Page 43 of Deadly Sacrifice

With a swift, brutal motion, Mu brought the club down. Blood splashed, dark and thick, splattering over the altar, soaking into the ancient stones as Mu rained his revenge.

Theheiauonce again tasted blood.

Mu gazed down at the lifeless body of David Steinbrenner, a man who had once been powerful, untouchable. Now, he was just a leaking bag of bones and gore.

Mu made his final preparations, then turned and left the altar.

Out of the video lens’s eye, Mu turned off the camera. He then swabbed away spatter on his body with cleansing wipes from a bag he’d carried out. He dressed once more. He wouldn’t leave anything behind for them to use to find him.

The gods weren’t watching, but soon the world would be—when he executed the next phase of his plan.

28

LEI

Lei was just pullingout of the gate of Haiku School after dropping Kiet off on her way to work the next morning when her phone rang. She used hands-free to answer. “Sergeant Texeira.”

“Sergeant, this is Dispatch. We have a report of a code ten-sixty-seven at the mainheiauin Hana. Captain Omura has authorized a helicopter for you and the team since we’re time-sensitive on this.”

Lei’s heart picked up speed. “On my way.” She reached for her cop light, put it on the dash, turned on her portable siren, and pushed the accelerator down. Once at the station, she and Pono alerted the MEs and TG to meet them at the helipad MPD used at the airport.

On impulse, Lei picked up her handset in her work cubicle and called Katie’s Cave. “Investigator McHenry, have you ever been to an active murder scene? We’ve got a body out in Hana. It’s time you had this experience. We’re taking a chopper, so get here ASAP.”

Lei hung up on Katie’s whoop of delight, hoping the kid was professionally dressed today. If not, she’d have the opportunity to learn the hard way that miniskirts didn’t work on the job—if she hadn’t already figured that out.

Soon their team was assembled on the tarmac at the airport beside the chopper: Lei, Pono, Dr. Tanaka and Dr. Gregory with their rugged gurney and equipment, TG with his camera and crime kit.

Katie had arrived dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, glittery Converse sneakers, and a hoodie with Hello Kitty on it. Her hair was in Princess Leia side buns today, and her eyes sparkled with excitement behind purple glasses. Lei decided not to speculate what she had on under the sweatshirt since she’d had the good sense to wear it. “Chances are good this body is David Steinbrenner,” she announced.

“That’s what we’re all thinking, but not saying. Try to rein in your enthusiasm,” Lei said dryly. “Rule one of investigative work: don’t assume. Detailed reports are not safe to share on cell phone or radio, so Dispatch has only told us there’s been a homicide.”

“But still, who else would it be?” Katie said, hopping into the front of the extra-large passenger chopper with seating for six. “Hope you don’t mind if I sit up front.”

“Yeah, I do,” their pilot said. “I’m giving Dr. Gregory the front seat this time. Maybe being able to watch the horizon will help his airsickness.”

“Thanks, man,” Dr. Gregory brandished his wristbands. “I took Dramamine as well as wore these this time. Fingers crossed I’ll be okay.”

“We all hope you will be,” said Dr. Tanaka, with an eye roll. “Good thing you only had coffee by the time we got the call for this flight. I’ve got an energy bar for you after we land.” The two were an odd couple that seemed to work.

Once they took off, the flight to Hana only took twenty minutes; it would take the crime scene van over an hour to catch up to them, winding along the narrow scenic road on the coast.

It was early enough in the day that the gusty wind that was often an issue for flying on this side of the island wasn’t up yet. As always, Lei enjoyed the lush green valleys, waterfalls, and stunning cliffs of the East side of Maui. If only her journey out to Hana was for pure pleasure. “Note to self: take Stevens out here for a getaway weekend sometime soon,” Lei murmured, gazing at the Three Bears waterfall with its picturesque bridge.

“What?” Katie asked from beside her. She tapped her bulky headphones. “I thought you said something.”

“Just promising myself I’ll get out here for something other than crime,” Lei said. “Stevens and I are overdue for a staycation.”

The helicopter descended into an open field on the edge of a bluff overlooking the ocean, the roar of the rotors cutting through the quiet morning air. The lush greenery of Hana stretched in every direction; towering cliffs and vibrant jungle surrounded them as if they were entering a hidden world on the other side of the planet. Early morning mist clung to the treetops, and the rich, earthy scent of damp soil and vegetation filled the air, mingling with the salty tang from the nearby ocean.

Lei felt a pang of appreciation for the beauty of Maui—and this part of it that seemed untouched by time, wild and sacred in equal measure.

ThePi‘ilanihale Heiauloomed before them, a massive structure built of lichen-covered lava rocks. Its ancient stones gleamed with dew, shimmering under the weak sunlight that filtered through a thick canopy of trees surrounding the site.

The structure was colossal—nearly fifty feet high and over four hundred feet long, its terraced sides rising like layers of a step pyramid. Vines and roots from nearby trees crept up its sides, as though nature itself was trying to reclaim this sacred place.

As the rotors slowed, Lei hopped out of the helicopter, her athletic shoes sinking slightly into the soft, damp earth beneath her; the ground was spongy with the morning’s moisture. The air carried the faint scent of tropical flowers and wet vegetation, but underneath it all, Lei could sense something darker—a tension that seemed to seep from the very stones. As the chopper’s noise settled into stillness, the sound of typical Hawaii birds—mynahs, doves, cardinals, Japanese white-eyes, and zebra finches—filled the air.

Pono, Katie, and TG followed Lei and they all helped the medical examiners unload their equipment from the chopper’s cargo area in the tail section. The distant sound of crashing waves against the cliffs added a rhythmic backbeat to the otherwise still morning.

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