“Leilani should be here,” her father said. His voice trembled. “We should present a united front.”
Leilani. Annie put down Wilson and her hand went to her pocket. She pulled out the pendant. “Have you talked to her today?”
“She has not shown her face since yesterday, the silly girl.” Edega stood and paced. “She has been out since then?” Annie nodded. “We shall have a most stern talk with her when she gets home.”
Annie sighed. She opened her fist and showed her father the locket. “I found this near the Kalapana Trail.”
The anger left her father’s eyes. “She never goes to the volcano. You don’t think—” He gulped and choked back his words.
Annie hadn’t wanted to even consider suicide, but she realized the thought had hovered at the back of her consciousness. “Surely not,” she whispered. “She would never kill herself, especially not there.”
“She’s been acting strange since she joined that club.” Her father sounded fearful. “Secretive and sometimes despondent. You should have put an end to it, Annie.”
Annie exhaled slowly. She should have, but Leilani was so headstrong. She glanced out the window. Mano was still unloading the trunk of the car. He seemed to be taking his time. Maybe he was less self-assured than she first thought.
She grabbed the portable phone on the table beside her and called the shop where Leilani worked. Her sister had not shown up for her shift. Annie dialed CeCe but couldn’t reach her. Annie called the police next. The dispatcher promised to send out an officer. Annie clicked off the phone and let her eyes return to Mano as he hefted three stacked boxes and started toward the house. She let her gaze linger on his dark hair. In her daydreams, she used to imagine plunging her fingers into that thick thatch. No more. Mano Oana had destroyed her family as surely as if he’d sent a cloud of choking ash to smother them all.
Two
Mano hoped Annie would see him coming with the boxes before he reached the door. After landing in Hilo, it had been all he could do to force himself to drive the familiar road out to the Tagama house. The lava fields stretched out on all sides of the winding road, and the memories assaulted him. Things were so different the last time he was here. Regret left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Knocking on the Tagama door today had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, which was sad considering how much he’d always loved coming here. Their home blended their Japanese heritage and the American culture they’d adopted as their own. Edega had emigrated from Japan when he was in his teens and married a Japanese American girl who treasured her American upbringing. Edega had insisted on a Japanese name for his son, and her mother had demanded an American name for Annie. Leilani had been a compromise, a Hawaiian name to celebrate their new home. The conflict was typical of the cultural tug of war that went on throughout the marriage. That was what had made coming here so lively.
Edega seemed different—more remote and austere. And Annie—she seemed smaller. She’d always been withdrawn, but now she was almost like a ghost. His cell phone rang, and he set the boxes down to answer it.
“Hey, big guy, where are you?” his sister, Kaia, said.
“On the Big Island. I came to see the Tagamas.”
The phone went silent. Kaia finally cleared her throat. “That’s got to be hard. It’s the first time since—” She broke off.
“Yeah, it is. But it has to be done.” He thought about telling Kaia what he suspected but bit back the words. She was in the middle of wedding plans. No sense in dragging her into this.
“Well, guess what?” Her tone lightened. “I’m here on the Big Island too. I’ll find a place to get you fitted for a tux while you’re here. I came to do some planning with Jillian. And to bring Nani for a while. She followed the boat here.”
Jillian was Kaia’s soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Nani? What’s up with that?” He hadn’t thought Kaia would let the dolphin out of her sight. Since Kaia had bridged the communication gap and begun to “talk” with the dolphin via a device that translated words into clicks and whistles, Kaia had been even more obsessed with her work. Maybe the upcoming wedding had divided her attention.
“Jillian asked if Nani might help her for a few weeks. She and a coworker want to check some underwater lava flow, and it’s too deep for comfortable diving. I figured Nani might enjoy seeing Heidi again too. Besides, the reporters are still hounding us, and Nani needs a break. I’m taking off a few weeks to finish wedding preparations anyway.”
“I’ll stop by and take you all to dinner later. How’s Jesse dealing with the prewedding frenzy?”
Kaia laughed softly. “He seems to be taking it in stride.”
They chatted a few more minutes; then a police car pulled up behind his car, and an officer got out. The man’s gaze met his, and recognition flooded his face. Mano’s smile faded. Sam Briscoe. He said good-bye to Kaia.