“My boss, Gina.” Annie stepped around him and took the lead. She walked to the edge of the group.
The men looked up, and Mano noticed them eyeing Annie. He scowled at the one with the most appreciative stare, but the guy only had eyes for her. Mano stepped into the man’s line of vision, and his movement caught Gina’s attention. Her fingers stilled and the guitar’s twang faded. She raised her eyebrows.
“Annie, what are you doing here?” She rose and laid the guitar across her seat. “Is everything all right?”
“Not really. My sister is missing. I wondered if you’d seen her.” Annie’s voice sounded strained and tired.
Gina’s gaze searched Annie’s face. “Leilani? Perhaps she’s gone off with her friends again.”
“Maybe. But she’s never gone off without at least calling the next morning. It’s been two days since anyone saw her. She can be a little airheaded, but she knows how I worry.”
Gina touched Annie’s shoulder. “You take on your whole family’s problems. Leilani is an adult. She’ll be all right.”
“We found an altar out at the park,” Mano said.
A slight smile tugged the corners of Gina’s lips. “Offerings to Pele aren’t unusual. What does that have to do with Leilani?”
“This wasn’t just a food offering. It was an actual heiau, and an animal had been sacrificed. Leilani was going to meetings of some kind of Ku cult. Have you seen anything like that going on at Aloha Shores, or anywhere else?”
Gina frowned. “One always hears rumors of radical cultural activities. Maybe this is nothing more serious than that. Just because some natives are exploring their ancient heritage doesn’t mean Leilani is in danger.”
“A bloodstained shirt like hers was by the altar.”
Gina inhaled sharply at the revelation. “You’re sure it was hers?”
“Well, no, not really. But with her missing and then finding the necklace . . .”
Gina patted her hand. “A coincidence about the shirt then.”
Mano could tell the woman was fond of Annie, and that raised his estimation of her. “Have you ever met Annie’s brother, Tomi?”
Gina’s dark eyes widened. “Tomi? No, he was away when I moved here, then later . . .” She looked away.
He nodded toward Annie. “We wondered if Tomi might be hiding out here.”
One of the men snickered. Gina gave him a warning glance. “I must apologize for my son, Jason. His manners aren’t the best.” The young man’s nostrils flared, and he looked away. “I don’t understand. Are you saying Tomi is alive?”
“Yes, it looks that way.”
She nodded to the other man. “This is Evan Chun. He’s teaching us to play slack-key guitar, though I confess I don’t have much aptitude for it.”
The man nodded. Chun was close to Gina’s age. His sleek black hair fell over one eye, and he had a gold dragon earring in one ear. His bony knees poked from below his shorts, and he reminded Mano of an oriental Ichabod Crane. The guitar he held in his long fingers was a Gibson, an expensive one.
Gina turned her gaze back to him again. “So explain this about Tomi and what you’re doing here.”
“I got a call from Tomi last week.”
She didn’t show any surprise but just nodded. “I see. And what makes you think he’d be in Aloha Shores?”
“It’s a good place to disappear.”
“Maybe.”
“Have you seen anything?” Annie put in eagerly.
Gina shook her head; then her eyes widened. “I’ve seen signs of occupancy at the cottage at the end of Pali Road.” She turned to Evan. “Have you sold or rented that place to anyone?”
Evan nodded. “A John Smith rented it from me last week.”
Mano straightened. With a generic name like that, it could be Tomi. “What did he look like?”
“Never met him. We conducted the transaction over the phone,” Chun said.
“We’d like to go out there.” Annie took a step away from the circle.
“Let me check it out for you,” Gina said. “Only residents are allowed to wander the grounds, but no one ever stops me. I think they believe I live there.”
“I want to come,” Annie said firmly. “You’ve only seen pictures of Tomi. If he’s disguised, you might not recognize him.”
“Okay. But we’ll take my Jeep. Everyone knows it.” Gina turned to Jason. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Don’t go anywhere. I have some things for you to do today.”
Jason rolled his eyes, but he said nothing. He picked up her guitar and carried it toward the house. Gina led the way to her Jeep, an army green Cherokee that had been recently waxed. Mano took the front passenger seat. Gina pulled out of the driveway and bar-reled over the rough potholes. They went airborne several times.