Page 58 of Deadly Sacrifice

* * *

“Katie,it’s Lei. How are you doing after such a big day?” Pressing the landline handset between her ear and shoulder, Lei closed the door of the little back office that doubled as a guest room. She sat on the edge of the double bed that took up most of the space, along with a desk, file cabinet and office chair. “I called to check on you. Hope it’s not too late.”

“Eight thirty p.m.? You’re kidding, right? I’m just getting started with the night’s activities.” Katie sounded like herself again, full of energy and sass.

“Girl, rein it in. You gotta be fresh tomorrow,” Lei cautioned. “Though maybe that’s not something I took seriously until I was in my thirties.”

“And I’m a long way from that milestone, ol’ lady.”

“Hey!” Lei smiled.

“Sorry, sorry.” Katie didn’t sound sorry, the brat. “As to your previous question, I’m doing good, considering how pissed I am at this perp. I did what you said. Went home from the office and slept. Woke up and realized I needed to clear my head. Had a good standup paddle this evening, then ordered some mental health food for dinner: a personal pizza with everything.”

“Good. Because I need you fresh and rarin’ to go. I talked to Mrs. Steinbrenner this afternoon about those two guys you sniffed out. As soon as you can, I want you to really zero in on Roger Nettle. I plan to take Pono and drop in on his address tomorrow.”

“Will do. What did Mrs. Steinbrenner say? Is she okay?” Katie sounded genuinely concerned.

Lei remembered how Katie and Helen had bonded when they did the death notification. She summarized what Helen had told her about Wilkinson and Nettle. “Stevens and I were discussing the case and the more we did, the more it’s begun to seem like there must be more than one perp involved with the killings. I think we need to concentrate on this ‘Warriors’ group and track them down. So far Stevens and Pono, who’ve been focusing on that, haven’t found out anything.”

“I got a couple of screen grabs of the manifesto site before it disappeared, but there wasn’t anything I could use to track the site. I saved the photo images separately, but they had stripped out all the metadata that might tell us what camera they were using or where they were taken. Any of that. Someone did a really good job covering their tracks,” Katie said. She paused a moment. “I think that’s going to be the key to this case, not the ‘Warriors’ group so much.”

“Why do you think that?” Lei flopped back on the bed and stared unfocused at the ceiling. Katie had a unique perspective; her thought process was always interesting.

“A lot of people would be physically and otherwise capable of doing many of the things the killer’s done. But the tech stuff required a specific set of skills. The website is a perfect example. There was a lot of expertise involved in putting it together, making it appear and disappear, hiding that video in the photos. A complicated process. Not something just anyone could do.”

“Maybe the killer has a techie accomplice.” Lei took out the bone hook she kept in her pocket. The warm yellow light of the desk lamp turned the hand-carved bone to ivory as she rubbed it.

“Honestly?” Katie blew out a sigh. “I think the killer was showing off with that website and trying to rub our noses in it. Show us how smart he is.”

“Meanwhile, we need that deep background on Roger Nettle, the ‘cultural expert’ on the Kuleana team. I’d like to go in armed with info when Pono and I drop in on him tomorrow.”

“On it. And just FYI, I’m still working on improving the images of the killer that Jeff Brian took. I’m getting access to a new program to enhance those RAW files.”

“I won’t ask where you got that,” Lei said.

“Best not to, boss.”

“Well, then, good job, Katie. See you tomorrow.” Lei ended the call.

She yawned. Yes, tomorrow would be here before she knew it, and it already looked to be another full day. She got up, switched off the lamp, and exited the room, closing the door.

Walking down the dimly lit hall, Lei collided with a warm, solid, bare male chest. “Oof. Why’re the lights off?”

“Said the fly to the spider.” Stevens wore only boxers, as her exploring hands discovered. “The grandparents are gone. The kids are in bed. Even the dog is asleep.” He backtracked Lei down the hall to the office, his arms around her. His big hands slid into her back pockets. “If we can keep it quiet, which history shows we’re good at, we can get a little marital action in the only truly private place in this house.”

“Yes, please.” Lei tipped her head back to kiss her husband. She opened the office door with one hand as the other kept busy, roaming the planes and ridges of the man she’d pledged to love for a lifetime. Their mouths never parted as they moved as one through the door, then closed and locked the world and its problems outside.

35

KATIE

Halfway around the island,Katie finished the last of her personal-size pizza. She had work to do, a clear assignment from Lei to do a deep dive on Roger Nettle—and she didn't want to wait until tomorrow to do it.

She folded the small pizza box into the recycle bin and went to her computer nook. Her rigs were already awake and humming, waiting for her. Katie leaned forward in her chair—eyes fixed on the screen. She adjusted her headset, ready for a long night.Sorry, Lei. I’ll sleep eventually, but not until I figure this guy out.

But first, a little stop into her online game wouldn't hurt.

She was still looking for the aggro and mysterious Dark Wizard in her game. That jerk hadn't been around in a few days—not that she'd had time for any gaming herself! But it was time to set a little trap. Something that she didn’t have to be online to catch him with.

---