Chapter 7 #3
“And how did every boat rental company on Maui suddenly learn of the incident and block Kimo from renting?” Rex added.
“Unless they have one hell of a grapevine on Maui, you’re right,” Hawk said. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“Maui is a small island. Most of the locals know each other, but it’s still a stretch to get to every boat rental company,” Kimo murmured. “Thankfully, I have a friend who’s coming through for us.”
“That’s right,” Rex said. “We’re heading out at five with Leilani and Angelo Cortez.”
“I was able to get Devlin Mulhaney and Teller Osgood on standby, waiting for instructions on where to meet,” Hawk said.
Rex frowned. “I thought Teller was on the Big Island.”
“He was,” Hawk said. “I sent him to Maui on a flight on the off chance you might need him.”
“We’ll need him,” Rex confirmed. “Dev and Teller can cover us from the boat while Kimo, Angel, Leilani and I search for the camera.” He turned to Kimo. “If that’s all right with you.”
She nodded. “It is, as long as everyone understands the danger that could be involved. Especially if those men show up again.”
Rex gave Kimo a brief nod. “Speaking for my team, we do.”
“It’s what we do,” Hawk reinforced.
Feeling a little better with food in her stomach and backup for the dive, Kimo nodded. “Then we meet at Leilani’s slip at Lahaina Harbor at five.”
“Now that you have that settled,” Swede said, “I have another piece of information for you.”
Kimo held her breath, praying it was good news, not more of the bad stuff.
“Kimo, you’ll be happy to know I was able to recover your files from your online storage site.”
She let her breath out in a woosh. “Really?”
“Really,” he said. “Not only that, but I also found the photo of the container that you uploaded and was able to locate an identification number.”
“Were you able to trace it to the company that owned it?” Rex asked.
“I was,” Swede said. “It’s owned by Holte Maritime Group, a shipping corporation operating out of the west coast of the US with a corporate headquarters on Oahu.”
Rex frowned. “Marcus Holte is the owner.”
Kimo glanced across at him. “You know him?”
“I know of him. He and my father were business associates. At least, they were when I was younger. They attended some of the same events. Galas, charity auctions, state functions.”
“I looked him up,” Swede said. “He’s highly regarded in the industry and seems to run a clean operation, following all the maritime laws and has a pretty healthy philanthropic reputation.”
“Were you able to tap into their cargo manifests to locate that particular shipping container?” Hawk asked.
“I was,” Swede said. “It’s supposed to be on a ship enroute to Hong Kong.
I tracked the ship it was supposed to be on.
The route originated from the Port of San Francisco, with a stop in Kaumalapau on Lanai three days ago, then on to Hong Kong, which it should reach in fifteen or twenty days.
The ship would have offloaded or taken on more cargo on the west side of Lanai and wouldn’t have passed between Lanai and Maui or anywhere close to Maalaea Bay. ”
“Which means that container was offloaded at the port in Lanai,” Rex said. “But by whom and onto what?”
“The cargo manifest didn’t show the container as having been offloaded. It’s supposed to be on that ship to Hong Kong.”
“Heading toward the storm that’s supposed to hit Hawaii two days from now,” Hawk said, “where they could legitimately say the container was lost at sea.”
“Did you find out who managed the offloading of the containers on Lanai?” Hawk asked.
“Yes,” Swede said. “Again, Holte Maritime Group.”
“We need to talk to Marcus Holte,” Hawk said.
“I tried to set up a meeting with Mr. Holte,” Swede said, “but he didn’t have anything available until next week.”
“That’s too late,” Kimo said. “Alana might not have that kind of time left.”
“Swede, see what you can find about Holte’s whereabouts. Maybe we can crash one of his meetings,” Hawk said. “I’ll send someone to Lanai to poke around the harbor and ask questions of the stevedores who unload the ships.”
Kimo’s head spun with what they’d just learned. Only one thing was clear. “Knowing who owns the container isn’t necessarily leading us to Alana.”
“Not yet,” Swede said. “We have to find the people responsible for offloading that container. If it’s not Holte’s operation, who stepped in to reroute it? Whoever that is will be in charge of the thugs who came after you and Alana.”
“Like I said,” Hawk continued, “I’ll send someone to the harbor on Lanai to ask around.”
“Is it possible to track the smaller vessels that might’ve shown up in the harbor at the same time as the ship carrying Holte’s container?” Rex asked.
“I’m working on that,” Swede said. “Based on the Harbor Master’s records, there were a number of smaller vessels owned by various individuals and corporations. I’ll be sorting through them to look for any connections between them and the Holte Maritime Group.”
“In the meantime, Kimo, we still need your camera,” Hawk said. “It’s the only proof that people were inside that container.”
Rex met Kimo’s gaze and responded for them with, “We’ll be out there this evening.”
“I hope you find your camera,” Swede said. “It might be the only way to help those people find justice.”
“Right back atcha,” Kimo said. “We need the connection between the Holte’s container ship and whoever received it. Those people have to be the ones who have Alana.”
“I’m working on it and hope to have it soon,” Swede assured them. “For now, out here.” Swede left the call.
“Rooster and Reid are flying over from Oahu to Lanai to talk with the stevedores who work the cargo operations at the harbor there,” Hawk said. “I’ll let you know what they find as soon as I hear anything. If that’s all for now, I’m out here.”
Hawk ended the call.
Kimo’s cell phone buzzed with an incoming text.
She glanced down at the message, expecting it to be from Leilani or Hawk with further instructions. The call was from neither of those people. The caller ID was Unknown.
As she read the words, all the air left Kimo’s lungs.
Unknown: Your camera for your friend.