been Rick’s best friend. A moment later, Jeff Kina and Michael Sundquist followed Rick. As if taking their lead from the three who had been the last to see Kioki alive, the rest of the team began drifting back toward the locker room. The silence that had hung over the dozen boys on the field stayed with them as they stripped off their gym shorts and began pulling on their street clothes.
Ten minutes later, still together, Michael, Jeff Kina, and Rick Pieper emerged from the gym. Josh Malani was waiting for them.
“You wanta go get something to eat?” Josh asked, and Michael could tell by the uncertainty in his voice that Josh was wondering if any of them blamed him for Kioki’s death.
“I’m not very hungry,” Jeff said.
Josh’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Look, what happened to Kioki wasn’t our fault.”
“No one said it was,” Jeff replied. “I just wish I knew what happened. I mean—” He fell silent as he saw a police car turning into the school parking lot. “Uh-oh.”
The other three boys turned to follow Jeff’s gaze.
“You think they already figured out we broke into Ken’s Dive Shop?” Rick Pieper asked as the squad car pulled to a stop.
“We didn’t break in,” Josh Malani said quickly. The policeman was out of his car now and coming toward him. “And there’s no way he could know. All we’ll tell him is that we were at the arcade out in Kihei. Okay? Just playing video games.”
A moment later Cal Olani had ambled up to them, and Michael saw a glint of hostility flare up in Josh Malani’s eyes.
Cal Olani saw it, too. “Take it easy, Josh,” he said. “I’m not here to hassle you. Just wanted to ask you and your friends a couple of questions about last night.” He studied each boy’s face in turn, his eyes finally coming to rest on Michael. “Don’t think I know you.” He stuck his right hand out. “I’m Cal Olani.”
“Michael Sundquist,” Michael replied, automatically shaking the officer’s hand.
“So, were you with Kioki Santoya last night, too?”
Michael nodded.
“Mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Michael shrugged.
“What’d you guys do?”
Michael felt a knot of fear tightening in his stomach. He was certain the cop would know the moment he told the first lie. But before he could say anything, Josh Malani began talking.
“Come on, man, all we were doin’ was hangin’ at the arcade over in Kihei.”
“That true?” Olani asked Michael.
Michael could feel Josh’s eyes boring into him. Finally, telling himself that if he didn’t actually say anything it wasn’t really a lie, he shrugged noncommittally and did his best to mimic the slightly sullen look that had come over both Jeff Kina’s and Josh Malani’s faces the moment the cop appeared.
Olani turned to Rick Pieper. “You were the one who dropped the Santoya boy off?”
Rick nodded. “I offered to drive him all the way home, but he didn’t want my car to wake up his mom. So I dropped him off at his road.”
“He seem okay?”
Rick frowned. “You mean like was he sick or something?”
When the cop nodded, Rick shrugged. “I guess he was okay. I mean, he didn’t say he wasn’t, and he didn’t want me to take him all the way home, so I guess he must have been okay, huh?”
Cal Olani’s eyes drifted from one boy to another. “How about you guys? You okay?”
“Since when do you care how we feel?” Josh Malani demanded.
Before Cal Olani could respond, Rick Pieper cut in. “Is that what happened to Kioki? He was sick?”
Olani hesitated, knowing any answer he gave would race through the school — and from there through the whole island — faster than an epidemic of flu. And Laura Hatcher hadn’t actually said what had killed Kioki; she’d only been willing to rule certain things out. “Don’t know yet. But he didn’t seem to have any injuries.” His eyes fixed on Josh again. “Look, Malani, I don’t have any axes to grind. I’m just trying to find out what happened to your friend so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. So just take it easy, okay?”
Josh shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his pants.
“I’m cool,” he said. “We just don’t know anything.”
Once more Cal Olani’s eyes scanned the faces of the four boys. There was something, he was sure, that they weren’t telling him. On the other hand, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to any kid on the island when he hadn’t felt the same thing, to one degree or another. And until he knew exactly what had killed Kioki Santoya, there wasn’t any use in trying to lean on them. Another day, maybe, but not now. “All right,” he said. “Stay out of trouble, okay? I don’t come back on shift until tomorrow.”
“What do you think?” Jeff Kina asked as Olani drove out of the parking lot. “Does he know we borrowed Ken’s stuff?”
“ ’Course he doesn’t,” Josh insisted. “If he did, he wouldn’t have left.” He turned to Michael. “Want a ride home?”
Michael hesitated, still not sure they shouldn’t have told the officer exactly what had happened last night. And when the guy had asked them if they were feeling okay, he’d instantly remembered gym class, when—
But he’d gotten over that!
Except he hadn’t. At least not quite. Even now he could still feel something in his chest — nothing bad, really, but just not quite right. And if the other guys felt okay, he wasn’t going to be the whiner. “Sure,” he said, finally answering Josh’s question. “Let’s go.”
But five minutes later, as they were coming into Makawao, he knew Josh had felt his hesitation. “You pissed at me?”
Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. I just—”
“You never had the cops hassle you, did you?” Josh asked. Michael looked over at his friend, but Josh was staring straight ahead. “You never had them want to know what you were doin’ on the beach in the middle of the night, and not want to tell them ’cause you didn’t want to admit your dad was drunk and you just didn’t want to go home.”
Michael bit his lip.
“You never had to sit in the police station all night because your folks wouldn’t come and get you, did you?”
Michael shook his head, but still said nothing.
“Okay, so maybe we should have told him,” Josh finally admitted. “But I just get tired of being hassled, you know? So don’t be pissed off at me, okay?” He paused, then: “Come on, Mike, let’s just go do something!”
“Like what?” Michael asked warily.
Josh hesitated. When he spoke, his voice sounded almost shy and he continued to stare straight ahead out the windshield. “ ‘Spose your mom would mind if you showed me what she’s digging up?”
Michael turned to stare at his friend. “You’re kidding. You want to see an archaeological site?”
Josh Malani reddened. “Why wouldn’t I?” he demanded. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
Michael started laughing. “Well, sometimes you sure act stupid,” he said. Then he spotted a pay phone outside one of the buildings in Makawao. “Pull over there.”
Josh pulled over. “So are we still friends, or what?”
“Of course we’re still friends,” Michael assured him. “I’ve just got to call my mom so she can meet us at the gate.”
“The gate?” Josh echoed. “What gate?”
“Ever hear of some guy named Takeo Yoshihara?”
Josh’s eyes widened. “Is that who your mom works for?”
Michael cocked his head. “Is that some kind of big deal?” he countered.
Josh nodded. “Around here it doesn’t get any bigger. Nobody ever sees him, and nobody really knows what he does. And hardly anybody’s ever seen where he lives.”
“Well, get ready,” Michael said. “ ’Cause we’re about to see it all.”
Not likely, Josh Malani thought as Michael swung out of the truck to call his mother. Not likely at all.
