“He’s a detective,” I snapped. “Answer his questions.”
“Is Lily in danger?” Panic filled Katy’s eyes. “I told her not to go.”
“What did he look like?” Lo repeated.
“Dreads, chains, the whole banger thing.”
Lo slanted a look at Ryan.
“Do you know where they went?” I worked to hide the dread building inside me.
“Up some trail. Skank-boy told her the view was primo.”
“Kaiwa Ridge.” Lo was already moving.
“You two stay here.” Ryan bolted after Lo.
I spun to face Katy. “Give me your sneakers.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
She unlaced and handed them to me. I kicked off my sandals and yanked them on.
“Jacket.”
She tossed it.
“Lock every door, arm the security system, then go to your room and stay there. If an alarm sounds, don’t wait. Call nine-one-one.”
“But—”
“Do it! We’re all in danger. Be alert.”
Pulling the jacket over my head, I bounded out the door.
The sun was low, throwing long ink houses and hedges across the lawn and street. Soon it would be full dark.
I looked left, right.
A block south Ryan was turning from Mokulua onto Kaelepulu, running with strong, steady strides. I knew Lo was somewhere ahead.
I sprinted through fingers of sunlight and shadow. I had no idea where Lo was going. If I lost sight of Ryan I was done.
I rounded the corner. Several blocks up on the right was the entrance to the Mid-Pacific Country Club. Just beyond it, Ryan cut left.
I kicked hard, reached the spot, saw a driveway joining the road. Veered onto it.
Just ahead, Ryan was disappearing into a black hole in vegetation beside a chain-link fence.
I raced toward the opening.
A narrow path snaked uphill at an impossible angle.
Grabbing the fence with one hand and a tree branch with the other, I planted a foot and hauled myself onto the trailhead.
Loose soil and pebbles cascaded downward.
My sneaker lost traction.
I fell.
Pain exploded in my already bruised kneecap.
I rose. Tested.
Advancing from tree to tree, I dragged myself upward.
A hundred yards? Two hundred? At the time it seemed like a climb up Everest.
Finally the trail leveled off. The trees gave way to low-lying scrub, grass, and lava rock.
Ryan and Lo were visible far up the ridgeline, dark figures moving fast through the murky dusk.
The trail crawled the edge of a precipice. No guardrail. No tree trunks. Nothing to the left but yawning space.
I stood panting, heart thudding in my chest.
Far below I could see Kailua Bay to the north and Waimanalo Bay to the south. Lilliputian houses. Lanikai Beach. The two little Mokulua Islands, tiny black bumps in a pumpkin-slashed sea.
Wind danced my jacket and whipped my hair into a banshee tangle. Loose gravel slithered below the way too smooth rubber on the soles of my sneakers.
