin.”

“It’s up the hill, in the trees. You can’t see it from here.”

The engine throttled back, and Mano brought the boat along-side the pier. Two other boats were anchored there. Bane jumped out and secured the rope. “We need to hurry. The surf is high today, and the rope may not hold for long.” He helped Leia navigate the pitching deck until she was on the pier. Mano hopped nimbly after them. “It’s up this way.” Bane charged up the hill.

Leia followed, and he stopped to help her clamber over a pile of black lava rocks. With every step, her hope surged again. She wanted to grab her sister and hug her tight. The world would be deprived of a wonderful light without Eva. Leia almost physically ached at the thought of losing her sister. Eva was way too trusting, but that was part of her charm. The thought made her realize that she couldn’t blame God for the gift of Eva. He’d known what he was doing all along. Eva was special, and her dream about the starfish had helped save them today. Maybe God had known what he was doing with the things Leia had gone through as well.

She stopped to catch her breath at the top of the hill. “Listen! I think I hear Eva.” The voice came again. Though she couldn’t make out any words, the stress in her sister’s voice traveled through the trees loud and clear. “Hurry!” As they rushed through the path covered with wildflowers, Mano pulled out his gun.

They reached the clearing, and Bane held Leia back when she would have charged to the cabin. “Let’s circle around the back and see if we can tell what’s going on. Mano, you stay here and watch the front. Leia and I will be right back.”

Eva’s voice had stilled, and Leia couldn’t tell where it had come from. They crept around the end of the house, following the scent of Japanese honeysuckle. Both windows in the back of the two-room cabin were open, so they would have to be quiet. Leia was tall enough to peer in the window, so she leaned forward and peeked around the honeysuckle to the inside of the cabin. Eva and her father sat in camp chairs. Dirk stood over them waving a gun angrily. None of them were looking toward the window.

Leia ducked back down again. “He’s got a gun.”

“I saw. We need to distract him.” He took her hand, and they slipped back to the trees. He motioned to his brother, and Mano joined them at the front-left corner of the house.

“We’re going to have to draw him out.” Bane motioned for Mano to lead the way. “You’ve got the gun, buddy.”

“I’ve got the brawn, you’ve got the brains, is that it?” Mano grinned but stepped out with his gun ready.

They ducked under the window and crept to the door. “Stay here,” Bane whispered.

Leia shook her head. No way was she waiting out here. She wanted to touch Eva and make sure she was all right. Her father too. She tiptoed behind Bane and Mano toward the front of the cabin. Bane motioned for her to get behind a large monkeypod tree, and she moved to the safety of its gnarled branches. Bane and Mano slipped to the front of the cabin.

Mano held his finger to his lips, then picked up a rock, moved to the side of the door, and banged the rock on the outside of the cabin. Stepping behind a bush, he brought his gun up. Leia heard a muffled oath from inside the cabin. The door eased open, and Dirk’s gun poked out. His eyes squinted and his gaze sweeping the landscape, Dirk stepped outside.

“Freeze!” Mano shouted. Dirk whirled, bringing his gun up. Before he could fire, Bane jumped him from behind. Dirk thrashed under Bane as Mano leaped to help his brother. He wrested the gun from Dirk’s hand and stuck both it and his own gun in his waistband.

Leia rushed to the cabin door and entered. She grabbed Eva, who jumped to her feet as Leia came through the door. Leia inhaled the essence of her sister—ginger shampoo, some musty odor she couldn’t identify, and the salt of her tears.