Mano sighed. He’d expected as much. “Thanks anyway,” he said. He took his foot off the brake and continued on into the subdivision. He didn’t see anyone for several minutes and was about to give up when he saw a familiar figure. His foot went to the brake. The man was massive, the size of a sumo wrestler. Why did he seem so familiar? Mano ran his window down and was about to hail the man when the figure turned and the bright sunlight illuminated a birthmark that ran across his nose. Mano had seen that face many times. Kim Aki. Son of Nahele Aki. The two men had been part of a Hawaiian sovereignty group on Kaua’i. Mano met them when he’d gone undercover for the navy to investigate the group.
Kim didn’t see Mano. He was standing in front of the place Noah had rented. Mano turned his head away. He took his foot off the brake and accelerated around the corner. No sense in tipping his hand yet. What was Kim doing here? Mano had gone on to a new mission after the Akis were arrested for trying to detonate munitions on the navy base, and he never learned what happened to them. He’d have to put in a call and find out.
He sped out of the subdivision and drove down the road a ways, then stopped in a pullout. His brother, Bane, would know the story. He dialed his brother’s cell phone number.
“Where are you?” Bane asked.
Bane’s terse question startled Mano. “On Hawai’i. I brought Tomi’s belongings to his family.” He hesitated. Maybe now was the time to tell Bane about his diabetes. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. Bane was so strong, so wise. As the younger brother, Mano had spent his entire life trying to follow in his older brother’s footsteps; it seemed impossible to admit his weakness now. And he had never told his brother that he’d failed Tomi when things got hard. Bane would not have left Tomi in the water.
Mano marshaled his thoughts. “Everything okay at home?”
“T?t? kane has been a little under the weather. I was going to call you and tell you about it.” Bane sounded worried.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not sure. He’s been sleeping a lot and complaining of his stomach. Probably just the flu. But you might give him a call. And have you talked to our mother?”
“Oh yeah, I haven’t called her lately.” Their mother had left them with their grandfather when they and their sister were children. She had only recently reentered their lives. While Mano was glad to reconnect with her, reestablishing the relationship hadn’t come naturally.
“You’re not calling me just to shoot the breeze. What’s wrong?” Bane asked.
“Kim Aki. Whatever happened to him?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then: “Funny you should ask. I just checked a few weeks ago. Nahele was convicted when Kim agreed to turn state’s evidence. Then he disappeared. Probably off causing trouble somewhere else. Why?”
“He’s here.”
“On the Big Island? Where?”
“In the Aloha Shores subdivision.”
“Did he see you?” Bane’s voice grew sharp. “You’re not real high on his list of favorite people.”
“I know. He didn’t see me. Not yet. You have any way of figuring out what name he’s using these days?”
“I could try. I think he just scuttled away like a cockroach, though. As overworked as the courts are, I doubt anyone is keeping track.”
Mano leaned back against the headrest. He hadn’t slept much for three days, and his eyes burned. He closed and massaged them. “I’ll follow him and see what I can find out.”
“Be careful,” Bane said. “He’s a dangerous man.”
Mano promised to watch his back and hung up. It was almost time to pick up Annie for dinner, and he didn’t have much to report. There’d been no sign of Tab Watson. He put the car into drive and headed toward the Shark Head. He’d stop there before going to Annie’s house. Another thought struck him. The ring he’d seen after someone shot at him and Noah. It had an A on it. Could it stand for Aki?
Annie looked at her reflection in the mirror. Maybe Fawn was right. What could be the harm in trying to look her best? She didn’t have any makeup of her own, but Leilani had enough to open her own cosmetic counter. She went down the hall to Leilani’s room. The bottom drawer of her sister’s dresser contained a jumble of Leilani’s discards. She selected some foundation, blush, eye-shadow, and mascara.
Back in her room, she tied back her wet hair, then shook a little foundation onto her fingers and rubbed it onto her face. It was awfully orange. Maybe some pink blush would tone it down. She dotted some cream blush on her cheeks. The garish effect made her gasp. This wasn’t working. She rubbed at the too-dark color on her cheeks. Her face looked like a teenage girl’s first attempt. She started to smile at the thought.
She either had to forget it or ask for help. Staring at her reflection, she tried to decide. The doorbell rang, and she glanced out the window to see Fawn’s car in the driveway. She hurried to the door and flung it open. “Think I’ll make a runway model?”
Fawn’s smile faltered when she looked into Annie’s face. “Um, you decided to try some makeup after all.”
Annie covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t stop the giggles. “You should see your face. It’s that bad, huh? I was thinking about trying out for the part of Cleopatra in the town play.”
Fawn’s smile broke out. “You’d need more eyeliner for that. But I can fix you right up.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” Annie went past her toward the bathroom. “I’ll go wash this off, and you can start over.”