HIGH TIDE (13 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Are you in a foul mood or what?”

Nick slammed his fist against the radar panel. “The damn thing isn’t working.”

“Probably because you just punched it. What’s up, boss man? Is it the woman? Want to tell me about her?”

Irritated, Nick shot Keo a
don’t go there
look. Keo didn’t bite. He stood with his plump arms crossed, amusement puffing up his cheeks. Nick glanced away, focusing on the jagged volcanic range in the distance. There had been no call from the biologists yet. The sea remained calm, however large fish were washing up on the Manale coast. The two didn’t correlate. These were not feeble little goatfish. These were hardy deep-sea creatures that had no part in beaching themselves.

On Briana’s shore.

For several days he had Briana Holt on his mind, and it was slowly driving him insane. He had spent too much effort comparing her to Meleana, only to discover there really were no similarities. For so long he had suffered the sting of Meleana’s bite, but now a woman with sun-kissed hair rendered the ghost of his past just that… a ghost.

He had to see Briana again
. He had to talk to her and find out how she really felt, and determine if everything had been made hopeless by his cynicism.

Keo grabbed
his descending fist before he could punch the console again.

“Okay, so you don’t want to talk about her
,” Keo observed. “So then we’ll discuss that Hatteras anchored out there. You saw what I did, didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t about to get into something that would put Briana in danger,” Nick growled. “I’d like to get my eyes on what was hidden under that canvas. It sure as hell wasn’t fishing gear.”

“Looked like a winch to me, some pretty damn fancy rigging for a ship like that.” Keo released his grip. In sympathy, the Hawaiian caressed the radar panel with his gnarled paw.

“Too expensive to leave the ship unmanned like that.”

“They weren’t far away. They knew we were there.”

Rubbing his thumb and pointer into the corners of his sore eyes, Nick squinted against the
brilliant mirror of sun against water.

“Okay, so are we turning the
Inquiry
around for another search?”

Large feet
overlapping the thin plastic of the flip-flops dropped onto the deck as Keo hefted his bulky frame off the stool. He reached for the transmitter and barked into it. His head shook as he clicked off the device and mounted it overhead.

“No way, boss man. They want you back in the office.”

The pain behind his eyes grew, but Nick managed a weary nod. “I heard. Not my job, wasn’t that what they said?”

Keo’s lips pursed. “Heck, how many times have you done your job
and
everyone else’s? Didn’t hear them complaining back then
.”

The Gulch
. He was talking about the Gulch.

Again the soreness throbbed, and again Nick argued with the decision to go to Briana tonight. If he kept himself busy, possibly, just possibly, he could keep her out of his mind.

***   

Worn jeans, a blue cotton tank top, and sneakers that were beacon-white was
acceptable attire for the impending task, Briana felt. With a hand on the light switch she made one final sweep of her office, sensing that she was forgetting something, but flipped the dial and locked the door anyway.

“You’re going out there?” Kathy trailed a step behind her in the corridor.

“It’s late, it’s Sunday. I’ve got paperwork that needs to be submitted tomorrow morning that I have to polish up on tonight.”

“You’re going to Kaneohe.” Holding the door open for Briana, the young woman followed doggedly.

Briana stopped before her Altima, and rummaged in her purse for her keys. That was when she made the mistake of looking across the roof into those hopeful gray eyes.

“Yes, I’m going there. But there’s no need to mention this to anyone, are we agreed? I’m just curious, that’s all.”

Kathy clapped her hands and executed a little skip that made Briana laugh.

“Can I come, pleeeese?”

Sobering, Briana shook her head. “Just because I have this foolish notion doesn’t mean I’m going to drag you into my convoluted plan.”

“But you
need
me. I just gave you an idea of where the boat was…not specifics.”

“Why, Miss Bishop,” Briana grinned
, “are you holding out on me?”

Behind the large glasses loomed a mirthful face that took on a glow under the overhead lights in the garage. Briana looked into the past, when that youthful zeal used to brighten her own expression. Briana was a private woman, but when she decided she liked someone, the connection was immediate and unquestionable.
She liked Kathy
.

“Okay,”
she began, trying to ignore the fact that Kathy was bouncing again. “Get in the car. But we’re not going to do anything crazy. The boat probably isn’t even there.”

“Gee, this is exciting.” Rounding the trunk, Kathy yanked on the passenger door, and all but leaped
until Briana slid in and unlocked it.

***
  

They parked down the street, probably an unnecessary precaution, but they did it. With Kathy close on her heels, Briana proceeded to the pier, listening to the plastic sandals slap against the concrete behind her.

So much for stealth.

A slight breeze caught Briana’s hair as she drew it away from her face. Not a second later she noticed Kathy mimic the gesture. Inwardly she smiled at the idolization of the young apprentice, but chastised
herself for dragging Kathy into her mission to help a man who would most likely never want to see her again.

“Okay, so we know for sure it’s this pier, right?”

Holding a crinkled piece of paper under the diffused glow of a streetlight, Kathy squinted behind her glasses and nodded.

“Slip 22.”

“Damn.”

“What?” Kathy’s head shot up from the paper.

Briana contemplated the locked gate. It was absurd that she even entertained the idea of climbing it, although she knew she was going to do so nonetheless.

“Oh,” A whisper of dismay sounded by her side. “I can get over that.”

“Don’t you dare.” Searching the empty parking lot, Briana touched Kathy’s arm. “You stay here.  You know—keep an eye out, that whole thing.”

“Got it.” Kathy nodded. “Should I make a bird call if I see someone?”

This was getting ridiculous, but Briana couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Give me a few honks from a Nene goose.”

At that moment a pair of headlights pierced the lot. The vehicle approached with a quiet purr.

“Come on,” Kathy tugged on Briana’s fingers. “We can hide behind that shed.”

“Take it easy,” Briana stood still, squinting against the approaching beacons. “We haven’t done anything wrong, there’s no need to hide.”

“Hey, I know that car.”

“So do I,
” Briana added.

The vehicle pulled to a stop before them, its engine idling as the shadowy driver studied them through the windshield. With a shrill screech, the door opened.

“For God’s sake, what are you two up to out here?”

“I thought you had a date, Naoki?” Briana crossed her arms, not about to be reprimanded by her friend.

“A date?” Kathy whispered behind her.

“You took off like a bat out of hell for the office
—you think I’m not going to be the least bit curious?”

Still in his polo shirt, the bulge of a cell phone in the front pocket, Naoki looked around the vacant parking lot before settling a disapproving frown on the women before him. “And then I get to the office, only to find you both sneaking out together.”

He glanced at Kathy who stepped in behind Briana. Catching a glimpse of the intern in her periphery, Briana noticed the young girl studying Naoki through a thick set of lenses. She really did look like an owl.

“No offense,” he addressed the owl, “but it’s not common for Briana to take off with the
trainees at nine o’clock on a Sunday night.”

“None taken.” Kathy swallowed a gulp.

“So I follow you, and look where it takes me.” His arm flung out. “Now, I don’t think it’s a question so much of what you’re doing here, but rather why you felt I shouldn’t be included?”

Briana heard the hurt in his voice and immediately felt guilty. Naoki was absolutely right. He had been her partner in nearly every venture for the past three
years, and now she precluded him in favor of someone who had worked for the company for a matter of days.

“Naoki, you were busy.
 I didn’t want to bother you with—” Her feeble attempt to describe this endeavor ended in silence. Instead, she opted to change the subject. “Was Joy mad when you left?”

“Mad?” His voice pitched and then lowered. “No she was not
mad
. She had—you know—business of her own.” He snorted. “I guess I really know how to clear women out of a room.”

Kathy’s laugh was exceedingly loud in the stillness of the empty lot.

Both Briana and Naoki turned to look at her and she quickly smothered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry.”

“Anyway,” Naoki continued. “Joy is not the point right now. What you’re doing here is the point. Care to enlighten me?”

With hands on hips, Naoki waited impatiently for an answer. Briana attempted composure.

“We’re checking into a possible lead as to the source of the problem with the beach at
Manale Palms
—and,” she paused, reading his incredulity, “a correlation, if you will, between the tide issues and the dead fish.”

“I’ll be damned.” Naoki smiled for the first time. “You’re still worried about the professor.”

“I am not.”

“What professor?” Kathy whispered.

“Never mind.” Feeling entirely foolish now, Briana suddenly wanted this over with. She watched the jerky contours of bobbing boats made sinister under the moonlight.

Curiosity won out over intuition. “Look Naoki, I’ll just be a minute here. Why don’t you head—”

“Oh, no you don’t.” His hand rose as his head shook. “I’m coming with you. What are we looking for?”

“The
Merryweather
.” Kathy smiled, but it faltered when Naoki stared right through her.

“A fishing boat, a Hatteras, something with a big load on it.”

Briana turned and raised her eyebrows in a mute threat at the intern. Kathy threw her hand over her mouth again.

“That’s it?” Naoki challenged. “That’s all you’ve got? And how in God’s name did you narrow down this
Merryweather
as being the sole responsibility for your sudden beach erosion or dead fish?”

Well, when he put it that way
…
But it also made her more determined than she had been five minutes ago.

“Dredging what?
” Naoki continued. “You can’t dig off that coast. Okay, look. Let’s just go find this
Merryweather
and settle this so that Briana can go back to her professor and appease him, and I can get back to—well, so we can go home.”

Without the boisterous chatter of fishermen and tourists haggling over rental fees, the sound of the pier at night seemed sinister. Creaks and groans of boats straining against their moorings, and the soft lap of water licking rusted hulls
evoked a daunting symphony for the nervous trio as they approached the padlocked gate.

“Were you just going to climb it?” Naoki considered the six-foot high fence.

“Can you think of a better plan?”

“No, but let me do it. You two stay here.”

“Whoa,” Briana’s hand shot out, catching Naoki’s arm before he could gain leverage and hoist himself over. “I’m the boss. This was my idea.
I’m
going over.”

With no
opportunity for anyone to react, Briana had a foot lodged in one of the diamond rungs of the fence as she hefted herself up.

“Careful
. Don’t slip. Watch the top. You could get cut. Look out for the—”

“Quiet!” Briana hissed from above.

When she reached the top, she cursed as the jagged tip of a coil scratched her arm. In one athletic move she lunged over and landed on her feet with only a slight twinge of pain in her ankles.

White-knuckled fingers clutched the metal frame as she stared out at the two pensive faces watching her through the grill.

“Okay, now it’s my turn.”

“Stay there, Naoki.
 Keep an eye out in case someone comes.”

“But—”

“Keep Kathy safe.”

Kathy started to protest, and then a shy smile emerged as she glanced towards Naoki.
 Naoki glowered, but Briana had already retreated into the shadows.