She grew still, and her heaving sobs stopped. She pulled away, wiping her face with the back of her right hand. “Makua is here?” she whispered.
His hands were still on her shoulders, and he could feel her trembling. He frowned. Was that dread on her face? He turned. “He’s right here.” Akoni’s hand grasped the last branch, and he practically rolled onto the platform. Lines of concern and love etched his face. He held out his hand to his daughter, but Leia took a step back. Bane’s gaze swept back to her. He didn’t understand her reaction.
“Keiki, you’re all right.” Akoni rushed to grab his daughter, but she held up her hand.
“Wait, Makua. Don’t touch me. You have some explaining to do.” She made a sweeping motion with her hand toward a rough wooden chest.
Akoni stared. He opened his mouth, then shut it and wet his lips. “I can explain,” he said.
Leia stared at her father. She’d thought she knew him so well—from his strength of character to his faithfulness to his family. Now she was looking at a stranger. The dark eyes that stared back at her were filled with desperation. And love. She couldn’t look at the love on his face. Was it even real? “These are some of the artifacts that were stolen under your watch. Where are the rest?”
Her father dropped his gaze. “Buried in an underwater cave.”
“Why, Makua?” she whispered.
He raised his eyes to meet her gaze again. “I found out they were going to be sold to Westerfield. He would split them up and sell them off. I couldn’t let that happen. They deserved to have a decent burial. Even the display at the museum always bothered me. The remains should never have been taken from their burial site to be gawked at.”
“Why not just take the bones and bury them? You could have left the other things for display.”
“I thought about it. The curator would have suspected me right off though, because I argued against selling the remains. I had to take it all or none. It needed to stay together anyway.”
Leia digested his explanation in silence. It tilted everything she thought she’d known growing up. Her father had taught her the truth was always best, that character is something built on a daily basis. His character had always been the example she strove to model. His motive was good, she couldn’t deny that. But the cost to her family and to his own integrity had been huge. “Does Mama know?”
“No. She wouldn’t understand.”
“Neither do I, Makua. Not fully. I understand your reason, but you trampled everything you taught me to believe in. Honor, truth, character. Was it all a sham?”
He shook his head vigorously. “I know it looks that way. Maybe when my character was put to the test, I failed. I had to do what I thought was right for the situation.”
She was going to have to think about this when she was alone. She couldn’t catalog it with him looking at her. She glanced at Bane. “Are the police coming?”
“I think I hear the helicopter now. Do you know who grabbed you? I recognized Logan. Who was the other man?”
She heard the chopper too, now that he mentioned it. The whop-whop of the propeller blades grew louder. “Logan called him Moe. Somehow they knew my father had the artifacts. Westerfield hired them.”
“I should have told Ono to investigate him. I didn’t have any proof he sabotaged my plane, but I should have passed my suspicions on to the police.” He glanced at Akoni. “Any idea how Westerfield knew you had the artifacts?”
Leia looked at her father. “I always thought he was so upset with you because the robbery happened on your watch. Now you’re saying he was furious he lost out on the chance to buy them. What’s the real story?”
Her father’s head hung even lower. He put out his hand and slowly lowered himself to sit on the platform bench. “He suspected all along I took the artifacts because I was against the sale. His was the most vocal voice accusing me. He never gave up on getting at the truth.”
“Why are these bones and artifacts not buried?” Bane asked. “Did Koma know where you buried the artifacts?”
“Yes, he arranged for his nephew to help him take them down. The boy got transferred to O’ahu before the final box could be taken to the cave.”
“A submerged cave?” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the helicopter as it came in for a landing. “You have to give the artifacts back, Makua. You know that.”
“I can’t, Leia. It would kill your mother for people to know what I’ve done.”
“You have to. It’s the right thing. We have to trust God to turn this out for the best. That was your mistake in the first place. You didn’t trust his sovereignty.” It was getting too loud to talk now. She motioned for them to go down. Her father went first. When she would have followed him, Bane took her arm and leaned in close to speak in her ear.