Authors: Colleen Coble
What were these guys talking about? Her dad didn’t know any-thing about the Spanish treasure. She shook her head. “Could you loosen these ropes? My feet and hands are asleep.”
He regarded her for a long minute, then stood and leaned over her. His breath smelled of fish. He untied her, then retied her feet but left her hands unbound. He pulled a revolver from his back pocket and checked the chamber. “Don’t try anything, or this is liable to go off. It’s going to be a long night if you don’t cooperate.”
“No guns,” Logan said. “Put it away before someone else gets hurt.”
“This is all your fault, just remember that, Logan. If you hadn’t shot the old man, we could have found the right cave with the treasure. So don’t tell me what to do.”
“It was an accident, Moe,” Logan flared. “I was just trying to scare him.”
Moe snickered. “You’re a lousy shot, Logan. That’s why I’ve got the gun.”
His brief smile made her shudder. She had to get away. And soon. She was fresh out of good plans though. Almost too tired to think, she wanted to pillow her head in her arms and sleep. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. My dad knows nothing about the galleon. He’s never had any interest in that kind of thing.”
Moe sighed. “Don’t try that with us. We don’t care about a few lousy coins and trinkets. We want the cave artifacts, and we mean to get them. We know your dad took them. Your family has them stashed somewhere.”
Cave artifacts? Karshmer Cave? “My father wouldn’t steal a pack of gum, let alone Hawaiian artifacts. You’re wrong.”
Moe stood and brushed the dirt from his hands. “And we know you’ve got them. Our boss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Something skated at the edge of her memory, something she could use to fool them. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll take you to them.” She could lead them to Koma’s cabin and give them the old bones she’d found in the monkeypod tree. They wouldn’t have any idea the trunk was just full of a bunch of animal remains. If she was lucky, Bane would have managed to get Detective Ono out to help look for her, and she’d lead these two right into the hands of the police. “You want to go now?”
Moe stared at her, but she must have managed to look contrite enough, because he finally shook his head. “First thing in the morning. It’s too dark to see tonight.” He rose and tossed her a blanket. “Remember, I’ve got the gun,” he warned. “I don’t have anything to lose by shooting you. And don’t try any tricks tomorrow. If you don’t lead us to the artifacts, we can snatch the old lady or your dad.”
“Why grab me in the first place? What made you think I’d know anything?”
“We didn’t,” Moe said. “But the old lady is loony, and your dad would be harder to handle. Besides, if you didn’t know, all we’d have to do is call your dad and threaten to kill you. He’d do any-thing for you. As it is, we were right, and you know all about it. All the easier for us.”
She had to maintain the deception. “Smart. I admit I’m impressed. No one else has even suspected
Makua
has the artifacts.”
Moe’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to butter me up.” He went to the pile of sleeping bags on the floor and pulled one out. “Logan, tie her to something so we don’t have to stay awake and watch her.”
Logan. Leia stared at the man, finally figuring out why he looked vaguely familiar. He was the redheaded seaman who was so afraid of Hina. He saw her staring and averted his head. She’d only seen Logan standing in the doorway once and hadn’t paid any attention, but it might be the same man.
Logan grabbed a coil of rope from the corner, bound her hands behind her, and anchored the other end of the rope to the table leg. Still not looking her in the eye, he grabbed the other sleeping bag and spread it out. Leia watched him crawl into it before she shuffled around on the blanket and closed her eyes. The terror gnawing at her insides would never let her sleep.
B
ane pulled into the driveway of the Kahale home. He and Ono had searched the jungle until the trail petered out. While Ono went to find volunteers to search more, Bane knew he needed to talk to Leia’s parents. They had taken Ipo home with them and cleaned out the cottage.
Ingrid greeted him at the door. “Why didn’t you grab the shovel or something?” Ingrid whirled in a graceful movement and walked to the window. Her shoulders were rigid. “Bane, you’re a big guy. You could have made mincemeat of the thief. Now it’s all lost, and Leia is missing.”
Bane winced. He was already dealing with the guilt of failing to protect her. “I’ll find her, Mrs. Kahale.” He checked the time on his watch.
“Now, Ingrid, don’t hammer the boy.” Akoni spoke from the chair by the door. “He did the best he could. They’re going to find Leia. I’m going out to help search too.”
Ingrid frowned and nodded toward the window. “Looks like Candace heard the news.”
Bane stood and went to the window. With tears streaming down her face, Candace came flying up the walk. Bane pinched the bridge of his nose. He was so tired of failing everyone around him. “I’ll talk to her.” He left the living room and hurried to the door as the bell pealed repeatedly. What could he say to the young widow? The truth was going to hurt.
Candace was leaning against the doorjamb when Bane opened the door. “Is it true?” she demanded, swiping the back of her hand across her cheek.
“If you’re talking about Leia’s disappearance and the stolen treasure, I’m afraid so.” Bane stood back to allow Candace to enter. “Ono is gathering volunteers to help look for Leia.”
“Did you look at mug shots?” Candace continued to stand outside.
Bane
glanced at his watch. “I didn’t see him. Ono has shut down the airports and the ferries, but the guy could have his own boat.”
“I can’t believe this. All that treasure, just gone.” She groaned. “You can’t let anything happen to Leia.” She rubbed her stomach.
The stolen treasure would have fixed everything for her and her baby. “I’ll find Leia. I wish I could say the same about the booty.”
“The money would have been nice, but as long as Leia is all right, that’s the important thing. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll figure out something.”
“Just so you know, there was hardly any treasure in the chest, just a sprinkling of jewelry and some coins. I doubt it was worth more than maybe a hundred thousand dollars.” While that sounded like a lot, it wouldn’t have lasted Candace more than two years—if that—with the cost of living in Hawai’i.
Candace dropped her hands. “You’re kidding. I thought it would be worth millions.”
“If the chest had been full, it would have. But it wasn’t much of a treasure, as treasures go.” He looked at his watch again.
“Could more of it be still buried—or on the ship?”
“Maybe.”
“So all hope isn’t lost.” Hope buoyed Candace’s voice. “You may find the real bulk of the treasure on the ship. At least we now know it’s more than a myth.”
“I wouldn’t put all my hope on that,” Bane warned. “I’d guess someone took bits and pieces of the treasure out of the chest over the centuries and sold them off. What we found is probably all that’s left.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’m meeting Ono and the others at Ipo’s house.”
Ingrid came to the door as he spoke. “Candace, you look exhausted. Come inside. I just put some tea on.”
He left Candace with Ingrid and ran to his car.
M
ove. We don’t have all day.” Logan jerked Leia to her feet and shoved her toward the door.
Leia’s feet tingled, and she felt clumsy and awkward as she shuffled barefoot through the door into the early morning light. The sun was barely up, and the light was still murky. “Um, I need to use the outhouse,” she said, her face burning.
Logan nodded. “Around back,” he said. He marched her in front of him to the outhouse.
“I’ll need my hands free,” she said.
Logan glanced around. “No tricks,” he warned. “Look, just so you know, I didn’t want any part of hurting anyone.”
“You work for Ron, don’t you?”
“Ron who?” He wasn’t meeting her eyes.
“Why did Moe kill Jermaine? I can’t see you doing it.”
He raised his head then, and his gaze held defiance. “The treasure was ours. I guess the boss hired him to keep an eye on Tony, but he had no business going off on his own.”
“Where is his body?”
Logan shrugged. “We tipped him over the cliff. He’s fish food by now, and no one will find him.” He gestured toward the out-house. “Take care of business. We need to get going.”
Rubbing her sore wrists, Leia nodded and ducked inside the outhouse. It had only one small, high window that let in a trickle of light, but it was too small for her to squeeze through, even if she could hoist herself up to it. She heard a beep and realized Logan had dialed his cell phone. He was talking. She craned her head to listen at the tiny window.
“She’s taking us to it now. We should have it by midmorning. We had to kill another guy who was on the trail. Didn’t you trust us to find it, Mr. Westerfield?”
Westerfield. Bane had suspected Westerfield was behind the sabotage of the plane. It appeared he was interested in more than sunken ships.
There was silence from Logan, then he finally spoke again. “I’m sorry to doubt you, sir. I’d appreciate it if you could pay me as soon as possible. My wife needs another treatment soon.” He paused and listened. “Thank you, sir.”
She didn’t want to feel any pity for Logan. He’d chosen his path in spite of what sounded like unfortunate circumstances. She quickly used the toilet, then went back outside when he ended the call. Maybe Logan would forget to tie her hands again.
Blood had clotted along the cut she’d inflicted on him. He looked her up and down, but he didn’t say anything, and he didn’t tie her hands again. While she didn’t trust either man, she felt safer with Logan. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was later than she’d imagined—nearly six in the morning. Bane and the police were probably long gone from Koma’s cabin. She had no one to depend on but herself. And God. She pushed away the thought of God. He wouldn’t help her now. She moved slowly and tried to plan what to do. If she climbed the tree herself and left them below, was there any way she could get high enough to get out of range of Moe’s gun? She wouldn’t know until she got there.
They moved single file through the forest. Moe’s gun prodded her back occasionally, and Leia picked up her pace. It was going to be at least seven by the time they got to Koma’s cabin. “I need to stop and rest a minute,” she said, leaning against the rough bark of a macadamia tree. Her lungs burned, and so did her legs where brambles had torn her skin. Her bare feet felt like they were encased in cement.
“No time. Let’s get this over with.” Moe took her arm and shoved her forward.
Leia staggered but couldn’t maintain her balance. She fell face forward into the thick vegetation. Inhaling the scent of the wild-flowers, she protested when Moe hauled her to her feet. “Please, I can’t go on. I have to rest.”
He swore and let her fall back to the ground. “Fifteen minutes.”
It was bliss to ease the tension from her muscles. Her mouth was dry, but she was too tired to ask for water. She needed to think, to plan. She shouldn’t waste these precious minutes on unconsciousness, but it was hard to wrap her mind around any possible solution to her dilemma. One thing in her favor was she knew the area. If she could get away from the men, they would have trouble following her through the forest. Her eyes closed.
Moments later she was jerked to her feet. “Time’s up,” Logan said.
She nodded and began to move forward. She had to recover her strength. Praying as she dodged the thick trees and shrubs, she came to the path that led to Koma’s cabin. “This way,” she said.
“That leads to where the old man lived,” Moe said. “We’ve come back to where we first took you.”
“We should have made her tell us when we were here before,” Logan grumbled. “I just want to finish this and get out of here.”
“We’re here now. Just shut your yap so we can get this over with. I can’t wait to get back to civilization.”
Leia’s steps lightened now that the end was in sight. She hurried along the path. From here she could see Koma’s cabin. It looked deserted. She stepped around the edge of the cabin. “It’s back here.”
“You’re getting smart now. No games,” Moe said.
Leia was practically running by the time she hit the backyard. She didn’t want to be alone with either of the men. While they hadn’t made any advances, she didn’t like the way Moe looked at her. She reached the base of the tree where Koma had built his meditation platform. She put one foot in the fork of the tree and began to climb.
“What are you doing?” Moe grabbed her arm and yanked her back. “I told you—no funny stuff.”
“It’s in a chest in the tree stand,” she said. “I’ll get it for you.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“It’s there. Look, what do you have to lose? Just let me get it so I can go home.” His green eyes, as clear as glass, locked with hers. She found it hard to believe a man with such beautiful eyes could be all evil. “Please, I just want to get this over with.”
He dropped his hand. “Logan, go up with her.”
“I can get it. I don’t need any help.” Leia’s hope began to slip away. With someone up there with her, she had no chance of escape.
“You’re too eager to give us what we want. I don’t trust you.” Moe jerked his head toward the tree. “Get going, both of you.”
Leia closed her eyes briefly, then turned and began to climb the large monkeypod tree. She easily scrambled to the top. Logan grunted as he hauled his bulk from branch to branch. She glanced around and saw the chest. At least it was still here. She would have been in a lot of trouble if it had been missing. Logan clambered onto the wooden floor and lay gasping on his stomach. Leia heard a meow and looked up. Hina jumped to her shoulder. A rush of joy flooded her. At least she wasn’t alone anymore, even if it was just her cat.
Logan sat up. “Keep that thing away from me. I hate cats.”
It wasn’t just dislike she saw on his face, but pure terror. Maybe she could use it. He backed away, his gaze riveted on Hina. With a sudden movement, Leia scooped Hina up and tossed him at Logan. The man threw up his hands and stumbled back as the cat extended her claws. Logan shrieked like a woman and batted at the air, and the cat fastened on his shirt, then released her claws and dropped to the floor of the platform. Logan took another step back—this one into thin air. With a scream, he disappeared from view.