Chapter 20 #2
“I read through the documents, and it’s a lot more than that.
” For the first time his voice had heat in it.
“That’s what nobody understands. You think it’s a bundle of papers that puts the Changs away, takes away their claim on the Valley.
It’s more than that.” He spread his work-scarred hands.
“There’s much more in there that affects many more families.
Land grants, lease lines, who paid who, going back a hundred and fifty years.
Some of those papers could affect the Changs, sure.
But others could reopen claims on half this side of the island.
Secret deals. Lost deeds taken from Japanese families during the Internment.
” He shook his head slowly. “It’s a huge disruptor this island doesn’t need.
I am advocating that Awawakapu Valley gets protected status from the State of Hawaii.
But the minute that archive goes into an evidence room, its contents go on record.
If it gets used in court it becomes public record, and once it’s in that record, every lawyer and developer and long-lost heir from here to the mainland can pull on those threads and tear this whole side of the island apart.
There’s money—and blood—in those claims.”
I sat abruptly in a chair facing Pali. I was starting to see the double edge of what that archive could mean.
“I made a judgment call from a cultural and archaeological point of view, and put it back,” Pali said. “Where it’s safe, and it can’t be used by anyone.” He scrubbed a hand across his face. “Including me and my family. The valley gets to rest. Nobody can fight over what they don’t know.”
“And if it’s needed, it’s accessible,” Keone said quietly. “Tell her that part.”
Pali nodded. “I thought about burning it. Getting rid of the danger once and for all. But I couldn’t do it.
My great-uncle gave his life to protect it.
It’s not mine to erase.” He stared out into the dark.
“So it’s sealed up where only I can find it.
And now I’ve told you—and if anything ever happens to me, or it’s needed, I created a map and put copies in a safe deposit box.
” He turned back to me. His brown eyes were somber.
“That’s the whole of what I did. You do what you have to about it. ”
The night lay heavy and warm around the three of us. Below, the waves kept rhythm on the rocks. Tiki had gone quiet in her carrier, her point apparently made, she washed one paw with great unconcern now that the humans had stopped being stupid.
I chewed my bottom lip, thinking.
Only the five of us—me, Pali, Keone, Lei, and Malia—knew about the archive, that it had been found, and that Pali had it. Now, Keone and I knew what he’d done with it, and only Pali knew where it was.
The federal investigator in me knew what regulations were in place about concealing evidence. But what, other than providing a motive for Victor Chang’s decisions, did the actual contents of the archive have to do with the current case?
Nothing.
I thought about belonging, and about who got to decide what was worth protecting in a culture that wasn’t mine, on land with ancestral ties and a chain of ownership that had become blurred and was in danger.
I hadn’t known anything about Hawaii until a couple of years ago.
Who was I to pass judgment? Pali was one of the only people I could imagine that was qualified to make the decision he’d made, for the greater good of the land and the Hawaiian people.
“You renounced your own family’s claims to the Valley too, if there are any in the archive. You put those records where nobody could ever use them—including you,” I said slowly.
Pali’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “This wasn’t ever about me. It’s about the greatest good for all.”
“I’m starting to get that.”
Keone moved to stand beside me; his hand lowered to rest on my shoulder, warm and strong as he squeezed. I reached my left hand up to touch his; our fingers intertwined. His thumb moved over the ring, stroking the orb of the pearl. He let out a long, slow breath—and so did I.
“I’m not going to pretend I can unknow this,” I told Pali. “But I understand it. And for whatever it’s worth from a haole girl who ‘flew here, not grew here’—as they say . . . I believe you did right by the Valley. I will speak to Lei and Malia on your behalf if you like.”
Something eased in Pali’s face. He stood slowly, his joints creaking—this was a man who’d climbed in and out of a lava tube multiple times on a rope in the last forty-eight hours.
“I’m going to Hana PD in the morning myself.
I’ll talk to Malia and Lei then. I don’t care what they charge me with; I won’t tell them where it’s hidden. ”
“That could go badly for you,” Keone said. “They could charge you with obstruction. Evidence tampering. They could make an example of you.”
“Yes. Are you sure you don’t want me to talk with them instead?” I frowned, worried.
“It might not hurt to have you prep them for my visit,” Pali said.
He tilted his head as he met my eyes. “People talk, you know. They say the postmaster’s pono.
And I know those two cops respect you.” Pali shrugged; there was a peace in his attitude that I admired.
“You do you. I’ll do what I have to. And so long as Awawakapu’s safe, I don’t care what happens.
” He bent and peered into the carrier, where Tiki regarded him haughtily.
“Thanks, Tiki,” he said gravely. “For getting Kat and Keone to take the case.”
He let himself out through the screen door and went down the lanai steps and out into the dark. A few minutes later, we heard his truck cough into life and grind off up the road—and then it was the two of us and Tiki.
I bent and let the cat out of her carrier at last; she walked into the house radiating offended dignity.
When I stood up, Keone turned me by the shoulders. He took my left hand in both of his and lifted it into the light. The pearl glowed.
“You moved it,” he said. “We’ve gone from probably engaged, to definitely getting married.”
“Yep.” I inhaled. Exhaled. “I came tonight to serve you humble pie.” My voice cracked right down the middle.
“Maine style. Generous portion. I’m sorry I went cold on you out there in the water when we were swimming.
” I shook my head. “Aunt Fae explained me to myself. It was very rude of her to be so right.”
He laughed and pulled me in; I went into his arms and pressed my face into his neck the way I had a hundred times.
“Welcome home,” he said into my hair.
We kissed for a long time—but I couldn’t relax.
I felt the edge of something uncomfortable, even with Keone’s arms around me.
Because Pali Moku was going to walk into Hana PD in the morning and confess what he’d done with the archive, and after that it would be a police matter.
It wouldn’t be about what was pono, or what the valley needed. It would be about the law, and the law was regulations.
Keone and I had made peace with what Pali had done.
What the law would require, was another thing entirely.
I slid my hands down Keone’s shoulders to squeeze his hands. “Can we continue this most excellent activity after I make a couple of phone calls?”
“As long as I’m with you on speaker,” he said. “Lei and Malia, right?”
“You got it. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I leaned in to kiss him one more time.