Page 17 of Wired Target

“I’ll speak to Dawnhorse,” Ka’ula said, lowering his hands.He stared at his broad palms as if they might hold answers.“Enjoy your lunch with Leong and keep me posted on progress.Thanks for protectingmyconfidentiality as your client.”

“Of course.”Sophie rose.She rested a hand briefly on Ka’ula’s beefy shoulder.“And thank you for being willing to go the extra mile to solve this case.You didn’t have to hire us, and that you did so speaks well of your character.This is not an easy situation.”

She left the headmaster alone with his thoughts and headed for the teacher’s lounge.

Char Leong was seated at the now deserted staff dining table, picking at a metal tray loaded with the food Sophie had glimpsed earlier.Another tray, covered with foil, rested at her elbow.

Sophie glanced around the room.“Can we speak privately here?”

Leong glanced at the clock.“Yeah.Afternoon classes just began; we shouldn’t run into any more teachers.”

Sophie slid into a chair opposite Leong.She pulled the aluminum tray over and uncovered a generous portion of beef stir-fry over a mound of rice, and a pile of crispy salad.“Looks good.”

The women ate quietly for several minutes.

Finally, Sophie set her fork aside and popped open the small carton of milk that had accompanied her meal.She took a generous swig.“Even though I’m feeding a baby, I forget how nutritious milk can be.Got another of these?”

Leong indicated a large silver refrigerator on one wall.“Help yourself.”

Sophie fetched another carton of milk and returned to dig into the remainder of the meal.When she’d finished, she dabbed her mouth with a napkin.“Mm.I was hungry.”

Leong had only stirred her food around; most of it remained.“I’ve got a bit of a stomachache after that meeting.”

“I should have told you right away—Ka’ula has reconsidered his position on writing up Dawnhorse.”

Leong’s eyes widened.“Really?”

“I pointed out that curbing bullying begins at the top.”Sophie finished the last of her second carton of milk.

“Only a non-employee could get away with something like that with him,” Leong said a bit sourly.She picked up her fork and began eating.

“Ka’ula’s stubborn, but he has a good heart and wants to do the right thing, from what I can tell,” Sophie said.Too bad she couldn’t inform Leong that the headmaster was the one who’d hired Security Solutions!“Anyway.I wanted to touch base about our game plan for finding this student and make sure you received the photo I sent you of his art.”She cocked her head.“I thought maybe you could review the art contest submissions for something that looks like a similar style, if the phishing plan doesn’t lure him out first.”

“Excellent.I did get the photo.I’ll contact the art teacher in charge of submissions.Should be no problem; she’s a friend and a bird lover.She’ll be happy to help us screen for art that might hint at involvement in the Moli Massacre.”Leong cleaned her plate and then picked up Sophie’s, too.She carried the trays to a trolley and sorted the items into different areas for washing.“I’d like to get started on that right away.”

“Perfect.”Sophie stood.“Is there anything else I can help with right now?”

“I don’t think so.”Leong returned to face Sophie.“Let me just review the plan and make sure I haven’t missed anything.”She held up a hand and ticked off items on her fingers.“One: I’ll monitor that post about my contest submission and see if any students chime in with useful leads.Two: you’ll send over one of those Stingrays for me to use on campus and try to catch the student’s phone that leads might be coming from.Three: I’ll check the art department submissions for the Fabergé contest and look for a match to this student art.”

“And four: you’ll text me the minute anything comes through to you of interest, and five: I’ll be monitoring your social media accounts with my own data mining software,” Sophie said.

“And six: we’ll meet up sometime soon to work out together,” Leong said, playfully flexing an arm.

Sophie gave Leong a fist bump.“I really like that last one.”

Sophie’s mood was much improved from the morning as she drove toward home.Not only did she and Leong have a plan for the case, but she might even have found a friend.

As if that thought had conjured it, her phone rang with a call from Lei on Maui.She took the call, routed through the car’s audio system.“Good morning, Lei.”

“Hey, lady, it’s afternoon.”Lei chuckled.“You still in the new mom haze?”

“I did lose track of time.I’m working on the case.Been following up with some leads that indicate that teens may be involved,” Sophie said.

Lei’s voice sobered immediately.“Can you come over to Maui and meet the organizers of the Albatross Sanctuary in Waihee?I could really use some backup.My lieutenant has told me I can’t work the case when I’ve got homicides to solve, but my gut is telling me yours and mine are related.It’s urgent and time-sensitive if we have a chance to rescue live eggs.”

Sophie tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she navigated the downtown Waikiki traffic.“A trip to Maui wouldn’t be a part of the investigation here and wouldn’t be billable to our client, so I’d be doing it pro bono.I also need to confer with Armita regarding childcare—but maybe I could bring Sean since I’m breastfeeding and he’s not mobile yet.”

“I get it.”Lei blew out a breath.“It’s a lot to ask.But it would be a treat to have you come stay overnight with us; Kiet would love to see Auntie Sophie and I’m dying to get a look at that baby.”She paused.“I’m basically investigating this thing off the books too.Themolihave found their way into my heart.”

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