Page 71 of Forgotten Promise

“Have some experience with munitions,” Luca finished.

“I’ll go with you.” Kailani moved beside John.

“You’re one of the keyholders,” Preston protested. “If something happens to you—”

“If something happens to me, Makani takes my key. You’ll still have three keyholders.” She headed for the door, John at her heels, Luca rising to follow. “And besides, without me, you can’t get in.”

Chapter Sixteen

Light. The first thing they needed was light.

There was a reason all crime scene units carried enough lighting to turn a nighttime street bright as day—illuminating a crime scene wasn’t just metaphorical; it was a practical necessity. John appreciated the drama of the low lighting in the stairwell, and then in the waihona itself, but that wasn’t going to work for them.

As soon as he saw what he was dealing with, he backed out, taking Luca and Kailani with him. He asked Tate, who’d accompanied them, to get them some light. Ten minutes later, they had a heavy work light wedged in the corner at the foot of the stairs, and several more in hand, the extensions cords trailing out the open safe door into the office.

Luca quietly asked to go first, and John let him. Luca examined each step as they went up, then spent a long time studying the door itself. Kailani passed him the key to let him open the door. He studied the edge of the door, and the frame, before entering the small room.

John glanced at the inner door, at the three keyholes. Now wasn’t the time to think about what would happen after they were, finally, able to open that door.

Luca examined the room inch by inch, working his way to the other door. Once he’d reached the other side, John slid in. He set his own light on the floor, angled up, and looked around.

He found it right as Luca said, “There’s C4 on the door.”

The presence of an explosive took precedence, so John turned to Luca, ignoring Kailani’s horrified gasp.

Luca pointed out the small lumps along the edges of the door, the wire that had been taped down leading away from it. The brown electrician’s tape blended with the dark wood of the door, and the C4 had been shaped into small bricks about the size of a deck of cards. Those too had been covered in tape, hiding the pale gray color of the explosive. Given how ornate the door was, they blended right in.

“Oh my God,” Kailani breathed when Luca showed her. “Do we need to run? Evacuate the hotel?”

“I already disabled it,” Luca said calmly. He held up the end of a wire. “We’re safe. C4 is very stable.”

“The detonation wire goes up into the ceiling?” John asked, raising the light to trace the wire. “That makes sense, given…”

John backed up to the center of the room and angled the light. As he did, the ceiling, which had appeared smooth, now had four faint lines. The outline of a hatch.

“Ah,” Luca said.

“That’s…that wasn’t there.” Kailani sounded ready to cry.

John took out the heavy flashlight he’d stuck in his waistband and raised it, using the tip to push up on the ceiling. The concealed panel moved, giving just a bit.

“This is how they’re getting in,” John said. “An easy access point, where they can drop in, grab a few bars, pull themselves back through, and then just walk out of the hotel with them. All the gold at once would be heavy and bulky. Hard to move. Take two or three at a time, and you don’t have to worry about that.”

“And they tried to open this door.” Luca pointed to a few marks on the keyholes on the inner door.

“I’m a thief,” John said, putting himself in the culprit’s shoes. “I find a room full of gold, and I start stealing it, little by little. But there’s also a locked room that I can’t get into from above.” John looked over at Kailani, hoping she’d have more information about the inner room.

“The heart of the waihona is surrounded by steel,” she said softly. “It’s a self-contained fireproof box. Built by someone who repaired ships down at the harbor.”

“That explains why they couldn’t come in from above. So I’m a thief, I’m thinking if there’s gold in this room, just imagine what’s in that room.” John pointed to the door. “I’m planning to take my time. After all, I don’t want anyone to know that I robbed the place. But one day I hear, or see, the owner of the hotel coming to look at the gold. I realize I’m probably about to be found out, so I quickly set a fire somewhere else so she’ll leave. I plan to just grab all the rest of the gold while she’s distracted…” John paused, thinking it through, the pieces clicking into place. “But she doesn’t call the cops and report a robbery. Instead, she leaves, and I think maybe she didn’t notice, maybe I have a bit more time. Not a lot. I have to get through that door soon, but first, I’ll finish stealing the gold.”

“The placement of the explosives…it’s how I’d do it if I were trying to open a bank vault,” Luca said.

John pointed at him. “Exactly. The robber knows what they’re doing. They’ve done this before.”

“Why haven’t they already blown it up?” Kailani demanded.

“My guess? They’re waiting for something loud.”

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