Chapter 6 #2
Jako glared at Rex and then turned his glare on Kimo and lowered his voice.
“What the hell happened out there? I’ve heard everything from you and Alana crashing the boat into a reef, to you smuggling drugs using my boat.
The Coast Guard showed up as I was opening, informing me that my boat had been reported missing.
They asked if it had shown up here at the marina.
Then, some detective with the Maui PD interrogated me like I’d murdered someone. Is it true that Alana is missing?”
“Oh, Jako.” Kimo’s eyes filled with tears. “Alana is missing. So, is your boat.” She sat on a bench, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Jako sank onto the bench beside her as she told him what had happened.
“Why didn’t you call me? I had to hear it all from the authorities. I was completely blindsided this morning.”
“I’m sorry,” Kimo said. “I should’ve called sooner. I’m really sorry about your boat. I hope they find it soon and that it’s undamaged.”
Jako shook his head. “Damn the boat. What are they doing about Alana? And why couldn’t they find that container when you gave them the coordinates?”
“The detective said they’re looking into her disappearance.” Kimo touched the man’s arm. “I don’t think they’re moving fast enough. Worse, the Coast Guard reported that the container wasn’t at those coordinates.”
“You still using that dive watch I sold you?” Jako asked.
Kimo nodded. “I’ve never had a problem with it.”
“It has the best ratings for its GPS capabilities.” Jako shook his head. “Come to think of it, the Coastie and the detective didn’t mention the container. They were all about the missing boat and then Alana.”
“They probably think I was making it up, especially since they didn’t find the container. I need to get out there and look for myself,” Kimo said. “And I need to find the camera I was using. I took pictures of the container and what was inside.” She shivered. “Jako, I need a favor.”
Jako started shaking his head even before Kimo said, “I need a boat and dive gear.”
Jako frowned. “Kimo, you know I’d do almost anything for you. We’ve been friends for a long time, but I can’t give you a boat or gear.”
Kimo’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? I’ll pay you for it—and I’ll pay for your missing boat. I’ll have to take out a loan, but I’ll make it right.”
He shook his head. “I can’t rent you a boat. Before I had a chance to call the insurance company to file a claim, they called me. They threatened to drop my coverage.”
“I don’t understand,” Kimo said. “You pay for insurance to cover the loss of your boats. Why would they drop your coverage?”
“They threatened to drop my coverage if I rented so much as a snorkel to you.”
“What?” Kimo jerked back as if Jako had slapped her. “Why?”
“They think you’re responsible for Alana’s disappearance and possible death. I told them they were crazy. Alana is your best friend. You two are inseparable.”
“She is,” Kimo whispered, her face pale, her eyes swimming. “We are. But they took her, and I have no idea where to look for her or who would do this.” She gripped Jako’s hands. “We have to find her before it’s too late.”
“I care about Alana as much as you do, but I’ve got employees who depend on my business to feed their families.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “And there’s more.”
Rex wasn’t sure how much more Alana could handle at this rate. He sat at her other side and laid a hand against her back. At that moment, he wished he could take away the pain, find her friend and fix everything wrong in her life.
Jako continued. “The bank that holds the mortgage on my business called after the insurance company and pretty much said the same. I’m not supposed to have anything to do with you until they figure out what really happened.
That’s why I was surprised to see you here.
I thought they had already booked you and marched you off to jail. ”
Kimo shook her head. “They haven’t yet, though the detective sure sounded like he believed I was guilty. I need a boat and gear. I have to get back out there and find the evidence I need to locate Alana and the people responsible.”
Jako shook his head. “I can’t give you the boat.”
Kimo nodded. “I understand. You have to protect your business and the families who depend on it. I’ll find another boat.”
“Kimo, this is a small island. Word spreads fast. You might run into the same problem with the other dive companies.”
Kimo’s chin lifted. “I have to find Alana.”
Rex leaned forward to meet Jako’s gaze. “Do you have trackers on the boats you rent out to customers?”
Jako nodded. “I drop one into each boat when I rent it out to someone who isn’t taking a member of my crew.
I only check the location when the boat is late coming in.
That way, if they’ve had engine trouble, I know where to find them.
” Jako stood and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
“I have an app on my phone that I use to track them. I didn’t think about it until just now. ”
Rex straightened and moved close enough to see the screen on the cell phone.
Kimo rubbed the tears from her cheeks. Rex curved a hand around her elbow and helped her rise. She stood beside Jako, tense, hopeful. “Can you get into the app? Maybe it’ll give the boat’s location.”
She didn’t say it, but Rex could almost hear her thinking that maybe the boat’s location would lead them to Alana.
Jako clicked on an icon and waited. A login screen popped up. He scratched his head. “Now, which password did I use for this app?”
“Try something,” Kimo urged.
“Give me a minute.” He scratched his head again and then, using his thumbs, keyed something into the username and password fields and hit enter.
An error message appeared.
“Not that one. Let me try...” He keyed another username and password and hit enter. A churning circle appeared. Several seconds passed, and it was still churning.
“It would’ve displayed an error if it was the wrong password,” Jako said. The screen chose that moment to present a map of Maui and a green dot.
Kimo leaned closer. “Where is it?”
Jako zoomed in on the dot and sighed. “It’s right here. It’s the tracker for this boat. I just dropped the tracker on it this morning.”
“Zoom out,” Kimo said. “Maybe they left Maui for another island.”
Jako zoomed out. “The trouble with the trackers is that they run out of battery.” He shook his head.
“It’s not showing but let me look at its history.
That’s how I found one of my boats when the engine quit working.
” He fiddled with the app's options and brought up another screen with a green dotted line.
“It displays the path the tracking device took.” He pointed at the screen.
“It started at the marina and went out into the Maalaea Bay.”
“That was Alana and me. I bet if we compared the coordinates of the stop to my dive watch, they’d be really close.” She held up her dive watch.
Jako zoomed in on the stop Alana and Kimo had made for their dive.
The coordinates were very close, but not the same. “Which makes sense. The coordinates I saved were for the shipping container. It wasn’t in the same location as the boat, but it was close.”
“The dotted line leads out of the bay, into the open ocean.” Jako zoomed out to follow the line. “Then it disappears. The battery could have died.”
“Or they could have scuttled the boat,” Kimo said, her shoulders sagging.
“Looks like it could’ve been heading for either Lanai or Molokai. We lost it as it was passing Kaho'olawe.”
“We need to have someone check those islands to see if it ended up at one of them,” Kimo said. “I still want to go back to the coordinates I saved for the container. Maybe there’s something they missed when they extracted it. Then we can go from there to look for my camera.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Jako said. “I’ve already lost one boat and a friend.”
“I’ll stay away until we find the proof we need that Alana was abducted and there was a container of dead people in Maalaea Bay.”
“If you plan on going out anytime soon, be aware of that storm brewing in the Pacific. It’s headed straight for the islands. It’s supposed to be violent.”
“I thought it was going to miss us,” Kimo said.
Jako’s lips pressed into a tight line. “It changed directions and is heading our way. I’m closing the shop the day after tomorrow. No boats will go out that day, even though it’s not supposed to reach us until late that evening.”
“We’ll just have to find Alana before it hits.” Kimo hugged Jako. “Again, I’m sorry.”
He hugged her back. “Don’t be. None of this is your fault. I’ll let you know if I hear anything or if the boat turns up.”
“Thank you, Jako.”
“I hope you find Alana,” he said.
“Me, too.” Kimo turned away and walked across the deck.
Rex followed. When he came alongside her, he took her hand in his and helped her across the gangway onto the dock.
Once there, he didn’t let go. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and said, “We’ll find her.
” He didn’t know how or when, but he’d do everything in his power to help her find her friend and justice for the people who’d died in the shipping container.
She looked up at him, her soulful dark eyes piercing his heart like nothing he’d ever felt before. Then her jaw hardened, and her fingers curled around his. “Yes. We will.”