Page 57 of Shark Cove

“Will this take long?” she asked her mom.

“I don’t know.” Harry still wasn’t making eye contact. Malia swallowed her other questions.

Sitting in the ugly interview room with its bolted-down Formica table and metal chairs was as intimidating as cop shows depicted. The walls were dingy and one of them sported a one-way mirror. Malia hated seeing her frazzled hair and blotchy, scared face. She looked away, pulling up her hood and zipping up her sweatshirt.

“Want something to eat?” Harry asked. “I can get you something from the break room.”

“Yes, please.” Malia’s stomach rumbled loudly in agreement.

Her mom left.

Malia pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

She felt like a criminal. She hadn’t done anything wrong . . . Well, okay. She’d done a few things. Breaking and entering. Car theft. Cyberbullying.

She leaned her forehead on her knees, wishing herself somewhere far away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lei pulledinto the parking lot of the Lahaina Harbor. Pai Opunui pulled in beside her in a dark Ford pickup.

She had called Special Agent Aina Thomas to meet them at theMoonlit Mermaid’sslip, and she glanced toward the mouth of the mooring area, as he would be arriving in one of the Coast Guard’s fast-moving inflatables.

No sign of the craft yet.

She got out of her truck, checking her weapon, and making sure her badge was clearly displayed on her belt. Pono was also on his way from the Kahului station, now that they had what looked like a solid lead. Her partner had asked their go-to judge for an emergency search warrant for the yacht and was bringing it with him to the harbor.

Keo Avila had to be at the heart of what was going on with the disappearances; maybe they’d find something on the William yacht that could move things forward.

Opunui came toward her, his eyes narrowed, a crease between sun-lightened brows. “Are you sure these cases are related?”

“You heard what Regina William said about why their daughter was kidnapped. We have a solid connection between Keo Avila, found dead at the scene, and the missing girls, because of the metal boxes we found that were stored in that warehouse he sent us to. Now that he’s gone and so is Leonard William, we need to find the girls before they die in whatever container they’re being held in. We don’t have time to dick around.”

“I get it. I just feel a little behind the eight ball on this, since I wasn’t on your case,” Opunui said. “Harry is up to speed, but she’s occupied with finding the girls.”

“I know. Sorry to throw you into the deep end of the pool . . . My team has been working this for months now, along with a task force at the FBI. Speaking of, I’d better bring our agent over there up to speed while we wait for the Coast Guard to arrive.”

Lei and Opunui walked through the parking lot towards a beach area that rimmed the marina. Kiawe trees provided welcome shade as Lei put a call through to Marcella on Oahu, leaving a message about the events at Shark Cove and how they’d led to the current search of the William yacht.

As she was finishing the call, Pono drove up in Stanley, his purple lifted truck. Even after all these years, the sight of the little yellow and red replica Hawaiian war helmet dangling beneath Stanley’s rearview mirror brought a smile to Lei’s face. Pono was getting out of the truck when they heard the powerful roar of the large outboards on the rigid inflatable Coast Guard vessel as it entered the harbor.

Lei and Opunui quickly briefed Pono on the events at Shark Cove as they walked toward the pier, where the Coast Guard Defender was docking, its lights flashing.

Special Agent Aina Thomas, handsome in his uniform, jumped out onto the dock with another agent right behind. Lei and the two detectives approached. “Regina William told us the yacht’s name is theMoonlit Mermaid, and this is where she’s berthed,” Lei said by way of greeting.

Agent Thomas nodded briskly. “I looked her up on the way over. She’s a big girl, so she’ll be at the end of the mooring.” He led the way down the floating dock, a-bristle with vessels tied up on either side of it. The clang of the breeze in the rigging, the squeak of the hulls against the rubber bumpers they were moored to, and the slap of waves created a backdrop of urgency.

TheMermaidwas huge, almost too big for its slip, but its graceful lines spoke of power and speed. Lei didn’t know much about boats, but this one looked expensive.

Special Agent Thomas knocked on the side of the vessel, then called out. “US Coast Guard Investigative Service. We’re here to board your vessel. Is anyone here?”

No one answered. The yacht appeared deserted.

He called out again, then held a hand up for Lei and Pono to wait below. He and the other agent proceeded up a short gangplank to theMermaid’sdeck and the aperture to the main cabin. No one responded to his hails, so he and the other agent explored all of the entries on board, finding them locked.

Agent Thomas came back to the gangplank. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s here. Do you have reasonable suspicion that these missing girls could be on board?”

“It’s a definite possibility,” Lei said. “And time is of the essence. The perps involved with their capture might be dead, and I’m worried they will be in danger from neglect in whatever container they’re in.”

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