Sam reached them. “Let him go, Mano. We just want to ask you some questions,” he told Aki.
The big man rolled to his back and sat up. “I haven’t done anything. What do you want?”
“For one thing, for you to stop when a police officer tells you to,” Sam said sternly. He grabbed Aki and hauled him to his feet.
Mano got up as well. He and Sam exchanged a wordless glance, and Mano read the warning in the detective’s eyes. He moved off to the side to give Sam room to handle the interrogation.
Sam took out his notebook. “Name.”
Aki glared at Mano. “Kim Aki.”
Sam looked up. “You’ve been going under an assumed name. Why?”
“Trying to stay out of the spotlight of yahoos like Oana over there.”
Mano ignored the big man’s glare. He studied Aki’s body language. Head thrust forward, arms crossed defensively, poised as if to flee any minute. The man was hiding something. Mano was sure of it.
Sam grunted. “What spotlight? Do you have a record?”
“No.” Aki’s response was instant. His smile held a trace of triumph.
“He was offered a deal for testifying against his dad,” Mano put in.
Aki bunched his fists. “See what I mean? How can I start a new life with that hanging over me? So I just changed my name.”
“Changed it or assumed a new one? Let me see your ID.” Sam held out his hand.
Aki reluctantly got out his wallet and handed the detective his driver’s license. “I assumed it.”
“Then where’d you get the documentation for this license?”
“I got sources.” Aki’s lips had a sulky twist.
Sam sighed. “Look, we want to know about Leilani Tagama. Where did you see her last?”
“About a week ago. We went out for drinks. I took her to her car afterwards. It was parked where she worked.”
“And that was the last you saw her?”
Aki nodded. “She was just fine when I left her.”
“What time was this?”
“About two in the morning.”
Leilani was a partier. It looked like that hadn’t changed. Mano itched to question Aki but forced himself to stay silent.
“Did she say where she was going when she left you?”
“Straight home.”
Sam scowled. “Did she have another boyfriend?”
“Her and me weren’t like that. We’d only been going out a few weeks. We weren’t serious.”
“A friend says she saw you with Leilani a few days ago in Hilo. What do you have to say about that?”
Aki clenched his fists. “It’s a lie. I haven’t seen her.”
“Were there any other men in her life?”
Aki shrugged. “Not as far as I know, but you never knew with Leilani. She liked to keep men guessing.”
Ah, they had him. “You’re talking like she’s dead,” Mano said. “You’re using past tense.”
Aki flushed. “It’s just a figure of speech.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I think you’d better come downtown for a few more questions. Like what you were doing outside Noah Sommers’s house.”
It was about time Sam pounced with that line of questioning. Mano was certain Aki was involved with Noah. Whether he had killed him remained to be seen, but there was something between the two men.
Aki held up his hands. “Don’t be framing me for that murder. It wasn’t me.”
“I just want to ask some questions,” Sam said.
Aki nodded, and they started toward the patrol car. When they reached the road, Aki made a sudden move to the right. He jerked his arm out of Sam’s grasp and bolted for the forest.
“Stop!” Sam gave chase with Mano on his heels. Ten minutes later they gave up. “We’ll find him,” Sam said grimly. “Every cop on the island will be looking for him.”
“What’s your take on this now?” Mano asked him. “Still think Leilani just ran off with a boyfriend? I think Aki is in this up to his ears.”
“Maybe. Or he might be tied to Noah’s death.” Sam started the car. “But I’ll look into it a little more.”
Finally. “Where can we start?”
“There’s no we, Oana. This is my job. Let me handle it.” Sam dropped the gearshift into drive and headed toward town.
Twenty-one
Annie stood in the doorway to Gina’s office. She wasn’t sure whether to act as if she still had a job or to throw herself on her boss’s mercy and beg for menial work.
Gina looked up from her perusal of a graph. Her face lit with relief and something else that Annie couldn’t read. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be coming back in today or not. Come in, sweetie, I want to talk to you.”
At least she wasn’t mad. Annie stepped into the office and sat on the edge of the seat, gripping her knees.
“You look like you’re about to hear a death sentence.” Gina smiled and went to the small rolling cart against the wall. “Want some tea?”
“Sure.”