Razor Rocks Read online

  “A lot has changed on Kaho`olawe since it was returned to the Kanaka Maoli,” Torufu rumbled. “The people have been bringing back the native plants and recreating dwellings. It’s coming back alive.”

  “Be that as it may,” Commander Decker said. “We didn’t think Kaho`olawe had many geologic features that could provide shelter for this kind of operation, but one of our smaller boats did a careful pass along the southernmost coast, the side furthest from the main island of Maui. The terrain there is at a high point of the atoll, with a sheer cliff on one side. Well, it turns out that cliff hides a good-sized sea cave. An outcrop hides the opening. Our boat got in far enough to verify that there were other craft at anchor inside. None of our other searches have yielded anything that substantial.” Decker tugged down his crisp uniform jacket. “We have reason to believe this may be the pirate hideout.”

  As the captain was speaking, the crew had been bustling about. The Defender cast off. Lei grabbed onto the rail, but didn’t have time to warn Abe and Gerry, who ended up crashing into each other as the rigid-hulled inflatable spun away from the dock.

  Decker and Thomas left to enter the boat’s cabin, and Lei guided her partners to a familiar padded bench, where the three sat down.

  Lei turned her face into the wind, invigorated by the speed and the spray. Sunlight sparkled off of the cobalt-blue waves, and she fastened her gaze on the purple-brown smudge of Kaho`olawe off in the distance. They were going to take these pirates down!

  Thomas reappeared, carrying three heavily padded vests. He shouted into the wind and engine noise as he handed them each one. “These are bulletproof life preservers. The commander wants you below when we see action, but just in case . . .”

  Lei nodded. “I appreciate that, Aina. Last thing we want to do is be a liability to your crew during a sensitive operation.”

  Thomas’s eyes warmed as they held hers. “Appreciate your cooperation with our regulations, Lei.”

  They blasted across the waves toward Kaho`olawe at top speed, and nothing but the roar of the engines and the slap of the craft against the waves could be heard. As they approached the island, its muted shades changed from mauve and brown to a rich reddish cinnamon. Lei shielded her phone from the spray, doing a quick search about the island.

  Kaho`olawe was the smallest of the official main Hawaiian island chain—crescent moon-shaped Molokini atoll, which they were nearing, was not included in that count. Located in the wind-shadow of Maui’s dry western shore, the eleven-mile island had been scarcely populated due to a lack of fresh water since the late nineteenth century, when warring Hawaiian chiefs had burned and laid waste to its forests. Subsequent incarnations as a penal colony and cattle ranch had further scoured away topsoil, and its use for Naval target practice had finalized its barren state.

  Lei stared at the rising bulk of land as they approached it. After so much harsh punishment, it was good to read that the replanting efforts were helping to restore the battered little island.

  Pre-raid jitters sped up Lei’s heart rate. She could still remember each of the times she’d been a part of an armed confrontation. They seemed emblazoned on her psyche, tattooed there by the intensity of the experience—but only as a series of snapshots. “Adrenaline and cortisol are involved in any highly emotionally charged or dangerous encounter,” Dr. Wilson had told her once. “Those chemicals prepare the body for fight or flight—but they have a downside. Memories may just be impressions when a person is highly stressed.”

  Thank God Dr. Wilson had been available to meet with the Peterson girls and their mother . . . hopefully, their work with the psychologist would help with the highly charged, traumatic memories they carried from all they’d endured.

  The Defender flew by the cliffs and sheltered bay that made up the crumbling volcanic cone of Molokini, continuing past it along a deep, rough channel of surging waters to Kaho`olawe.

  Lei had never been to the island so recently regifted to the Hawaiian people. She scanned its forbidding, arid form, dark red with iron-rich soil, etched with canyons formed by runoff that led to black volcanic rock beaches, pounded by the restless sea. Only a few bushes were visible and added patches of green, and no clouds hovered above the fourteen hundred foot elevation at its highest point.

  The Defender throttled back, moving into the shadow of a huge boulder just off the coast. “Kaho`olawe’s a work in progress.” Bunuelos was holding up binoculars and surveying the island. “My kids have gone on school trips to plant more trees and bushes. They’re focusing on regrowing only native Hawaiian plants on the island.”

  “It makes sense to try to restore it to what Hawaii was like before all the invasive species took over,” Lei agreed, her eyes scanning the cliffs. “Where is this cave? I sure can’t see anything.”

  The Defender joined two other Coast Guard craft in the lee of the offshore boulder outcrop: one a large, sleek cutter, the other a rigid inflatable like theirs.

  Aina Thomas rejoined them. He stood next to Lei and pointed past her shoulder. “See that formation? It just appears to be a rock ledge coming out from the cliff.”

  Lei adjusted the bill of her hat and her sunglasses, trying to see what he was pointing at. “I think I see it.”

  Bunuelos aimed his glasses at the outcrop. “There’s a shadow next to it!”

  “Yeah, that’s how well hidden it is. That ledge comes out maybe fifty feet from the main face of the cliffs, but behind it is the entrance to the sea cave.”

  “What’s the plan?” Torufu put his hands on his hips. “Seriously, we can help.”

  “I’m sorry. You can’t. All three of you need to go inside the cabin during the operation. I’ll keep you abreast with one of these.” Thomas handed Lei a high-powered walkie-talkie, and tapped the partner to it that he’d slid into a pocket in his vest. “There’s only one way in or out, and we’re hoping they don’t know of our approach. We’re sending some divers to swim into the cave underwater and do a recon.” He gestured to the cutter. “They’re already on their way. They launched fifteen minutes ago. They’re using a submersible device to get there faster, so we should know soon what the status is inside the cave. Once we have an idea what we’re getting into, the Zodiacs will go in. The cutter will wait outside the cave for backup.”

  “Thanks for the rundown,” Torufu said.

  Thomas tapped the Bluetooth in his ear as he received an order. “We’re moving out. Head into the cabin, guys.”

  The three detectives went inside the crowded cabin as the Defender got underway. Lei sat between her two partners on a bench against the wall as the Coast Guard personnel went about their tasks efficiently.

  Tension filled the room as the Defender and her sister craft, trailed by the cutter, approached the opening of the cave. The Guardsmen had taken up defensive positions around the railing, their weapons at the ready.

  Lei could see out the cabin’s window how the ledge protected and hid a large opening. “This is amazing. Never would have known it was here!”

  Waves surged in and out of the entrance, amplified in the space, and so was the low throb of the boats’ motors. Shadow snuffed out visibility as they made the turn and headed inside.

  Sweat burst out on Lei’s body underneath the heavy vest, and along her hairline. She focused on breathing deeply and slowly through her nose, keeping her body calm, as the Defender passed under the lip of the cave’s opening, and darkness surrounded them.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The Defender and her twin inflatable glided into position, parallel with each other, and switched on high-mounted strobe lights at the same time.

  The illumination was a powerful blow on Lei’s eyes, and the bullhorn amplifying Commander Decker’s voice hurt her ears, too, bouncing off the harsh rock walls surrounding them. “This is the Coast Guard. We have you surrounded. Put down any weapons. Come out with your hands up, and you won’t be harmed.”

  Lei’s pulse pounded as she crowded close to the Defender’s
window with Torufu and Bunuelos, trying to see what was going on, still partially blinded. Her breath fogged the glass, and she swiped the mist away with her arm.

  The sea cave’s interior was lined with smooth, treacherous-looking black rocks, and moisture dripped from the ceiling, falling as gentle rain. The area was surprisingly large, and the boats’ powerful lights shone onto a crude floating dock mounted on plastic barrels, and several prefabricated plastic sheds positioned around the landing area.

  “Nothing moving out there,” Bunuelos said. “I don’t see any other watercraft, either, just that broken-down Jet Ski.” He pointed to an obviously wrecked craft lying on its side on the rocks next to the dock. “They got out ahead of us.”

  Torufu swore in Tongan, a long guttural chain of words Lei was glad she didn’t understand.

  The Defender bumped up against the dock. The Guardsmen left the craft, running down the dock, boots echoing hollowly against the water and cave walls, weapons in ready position.

  “I hope they’re checking for booby traps!” Lei frowned. She’d never forget a raid she’d been on that had been rigged to blow. She and her team had barely been able to identify the trip wires in time.

  “Looks like they’re checking with flashlights,” Bunuelos said. They watched as the Guardsmen spread out, inspecting the sheds before cutting the padlocks on the doors.

  “It sucks to sit here watching,” Lei muttered. “I sure as hell hope the women from the Golden Fleece are in one of those sheds.”

  As if on cue, Lei’s walkie-talkie crackled. “MPD staff, come to our position in the third shed on the right. We have captives here.”

  “Roger that!” Lei and her partners hurried out of the cabin, clambering clumsily onto the dock and running toward the shed. Lei thumbed to the video feature on her phone as she hurried forward, turning the camera on and aiming it around the scene as she approached the shed. “This is Sergeant Lei Texeira of Maui Police Department,” she said loudly, to alert the team. “Camera recording now.” She stated the time and location as she approached the shed door.

  A Guardsman flanked either side of the opening, and she videoed as she stepped inside.

  Aina Thomas shielded his eyes with a hand as she entered the large plastic shed, holding a flashlight beneath the video recorder. The beam from her flashlight played over two women and two girls, huddled in the corner.

  Their hair was matted, their clothing ripped, and all four of them had haunted, wild eyes.

  “Aw, dammit,” Lei whispered to Thomas. “These women appear to have been assaulted, too. Stay back. Let me approach them. Gerry, you run the camera.” She thrust the phone into Bunuelos’s hands, along with the light.

  She moved forward to approach the women, holding her hands low, palms facing outward. “Hey there. We’re here to help. I’m Sergeant Texeira from Maui Police Department, and these other two are Detectives Gerry Bunuelos and Abe Torufu. You’re safe now.”

  The women slowly let go of each other. “Water,” the one in the middle croaked. “Water, please.”

  “On it. I’ll bring blankets too.” Aina Thomas hurried back out.

  Lei squatted next to the cluster of women. “Are you injured? We have a medic aboard.”

  “We can walk, if that’s what you’re asking,” the woman in the middle said. She had a European accent.

  “What are your names?”

  “I am Siggi Janssen. These are my daughters, Nanci and Erica. And this is their nanny companion, Betta Schorz.”

  “Thank you for introducing yourselves,” Lei said warmly, making eye contact with each of the women in turn. “As I told you, my name is Lei, and these are my partners, along with the Coast Guard, who located this cave. I hope it’s okay that we are videoing this. It helps us not to have to keep asking you difficult questions. Are you okay with that?”

  Siggi nodded, so Lei went on. “We’re so glad we found you! We’ve been searching for you and the Golden Fleece since we got your distress call. Is there anything you can tell us about the whereabouts of whoever took you?”

  “No,” Siggi said. “We were captured. They—assaulted Betta and I. I am thankful they left my girls alone, though they made them watch . . .” She lowered her head, visibly gathering herself, tightening her arms around her daughters. “They put us in this shed and locked us in here. At first, we thought they’d be back any minute . . . but time went by. They didn’t leave us any food or water. We thought we were going to die here.”

  Thomas and a fellow Guardsman returned. They handed the women each a liter of water and a silver thermal blanket. “Don’t drink it too fast, or you’ll just make yourself sick,” Thomas warned. “We’ve got some emergency food rations on the boat for later.”

  As the women sipped the water, Lei shook out the crinkly blankets and draped them around each of them. “You’re safe now,” she murmured. “You’re going to be okay.”

  Lei could hear coded conversation outside the shed as the Guardsmen continued to search for signs of where the pirates had gone. “I’d like to take your statements, please. This will save time and further interviews in the future. We’ll close the door for privacy. Would that be all right?”

  The women nodded.

  Lei sent her fellow detectives outside the shed. Thomas remained, holding a bright electric light, to represent the Coast Guard. “I know this is hard, but to aid in the investigation and stop the pirates, we need to know what happened. Who would like to go first?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Lei sat huddled on the bench as the Defender headed back toward Ma`alaea late in the evening. Lei was exhausted by the harrowing tale of what the women had been through. The Janssen women and Betta Schorz had been transferred to the larger Coast Guard cutter, and were being taken to Tripler Hospital on O`ahu to be treated, since they were foreign nationals and Siggi had asked for family to be contacted to meet them there.

  Aina Thomas squeezed in beside her, pushing Bunuelos and Torufu further down on the bench. “That was rough.”

  “No kidding. I’m glad they’re going to O`ahu —Dr. Wilson is already fully booked working with our other victims.” Lei tugged her ball cap lower, screening out the penetrating rays of sunset reflecting off the waves as the craft sped back toward the Maui main island. “Siggi Janssen said the main guy just executed all the men and pitched them overboard . . . We’ve got to capture these pirates.”

  “You were so busy with the victims that I didn’t want to interrupt, but the pirates left us a message. Rather public one, in fact.” Thomas took out his phone and gestured for Lei, Torufu and Bunuelos to look on. “Commander Decker found this message already loaded and playing on a computer set up in what they’d been using as a workroom.” He pressed PLAY. Lei and the MPD detectives crowded close to watch.

  A white sheet and a strobe light threw a man facing the camera into stark relief. Lei instinctively assessed him: muscular build, tribal tats on one arm, wearing a kihei robe made of tapa cloth, a large, carved gourd helmet hiding his face. His voice echoed as he spoke, resonant and deep, with a hint of vibrato emphasized by the helmet.

  “I am the Pirate King. I represent an oppressed people—the Kanaka Maoli, the native Hawaiians. We are not going to allow the illegal stealing and using of our lands and oceans any longer. We are going to own our native waters and make the wealthy who take, and give nothing back, regret they ever came here.” Dark eyes glittered in the shadow of the mask’s holes. “We will kill the men who travel these seas in their obscene boats. We will use and enslave their women, as our women were used and enslaved. And as we do so, we will take back what was stolen from us. We’ve had enough of watered-down politics that get us nowhere—so I’m declaring myself king. The Pirate King. You will fear my name.”

  The video ended. Lei wanted to laugh, to mock it—but she found her throat unexpectedly dry, and she shivered.

  “The Pirate King, eh. Pretty frickin’ cheesy.” Torufu folded his big arms. “How dare that mo’fo’
claim to represent anybody.” He spat impressively, making it over the boat’s railing.

  Bunuelos squinted at the YouTube counter. “Half a million views. Yikes.”

  “Turns out ‘pirate’ is a popular video search category,” Thomas said. “And this one’s gone viral.”

  “It’s pure theater.” Lei sat back on the bench and rubbed her eyes. “This is . . . wow. He’s justifying himself for the horror he’s inflicting on his victims.”

  “It’s a PR stunt,” Thomas said. “Check out the comments. People are egging him on, coming out in support.”

  “It reminds me of the anarchy movement that the Smiley Bandit provoked,” Lei said, remembering her first FBI case. “Evil dressed up with a political label. Only this is much worse.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Back at the station, Lei and her partners dropped the evidence samples they’d collected at the lab, updated Captain Omura on the turn the case had taken, and went separate ways to follow up on elements from the case: Torufu working on who might be leaking the names and identities of rich yacht owners to the pirates, Bunuelos following up on loading fingerprints gathered at the scene into AFIS, and Lei following the connection she’d uncovered through the kidnapper Nisake that pointed to the Changs.

  She knew one Chang she could call: Terence Chang. The young computer whiz businessman was heir apparent to notorious Healani Chang. He’d once been an enemy, and had become a sometime ally.

  She hung a Do Not Disturb sign and shut the door of her cubicle. Sitting down, she took a moment to gather herself, then called him on the burner phone she used for confidential informants.

  As she’d expected, Terence didn’t pick up, but she left a message identifying herself. A few minutes later, he called back. “Lei Texeira. Hoped I’d never have to talk to you again.”