Page 63 of Shark Cove

“Perhaps. But you didn’t ask Camille this time, did you? Nor Regina William, either, who’s the actual owner of the car. In fact, you don’t have a license to drive alone at all.”

“Don’t answer that,” Harry said.

Malia folded her lips and looked down. “I thought Camille was in danger.”

“We’ll put that aside for now.” Lei’s tone softened. “Please go on.”

“I followed Ms. William out to Lahaina, and she met Leonard at the marina. When they left his boat, it looked like they were being taken somewhere in that Escalade by two armed men. I was scared. I called 911 for help, and I didn’t have many minutes, so after I told them what I saw, I hung up. You probably have that recorded.”

“What happened next?”

“I followed them onto the highway. As soon as I knew which direction they were going, I called 911 again and used the last minutes on my phone to tell the operator where we were headed.” Malia wiggled the straw in the juice box; now her mom knew she had a second phone. Oh well, she had bigger worries. She filled in the rest of the story. “I was watching from behind the bathroom. No one pays attention to a Prius. It seemed like things were going okay, that it was a kidnap exchange—and then, suddenly they were all shooting.” Malia didn’t realize she was crying until a hot tear landed on her hand. Harry squeezed her arm. “I just hit the gas and zoomed out. I ran into the kidnapper who had Camille and knocked him down. I yelled at her to get in the car, she jumped in, and I drove her out of there. They shot up the car but didn’t hit us.”

A long pause.

“Anything else?” Lei asked.

“Not really. Camille was bound with tape. I found a place to pull off the road and hide so I could cut her loose, but she fainted because she hadn’t been eating. Then we drove to Jack in the Box. The car was having problems by then.”

“Did you see Leonard William or any of his men shoot at the kidnappers?”

“Leonard William pulled a gun first, but I don’t really know who shot first. There was a lot of shooting. I was just focused on getting Camille out of there.”

“Where was Camille held captive? Did she tell you?”

“She said it was a boxlike metal place. That there were no other people around. She was given food and water, but she refused to eat. She was on a hunger strike, she said.” Another hot tear hit Malia’s hand.

Lei led Malia through the story again. And again, gently teasing for details about that final confrontation.

Several people had died in that shootout; Malia could tell. She was going to end up being a witness. Malia repeated what she remembered as truthfully as she could, but suddenly she was drooping with fatigue.

Harry held up a hand. “That’s enough for today, Lei. You can get in touch with me if you need anything further and we’ll schedule an interview.”

“Sure. Thanks for hanging in there, Malia.” Lei stood up and turned off the recording equipment. She patted Malia’s shoulder as they walked to the door. “You’re a very brave girl.”

“Don’t give her any ideas,” Harry said. “The news is already all over this, and I don’t want her getting a puffed-up head.”

“What?” Malia looked around frantically. “I don’t even know what’s happened!”

“Let’s get you home and hope the reporters aren’t camped out at the house,” Harry said. “I’ll fill you in on the way.”

Malia trotted after her mom’s long legs as they strode to the parking lot. They got into the Honda. Harry slammed the door and turned to Malia. “You have a second phone. How long have you had it? What do you use it for?”

“Oh, geez, Mom! Who cares about my phone? People died out there. Please, just tell me who!”

Harry turned on the ignition. “Everyone except Regina died. And Camille, thanks to you. We’re trying to piece together what happened. Regina William’s version of events pretty much matches yours.”

“I didn’t run over that guy.” Malia’s heart pounded at the memory of how he’d thumped into the bumper. “I did hit him, and he fell down. That’s how Camille was able to get away. But I don’t think I killed him.” Malia had begun to shiver; the reactions she hadn’t let herself feel were catching up with her. “Did he die from getting hit by the car?”

“We don’t know yet. The ME’s still examining the body, but from what I saw, it looked like he’d been shot.” As they drove home, Harry told Malia how she’d dispatched squad cars from Lahaina to intervene, and driven “like a madwoman” from Kahului, following Malia’s last call to 911. “Honey, that scene was bad. A bloody mess, literally. I’m so glad you got out of there safely and got Camille out of there—but my God, girl! What were you thinking?” Harry put her signal on, pulled over, and turned in her seat to yell at Malia. “Don’t you ever—I mean, ever—put yourself in danger like that. Call me! I’m trained to handle situations like this!”

Malia covered her face with her hands. “I was afraid to call you. I hardly had any minutes.”

“Back to that phone. That’s what you use for that damn gossip site, isn’t it?”

Malia froze.

She couldn’t answer.

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