After only four hours of sleep, Kaia still felt sluggish. Traipsing down the stone steps, she felt beaten down by what she’d overheard at Mano’s. This was too big for her. Could Mano’s involvement with Nahele have caused their cousin’s death? She didn’t have the strength or the resources to help her brother. She’d have to ask Jesse for help and pray he wouldn’t turn her brother in.
When Kaia stepped into her grandfather’s cottage, she was enveloped by the aroma of sweet potatoes and roast turkey. She followed the fragrance to the kitchen and found her grandfather at the oven. “What can I do to help, Tutu kane?”
“Everything is almost ready, lei aloha. You can set the table.”
Kaia nodded and went to the old pie safe her great-grandfather had made. She pulled out the Banana Patch Studio pottery she’d bought him for Christmas last year. The Plumeria Collection of dinnerware in blue and yellow lifted her spirits. Though she’d spent two weeks’ wages on it, it was worth every penny, she thought, running her hands over the bottom of a hand-painted plate.
Glancing at the table, she saw her grandfather had opihi as an appetizer. Whatever he wanted to discuss with them must be important if he’d plunked down the money for the highly prized limpet.
Her brothers came in as their grandfather set the last of the food on the table. Tutu kane sat at the head. He gave thanks then began to pass the food around. Bane talked about his day out fishing, but Mano didn’t have much to say. Kaia wished she could tell him she’d overheard him, but she bit her tongue.
When their grandfather had finished serving the dessert—haupia, a custard made with coconut—he placed his hands on the table and glanced around at his grandchildren. “I have something I wish to discuss with you. This affects all of you, so I didn’t want to do it unless I had unanimous approval.”
All three grandchildren put down their spoons and looked at him. Kaia could feel the curiosity zip between them. Their grandfather was seldom so serious. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and she wondered if he’d slept last night. Could he be sick? She tried to remember if he’d been to the doctor lately.
“Are you okay, Tutu kane?” she asked timidly.
“I’m fine. Physically at least.” Her grandfather’s smile was kind. “But I’m seventy-eight. Who knows how many more years the good Lord will grant me? There is one thing I want before I die—to know what has become of your mother.”
Of all the things Kaia had been expecting, she’d never imagined this. Her gut clenched, and the taste of coconut rose from her stomach. “Is this another of your jokes?” she asked, her suspicions rising.
“No joke this time.”
He was still smiling, but not with mirth.
“Do you have any idea how we might accomplish that?” Bane asked.
Her brother’s calm tone upset Kaia more than her grandfather’s request. How could Bane act like it was perfectly all right? Was she the only sane person left in this family? No one in their right mind would willingly seek out someone who had left so much pain in her wake. Paie Oana had been like an octopus who sucked the life out of her family and left the shell of the remains behind.
“I don’t want to find her. She’s better left in the past.” Kaia folded her arms over her chest. “Why do you want to find her after all this time? If she wanted to see us, she knows where we are.”
“I’ve told myself that for years,” her grandfather agreed. “I’ve been thinking about it for a year. It was the one regret your grandmother had when she passed on—that she never knew what had become of Paie. I woke up in the night last week and realized I didn’t want to die with that same regret. And I want the three of you to have closure as well.”
“It’s closed as far as I’m concerned,” Kaia said. More than closed. Dead and buried.
“I’m for it,” Bane said. “How do we do it?”
“We hire a private investigator,” their grandfather said.
“No!” Kaia cast a help me! look at Mano and began to gather the dirty dishes. Mano looked away.
“And you need to think about extending aloha to our mother.” Bane’s voice was grim. “Tutu kane is right. It’s time we know. Pray about it.”
Kaia carried the dirty dishes to the sink. Her mother deserved no aloha. There was nothing to pray about as far as she was concerned. She stormed into the bathroom, grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush.
Twelve
The man paced across the room. The woman and her dolphin were beginning to be a problem. If they found his underwater transmission site, he was in trouble. He pressed the phone against his ear.
The voice on the other end of the phone raised a notch. “She has no idea what we were doing. She’s not really a problem.”