Page 51 of Shark Cove

Harry gusted out a sigh and took her foot slightly off the gas pedal. “She’s involved with an online gossip blog, and she’s been trying to investigate what has happened to her friend, Camille. It’s frustrating, because there is something off about Regina’s story: first Camille ran away, then she’s at a fat farm, yada yada. You were there. Malia has refused to believe Camille’s at that camp. From what I gathered has happened today, Malia got her father to drive her to Camille’s house to spy on Regina; then, my guess is, she saw something suspicious, got a vehicle somehow, and followed Regina out to Lahaina.”

“And why did your ex come to town?”

Harry’s cheekbones reddened. “I asked him to come help me deal with Malia. She’s been lying, and I’m afraid to find out how deep it goes. Kylie’s having troubles, too. Won’t sleep in her own bed, hoarding food in her room, clingy. I needed him to come back and deal.” Harry flexed her hands on the wheel.

“Wow, that’s a lot. Parenting isn’t for sissies, is it?”

“No, it’s not. Malia has other problems too, like self-injury when she is stressed. All of this developed after Peter left us.”

“What brought that on? The separation?”

Harry slanted a glance at Lei. “He told me I loved the job more than I loved him.”

Lei touched Harry’s rigid arm. “I totally get how someone with a more normal job might get that idea. Fortunately, Stevens and I are both in this career up to our eyeballs, so any problems that come up because of it—we have to solve them together.”

“Peter’s a lawyer with his own business. He was never able to grow his practice the way he wanted to, because he was determined that we parent the girls ourselves, and not “farm them out” to caregivers. He picked up the slack around my long hours for years. I should have taken his complaints more seriously, but I didn’t. For too long. And suddenly, he was gone.”

“Seems weird that he was all about parenting and then bailed on not only you, but the girls too.”

Harry just nodded. They were approaching Lahaina now, so Lei let her friend focus on the complication of more traffic.

Iris from Dispatch’s voice crackled through Lei’s radio, asking for their location.

Lei hit the button and gave the street names they were passing.

“Two units nearing Shark Cove have reported multiple gunshots fired. Ambulances are on the way,” Iris relayed.

Harry swore.

Lei bit her lip on a cry of alarm as her friend swung the Honda onto a sidewalk on the right, roaring past stopped cars and through a red light.

They headed for Shark Cove at top speed. Hopefully, they’d survive to give aid once they got there.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Harry drovethem on past Lahaina town way too fast, whizzing through an area filled with hotels and condominiums, developments that had filled the former pineapple and sugarcane fields that had once dominated the area. Harry hunched forward over the steering wheel, the siren and light going, as Lei clung to the sissy strap, shutting her eyes to pray for safety—both for them, and for Malia.

Lei pictured Malia’s sweet round face with her striking, long-lashed dark eyes. She’d been such a lovely baby—and now, a pretty young woman who clearly possessed both a bright mind and a spine of pure steel.What had that enterprising teen gotten herself into?

They entered enough of a straightaway that Lei could let go of the strap and send a few texts: one to Captain Omura, apprising her of their situation, one to Pono, who’d been out on an errand when she’d left, one to Stevens, telling him she was with Harry on a mission to save her daughter . . . and finally, one to her father, Wayne Texeira, a lay minister in his church.

That text simply said,“Prayer needed for a case.”

Though Lei had never formally joined a church, her faith in a higher power had increased over the years; at the very least, prayer brought comfort in stressful times and she’d seen it answered often.

They passed Ka‘anapali and entered the stunning, narrow road that continued around that West Maui section of the island, all the way back to Wailuku.

The radio crackled again with a report of multiple gunshots reported in the parking lot above Shark Cove.

Harry groaned aloud, a terrible sound of pain, and Lei could do nothing for her friend but lay a hand on her shoulder. “We’re almost there.”

Malia barreledtoward her friend in the Prius, blasting the vehicle’s horn as she directed the little car between the two embattled SUVs. “Camille!” she yelled through the open window.

Camille leaped to the side, away from the kidnapper, and Malia hit the man with the car. He fell backward, and his gun went off as it flew from his hand and landed on the ground. More gunfire exploded around them.

Malia slid down, below the dash. “Camille! Get in!” she screamed.

Camille grabbed the rear door handle and had barely jumped inside before Malia hit the accelerator again, this time in reverse.

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