Page 30 of Deadly Sacrifice

Pono spun to face her in his aged office chair, making a steeple with his meaty fingers. “What did Katie have to say about her first witness interview in the field? Other than that she has the hots for that young photographer guy, Jeff Brian.”

“The hots. You so old-school.” Lei chuckled, reaching for her thermal car mug. “She loved her outing. How’d she do?”

“I’ve got no complaints. I let her ride down with the witnesses to get Jeff Brian’s photos; that was a judgement call that I hope you’re okay with.”

“Yeah. Nothing happened but them hitting it off; she wants to date him.” Lei rolled her eyes. “Ah, youth.”

Pono rubbed his bristly mustache. “I saw that coming. I hope you had the ‘can’t date a witness on an active investigation’ talk.”

“Didn’t have to. Katie figured it out on her own. She seems to think Brian’s got no involvement in the crime, but I’m always suspicious of the first reporter. Nine times out of ten, it’s no accident they’re the ones to blow the whistle on a crime.”

“Maybe more like seven times out of ten, but yeah. Meanwhile, as Katie was going down the mountain with the witnesses, I stayed behind to interview Ranger Mahili and make sure he was willing to let us handle the investigation. He is onboard, a hundred percent. He’s short-staffed of every kind of personnel right now, and their investigator is on the continent for some kind of training.” Pono shut down his computer. “What else did Katie have worked up for us, as far as information?”

Lei filled him in on the connections Katie had made between the victims as they packed up to leave for Kleftes’s residence and the use of the brick on several local developments. Pono followed Lei to the break room as she stopped in to fill her travel mug with coffee.

She took a minute to plug in the fancy coffeemaker her tech friend Sophie had bought for the department. She loaded a pod of dark roast espresso into the machine and poured in water. “I need the good stuff today.”

“Did you get lunch?” Pono asked. His head was already inside the staff fridge. “Mahili gave me one of the sandwiches from their lounge, but I’m ready for a snack.”

Lei’s stomach rumbled as if in agreement. “You know what? No. Maybe that’s why I’m running out of juice. Grab me one of those Hot Pockets from the freezer. I’ll nuke it and eat it on the way.”

“And you’ll chase that junk food down with caffeine,” Pono said with a shudder. “You never cease to amaze me, Sweets. All your lectures about health and look at the way you eat.”

“Hey. I try to get my four food groups in every day. Coffee, coffee with creamer, more coffee, and something microwaveable,” Lei said. She patted her lean hip. “And I’ve got the body to prove it’s working.”

“Genetics. Unfair advantage,” Pono said. “Maybe you’d have more stable energy if you planned better and ate healthy throughout the day, like Tiare’s been teaching me.” He produced a Tupperware container and brandished it. “Check out the hard-boiled eggs and carrot sticks she made me for an afternoon pickup.”

“And if I had a wife like Tiare, I’d be eating good too,” Lei said. “Unfair advantage, is right.”

“Good thing your intern rounded out my calories with a Spam musubi this morning.”

“Ah, Pono! Bad boy.”

“I’ll eat my carrot sticks but only if I get a break now and then.” They bickered companionably until her coffee and Hot Pocket were ready, then headed out the door.

Lei hopped up on the chrome step to get into Stanley’s cab. She sniffed once inside. “Your engine’s still hot. Or your brakes. Stinky.”

“Yeah. Stanley doesn’t like doing ten thousand feet in elevation before noon. Or ever,” Pono said, patting the welded chain-link steering wheel. “Sorry, buddy. Next time I’ll check a cruiser out of the motor pool and save the wear and tear.”

“Good idea.” Lei sipped her coffee and alternated that with tentative bites of the overly hot pizza pocket. “You’re right this time, Pono. This flavor combo is raunchy. Cannot recommend.”

“Carrot stick?” He held one out. “Palate cleanser.”

“Yum.” Lei took it and crunched. Once she’d finished, she reclined her seat. “Wake me up when we get there. We need to be fresh for this one. Jonas Kleftes left behind a young wife and a baby daughter. This is not going to be fun.”

Pono groaned. “I’m already hating this fake Hawaiian killer.”

“How do you know the killer’s a fake Hawaiian? So far the stuff with the bodies and the outfits the victims wore are pretty authentic-looking replicas.”

“Because no true Hawaiian would shame and desecrate our sacred places this way,” Pono said grimly.

Her partner was right.

Lei shut her eyes, trying to relax and recharge a little before they arrived at the Kleftes’s door, carrying with them the worst news any family could receive.

* * *

The Kleftes homewas located in Upper Kula, a bedroom community halfway up Haleakala consisting of a variety of small farms, older homes, and new showplaces. “You didn’t tell me the address was up the mountain so I could get that cruiser from the motor pool,” Pono scolded, as once again Stanley’s engine heated up, this time while ascending steep Puleihuiki Road, a one-lane, narrow tributary leading past a persimmon farm and a field of Maui onions.

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