Bane nodded and watched her turn the pages. Eva’s talent shone in her attention to detail and the colors she chose. His gaze landed on the landscape scene Leia was about to pass over. “Wait, I know that place. Dirk took Tony and me to that cabin once to go fishing. There’s an old fishpond there, now that I think about it. I knew there was some old pond that I couldn’t remember. It’s been driving me crazy.”
“Dirk? Could he have anything to do with this?” Mano asked.
“I don’t know,” Bane said. “Dirk said the cabin was owned by his grandfather, but it’s rarely used. Maybe someone just took advantage of its accessibility.”
Leia was still looking at the sketch pad. “Look here.” She showed him a picture of a man Eva had drawn. It was clearly Dirk Forsythe. Hotshot was written under it. “Dirk has her.”
Eva held her father’s hand as Hotshot made them walk along the narrow strip of sand. She’d been here before, snorkeling with Hotshot. Makua gave her hand a squeeze that made her feel better, and she held on to it with all her strength. With her father here, she wasn’t as scared, but she still wanted to go home. “Mama will be worried,” she told him.
“We’ll see her soon.” They climbed a small hill and soon reached the cabin where she’d changed into her suit when she snorkeled before. It was nicer than the other one. There was no dust on the tables here, and no mouse doodoo. “Now what?” her father asked Hotshot. “You have what you wanted—why don’t you just let us go?”
“Cooperate with me and you’ll be freed. I know there’s more.”
“There isn’t,” her father said.
His voice boomed in a way that usually scared Eva, but Hotshot didn’t seem to flinch. Eva huddled closer to her father, and he put his arm around her. She watched Hotshot’s face and wondered why he looked so mad. Her dad had been nice to him and had even brought him some boxes of stuff. It didn’t look very interesting to Eva: old broken pottery and creepy bones. It made her shiver to look at them.
“I read the list. I know one of the items is a priceless la’au palau. I want it.”
Her father’s eyes widened. “I forgot. There is one small box of things that Koma didn’t get down to the cave before he broke his hip. It’s in the tree stand at his cabin. I meant to get it yesterday, but when you took Eva, I forgot about it.” He stared defiantly at Hotshot.
Eva began to hum. She didn’t want her dad to make Hotshot mad. She’d seen him knuckle a boy’s head once when he got an attitude. It was Joe Leoki, and he had cried. Joe was a big boy, so she knew it hurt. She didn’t want Hotshot to hurt her dad. She tugged on his arm. When he looked at her, she shook her head. “Don’t make him mad,” she whispered.
“Your daughter is smart. Don’t make me mad. Sit.” He pointed to two blue camp chairs against the wall. Taking out his cell phone, he punched in a number and spoke into it. “The rest of the stuff is in the tree stand at Koma’s. Get it, and come here.” He listened, then grunted and hung up. “If it’s not there . . .”
They decided the easiest and fastest way to get to Dirk’s cabin would be to hike back to the cottage, get Leia’s bike, and drive to the boat. They could take the boat to the beach near the cabin. The plans went without a hitch until they raced to the dock and got into the Eva II. The engine wouldn’t start.
“It’s got plenty of gas,” Mano said, wiping the grease from his hands after trying to tinker with the engine. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Leia’s gaze landed on Candace’s boat. “Let’s take Candace’s boat.”
“Can you find her to ask her?”
“I don’t want to traipse all over the village looking for her. She said she’d be here awhile.” Nodding toward the old man casting nets from the pier, she started toward him. “I’ll tell Jeb to tell her we’ll be back as soon as we can. Maybe he can get this boat going and use it to run her customer back.” He promised to keep an eye out for Candace and tell her Leia had taken the boat. He got his tools and headed toward the Kahales’ boat.
When she got back, the others had already boarded Candace’s boat. She untied the rope, threw it to Bane, then hopped onto the boat. Mano started the engine, and the craft pulled away from the dock. She looked back, hoping to see Candace and wave an apology, but her friend was nowhere to be seen. It was probably just as well. At least she knew Candace wasn’t going to need it anytime soon.
Bane directed Mano on where to head the boat. Fatigue hit Leia, and she felt shaky. She sat down on the seat. Maybe if she had something to eat she’d feel better. Leia began to rummage through the cabinets in search of food. She found some Cheese Nips and grabbed a handful. They were stale, but she ate them anyway. As she put the box away, her gaze fell on a weight belt. It was damaged, the cut edges sticking up in the air. She picked it up and looked at it, then flipped it over. A red label bearing Tony’s name was still attached.
She made a sound, and Bane looked up. “What’s wrong?”
Wordlessly, she held out the belt. “It’s Tony’s. The one we couldn’t find.”
He absorbed her words in silence, then took the belt from her fingers. “How would she get this? She wasn’t even down there.”
“Dirk uses this boat too.”