Moon over Maalaea Bay (8 page)

The hissing sound behind them wasn’t steam from the espresso machine, and it wasn’t a truck’s air brakes. It was Kevin’s relief escaping, clearly audible above the din of the coffee shop.

On the patio, Lee stopped Katie, took her by the shoulders, and mouthed the words he said to her the first time she saved his life, “I’m so proud of you.”

Katie’s strong arms returned his hug with a fierceness few girls could match. Once again, tears fell on his bare arm.

When the three sat down at the table outside, Lee spread out the map and quickly located the approximate spot of the house in south Kihei. “I’ll check the house at the south end of town and—”

“Then I’m going with you, Lee.”

He studied Katie’s face and the fiery look in her eyes. “You will go with Granddad.”

“You’re going there because that’s where Anya went when she left the restaurant. That’s where you think they’re holding Jenn.”

Lee turned his attention to Granddad. “Remember my conditions. I determine the line of fire.”

Mr. Akihara placed a hand on Katie’s shoulder. “Lee and I agreed on something, and I gave him my word, Katie. You wouldn’t want to make me out to be a liar, would you?”

Her gaze dropped to the patio. Her shoulders drooped.

Lee sighed in relief. Katie was smart, passionate, and fearless. He believed she was also safe…for the time being.

It was only 7:30 AM. Too early to go knocking on doors.

Lee stepped inside the coffee shop and bought three breakfasts.

By the time they finished eating and planning, the warm sun had reached their table. It was 8:30.

“Time to go.” Lee stood and drew Granddad’s gaze. “Remember, Katie stays in the car and you go to the door.”

“How can I forget? It’s only the fifth time you’ve told me.” Granddad smiled. “Don’t worry, Lee. I will keep her safe.”

When Lee turned left out of Kukui Center and headed towards the south end of town, he prayed he could keep Jennifer safe. Granddad looked like an Islander. He could walk up to the door without drawing much suspicion. But Lee’s fading summer tan betrayed him. He was a mainlander, and he was known by the traffickers. He would be recognized. How could he approach the house without endangering Jennifer if she was inside?

15

On the deck of his yacht, Franklin James pored over the
Honolulu Star
, and the local daily paper, looking for news about the abducted girl, the girl now bound and gagged in a cabin on the yacht.

It was clever of the police to suppress information about her to keep the Amber Alert in effect and maintain the lockdown of the island. There had been only a few leaks to tip people that the alert was not warranted.

His cell phone lit up and played the theme from
The Munsters
. Nguyen. A repulsive song for a repulsive man.

“I was contacted by someone who wants to purchase your…merchandise. They appear knowledgeable about it. Too knowledgeable. We may have a problem.” Nguyen sounded agitated, nervous.

First the Amber Alert and now this. James did not like surprises. “Meet me on my yacht as soon as possible and we will discuss this matter.”

The unwelcome surprise took place on the island. He would ensure none took place aboard the yacht. James closed his cell and turned towards a crew member. “Snake.”

“Yes, sir.”

“As a precaution, watch any boats that approach us or that behave suspiciously. I want to know if anyone is watching us, even from a distance. Spread the word among the crew. Also, Nguyen is coming. Make sure he’s alone. Don’t let him on board if he’s not.”

“Sure thing, Mr. James.” Snake replied in his peculiar, breathy voice.

Who were these people? He could find out. He was certain of that. But what worried him most was that they knew he had the girl.

James sat drumming out the rhythm of a galloping horse with his fingers on the deck table, trying to enumerate his options when Snake’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Mr. James,” Snake hissed. “Nguyen is approaching and he’s alone.”

Nguyen pulled alongside the yacht. After Snake extended the ramp down to Nguyen’s deck, the short, bowlegged man waddled up the ramp. When he stepped onto the deck, his bald brow wrinkled in a frown that reminded James of a shar-pei’s head.

“Have a seat, Nguyen. Tell me everything you know about the people who contacted you, starting with their description.”

“There were only two that I know of. One did all of the talking, and he had a dark complexion. Middle Eastern I think.”

James sensed alarms sounding in his mind at the words Middle Eastern. Did they know about the prince? They could be his neighbors and competition among neighbors in the Middle East often went badly. James could be caught in the middle. He paused to clear his head. “How did they contact you?”

“I was eating breakfast at a restaurant in Wailea, and they just walked up to my table.”

“Did they give you any clue how they knew to approach you or how they knew about our…merchandise?”

“I tried to coax that information from them, but they avoided my questions. They implied they knew a lot about us and sounded as if they were wealthy. They gave me a phone number to reach them.”

“Calling them could be dangerous, could even be a trap.” James paused to rethink the situation. “On the other hand, they already knew enough to trap us. They could have turned us in to the authorities. Since they haven’t done that, I think perhaps they really do want to buy our merchandise, unless they are robbers who only want to steal it. Regardless, we know we have something they want…Jennifer Akihara-Brandt.”

Nguyen sighed. “Should we do business with them? That is the first question.”

“No, Nguyen. That is the second question. The first question is, how did they link us to the girl? If
they
can link us to the missing girl, so can others. I must talk to them. Middle Eastern…we may be dealing with some of the prince’s neighbors, perhaps feuding neighbors. We must tread lightly.”

Nguyen’s bald pate wrinkled above widened eyes. “So you are going to call them?”

“No, Nguyen.” He smiled. “
You
are going to call them…on your phone, and then hand the phone to me. Do it now, please.”

Nguyen squirmed. Beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead. “Of course, Mr. James.”

Any man who thought he was clever when he was not was a liability. One James could ill afford. Perhaps in a few months he would liquidate Nguyen’s assets to pay for the liability.

Nguyen pulled a card from his pocket and reached for his cell.

“When you get them on the line,” he paused, “let them know who you are, the man they met at the restaurant, then tell them you’re passing them to your boss. Do you understand?”

Nguyen nodded and placed the call. Their customer answered promptly. After the introductions, Nguyen handed the phone to him.

“So, Mr. James, at last we talk.”

He couldn’t place the accent, but the fact that the man knew his name was of more concern. “You know who
I
am. It appears you have me at a disadvantage. Would you like to—”

“No, I wouldn’t. I
like
having my partners at a disadvantage. But I will tell you this, I am someone who could be a very, very good customer. Someone willing to purchase certain merchandise which you have.”

James sighed for effect. “I already have very good customers.”

“But do you have anyone who will pay you four million dollars for Jennifer Akihara?”

Nguyen was right. They knew far too much, and they were a problem, a big problem. “So we finally get to the point. First, I should warn you.” James paused. “She’s not a teenage, exotic beauty, she’s twenty-six and—”

“We understand. We want her for what she
knows
, not what she looks like, though her looks are, shall we say, extremely interesting.”

“I’m afraid that’s not the kind of business I’m in.”
And not the kind I want to be in.

“Maybe we want it to look like this is business as usual for you. Would five million help you make an exception to your business practices?”

“I only do business with people I trust. Only those who will bring me no trouble in return. You want her for what she knows. That could bring big trouble, the entire US government.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Mr. James, part of the US government is already here. If you wait, more will come…NSA, the CIA, DHS to mention a few. Who knows, in a few hours Navy Seals could take your yacht before you even realize they’re there. You don’t have the luxury of time. We can only help you if you act now.”

James refused to be backed into a corner. “Call me back in twelve hours and I’ll let you know my decision.”

“That might be too late.”

“I’m willing to take my chances. Good-bye, Mr.…shall I say…VEVAK?”

He heard the man draw a sharp breath before James hung up on him.

James drummed his fingers on the table. “Nguyen…we need to talk.”

Nguyen cocked his bald head. “How did you know his name was Vevak?”

“If you’re going to continue doing business with me, you need to do more reading. There are a lot of organizations with agents lurking in the shadows, agents who could cause us trouble, cause our imprisonment, cause our death.” James paused and stared at Nguyen with a deep frown. “VEVAK was a guess on my part. Evidently, a correct guess from the man’s reaction. VEVAK, VAJA, MOIS, they’re all the same bunch, the intelligence arm of the Iranian government. There are enough rogues among them that I would classify them as a bunch of terrorists.”

Nguyen cocked his frowning head. “What made you suspect VEVAK?”

Nguyen was testing his patience. “I’m going to help you understand what’s going down here. But keep in mind that I expect you to deduce these things on your own and, in the future, report them to me. No more surprises. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly clear, Mr. James.” Nguyen’s eyes stared blankly, the look of confusion.

Clear like mud, you ignoramus.
“Nguyen, why did we stop using the Internet to coordinate our business? Why was Trader running his own cell service on the Olympic Peninsula?”

“It was becoming too easy for certain organizations to track us.” Nguyen gave a wide grin with his answer.

“And how did that sad state of affairs come about?” James waited.

No answer from Nguyen.

“Wasn’t it because of the work of a handful of brilliant people, like Jennifer Akihara, that collaboration over the Internet became much easier to detect? Before you answer that, Nguyen, tell me what Jennifer Akihara was working on when she detected the operation on the Olympic Peninsula?”

“I’m not sure. Something about cell-phone communication?” The shar-pei look returned.

“If you had been following all of the news after she broke up the operation in the Northwest like I told you to do, you would have known that she was working on cellular- and wireless-intercept analysis, preparing to do the same thing with wireless communications that she had done with the Internet. It seems those who support terrorists don’t want the communication mechanism they are now using to be compromised. They view taking Miss Akihara—now Mrs. Brandt—as a preemptive strike.”

“I see.” Nguyen’s eyes widened. “Iran, VEVAK, Miss Akihara, terrorists funded by Iran—it makes sense. But why didn’t they take her before this? And some place where it would be easier to—”

“Why do you suppose, you…” James paused before the insult left his lips. Nguyen was dense, but James still needed the man’s cooperation. “No one knew what she was doing until the story about her rescuing the abducted girls hit the media. The news media leaked the information, like they always do. That’s why I subscribe to several online newspapers, and it’s why I search them every day, as you should also be doing.”

Nguyen nodded then frowned again. “What are you going to do about the five-million-dollar offer?”

“Either way, these Iranians are bad news, and I refuse to trust them. You know what the prince will do if we sell to another something he wants badly—something we promised him?”

The shar-pei frown returned.

“That’s right, Nguyen. So what do you suppose I’m going to do? Would you cross the prince?”

“No.” Nguyen shook his wrinkled brow. “He would kill us like—”

“Like he has several others who have crossed him. I will turn down the Iranian’s offer. Hopefully, they will go away. With all of the government scrutiny of events on this island, perhaps the VEVAK will slither out of the heat and back under their rock, never to be seen by us again.”

Nguyen was tapping his index finger on the table to a slow steady rhythm. “When are you planning to tell the VEVAK agent of your decision?”

James smiled. “I’m not going to tell them, Nguyen.
You
are. Now.”

Nguyen’s finger stopped tapping. His hand balled into a tight fist, then opened. Slowly, he reached for his cell phone.

16

Katie unfolded the map of Kihei in her lap and traced their route to the house as Granddad pulled out from Kukui Mall and headed north. “In about a mile we turn right onto Kauhaa Street. The house is in a residential area south of Kauhaa.”

Granddad glanced her way. His look was warm, caring. “I promised Lee I would keep you safe, but I know how much you want to help find Jennifer. As he stipulated, you must stay in the car, but I’ll try to park where you can see what is happening.”

Katie studied Granddad’s kind face. In the few weeks she had known him, he had become her confidant, her mentor in karate as well as in other areas of her life. “Thanks for thinking of me, Granddad. I love you.”

It felt awkward to say it. Perhaps because it was the first time she had expressed her feelings so openly towards him. But it was true, so very true. He was like Jennifer…well, a male version. Maybe that’s why she grew to love this man so quickly.

A grin spread across his face. “I love you too, Katie girl. Here’s Kauhaa. Where is our next turn?”

“Take the second right, onto Laumakani Loop. Then we start looking for a tan house with a lot of vegetation around it. So, what story are you going to tell them?”