Chapter 27 The Meeting
The Meeting
Ua: rain, to rain; rainy
They piled into Woody’s truck before sunset, even though there was no sign of the sun, and drove to the Kiawe. Nalu had shown
up an hour earlier, thinking he would be taking her to the airport, so he joined them. On the way, Minnow learned that the
Kaupiko family had once owned the land where the resort sat, so Woody and Cliff could eat for free there until the day they
died. A deal brokered by their father and one they took full advantage of whenever they were at the house. Things now made
more sense.
She had tried to talk them out of going, blaming the approaching squall, but Cliff had his mind set on curry and coconut cake.
Of course it was Luke she didn’t want to run into, but she wasn’t about to tell them that. Thoughts of last night kept dropping
into her mind. It scared her how strongly she had reacted to him.
When the four of them rolled into the Saltwater Bar, every head in the room swung in their direction, as though a band of outlaws had just ridden into town.
Minnow wasn’t sure why at first, but it dawned on her that her three companions gave off a kind of subtle energy, powerful as the sun.
Especially Cliff with his shock of unruly silver-streaked hair and fire in his eyes.
One look his way and you could tell he was not someone to be messed with.
They grabbed a table closest to the ocean and Minnow sat facing out, noticing Luke’s boat was not there. Dixie was working
and zeroed in on them right away. When she pulled up, Nalu stood and kissed her in front of everyone. It was sweet to see
him so tender with her and not worried about what anyone thought.
After handing out menus, Dixie lowered her voice. “Y’all might want to know that Josh Brown is all giddy because he got to
interview the Search & Rescue guys about a leg that was found. Did you hear about that?” she asked, scrunching up her face.
“We did,” Minnow said.
“Everyone really wants this shark hunt, but I’m with you guys. Anything that swims in the ocean does so at their own risk.
My motto is be ready for anything to happen out there, and I do mean anything.”
Woody nudged Nalu’s shoulder. “This one is a keeper.”
Nalu grinned. “Yeah, I know.”
Cliff ordered a round of mai tais for the table and Minnow saw a look of concern pass across Woody’s face. “Just water for
me, thanks,” he said.
Minnow held up her hand. “Same.”
Nalu seemed to catch on. “None for me, either. I’m not a big drinker.”
As much as she liked the guy, she could see that Cliff on alcohol might not be a good thing. There was a volatility coiled
beneath his skin that she wasn’t sure she wanted to see unleashed. At least not now.
He looked dejected. “Shoots. Water for me then too.”
They ordered dinner, and Woody and Cliff shared stories about their childhood and how they once hiked with their father from Kona to Kawaihae along the old trail used by the Hawaiians, surviving on fish, seaweed and coconuts.
Minnow found herself half paying attention and half thinking about her mother being here all those years ago, a baby in her belly, coming face-to-face with a large tiger shark.
How that experience had shaped her and how in turn that had shaped Minnow.
When the food arrived, they got down to business.
“So, I been thinking about how to approach this,” Woody said in between bites. “We can make a last plea to Mayor Lum and talk
to this Josh Brown guy and get ourselves on national TV, explaining in more detail how a shark hunt goes against all of our
cultural values. In the old days, families had their day of the week they fished on and they couldn’t fish any other day.
Kept things in balance.”
Minnow hadn’t heard that before, but she liked their way of thinking. “We could also try to get a judge to halt it on the
grounds of animal cruelty or some other law, but we’d have to move fast,” she added. The idea had been brewing in the back
of her mind, far-fetched as it was. “Do you know any judges on the island we could call on?”
“Judge Carlsmith. She would know if it was even feasible,” Woody said.
“Where have I heard that name?”
“The guest book. She’s a family friend. Tough wahine.”
Right. The woman who knew all the fish. “Can you call her first thing in the morning?”
“Rajah.”
“I also want to talk to the medical examiner once I’m done with Angela and find out what I can about the leg. I’d like to
get a look at it myself,” she said, sick at the thought.
Cliff, who had been quietly stirring his curry all this time, finally lifted his head. “You folks do that. I’m going to put
some feelers out and see if I can rally the troops.”
“Rally them for what?” Minnow asked.
“You let me worry about that. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. But we gotta have something in place to stop these guys
if all else fails.”
Woody frowned. “No violence, Cliff.”
“They the one bringing violence.”
“Yeah, but we take the high road, no matter what. No ‘eye for an eye’ or any of that kind of bull crap.”
“Easy for you to say,” Cliff said, squeezing his fork with a balled fist.
“No, it’s not easy for me to say. But we do what we can, say our prayers and trust God to do the rest.”
Cliff’s leg bounced up and down, and he shot his brother a dangerous look. “Only people I trust around here are you and maybe
this wahine here next to me. How many times we let the so-called people in power make stupid decisions that serve only them or their
special interests? Not us, nevah us.”
It surprised Minnow to be included in his small circle of trust. “If we can prove that there’s chumming, I think we have a
shot at stopping the hunt, so let’s focus on that,” she said, trying to sound more upbeat than she felt.
“All these guys, they need smacks upside the head.”
Woody shook his head. “You do that, you’re no better than them.”
For a moment Cliff looked like he might break down in tears, and she felt for him. There was nothing worse than being backed
into a cave and the only way out was to fight and claw and scream. Her nightmares contained a similar vein of powerlessness.
Nalu nodded toward the bar television. “Sorry to interrupt, but . . . news time.”
She and Nalu hurried over to the two empty bar seats in order to hear better, leaving the brothers some time alone.
A young local guy named Keone Kern was just introducing fire department spokesman Cyril Macadangdang.
“What can you tell us about this possible new development in the disappearance of Hank Johnson?”
“Keone, it’s too early to tell, but divers found a leg wedged in a crack in about fifteen feet of water.
This was in the general area where Hank was last seen.
And because we’re looking at over two weeks since he went missing, there has unfortunately been significant decomposition.
It’s still uncertain if the leg was severed before or after the owner died.
But I can tell you this: There are tooth imprints on the bone. Large ones.”
“Oh shit,” Minnow said.
“No one left me a message. That sucks,” Nalu said.
They’d given the intern’s number to Lum’s secretary since Hale Niuhi had no answering machine and they were hardly ever in
the house.
“At this point we’re just noise,” she said, standing up to return to the table, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Keone wore a solemn look. “Any estimation how long it will take to find out?”
“Couple days max. This is being expedited, especially with the shark hunt to begin Saturday.”
“As someone with a long history of experience in this kind of thing, what else can you tell us, Cyril?”
“There are no other missing people in the area, and we know with a hundred percent certainty of a large predatory shark cruising
this coastline, so that tells me this person was most likely hit while still alive.”
What kind of faulty logic is that? Minnow felt like shouting.
“Were there any signs of clothing or goggles or fins, anything like that?” Keone asked.
“Nope, but based on the size of the bones and the foot, the deceased appears to be male. We should have our answer soon. And
in the meantime, if you do swim, stay close to shore.”
Keone nodded and stared back into the camera. “Thank you so much, Cyril. Now back to you, Joe.”
Nalu shot her a look. “What the hell was that?”
Minnow had no answer. When she was halfway back to the table, she caught a glimpse of a man sitting on the beach staring out
at the squall now just offshore. Wide shoulders and wet, scruffy hair.
Luke.
But where was his boat? Her first instinct was to go out there and sit down next to him, lean in and wait for the rain to come, tell him she wasn’t
leaving after all. Then she remembered his words.
I’m not the man you think I am.
“Who are you, Luke Greenwood?” she whispered.
Minnow picked at her salad, borrowed a few french fries from Nalu, and drank four glasses of water. Her mind was whirling
with so many thoughts in so many directions, it was hard to concentrate on anything anyone was saying. Also, she could hear
the approaching raindrops falling hard on the ocean surface, a loud rush of freshwater into salt. So loud she covered her
ears with her hands.
“You okay, Doc?” Nalu asked.
She attempted a smile. “Fine, it’s just so loud.”
“The music?”
Two musicians had started up in the corner, but they were pure background.
“The rain.”
Suddenly Luke stood up and made a dash toward them. She tracked his every effortless step, and he made it to shelter a few
seconds before the sky opened up and unleashed raindrops the size of jellyfish. There were plenty of places he could have
looked, but he half turned toward their table and locked eyes with Minnow. His face went from surprise to the stirrings of
a smile to something darker. She had to rip her gaze away.
“Isn’t that your friend?” Nalu said.
No way was she going to get into it now.
“Yeah, that’s Luke.”
Her heart hurt and was beating too fast, like tiny bird wings fighting for flight.
“You not going to invite him over?”
Minnow gave him a cold glare. “There’s no room at the table.”
Cliff pushed out his seat and stood. “We pau anyway. Let’s head back. I got some things to take care of.”
Woody swallowed his last piece of coconut cake and Minnow put hers in a to-go box. When they walked out, Luke was still standing
there—she could see him out of the side of her eye. This time she forced herself not to look. His pull was too strong and
she couldn’t be swayed right now. Not that he wanted anything to do with her anyway. But as she passed, she swore he said
her name out loud. Or maybe it was just the song of the rain on the roof.