Page 15 of Hidden Falls

Harry had killed the traffickers during Lei’s adventure, and then had taken a baby out of a foreign country without proper adoptive procedures. Her actions showed a dangerous lack of respect for the law.

A killer who became a cop was still, first, a killer.

* * *

Lei finished her update to Captain Omura, using her wireless earbud as holding a phone while driving on Maui was banned. She ended her call as they were turning into the maze of Maui Airport’s parking and departing structures. “I’m going to put this vehicle in the employee lot near the private aircraft area. MPD has special privileges there.”

Neither Marcella nor Harry answered, and when Lei glanced toward the two women, they were both silently staring out the window in different directions.

An awkward constraint had fallen over the cab’s interior. That wasn’t so strange; they’d each been briefing whoever needed briefing, difficult with the three of them stuck in the truck together.

Malia’s info was already with the TSA, so hopefully a flight off of Maui was closed to the kidnappers. Lei had chosen not to say anything about the adoption angle to Omura for the moment; the captain didn’t need to know about that to approve of them screening private planes that had left or were leaving out of the airport.

But once the secret of Malia’s adoption was out to their commanding officer, Harry might be under Internal Affairs scrutiny, and she could even lose her job.

The whole thing was a mess.

Lei used her ID badge to get into the airport’s employee area and parked the truck as close to the exit as she could. The three women got out, making sure their badges were easily visible. Lei noticed that Harry checked her gun first, then her badge’s placement clipped to the hip of her jeans. Marcella did the opposite, adjusting her shiny FBI shield, then patting the pocket of her blazer for an extra clip and checking one in the chamber of her service weapon, then replacing it in its shoulder holster.

Lei’s process was identical to Marcella’s. She’d had the FBI’s training protocol drilled into her at Quantico before her brief stint as an FBI agent, and the Feds had a procedure for everything.

Lei gestured with her head. “Let’s go to TSA first and let them know what we’re looking for, give the BOLO already out on Malia a personal touch: a face to go with the name. Harry, you’re the mother of the victim and it helps to have people care. Then we’ll hit the air traffic control director and find out who’s come in and gone out on private or cargo craft since the time she was taken.”

They moved out, Lei and Harry side-by-side, Marcella bringing up the rear.

Lei scanned for threats, her eyes always moving, an ingrained habit. “I don’t think the kidnappers could have used a regular commercial flight to smuggle Malia off of Maui—the girl’s a fighter. They’d have to drug her to get her on board or put her in a container or something. Much more difficult on a regular flight. My money’s on a private charter or cargo flight.”

“I agree.” Harry’s face remained immobile and stony, but her eyes were narrowed, her gaze faraway and haunted. Clearly, she was imagining something she hadn’t allowed herself to picture. “I know the way.”

Harry stepped out past Lei. Her long legs ate up the ground all the way to the TSA main office. Trotting in her wake with Marcella behind her moving at her fastest clip, Lei studied Harry’s back. Intensity surrounded her friend’s slender body and tight shoulders; she seemed wound tight enough to explode.

The three of them made it through the somewhat routine process of meeting with the on-duty TSA higher-ups, explaining the kidnapping, reviewing the protocols, and asking about anything suspicious so far.

Nothing had been flagged in the system and there had been no glimpse of Malia in the facial recognition scanners.

But later, when they met with the air traffic schedule director, he nodded in acknowledgement of their inquiry. “Yeah. We’ve had three flights leave today that meet the criteria you’re looking for. Two were private charters. One went to Seattle, one to Mexico, and one was a cargo flight to the Big Island.”

“Can we get their flight plans and the names of people on board?” Harry was standing a little too close to the official. Her voice was loud, and she bounced impatiently on her toes.

The manager, a bandy-legged man with a shiny pate, scowled and flipped on his screensaver to hide the flight logs he’d been consulting. “You’ll have to submit a formal request.”

Lei inserted herself between her friend and the official; Lei had dealt with him on investigations before. “Thanks so much for letting us know there were a couple of flights out already.” The little man was the type who loved the cockpit of power and being pushy only made him get more uncooperative. “I’d hate to take up more of your time hassling with those forms. You’re so good at keeping this place running like a clock! If you could just email us the plane schedules for the next few days, we’ll deal with the follow-up.” She gestured to Marcella, who brushed back the flap of her blazer to display her FBI shield. “Special Agent Scott here could call for all the flights to be grounded and searched, but we’d hate to disrupt the flow . . .”

“If that’s what we need to do, that’s what we need to do,” Harry barked, her hands on her hips. She’d run her fingers into her thick brown hair, and it rose around her face like a thick brown lion’s mane.

The official locked gazes with her. “I don’t answer to you, young woman.”

“Detective. And I can arrest you for obstruction.” Harry made a move to reach for the cuffs in her back pocket.

Lei placed a hand on Harry’s arm as she gave the air traffic scheduler her best smile. “My colleague is distraught; the young girl who’s been kidnapped is her daughter. We’ll just step into the hall and get a drink of water to cool off. Special Agent Scott here will clarify what we’re looking for.” Lei tightened her grip on Harry’s arm and gave a tug, pulling the detective out of the windowless room filled with complicated screens, and Marcella stepped into the breach.

Harry spun to knock Lei’s hand off once they were outside in the hall. “Don’t touch me.”

“Harry. This isn’t good.” Lei kept her voice low and measured. “You’re not helping. You catch more flies with honey . . .”

“That saying is ridiculous. Who wants to catch flies?” Harry breathed loudly through her gritted teeth. “That pompous little ass . . .”

“I’m not disagreeing with you. I’ve dealt with him before, and because of that I can tell you that throwing your weight around will only make him double down.” Lei turned and headed for a refreshment machine at the end of the hall. “Let’s get that drink of water and let Marcella massage his ego for a few.”

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