come in.
“Fine. Dropped my mug is all.” Lei fished the mug and its broken handle out of the sink and tossed them in a nearby steel trash bin. “When’s the chopper ready?”
“Ten minutes. What’s the status over there?”
Lei told him as they headed out and got on the elevator for the rooftop helipad.
“Scott and Rogers are tracking Blackman today and interviewing Kinoshita. She was located at her mother’s. They’re following up with more HPD resources to try to track down Rezents and Matthews.” The elevator opened, and Ken punched in the code that opened the steel exterior door to the roof. They stepped out into wide-open space.
Lei loved the rooftop, and for the dozenth time, wished she remembered to go up there more. She blew out a breath at the spectacular vista of downtown skyscrapers on one side, the unobstructed sea on the other. The sun was fully up, brazing the iconic view of Diamond Head with gold and twinkling diamonds off the windows. Fast-moving cumulus clouds added depth to the deep blue arc of sky. Feasting her eyes on the vista brought her heart rate back down, and she felt the flush of anger cool as the morning breeze caressed her skin.
The bold X of the helipad marked one side of the roof, a raised air-circulation shaft and an open shelter with welded aluminum seating marked the other. Lei and Ken had barely seated themselves when the thrum of the approaching helicopter, a black Bell JetRanger, brought them to their feet.
They trotted under the whirling blades and got in, Lei squeezing into the fold-down jump seat behind the pilot and Ken. She put on her helmet with its built-in comm unit and clipped into the chest harness as Ken stowed the black duffel bags of rifles and other supplies.
“Gonna be a bumpy ride,” the pilot said as they lifted off. “Always a lot of wind on Maui, and it’s up already.”
Lei’s stomach plummeted as the copter swung up and off the building, promptly dipping in a draft. She’d ridden in them many times since her first time with Alika Wolcott on Kaua`i, but the soaring, bumpy means of transport still thrilled and terrified. The chopper headed out for Maui, and Lei pressed her forehead against the curved glass window as they buzzed over the city, always the most vertiginous for her. Once over the ocean, the pilot picked a steady line at ten thousand feet and Lei turned her head to look out the triangle of window and scan the sea for whales.
The surface of the ocean was cobalt and foam-flecked, the wind fortunately behind them. Lei spotted the long gray outline of a humpback moving beneath them. She felt herself almost able to smile as a plume of vapor marked the huge creature’s breath, and in a heartbeat more, they’d passed it by, the shadow of the helicopter racing along the water. The wonder of seeing the great cetaceans in the vastness of their ocean home always helped her put things in perspective. She shut her eyes, letting the roar of the rotors drown her apprehension about seeing Stevens..
Lei must have dozed off, because seconds later, it seemed, her stomach was swooping again as the ground accelerated toward them at an alarming rate. The copter wove in the wind and settled, one strut at a time. Kahului Heliport was a wide-open area next to the main airport, surrounded by acres of stored, parked rental cars, sugarcane fields dancing like hula skirts, and metal hangars.
Lei hopped out behind Ken, walking bent over beneath the still-whirling blades toward a couple of SUVs—one of them familiar. Stevens leaned on the hood of the brown unmarked Bronco he’d driven during the time they lived together on Maui, and her heart seemed to stop beating at the sight of him. Gerry Bunuelos, one of the detectives from Kahului Station, stood by a black-and-white with a light rack on top.
Lei headed for Gerry first.
“Lei! Great to see you!” The wiry Filipino gave her the kind of shoulder-hug-backslap male friends exchanged.
“Likewise.” Lei
“Fine. Dropped my mug is all.” Lei fished the mug and its broken handle out of the sink and tossed them in a nearby steel trash bin. “When’s the chopper ready?”
“Ten minutes. What’s the status over there?”
Lei told him as they headed out and got on the elevator for the rooftop helipad.
“Scott and Rogers are tracking Blackman today and interviewing Kinoshita. She was located at her mother’s. They’re following up with more HPD resources to try to track down Rezents and Matthews.” The elevator opened, and Ken punched in the code that opened the steel exterior door to the roof. They stepped out into wide-open space.
Lei loved the rooftop, and for the dozenth time, wished she remembered to go up there more. She blew out a breath at the spectacular vista of downtown skyscrapers on one side, the unobstructed sea on the other. The sun was fully up, brazing the iconic view of Diamond Head with gold and twinkling diamonds off the windows. Fast-moving cumulus clouds added depth to the deep blue arc of sky. Feasting her eyes on the vista brought her heart rate back down, and she felt the flush of anger cool as the morning breeze caressed her skin.
The bold X of the helipad marked one side of the roof, a raised air-circulation shaft and an open shelter with welded aluminum seating marked the other. Lei and Ken had barely seated themselves when the thrum of the approaching helicopter, a black Bell JetRanger, brought them to their feet.
They trotted under the whirling blades and got in, Lei squeezing into the fold-down jump seat behind the pilot and Ken. She put on her helmet with its built-in comm unit and clipped into the chest harness as Ken stowed the black duffel bags of rifles and other supplies.
“Gonna be a bumpy ride,” the pilot said as they lifted off. “Always a lot of wind on Maui, and it’s up already.”
Lei’s stomach plummeted as the copter swung up and off the building, promptly dipping in a draft. She’d ridden in them many times since her first time with Alika Wolcott on Kaua`i, but the soaring, bumpy means of transport still thrilled and terrified. The chopper headed out for Maui, and Lei pressed her forehead against the curved glass window as they buzzed over the city, always the most vertiginous for her. Once over the ocean, the pilot picked a steady line at ten thousand feet and Lei turned her head to look out the triangle of window and scan the sea for whales.
The surface of the ocean was cobalt and foam-flecked, the wind fortunately behind them. Lei spotted the long gray outline of a humpback moving beneath them. She felt herself almost able to smile as a plume of vapor marked the huge creature’s breath, and in a heartbeat more, they’d passed it by, the shadow of the helicopter racing along the water. The wonder of seeing the great cetaceans in the vastness of their ocean home always helped her put things in perspective. She shut her eyes, letting the roar of the rotors drown her apprehension about seeing Stevens..
Lei must have dozed off, because seconds later, it seemed, her stomach was swooping again as the ground accelerated toward them at an alarming rate. The copter wove in the wind and settled, one strut at a time. Kahului Heliport was a wide-open area next to the main airport, surrounded by acres of stored, parked rental cars, sugarcane fields dancing like hula skirts, and metal hangars.
Lei hopped out behind Ken, walking bent over beneath the still-whirling blades toward a couple of SUVs—one of them familiar. Stevens leaned on the hood of the brown unmarked Bronco he’d driven during the time they lived together on Maui, and her heart seemed to stop beating at the sight of him. Gerry Bunuelos, one of the detectives from Kahului Station, stood by a black-and-white with a light rack on top.
Lei headed for Gerry first.
“Lei! Great to see you!” The wiry Filipino gave her the kind of shoulder-hug-backslap male friends exchanged.
“Likewise.” Lei
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