Jesse had the audacity to smile, his teeth nearly as white as his service uniform. The air had ruffled his sun-streaked hair and left it boyishly tousled as he stood, hat in hand, talking to a woman beside a car. Kaia had a feeling he wouldn’t be reprimanded easily.
She wasn’t sure she could keep from crying while she yelled at him. His demands just might cost her the research project. She got out of the truck, leaving it running where it sat blocking the main gate.
The SP stepped in front of her with his hand on his gun. Jesse waved him away. “She’s fine. I don’t think she’s dangerous.” He lifted a brow. “Though I could be wrong.”
A lot he knew. The way she felt right now, she could toss him from the top of Mount Kilauea as a tasty treat for Pele, the goddess of fire.
He held up his hands as she drew near. “Truce. We’re going to be working together for the next few weeks. Let’s not start out squabbling.”
“Squabbling? I have every right to be upset. You knew I didn’t want to work with you, but you went around my back to my boss. That’s low, Commander Matthews.”
“I was looking out for the good of the country. And call me Jesse.”
From the coaxing expression in his eyes, she knew he expected her to be dazzled by the brilliance of his smile. She wasn’t. “My responsibility is to look out for my dolphins. I’m warning you right now that Nani had better not be in danger.” Kaia blinked rapidly. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
A frown replaced his smile. “If I thought you or your dolphin would be hurt, I wouldn’t have asked for your help. It’s a simple assignment, Kaia. Patrolling offshore, that’s all I ask. The navy hasn’t lost a dolphin in combat yet.”
“Maybe not in combat, but their callous handling has resulted in several deaths,” she snapped.
He nodded. “Those dolphins weren’t able to withstand the shock of transportation. We’re not taking Nani anywhere.”
He seemed so earnest and sincere. She wished she could believe him. “It seems I have no choice. What do I have to do?” Instead of answering, Jesse turned to the woman standing next to him. Kaia suddenly felt embarrassed by her outburst. “I’d like you to meet someone, Jillian. This is Kaia Oana. She does dolphin research.”
Jillian and Jesse shared the same blond hair and blue eyes, though Jillian was slim and petite, and her eyes were rimmed in red. Something was going on here. Kaia shook Jillian’s hand. “It’s easy to see the two of you are related.”
A small voice piped up from an invisible source. “Dolphins? You have dolphins? I’m an expert on them. What kind do you have—bottle-nosed or spinners?”
Jesse stepped aside and grinned at a little girl, a small but happier replica of Jillian, who was leaning out the car window. “I think Heidi knows more about dolphins than most trainers. This is my niece. She lives, sleeps, and breathes dolphins.”
Kaia’s anger began to cool. “You’ll have to come meet Nani then. She’s bottle-nosed.”
“She’s yours?” Heidi asked, her eyes round.
“Well, not exactly. She and some other dolphins are part of a research project at Seaworthy Labs where I work. We have some captive dolphins and others like Nani, who are free. We treat the wild dolphins more like friends. They can come and go as they please, and we don’t train them with food deprivation. We’re working on interacting with language.”
“Food deprivation?” Heidi stepped out of the car and joined the threesome.
Kaia nodded. “The dolphins perform for food. They only want the food if they’re hungry, so in the beginning at least, most trainers keep the dolphins slightly hungry. We don’t do that.”
“That’s cool! How many wild dolphins do you have?” Heidi dropped her suitcase at her uncle’s feet.
“Three. Nani, Liko, and Mahina. Mahina is still a calf though.”
“When can I see them? I’m going to stay with Uncle Jesse while Mom chases volcanoes.”
“Volcanoes?” Kaia looked at Jillian with a question in her eyes, and the other woman nodded.
“I’m a volcanologist. Vesuvius is about to blow in Italy for the first time this century.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Kaia said, then wondered if she should have mentioned the danger in front of Jillian’s daughter. But the girl seemed too busy twirling the tie on her shirt to notice Kaia’s bad choice of words.
Kaia glanced into Jillian’s eyes and was surprised to find no excitement there in spite of her smile. Maybe it was the prospect of leaving her daughter. Kaia guessed her to be in her mid to late thirties. Her listless air detracted from her porcelain-doll good looks.
“Maybe Kaia will take you out with her and Nani sometime on the boat,” Jesse said.
The gleam in his eye irritated Kaia. The best way to foil him would be not to let him rile her, but it was easier said than done. She managed a sweet smile. “I’m sure I could arrange that.”
Heidi squealed and hopped around. “Thanks for bringing me, Mom!” She hugged her mother then ran back to the car for more of her things to add to the pile at Jesse’s feet.
A smile finally lifted the corners of Jillian’s lips. “I guess I can leave with a clear conscience.” She looked up at her brother. “You call me if anything—and I mean anything—goes wrong. I’ll quit and come home if I need to.”
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Me and the monkey will have a grand time.”
“Do you have any idea who can help you?” Jillian still seemed loathe to leave.
He shook his head. “You have any idea? You’ve lived here just as long as I have.”
Jillian glanced at her watch and chewed her lip. “My plane leaves in a few hours. I should just cancel and take another flight so I can help you find someone.” She rubbed her forehead. “This was a crazy idea, Jesse. I can’t go.”
Jesse frowned and shook his head. “You’re going. I’ll figure something out.”
Kaia decided to take pity on them both. “You’re needing a day-care person? I had a wonderful nanny growing up. I could give you her name and number.”
Relief flooded Jesse’s face. “Could you get it now?”
“I have her number at home. I could call you tonight with it.”
Jesse lowered his voice and glanced toward his niece, who was busy tossing out snorkel gear from the trunk of the car. “I have a friend at work, Donna, who might be happy to keep her today until I can find some day care for her,” he said to Jillian.
A woman. Kaia had to wonder if it was a girlfriend, and the disquieting feeling that swept over her surprised her. She wasn’t interested in the handsome commander.
“I could take her to see the dolphins today.” She blurted the words without thinking.
Kaia liked kids, and Heidi’s interest in dolphins intrigued her. Besides, Kaia wouldn’t want to be stuck in Jesse’s office all day if she were a child.
Jillian looked from her brother to Kaia uncertainly. “Are you two friends?”
“Not exactly,” Jesse muttered. “But I think we can trust her. If she’s so conscientious with her dolphins, she’ll take good care of Heidi.”
Heidi came in on the last of the conversation. “I get to see the dolphins today?” She began to jump up and down.
Jillian bit her lip. “Are you sure? Have you been around kids much?”
“I love kids,” Kaia assured her. “I teach hula to ten eight-year-olds every week.”
“Okay,” Jillian said. She dug in her purse for a scrap of paper and scribbled a number on it then handed it to Kaia. “Here’s my cell phone number. Call me with any questions.”
“Okay,” Kaia said. She almost laughed at Jesse’s expression of relief. “We’ll go out in the boat with Nani.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Jillian said. “This job is important, but not as important as my daughter. She’s all I’ve got now.”
Kaia wanted to ask where the keiki’s father was, but looking into Jillian’s shadowed eyes, she decided to bite her tongue. She turned to Heidi. “Want to meet Nani?”
“Can we go now?” Heidi kicked up red dust as she danced around Kaia.
“As soon as I get some instructions from your uncle.” She turned to Jesse. “What exactly do you want me to do with Nani?” Kaia asked.
His relaxed, easy manner had returned. “The dolphins the navy has trained can carry a camera on their back that allows us to monitor underwater activity. They can also attach a buoy to a swimmer so guards can find and pick up the intruder. Could Nani do that?”
“I’m sure she could figure it out. What do you want to work on first?”
“Let’s start with the camera. We can monitor what the lens picks up from onboard the boat. I’ll meet you at the base dock and we’ll put a harness with a camera on the dolphin. Then we can see whatever’s down there. I’d like you to work nights, if you could. That’s when we’d be most likely to have intruders. The first couple of days we can have the two of you out during the day until Nani knows what she’s doing, then switch to nights. Once she figures it out, you wouldn’t even have to be along. Our sailors could handle it.”
This might be kind of fun. Nani would probably thrive on the challenge, and Kaia would still have plenty of opportunity to test the communication skills between her and the dolphin. Plus, if Nani successfully foiled an intruder, Kaia could use her success to help convince Curtis to keep the research going. And she’d be on hand to see if the navy was trying to cover up anything about her cousin’s death. Kaia’s thoughts drifted to the catamaran tragedy and the missile testing. Could this intruder problem be related?
“I’d want to be there anyway to make sure Nani isn’t hurt. What exactly are we looking for?”
“In the past two weeks, we’ve had several intrusions that came from the sea. Probably a diver, maybe more than one. If we could apprehend whoever is doing this, we might be able to get him to tell us what he’s after and why.”
“Information about the missile defense system you just tested?” she suggested.
Jesse nodded. “Maybe. That’s what we need to find out.”
“Give me an hour. I’ll meet you back here.” She wanted to talk to her brother first.
He nodded then added his cell phone number to the scrap of paper Jillian’s was written on before turning to talk to his sister and niece.
Kaia jogged to her truck and drove out to the lagoon to her grandfather’s cottage. Bane had told her this morning he was going to help their grandfather in the garden today.
Mynas called from the trees as she got out in front of the cottage. She found Bane pulling weeds beside their grandfather. Tûtû kâne’s dark eyes brightened when he saw her. “Ah, lei aloha, you look as bright as the mynas.” He held up a dirt-covered taro root. “Hungry?”
She smiled. “Um, no.”
She glanced at her brother. He raised his eyebrows. “What’s up, sis? You look frazzled.”
“What a day I’ve had,” she said, bending down to pull a handful of black wattle. “First I found the lab has been sold to a man who wants to enclose the lagoon and put Nani and the others in captivity for a sea park. Then he tells me he’s giving me to the navy to help patrol the waters offshore with Nani. I’m about ready to give up the whole thing. I’ll never break that communication barrier.”
Her grandfather smiled. “I’ve got a hammer you can use.”
She laughed. Her grandfather’s wit always cheered her up, but she needed some advice. She glanced at Bane. He straightened up and brushed the dirt from his hands. “Need to talk?” He nodded toward a white iron garden bench surrounded by hibiscus to his left. Kaia nodded, and he headed for it. She followed and sat beside him.
Bane stretched his legs out in front of him. “Give me the scoop.”
She shrugged. “I just did.”
“There’s more to it than you said. You hate change—admit it.”
She held up her hand. “Okay, guilty as charged.”
“I’ve always believed things happen for a reason, Kaia. God might be shutting this door and opening another opportunity for you to reach Nani. One that will work.”
“I don’t see how,” she said. “I’ll have very little time to work with my equipment. This could set me back, maybe for good.”
“Give God time to work, and look for the opportunities He sends. There is a reason this has happened. Don’t shortchange Him.”
Kaia hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe you’re right. But I sure don’t see how this is a good thing.” She knew things didn’t always work out. Even when her life went well, she waited for the other shoe to drop. And it always did. She wished she could be more like her brother. But his faith was way beyond hers. While she was a Christian too, her own faith was as weak as a newly hatched chick— her own fault, she knew. It had been weeks since she’d even been in services. Her research had consumed her attention lately.
Bane grinned. “I see the resistance in your eyes, Kaia. I have a feeling you’re in for a major lesson of some kind this summer. Relax and enjoy the ride.”
Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to kowtow to a certain navy commander. She sighed and went to do her duty.
She rolled her window down and let the sea air in the truck as she drove out to Barking Sands. The SPs made her wait at the gate for Jesse. He looked frazzled when he appeared fifteen minutes later.
“I really appreciate this,” he said again as she climbed into his Jeep Wrangler.
He accelerated quickly and the momentum threw her back against the seat. “Where’s Heidi?”
The Jeep rocketed around a corner, and Kaia grabbed the door for support. Jesse didn’t answer until his SUV slid to a stop in front of a building.
Jesse killed the engine. “She’s here with Donna.”
Kaia got out and followed him inside. She had to admit she was curious to see this Donna. Jesse led her down a long hallway clad with institutional tan tiles and painted a sickly green. He stepped into a room filled with banks of computers. The dizzying display of electronic equipment dazzled Kaia; then she saw Heidi seated beside a woman with red hair. Donna’s face brightened when she turned and caught sight of Jesse. The proprietary expression on her face deepened when her gaze wandered to Kaia.
“Donna, this is Kaia Oana. She and her dolphin are going to help patrol the waters offshore.”
Donna nodded coolly. “Pleased to meet you,” she said, her tone indicating anything but pleasure. Her eyes tilted upward at the ends in a way that made her appear exotic and interesting.
“We’ve come to take Heidi off your hands,” Kaia said, glancing at the little girl who was engrossed in a computer game. “Ready to go meet the dolphins, Heidi?”
Heidi dropped the mouse and sprang out of her chair. Donna’s face darkened. “Heidi and I have been having a good time, haven’t we, Heidi?” She put her hand on top of Heidi’s head.
“Sure, but I want to see the dolphins!” Heidi slipped her hand into Kaia’s. “Can we go now?”
Kaia didn’t want to be rude. “In a few minutes.”
“You don’t know how much I appreciate your help,” Jesse said to Donna. He extended a hand to Donna.
Donna’s dazzling display of teeth set Kaia on edge. If he wanted to flirt with the beautiful ensign, he could do it on his own time. She needed to get out on the water. Aware she was irritated with Jesse for no good reason, she took Heidi’s hand. “We’ll wait for you in the hall.”
WITH THE WIND IN HER HAIR AND THE SUN SLANTING OVER THE cliffs of Na Pali, Kaia was in her element. This was the third day Heidi had gone out with her. Jesse had tried to call Kaia’s old nanny but hadn’t gotten an answer. Something would have to be done soon, however, since Kaia was about to start working nights. Not that she minded having Heidi along—the little girl’s pleasant chatter made the day go faster.
She waved to her friend George Thompson in his Fathom Five Divers boat just outside the no-navigation area. Two other crew members, Mark Davy and Charlie Schmitt, sent piercing wolf whistles in her direction. She grinned and stuck out her tongue at them as she passed. She’d done her dive training with Fathom Five and still dove with them occasionally.
Heidi wore a life vest and sat in the bow, a smile as big as Kipu Falls on her face. Her bear, Boo, had been all but forgotten under a deck chair. Nani raced along beside the boat. Kaia had hardly seen Jesse. From the grim expression on his face over the past couple of days, she knew things at the base weren’t going well. She’d offered to keep Heidi with her tonight to attend one of her grandfather’s lu´aus, and the relief on his face had spoken volumes.
Her skin felt taut and windburned. They’d been out here since seven this morning, and it was already nearly six. Nani surfaced and leaped into the air. Kaia frowned. “The camera is missing.” She stood and scanned the waves for the buoyant device. “Nani keeps scraping it off.” She suppressed her disappointment. She’d thought Nani would love this new challenge, and she hated to admit the dolphin was failing her assignment so far.
“There it is.” Heidi pointed at the bright yellow bit of plastic housing floating about fifteen feet from the boat.
Kaia steered the boat toward the camera then cut the engine and fished it out of the waves. She whistled for Nani, and the dolphin zipped to the side of the Porpoise II then turned and raced away when she saw the camera in Kaia’s hand.
Kaia pressed her lips together. “We might as well go in.”
“I want to stay out here.” Heidi crossed her arms over her chest. “Can’t we work with DALE?”
Kaia glanced at her watch. “For a few minutes. Then we have to go in.” She grabbed her knapsack and pulled out the communication device. When she dropped it in the water, Nani came back to the boat. Kaia began to input clicks and whistles into the machine. Nani pressed the wrong picture on the underwater screen three times.
“She’s not cooperating,” Kaia said. She pulled the device out of the water. “We might as well go in. We’re not accomplishing anything.” Sometimes she wondered if she was ever going to get through to the dolphin in a way that really mattered. Nani rolled over by the boat, and Kaia managed to get the camera back on her.
“You promised we could stay out awhile. It’s only been fifteen minutes.” Heidi’s lip trembled, and tears clung to her lashes. “All grownups break their promises.”
Kaia bit her tongue and tried not to snap back. “You sound tired. I think you need a nap.”
“I’m not!” Heidi rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes. “Naps are for babies. My mom doesn’t make me take a nap.”
Kaia knew what the problem was. “You miss your mom, don’t you? Maybe we can call her when we get to shore.”
Heidi picked up an oar and threw it overboard. “Stop talking about my mother!”
Kaia wasn’t sure how to handle this acting out. Heidi had to be upset by her father’s abandonment and now by her mother’s absence. Poor kid. Kaia cut the engine, and the boat slewed sideways. She tossed the anchor overboard. “How about a swim before we go ashore?”
Heidi looked at her uncertainly as if she had expected Kaia to be mad. “I’ll get the oar. Can I snorkel?”
“We can both snorkel a little while.” Kaia waved to the navy boat that was monitoring Nani. She and Heidi adjusted their masks and pulled on their swim fins. “See you in the water.” Kaia rolled over the edge of the boat.
Kaia’s disappointment in Nani’s performance today left her as she entered the world she loved best. Schools of Raccoon Butterfly fish surrounded her then darted away. She spotted several Orange Bandit surgeonfish, a small school of Hawaiian Cleaner wrasse, and a Hawaiian puffer. Her favorite, the Moorish Idol, swam by and disappeared behind a lava rock. The scores of brilliantly colored fish dazzled her eyes in a display of bright yellow, turquoise, and green.
Heidi joined her and grabbed Nani’s dorsal fin. The dolphin pulled the little girl through a school of wrasse. Kaia wished she had her camera.
A shadowy movement caught her eye, and she turned to see a scuba diver swimming toward her. Dressed in a black wet suit, the man paused when he saw them. Though she was sure he was merely out for a pleasure dive, her orders were to take pictures of any divers or anything unusual. Kaia motioned to Nani, and the dolphin swerved, dislodging Heidi’s grip on her dorsal fin. Her body in torpedo mode, Nani darted past Kaia toward the diver.
Kaia pointed toward the surface, and Heidi nodded and swam to the boat. Once Kaia saw that the little girl was safely aboard the boat, she turned to help Nani. The dolphin was swimming around the man. She could see the camera would get a good look at the diver. The man spotted the camera mounted on the dolphin and swam away.
Maybe it was nothing. He might not have known he wasn’t allowed here, just offshore the naval base. Still, she wanted a look at his face in case the picture in Nani’s camera didn’t come out. Nani raced along beside her, and Kaia grabbed hold of the dolphin’s dorsal fin to let Nani drag her along faster.
Descended from a line of pearl divers, Kaia could hold her breath for four minutes, a fact she hoped would allow her to get close enough before she had to surface. The man glanced back at them then stopped by a large pile of lava rock that had fallen into the sea.
Kaia squinted through her mask. He had something in his hand. Her hold on Nani’s dorsal fin slackened as she realized the man had a dart gun. A dart zipped through the water by her head, and she let out a gurgle of bubbles. Nani paused at Kaia’s sound of distress, then shot forward and plowed her nostrum into the diver’s arm. The dart gun loosened from his fingers and drifted toward the bottom.
He turned and swam away. Too shaken to go after him, Kaia signaled for the dolphin to come to her. Nani pulled her to the surface, and Kaia drew in a deep breath of air and looked around wildly for Heidi. Her breath eased when she saw the little girl still safely in the boat. She grasped the side and rested until her limbs stopped shaking.
“Are you okay?” Heidi peered down at her.
“I’m fine.” Kaia hauled herself aboard. Her legs felt like limp seaweed. She grabbed the ship-to-shore radio the navy had given her and told the sailor on the other end what had happened. He signaled to her from the boat and spoke reassurances to her through the radio, but she glared across the water at the sailors. Where had they been when she, Heidi, and Nani were in danger?
Jesse had promised Nani would be perfectly safe. They’d both nearly been shot with the dart gun. Even worse, Heidi could have been hurt. That guy was no casual diver. She and the dolphin weren’t equipped to handle terrorists.
She dangled her fingers over the side of the boat, and Nani came to her. The dolphin bumped against her hand then chattered, her bright eyes seeming to ask if Kaia was all right. Kaia smiled and patted Nani’s nostrum. “I’m okay,” she told the dolphin. Nani chattered again then plunged into the waves.
Kaia sat back in her seat. “We’re going in,” she told Heidi. “The navy has the coordinates. They don’t need us to wait.” And even if they did, her priority was to get Heidi to safety. Kaia had no idea where the diver had gone. If he came back with some buddies, they would all be in danger.
To be fair, she knew Jesse had thought of these daytime exercises merely as training for real detection that would go on at night. That intruder was brazen to be out here in the daylight. Kaia was sure Jesse never would have let the little girl come out here if he’d thought there was any danger.
She kept an eye out for other boats as she turned on the engine and sped toward home. All she saw was a navy cruiser heading out to where she’d been anchored. They were unlikely to find anything. The diver was long gone, but maybe they could find the dart gun.
Where had the man gone though? She’d seen no other boats around. They were only a hundred yards offshore, but he couldn’t have gone ashore on base. He would have been caught by the navy.
Kaia looked up and down the stretch of Polihale Beach just north of Barking Sands. Nothing there. Na Pali stretched toward the sky just beyond the beach. The verdant green vegetation juxtaposed against the blue sky looked like a picture postcard, too beautiful to be real.
She looked the other direction. Barking Sands gave way to several contract installations. There would be no reason for any of those companies to have divers out here, though she supposed the man could have made it to a safe stretch along there.
She steered the boat toward her home dock of Echo Lagoon. It was dark by the time she and Heidi arrived, and she had to flip on her headlamps. A bonfire lit the beach outside her grandfather’s house, and she could hear the thump of drums and smell the aroma of roasting pig. The familiarity eased her tension. Safe harbor. Nothing could harm them here, not with her brothers about.
Heidi bounced on the seat. “I forgot about the lu’au! Can we still go?”
“If you promise to let me teach you to hula.”
“It’s too girly.”
Heidi was all tomboy. Kaia smiled. “You’ll be hooked before the night is out.”
HE WATCHED THE FISH IN HIS TANK. EVERYTHING HE’D EVER wanted was close enough to smell and taste. His imminent success should taste like the sweetest pineapple his father had ever grown, but instead it was like mashed taro—much more bland than he’d imagined. Maybe because he had no one to share the joy with. At least that’s what he told himself. Believing that was better than backing out of what he had to do.
He had no choice but to make the tally of lost lives huge. The failure had to be big—big enough to change the course of the trials. He glanced at the wall to the left. Awards his father had won surrounded a large portrait of his father. He stood and walked to the picture and stood staring into his father’s smiling eyes. “I’m doing this for you,” he said. “You’re going to be so proud of me.”
He turned as his assistant came into the room. “What’s the status? It’s almost time.”
His assistant didn’t meet his gaze. “Remember the dolphin that arrived when the boat exploded? Lieutenant Commander Matthews has hired the dolphin and her trainer to patrol the waters with a camera.”
“So arm our divers with spearguns.” He shrugged. “One dolphin shouldn’t be hard to dispose of.” Nor would Jesse, for that matter. He examined the thought for a moment. Would there be a way to become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams and have the revenge he desired?