Chapter 6 #2
“Well, there’s nothing illegal in what’s currently available online for my program to decipher.
Victor Chang’s company has eighteen active development projects across the Pacific.
Maui is the one that doesn’t fit the pattern for his business.
It’s smaller than his usual scale, the location is complicated, and the permitting has been difficult.
But he’s spent more time personally on East Maui in the last year than on any other project.
Flew in on his own plane, stayed at Hotel Hana for weeks at a stretch.
” Sophie’s keystrokes were always very precise; she must have a mechanical keyboard chosen for the tactile feedback.
“Here’s something that might be useful. Chang Development received a significant capital infusion six months ago.
Private equity, structured in a way that makes the source difficult to trace; but I’ve tracked it down.
The money originated from a shell company registered in the Cook Islands.
The beneficial owner of that company is a Honolulu attorney named Everett Lano.
Who is also the Santos family’s primary business counsel. ”
I stared at the wall of the shack, where one of the geckos chirped; he’d reemerged after his fright. “So Santos is bankrolling Chang’s operation,” I said. “We suspected there was a connection.”
“His attorney Lano has devised a way to fund it that keeps Santos’s name off the paperwork, but yes. I can send you the documentation. Off the record until your detective friend decides if it’s admissible.”
“Please do.”
“Already sent.” A brief pause. “I completed a search on surveillance cams for a remote location like the Sacred Valley. They’d have to be satellite-enabled, and the hardware and software package is .
. . not cheap. Does the community, or Hana PD, have any funds?
I can give you Security Solutions’ discount, but it would still be about ten thousand to set up a system that could both notify police in real time, record and video capture the thieves at that location. ”
I whistled through my teeth. “What about passive surveillance and a loud alarm? We could video them, then scare them off. Have someone go out to check regularly and retrieve the data.”
“Much cheaper, of course.” We discussed a plan to implement that for less than five thousand dollars.
I forced her to take my credit card; I was confident that I could get the Red Hats and probably more donors to pony up and reimburse me—but time was not on our side.
We needed that surveillance equipment months ago.
“The cameras and system should arrive tomorrow via FedEx,” Sophie said. “They will come with complete installation instructions. Meanwhile, Kat, these men have resources that include legal teams, accountants, and people whose job it is to make problems disappear. Be careful.”
“I’m aware.”
“I only remind you because I care,” Sophie said, and hung up.
My headache hadn’t gone away; I dug in the shack’s junk drawer for a bottle of aspirin and tossed two back, slugging the rest of the water.
I sat in the shack with my phone in my hand and thought about what a Cook Islands shell company meant about the scope of what we were dealing with.
I didn’t feel like poking this particular hot pilot bear—but Keone deserved to hear what Sophie knew, and what I’d set in motion. Wasn’t forgetting to inform him what had set him off in the first place? Before I could overthink it, I speed-dialed his number.
He answered right away; his tone was softer. “Hey, Trouble.”
“Yup, that’s me. Got some new info on the case.
” I wasn’t in the mood for lovey-dovey reconciliation; that aspirin still hadn’t made a dent in my painful cranium.
“Sophie says Santos and Chang are financially linked. She’s sending documentation.
” I filled him in on what she’d discovered, and the surveillance system I’d ordered.
“Wondering if you want to come with me to install it tomorrow, after FedEx delivers.”
“I’ll have to check my flight schedule, but probably not.” His tone had gone frosty again. “I’ll let Pali know what you’ve got going. He’ll make the time for sure.”
“Okay.” I shut my eyes, rubbed my temples. “This headache is a doozy.”
“Did you eat anything after I left?” Concern in his voice. “Mom dropped off a mean pile of leftovers in Tupperware. Come over and have some.”
“Maybe. After I go see Pearl. I want to check in with her and get a copy of those old papers for safekeeping.”
“Eat something now,” he said. I rolled my eyes but got up to search in the tiny fridge.
“Found a yogurt and a frozen burrito,” I said. “Yum.”
“Nuke that burrito and eat it. That’ll do until you get here.”
“You going all caveman on me? Trying to boss me around?”
“Trying to get you to take care of yourself, Trouble.” He sounded exasperated.
“Guess fussing like a mother hen is your love language,” I said, and ended the call before he could make another comeback. Ha. I won that round.
I took time to eat the frozen burrito and yogurt from the tiny fridge in the shack. My headache receded as I got in the car to go see Pearl after locking up; Keone was right about needing to eat, at least.
On my way to Pearl’s, I texted Aunt Fae that I’d be back late. We’d have time to catch up when I got home, or in the morning before work.
The last of the sunset fading on the Hana Highway made the windward coast seem embellished: the cliffs touched with gilt and the ocean going silver as the ironwood trees on the ridgeline caught the last warmth with their graceful, waving needles.
Pearl Yamamoto’s house was a twenty-minute drive from Ohia on the Hana Highway: white with blue trim, plumeria trees in the front yard, and wind chimes on the lanai conducting a small silvery argument with the trade winds.
Lani, Pearl’s caregiver, met me at the door and offered tea in a way that brooked no refusal, withdrawing to the kitchen with the discretion of someone who understood that some conversations required privacy.
I found Pearl in her sitting room, folding origami cranes with gold paper, her wheelchair in the seated position.
She glanced up with a smile when I appeared. “This is a surprise.” She took in my expression and sobered. “It must be serious. Sit. What have you found out?”
I told her all of it—Pua and Victor Chang’s relationship, the cave that had been looted, the rockfall, the hidden survey map Keone found, Sophie’s financial trail, the investigation status, even the threatening note.
Pearl listened without interrupting, though her hands continued to work a half-folded crane until she went on to make another one.
When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
Outside, the wind had switched direction. The chimes on the lanai were making a different sound—a lower, less certain tone, like the echo of a conversation heard in snatches and bits. Unsettling.
“There’s something I haven’t told anyone yet,” Pearl said. “I’ve been waiting to understand it better.”
“What is it?”
She swiveled her chair and reached for the lid of a carved wooden chest decorated with a shell pattern that I’d noticed on other visits. She fumbled in her pocket and removed a ring of tiny keys; she inserted one into the chest and then opened it.
A draft of musty cedar smell reached my nostrils as she reached inside and removed an aged leather journal, its pages brown at the edges, the cover worn soft with handling.
“I received a visitor. A woman named Hannah Chang.”
I went still. “Chang? Related to Victor?”