Wired Justice

by Toby Neal

  The three of them waited while Sophie secured Ginger’s leash to a handy little railing and provided her with a dish of water. They filed inside, weaving through a work area of tight cubicles to a section in the back. There was barely room for the four of them to wedge into Wong and Freitan’s office area.

  Sophie’s arm brushed Jake’s and she felt a surprising zing! of sensation as her partner leaned forward, his elbows on his knees in the cramped cubicle. He was trying to peer at Detective Freitan’s computer to see the case file she had pulled up on Julie.

  “Never underestimate the power of the rich parents of a white girl,” Freitan drawled, glancing back at them. “Wonder what would have happened if this haole girl had been local and poor. We’d still be trying to fit her in with all our other cases. It’s actually a good thing you showed up when you did.”

  Sophie pulled her arm away from Jake’s. “Is there a problem with missing people on the Big Island?”

  “Yes,” Wong printed the meager Weathersby file, and caught the pages spitting out of the printer, slipping them into a blank folder. “A lot of people go missing here. For a lot of reasons. This island is a big area to cover and being understaffed is one reason we have trouble closing cases.”

  “But we seldom have anything like that body dump you found,” Freitan said. “Let me put it differently: never have we had something like that. A whole new level. I’ve got a call into WITSEC and it’s looking like there might be something to your mob hit idea, because a couple of Marshals are coming to meet with us in an hour. They wouldn’t discuss it further, but that they’re making the trip says a whole lot.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that I might have been right,” Sophie said. “Doesn’t make sense for anyone to kill the whole family.”

  “Maybe they all saw something. Who knows?” Freitan shrugged. “We’ll do the best we can, as usual. Now as to this missing Weathersby girl . . . we went to her last known camping spot the day we got the report. She was staying at Volcanoes Park. When we showed her picture around, no one had seen her. Her equipment was gone. She had a permit for two nights; she had arrived by unknown means. That’s as far as we got.”

  “Any leads from different campsites? Her parents said she often found other travelers to group together with,” Jake said.

  “We only had the case a few days. That’s as far as we got with it.”

  Jake’s arm brushed Sophie’s again as he reached for the folder from Wong. She shoved her chair back and away to get space. Freitan turned a level stare on her. “You guys a thing?”

  “A thing?” Sophie frowned. Some sort of vernacular. The woman’s pursed lips and raised brows implied it was sexual.

  “Yeah, we are.” Jake put a big hand on Sophie’s knee and squeezed.

  Sophie froze. Was he saying . . . they were a couple?

  “Too bad,” Freitan smiled, a long slow smile. “I like a little white meat now and again.”

  “By the sweat of Ramses!” Sophie swore, all of the innuendoes coming together in an excruciating moment of mortification that heated her face and chest. “There is no sexual relationship between me and my partner!” She took hold of Jake’s wrist, but it took both hands to pry his grip off her leg. “You may indulge your sexual interest in Jake if he is agreeable. He has frequent liaisons.”

  “I don’t think he’s agreeable,” Freitan said regretfully. “But he might be if you joined us.”

  “Hey. I’m right here, Freitan, and we’re on the clock,” Wong said. “Keep your pants zipped in our cubicle, please.”

  Jake stood up. His face was expressionless. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I do believe I’ve just been sexually harassed, and I can’t say I like it overmuch, Detective Freitan. Is this all the information you’ve got?”

  Sophie stood as well, her eyes down, fighting the urge to bolt. Why had Jake said that about them being a couple? Was he claiming a faux relationship with her to fend off Freitan’s advances? And why did it bother her that he did?

  “That’s all. Hope you get somewhere with it, big boy.” Freitan was unfazed by Jake’s rebuke to judge by her insouciant tone. There might even have been another innuendo hidden in her parting words, but Sophie didn’t want to figure it out. She squeezed past Jake and did a very rapid walk, not technically a run, through the bull pen and out the front door of the station.

  Outside, Sophie rushed over to Ginger and untied her. She tossed away the remaining water and stowed the foldable dish in her backpack. She felt more than heard Jake come up behind her.

  “That was embarrassing.”

  Sophie didn’t look up from fiddling with the dog’s leash. Her skin still felt hot and prickly.

  “I think we should go look at Weathersby’s earlier camp sites.” Jake’s tone was nonchalant, as if being propositioned for a threesome was a normal event. Maybe, for him, it was. The thought made her stomach hurt. “It seems like these guys barely got started and didn’t really take the case seriously. I think there’s a lot of room to develop some leads.”

  “Yes. The campsites seem like a good place to begin.” Sophie straightened and tugged the dog’s leash. “Perhaps I can camp tonight in whatever park we end up in.”

  “I have no intention of anything but a hot shower and a soft bed tonight,” Jake said. “And you look like you could use one or both, too.”

  “I’m sure Detective Freitan would be happy to share hers with you.” Sophie wished she could take the words back the second they were out of her mouth. She tweaked Ginger’s leash and headed for the Jeep.

  “Jealous?” Jake sounded almost cheerful. “Because I think I made it clear I wasn’t interested in her.”

  If only she were quicker at repartee! Sophie’s tongue felt thick and her throat choked with inarticulate exclamations that didn’t clarify her confusion about Jake and his behavior one bit. “Son of a yak!” she muttered. She loaded her backpack into the rear area, secured Ginger on the back seat, and took her place in front beside her partner. He started the rental, and they roared out of the South Hilo Police Department parking lot with more throttle than necessary.

  The open road leading out of Hilo led toward a campground in the Waimea area, where Julie Weathersby had stayed before Volcanoes National Park, where she’d disappeared. The wind blowing through the open vehicle gradually swept the awkwardness away. Sophie enjoyed the plethora of bright flowers, tall grasses, and overarching tropical trees as they drove.

  “I wish I didn’t get drawn into these situations,” she said, and the wind whipped her words away.

  “What?” Jake shouted.

  Sophie glanced into the back seat of the Jeep. Ginger’s eyes were slitted shut as the breeze ruffled her fur. The dog looked totally content. If only life were even an eighth as simple for her as it was for her dog.

  “I wish I didn’t keep getting into these things. Body dumps. Missing people. So much violence.”

  “That’s the nature of the job. You could always go back to working behind a computer.” Jake’s gaze was compassionate. He felt sorry for her. It was not acceptable.

  “I’m well aware of that, Jake Dunn. I have chosen this path, and for some reason I am here to help find answers, help people who cannot help themselves. I thought I was going to be a tourist for once, that’s all. I feel like my walkabout has been hijacked. First by the body dump, then by you and this case.”

  “I’m sorry.” His hand landed on her leg for the second time. She removed it with both of hers and set it back on the steering wheel.

  “That’s quite enough of that. We are not a ‘thing,’ Jake. And I don’t know why you said we were.”

  Jake was silent. Sophie sneaked a glance at him, and his profile was stony. She couldn’t leave it alone. “I don’t understand why you said that we were a couple.”

  “I was just trying to get Freitan off my back.”

  “But it did not slow her down a bit.”

  “No, it did not.” Jake’s knuckles gleamed white on the wheel. “
That was awkward. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

  “Yes, you made me uncomfortable. I accept your apology. Freitan was inappropriate.” Sophie hated how stiff and wooden she sounded.

  “Would it be so bad?”

  “What?”

  “If we were a couple. A thing.”

  Sophie glanced at him. That muscle in his jaw looked like a cable. His gunmetal eyes were glued to the road. His arms were so tight she wondered that he didn’t break the steering wheel. She glimpsed a smear of blue ink on the inside of his arm near the elbow. Was that where she’d written her number?

  “It would not work. We . . . irritate each other.” Sophie’s heart was pounding so hard she felt it in her temples.

  “And yet . . .”

  “And yet, what?” She turned to face him.

  “And yet. That’s all I’m saying.” He refused to look at her.

  She flounced around in the seat, fiddled with her seatbelt. “I would never be one of your . . .bed buddies, Jake.”

  “Nor would I be one of yours. I told you that when you propositioned me. Remember?” His eyes seared her. Gray was just the wrong word for them. They were definitely silver. Silver with blue.

  “Oh. That. I was drunk.” That awful prickling on her chest and neck had returned. “Drinking lowers inhibitions. Everyone knows that. That’s why I don’t drink.”

  “And sometimes they call booze a truth serum. Dutch courage. Drinking gets you to tell what’s really going on. Were you telling the truth that day on Maui, Sophie, when you asked me to have sex with you?”

  Sophie couldn’t breathe. All this air whipping around, and she couldn’t breathe. “I can’t be in a relationship right now. I told Alika the same thing.”

  “That slick asshole. I knew he was making a move.”

  “Alika’s not an asshole. He is a good person. Really good.”

  “And I’m not?”

  “You know you’re not, Jake.” Sophie didn’t flinch when she met his eyes. “You’re selfish. Sometimes you cheat. You’re a dirty fighter. You like this line of work for the thrills and danger, not because you enjoy helping people.”

  “I like helping just fine. Helping people is fun, and I like having fun. And as far as good—I could be good to you, Sophie. So good.”

  The Jeep wandered across the center line as their eyes locked.

  Jake overcorrected. They wove a bit, and Ginger yelped from the back seat.

  “I think that’s the turnoff to the park.” Sophie pointed. Jake turned the vehicle down the side road, and made no further comment.

  Sophie exhaled a long slow breath.

  “So good,” he said again, and Sophie shut her eyes because she could feel the shape of the words on her skin.

  Chapter Six

  Jake turned the wheel, heading down into the park. The narrow, two-lane road wove along the side of a canyon draped in varying shades of vegetation. He unclenched his hands on the wheel—they’d begun to cramp.

  That was his big move? Grabbing her leg and pretending they were “a thing” in front of those detectives?

  Smooth one, Jake. Nice. She was really impressed by your promise to “make it good.”

  Jake sneaked a look at Sophie. Her face was turned away as she looked out the window and her eyes were shut, but blotchy color showed on the golden skin of her neck.

  She was blushing.

  He’d gotten to her.

  Yeah! His opening move had sucked, but she was thinking about what he’d said.

  It was a start. He could work with it. The key to success was exploiting every angle toward an objective. And his objective had just shown a chink in her defenses.

  They reached the bottom of the canyon and a small parking lot beneath the high, graceful arch of a freeway overpass. That bridge spanned both the canyon and a small river that tumbled over rocks and between banks of tall native grass.

  Jake pulled the Jeep into a parking spot and they sat for a moment, surveying the park.

  A camping area toward where the riverbank met the ocean was clearly marked. Off to the right, tucked up against the steep wall of the canyon, hunkered a cement block bathroom. A brisk wind blew in from the sea, smelling of the ocean. Jake’s nostrils flared instinctively, taking in the salty goodness.

  Sophie gestured toward a small group of tents clustered in the designated camping zone. “We should begin by canvassing there. You have a photo of our client?”

  “Sure do.” Jake took out his phone and texted a photo of their client to Sophie.

  Julie Weathersby was five foot six, one hundred and thirty pounds, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She had freckles on her nose and a hopeful smile with the perfect teeth of good orthodontia. In the photo, she wore hiking clothes and carried the backpack she’d disappeared with.

  “She looks so young.” Sophie said.

  “She’s twenty-four.”

  “That’s how old I was when I escaped from Assan.” Sophie’s lips folded tight. “I didn’t feel young.”

  She so seldom said anything about her fucked-up marriage. “That bastard stole your . . . your youth and innocence.” Jake growled. “May he rot in hell.”

  “It’s some comfort that I sent him there.” Sophie opened the door of the Jeep and got out. Yeah, she’d sent him there, all right—Sophie had slit the man’s throat. Not that he didn’t deserve that, and more. Jake would’ve liked a little time to work on Assan Ang with a knife, himself.

  They left Ginger secured in the vehicle with some water and a dog biscuit.

  The two approached the first tent. A young mother sat on a beach towel near its entrance, playing with a baby wearing a puka shell necklace and a diaper. Sophie squatted to smile at the child, who reached out a hand, grasping her finger. “She’s darling.”

  “Thank you. We think so,” the mom said.

  Sophie was such a softie when it came to kids. Every case they’d worked so far, she seemed to get attached to any children involved. He’d never forget climbing over that fence at a cult’s headquarters in Waipio, carrying a couple of terrified children, with dogs and armed men on their trail.

  Sophie chatted up the mother as Jake surveilled the camp. A young man strolled towards them, wearing a pair of board shorts and a battered tee. He carried a fishing pole and a stringer.

  “Good fishing?” Jake loved fishing on any days he had off. Spin casting, stream fishing, reef walking, deep-sea—it didn’t matter, as long as he was near the water.

  “Got a few papio for dinner.” Jake recognized the Hawaiian word for a small jack as the young man held up his catch. “What can we do for you, Detective?”

  Jake laughed. “I’m not a cop. But Ms. Ang and I are private investigators.” He held up his Security Solutions ID, and Sophie showed hers as well. “We’re looking for a young woman who camped here around a week ago.” He held up his phone so they could see the photo of Julie Weathersby.

  The young woman shook her head. “We’ve only been here a week. But I think the couple down by the creek has been here long enough to have seen her.”

  Taking their leave, Jake and Sophie walked toward a battered tent set close to the water, away from the rest. Disorderly bins of personal clothing and objects were piled nearby. The door was zippered shut.

  Jake flicked a finger at Sophie, cueing her to speak first. Women elicited less caution in an initial encounter. Sophie approached the tent. “Hello? Anyone inside? We need to speak with you.”

  Rustling. Muttering. These people did not appear to be as friendly as the small family they’d first spoken to. Jake stepped aside out of view, his hand falling to the holstered weapon at his hip. Finally, the zipper moved upward slowly. A young woman poked her head out. Her blonde hair was snarled, falling over sunken eyes. He spotted a scabby sore on the back of her hand. “What do you want?”

  Dark shadows moved behind her.

  Sophie held up her phone for the young woman to see. “We’re looking for our friend Julie. She
seems to have gone missing. Have you seen her?” The woman reached for the phone, but Sophie moved it up and away so that the photo was more visible. “Julie Weathersby. She would have been here a little more than a week ago. Traveling on her own. We were supposed to meet her at Volcanoes Park, but she never showed up.”

  A flicker of something showed on the woman’s face, but she shook her head. “No. Haven’t seen her.”

  “I’m Sophie. What’s your name?” Sophie was still trying to get a connection that Jake had already decided wasn’t going to happen. The woman didn’t answer. Sophie showed the phone again. “Maybe your friend has seen her?”

  A rough masculine voice rumbled from behind the woman. “She told you we haven’t seen her. Buzz off.”

  Sophie glanced at Jake. He gave a quick negative shake of the head. Maybe they could find out something more about these campers from the other park dwellers, or from sending a ranger to check the couple’s permits. He glanced at the tent pole. No permit.

  Jake took his phone out, stepping away to call the park service.

  They worked their way through the rest of the campsites, letting Sophie be the face of the operation while Jake kept an eye out and provided backup.

  Sophie was letting Ginger stretch her legs by the river when a Hawaii State Park truck rumbled down the road to pull in beside the Jeep. Jake intercepted the green and white vehicle with its distinct logo.

  “Hey there. I’m Jake Dunn, a private investigator with Security Solutions.” He held up his ID. “We’re looking for a missing person, and in the course of interviewing these campers, came across what might be some permit violations.”

  The ranger slammed the door of his truck with a thump. “Oh yeah?” A mixed-race male of five-ten, approximately a hundred and seventy pounds, his ID badge read Hernandez. “Getting me out here to do your investigation for you, eh?”

  Jake raised his brows innocently. “Just thought you’d want to know. There’s a couple over there that looks like they’re making this park their permanent home.” He gestured toward the riverside campsite with its assorted piles and bins. “Would you mind taking a look at a photo of our missing person? Maybe you’ve seen her.”