“Why would he be so competitive with you? I thought you two were friends.”
“We were. He’d always been a bit of a geek though. We went through that kind of thing occasionally. He was always sorry afterward, and we stayed friends.”
Kaia stared at Jillian’s face. “When is Jillian’s birthday?”
“June fifth.”
She typed in JILLIAN65. “Rats, still wrong. Think, Jesse.”
Jesse thought for a few moments then squatted by the desk. “Duncan was always into secret hiding places. Move aside and let me look.” He began to feel around the bottom of the desk. “Aha. He’s got something taped under the drawer.” He struggled briefly then brought up a small notebook. Flipping through it, he pointed at a series of numbers and letters. “Try that.”
Kaia typed it in, and the file opened. Jesse leaned over her shoulder and began to read the file with her. She heard his intake of breath. “He intends to direct the missile into Honolulu.” She couldn’t believe it.
“Nearly four hundred thousand people live there. The death toll would be staggering.”
“He can’t be serious. Thousands would die.”
“Tens of thousands,” Kaia said. “Look at this.” She pointed to the screen. “He’s got another missile system in the works that he plans to sell to the government once this one is discredited. But why would he be willing to kill so many people for money?” She noticed Jesse wasn’t listening. His attention was focused on a display of pictures on the wall.
He went to it. “This almost looks like a shrine to his dad.”
Kaia joined him. In one picture, Duncan was looking at his father with an adoring expression on his face.
“It makes no sense he’d want to discredit his father’s missile system.”
“His father designed it? Why isn’t it named after him or something?”
“His dad’s company split apart and his partner took the credit. It killed Duncan’s dad. He drove his car into a monkeypod tree, and we always thought it was deliberate.”
“Maybe that’s what this is really about,” Kaia said. “The new system would have the Latchet name on it.”
“Maybe.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll have to figure that out later. Right now we have to stop that missile launch.”
The phone jangled, and they both jumped. Kaia’s eyes widened. “Why would it ring in the middle of the night? Maybe it’s Mr. Kalakaua. Answer it.”
Jesse raised his eyebrows, but he picked up the phone. “Hello,” he said cautiously. “It’s Duncan,” he mouthed to Kaia. He motioned for Kaia to come close enough to listen in.”
She pressed her ear against the phone and heard Duncan’s voice. “Did you enjoy rifling through my office, Jesse? Look, I was serious when I told you to do nothing. If that missile test doesn’t go on as planned, I’m going to kill your niece. So don’t even think about calling the commander.”
The phone went dead.
Jesse dropped the receiver back into its cradle. “I don’t know what to do.” He stared uncertainly at Kaia.
“We’ve still got a few hours. Maybe we can find him and rescue Heidi and Faye first.”
He pulled her from the chair. “We have to try.”
They left the computer on and the filing cabinet standing ajar and ran for the elevator. The guard kept his face turned away as they exited the building and headed for the boat.
As they approached the Porpoise II, Kaia saw a familiar dorsal fin. “It’s Nani!” She was dizzy with relief.
She ran to the water and ran her hands over the dolphin. The warmth of her friend reassured her. Nani seemed fine physically, but she was agitated. She kept chattering and whistling. She dove under the water then surfaced again and made more noises.
Nani’s pattern of clicks and whistles suddenly formed a pattern in Kaia’s mind. She gasped. “She’s saying, ‘Heidi’!”
“What?” Jesse frowned.
“She’s communicating, Jesse! She’s telling me she knows where Heidi is.” Kaia jumped to the deck of the boat.
Nani chattered again, the same word. Heidi. Then a different word. Shark.
Twenty-eight
Faye’s stomach rumbled. The man hadn’t fed them or given them anything to drink, though it was nearly dawn. Light began to touch the edges of the sky, but only barely.
Heidi slept on a blanket on deck, but Faye hadn’t closed her eyes all night. They felt gritty and painful, and she wished she could rest. She wanted to cling to every minute because she thought this night might be her last. The men weren’t going to let her walk away. She could identify them.
A light appeared on the horizon. It seemed to be a small motor-craft headed in their direction. Faye had thought she wanted something to happen, but watching the dot grow larger, she found herself praying it would pass them by.