Page 25

CHAPTER 25

Ethan tried to calm his spinning mind. “Do you have any ideas about who could be behind this whole thing, Nova? Any at all?”

Nova shook her head. “We’ve still got nothing.”

Ethan’s expression darkened. "Could we have missed something on Yamamoto?"

Nova exhaled sharply. "Possible, but unlikely."

"If it’s not Yamamoto, then who else could it be?" Ethan demanded.

“Is there any lead you didn’t follow?” Nova asked. “Anything no matter how small.”

Ethan thought back. “We never connected with Liam’s friend Ren. He’s the only one we didn’t talk to. He’s been out sick. He’s also the one who supposedly lured Liam to the SUV via text.”

“Let’s talk to him then. What’s his last name? Do you have a number for him?”

Ethan swung around and went back into Liam’s room. “Hey, Liam?”

“Dude, I thought you left.”

Ethan tried to maintain a calm exterior. “Can you do me a favor and reach out to your friend, Ren? I need to talk to him for a second. We never got to talk to him, and I want to make sure we tied up all the loose ends.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed, but Ethan gave him a tiny head shake.

“Sure.” Liam turned to his father. “Can I borrow your phone?”

Jackson handed him the phone and Liam initiated a video call. “Hey, Ren.”

“Liam! Are you okay? I heard you were kidnapped!”

“Yeah,” Liam said a little uncertainly, “um…I’m good. Someone here wants to talk to you, okay?”

“Sure.”

Liam handed the phone over to Ethan, who tilted it so he could see Ren. The boy didn’t look so hot which was confirmed by a loud wracking cough. “Hi, Ren, I’m Ethan, a friend of Brooklyn and Liam’s. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about last week. Is that okay? Are you up for it? I know you’ve been out of school for the last week.”

Nova pulled out her phone and began recording the call.

"Yeah, Nakoa mentioned you." Ren’s voice was raspy. "I caught walking pneumonia—or at least that’s what my grandfather called it. I don’t know why it’s called ‘walking.’ I didn’t get to walk anywhere all week."

Ethan forced a chuckle. "Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better. Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions? Did anything unusual happen last week.”

"Sure. I was talking with Nakoa. He said you were asking if anything weird happened this past week. I spent most of it home so there’s not much to tell. Other than the text. I swear I didn’t send it. Liam told me he thought it was me who asked him to come to the SUV but it wasn’t. I swear.” Ren’s words were punctuated by another hacking cough.

“I believe you, Ren.” And he did. This kid wasn’t lying. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Anything at all?” Ethan tried not to sound hopeful, but they were out of leads and Brooklyn was in trouble.

“I…uh…well I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but I saw Keoni stick something in Liam’s backpack and then hide the backpack under the coats when we were at the café. He looked kind of scared when he was doing it too. It was weird, because, like, why didn’t Keoni just hand the thing to Liam if he wanted Liam to have it? Nakoa and I wouldn’t care. And why did he look scared? But then I remembered that his aunt showed up to pick him up that day. Normally it’s his uncle. Keoni says his Uncle Rick is a lawyer, but I don’t think he works much because sometimes he comes to the café and hangs out while we play. Anyway, his Aunt Leilani picked him up that day. He told me that she scares him. She scares me, too.”

“Me three,” Liam chimed in. “I know Keoni doesn’t like her. He says she’s mean.”

Could she be behind this? “Leilani is mean and scary?”

“Yes. Even his Uncle Rick thinks so. Keoni says she bullies him all the time.”

“It’s true. He told me that too,” Liam added.

Ethan wasn’t sure what to make of it but at least it was a lead. “Thanks for telling me, Ren. Nothing else stands out to you?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Here’s Liam.” Liam took the phone, and the two boys started discussing video games. Ethan nodded toward the door and Nova and Cooper followed him out. He turned to Nova. “What do you think?”

“It’s a lead. It would explain how Liam ended up with the USB. He said he just found it in his bag and thought Brooklyn had put it in there for him as a surprise but?—'

“Brooklyn hadn’t seen it before,” Ethan interjected. “She mentioned that when she picked it up off the science fair project.”

Nova made a call. “What’s this Leilani’s last name?” she asked after opening a line with someone in her office.

“Kobayashi,” Ethan supplied.

Nova relayed the info to the person on the line and then went back to waiting. She cocked her head. “There’s been a rumor that a shot caller for the Yakuza lived in Hawai’i, but no one had any clue who it was. Whoever it is has been playing it close to the vest for years, but a suburban housewife? That’s a hell of a cover.”

“Makes a certain sense though,” Cooper added. “She would have all kinds of time to do what she wanted, and no one would look twice at her.”

Nova was about to say something, but she pulled the phone back in place. “Tell him to call me ASAP.” Then she hung up. “Someone at the office says the name Kobayashi rings a bell and they’re going to start digging.”

Ethan’s cell rang and he answered the video call. Bellamy and Rusty’s faces appeared on screen. “I sent you a clip of the video. It shows Brooklyn walking across the parking lot with some woman.”

Ethan quickly checked the clip. “Leilani,” he confirmed. “Fuck. Find her.”

“We thought you’d say; that so we already tracked her. She’s driving a Merc, so we called Mercedes and reported it stolen. They tracked it for us.” She’s at a warehouse in Waikoloa.

Nova frowned. “They won’t do that without someone from law enforcement on hand.”

Cooper gave a small shrug. “I might’ve used your badge number and said Nova was a family name. The guy felt bad for me.”

Nova was pissed. Ethan could see it in her face but he didn’t have time for that shit now. “Send me a pin and then meet me there.”

He ended the call and took off down the hallway, mojo at his heels. Hang in there, baby, I’m coming.