Besides, she needed to get her mind wrapped around something other than her grandfather’s crazy plan. She didn’t want to think about seeing her mother again. What if she left again? Kaia knew she could never bear that kind of rejection more than once.
Jesse was standing beside his Jeep when she got to the front gate. She pulled behind his vehicle and got out, conscious of the way the SPs watched her. Her heart felt as heavy as a boat anchor. Even now, she cast about for some way out of revealing everything to him.
She thought he looked a little pale today. His eyes were cloaked with some dark emotion she found hard to name—fear, or sorrow maybe. His uniform was a little rumpled too. Maybe there had been a problem with Heidi. This was probably a bad idea. He had enough on his plate without her problems too.
He didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “You sounded upset. What’s wrong?”
The concern in his voice released the valve on her emotions, and she wanted to cry. “I need your help, Jesse. I think my brother is in trouble.”
His blue eyes softened, and he touched her arm. “Bane or Mano?”
She was surprised he remembered her brothers’ names. “Mano.” Jesse wasn’t going to be happy with her when she told him why. She dropped her gaze to the ground. “You know those men who tried to grab me the other night when I sprained my ankle?”
“Yeah.” His voice was deepened with wariness.
“I recognized them. I just didn’t want to tell you.”
His face didn’t change. He just nodded as though he already knew. “Okay, tell me now.”
He was being too nice to her. It made her want to throw herself against his chest and wail out her fear, let him carry it all. She took a step back and told herself she needed to look at him like a father figure. “You remember I mentioned Pele Hawai′i once before?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t been back on the island long, but it’s been long enough to hear about them and their violent tactics. They want to force the U.S. government into giving Hawai’i sovereignty. They sound more like a terrorist group than a bona fide political group.”
“I guess that’s exactly what they are.” It hurt to admit her brother could be involved in something like that. “The leader, Nahele Aki, was there with two of his men.”
“Why didn’t you want me to know? Is he a friend of yours?”
His voice had risen, and she wondered if he could be jealous. She shook her head. What a stupid thought. He was justifiably angry with her for not doing what she should have done sooner. “No. I didn’t want you to suspect Mano of being involved with those three. He joined the group in the past month.” She rushed on before she lost her nerve. “I’ve seen such a change in him. He’s turned into a zealot.” It felt wrong to be talking about her brother like this. She should have gone to her grandfather first. Maybe he could have reined in her brother. She bit her lip and reminded herself this affected national security.
“He’s navy, isn’t he? How does he reconcile the two?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I think they’re using him to gain information about the base. And that he’s involved in the security breaches.” She closed her eyes as she whispered the last sentence. She never would have thought that Mano would do something like this. Or that she would ever cast suspicion on him. Her eyes moistened, and she opened them to stare into Jesse’s face.
He raised his eyebrows. “Do you have any proof?”
Kaia told him what she’d overheard.
“Do you have any idea when they plan to do this?”
“No, but I think I know how to find out.”
“Tell me.”
At least he wasn’t brushing her off. “I want to follow Mano, see what he’s up to, and try to get him away from the organization before he does anything irreversible. You’re a security professional. You have surveillance equipment that could help, right?”
“Have you tried talking with him?”
She nodded. “He’s not listening. But something is wrong. The brother I know wouldn’t willingly participate in this kind of sabotage. I think he’s being manipulated. But if he knows you know what’s going on, maybe we could persuade him to help us bring Nahele down.”
Jesse’s gaze never left her face. She could see him considering what she said. “If Mano is as involved as you say, my duty is to turn him in, Kaia. If I hesitate, I could compromise the entire base.”