their frames and inserted them in the album, tossing the frames onto the floor. The final thing he grabbed was Bilbo’s leash.
“Come here, buddy.” Bilbo wagged as he came and sat in front of Kai, who attached the leash and gave him a pat.
Kai took one last look around, and then he heard Brad call from outside.
“Kai, we have to go! Now!”
Kai sprinted with Bilbo back to the van and motorcycle, both now idling in front of the PTWC building. Reggie was just coming back at the same time. But what he was carrying caught Kai by surprise.
“You’ll need this if you’re riding with Brad,” he said, handing Kai a motorcycle helmet. “I don’t use it much anymore. I hope it’s not too big on you.”
“What about your stuff?” Kai said, picturing Reggie’s remodeled house, soon to be wiped away. “Don’t you have anything you want to take?”
“Nope. They’re just things. I’ll get more. Oh, and I got you a couple of other items.”
He pressed some kind of tote bag and a small length of wire into Kai’s hands. Kai was overwhelmed that all Reggie could think of in this disaster was helping him. He’d never realized before how thoughtful Reggie was.
“That’s my kayaking dry bag. It’s the best thing for carrying your stuff. And that’s an earpiece for your cell phone. It’ll fit under the helmet so you can talk on the road.”
“Thanks, Reggie,” Kai said. “This means a lot to me.”
“Hey, I’m just lending that stuff to you. I want it back.”
“Can you do one more thing for me?” Kai said, holding out the leash. “Bilbo won’t fit on the bike.”
“No problem. If the news guys give me any trouble, I’ll sic him on them.” Bilbo licked Reggie’s hand as if to show how dangerous he really was.
“You take care of yourself,” Kai said, and then hugged him. Reggie seemed a little surprised at first, but returned the hug.
“You too. I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” Reggie said confidently, as if he didn’t want to believe Kai might be in danger. Then he held his hand out to Brad. “No hard feelings, huh?”
Brad took Reggie’s meaty paw without hesitation. “I want you to know I don’t pick fights with three- hundred-pound football players often.”
“I understand. Just go get her.” Reggie climbed into the news van with Bilbo, and they pulled away, headed for the front gate.
Kai put the photo album in the dry bag and slung it over his shoulder. He plugged the headset into his phone and placed the helmet on his head. It was about three sizes too big, but Kai snugged the strap down until it didn’t float around too much.
Brad leapt onto the bike and revved the engine. Kai tentatively threw his leg over the tiny pad of leather that qualified as the backseat.
“Where do I put my feet?” Kai said.
“Man, you really have never ridden one of these before.”
“I wouldn’t be now if it weren’t an emergency.”
“Just put your feet on the dead pedals back there and put your arms around my waist.”
“Just tell me if you can’t breathe.”
“I’ll be fine, but I’m going to have to do some tricky driving if we’re going to get there in time. By the way, where are we going? We need a boat if we’re going out into the bay, and mine’s in my driveway.”
“I have an idea. Go to the Grand Hawaiian. I’ll explain on the way.”
“With the wind noise, we won’t be able to talk much. Explain when we get there. Hang on tight. If you fall off, I’ll stop and get you.”
Kai didn’t appreciate Brad’s sense of humor. Kai had never ridden a motorcycle and didn’t want to. But his determination to find his daughter was stronger than his terror of riding 140 horsepower of exposed metal when, in an impact with even a Mini, the Harley would lose.
As Brad gunned the engine and roared off, Kai gripped him like a vine wrapped around an oak, the cell phone clenched in one hand. The g-forces were incredible, but surprisingly, Kai didn’t feel in danger of falling off the bike. He did feel like throwing up, but at least that was something he had control over.
Kai reluctantly loosened his right hand and felt for the keypad on the phone as they whipped through the gate and turned onto Fort Weaver Road, the main drag leading to the H1. Cars packed the road, but the traffic moved steadily, albeit slowly. In a few seconds they caught up with the news van and passed it like it was standing still.
Kai punched in the speed dial number for the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. All he got was an out-of-range beep. As he expected, the cell phone lines were stretched to the limit with people calling loved ones about the oncoming tsunami.
The road turned north and they ran into more traffic, moving at no more than ten miles per hour. Brad swung the motorcycle onto the shoulder and rocketed forward at an insane speed only inches from the cars on their left. Occasionally they would hit a patch of sand or a bump, and Kai would feel the bike skid a little. He glanced over Brad’s shoulder. The speedometer hovered around sixty.
Kai hit redial on the cell phone again and again. After at least seven tries, he finally heard the call go through. The director, Frank Manetti, answered. He must have had caller ID, because Kai didn’t have to say anything before Manetti spoke.
“Kai, is that you?”
Even with the helmet, the wind noise buffeted Kai’s ears, but he could still hear Manetti’s voice easily over the headset. He silently thanked Reggie.
“Yes, it’s me,” Kai said.
“What’s that noise? I can barely hear you.”
“It’s the wind. Did you get the latest readings from the DART buoy?”
“What?”
“The DART buoy!” Kai shouted.
“We sure as hell did. That’s a monster of a wave headed your way.”
Kai had to let Manetti know that he had left the PTWC and that Manetti was now in charge of the only operating warning center. Not only that, but HSCD wouldn’t get any new warnings until Palmer took over. Kai hadn’t taken the time to call Renfro before they left to let him know that they were going off-line.
“Listen, Frank, you need to take over now.”
“Say that again, Kai? I didn’t get that.”
Kai raised his voice as loud as he could. “I said you’re going to have to—”
Brad turned his head left to look for cross traffic at an intersection. He didn’t see the Volkswagen Beetle with the enormous surfboard tied to the roof turn in front of them.
Kai reached up with both hands and pushed Brad’s head down just as they passed under the surfboard, which barely missed decapitating both of them. The board grazed his hand, knocking the cell phone into the air. It clattered as it bounced once and then smashed into the curb, shattering into pieces.
“Dammit!” Kai yelled as he flexed his stinging hand.
“That was close!” Brad shouted over his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I dropped my phone!”
“I’ve got one. Do you want me to stop so you can use it?” He started to slow down.
Brad’s telephone was virtually useless to Kai, because he didn’t know anyone’s number from memory—not the warning center in Palmer, not Hawaii State Civil Defense, not even Reggie’s. It was all in his cell phone address book, which was now destroyed.
The only alternative was to turn back and find the TV van again to tell Reggie that he hadn’t been able to complete the transition. It might be an hour before Reggie was able to get to Wheeler and establish contact with everyone—critical time when additional information from the DART buoy would not be getting to HSCD or other Pacific island nations.
But if they turned around now, it would add at least ten minutes to their ride to Waikiki. They’d never get there in time.
Kai felt Brad downshift, and the bike slowed.
