Lani’s smile came back. “Call me!” she sang out as she ran out the door.
Eva grabbed her own backpack and put her crumpled box of Cheetos into it. She touched the penknife Hotshot had given her. It made her happy to see it. Stepping into the sunshine, she started toward home.
“Eva.”
She turned. “Hey, Hotshot, where you been?” He looked funny today, kind of glum. Eva wished she could cheer him up.
“You remember I told you I would need your help one day?”
Eva straightened and nodded. “I remember.”
“Today is the day. We need to get your dad out of trouble. He took something that doesn’t belong to him, and he needs to give it back. I thought he might have put some of the stuff in the sled he was making, but there were no compartments. So we have to help him.”
“My dad wouldn’t steal.” The idea made Eva mad. Her dad was good. The best man she knew.
“It was an accident,” Hotshot said. “He didn’t know it belonged to me. But he’ll be in trouble if we don’t help him. You’re the only one who can save him.”
Eva’s chest swelled at her friend’s words. Sometimes she dreamed she was Luke Skywalker about to save the world, but in her real life she knew she was lucky to have her job. Lots of people didn’t hire girls like her. “What should I do?”
“I need you to write your dad a letter. Then you need to come stay with me awhile until he does what he needs to do.”
“Stay with you? Mama will be mad if I don’t come home on time.”
“I’ll explain it to her. It will be okay.” Still smiling, Hotshot pulled out a notebook. “Just write what I tell you. When you’re done, we’ll go diving.”
“I love diving!” Eva said. Hotshot offered her a pencil, and she took it, touching it to the tip of her tongue to wet it. “Okay.”
Twenty-four
The ship rocked in the waves. Leia was shivering, and she wasn’t even in the water. The trade winds blew across her exposed flesh, but they felt cold to her, though she knew they were as warm and balmy as usual. She began to pull on her wet suit. Might as well get this over with. Bane already had his gear on and stood with Mano looking out over the water from the bow of the Pomaik’i. Ron was on the island rounding up some more equip-ment, though he’d managed to get enough for today’s dive. She was thankful he hadn’t asked too many questions.
Annie was helping her gear up. She stood and shaded her eyes with her hand. “Hey, is that your dad?”
Leia looked up to see her father speeding toward them in his small dingy. From the whine of the motor, she figured he had it opened up all the way. She waved, and he motioned wildly, a frantic movement that made her rise and hurry to catch the towrope he tossed her way. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Eva. She didn’t come home after work, but we got this note.” He stepped aboard and handed her a folded piece of paper.
Bane and Mano joined them. Ajax pressed close to Bane’s leg. Leia took the note and unfolded it. I’M OKAY, BUT YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT HOTSHOT SAYS. GIVE HIM BACK HIS STUF. DON’T CALL POLISE. EVA. Leia’s fingers tightened on the paper until it began to crumple. Eva was so trusting, so easily taken in by anyone who was nice to her. She looked at her dad. “Hotshot? Who’s Hotshot?” Her father’s gaze was fastened on her face as though he hoped she held the answer. “And what stuff does he want?”
He took back the note. “I have no idea who he is. I’d say the stuff is the artifacts.”
“Does Mama know? Eva talks to her a lot.”
“She’s heard her mention him, but she thought this Hotshot was one of Eva’s coworkers. We called Laura Gallagher, but she’s never heard of him.”
Laura was Eva’s supervisor at ARC. She kept a tight rein on the employees. Whoever this guy was, he had made sure no one saw him with Eva. Leia curled her fingers into her palms.
“Did you call Detective Ono?” Bane asked. He held out his hand for the note, and Akoni gave it to him. He grunted as he read it.
Akoni hesitated. “I was afraid to call when the note said not to. I’ll just turn over the artifacts and get my daughter back. I can’t run the risk that the guy would hurt her.”
Leia rubbed her palm over her face. “I don’t know what we should do. I don’t want them to hurt Eva.”
“You think there’s more than one?” her father asked.
“I wonder if it’s the same two men who grabbed me. The big guy, Moe, could have a nickname like that.”
“Let’s get the artifacts up top before we call the police. We’ll see what they want to do once the items are in our possession.” Bane held on to his mouthpiece and jumped into the water.
Leia started to follow him, but her dad grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry, Leia. Sorry I’ve made such a mess of things. I should be protecting my family, and instead, I’ve put you all in danger.”
Leia put her hand over his. “We’ll figure it out. We’re Kahales, after all.”