Page 11 of Wired Target

The men shook hands.

Chang addressed Sophie.“Glad you could make it on short notice,” he said.“Detective Kamuela asked to have a team meeting to make sure we are all on the same page going forward.This case has garnered much public attention.”

Sophie cleared her throat.“On that note, I came across some new information I need to share.Sergeant Lei Texeira called me from Maui as I was on my way here.”She met Kamuela’s eyes.“I asked if she could call in so I could share the intel with everyone at once.”

Kamuela glanced at Chang.“Texeira is a colleague and friend, a detective sergeant on Maui.She contacted me yesterday, as well.They’ve had a crime against the albatross on their island that has a lot in common with the Moli Massacre, and she’d like to get in on our discussion.”

“She can join via conference call,” the DA agreed.

Kamuela pulled a three-sided speakerphone out of a cubbyhole under the podium and plugged it in, looking up Lei’s number on his cell phone and dialing it.A few minutes later, Lei’s voice spoke.“Sergeant Texeira, Maui Police Department.”

“Lei, it’s Marcus.I’m calling from our team meeting.”Kamuela identified the people present and the location.“Sophie wants to start us off with some new intel.”

“Yes.”Sophie faced the speakerphone and spoke clearly.“First of all, I have our client’s permission to be identified.We were hired by the headmaster of Kama‘aina Schools, Dr.Ka’ula.”She waited a beat for that to sink in and then went on, filling them in on the background that had brought Ka’ula to their doors.“He was reluctant to go to the police directly because he...”she paused, groping for words.

“He knew how bad it would look that some of his students might have committed this crime,” Kamuela growled.“And I’m guessing he wants us to whitewash that for the public.”

“We explained that wasn’t possible,” Sophie said.“Though he asked that we try to keep it out of the news.”Both Chang and Kamuela stared at her expressionlessly.

Sophie forged on.“In the course of reviewing students’ social media, it’s come to light that the perps, who might have killed the birds in a hazing or loyalty testing ritual, didn’t destroy all the eggs.They sold some of them on the Internet.”Sophie shunted the picture of the egg in the box to Kamuela to be stored in the case file.

“And that’s why I’m calling,” Lei said, her voice echoing in the room through the speaker.“We’ve had a theft of three albatross eggs here on Maui.The birds only lay one egg per year, so the loss is a big deal.”

“This opens up a whole new avenue to investigate,” Kamuela agreed, moving his muscular shoulders restlessly.“But who the hell would buy an albatross egg?And how could it be shipped anywhere without it dying?”

“Don’t know the answers to those questions,” Jones said.“But I agree it gives us more of an avenue to explore.Sergeant Texeira, do you have any leads?”

“No.There’s a nonprofit that’s dedicated to the birds’ survival on this island; they paid to fence conservation grounds near Waihee to keep out the feral cats and mongooses so the birds could nest unmolested,” Lei said.“The group monitors the birds closely, but they don’t use surveillance cameras.They were the ones to call in the missing eggs and ask for help.Normally it’s not the kind of case I would get; I work in homicide.But I have an interest in endangered birds and I was upset when I heard about the Moli Massacre on Oahu.It worries me that it might have sparked something related over here.Now that I know eggs were stolen on Oahu, too, it seems like there’s a connection.”

They reviewed the little gleaned so far from the surveillance video and trips out to the desecrated area.

“We speculated the perps might have camped there in order to have easier access for their raid, and that’s how I found the tire iron and machete that might have been used in the attack.Have your people found any forensic evidence on the tools?”Sophie asked.

“They’re in the queue to be analyzed,” Kamuela said.“We’re backed up a couple of weeks, unfortunately.You have a background in tech, Sophie.Can you take charge of the tech aspects of the case?”Kamuela asked.“I’ve been assigned several new homicides, so I’d like to pass the baton as much as I can.”

“I assumed as much,” Sophie said.“I’ve already got several areas to follow up on.”She took a breath.“Mr.Chang, what kind of legal ramifications will there be if the killers are underage?What kind of consequences would you go for?”

The DA frowned.“I was already concerned that we won’t have much of a legal precedent for prosecution, and that problem will be amplified if the perps are minors.Animal rights laws notoriously lack teeth, even for adult perpetrators of abuse.The public might be howling for blood, but getting anything to stick to minors will be that much harder.We will have to protect their confidentiality, as well.”

Marcus Kamuela smacked his hands down on the table in a gesture of frustration that made everyone jump.“Well, until we have more to go on, I’ve got to roll.My partner’s waiting and we’ve got murderers to catch.”

Out at the parking lot, Sophie turned to Jones.“I need to work out before I sit down to more hours in front of a computer.I like a gym called Fight Club—I used to do some MMA there back in the day.Care to join me?”

Jones’s blond brows rose.“To spar?”

Sophie shook her head.“No.I’ve lost my taste for the ring.But I still like to use their workout area.”

“Nah, I’m not a gym guy.Unless you consider the ocean a gym.”Jones smiled.“I went surfing earlier this morning, so I’m good to go.What can I get started on?”

“Why don’t you reach out to the Kama‘aina Schools contact you got for me and set up a meeting for us?Then, get ahold of Lei and find out more about this group that advocates for the albatross.See if they have any leads on people who might want to steal the eggs, anything that might connect our cases.The rest of what I need to do is a bunch of work online.I’ll probably work from home because I need to use some specialized programs I have on the computers there.”

“Gotcha, boss.See you back at the office, or wherever.”Jones gave a two-fingered salute, turned, and strode away.

Sophie got into the Lexus to head to her old haunt, Fight Club.

So much had taken place in that barnlike building with the dangling lights that formed pools of illumination over the sparring ring and fitness equipment lining the walls.Fight Club was where she’d really begun to heal from the physical and emotional abuse her ex-husband had inflicted during her early, terrible marriage.

Fight Club was also where she’d met Alika Wolcott, her coach and Momi’s father—and for that alone, the gym would always be a special place.She and Alika continued as close friends, co-parenting Momi as effectively as they could.Today, Fight Club would just be a place to pound some weights and get rid of frustration left over from the meeting.

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