Paradise Crime Mysteries

by Toby Neal

  “I won’t get paid overtime, but okay.” Becky sighed. “Give me forty-five minutes or so. I have my kit in the car, fortunately.”

  “Do you have scuba gear?”

  “What?”

  “Scuba gear. I think it would be worthwhile to check out the bottom of the cave, and you have to have your swimsuit and some dive lights at least, since you have to swim in through an underwater tunnel.”

  “Oh my God.” Becky’s voice went to a high-pitched squeak.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll call Stevens. He can help you; he’ll want to be notified anyway.”

  “I’ll do it if you call Stevens. And yes, you’re in luck. I’m certified for scuba and own my own equipment,” she said. They wrapped up and Lei pushed the worn button on her phone to call Stevens.

  His voice was colder than the ice water in the cave.

  “I told you Jenkins was your liaison.”

  “I think you’ll want to know about this.” She filled him in on her discovery. “I need you to hold Becky’s hand. Come out and see the site for yourself.”

  A long pause.

  “On my way.”

  She closed her phone, heaved a sigh. The sun was dead ahead, almost touching the darkening sea. She looked around for Alika and spotted him sitting on a promontory of rock, sunset gilding his torso. Evening cast a chill that bit through her wet bathing suit and towel. She climbed up next to him, snuggling against his warmth.

  “Help’s on the way.”

  “Good.” He wrapped an arm over her. “Now, where were we?” His lips found hers. She put up with it for a few seconds, then withdrew.

  “Sorry. I’m distracted.”

  “Some other time. It’s cool watching you in cop mode.” He shook his head a little. “You’re so focused. The bad guys don’t stand a chance.”

  “I wish. Listen, you don’t have to wait. They’ll be here soon.”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  They watched the sun disappear, staining the clouds crimson, peach, and gold. Lei shivered.

  “Let’s get you into the truck, turn on the heater. I’ve got some food in there too.”

  “Food! Oh God, I think I love you.” She laughed.

  “Whatever it takes.” He tried to nuzzle her neck, but she’d jumped up and was heading for the vehicle.

  They were sitting in his truck, the engine and heater on, eating beef jerky when Stevens’s police Bronco bucked its way up the steep track. Becky’s face was white as she clung to the dangling safety strap, and the flashing light bar testified to the speed Stevens had used to get to the remote spot.

  They all got out. Lei tightened the towel, tucking the ends in.

  “Hey, thanks for the fast response. Check this out.” She held the bone out on her flattened palm. Becky snapped on her Maglite. She picked it up, examined it in the harsh light.

  “Human. Looks like it’s been in a fire. Can’t tell how old.”

  Stevens was already going around to the back of the SUV and opening the tailgate, revealing a pair of oxygen tanks and a welter of scuba equipment.

  “Hi.” Alika stepped forward, hand extended. “I’m Alika Wolcott.”

  “Becky Banks.” The lab tech shook his hand.

  “Oh, sorry,” Lei said. “Becky, Stevens, this is my friend Alika.”

  Stevens looked up, a regulator in his hands. Lei couldn’t see his expression in the dim light.

  “Hey.” His voice was terse. “How did you guys find the bones, anyway?”

  “I brought Lei out for a swim, wanted to show her something special.” Alika draped his arm over her in a proprietary gesture. “Guess it was even more special than I had in mind.”

  “Yeah, a big surprise.” Lei slipped out from under his arm. “Did you bring enough equipment for me?”

  “Oh, sorry. No,” Becky said. “I’ve only got two rigs. Are you certified?”

  “No, but I figure, how hard can it be? Damn. Well, we can show you where it is, anyway.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary,” Stevens said. “We can take it from here.”

  He’d wrapped a towel around his midsection and was pulling on swim trunks and a wetsuit vest. “Becky, come get into your gear. The sooner we check this out, the sooner we can get on home.”

  “Sure.” Becky hurried to obey. Alika and Lei watched, and it wasn’t long before Alika led them back up the trail. Stevens and Becky had the only two flashlights, and Becky gave an involuntary gasp as the cavern opened up before them. The flashlights bounced around the dramatic interior as they looked it over.

  “Wow.” Becky shone her light on the trembling maidenhair ferns around the surface of the water. “I wouldn’t mind coming here on a date.”

  “It wasn’t a date.” Lei stumbled as she picked her way down the trail.

  “I thought it was,” Alika said, his voice mock-injured.

  “Stay focused on what we’re here for,” Stevens said, shutting down any further discussion until the group got to the bottom of the cave.

  “This is gonna be cold,” Alika warned, dropping his towel. Lei reluctantly surrendered hers as well, and Stevens and Becky waded forward into the vast inky pool, rinsing their masks and turning on each other’s oxygen tanks. Lei stuffed down a stab of jealousy as Stevens tapped Becky’s oxygen readout, adjusted her straps, and gave her a thumbs-up. Lei turned and pushed forward into the icy water, following Alika’s sleek head as he swam for the far wall of the chamber.

  The water, previously enchanting, was now frigid, and the darkness so complete that without the flashlights lancing through the water below them, Lei would not have been able to see her hand in front of her face. It was disorienting—like swimming in freezing space.

  The bubbles from Becky’s and Stevens’s regulators glittered silver gems as they swam beneath Lei and Alika, finding the tunnel and swimming through it ahead of them. Alika took her hand silently, and they pumped their lungs full, then ducked under and swam after the trail of lighted bubbles.

  They surfaced in the Blue Room, which, without the eerie daylight effect, was only a roundish cave filled with black water. Stevens and Becky surfaced, shining their flashlights around the room.

  “Over here.” Lei headed for the ledge. In seconds, the flashlights had the little hollow pinned in their white glare. Becky climbed up on the ledge with a boost from Stevens, balancing with difficulty on the edge. She shone her light into the hollow containing the bones. Without a word she got out her camera, and the flash burned the scene onto Lei’s retinas over and over, a grisly tableau she’d never be able to forget.

  Becky turned to them, the mask pushed onto her head, lips pale with cold.

  “Looks like some sort of offering cache. There’s a lining of ti leaves in here and several nonnative stones. I’m going to bring the whole thing in for analysis.” She pulled a waterproof evidence bag out of her vest and carefully scooped the contents of the hollow into it.

  Stevens and Lei exchanged a glance. The nonnative stones clinched it—this was definitely related to their case.

  “I’m going to take a look around the bottom. See if anything ended up down here.” Stevens put his mask down and the regulator back in his mouth and sank in a stream of mercury bubbles. Lei and Alika watched his flashlight sweeping back and forth across the cave floor.

  Becky let herself fall backward into the water with a splash. She tucked the sealed evidence bag into the front of her vest.

  “Let me shine the light for you guys; then I’m going to join Stevens and search the cavern floor, make sure we get everything.”

  There was nothing for Lei to do but follow Becky’s flashlight through the water and across the darkness. She shone it all the way to the edge, and Lei and Alika climbed out and wrapped themselves in their damp towels, watching the eerie crisscross of submerged beams moving through the black gloom of the cavern.

  “This sucks.”

  “Yeah. I don’t even know what the hell is going
on and I have to work tomorrow.” Alika’s voice had an edge to it. Lei joined him on his boulder, snuggling close.

  “Wish we had our own flashlight. We could at least get back to the truck and get warm. I’m sorry about all this.”

  He looped his arm around her in what was becoming a familiar gesture. They watched the intermittent movement of the beams and flare of the underwater flash, eerie as a soundless war.

  “Don’t think Stevens likes me,” Alika said.

  “Don’t think he likes me either. Seems like he likes Becky well enough, though.”

  “Jealous?”

  “Of course not.” A flashlight beam speared them out of the darkness. Lei resisted the urge to spring apart and held her hand up to block her eyes.

  “We found a few things.” Stevens’s voice. The beam moved away. They stood up as he splashed to the edge of the water. “Check these out.”

  They looked at what he held in his rubber-gloved hands—long heavy femurs and tibias, bleached and glowing in the flashlight beam. Becky splashed up beside him. She held a skull.

  “Nice,” Alika said. “We were swimming in that.”

  “If it’s any comfort, the bones have been here awhile,” Becky said. Water drained out of the eyeholes, splashing on the stones. “The water’s got high alkalinity, so decomp happened a long time ago. These bones are beginning to calcify.”

  “Was that all that’s out there?” Lei asked.

  “No. But we thought we’d bring in our first load. There’s more.” Stevens was already putting his mask on after piling the bones on a rock.

  “Can we get a quick light back to the car? Alika has to get on the road, and I think I should call for backup.”

  “Guess so,” Stevens said. “Call Fury. He can come out. Tell him to bring scuba gear if he can. And you can call it a night.”

  Lei tried not to let the dismissal sting. After all, there wasn’t anything more she could do, and cold was racking her with nonstop shivers. She and Alika took Becky’s flashlight and picked their way back to the vehicles. Alika beeped open his truck.

  “Interesting day.”

  “I know. I’m sorry about how it ended.”

  “I told you—I wouldn’t have missed it—and I meant that.”

  “You can’t talk about it. It’s an open investigation.”

  “I’m not an idiot.” His tone was brusque. He got into his vehicle and turned the key. “I’ll call you.”

  “You better.” She leaned into his open window to kiss him goodbye. He turned his head, and she set her lips on his sculpted ones—firmly and with intent. The brief stamp she’d intended turned into more, and her arms wound around his shoulders and neck. He reached out to haul her closer and she found herself hanging halfway in, toes barely touching the ground as he returned her kiss with hunger of his own. Her mouth buzzed. Her face was hot and body tingling with what he’d woken in her in the cave.

  She extracted herself slowly, holding on to the window frame as she released his shoulders and slid back down. Her knees felt too wobbly to hold her up, so she clung to the doorframe of the truck. “Thanks for all you did today.”

  “You’re welcome.” He kissed her once more. “Okay. Stay safe.”

  “Will do.” She got in her truck and turned on the heater as he bumped back down the rugged track. She was able to get ahold of Captain Fernandez, and after promises that he was notifying Dr. Hasegawa and rangers from the Park Service, she drove home and fell into bed. Keiki lay next to her until she’d thawed out enough to fall asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Thursday, October 28

  Lei took Keiki out for a run on the beach the next morning before her shift at the Guardian. She ran hard on the sand near the water’s edge. She needed to shake off the effects of adrenaline and overstimulation from the day before, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the implications of last night’s find. Her phone toned against her side. She stopped, leaning over to catch her breath as she answered it, oblivious to the dawn-blushed waves lapping the silvery sand at her bare feet.

  “Hey, J-Boy.”

  “Sweets, it’s been a long night. Stevens, Fury, Becky, and Flea found what looks like three skeletons in the water, and the shrine held hand bones and some of those stones like those at the disappearance sites. They’re still reconstructing what goes with what, but the bones had tool marks as if the bodies were cut up first, and many have scorch marks. Stevens and the captain want the whole team to pull in to the War Room for a confab.”

  “That’s a lot of bodies.” Lei pinched her arm to stop her overactive imagination. “Sounds like a plan. When?”

  “Nine a.m. What up? Every time you turn around something pops on this case!”

  “I know. Weird, huh? Speaking of weird, I better call Esther and see what she thinks of the shrine in the Blue Room. Maybe there’s a cultural angle to that.”

  “Good idea. See you at nine. Oh, and by the way, they caught Darrell Hines in Honolulu. Fury’s flying over to question him about Lisa Nakamoto’s murder.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Lei’s eyes squinched shut to block out the memory of Lisa’s still, bluish face with the bullet hole in her forehead. It didn’t work.

  She finished her run in record time, burning nervous energy, and back at her house packed up her hippie gear for her shift at the Guardian after the station conference. She called Esther on the way into Kapa`a Station.

  “You found something important.” The older woman’s voice was matter-of-fact.

  “We did. How did you know?”

  Silence.

  “Well, anyway,” Lei continued. “We found a cache of human bones in the wall of the Blue Room at Waikapala`e Cave. They were arranged on top of ti leaves, with nonnative stones mixed in—like the ones I showed you. Any cultural angle there?”

  “Ti leaves. They have spiritual significance. People often wrap them around stones as an offering at the foot of bridges, waterfalls, and other places for good luck or to show honor and respect, though that is recent and not a true Hawaiian tradition. Ti leaf is believed to have protection against evil, and that’s why people plant it around their houses. This arrangement sounds like it’s borrowing some elements of our culture, but it is not a part of anything I know. It’s a corruption of our ways.”

  “There were also bones from up to three people in the cave pool. The bones were separated, as if the bodies were cut up, and they had scorch marks on them.”

  When Esther finally spoke, her voice vibrated. “This is evil at work. I have to pray.” She hung up.

  Lei shook her head. She wished praying made her feel better, but though she’d tried last night it had brought no comfort—ten people were still missing. She pushed the accelerator down hard, and the truck surged forward. For now she preferred to trust in what she could see and touch.

  Even so, she whispered, “Lord, help me find Jay Bennett. Protect him, please.”

  There wasn’t anything else she could do.

  Lei stopped at the morgue on the way to the station. Every available surface was taken up with bones in the process of being reassembled. Becky looked up from where she was bent over a collection on a rolling table, camera in hand, eyes ringed with fatigue and blond hair in a bedraggled ponytail. Dr. Hasegawa was at work beside her, holding a magnifying glass.

  “Pulled an all-nighter, I see. What’s the verdict?” Lei asked.

  “Got three skeletons here—we’re still trying to figure out what goes with what. See these scorch marks?” Becky pointed. Lei leaned in to look. “Some deterioration has occurred. It’s surprising they weren’t more disintegrated by the fire—he must not have wanted them to burn up completely. See these tool marks?” Lei nodded, examining the notched surfaces around the joints.

  “I’m not really trained in this kind of forensic work. I’m asking the captain for some outside help,” Dr. Hasegawa said. “This case is too much for our limited resources.”

  “Any ideas about cause of death?�
� Lei asked.

  “Not yet. But this one looks clear.” Becky reached over and retrieved a skull. The forehead was caved in with a dent the size of a baseball. “Head trauma. Some sort of blunt instrument.”

  “Hm. Could be how he subdues the victims.”

  Stevens entered, looking as sleep-deprived as Becky, but darkness under his eyes just made them bluer, whisker-shadow on his jaw adding a rakish edge. “Dr. Hasegawa, Becks—how’s the jigsaw puzzle coming?”

  “Slow. I already told the captain I need help identifying what kind of tool was used to cut up the bodies, and on this.” Dr. Hasegawa held the skull up with its concave dent. The bone was bleached-looking, the depression on what would have been the forehead webbed with fracture lines that looked like cracks in old china.

  “I’m trying to take some good pictures we can e-mail to Dr. Hasegawa’s contact in the lab on Oahu,” Becky said. “We’re going to be working on this awhile.”

  “Well, the FBI will be joining us this morning at our conference at the station. They might be able to bring in some experts or specialized equipment. We’ll let you know. Keep at it. You’re doing good work.” Stevens directed this comment to Becky, and Lei remembered the grin she saw on Stevens’s night-shadowed face—a combination of respect and male appreciation. She hadn’t seen that grin in a long time.

  Lei pushed past him and went toward the door. “Thanks for the update.”

  “Better get to the station,” Stevens said, following her. “We’ll call as soon as we know anything.”

  She felt him behind her in the hall and sped up, only to feel his hand touch her arm. She yanked it away. “What?”

  “You were pretty cozy with that Alika guy yesterday.”

  “I could say the same of you and Becky.”

  “It’s hardly the same. I haven’t even asked her out yet, and you’ve had roses and a ‘thanks for last night.’”

  Her stomach dropped. He’d read the card with the roses. She couldn’t blame him; she’d have done the same. Still, the best defense was always a good offense—her dead junkie mother had taught her that.