Page 46 of Shark Cove

Her familiar black sweatshirt felt overwhelmingly hot and claustrophobic, but it was important that no one was able to describe her if she were spotted, so she kept the hood up as she hurried toward the William house, then slowed as she approached it, glad of the shadows as she hunched down against the hedge below the house.

“Now what?” she muttered, staring at Ms. William’s SUV.

Maybe she should go talk to the woman, beg to speak to Camille or something, and see what happened. Malia walked up the driveway, and, steeling herself, up the steps. She rang the bell; it was past time she spoke to Camille’s mother face-to-face.

Chapter Nineteen

The same morning:

“Mama, wake up!” Lei woke to an assault on her head from toddler Rosie.

Lei grabbed her daughter’s sturdy little body and nuzzled her round tummy through her nightgown, blowing and tickling. Rosie shrieked with delight.

Kiet joined the fun, jumping on Lei and trying to tickle her, too. The bed was a mass of giggling and pillow whacking as the three played, until Lei was able to hug both of her kids at the same time, wrestling them into submission. “That’ll teach you to wake me up,” she mock growled, kissing them.

Stevens appeared in the doorway with no shirt on, pajama bottoms riding low on his hips—just as sexy as he’d always been even after all these years. Lei smiled back at his lopsided grin that told her he was happy to see the three of them having fun. “You’re on breakfast duty, Sweets,” he said. “I prepped the pancake batter and I’m heading for the shower. All you’ve got to do is cook ‘em up.”

“Isn’t Daddy the best?” Lei told the kids.

“Yes!” The two shouted.

Lei swung her legs out of bed and tucked Rosie under one arm, kicking and giggling, as she ruffled Kiet’s hair. The three headed for the kitchen.

Soon the kids were digging into stacks of banana pancakes covered in guava syrup as Lei cooked scrambled eggs for herself and Stevens.

Stevens came out of their bedroom dressed for work. “Your turn for the shower.”

“Here you go. I’ll be out in a minute.” Lei handed over the spatula and headed to their bathroom.

Under the flow of water, she thought through the day ahead. Hopefully this would be the day something shook loose, and she finally found one of the girls.

Lei’s phone vibrated on the bathroom sink as she dried off and wrapped up in a towel. The name on the caller ID was Terence Chang. Lei’s pulse bumped as she sat down on the closed toilet seat lid to take the call. “Terence! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“An ironic twist of fate when a police detective considers it a pleasure to hear from me,” Terence said. The intelligent young programmer had a long history with Lei that had culminated in becoming a confidential informant as he struggled to go straight in a notorious crime family. “I thought I would let you know that there’s definitely an operation moving girls out of Maui. I didn’t pay much attention until you twigged me to that, but it’s being run by Harold Chang, who’s been up to those tricks for some years now.”

“Yes, we got on to him when the pirates were operating,” Lei said. “But nobody was able to tie him to the actual trafficking on that case. How is he moving the girls off the island?”

“Shipping,” Chang said. “Disguised as merchandise for an import/export business. They go from the outer islands to Oahu, then straight to China.”

“Can you give us the names of the ships? Anything we can follow up on?”

“My cousin was super cagey about that information. People keep their distance from me since I have been trying to go legit, so I couldn’t get the specific names of the ships they are using or the companies they’re listed under. All I can tell you is that Harold Chang has a whole network underneath him, and you can be sure he’s keeping the whole dirty business at arm’s length.”

“I bet they’re making the transition of the human cargo out in international waters and other tricks that minimize our ability to track what’s going on,” Lei said. “But thanks for this. It confirms what we’d begun to think.”

Lei ended the call and, standing up, winced at the sight of her bedraggled hair in the mirror. She squirted a handful of gel into her palm and squished it into her curls as she hurried into the bedroom to change; it was going to be another long day.

Lei drovetowards the Kahului station, this time with Stevens in the truck; the kids were with their grandparents for the day. Her phone rang and she didn’t have her Bluetooth in, so she handed the device to Stevens. “This is Lieutenant Stevens for Sergeant Lei Texeira. I’m putting you on speaker.” Stevens hit the audio button.

Peg Roberts’s voice came crackling through the phone. “Hey there guys! Got some disturbing news. Our perp, Keo Avila, has made a run for it. The alarm went off that his ankle bracelet was removed last night, and when I sent a unit by his last known address, he’d flown the coop. I’ve already called in a Be On the Lookout for him to be arrested if anyone can get their hands on him.”

Lei and Stevens exchanged glances; Avila was likely the one behind the evidence they’d collected at the warehouse! “Thanks for the call, Peg!” Lei said. “We need to find Avila, and fast. We discovered evidence of the missing girls at the warehouse he told us about.” She filled in the parole officer on the boxes and hair samples.

“The officer I sent out to Avila’s apartment says it looks like he hasn’t been there in weeks. He’s got some other hideout he’s been using this whole time,” Roberts said.

“Did they find anything in his apartment that might give a clue where he went?” Stevens asked.

“I would have told you if they had,” Roberts said. “Good luck!”

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