“To repel boarders.”
“Of course, pirates.”
“It’ll change their mind real quick.” Robert laid his rifle on the shelf in front of the steering wheel, and said, “Now I believe you have a call to make.”
“Dana?” Jack looked the gun over one more time. “You’re certainly not wasting any time getting down to business.”
“You said you would.”
They were armed and they had plans to make. There was no time like the present.
“I haven’t forgotten,” he said.
Now all she has to do is answer.
He set the shotgun aside and dug his cellphone from his pocket.
CHAPTER 31
Chiharu Takahashi settled into the fine-grained leather seat aboard her Piper Chieftain and leaned back for the short flight to Maui. She rarely left Oahu to travel to the other islands and deplored having to take this trip.
An inconvenience necessitated by failures in her plan.
The plane touched down on the private runway at Kapalua Airport five miles northwest of Lahaina. She clicked on her smartphone, tapped in a local number she’d memorized only days earlier, and raised the cell to her ear.
“I’m here,” she said to the familiar voice on the burner phone.
“Everything is as you requested,” Shunichi Takeo said and clicked off.
Five minutes later, she disembarked. Takeo stood next to the open rear door of a black Mercedes S600 sedan parked forty feet away, engine running. The heat rising off the tarmac—worsened by the break in the clouds over the airport—did not help her sour mood.
“Your suite at the Ritz-Carlton is ready. We can drive straight to the hotel, if that is what you desire.”
“We’ll talk in the car,” she said, and slid into the comfort of the luxury vehicle’s air conditioning.
He closed the door and walked to the plane. She watched him through the tinted side window while he gathered her Valextra luggage. Then turned and stared through the windshield at the slate gray channel between Maui and Lanai. She trusted Takeo’s judgement. But the job he and the other two bodyguards had been sent to do had not gone as expected. Nothing had since her location indicator aboard the Orochimaru stopped transmitting.
She wanted answers.
And she wanted her diamond back.
The trunk lid closed with a muffled thump. A moment later, Takeo pulled open the driver’s door and slid his massive bulk behind the wheel.
“I trust you did not damage my new luggage? I received it from Barney’s of New York only yesterday.”
“Do not worry,” he said, without turning in the seat to face her.
“Worrying is all I do.” The stress of the last three days was getting to her. “I will stop when the necklace is back in my possession.”
Her comment did not draw a response, only a curt bow of the head. Respect. Nothing more. It was just as well.
Recovering her precious jewel was all that mattered.
She waited until the car was rolling, and said, “Have you done what I asked?”
“Maiko is dead,” he answered. There was no emotion in his voice. “But it appears Jack Ferrell is more resourceful than we thought. He and the others escaped on their boat. It would have been better if I had killed him when I had the chance.”
She felt a hollow ache in the pit of her stomach at the mention of Maiko’s name. Her betrayal had been particularly disappointing. As was the order to have her eliminated.
“Is he a threat to us?”
“He and the others might cause trouble.”
“He’s a professional?”
“An amateur. He’s a marine biologist who does work for NOAA and other marine organizations. What I’ve heard is he has a good reputation with the locals. Apparently, he’s a man who is not afraid to take chances to protect their heritage.”
She stared out the side window, considering his words. Interference from anyone at this point could prove most unfortunate.
Too much had gone wrong already.
“I regret my initial decision to have him questioned first,” she said. “It is that I hoped matters would not escalate to this point.”
“We should have expected as much.” There was an edge to his voice.
His gaze moved to the rearview mirror mounted in the center of the windshield. Even though his sunglasses concealed his eyes, she knew they were focused on her.
She fought a wave of irritation.
To be reminded of the error in her initial judgment call, infuriated her. She’d not tolerate it from Takeo, or anyone else in her organization.
Anyone.
It annoyed her further to see Takeo looking at her with speculative eyes hidden behind dark lenses. She didn’t often make mistakes. And when she did, it was because she was provided faulty or incomplete information. If Takeo had properly checked out Jack Ferrell in the beginning, he and his friends would not have been alive to cause problems.
“What’s done cannot be undone. Until I once again possess the Black Star of Africa, there will be much unpleasantness to attend to.”
“Of course.” Takeo spun the steering wheel to the right at the traffic signal, accelerated into a gap in a line of vehicles on Honoapiilani Highway, and drove toward the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua. “Whatever is necessary?”
Letting her anger get to her, she narrowed her eyes at Takeo’s reflection in the mirror. “Everything I tell you to do is necessary.”
“Without question, Madam Takahashi.” His response was immediate.
“Good.” She let herself relax into the seat. “Now I assume your renewed efforts to eliminate Jack Ferrell and his friends are proceeding without delay?”
“We will find them. But it will take time.”
“I do not want excuses. I want results. What about the Orochimaru?”
“We have been talking to local boat captains who are familiar with these waters. They are a strange group of men full of stories about mysterious creatures rising from the depths and naked maidens calling to them from the sea at night, trying to lure them overboard to their deaths.”
“The same boat captains who told you about Jack Ferrell?” Takahashi wondered.
“That is correct.”
“And you feel they can be trusted?”
“I believe so. They provided us with information on an area where the boat might be. Even so, there is a lot of water to search. When can we expect the salvage vessel to arrive?”
“It will be here late this afternoon. You will join the crew in the morning and leave Jack Ferrell and his friends in the hands of Mitsuru and Shoji. I want you to oversee the recovery efforts, personally.”
“If that is your wish.”
“Of course it is my wish.” She grew tired of his conciliatory responses.
And she wanted no excuses.
To allow the diamond to slip into the depths of the ocean and disappear forever was unthinkable. She could ill afford to let that happen with so much at risk. But time and circumstances worked against her. She realized now how foolish she had been to have conceived the plan in the first place. But she’d already invested heavily into the high-rise condos being built in Waikiki and needed the twenty-five million to close the deal. Money she would gladly sacrifice to have the Black Star of Africa back in her hands.
Again, she peered at Takeo’s reflection in the rearview mirror. He killed for her whenever she asked—a throwback to times when Samurai killed for their lord without question.
He’d do what she asked of him now.
“See that what needs to be done, is done.” She resisted a sigh of frustration. “And when you find Jack Ferrell, bring him to me. His meddlesome interference is the reason Maiko is dead. I’ll deal with him personally.”
“And the others?”
“Kill them.”
CHAPTER 32
Dana signed her name to the official reports on the morning’s activities. They’d rescued an elderly man from a kayak that had been swe
pt out to sea, and a young girl who’d been caught in a rip current at Big Beach.
Another day in paradise.
She retrieved her personal cell from her purse and checked it for messages. Nothing from Jack. It was not like dinner with him the night before was the only date she’d had with a man in the last year. Nor did she expect a dozen roses from him. But the two of them moved so effortlessly into their time together it felt as though they had never been apart for more than a day or two. So comfortably—and without expectations beyond enjoying one another’s company—she wished he’d carried her to his room for what would have been a wonderful conclusion to the evening.
Instead, he’d kissed her goodnight at her car.
Perhaps he didn’t share her feelings after all.
She sighed inwardly at the thought, letting it slip from her mind as quickly as it had appeared. His feelings were there. She’d felt them in his embrace.
As strong as the ones she had for him.
She laid her cellular on her desktop, wondering what shred of insecurity lingering in the recesses of her mind caused her to conjure up such a ridiculous notion. They had not run out on one another when their romance ended, they’d drifted apart as gently as two flowery leis cast adrift on the swells of a moonlit ocean.
And now the sea had brought them back together.
How much love to have missed out on.
For the first time, she felt a flicker of regret at having taken the promotion to Master Chief. But then, she knew she’d made the right decision.
But would I do it again?
Before she could dismiss the thought completely, her phone vibrated with enough force to make it dance on the wood surface.
Seeing Jack’s name on the screen brought a smile that spread into a broad grin she couldn’t contain.
She didn’t try.
Snatching up the phone, she clicked on, and said, “I was hoping you’d call.”
“You had doubts?”
“Not at all.” She couldn’t lie. “Well, maybe a little.”
“There’s a reason I didn’t call sooner. And it certainly wasn’t you or anything you did. In fact, you’re lucky kidnapping is against the law or I wouldn’t have let you leave last night.”
She eased her grip on the phone. “It’s only kidnapping if you have an unwilling victim.”
“So you enjoyed our dinner date last night?”
She patted her hair, pinned up short, and shifted inside her uniform. Neat, clean, orderly—a little stuffy for the conversation they were having. She wished she was lounging in shorts and an oversized t-shirt.
“You have no idea.”
“I think I do. Honestly, I didn’t want the evening to end.”
“Next time I’ll bring handcuffs.”
“Interesting,” he said.
“I’m surprised we never got around to it . . . before, I mean.”
“We won’t make that mistake again.”
“I’ll have to see what else I can come up with. Any ideas?”
“Plenty. And I’d love to explain each one in detail, but I need to run some information by you, kind of unofficially.”
She pressed the phone tight to her ear. “Am I going to get into trouble?”
“Depends on what kind of trouble you’re talking about.”
Rats. He’s serious.
She tried for a moment to imagine what the information was. Had something else gone wrong?
She hoped not.
“I’m sure it’s not the kind I’d like to be talking about. What’s on your mind besides sweeping me off my feet and carrying me to your bed for a night of mad, passionate lovemaking?”
“You’re not making this easy on me,” he said.
“Am I supposed to?” It was fun having him off balance.
“Seriously.” He sighed into the phone. “That body we caught—there have been some developments.”
CHAPTER 33
Jack loved hearing Dana’s voice.
Already, he regretted the call was not entirely social.
“You make it sound like something else bad has happened,” she said. Much of the cheeriness was gone from her voice.
But not the steamy image of her lying naked in his bed.
Nor the handcuffs.
“That young Japanese woman I told you about,” he said, struggling to keep his mind on track. “The one who set me up. She came to my room late last night after you left. But it wasn’t what you think. She wanted to talk.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth.” He knew how it must have sounded to her. “Believe me when I say, I wish you’d been there to hear her story.”
“Which was?” the skepticism in her tone remained.
“Not good, I’m afraid. The body we pulled from the ocean—Ichiro Makoto was her brother.”
Her silence told him she’d hadn’t received that information.
“You didn’t know?”
“I hadn’t heard.” She was all business now. “I assume there’s more.”
He resolved to not hold anything back. Then he told her what Maiko had told him. Given Dana’s twinge of jealousy, he emphasized the part about asking Robert and Kazuko to come to his room to hear what she had to say. He hoped that would remove any suspicion of them having had sex.
There was silence on her end when he stopped talking. After a moment she said, “That sounds like a story out of a novel.”
More than one, he was sure.
“Only this one’s true.”
“If she was being honest.”
“I believe she was.” He pictured Maiko’s butchered body lying twisted and broken in the mud. “Not more than two hours after talking to us, her body was found at the base of the banyan tree across the street from my room. I’m guessing she was murdered by the same goons that worked me over.”
She sighed into the phone. Clearly she wasn’t expecting to hear Maiko had been killed.
“They were waiting for her to come out,” she said. A statement not an answer.
Dana’s mind worked to piece together what happened. But did she understand the full significance of Maiko’s murder?
“Eliminating loose ends,” he said, helping Dana along. “They also planted a bomb on Robert’s boat.”
“Jack . . .” She let his name hang. He had an idea what was coming. “You need to report all of this to the police right now.”
That’s what he expected her to say. Doing her job, officially and as a friend. But it didn’t change his mind.
It was made up.
“I plan on making the call,” he said. “I owe Maiko, so for all the good it’ll do, I’ll pass along the information about the three big Japanese goons in dark suits driving a shiny, black Yukon with tinted windows—anonymously, of course. The rest I want to wait on for now.”
“What do you mean, for now?”
He pictured her rising off her seat, tightening her grip on the phone.
“Exactly what it means,” he said. “I might need to in time, but not at the moment.”
“Listen to yourself, Jack. Those men killed that young woman. They planted a bomb on your boat hoping to kill you and your friends. Why on earth would you or Robert or Kazuko want to hold back information?”
“Suffice to say we have our reasons.”
“Robert and Kazuko agree with you.”
“At least for now.”
There was a pause on her end. He waited.
Finally a sigh. She said, “I’m having a real problem with this, Jack.”
Yeah, no shit.
“If I were in your shoes, I suppose I would, too. But please hear me out before you slam the door on me.”
CHAPTER 34
Jack peered through the glass door leading to the rear deck. Fifty yards astern, a long yellow and orange canoe full of paddlers passed by on a parallel course with the beach. Tourists playing native. Men and women straining their backs and arms in unison to the steady stroke
. . . stroke . . . stroke cadence of the helmsman in the rear. All of them going somewhere, while going nowhere.
An hour on the water for a price.
Everyone having fun.
Dana was an excellent listener when she wanted to be. Like the people in the canoe. Paying attention. Her mind processing what was being discussed.
He waited.
“I’m listening,” she said, after a moment.
He pictured her sitting at her desk, tight jawed, waiting for him to explain. Which he’d do. First, he had a question. “With the scuttling of a boat and all, where does the Coast Guard stand in a situation like this?”
He wanted her to take her time, giving full consideration to her answer.
It wasn’t necessary.
“I’ll pass the information you’ve given me on to Sector,” she said, without thought. “I have no choice now that you’ve told me what’s going on. It’ll take a couple of days or more before there is a decision. But even if the Coast Guard ends up being involved, it will be a joint investigation with local or state law enforcement . . . maybe the FBI. Or even Homeland Security.”
He wasn’t surprised by her insistence to pass the information up the ladder. That was her sworn duty. He’d be more surprised, and even disappointed, if she hadn’t.
Still . . .
The ramifications of what she said were clear. But not immediate.
He had time.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is it will be days before anything happens. Even then the investigation will be slow and lengthy. And we remain loose ends. I intend to speed up the process by finding that boat and recovering the necklace if possible. That will give me one hell-of-a bargaining chip to get Madam Takahashi off my ass. Law enforcement can take it from there.”
“I hope you know what you’re getting into.”
There was a thin line between legal and illegal.
He was straddling it.
“I have an idea. That’s the best I can do.”
Another pause. She was doing a lot of thinking.
“Let me ask you something.” Her tone calmed. “A year ago, when we were spending time together, you told me about some of your wild exploits. I’m guessing this is another one of those?”
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