“I’ve got just the system for you. I’ll have it delivered this afternoon. Will you be at the boat?”
“We’ll be there by six or so.” Jesse sipped his coffee. He glanced at Kaia. She needed to get some rest. She looked ready to fall asleep in the chair. They were going to need someone to keep guard while they slept a few hours.
Walking back to the parking lot, he tried to think of who he could call.
“I see that look,” Kaia said. “You’re worrying.”
“We need help. I’m all in and so are you. We won’t be much good without some shut-eye.”
“I’ve been thinking about that too. We could stay at Tutu kane’s cottage. No one will look for us there. I can call some cousins to hang around while we get some rest. Bane is there too.”
“You think your grandfather wouldn’t mind?’
Kaia laughed. “He’d relish the chance to smother me.”
“Should we call him first?”
“No, we can just go over. But I need to call some of my cousins.” She dug her cell phone out of her purse and made a couple of calls. “You mind if we stop for some cat food for Hiwa?”
“No problem.” As he drove along Highway 50, Jesse’s mind raced. They couldn’t keep reacting to things. He needed to take charge and dig out the truth. Once they got some sleep, he would pay a visit to Nahele Aki and see if he could rattle him enough to make him admit he’d tried to take Heidi.
He didn’t know what Pele Hawai′i would want with his niece though, especially since Jesse was no longer in charge of base security. They couldn’t threaten her as a way to make him do anything. Nothing made any sense.
They stopped to get cat food for Hiwa then went on to Kaia’s. As he stopped in front of Kaia’s house, his cell phone rang. “Heidi and I will wait here,” he told Kaia. He answered his phone. “Matthews.”
“Jesse, what is going on?” Jillian’s voice was agitated. “I called Faye and she told me someone tried to kidnap Heidi last night.”
“I was going to call you.”
“You should have called me last night! It was probably Noah.”
“Jillian, you don’t believe that.”
“I don’t know what I believe anymore.” She took a ragged breath.
“Noah might be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t put Heidi through an ordeal like last night. The thugs used chloroform. You know how Noah hates drugs.”
His sister sounded near tears. “Is Heidi suffering any effects from it? Faye didn’t say anything about chloroform.”
“She’s right as rain this morning.” He glanced in the rearview mirror and watched the concentration on his niece’s face as she played Mario. The beeps and noises from the GameBoy assured him she was back to her old self.
“I’d better get there,” Jillian said. “I should have brought her with me. I wasn’t thinking.”
“I can’t let you take her until we get to the bottom of this.”
“You can’t let me take her? She’s my daughter, Jesse.” Jillian’s voice rose. “I’m coming home. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Heidi.”
“I know she’s your daughter. Just calm down. You would have been no match for those men last night. Heidi needs to be protected. If you want to come here, fine, but don’t expect to take Heidi until I’m sure she’ll be safe. The men could follow you to whereever you are and just take her. We don’t know why they wanted her. Until we do, we have to keep her safe.”
“They wouldn’t follow us to Italy,” his sister insisted.
“They had obviously laid their plans well last night, sis. I think whoever is behind this is capable of anything.” He told her about being relieved of his duties and the investigation.
“That’s nuts, Jesse! The captain has to know your character.”
“It was a shock,” he admitted. “But it’s for the best now. I can go about things my own way.”
“I’m scared.” Jillian’s voice fell to a whisper. “What can I do?”
“I’ve got it under control, little sister. Try not to worry. Nothing will happen to her. We’ll get the culprit soon.”
“You’ve always been there for me, Jesse. For both me and Livia. School would have been impossible if you hadn’t protected us.”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Jillian laughed. “You and your motto. I don’t feel very strong right now.”
“You’re stronger than you realize. Some women would have gone into hiding after what Noah did.” He could tell his sister was getting her spunk back.
“The wheels of justice grind exceedingly fine,” Jillian said. “He’ll get what’s coming to him, and I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he does.”
“Have you heard from him?”
“There was a message from him on my answering machine. He just said to call him and left a number. I looked it up. He’s in India.”
“What’s he doing there?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t call him.”
“Are you going to?”
“And say what? If I have to listen to any of his excuses, I’ll puke. What he did was unforgivable.”