Chapter 2 #2
Hawk’s deep voice filled Kimo’s senses and made her eyes flood with tears.
“They took Alana,” she blurted out on a sob.
With her thoughts in turmoil, the urgency of the situation forced her words out in a rush.
“We were night diving. They ran her over, then dragged her aboard. They tried to run me over and fired bullets into the water... We have to find her. By now, they could be anywhere.”
“Hey, hey,” Hawk said in a calming tone. “Slow down and give me all the details. I have you on speaker. Kalea’s here with me.”
More tears welled in Kimo’s eyes. “Oh, Kalea. I’m sorry to wake you both.”
“Oh, Kimo. Don’t worry about that. This is what we do. What’s important is finding Alana.”
“Kimo, I need you to start over,” Hawk’s voice cut in. “Who took Alana?”
“I don’t know,” she cried. “We were diving in Maalaea Bay. They showed up out of nowhere.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out in an attempt to calm herself.
Once she had her pulse and breathing under control, she started over, telling them everything she knew about the attack from the moment the boat showed up to when it disappeared with her dive boat in tow.
“The Coast Guard has been alerted. They’re sending out a boat from the Maui station and a helicopter from Oahu. ”
“About how long ago did this happen?” Hawk asked.
Kimo glanced at her dive watch. “Almost four hours ago.” She swallowed hard on a sob threatening to rise up her throat. “We have to find Alana. She could’ve been hurt badly when the other boat struck her.”
“We’ll see what we can find out from the police and Coast Guard. In the meantime, I’ll send a couple of men out in boats to aid in the search and another to cover you.”
“I’m not the one in trouble,” Kimo insisted. “Send them all out to find Alana.”
“They attacked you both,” Hawk said.
“Why would they target us?” Kimo asked.
“You could’ve interrupted a nefarious assignation,” Hawk said. “They might have been running drugs or illegal weapons. The fact that you spotted their boat could’ve been enough to make them want to eliminate any witnesses.”
Kimo’s breath caught as the fog clogging her mind cleared.
She remembered what they’d found on the ocean floor.
“The shipping container. Oh, my God.” She pinched the bridge of her nose as the images of what they’d found roiled in her memory.
“Right before we were attacked, we found a shipping container on the seabed.”
“A shipping container?” Hawk prompted. “Did you see what was in it?”
“Yes. Oh, sweet Jesus... There was half a dozen decomposed bodies inside. I was so worried about Alana and getting away, I can’t believe I forgot about those poor people.”
“Did you tell the police?” Hawk asked.
“No.” She looked at the EMT whose brow had furrowed.
“I need to tell them. They need to know to send someone out there.” Her chest squeezed so hard she could barely breathe.
“If those men were responsible for the deaths of those people...” Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. “They have Alana.’
“Talk to Kalea,” Hawk said. “I’ll relay the information to the Maui PD.”
“Kimo,” Kalea’s voice sounded through the cell phone. “Alana’s a strong woman. She’s going to be okay. We have to believe that.”
“If she’s not already dead, they might just go to find a place to ditch her body,” Kimo murmured. “Like they did those people in the shipping container. They were shackled to the walls. They had no way to escape.”
“No wonder those men attacked you,” Kalea said. “If they were responsible for that container being where you found it, and for the people inside, they wouldn’t want any witnesses. Hawk’s right to send one of his men to protect you.”
“I saw men on the boat, but I wasn’t close enough to identify any of their faces.”
“Did you see a registration number on the side of the boat?” Kalea asked.
“No, and there wasn’t a name across the back. I think it was one of those low-profile vessels. We heard it before we could see it. By then, it was too late.”
“Yeah, but you saw what they’d done.”
“Kimo,” Hawk’s voice came back on the line. “I’m on the phone with the Coast Guard about the shipping container. Did you happen to get the coordinates of the location?”
Kimo nodded and held up her dive watch. “I did. On my dive watch.” She read off the coordinates to him.
Hawk repeated the coordinates to the Coast Guard representative and added, “Got it? Good.” He paused. “Yes, I’ll let you know if I learn of anything else. Thank you. Out here.” Hawk said, “They’re sending another boat to that location.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Kalea asked. “I’d fly out tonight, but my plane is in the shop for annual maintenance.”
“I’ll be all right,” Kimo responded without adding that Alana might not be okay. She had to believe she would be found. Alive. They couldn’t give up on her.
“Kimo?” Kalea’s voice sounded softly. “Are you still with us?”
Kimo stared up at the ceiling of the ambulance.
“It was supposed to be a beautiful night dive to photograph marine life and the bioluminescence. And it was beautiful. I took some great shots. We found the shipping container but needed to surface to exchange tanks and find a pry bar to open the door of the container. I downloaded the photos onto my laptop.”
She shook her head. “Now that laptop’s gone with my boat.”
“Did you take a photo of the shipping container before you came up for air?” Hawk asked.
Kimo frowned. “Just the outside of it. As I said, we needed leverage to get the door open wide enough to look inside. While Alana switched tanks, I downloaded the photos to my laptop and collected a pry bar.”
“Kimo,” Hawk’s tone grew tense. “Was there any form of personal identification on the dive boat?”
“Yeah. My purse was on the boat with my cell phone, driver’s license and boater education card inside.”
“Which have your name and address on them,” Kalea said.
“They’ll know where to find you,” Kelea said.
“And they have your laptop,” Hawk said. “They have the photos you took. If they find out you didn’t die, you’re the only person who has seen the shipping container. Eliminate you, and the authorities have no proof.”
“Unless the Coast Guard finds the shipping container,” Kimo said.
“And if they don’t find it?” Kalea said.
“The images are still on my camera.” Kimo’s gut clenched. She looked around the interior of the ambulance. “My camera!”
“Do you still have it?” Hawk asked.
“No. I must have dropped it when I released my BCD. I had pictures of the container and the victims on that camera.” She fought against the restraints. “Let me out of here. Please.”
The EMT laid a hand on her arm. “You need to see a doctor.”
“I have to find my camera.” She fumbled with the cell phone. It slipped from her fingers and clattered against the floor.
Kimo twisted and turned, clawing at the straps holding her on the stretcher. “Please, let me out.”
The ambulance slowed and came to a halt.
“Okay, okay,” the EMT said. “I’ll let you out. But you might as well let a doctor see you. We’re at the hospital.” He released the straps around her legs first.
“I don’t have time to see a damned doctor. I need to find my friend and my camera.”
As soon as he released the strap around her chest, she sat up and launched herself toward the back door of the ambulance.
The EMT grabbed her arm. “Miss Kekoa, let me help—"
Still weak from exertion, Kimo fought to free herself from his grip. When her arm slipped free of his grasp, she was pulling so hard she flew in the opposite direction.
The back door opened at that moment.
Kimo fell through, crashing into a wall of hard muscle. The impact jarred what little air she had left in her lungs.
She would have dropped to the ground, except strong arms clamped around her and crushed her to the chest of the man they belonged to.
For a long moment, Kimo forgot how to breathe, and the automatic rhythm of her lungs was arrested as her heart stopped beating.
“Miss Kekoa, I presume?” a deep, warm voice sounded near her ear.
Kimo looked up into smoky gray eyes.
And blacked out.