Donna’s dazzling display of teeth set Kaia on edge. If he wanted to flirt with the beautiful ensign, he could do it on his own time. She needed to get out on the water. Aware she was irritated with Jesse for no good reason, she took Heidi’s hand. “We’ll wait for you in the hall.”
With the wind in her hair and the sun slanting over the cliffs of Na Pali, Kaia was in her element. This was the third day Heidi had gone out with her. Jesse had tried to call Kaia’s old nanny but hadn’t gotten an answer. Something would have to be done soon, however, since Kaia was about to start working nights. Not that she minded having Heidi along—the little girl’s pleasant chatter made the day go faster.
She waved to her friend George Thompson in his Fathom Five Divers boat just outside the no-navigation area. Two other crew members, Mark Davy and Charlie Schmitt, sent piercing wolf whistles in her direction. She grinned and stuck out her tongue at them as she passed. She’d done her dive training with Fathom Five and still dove with them occasionally.
Heidi wore a life vest and sat in the bow, a smile as big as Kipu Falls on her face. Her bear, Boo, had been all but forgotten under a deck chair. Nani raced along beside the boat. Kaia had hardly seen Jesse. From the grim expression on his face over the past couple of days, she knew things at the base weren’t going well. She’d offered to keep Heidi with her tonight to attend one of her grandfather’s lu′aus, and the relief on his face had spoken volumes.
Her skin felt taut and windburned. They’d been out here since seven this morning, and it was already nearly six. Nani surfaced and leaped into the air. Kaia frowned. “The camera is missing.” She stood and scanned the waves for the buoyant device. “Nani keeps scraping it off.” She suppressed her disappointment. She’d thought Nani would love this new challenge, and she hated to admit the dolphin was failing her assignment so far.
“There it is.” Heidi pointed at the bright yellow bit of plastic housing floating about fifteen feet from the boat.
Kaia steered the boat toward the camera then cut the engine and fished it out of the waves. She whistled for Nani, and the dolphin zipped to the side of the Porpoise II then turned and raced away when she saw the camera in Kaia’s hand.
Kaia pressed her lips together. “We might as well go in.”
“I want to stay out here.” Heidi crossed her arms over her chest. “Can’t we work with DALE?”
Kaia glanced at her watch. “For a few minutes. Then we have to go in.” She grabbed her knapsack and pulled out the communication device. When she dropped it in the water, Nani came back to the boat. Kaia began to input clicks and whistles into the machine. Nani pressed the wrong picture on the underwater screen three times.
“She’s not cooperating,” Kaia said. She pulled the device out of the water. “We might as well go in. We’re not accomplishing anything.” Sometimes she wondered if she was ever going to get through to the dolphin in a way that really mattered. Nani rolled over by the boat, and Kaia managed to get the camera back on her.
“You promised we could stay out awhile. It’s only been fifteen minutes.” Heidi’s lip trembled, and tears clung to her lashes. “All grownups break their promises.”
Kaia bit her tongue and tried not to snap back. “You sound tired. I think you need a nap.”
“I’m not!” Heidi rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes. “Naps are for babies. My mom doesn’t make me take a nap.”
Kaia knew what the problem was. “You miss your mom, don’t you? Maybe we can call her when we get to shore.”
Heidi picked up an oar and threw it overboard. “Stop talking about my mother!”
Kaia wasn’t sure how to handle this acting out. Heidi had to be upset by her father’s abandonment and now by her mother’s absence. Poor kid. Kaia cut the engine, and the boat slewed sideways. She tossed the anchor overboard. “How about a swim before we go ashore?”
Heidi looked at her uncertainly as if she had expected Kaia to be mad. “I’ll get the oar. Can I snorkel?”
“We can both snorkel a little while.” Kaia waved to the navy boat that was monitoring Nani. She and Heidi adjusted their masks and pulled on their swim fins. “See you in the water.” Kaia rolled over the edge of the boat.
Kaia’s disappointment in Nani’s performance today left her as she entered the world she loved best. Schools of Raccoon Butterfly fish surrounded her then darted away. She spotted several Orange Bandit surgeonfish, a small school of Hawaiian Cleaner wrasse, and a Hawaiian puffer. Her favorite, the Moorish Idol, swam by and disappeared behind a lava rock. The scores of brilliantly colored fish dazzled her eyes in a display of bright yellow, turquoise, and green.