Page 53 of Shark Cove

A smile lifted her mouth.Malia was one badass kid!

Lei had already gloved up in Harry’s car, so she gently rolled the body that had been hit by the car Malia was driving onto his back. She pulled aside his mask, and gasped as she recognized the face staring sightlessly up at her. “Keo Avila. What are you doing here?”

Maybe this confrontation was about more than just one missing girl.

Lei turned back toward where Harry had gone, only to see her friend advancing with that rangy stride. Harry’s light brown eyes were calm and sharp; only brackets of white around her lips indicated stress. “First responders confirm this was the scene when they reached it—no survivors but Regina William. Looks to me like a kidnap exchange that imploded.”

“Just what I was concluding. I recognize this perp—Keo Avila.” Lei prodded the camouflage-dressed body with her toe. “We’d recently interviewed him in connection with the missing girls. This guy’s bad news, through and through. His intel led us to the warehouse where the girls were kept. But if this was a kidnap exchange, where is the Williams’ daughter, Camille?” Lei caught Harry’s eye, then pointed to the tracks on the ground. “I’m betting she’s with your daughter, Malia, in whatever vehicle she was driving to follow the William couple.”

The color abruptly left Harry’s face and for a second Lei was sure she’d pass out; then, red flushed her cheeks. “That crazy girl barreled right into the middle of the exchange and got her friend!”

“Yep. She onetita, your Malia. She’s probably taking Camille to the hospital via the backside road, as we speak.”

A huge grin broke across Harry’s face. “I’m going to kill her when I get my hands on her.”

“Don’t blame you a bit,” Lei said. “Now let’s grill Regina on what went down here.”

Regina William was remarkablyunscathed considering the slaughter around her; she’d been grazed on the upper arm, though she moaned and cried as if mortally wounded as her gurney was loaded into the back of the ambulance.

Lei and Harry ousted the paramedics to help the recently arrived Dr. Gregory and Dr. Tanaka, who had a lot of bodies to deal with, and squeezed in beside Regina’s gurney.

“What the hell went on here, Regina?” Harry demanded, grabbing the role of ‘bad cop.’

“Now, Harry, she’s probably in shock,” Lei moderated. “Maybe we should wait until we get Ms. William to the station and use one of the interview rooms to take her statement.”

“No, no. I can tell you what happened,” Regina said hastily. “No need for all of that.”

“Just to be clear—you waive your right to have an attorney present?” Lei showed her phone’s record feature. “We’re going on the record for this.” She recited the Miranda warning.

“I did nothing wrong and I have nothing to hide,” Regina said, combing her hair with her fingers. “I mean, I did hide something before, but I won’t, now.”

“Yeah, I’d say it’s all right here, out in the open.” Harry made a gesture that encompassed the seven bodies scattered over the area. “And both of our girls are missing, so you’d better start talking.”

Regina mustered an indignant look as she met Harry’s hot gaze. “Did you know your daughter stood on my doorstep and accused me of being ‘a poisoning abuser?’ And then, the little bitch stole Camille’s car out of our garage and zoomed in and took her!”

“Malia probably saved Camille’s life, you idiot!” Harry snarled.

Lei put a restraining hand on Harry’s arm. “We’re on the record here,” she said gently. “Harry, do you need to take a break? I can have Opunui come in and join me.”

“I’ll stay just long enough to find out what she knows,” Harry snapped.

“I don’t know anything!” Regina cried. “Camille was kidnapped by these assholes who worked in shipping with Leonard. He was trying to get out of his partnership with them—something about the mob on Oahu—so these guys kidnapped Camille to force him to continue, plus wanting him to pay them for lost time! It seemed like everything was going as planned for the exchange, and then . . .” She shut her eyes. “Leonard pulled a gun instead of handing over the cash. And someone fired, and suddenly they were all shooting. I dove under the car, and the next thing I saw, Camille’s Prius came zooming in with Malia at the wheel. She hit the main kidnapper and knocked him down. Camille jumped in the back seat, and then Malia backed up to the road and took off!”

“I thought that’s what might have happened,” Lei said. “Did you see what direction the girls went?”

“I couldn’t see from where I was lying under the car.”

“You were too busy saving your own skin to see what happened to your child,” Harry said. “I’ve heard all I need to. I’m driving the backside and looking for the girls.”

“Good idea,” Lei said. “Send Pai in here.”

Harry gave a brief nod and jumped out of the ambulance.

Lei looked around and spotted a water bottle. “Can I get you something to drink while we wait for Detective Opunui?”

“Please.” Regina’s eyelids fluttered. “I’m not feeling well.”

“You’re in shock,” Lei said sympathetically, handing the woman the bottle with the cap removed. “Drink this. Just try to relax.”

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