Page 28 of Hidden Falls

As her breakfast sandwich arrived, she reached out to Bateman via chat on her computer:“Find me a location for Gary Paulson, will you? I want to check with Vice here on Maui and see what we can find out about him and his business.”

“On it,”Bateman typed back.“I’ll text what I come up with to your phone.”

“Excellent.”

Marcella shut her laptop and pushed it aside to enjoy her breakfast, appetite restored. As she finished the sandwich, her phone toned with an incoming video call from Marcus. She propped her phone against a saltshaker and took the call. “Hello, husband.”

“Hello, wife.” Marcus’s intelligent brown eyes crinkled with a smile. “Do I get to look forward to your return today?”

“Sadly, no. I’m on Maui for a few more days. How’s Jonas?”

“Fine, though he’s missing you. Especially at bedtime. My story reading skills are not at your level.”

Marcella smiled. “You got this, honey. Call me tonight so I can listen in.” Jonas loved books and reading. Marcus chalked Jonas’s aptitude with the written word up to Marcella’s ritual evening story time with their boy, using dramatic skills to voice act the characters and even sing parts of the dialogue when she felt the song.

“Will do. How’s the case going?”

Marcella shrugged; he didn’t really expect her to fill him in and this was one time she definitely wasn’t going to. “I’m hoping for a fast resolution.”

“Good. Stay safe.”

“You too. Don’t let the psychos get you down.” As a detective with Honolulu Police Department, he dealt with even more of those than Marcella did.

“They never get the best of me because I’m way out ahead of them. Love you, babe.”

“Love you more.”

Marcus ended the call first.

Marcella stared at the phone for a long moment.

Lei would definitely owe Marcella a favor, too, after this—not just Harry.

* * *

Marcella flashed her badge and a smile at the watch officer near the door of Kahului Police Station; he checked her name off a roster of nonemployees allowed entry for work. She dug in her purse and slipped on sunglasses to avoid eye contact with anyone on the floor, then walked quickly to her cubicle.

She needn’t have worried about anyone quizzing her, though; the other detectives all were either out in the field or had their cubicle doors closed. The workday was well underway, and a hum of activity energized the place. Once in the privacy of her workspace, Marcella set up her laptop and portable office, and checked her phone for messages.

Bateman had sent her two addresses: one, a business address, was in Kahului and the other, a residence, was in Wailuku.

It was time to reach out to Vice and see what the Maui detectives knew about Dr. Gary Paulson.

Was this doctor the kind to kidnap a young girl to silence her? Or just an illegal pill peddler?

* * *

A short time later, Marcella opened the door of her cubicle to the detective from Vice. “Hey. I’m Special Agent Marcella Scott.” She extended a hand.

“Jack Jenkins.” The man’s handshake was brief and firm. Jenkins was blond and blue-eyed, with one of those faces that never seemed to age; he’d probably still be carded for booze when he was in his forties. His hair was gelled into spikes and seemed to vibrate with energy. “Glad to be here, actually. My cubicle is a wreck since I lost my partner to the private sector. She left a bunch of her stuff behind, and no one else has been reassigned yet. I figure it’s only fair that the next victim has to clean out her desk.” Jenkins sat in the empty chair and spun back and forth a bit, a smile quirking up one side of his mouth. “Do you remember me? From back in the day on Kauai? We met on one of Lei’s early cases.”

Marcella broke into a grin. “I knew you looked familiar! J-Boy, is it? You were Lei’s partner on Kauai.”

“Yep. I’ve never lived that down. And neither has ‘Sweets.’”

“Ha! Perfect. I wondered how her nickname got started.” Marcella sat down as well. “My lucky day to be working with a real friend of Lei’s.”

“Especially since I smell something fishy about this situation.” He sniffed audibly. “Where is Lei? Isn’t this her case? Why is an FBI agent looking into drug sales on Maui?”

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