They passed another small group of surfers in another minute, and this time Kai didn't even slow down. He didn't have time to convince them, and they didn't want to be convinced.
Before they had gone another 200 yards, Jake shouted, 'There's Tom!'
Up ahead, Kai could make out two bright yellow kayaks. They were still three hundred yards from shore. Kai knew at that moment that if they hadn't come, his daughter would have died.
The kayakers heard the noise from the Jet Skis and turned. Kai and the others all started waving at them. At first, they didn't recognize Kai, but as they got closer, Kai heard Lani shout.
'Daddy!'
With that one word, Kai knew how desperate Lani felt. She almost never called him Daddy any more.
They slowed so that their wakes wouldn't swamp the kayaks. By this time, they could see Mia's head bobbing above an orange life vest behind the boy's kayak.
'Oh my God!' Teresa said. 'Get Mia!'
Kai pulled his Jet Ski up to the back of Tom's kayak.
'Brad, get Lani,' he said. He untied Mia from a nylon rope, and Teresa grabbed one arm while Kai pulled on the other. They lifted her onto the Jet Ski and placed her between them. Teresa hugged her tightly.
'I'm so glad I found you. Are you OK?'
In response, Mia threw up over the side of the Jet Ski, but all that came up was salt water. Other than her ashen pallor, she seemed all right. She wiped her mouth and swiveled in the seat to hug her mother.
'Mom!' she said, weeping uncontrollably. 'You're here.'
'You're safe now, honey. I won't let anything happen to you.' Kai knew that Teresa's response was instinctive, but her promise was empty. They were all in grave danger.
Brad pulled Lani onto his Jet Ski, and Tom climbed on with Jake. Brad circled around to them, and Kai held out his hand to Lani, who grabbed it and held it like a vise.
'Are you all right?' he said.
Lani sobbed with relief and nodded.
Kai didn't bother asking Tom, not because he didn't care, but because they were short on time. His watch said they had less than three minutes left.
'Let's go!' Kai yelled to everyone. 'Hold on, guys!'
He goosed the throttle, and Brad and Jake did the same.
'Where are we going?' Brad asked over the roar of the Jet Skis.
Kai pointed at a new twenty-story hotel next to Kapi'olani Park. It was only a block from the beach, right behind a condo building half its height. The shorter building might provide a buffer.
'But the third wave!' Brad yelled.
'I know!' They had no confirmation a third wave was coming, but their calculations made one likely. If the first wave was really 80 feet high, they would be able to ride it out as long as the building stayed standing. But not a 200-foot wave. Kai was worried that they weren't going to make it to the hotel as it was, and he didn't want to take the chance that they would be caught on the ground when the wave came in. At ground level, even a 20-foot wave would be deadly.
They were making good progress, coming in just south of the Kuhio Beach breakwater, when Kai's Jet Ski inexplicably started to slow down. He already had the throttle pushed to the limit, but they were still losing speed. He thought he had a mechanical failure, but the other Jet Skis seemed to be slowing as well.
'Something's wrong with my ride!' said Jake.
'Mine too,' said Brad.
Kai looked at Waikiki and realized that they weren't slowing down. Their speed in relation to the beach was indeed slowing, but it wasn't because their Jet Skis were decelerating. It was because the water was receding, and they were struggling to maintain forward motion. The tide was ebbing, the classic trough preceding the wave.
The tsunami had arrived.
Chapter 33
The express elevator to the penthouse restaurant in the Grand Hawaiian opened to dispense the last of the guests from the lobby. Rachel was among them. She had stayed behind to make sure no one was left in the lobby. According to the list in front of her, seven rooms below the tenth floor still had guests in them, but it was too late to do anything about that now. They were on their own.
The Starlight restaurant had a panoramic view of Honolulu, with glass in every direction except toward the north. To the west was the other Grand Hawaiian building-the Akamai Tower-and downtown Honolulu. To the east was Diamond Head. And to the south, a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean out to the horizon. The stunning vistas, not to mention the world-class cuisine, made the Starlight one of the most sought-after reservations in Honolulu. Celebrities visiting Oahu would often stop there to nosh on crab Rangoon or shallot-infused mahi mahi and take in the spectacular scenery.
Rachel paid no attention to the view. She walked around the restaurant trying to calm the guests and answering questions.
'When can we leave?'
'Is someone coming for us?'
'Are we safe up here?'
Rachel tried to be as positive as she could without promising anything.
'Please calm down, everyone,' she said. 'We're perfectly safe up here for now.'
A few of the women cried, but most of the guests took the situation well. The battle-hardened veterans in particular seemed to be taking it in stride.
A woman at the window screamed, and a man on crutches next to her pointed outside. All heads turned in the direction of the beach.
Max Walsh, who was also standing at the window, waved her over.
'Rachel, come here quick!'
She ran over and gasped when she saw what they were looking at. The water had receded from the beach, exposing a great swath of sand for miles up and down the coast. The yachts that remained in the Ala Wai Marina rested on the bare sea floor, most of them leaning over on their sides. The Ala Wai Canal, which extended from the marina under three bridges and angled behind Waikiki, had been completely drained, revealing a brown muck. A few of the sightseers that were left leaned over the bridges' railings to watch the fish flopping around in the empty canal. Some of the bystanders understood that the coming tsunami was real and ran across the bridges, trying to escape.
Several boats and ships that had left the marina and harbor late were now stranded on ocean floor that hadn't been exposed to the air since before the first Polynesians had settled in Hawaii. In all, five sailboats, seven motorboats, a 150-foot luxury yacht, and a massive dredging barge were left high and dry. Some of the passengers stood dumbfounded on the decks of the boats, while others jumped overboard in an attempt to get to high ground.
To the east, only a scattered few stayed on the beach, either not realizing the danger or ignoring it. As she surveyed the scene, she spotted three miniscule objects racing for the shore.
'Kai!' she cried out.
'What?' said Max.
'My husband and daughter. That's them right there.'
'You're kidding!'
The Jet Skis were just about to reach the water line. But that would leave them still at least 100 yards from the nearest building.
'Oh my God!' said Max. 'They're not going to make it. Look!'
'Don't say that!' Rachel said, clasping his arm in a death grip. 'They will make it!'
