Moon over Maalaea Bay (3 page)

What was he about to say?

“It upset the lady so much that’s all she could give us for a description. Now, the police station is a couple of blocks ahead. You can expect a lot of questions, Brandt. If we’re going to help you, you’re going to have to give us everything you know about Jennifer, a complete core dump.”

Unlike the core dump you just truncated.

Yagi had omitted something that further upset the lady. Lee would find out what it was…somehow. The little things that seemed to be missing bothered him. Was there more to Jennifer’s abduction than he suspected? His gut said yes. His gut also said he should vomit. He tried to ignore his gut…on both counts.

Lee sighed. “Core dump. You must be into computers.”

Yagi nodded, then shrugged. “But that was before I got hooked on law enforcement.”

Kaai turned into a parking area adjacent to a building that appeared to be a beehive of activity.

“Here we are,” Yagi announced. “Brace yourself, Brandt.”

****

An hour later, Lee sat alone in the room where he had faced a fever-pitched interrogation for forty-five minutes. Detective Ramirez of the Maui Police Department, MPD, was good and thorough. He’d asked Lee a lot of questions, but only allowed him a few in return. He understood. Ramirez was probably under intense pressure from the politicians. Tourism could be severely—

His cell rang. The number was blocked. Lee answered.

“Is that you, Brandt?”

Peterson. He prayed for good news. “Yeah. Lee here. Have you—”

“Just listen for a second, because that’s all I have. Some people in very high places are concerned about Jennifer falling into the wrong hands, and they’re—”

“Peterson! She’s in the wrong hands now!”

If the tall FBI agent were here, Lee would be in his face. He needed to be in somebody’s face.

Peterson sighed. “I know. But hear me out. They’re pulling out all of the stops. That’s a good thing. In fact, I’ll see you in about four and a half hours, so—”

“Four and a half hours? That’s not possible. What—”

“Lee, I told you they’re pulling out all the stops. Don’t ask anymore because I can’t tell you.” Peterson paused. Someone in the background spoke. “Make that four hours. Sit tight and try not to worry. We’ll find Jennifer.” He ended the call.

The words “We’ll find Jennifer” replayed in his mind. But the thought of how they might find her brought more nausea.

Was Peterson coming on something supersonic? A military plane? He said Uncle Sam was pulling out all the stops. But going to such lengths to get him on the ground in Maui meant that the FBI agent knew a lot more about this incident than he was telling.

The attention Jennifer was getting was comforting, the reasons behind it, disconcerting.

Lee’s stomach roiled and he leaped from his seat, ran out the door, and headed towards a sign in the hallway that pointed to restrooms.

After five minutes of violent retching, his stomach settled. He washed his face, and then his mind cleared. Now a new thought dominated all others. With all of the pressure being brought to bear on them, her abductors couldn’t move Jennifer. As the search continued, at some point they would probably kill her rather than risk being caught red-handed.

He tried to come up with a plan—
his
plan for finding Jennifer. He would rather die trying to save her than sit idly by and let some goons kill her. The police wouldn’t take kindly to his meddling, so he wouldn’t tell them what he was doing. But he hadn’t a clue yet what he was going to do.

Before he formulated his plan, Lee needed to make a phone call. It was a call to the man who had given Jennifer away to him earlier that day, a call to the man who trusted Lee to protect her, a call that filled him with dread.

4

Lee stood in the hallway outside the men’s room in the Wailuku police station and pressed Granddad’s number on his speed dial. He sought words to break the news. The right words wouldn’t come, only feelings of horror and loss. That wasn’t the message he wanted to communicate. He needed to give them some hope, but right now, hope was in short supply.

You can’t give what you don’t have.

“Hello.”

Granddad’s voice. He sounded cheerful. Probably having the time of his life with Katie, playing chess, throwing baseballs, and teaching her karate. It was all about to change.

Lee and Jennifer were in the process of adopting Katie. The paperwork was completed. But if something happened to Jennifer, what would happen to their plans? What would happen to Katie? It was too much to contemplate all at once. So much hung in the balance for the people he loved most.

“Hello. Is anyone there?”

“Granddad, it’s Lee.”

He had to wake up, stop letting his mind wander.

“Lee, you should be enjoying your honeymoon, not calling me. Katie and I are having a good time. She—”

“Granddad, I have bad news.”

Silence.

He took a breath and related the facts of Jennifer’s abduction, including the Amber Alert and Peterson’s involvement. “The Amber Alert will help—”

“We killed all of them! How could they have taken Jenn?” Katie’s voice. She must have picked up the other phone.

He sought a reply, a way to explain the unexplainable to a girl who worshiped the ground Jennifer walked on. “Katie, you told us a girl helped the traffickers when you were taken. She’s never been apprehended, so there has to be more to this trafficking operation than we know about. When we killed Boatman’s and Trader’s cohorts, maybe we drew the anger of the international syndicate.”

“We’ve got to find her.” Katie’s voice was full of determination. This strong, bright, and beautiful fifteen-year-old could not be deterred. At least he’d never been able to when she was on a crusade. She was a great girl, but keeping her out of danger would be a full-time proposition. He couldn’t handle that and implement his own plan for—

“Did you hear me, Lee? I’m coming to help find Jenn. And you aren’t—”

“We’re both coming.” Grandfather interjected in his trump-suit voice. “Katie, rest assured you
will
be coming with me, so please hang up the phone while I convince Lee of that.”

A click sounded. Good. At least she respected Granddad’s authority. Lee’s first look at the small, fit, seventy-year-old man who held a sixth-degree black belt in karate had also commanded Lee’s respect. But on this, he had to oppose Granddad.

“Now, Lee, you—”

“No. You can’t endanger Katie. I won’t let—”

“Please, Lee. Listen for a moment.”

“OK. I’m listening.”
But you’re not gonna change my mind.

“I don’t believe it will, but if this turns out badly and you keep Katie from helping, do you realize what that would do to her? Katie and Jennifer are closer than most mothers and daughters even though the adoption hasn’t been finalized. It would kill Katie if…”

Granddad was right.

Lee might keep Katie safe physically, but emotionally, it could destroy her. Maybe all this would be over even before they arrived. “OK. Katie comes on one condition, Granddad. She stays out of the line of fire.”

“And who determines where the hooligans’ guns are aimed?” Granddad asked.

Lee had never tried to assert his authority over Granddad. He was the authority figure in Jennifer’s family. Not knowing what to expect, Lee replied, “I do.”

Granddad sighed. “As you wish. I’ve got to go now, Lee. I have relatives on Maui to contact, and we’ve got to pack. We’ll catch, what is it you call it, the red-eye? Katie and I will be there in about ten hours.”

When he terminated the call, Lee had won one battle, but it felt like he had lost the war. Worry went viral in the neural network of his mind, worry about Katie, and worry about Jennifer. Both were brilliant, geniuses. But intelligence could only do so much against men with overpowering strength. Men full of evil, evil that knew no limits.

There was One Who was all-powerful, One full of love, grace, and mercy that knew no limits.

Lee closed his eyes and took his concerns to that all-powerful source.

Footsteps grew louder, and he ended his prayer. A uniformed, male officer sauntered down the hallway towards him. The officer passed by Lee and entered the men’s room.

Lee walked to Detective Ramirez’s desk, reflecting on his personal plan to find Jennifer. Lee was unsure of his next move. But move he must, or the part of his sanity that remained would evaporate like a drop of water at noon in the Sahara.

To find Jennifer, he must first find her captors. The only source to tap for more information was the lone eyewitness to the abduction, the lady Yagi had mentioned. To find her he would need to find out where—

The scene near the detective’s desk caught his attention. Ramirez was talking to a group of officers. Numerous papers and folders lay spread in disarray across his desk. It was an interesting development. What if…

He stopped on the opposite side of the desk. The detective, still engrossed in conversation, hadn’t noticed him.

Lee scanned the papers on the desk looking for any morsel of helpful information. One paper caught his eye. Someone had scribbled Amber Alert in large letters. Below the two words were many words written in small letters.

He stepped closer and read, Grand Wailea Resort, Chapel Wing, Room 414. Below that was a name, Bertha Renner. He memorized the information, then walked to the room where the detective had questioned him.

Near the door, Lee stopped. A laser printer sat on a table beside the door. Beside it lay an opened ream of paper. He slid a sheet of paper from the stack and folded it into fourths. After he slipped into the room, he wrote down the contact information for Bertha Renner.

Lee was certain of two things. First, the police would have thoroughly interrogated this witness, pumping from her everything she knew. Second, Yagi hadn’t told him everything Bertha Renner had seen.

5

Under a circle of electric tiki lights, Franklin James sat at a table on the deck of his yacht anchored off Makena. He looked at the short, bald Asian man who sat across the table, a revolting man, but nevertheless one he needed…for a while longer.

James drummed his fingers on the table. “So, do we complete the deal or just kill her?”

Nguyen frowned. His eyes said he was calculating, slowly, the only way this man could calculate. “She almost single-handedly dismembered our business. We will lose fifty million dollars this year because of Jennifer Akihara, Mr. James. She must pay, but we must be paid also.”

“One correction, Nguyen. It’s Jennifer Brandt now. You were not supposed to let that happen.” James watched as Nguyen’s forehead wrinkled.

Nguyen sighed. “Too bad we couldn’t have taken her before the wedding. Things got a little too hot in Seattle. But no harm done. We took her in Maui instead, right after she arrived. Given her worthless religion, she’s still salable as unused merchandise.” A smirk bent his lips. “Maybe her Christianity is worth something…to us.”

His smirk sickened James, but he remained silent and allowed Nguyen to make his point.

“So, Mr. James, I think we should give the prince his million-dollar baby and people will learn not to interfere with our business. This will send a strong message.”

James wondered about Lee Brandt. The man was a genius like the woman. He might give them trouble. “So what about the bridegroom?”

Nguyen laughed in staccato bursts of mirthless tones. “We will pay him appropriately, with torture. We let Mr. Brandt live. Then we leak false pictures onto the Internet, showing his bride in a brothel in Ranong. That will repay him for his role.”

James thought through Nguyen’s suggestion. There was a risk he refused to overlook. “Lee Brandt will come looking.”

Nguyen released two long bursts of mock laughter. “Let him search every brothel in Thailand. The prince will have her in his compound in—”

“Silence!” The word exploded from James’s mouth. His fist pounded the table. James lowered his voice to slightly more than a whisper. “You can trust no one with her whereabouts. Not even crew members on my yacht. If the prince thinks we betrayed him, he will kill us as surely as the sun rises.”

Nguyen’s bald brow wrinkled. “Then perhaps we should eliminate your entire crew.”

James sneered at the idiot’s suggestion. “I think you should just eliminate your loose talk. Or perhaps someone will loosen your tongue…completely.”

Nguyen’s hand jerked to his mouth then returned to the table. He swallowed hard. The temperature was only in the seventies, but perspiration beaded on his bald brow. “So…so how do we hand her to the prince and collect our fee?”

It was good to learn the secret fears of those one did business with. One could use the knowledge to manipulate them…or to pay them. James smiled. “We will slip her onto his catamaran south of Lahaina. The prince pays us, then she becomes his problem.”

Then one day soon I pay you, Nguyen.

Nguyen’s crooked smile remained. “I know that his Dash 8 is fueled and ready at Lahaina Airport. Lee Brandt’s precious million-dollar bride will soon be sold to a man who collects the most beautiful women in the world for his perverse entertainment.” Nguyen smirked. “After he’s finished with her, she won’t be fit for Amsterdam or Manila. He will probably dump her in Calcutta, collect some pocket change, and she will die there unknown and unrecognizable.”

Everything about the man sickened James. But he must tolerate this fool for a while longer if he wanted to attain a ten-digit income next year. At the appropriate time, he would relieve Nguyen of his duties…and his life.

The bald man’s smirk grew into a smile. “Should we let her know what the prince will do to her? I would like to see her reaction. It would ease our pain to watch hers.”

“No, Nguyen. Trader underestimated her and Trader is dead. Let’s not make her too desperate too soon. It would be a shame if she forced us to kill her. We should let her wait patiently for an opportunity to escape—one that will never come—until we have our money and she becomes the prince’s problem.” His fingers tapped an anapestic rhythm on the table. “It would not be wise to try to torture her now with stories of the torture she will soon experience.”