Page 59 of Shark Cove

He gave orders to the agent with him to take the inflatable back around the coast, and he and Lei got into her Tacoma with Pono following in Stanley.

Lei used the time on the drive to Ma?alaea to talk through the different leads they’d discovered. “There’s a connection with the Chang crime world through the warehouse owner, Keith Evenson. Keo Avila, who I identified dead at Shark Cove, is a major player in this human trafficking operation. Avila was working for the Changs on our last case, though we were never able to bust that connection.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard for me to identify where any vessels associated with Leonard William and his business are currently located,” Thomas said. “All owners are required to register their boats, and when they are at anchor, they’re supposed to be logged in locally with the harbormaster in charge of each marina. We can track the location of William’s cargo vessels using the AIS Automatic Identifications Systems transponders through vessel traffic services. Unless William was hiding a craft in some unregistered docking area, we should be able to find possible hiding places relatively quickly.”

The Coast Guardstation on Maui was a modest building surrounded by a chain-link fence for security. Located at Ma?alaea Harbor, a popular port for whale watch tours, fishing, and other sport or recreational boat traffic, the fenced, reinforced cement block structure overlooked its own dock area.

Ma?alaea was not a commercial harbor, however, so even though Lei ran an eye over the many sport and fishing boats tied up in the marina, she knew better than to hope it would be that easy to find the victims.

They logged into the Coast Guard office with Special Agent Thomas, then ascended to the open loft cubicle on the second floor where Thomas shared space with another agent. That staffer was away, so Lei and Pono drew up chairs in front of his computer. With Thomas’s help they logged on to use it to search for tax maps associated with any land owned by the Chang family or their known enterprises.

As they conducted their search, bumping shoulders and arguing good-naturedly, Thomas worked his search of William & Company craft. Soon, Agent Thomas looked up from his monitor, his eyes flashing. “William has a small interisland freighter docked at Kahului Harbor,” he said. “Can you come with my team to search it?”

Lei tapped her monitor. “There’s a fifty-fifty chance the girls will not be on a boat, but on land, since Avila and William were in conflict over their transportation, but I can have Detectives Torufu and Bunuelos meet you there with a search warrant. Pono and I have spotted a piece of property out in a remote neighborhood outside Wailuku that looks like a possibility; I don’t see any building permits for it, so we need to do a drive-by to check if there are any outbuildings that might be suspicious.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

All three of them stood, then Pono frowned at Lei. “Do you think we should get bulletproof gear on?”

“Nah. Let’s just go check out this acreage. If there’s nothing on it, we know they’re not there. The lot’s only five acres, so our side trip shouldn’t take long.”

Lei and Pono followed Thomas out of his office as the other agent issued orders briskly over a radio, gathering a search team to head to Kahului harbor to meet Torufu and Bunuelos. The rigid-hulled inflatable had just pulled up, and they would be taking that craft, swinging around the island to approach from the sea.

Lei and Pono walked out of the Coast Guard building and headed for their vehicles. Pono flipped a coin about which of their trucks they’d take, and they ended up climbing into Stanley.

Lei patted the familiar chrome skull gear shifter fondly as she settled into her seat. “I can’t believe Tiare still lets you drive around the island in this ridiculous thing.”

“She never sets foot in it unless she has to,” Pono admitted. “You know my wife—all class. She’s driving a Mercedes SUV that she paid for with her wedding business.”

“You’re one lucky man,” Lei said.

“I never forget it.”

They drove out of the harbor, taking a right and circling through downtown Kahului to head past it to the small village of Waihee, the last bit of civilization before the route that wound its way back to Lahaina.

Lei frowned. “I sure hope Harry has found Malia and Camille. They would have had to come down this way from Shark Cove. Maybe I’d better call her.”

“Can’t hurt.” Pono swung around another vehicle on the busy road.

Lei called Harry’s cell and was relieved when her friend picked up right away.

“I was about to call you,” Harry said.

“Any news?” Lei asked.

“As a matter of fact, the girls turned up at Jack in the Box,” Harry said. “Camille is alive but weak from dehydration and lack of food. She’s at the hospital with her mother. I’ve got Malia down at the station, waiting for you to get here to take her statement.”

“Might be a while,” Lei said. “We are running down some leads to try to find the remaining missing girls. I’m afraid they might be stuck in some cage or container, with no one alive who knows where they are.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Harry said. “Don’t worry about making her wait. I’m glad Malia has to sit in the interview room and cool her jets. Hopefully it scares her straight from doing any more amateur sleuthing.”

Lei chuckled and shook her head. “Not likely to help, if she’s got that curiosity gene. I’ll get back to you about my ETA as soon as we’ve checked the area we’re headed for.”

The side roadto the Chang property was one of those tiny one-lane thruways off the main highway. The narrow route wound into foothills that buttressed the stunning West Maui mountains, robed in green jungle that mantled dramatic cliffs carved by erosion and revealed famously in Iao Valley. Java plum trees, coconut palms, strawberry guava, and stands of wild ginger gave the area a unique character.

“This is it.” Lei tapped her phone’s GPS when they arrived at a fenced area marked by a large NO TRESPASSING sign, a high barbed wire fence, and an impenetrable-looking stand of guava trees. A padlocked steel gate blocked a muddy dirt track leading into the trees. The whole property had a dank, overgrown, forbidding feel about it.

“Looks like we’ll have to go on foot,” Pono said, parking in long grass beside the gate. “Good thing I’ve got my junk shoes on.”

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