Chapter 7
Kimo left Jako, heartsick that one friend was still missing and another was being threatened. She went from one dive shop to the next, looking for anyone who would rent her the boat and gear she needed to conduct her own search for the container and her camera.
People she’d known for years told her the same story. Some appeared afraid of her, as if she’d already been tried and convicted of killing Alana.
She was leaving the last shop on the road in front of the marina when she practically ran into Dillon Bragg.
The man reached out and gripped Kimo’s arms.
“Kimo,” he said. “Babe. Long time no see.”
Rex grabbed Dillon’s shoulder, yanked him away from Kimo and then stood between them, snarling. “Back off.”
Dillon backed a step and held up his hands. “Relax, man. I’m just greeting a friend.” He glanced past Rex. Isn’t that right, Kimo? Old friends. That’s what we are.”
Kimo shook her head. “It’s okay, Rex. Dillon’s not a threat.” He was annoying as hell and had tried to get her to go out with him on multiple occasions. He couldn’t understand that she had no desire to date the man or spend more than a few seconds at a time in his presence.
Rex remained positioned between Kimo and Dillon for a moment longer, his eyes narrowed.
Finally, he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest in an intimidating stance.
“If you’ll excuse us,” Kimo said. “I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“You know, no one’s going to rent you a boat.”
Kimo snorted. “I’ve figured that out.”
“Maybe I could help,” Dillon said. “I got a boat. I have no problem shuttling you around looking for mysterious containers.”
Kimo wouldn’t go out on any boat with Dillon. He was pushy, rude and sleazy around women in a way that made Kimo’s skin crawl. She didn’t trust the man. “Thanks, but I’ll figure out something.” She hooked her hand around Rex’s arm and stepped past Dillon.
“The offer’s open. I can get you out in a boat sooner. Don’t wait too long,” Dillon called out behind them. “There’s a storm headed our way.”
Rex covered her hand with his and hurried her away. “Who was that man?”
“Dillon Bragg,” Kimo murmured. “He thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Trust me, he’s not. He’s too handsy. Gives me the creeps. Thanks for not telling him I’m your client. He would take that as an invitation to continue bothering me.”
Rex nodded. “After the trouble I had at the hospital, I thought it might be easier to keep the bodyguard/client thing on the downlow for the duration of our time together.”
Kimo silently wondered how long their time together would be. She’d come to accept...no... appreciate having Rex at her side. After the attack and finding her home wrecked, Kimo didn’t feel safe anywhere.
She had to remind herself that the man was her bodyguard. He’d leave when this whatever it was ended. She couldn’t get too used to having him around. On that thought, she started to pull her hand out of the crook of her arm.
His fingers closed around hers, holding her hand in place. “Leave it there,” he said softly.
“Why?” she asked, glad to hold onto him a little longer. “Do you think it makes people think we’re together?”
“That, and I like it.” He glanced down at her and winked.
Warmth spread through Kimo. For the first time in twenty-four hours, she smiled. “I like it, too.”
With no other boat rental places in the marina area that would rent her the boat and gear she needed, they walked back down the length of the marina road.
“I feel naked,” Kimo said as they neared the parking lot.
Rex’s brow twisted. He shot a glance her way. “How so?”
“Well, maybe not naked, but missing things I’m used to having on me.
I don’t have my purse, my driver’s license or my cell phone.
Not to mention my keys were in my purse.
” She slowed as they approached her car, where she’d parked it the evening before in a parking area not far from Jako’s Dive Adventures.
She reached out a hand to touch the Toyota Rav4.
“This yours?” Rex asked.
She nodded. “I bought it two years ago after I received a significant paycheck from a corporation that hired me to provide all their photographs for their resort marketing campaign. Alana and I have been all over the island in this car.”
Her chest ached at the memory of her and Alana working the night before to unload her camera equipment from the rear of the SUV. They’d laughed again over a joke Leilani had told them at their last girls' night out with her and Kiana.
“Last night was supposed to be like any other night dive Alana had gone on with me. Only we were even more excited because the bioluminescence was supposed to be spectacularly evident. More brilliant. The conditions were perfect.” She looked up into Rex’s eyes.
“And it was. The water was a magical blue. The sea life was active. We got some amazing pictures of turtles and an octopus Alana found on the reef.”
Rex reached for her hand and held it in his. “We’ll find her.”
She gave him a smile she suspected was more of a grimace. “I hope we do before...”
He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “No negative thinking. Come on. There’s got to be another boat rental place we can try.”
He led her to the place they’d parked his truck in front of Jako’s.
As he helped her up into the truck, his cell phone buzzed.
He didn’t recognize the number but answered while standing in the doorway next to Kimo. “Rex here.”
Kimo strained to hear the voice on Rex’s cell phone. From what she could tell, it was female. A surprising stab hit square in her gut.
Though Rex had told her he wasn’t married, he could be dating, which was absolutely his business.
Then why the knot in her gut? It wasn’t like he belonged to her. Kimo had no hold on the man. He’d been hired to protect her. Nothing else.
Still, thinking of him with another woman felt...
He held out the cell phone. “It’s for you. It’s Leilani.”
The knot in Kimo’s gut loosened, and relief flooded her as she snatched his cell phone from his hand.
He left her with the cell phone and rounded the back of his truck to slide into the driver’s seat.
Kimo swallowed hard and managed to eke out, “Leilani?”
“Girl! Why am I hearing second hand that you’re in trouble and that our sweet Alana is missing? What the hell?” Leilani practically yelled.
“Oh, Leilani.” Kimo’s eyes filled, blurring her vision. “They took Alana.” Tears slipped down her cheeks.
Leilani’s voice softened. “Kalea told me. What can I do to help?”
Kimo scrubbed the tears from her cheeks and forced herself to think. “I need to go back to where we were diving.”
“You can’t do that. What if those men return?”
“I have to. I dropped my camera out there. It might have the clue I need to locate Alana.”
“What clue?” Leilani asked.
“Did Kalea tell you about the shipping container?”
“She did,” Leilani said. “Man, I can’t imagine finding something that horrific. Those poor people.”
“Did she tell you the Coast Guard didn’t find the container?”
“Could they have been looking in the wrong place?”
Kimo shook her head. “I gave them the coordinates. I used those same coordinates to relocate it after surfacing for more air. It was there. I won’t believe the Coast Guard can’t locate a specific set of coordinates.
They’re trained to find people at specific locations.
They didn’t find it because it wasn’t there. The container is gone.”
“How will finding your camera help?”
“We took pictures of the container before and after we surfaced for fresh tanks. I hope there are some identification numbers on the container captured in the photographs. If there are, we might be able to trace the container to its owner. Maybe they’ll lead us to who was out there in the same area—the people who attacked us and took Alana. ”
“What if it was stolen?” Leilani suggested.
“We’ll have to figure it out from there. Photos of the container will prove it exists and that there were human bodies inside. I can’t let their deaths go unnoticed. Someone chained them inside and dropped them in the ocean. Those people need to pay for doing that.”
“You’re right,” Leilani agreed. “What are the police doing about it?”
“Nothing that I can tell. The detective on the case questioned me like I was the one who made Alana disappear.”
“What the hell?” Leilani exclaimed. “You and Alana are as tight as sisters.”
Kimo nodded. “We might as well be sisters. We’ve known each other and have been friends all our lives.”
“If the police aren’t taking your story seriously and the Coast Guard can’t find the container, what can we do?”
Kimo’s tears had dried, and her resolve stiffened. “I need to find my camera.”
“You think you can?”
“I don’t have a choice. I have to find it. I just know that the shipping container is connected to the people who took Alana. I think the same group is also the one that trashed my house. They’re afraid someone will take me seriously and look for that container.”
“They should take you seriously.”
“Problem is, I can’t get out there and dive without a boat and dive gear. Rumor has gotten out that I either abducted Alana or killed her and that I scuttled the boat to hide the evidence. No one will rent me a boat.”
Leilani let out a long, low whistle. “No kidding?”
“No kidding. Jako’s insurance company and bank got wind and threatened to cut him off if he did any business with me.”
“That sounds like more than a rumor to me,” Leilani said.
Kimo sighed. “Whatever it is, it’s keeping me from getting back in the bay to look for my camera.”
“You need a boat and diving gear?” Leilani asked.
“I do. My BCD and regulator are somewhere in Maalaea bay, as well as my camera.”
“Kimo,” Leilani said, dragging her name out, “what do I do for a living?”
“Take tourists on tours around the island,” Kimo said.
“On land and in what?”
Kimo frowned. “A boat.” She shook her head. “But you’re not set up for diving. You don’t rent all the equipment. You only take folks out to snorkel.”