“That means . . .”
“That Dirk not only has my sister, but he also killed Tony. He’s probably got my dad too,” Leia finished for him in a choked voice. “We’ve got to find him! He’s capable of killing them. This proves it.”
Bane went to tell Mano what they’d found. Leia held the weight belt and tried to figure out where this all led. Dirk wasn’t with the divers. How had he killed Tony? He’d been at Candace’s house when she went to offer her condolences to Candace the night Tony died. Candace was the usual pilot of the boat, and she hated to let anyone take the boat out without her. If Dirk was onboard, so was Candace. She glanced at Bane and saw the same doubt in his eyes.
Bane’s eyes widened. “I’d say Candace is involved too, Leia.”
Leia didn’t want to believe it. Could all Candace’s tears about Tony’s death be hiding the heart of a black widow? “I don’t believe it, Bane. She’s been just crushed by all this. Maybe Dirk is trying to implicate her.”
“Maybe. But consider this—Candace was an actress. Tony was always bragging about how good she was.”
“That’s true,” Leia whispered. “But she wasn’t down there that day.”
“Neither was Dirk,” he pointed out. “What if she was having an affair with Dirk and got sucked into the whole thing?
“I’d like to believe that she never intended Tony harm, and that Dirk did it. But how? He must have taken a separate boat out and waited for Tony.”
She nodded. “He was handling the shop that day. He could have closed it a few hours, gone out to kill Tony, and gotten back.”
“He would have had to tell her about it.” Bane picked up the belt. “Otherwise, this wouldn’t be here.”
He had a point. At the very least, she was an accomplice after the fact and had helped hide his guilt. At the worst, she’d been in on it from the beginning. “Should we go back and confront her? Make her tell us where Dirk has Eva and my dad?”
He shook his head. “It’s all speculation. She may know nothing, and we’ll have wasted valuable time. At least we have an inkling of where to look right now.”
She was beginning to feel hopeless. “I hope you’re right.”
“I think I can find this place.”
She looked up to see the boat heading for shore. The barren stretch of beach held no sign of habitation other than a rickety pier that jutted into the heavy surf. “I don’t see the cabin.”
“It’s up the hill, in the trees. You can’t see it from here.”
The engine throttled back, and Mano brought the boat along-side the pier. Two other boats were anchored there. Bane jumped out and secured the rope. “We need to hurry. The surf is high today, and the rope may not hold for long.” He helped Leia navigate the pitching deck until she was on the pier. Mano hopped nimbly after them. “It’s up this way.” Bane charged up the hill.
Leia followed, and he stopped to help her clamber over a pile of black lava rocks. With every step, her hope surged again. She wanted to grab her sister and hug her tight. The world would be deprived of a wonderful light without Eva. Leia almost physically ached at the thought of losing her sister. Eva was way too trusting, but that was part of her charm. The thought made her realize that she couldn’t blame God for the gift of Eva. He’d known what he was doing all along. Eva was special, and her dream about the starfish had helped save them today. Maybe God had known what he was doing with the things Leia had gone through as well.
She stopped to catch her breath at the top of the hill. “Listen! I think I hear Eva.” The voice came again. Though she couldn’t make out any words, the stress in her sister’s voice traveled through the trees loud and clear. “Hurry!” As they rushed through the path covered with wildflowers, Mano pulled out his gun.
They reached the clearing, and Bane held Leia back when she would have charged to the cabin. “Let’s circle around the back and see if we can tell what’s going on. Mano, you stay here and watch the front. Leia and I will be right back.”
Eva’s voice had stilled, and Leia couldn’t tell where it had come from. They crept around the end of the house, following the scent of Japanese honeysuckle. Both windows in the back of the two-room cabin were open, so they would have to be quiet. Leia was tall enough to peer in the window, so she leaned forward and peeked around the honeysuckle to the inside of the cabin. Eva and her father sat in camp chairs. Dirk stood over them waving a gun angrily. None of them were looking toward the window.
Leia ducked back down again. “He’s got a gun.”
“I saw. We need to distract him.” He took her hand, and they slipped back to the trees. He motioned to his brother, and Mano joined them at the front-left corner of the house.