Dark Lava: Lei Crime Book 7 (Lei Crime Series) by Toby Neal Read Free Book Online Page A

connections,” Omura said. “Is that an oxymoron?”
    “ Yes,” Pono Kaihale said, and Stevens snorted a laugh. It was true—to be Hawaiian was to be connected with your community, your family, your ohana .
    Omura inclined her head. “ Ask your officer. Inform him of the risks. We don’t know enough about this group to assess how dangerous they are, though I hope to have a better idea after this afternoon. I’ve got a meeting set up on Skype with the Heiau Hui leader on Oahu and a man here in Maui who’s supposedly in charge. I asked for the conversation so I could offer to supplement their efforts with foot patrols and quick police response to alarm calls. Stevens, I’d like you there as lead on this case.”
    Stevens inclined his head in agree ment and held up his battered notepad. “Wanted to tell you the response of the publisher of Maui’s Secrets to my request to pull the book down: It was a four-letter word, followed by, ‘This is a free country with free speech.’”
    “ Too bad,” Gerry said, frowning. “I don’t know what that book has to do with the case, though.”
    “ Nothing, that I can tell,” Stevens said. “But Okapa said the Hui blames the book for exposing the sacred sites and making them vulnerable to looting, so the group has, according to Okapa on the news last night, decided to focus on pulling down the book as a way to protect the heiaus long-term.”
    “ This could get ugly, fast,” Gerry said, echoing Lei’s comment last night. Simmering below the paradise surface, a current of resentment against outsiders occasionally erupted into race- or class-oriented violence or property damage, as had happened last year with the Smiley Bandit case and the brief but deadly anarchy movement that it had sparked.
    “ It’s on us to keep it from going that way,” Omura said briskly. “Stevens, meet me back here in three hours for the conference call with the Hui, and let me know what your young man says about going undercover.”

Chapter 5
     
    Back at Haiku Station, Stevens fired up a second pot of coffee to give himself time to think of how to approach Brandon Mahoe. What he was doing was essentially asking a young, green recruit to spy on his people. It was for a good reason—to keep everyone in the movement safe and to keep the community safe. But still, it was a lot to ask and he knew it.
    On the other hand, it could turn out to be a group of retirees walking around with walkie-talkies, not the militant or vengeful dynamic he was worried about.
    He sat, sipped a fresh cup of coffee, and let his mind wander for a moment to Lei, to the incredible night they’d had. He was tired this morning, but in a good way. Maybe last night was the night she got pregnant. He didn’t want to keep wondering that but couldn’t seem to help it.
    Mahoe was knocking on the doorframe, interrupting his thoughts. “ You sent for me, sir?”
    Stevens pulled himself together and set the coffee mug aside. “ Come in and shut the door, please. I have a special assignment I need to discuss with you.”
    Mahoe sat on the chair in front of Stevens ’s desk, the door shut behind him. Stevens spotted a tiny patch of toilet paper adhered to a shaving nick on the handsome young man’s square jaw. His dark navy uniform was neat and pressed, and he sat attentively, his head up with unconscious pride. Stevens steeled himself for what he was about to ask.
    “ Brandon.” Stevens took out Mahoe’s file and opened it. Very thin, because there wasn’t much more than his application to the police academy and proof of graduation only a few months before. “May I call you Brandon?”
    “ Yes, sir.”
    “ We have an assignment I want to talk to you about. Remember Mr. Okapa?”
    “ Who could forget, sir? I saw him on the news last night.”
    “ Well, you seemed to have made a bit of a connection with him, though my guess is he’s a tough old bird for anyone to get to know. So kudos on how you handled him