Black Sands

by Colleen Coble

  Annie nodded. Gina was right about that, but there was no way anyone who hadn’t gone through it could understand what Annie experienced. One minute she had been walking on solid ground, and the next moment she’d found herself standing in hot lava. The only thing that had saved her was the fact that the stream of lava was so small. The lava in the tube had almost emptied. What if the next time a full river of lava swallowed her? And the pain had been horrific. She still had nightmares about it. Besides, her mother had died out there. Maybe she was cursed to do the same. She wrapped her fingers around the delicate chain on the necklace in her pocket.

  When Annie didn’t answer, Gina sighed. “You can’t let this fear defeat you, Annie. Face it and go on with your life.”

  “Just a few weeks,” Annie pleaded. “I can’t go out there right now.”

  “You can and you will.” Gina’s voice hardened. “What kind of a boss—and even more importantly, a friend—would I be if I didn’t make you face your fears and do what is best for you in the long run? I know it’s hard. But you’re stronger than you realize, Annie. I want you back on the job. You’re too good a scientist to let this beat you.”

  It helped to hear Gina’s confidence in her, but Annie cringed at the thought of going back on the lava. “One week,” she begged.

  Gina’s face softened. “Okay. But see a professional about this if you need to. I don’t want to lose you. I know I shouldn’t play favorites, but I’ve seen myself in you so many times, Annie. Your quick mind and total dedication to your work is outstanding. You have a bright future ahead of you. Don’t let this experience ruin your career. Get over it. I want my little ‘volcano cowboy’ back.”

  Annie’s face burned at the reprimand. She gave a brief nod. “I just need a little more time.”

  “One week. That’s the best I can do. I need a crew that can pull its weight. If you can’t get control of this fear, you’re going to need to look for a new line of work. What about your underwater research with Jillian?”

  At least this was one area where she wouldn’t let Gina down. “That’s still ongoing. I’m okay in the water.”

  Gina nodded and stood, and Annie knew she was dismissed. “Mahalo, Gina.” She couldn’t talk anymore. She rose and practically ran from the room. Outside the office, she nearly mowed down Jillian Sommers. “Sorry,” she muttered.

  Jillian was Annie’s inspiration. If Jillian could recover from the blow life had dealt when her husband abandoned her, Annie could get over a simple injury. Annie smiled. “You’re here late.”

  “You too.” Jillian’s ash-blond curls lay against her sculptured cheeks. She’d lost weight since Noah left. “I was just going over the data from the seamount. Some of our bottom-pressure recorders are going bad. We’re going to have to go down to replace them. What’s your schedule looking like?”

  “Maybe Monday?” Annie hoped to get home and find Leilani there safe and sound.

  “Sounds good. I’ll touch base with you then.” Jillian said goodbye, and Annie hurried to her car.

  The fresh, cool air relieved her heated skin as Annie passed through the rain forest. The ohia trees that grew in abundance along the road to her house pressed close to the SUV. The Tagama family had owned the hundred-acre compound for more than fifty years, though she wasn’t sure how much longer they could hold onto it. When she was a little girl, she used to lay under the hapu’u ferns beneath the trees and pretend she was a fairy in her house. It was her way of escaping her father’s high expectations. She hated to disappoint him, even as a child. Since her mother’s death, his expectations had risen exponentially. She hardly recognized the demanding man as the exemplary father figure he’d been all her life.

  There would be no escaping her father’s anger if Leilani wasn’t home. Annie had no doubt his first reaction would be to blame her. She slipped her hand into her pocket and rubbed her thumb over the pendant. Leilani would never lose this necklace. It meant too much to her. So what did it all mean? Annie was afraid to find out.

  She pushed open the door. “Father? Where are you?” Her pet mongoose, Wilson, scurried to meet her at the door. He wrapped himself around her ankles. An orange peel teetered on his back. She scooped him up and picked it off. “What have you been into?” He was almost dead when she’d found him months ago beside his dead mother and siblings. Though she nursed him back to health herself, he never gained the full size of a regular mongoose. He was only a foot long, head to tail. The warmth of his sleek body gave her courage. She dropped the peel in the trash in the kitchen, then went down the hall to the living room.

  Her father scowled when he saw Wilson in her arms. “I told you to get rid of that animal, Annie, yet you continue to defy me. He got in the trash again and dumped it all over the floor. I want him gone.”

  Annie’s fingers stilled, and she clutched Wilson closer. “I’ll clean it up, Father.”

  Her father’s jaw hardened, and he stepped toward her. “Give him to me. I’m getting rid of that creature once and for all.”

  “No!” Annie stepped back. She softened her voice. Harsh words would only make her father more unyielding. “I mean, please give him another chance, Father. I’m still training him. He’ll learn. He . . . brings me comfort since Mother died.”

  Her father’s face softened at the mention of her mother. He shook his head, and his frown returned. “You don’t have time to be cleaning up after him all the time. I have some dictation I need you to do tonight.”

  “I’ll have time to do both.”

  He harrumphed, but he didn’t try to take the mongoose again. She needed to ask him about Leilani, who obviously had not returned. Wetting her lips, she tried to decide how to raise the question without bringing more disapproval on her own head.

  Her father peered past her out the glass in the storm door. “Who is here?”

  Annie turned. An unfamiliar car crowded to the back of her car. A pale blue Chevrolet, it looked like one of those nondescript rental cars. Maybe it was about Leilani. Annie hurried to the front door. A burly figure got out of the vehicle. She froze. Her nails bit into the palms of her hand, and she nearly turned and slammed the door.

  Mano Oana. She hadn’t heard from him in more than a year, not since he called to tell her about her older brother Tomiko, nicknamed Tomi. She wasn’t ready to face him even now. Wilson burrowed against her neck and squeaked. She told herself to move, to go to the door. Her hand shook when she finally reached out and opened it quickly. There was nothing to be gained by delaying the inevitable.

  Mano’s gaze fastened on her face, and he gave a tentative smile. As always, she found herself caught by his dark eyes. If eyes really were the windows to the soul, Mano’s soul was full of intensity and passion. His name meant “shark,” and it had never seemed more apt than this minute. He could destroy the even tenor of her life as easily as a great white could thrash a seal.

  Annie wet her lips and tried to find something to say that didn’t sound inane. “Mano, what are you doing here?”

  “Could I come in a minute?”

  She stepped aside silently. Her father had turned his back. He looked out the opposite window toward the Japanese garden her mother had loved so much. A curl of incense drifted around him from the bowl on the table. It was her father’s favorite scent: Joy, a blend of sandalwood and tea leaves that was supposed to evoke memories of happiness, though Annie couldn’t remember a single happy moment since her mother had died. Without her mother’s attention, weeds had choked the path to the koi fish pond in much the same way that the family’s cares had begun to strangle Annie. The bonsai had lost its shape, too, just as her family no longer resembled the perfect unit it had once been.

  Mano would find them much changed.

  Her father would be no help. Annie turned back to Mano, who hadn’t moved though she’d stepped out of the way. “Come in.”

  Mano stepped inside and nodded to her. “Annie. It’s been a long time.”

  “Not long enough.�
� Wilson struggled in her arms, but she held on. She needed him. After a final wiggle, he went still. She stared at Mano. “What do you want?”

  Annie had to wonder if his cool self-assurance was just a charade. Her gaze traveled to her father. Though in his midfifties, Edega Tagama’s black hair was still thick and lustrous, but the past months had aged his face. He turned and stared at Mano with an attitude of belligerence. At one time, Mano had been almost part of the family, but he wasn’t welcome here anymore.

  Mano glanced at the cane-backed chair under the window. “Okay if I sit down? This may take a little while.”

  Her father thrust out his chin. “We have nothing to say to you.”

  Trying to hide her limp, Annie went to the loveseat. “I have plenty to say. Sit down.” She tried to adopt a nonchalant attitude by crossing her legs, but her leg trembled and gave away her agitation, so she uncrossed them and steadied her tremors by pressing her heels into the ground. She hoped he didn’t see how much his presence affected her.

  Mano’s U.S. Navy uniform fit him superbly. Impeccably pressed and spotless, he was the epitome of a spit-and-polish officer. His white mess jacket over navy pants hid the muscles she knew lurked under the fabric. He was a wrestler. Leilani and Annie used to go to watch his matches on the base with their brother. She averted her eyes. It was best not to think about what used to be. She swallowed and tried to compose herself.

  Her father gave a disgusted snort, then moved to the sofa and perched on the edge. “I will hear this if I must. Then you are no longer welcome in my home.”

  Mano took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I missed Tomi’s funeral, but I was—” He glanced away as his words died.

  “You killed him,” Annie said. Her voice trembled as much as her limbs, but she forced herself to meet his gaze. “And by killing him, you killed my mother.”

  “I’m sorry about your mother,” Mano said. The muscles in his neck moved as he swallowed. “It seemed so out of character for her—” He stopped at Annie’s glare.

  “You will not mention my wife,” Edega burst out.

  Mano’s gaze slid back to Annie, and she read the desperation in his face. She took pity on him, though she knew he deserved every bit of her father’s anger. “Why are you here, Mano?” She wanted to get rid of him and talk to her father about Leilani.

  He squared his shoulders. “I have your brother’s belongings. I wanted to bring them to you.” He hesitated. “I have something else to talk to you about too. Is Leilani here?”

  An ache spread from Annie’s center outward. Leilani was always the one men noticed. Annie had gone on one date in her life, a mercy date for the bash her family threw her when she got her PhD. Leilani had arranged for one of her castoffs to escort her. Mano was one of those now too.

  Maybe Mano wanted to try his luck again. The pain that rippled through her at the thought surprised her. “She’s not here,” she said shortly. She thought she saw disappointment on his face. And why not? Leilani was beautiful and vivacious, while Annie was a brown, colorless Eurasian sparrow.

  “I really wanted to talk to all of you together.” Mano turned toward the door. “Let me get the stuff from the car.” He went to the door and stepped outside.

  As soon as she heard the door slam, Annie sagged against the loveseat. She wouldn’t cry, not until she was safely in her room. Her father would demand to know what she was upset about, and he wouldn’t understand. She didn’t understand herself. The lump that formed in her throat was as acrid as the smoke from Kilauea. Her eyes burned. She didn’t know if she was ready to go through Tomi’s belongings.

  “Leilani should be here,” her father said. His voice trembled. “We should present a united front.”

  Leilani. Annie put down Wilson and her hand went to her pocket. She pulled out the pendant. “Have you talked to her today?”

  “She has not shown her face since yesterday, the silly girl.” Edega stood and paced. “She has been out since then?” Annie nodded. “We shall have a most stern talk with her when she gets home.”

  Annie sighed. She opened her fist and showed her father the locket. “I found this near the Kalapana Trail.”

  The anger left her father’s eyes. “She never goes to the volcano. You don’t think—” He gulped and choked back his words.

  Annie hadn’t wanted to even consider suicide, but she realized the thought had hovered at the back of her consciousness. “Surely not,” she whispered. “She would never kill herself, especially not there.”

  “She’s been acting strange since she joined that club.” Her father sounded fearful. “Secretive and sometimes despondent. You should have put an end to it, Annie.”

  Annie exhaled slowly. She should have, but Leilani was so headstrong. She glanced out the window. Mano was still unloading the trunk of the car. He seemed to be taking his time. Maybe he was less self-assured than she first thought.

  She grabbed the portable phone on the table beside her and called the shop where Leilani worked. Her sister had not shown up for her shift. Annie dialed CeCe but couldn’t reach her. Annie called the police next. The dispatcher promised to send out an officer. Annie clicked off the phone and let her eyes return to Mano as he hefted three stacked boxes and started toward the house. She let her gaze linger on his dark hair. In her daydreams, she used to imagine plunging her fingers into that thick thatch. No more. Mano Oana had destroyed her family as surely as if he’d sent a cloud of choking ash to smother them all.

  Two

  Mano hoped Annie would see him coming with the boxes before he reached the door. After landing in Hilo, it had been all he could do to force himself to drive the familiar road out to the Tagama house. The lava fields stretched out on all sides of the winding road, and the memories assaulted him. Things were so different the last time he was here. Regret left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  Knocking on the Tagama door today had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, which was sad considering how much he’d always loved coming here. Their home blended their Japanese heritage and the American culture they’d adopted as their own. Edega had emigrated from Japan when he was in his teens and married a Japanese American girl who treasured her American upbringing. Edega had insisted on a Japanese name for his son, and her mother had demanded an American name for Annie. Leilani had been a compromise, a Hawaiian name to celebrate their new home. The conflict was typical of the cultural tug of war that went on throughout the marriage. That was what had made coming here so lively.

  Edega seemed different—more remote and austere. And Annie—she seemed smaller. She’d always been withdrawn, but now she was almost like a ghost. His cell phone rang, and he set the boxes down to answer it.

  “Hey, big guy, where are you?” his sister, Kaia, said.

  “On the Big Island. I came to see the Tagamas.”

  The phone went silent. Kaia finally cleared her throat. “That’s got to be hard. It’s the first time since—” She broke off.

  “Yeah, it is. But it has to be done.” He thought about telling Kaia what he suspected but bit back the words. She was in the middle of wedding plans. No sense in dragging her into this.

  “Well, guess what?” Her tone lightened. “I’m here on the Big Island too. I’ll find a place to get you fitted for a tux while you’re here. I came to do some planning with Jillian. And to bring Nani for a while. She followed the boat here.”

  Jillian was Kaia’s soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Nani? What’s up with that?” He hadn’t thought Kaia would let the dolphin out of her sight. Since Kaia had bridged the communication gap and begun to “talk” with the dolphin via a device that translated words into clicks and whistles, Kaia had been even more obsessed with her work. Maybe the upcoming wedding had divided her attention.

  “Jillian asked if Nani might help her for a few weeks. She and a coworker want to check some underwater lava flow, and it’s too deep for comfortable diving. I figured Nani might enjoy seeing Heidi again too. Besides, the reporters are still
hounding us, and Nani needs a break. I’m taking off a few weeks to finish wedding preparations anyway.”

  “I’ll stop by and take you all to dinner later. How’s Jesse dealing with the prewedding frenzy?”

  Kaia laughed softly. “He seems to be taking it in stride.”

  They chatted a few more minutes; then a police car pulled up behind his car, and an officer got out. The man’s gaze met his, and recognition flooded his face. Mano’s smile faded. Sam Briscoe. He said good-bye to Kaia.

  Sam stopped. “Oana. I didn’t know you were here.”

  Mano gave a curt nod. “I heard you’d moved back here after your stint in the navy. I had no idea you’d joined the force though.” Stupid to get his hackles raised like this. He and Sam had been friends once—before Leilani Tagama had come between them.

  “Yeah, once action gets in your blood, it’s hard to settle for a normal job.” Sam turned toward the house. “I’d better get inside. You coming?”

  Sam obviously thought he knew all about why Mano was here. Surely Annie hadn’t called to have him escorted off the property. Sam knocked on the door, and Annie opened it almost immediately. Her full lips tightened when her gaze flickered over Mano’s face. She was petite, only about five-two. He remembered a time when her face got as red as a hibiscus when he appeared. She’d adored her “big brother” Mano once upon a time. So much for hoping a small part of her former admiration still existed.

  He carried the boxes into the living room. A part of him wanted to leave the boxes and not speak to the Tagama family any more, but he knew he had to stay. Besides, he wondered what was going on with the detective’s arrival. The tension and fear in the room left him uneasy.

  Sam took out a notepad from his shirt pocket and uncapped his pen. “You say Leilani is missing?”

  Mano was kneeling by the boxes, but he jerked up his head and looked at Annie. “Leilani is missing?”