Chapter 4 #2
“Two and a half years,” she said, turning slowly, taking in the destruction.
“I was so happy to move into my own home.” She shrugged.
“Well, my name’s on it, even though the bank owns more of it than I do.
” She faced him. “What about you? You say you live in an apartment. Have you ever owned a house?”
He nodded. “I own a few.”
Her brow furrowed. “Do you own your apartment?”
Rex shook his head. “I rent it.”
“Why do you rent if you own a few homes?”
He shrugged. “They’re part of my investment portfolio. I rent them out. It’s supposed to be passive income. Though I spend time doing the maintenance on them.”
“Investments, passive income... Why do you work with the Brotherhood Protectors? Sounds like you don’t need to.”
“I like to keep busy and to use the skills I learned in the Army. Can’t always do that, managing property.”
“Did you learn about investments and purchasing property in college?”
He shook his head. “Not so much in college; I learned at home. My father drilled it into me. He tried to teach me all there was to know about business and finances from the moment I learned to read.”
“Did he want you to grow up able to take care of your family?”
“No,” Rex said, his lips thinning. “He wanted me to take over the family business after he retired.”
“Was that a bad thing?” she asked.
He snorted. “While other fathers taught their sons how to throw a football, mine taught me how to invest in stock markets and how to leverage mortgages to build a portfolio of assets.”
“I take it you would rather have been out throwing a football.”
“Actually, I drank it in, hoping that by showing interest in what he did, he would take an interest in me.”
“Did he?”
He shrugged. “Only as far as what I could add to his company. When I went to college, he chose my degree. When I told him I’d switched my degree field to history and political science, he cut my funding, saying he wouldn’t pay for a useless degree.
When I was ready to be serious about my studies, we could talk. ”
“What did you do?”
His lips curved upward. “I joined the Army, worked hard and earned my way into Delta Force.”
“Was your father proud of you then?”
He laughed. “No. He cut all ties with me when I joined the Army.”
Kimo’s heart pinched hard in her chest. “What about your mother?”
“She died when I was at the end of my sophomore year of college. My mother was the only person in my father’s house who made living there tolerable. She made me promise to live my life the way I wanted, not to let anyone take my choices away.”
“Thus, the change in your course of studies,” Kimo said softly.
Rex nodded.
“Any regrets about your decision to join the Army?” Kimo asked.
“None,” Rex said. “My father disowned me. My only family, my mother, was gone. In the Army, I found myself and my brothers in arms. I learned that love and loyalty weren’t determined by the blood in your veins, but by the blood you were willing to spill for people you care about.
” He glanced out the front window. “Looks like the Maui PD is here.” A frown brought his brow low. “Great, it’s Detective Sykes.”
Kimo shook her head. “Did it have to be him?”
The detective left his vehicle and climbed the steps to Kimo’s cottage.
“I’ll get the door,” Rex said.
“Thanks,” Kimo said and remained in the middle of the living room. The further away from the odious detective, the better.
Rex opened the door before the man could knock. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to speak to Ms. Kekoa.” The detective glanced past Rex to where Kimo stood. “She called in a disturbance?”
“I called in about a break-in at her home. Are you here to dust for prints?”
The detective’s brow descended. “I’m here to help. Perhaps I could speak with Ms. Kekoa, as this is her home.”
Rex remained fully blocking the doorway, his arms crossing over his chest. “Are they sending someone who could actually help document the crime without interrogating the victim?”
“It’s okay, Rex,” Kimo said. “I’ll talk to the detective.”
For another long moment, Rex remained in the doorway. Finally, he took a step back, leaving barely enough space for the man to squeeze by.
His frown affixed to his face, Detective Sykes eased past Rex and studied the room. “Was your home in this condition when you left it...was it yesterday?”
Kimo fought the urge to roll her eyes but didn’t fight the sarcasm shooting past her vocal cords. “Of course. I’m in the process of redecorating. I’m going for a post-ransacked feel.” She shook her head. “No, this is not how it looked when I left yesterday afternoon.”
“Are there any items missing?” he asked.
“My cameras and computer,” she said.
“Were there images or data on any of your equipment that could possibly inspire someone to steal the items?”
“Shouldn’t you be asking if the equipment was expensive?
The items were expensive when I first purchased them.
As used electronics, they don’t hold much value to anyone but me.
They’re my livelihood. Without them, I can’t operate my photography business.
Replacing the items will take time and a lot more money. ”
“You said you could tap into the cloud for the images you downloaded from your dive last night. Were you able to do that?”
“Considering I just got home from the hospital only to find my home a shambles and my computer and cameras missing...tapping into the cloud would be a no.”
The detective frowned. “I have a laptop in my cruiser. Perhaps you could use it to tap into your data.”
Kimo’s brow twisted. “I suppose I could.” She wasn’t fond of the detective or his interviewing techniques.
“I’ll be right back. And, yes, there’s a unit on its way to process this crime scene.”
After Sykes left the house, Rex met and held Kimo’s gaze. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Still a little weak, but I’m holding my own.”
Rex’s gaze swept over her face. “You say the word when you’ve had enough, and I’ll escort the detective out.”
It was nice to have someone worry about her for once. It had been a long time since her parents died. Not that she thought of Rex as a substitute for her parents—not with his rugged good looks, broad shoulders and the strength to carry her around like she was as light as a feather.
Talk about sweeping a girl off her feet… Her pulse skittered through her veins, her body heating all over again, especially at her core.
Moments later, Detective Sykes was back with a laptop sporting a hardened case. He flipped it open and turned it toward her.
Kimo didn’t like logging into a strange computer with her username and passwords, but that’s what it would be like if she went to a library. Surely, it would be more secure on a police detective’s device.
She quickly logged onto her cloud storage and waited for all the files to appear.
And waited...
Nothing came up. No files. No photos. No documents.
“What the—” She logged off and started over, keying in her username and password.
Again, the screen remained empty of the files she’d so meticulously organized with all the photos she’d taken for the past ten years.
“This can’t be right,” she said, her heart in her throat. “Something must be wrong with my storage provider.”
“Why do you say that?” Rex came to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder at the empty screen.
“My files. My photos. They’re not here. Everything’s gone.” She looked up a phone number for the data storage company and held out her hand toward Rex. “May I borrow your cell phone?”
He laid it in her palm. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to call and see if they’re having technical difficulties that could keep me from accessing my data.” She entered the numbers and placed the call.
Five minutes later, after working with their technical support, she ended the call and stared at the empty screen, her heart sinking to the pit of her belly. “It’s gone. Ten years of work...”
Gone.
Rex laid his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back gently until she leaned into him.
“Are you certain you entered your username and password correctly?” the detective asked.
“Yes,” Kimo said. “I logged in twice, and the tech support person verified. The files are gone.”
“Does that mean the photos you took yesterday are gone as well?” the detective asked.
She nodded, stunned and heartsick. “Everything. My laptop stored a lot of the images, and my desktop had copies of everything except what I took last night.”
“And both computers are gone,” Rex said.
The detective grunted. “I guess you don’t have the proof we need that there was a shipping container filled with dead people.”
“But they were there,” she insisted.
“If they really are, the Coast Guard should find them. If not... I’m sorry. With no bodies, no photos and no other witnesses, it’s hard to dedicate resources to investigate it.”
Kimo frowned at the detective. “And Alana? A live woman I witnessed being abducted. Are you going to shelve that investigation as well?”
“We’re looking into it.” The detective reached for the laptop. “Again, until we know more, don’t leave Maui.”
“And where would I go?” She raised her hands, palms up. “This is my home.”
“We’ll be in touch,” the detective said and left the house.
Kimo shook her head from side to side, trying and failing to absorb it all.
“My life’s work has been wiped clean, along with the digital proof that there were dead people chained to a shipping container at the bottom of Maalaea Bay.
The equipment I used in my business is gone.
I’ll have to postpone the work I had scheduled, lose contracts and disappoint customers.
Worst of all, my friend is missing. What now? ”
“I don’t know, but that detective doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to find your friend or that shipping container.” Rex ran his hand over the stubble on his chin, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. Then he nodded as if agreeing with himself. “I have an idea.”
“Good,” Kimo said, “because all I’m coming up with is doing the job ourselves. If we can’t get the Maui PD working on finding Alana, we can’t just sit around and wait.”
Rex nodded. “That was where my idea was heading.” He paced across the floor. “We have access to a computer guru who makes hackers look like amateurs. I’ll contact him and see if he can find backups of your online storage, including the images you uploaded before the attackers stole the boat.”
Kimo’s eyes widened. “He can do that?”
Rex shrugged. “I can’t guarantee anything, but if it can be done, he’s our man.”
“If he can get the images I took of the shipping container, there might be some form of identification on it.”
Rex nodded. “We might be able to track its origin.” Rex’s brow wrinkled. “You say you rented the boat?”
“I did, from Jako’s Diving Adventures. I need to contact Jako and let him know about the boat.”
“Let’s check with him and see if the boat has turned up or if he had a tracker on it,” Rex suggested. “Do you have his number?”
“I’d rather give him the news in person,” Kimo said.
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Rex asked.
Kimo drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I have to be.”
“And I’ll check with my boss. He sent some of the team we have on Maui to search the waters around Maalaea Bay. I’d like to know if they found anything.”
Kimo glanced out the front window as a Maui PD cruiser rolled into her driveway. “Did the detective forget something?”
Rex came to stand beside her as a uniformed policeman stepped out of the vehicle.
Kimo’s lips pressed together. “Maybe Sykes sent him to actually investigate the break-in.”
“Let’s hope he knows what he’s doing,” Rex said. “I’m not convinced Sykes does.”
“I hope he makes it fast. I feel like the longer we wait to search for Alana,” Kimo swallowed hard before continuing, “the less chance we have of finding her.”