Torch Ginger (14 page)

“I think it might be a good idea to explore a Hawaiian cultural angle,” Lei said. “I have a contact from a well-connected Hawaiian family, and I want to see about bringing this person on to consult with us if aspects of the case relate to Hawaiian cultural and religious matters. If there’s some sort of pagan worship going on, I think this referral could be a helpful resource.”

“Who is this ‘well-connected Hawaiian family’?” Fury asked. “I know all the North Shore people.”

“Her name’s Esther Ka`awai. Lehua Wolcott gave me her name as a possible resource. I called her, and I think she might be helpful.”

She slid the little square of tapa cloth over to Fury.

“Esther Ka`awai.” He looked up. “She only works with a referral from someone she knows. You said you called her already?”

“Yeah. She took my call and was willing to consult. She said she could guarantee confidentiality.”

The captain stroked his tidy goatee, looking at Fury. “Who these people stay?” he asked in pidgin.

“I know the Wolcotts—one big mixed missionary and Hawaiian family. They get plenty land on the North and West Side,” Fury said. “And Esther, she famous. They say she’s psychic, but she’s studied and practiced Hawaiian culture all her life. We call her
kahu kupuna
, which is a spiritual leader and counselor in the Hawaiian community.”

Stevens’s eyes had been on Lei the whole time. “How do you have a connection like this? You’ve been on the island only a few months. And what did you tell them about our investigation to have them give you this kind of insider intel?”

Lei felt a hot blush hit her hairline. Dammit. She was going to have to explain further.

“I met the Wolcott family during the Island Cleaning investigation. They were the real estate agency that reported the burglaries on the beachfront mansions, remember?” She looked at Fury. “Anyway, she said she had a feeling Esther could be helpful. I don’t know why; I haven’t told anyone what we are working on. As far as she knows, it’s the burglary case.”

“Seems pretty random,” Stevens said, his tone skeptical.

Fury looked down at the little tapa cloth square, fingers holding it gently. “I think we should bring her on. There’s probably no one on Kaua`i with a stronger knowledge base of Hawaiian culture, and if she says she can keep a confidentiality agreement, you can take her word for it.”

“You’ll forgive me if I insist on getting that in writing,” Stevens said. “Call me a cynical Mainlander, but I’m finding this all a little woo-woo. Still, I think running the sacrifice/history angle by a local expert is not a bad idea.”

All eyes turned to the captain, who had taken the little tapa square.

“All right, Texeira. But have her sign a boilerplate confidentiality agreement, the kind we use for outside experts.”

Back at the cubicle, Lei took a coin out of her desk.

“I need some air, J-boy. Let’s go out after those hippies again. I think we should go to all the parks between Lydgate and Ke`e Beach today. What car do you want to take?” She flipped the coin, reversing it on her wrist.

“I call tails,” Jenkins said.

She looked. “Heads it is. Next stop, Lydgate Park.”

Chapter 14

Lei pulled up at her cottage. Jenkins, beside her, had his seat reclined, taking a little nap. They still needed to go back out to the station to check in with the rest of the task force, but they were both tired and hungry from working their way through all the county and state parks. They still hadn’t tackled the North Shore ones, where more contacts were likely to be—and it was already two p.m.

“I went shopping,” Lei said to Jenkins. “There’s food in the house, even if it’s health food.”

“I’ll eat anything,” Jenkins said, getting out.

Keiki came bounding up to the gate, and Lei signaled her back. Keiki already knew Jenkins from other times he’d come over, so she just sniffed him and let him pet her broad head.

Wayne came to the door. “Hey, you’re home early.”

“Pit stop,” Lei said. “We’re still working, but need some lunch.”

“You’re in luck,” Wayne said. “I’ve been working on a chili with those beans you had and the stuff you brought home.” As they entered, a wonderful smell wrapped around them.

“I could get to like this. Thanks, Dad.”

“Who’s this?” Her father looked hard at Jenkins. She laughed, threw an arm around Jenkins’s bulky shoulders.

“Dad, meet my partner on the force, Jack Jenkins. He goes by J-Boy. J-Boy, this is my dad, Wayne Texeira.”

They shook hands as Lei went into the kitchen.

“Oh man, that smells so good.” She took the lid off the chili and inhaled.

“It’ll be better tonight, but I’ll let you have a preview.” He dished the chili up for them. They ate ravenously and drank glasses of fresh-squeezed lemonade he’d made from local lemons Mrs. Abacan had brought over.

Jenkins sat back and hid a little burp behind his hand. “Best meal I’ve ever had at Lei’s house, sir. She’s good with a can opener and a gun but not much in the kitchen.”

“Shut up. I have other interests, is all.”

“And we’re glad you do. Keeping the community safe is a pretty good hobby.” Wayne gave Lei’s shoulder a squeeze as he went back to the stove.

Just then her cell phone buzzed. She checked the caller ID—an off-island number.

“Hello?”

“Aloha! This is Aaron Spellman from Corrections Aftercare Solutions. I’m your father’s reintegration specialist. I’m calling to let you know your father’s place at the restoration center is ready.”

“Oh.” Lei walked out of the room. Just when she was getting used to having her father around and enjoying some home-cooked meals. Her gut clenched around the chili—maybe she wasn’t ready for him to go yet. “Didn’t you guys used to be called probation officers?”

“It’s a whole new system now. Private contract. We’ve been tasked with lowering your state’s recidivism rate, and so far our program’s showing very positive results. We’re looking forward to having your father as our guest.”

Guest? Mandatory guest by any other name.

“Are you sure you have space for him?”

“Sure as shootin’. I pulled some strings to get him out of your hair ASAP.”

Lei found her hand sliding into her pocket to rub the worry stone.

“How soon does he need to go?”

“Well, as soon as possible as he’s scheduled for some classes and a job profile workup tomorrow. Any chance you can get him here tonight?”

“It’s going to be tough,” Lei said. “I have some work commitments here, but I guess so.”

“Thanks. The duration of the restoration program is three months. By the end of that time we hope to have our clients established in a job and their own living situation. But he will still need your support and our monitoring for some time to come after that.”

“Of course,” Lei said. Well, at least her father would still be on the island, and maybe she could help him find something not too far away when his “restoration” was complete. “Okay. I’ll take him in and call you when he’s been dropped off.” The specialist gave her the address in Lihue and she shut the phone. She walked back into the kitchen.

“Dad, that was your probation officer with Aftercare Solutions. The halfway house is ready and they want you tonight, as you’re scheduled for some kind of job profile testing tomorrow.” She firmed the tremble in her voice. “Can you pack up while Jenkins and I make a quick run out through the parks?”

Her father poured her a refill of lemonade from a plastic milk jug he’d used to mix it up. His hand wobbled, but his voice was steady.

“Sure. I’ll be ready to go when you get back.”

“It’s three months, they say. They try to get you a job and set up with a place to stay by the end. It’s not like we won’t get to see each other,” Lei said.

“Yeah, I know.” He went back to the stove and stirred the chili. Jenkins cleared his throat and stood, placing his dishes in the old-fashioned ironstone sink.

“Thanks for the lunch, Mr. Texeira. It was delicious.”

“Welcome.” Wayne’s back was still turned.

Jenkins led her back out to the truck and they got in.

“Bummer,” Jenkins said. “The man’s a good cook.”

Lei laughed, a little bubble of tight mirth. They drove in silence to the first of a series of parks. There was a fairly big cluster of tents at Anini Beach, but none of them fit the profile of the campers they’d encountered at Polihale nor recognized photos of the missing.

Under the ironwoods next to the river, at the great swath of deserted beach called Lumahai, they found a family who’d met Tiger and his followers—but they didn’t know where they “hung out” when they weren’t at Ha`ena Beach Park or Polihale.

Back at the truck, Lei’s cell phone rang—Esther Ka`awai.

“Thought we were supposed to meet a half hour ago,” Esther said.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry,” Lei said, jumping into the truck and firing it up. “I got caught up in some canvassing and forgot. You said you’re in Wainiha? We’re only ten minutes away, and I got the go-ahead to have you work with us on this case.”

“Come alone,” Esther said, and hung up. Lei looked over at Jenkins.

“She said to come alone. This lady isn’t the kind you cross. How about you drop me off and go finish a quick run-through on the remaining parks? By the time you get back, I’m sure I’ll be done. I don’t expect you to find many people out there with the weather the way it’s been.”

In no time they were pulling off precipitous Wainiha Road into a muddy driveway. Three large brindled dogs encircled the truck, barking. Lei waited until the figure of a woman appeared on the deck on the second story of the elevated pole house.

“Come,” she said, and the dogs instantly withdrew. The woman made an imperious gesture and went back inside. Lei turned to Jenkins.

“Okay, be back in an hour.”

“Gotcha.”

Lei got out and climbed the stairs on the outside of the house to a deck with a panoramic view of rain-pummeled Wainiha Valley. She watched the truck pull out with a little pang of apprehension, then turned to face sliding-glass doors.

They opened and Esther stood there, a smaller woman than she’d appeared from below. Long silver hair wrapped around her head in a coronet, and a colorful muumuu brushed the floor. Sharp brown eyes assessed her from a broad, impassive face.

“Come in,” she said.

Lei slipped off her shoes, as was done in Hawaii, and entered the great room. Lauhala matting covered the floors, and graceful old pieces of koa furniture formed a seating arrangement around a coffee table made of an aquarium filled with Japanese glass ball fishing floats. An oval of beveled glass formed the top.

“My grandson made it for me,” Esther said, seeing Lei’s eyes on the unusual table. “He makes his own furniture designs.”

“I like it. He’s talented.”

“Thought you might. Have a seat.”

Lei sat. She’d brought her backpack with the confidentiality agreement she’d printed out beforehand.

“I got the go-ahead to have you consult on the case. Before I can tell you anything about it, I have to have you sign this confidentiality agreement. Standard stuff for any outside expert we bring in.”

“Fine,” Esther said, taking a pen from a mug by the old-fashioned dial phone. The older woman signed, and sat back in her aloha-print chair.

“Don’t you want to read it first?”

“Not particularly.” There was a stillness about Esther, a calm but vibrant energy Lei could feel. The
kahu
’s dark eyes gleamed with intelligence in the dim light. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

“The case? Well . . .” Lei took a breath, not sure where to begin.

“No. What do you need to talk to me about, personally?”

“I don’t know. I thought you were consulting on the case.”

“I consult on a lot of things and I am here for you, not the case. So what do you need to know?”

Lei took a breath, let it out. What the hell.

“I’m confused. There are two guys. I don’t know which one I’m supposed to be with, or if it’s neither of them.”

“What does your heart say?”

“No idea,” Lei said. “You said that before, and I don’t know what you mean by it. There’s no clear answer. One of them I love. We were engaged, and yet when it came time for the wedding, I panicked and ended up here because this is where my transfer came through. Then I met this other guy . . .” Her mouth turned up in an involuntary smile. “Hot guy—a player, not my type at all. But he seems to like me, and there’s something there. Something that could be pretty fun. I’m tempted to find out. Then Stevens reappears and I feel guilty . . .” Her voice trailed off as she remembered the amazing shell necklace she was still wearing. Her fingers came up to touch it.

“And there’s a third person,” Esther prompted.

“No.” Lei shook her head. “There’s this weird but nice guy. He gave me this necklace and I need to return it. But that’s not anything.”

“It’s something.” Esther put her hand out. It was weathered, as if she spent time gardening or working, but her palm was softly pink. “Let me see that.”

Lei took the Ni`ihau shell necklace off and put it in Esther’s hand. Esther covered that hand with her other one, closed her eyes. Opened them, gave the necklace back.

“This necklace carries a lot of
mana
,” she said. “Power. It’s good protection for you. You should not give it back.”

Lei laughed. “Not like I want to, but my aunty raised me not to accept expensive gifts from strangers. I don’t know; I’ll have to see if I can find Mac first.”

“Mac Williamson?” The older woman’s eyes sharpened. “I know him. He’s one of my students, a
haumana
studying the culture.”

“Huh. Well, what do you think about these guys and me?” Lei said. “It’s embarrassing, but I need advice.”

“Make no sudden moves,” Esther said. “You are someone who makes snap decisions, and now is a time to proceed slowly and with caution.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that. It’s a start. So what do you know about the disappearances on the North Shore? You said you might know something about it.”

“I hear things. Nothing solid, just rumors. That there is a cult that uses people in their rituals.”