She nodded. “They said they’d consider putting a tap on the phone.” She left him and Jillian and moved toward her Nissan, which was parked along the road. Fawn trailed her.
Mano turned to Jillian. “Any call from Noah since the shooting at the motel?”
She shook her head. “I told you I’d call if he contacted me. What makes you so sure he was the target? You deal with dangerous types all the time. What if someone followed you here?”
He shrugged. “It was just the way he took off, like he knew the danger was more than I even realized. Tell me about the research he published. Do you have any idea why he released it in his own name?” He didn’t want to tell her what Noah had said about it until he heard her version.
Jillian shook her head. “I’d been working with GPS receivers out along the southwest rift zone. I had a model I was pretty sure was accurate. It suggested the area was overdue for a lava flow. The GPS showed expansion, and I postulated that there was a new magma chamber growing.” She wiped at her nose. “As to why he would publish it under his own name, I have no idea. Only Noah could tell you that. He quoted my stuff but changed the data to hide any likelihood of a lava flow. He trashed everything I’d been working on.”
“This is near the Tagama property, right?”
She nodded. “Annie knows about the danger out there. But there should be plenty of forewarning. Earthquake swarms and the like.”
How did Tomi and Leilani fit into all of this? Maybe they didn’t. Maybe what they were involved in had nothing to do with the volcanoes. Though that was the likely scenario, it didn’t feel right to Mano. There was some link he was missing.
Annie came back toward them with rapid steps, nearly running. “There’s an unidentified missed call on my cell phone,” she said, out of breath. “Maybe it was Tomi. Do you think he’s on the island?”
“He said he was. He’ll call back.”
“I’m going to strangle him when I get my hands on him!” she burst out. Her eyes reddened, and she bit her lip. “I’m going to call Sam and tell him to get that tap on the phone done.”
“I’ll try calling him,” Mano promised. He walked away from the women and went toward the pier. No reason to let them watch him crash and burn with Sam.
The detective was in. “Detective Briscoe,” he barked.
“Sam, it’s Mano. The Tagama family has still heard nothing from Leilani. Annie wants that phone tap done.”
“We’re working on it,” Sam said.
“What about the phone call Annie got on Saturday? Any idea what that was about?”
“That might have been a prank,” Sam said. “If it happens again, the tap will give us more information.”
“When will it be ready?”
“Get off my back, Oana! I’ve got more problems than you know. A stabbing in Pahala, two break-ins in Volcano.” He let out his breath in an impatient sigh. “Look, I’ve got to get back to work.”
“But—” Sam was gone before Mano could finish his question.
“Nothing,” he told Annie when she joined him by the rolling surf.
She pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. “I want to talk to Tomi, but since he’s not calling, I can’t sit idly by. I’m going to talk to Leilani’s friends. Maybe one of them has seen her.”
“Good idea. Sam will howl about it though,” he reminded her.
“At this point, I don’t care. I’m not sleeping and neither is my father.” She stood. “Do you have any ideas about the money in Tomi’s account? Other than espionage, of course.”
“Not a clue.” He didn’t like admitting it. He would have sworn Tomi held nothing back from him. Not ever. He didn’t know his best friend like he thought he did. “What shall we do first?”
She glanced at her waterproof watch. “I have some number crunching to do with this data we just got. Can you meet me after work? I’d like to talk to Leilani’s best friend, CeCe Dillon. I have no idea if Sam has even talked to her, and I’m going nuts waiting.”
“I’ll go with you. I have something to do first. I’ll meet you at your house.”
“Fine.” She walked away to join the other women.
His gut told him Noah’s problem with the casino developer might be tied up with Leilani and Tomi. Mano needed to find Noah. He’d have to sneak onto the Aloha Shores, but it was the middle of the day and maybe the residents would be at work. He probably should tell someone where he was going in case they caught him and threw him to the sharks. He grinned at such a melodramatic thought.
Nine
What do you want with me?” Leilani Tagama huddled against the wall. The meager light from the lamp cast her in a sickly yellow glow. A dirty handkerchief hid her eyes.
The big man felt a stab of regret that surprised him. He didn’t want her to identify him. He didn’t like his orders anymore than Leilani did. But it had to be done. She’d seen too much. The boss wasn’t taking any chances. “You hungry?”