“You know this guy?” she asked him.
He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I don’t think so.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I can always tell when you’re lying, Mano. Who is he?”
“For a minute I thought it was a guy I knew.” He shrugged and laughed, an unconvincing sound.
“Who does it look like?”
He sighed. “You’re like a pit bull sometimes, you know that? I’m sure it’s not him, but it almost looks like Jonah Kapolei.”
The name didn’t ring a bell with Kaia. “How do you know him?” Mano grimaced and she thought for a minute he wouldn’t answer.
He finally shrugged. “He’s the treasurer for Pele Hawai′i. But I don’t think this is him.”
“The sovereignty group?” Jesse asked.
Kaia nodded. She didn’t like where this was heading. What was Mano involved in? Maybe it was a good thing she was going to that meeting on Saturday. She could see if maybe the group was behind everything going on at that base.
Six
Faye Latchet tied her tennis shoes then stood and looked in the full-length mirror. “I’m too pale,” she told her husband. She pinched her cheeks and tried a confident smile on for size. It only succeeded in deepening the lines around her mouth and eyes. She hated growing old.
She dropped the smile and stared into her own dark and haunted eyes. Those eyes had seen too much pain and disgrace. Caused it too. Maybe this was the wrong thing to do.
“You’re obsessing. Just be yourself and he’ll love you.”
“I should have stuck with the original plan to be your secretary,” Faye said. “At least I can type.”
“You can still do that if you want to wait, but Kaia won’t be at the lab for a couple more weeks. It seems heaven-sent that Duncan called with this need.” He patted her shoulder.
“I’m frightened,” Faye admitted. She turned and buried her face in her husband’s chest.
“You’ll be fine.” He hugged her then dropped a kiss on her hair. “You can’t go back now. We’ve talked it over, and you know this is what we have to do. It’s too good an opportunity to pass over.”
“I know, I know,” she said, pulling away. Why couldn’t he see how hard this was for her? And to watch a child at her age wouldn’t be easy either. A tiny resentment flared, but she quickly squelched it. Curtis was doing this for her. She couldn’t get cold feet now.
She pasted a happy look on her face. “I’m ready. It was just last-minute jitters.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, giving her an approving hug. He glanced at his watch. “We’re going to be late if we don’t get moving.”
She grabbed her purse from the bed and followed him to the car. “Should I give the little girl the gift right off or wait until he hires me? If he hires me.”
He dropped the gearshift into drive and pulled onto the street. “He’ll hire you. He’s desperate. But I’d still wait until things are settled.”
Faye fell silent as her husband drove from Waimea to Seaworthy Labs. “You sure he said to meet here instead of at the base?”
“I’m sure.” Curtis’s voice was patient, and he gave her an indulgent look as he pulled into the parking lot. “There’s his Jeep. He’s already here.”
Her heart surged to her throat, and she felt faint. She hadn’t had a panic attack in years. She couldn’t have one now, she thought, licking dry lips.
Curtis pulled beside the Jeep and shut off the engine. “Showtime,” he murmured.
He made it sound so easy. She would be the one on display, not him. Quit obsessing, she told herself. After all the scams she’d pulled over the years, this would be easy. Almost as easy as turning tail and running away.
But she was through running. It was time to stay in one place and fight for what she wanted. She’d always been good at getting what she wanted. This would be no different.
Jesse looked in his rear-view mirror and saw Curtis’s car pull in. He was curious for his first glimpse of Faye Latchet. He just hoped and prayed she would work out. Duncan seemed to like her. He wished things were different and he could take leave to spend this time with Heidi, but things at the base demanded his attention now. He felt caught between a lava flow and a tsunami.
Heidi pouted in the backseat of the Jeep. “I don’t know why I can’t stay with Kaia.” Her lips trembled. “Or Donna,” she added grudgingly.
It might have been easier if Heidi had taken to Donna as well as she had to Kaia. Jesse thought if he’d asked Donna, she might have taken leave to care for his niece. The problem was that she might expect something from him in return. Something he wasn’t prepared to give.
He glanced at his niece. “Kaia has to work nights now. I already told you that.” He had, in fact, told her that at least twenty times. He’d never seen such a persistent kid, but then Heidi was the only one he’d been around much. She was a good kid though, and he hated to upset her.