driveway at home. She’d been deflated and tired as she went into her cubicle at the end of the interviews with Jeremy, around 3 p.m. Topping it off, on her desk had been a memo assigning her to “Mandatory Counseling Session Number 1 of 6” the next day at 2 p.m.. Stapled to the back were two fine invoices for the charges the Lieutenant had authorized from the debacle with Keiki.
The last thing she needed right now was to stir up the past with counseling-it was hard enough pretending she had her shit together without talking about it. She pulled into the garage, letting the sectioned panel rumble shut as she got out of the truck. Keiki did her happy greeting bark.
“Hey baby. I hope you have dinner ready, I’m starving,” she said to the dog, rubbing her ears through the chain link and stalling another moment. She hated what this guy was doing to her. She used to like picking up her mail.
Bracing herself, she went to the mailbox and opened it. There was nothing inside but a card, the kind that shows a package to pick up at the post office, with no indication of who the package was from.
Probably Aunty sending some poi rolls. She hoped.
Pono’s deep purple lifted Ford F-250 pulled into her driveway. He was on his cell phone, the stereo blasting Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier. She put her hands on her hips, trying to look annoyed as he hopped out of the cab in typical after-work garb, a pair of nylon athletic shorts and a University of Hawaii football jersey.
“Whatchu stay doing here?” Annoyance called for pidgin.
“Babysitting,” he said, snapping his phone shut. “Get used to it.”
She turned, unlocked the front door, stepped inside, and deactivated the alarm. Pono came in behind her. There was nothing on the floor. She frowned to hide her relief.
“I appreciate it, really, but this is crazy. You can’t come over every night.”
He ignored her, slipping past and going to the rear entrance where he unlocked the dog door. The big Rottweiler careened in, her toenails scrabbling. She barreled toward Pono, sitting at the last second, gazing at him in naked adoration. He squatted and patted her chest.
“Now this is a good dog,” he said. “Eat anyone today, girl?” Keiki moaned in ecstasy, rolling on her back so he could rub her tummy. Lei went to the fridge. It was still empty.
“Damn. I forgot to get some food.”
“No worries,” Pono said. “Tiare sent some ono grinds.” He went back out the front door and returned with tattooed arms wrapped around two bulging paper bags. He was unpacking various items as her cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Lei? It’s Roland.”
Mary’s boyfriend? He never called her. Lei stuck her finger in her ear to block the sound of crunching foil as Pono unwrapped steaming laulau. The savory smell of the seasoned pork wrapped in taro leaves filled the air, distracting her. She went into the living room.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Do you know where Mary is?”
“No. Thought she’d be with you,” Lei said. “She wasn’t at class tonight.”
“I’m looking for her. I don’t know where she could be. She always calls me after class and she didn’t. I went to her place and she wasn’t there-no note or nothing.”
“Was anything disturbed?”
“No. Nothing. The door was locked.”
“Well like I said she wasn’t at class. So something must have come up before then.”
“Her captain-he told me call all her friends and family,” Roland said. She heard the rough edge of terror in his voice. “I know it’s too early to report her missing but I wanted to see if she was called in or something, and she wasn’t.”
“She’s probably hanging out with a friend.”
“She doesn’t have that many friends, and her family don’t know where she is. That’s not like Mary.”
“Then, you should call back and report her missing,” Lei said. “Have them put out a “Be On Look Out” over the radio. They can’t post it until she’s gone twenty-four hours, but I bet she’ll turn up, hung over and sorry.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said, and clicked off.
Lei went back into the kitchen, buying time to collect her thoughts. Her heart had picked up speed and her stomach knotted. She’d known it wasn’t like Mary to miss class and not call. She went to the cabinet and scooped dog chow into Keiki’s bowl from the big Tupperware bin, grinding open the can of wet dog food and smooshing it in. Keiki dove into the bowl of food as Lei sat down.
Pono had dished up, adding scoops of white rice and lomi lomi salmon with tomatoes to their Hawaiian feast. He cracked open a couple of the Miller Lites and pushed her plate toward her.
“What’s up?”
“You know Mary Gomes?”
“Yeah, went school with her.”
“She stay missing.”
“She used to be a party girl in high school.” Pono stirred the lau lau into the rice, scooped it up with his chopsticks. “She probably wen’ spend the night somewhere.” He sat back, took a swig of beer, rubbed his lip with his finger.
“Her boyfriend Roland says no. They are practically living together. He says she always calls, and she didn’t. She wasn’t at class tonight either.”
“Twenty-four hours haven’t passed.”
“I just have a bad feeling.” Lei pushed her plate away without taking a bite. She got up and paced the kitchen, opening cupboards.
“What you looking for?”
“Mary had a favorite club. She was always trying to get me to go there. I have their matchbook around here somewhere.” She rummaged through her junk drawer, held it up, a black square with bold red letters spelling out PUNA MUSIC CLUB. “Feel like going out for a drink?”
“Only if you finish your dinner,” Pono said severely. “Tiare, she going be piss off if you no eat her food.”
“Okay,” Lei said, making herself take a bite. The lau lau were delicious, the lomi salmon salad tangy and tart, but her stomach hurt at the thought of Mary missing. What if the hair in the stalker note was hers? She tried to remember if the timeline could be right.
Someone knocked at the front door and Pono went to answer it, checking through the peephole before taking off the chain and deadbolt. Stevens came in, dropping his duffel beside the door.
Lei took her hand off the Glock in her shoulder holster. She wore it all all the time now, and hadn’t even realized she had been touching the pebbled black stock. She kept eating, struggling to hide the fizzing emotions she felt: frustration at Stevens’ presumption, relief that he was there.
“Hey bruddah,” Pono said, slapping him on the back. Stevens lurched forward. “You still in time for some grinds.”
“Nice,” Stevens said, sniffing the air. “Tiare send something?”
“She trying for fatten her up,” Pono said, indicating Lei with his head. He took a plate out of the cupboard and loaded it up for Stevens, set it down in front of him.
“Hey, Lei,” Stevens said, sitting down. She ignored him.
“Stubborn, you.” Pono said. “You should be saying thanks to us.”
“Tell Tiare thanks,” Lei replied. “You guys are exaggerating this thing. I can take care of myself.” Stevens put his head down and addressed his food, but Pono got back up and piled the dishes in the sink.
“You never know when for quit,” he grumbled. “Just shut up a’ready and let us look out for you.”
Lei leaned back, flipping the matchbook back and forth between her fingers.
“So, Stevens. Want to get a drink after this?” she asked.
“Not particularly,” he said. “And I told you not to call me that.”
“My friend Mary’s missing. She’s a patrol officer with Puna PD. Her boyfriend called earlier. He’s really worried. I thought we’d go look for her at her favorite bar in Puna, ask around.”
Stevens went into cop mode, asking about Roland, how long Mary had been missing, did she have any enemies. Pono packed up the rest of the food and put it into the fridge.
