Murder at Waters Edge (Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery Book 6) Read online

  I was about to follow Zoe out of the room when, on a hunch, I went back to look in the drawer in the nightstand next to the bed. It contained a phone book and a Bible. I pulled out the phone book and opened it to the section on hotels and motels. There was a page missing. Now, I realized anyone at any time could have torn out the page, but we were dealing with missing persons, so I took a photo of the pages before and after the missing one. I figured I could find the page in the phone book in our cottage to see which properties were listed. It might be a long shot to check them out, but it was all we had.

  We headed to Hulk and Cracker’s room. Zoe opened a window to help us deal with the stench and set to searching for anything that might provide a clue. Unlike Trent and Hallie’s room, which we’d been able to cover in just a few minutes, we were in for a long stay sorting through everything in this mess.

  “Pizza and peanut butter?” Zoe said with disgust as she held up half a piece of sausage pizza covered with chunky peanut butter.

  “Let’s hope that’s the most disgusting thing we find.”

  “Too late.” Zoe ran to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth after finding something behind the table.

  I checked it out and almost hacked myself. Someone had smeared mayonnaise on the wall and it had congealed and turned brown. At least I hoped it was mayonnaise.

  I looked away before I was sick and went across the room. The two double beds, both unmade, and two bedside tables were both covered with beer and soda cans. There was something red on the sheets of one of the beds that I initially thought might be blood but was probably ketchup or maybe pizza sauce.

  How could anyone live like this? They apparently had turned down maid service, as we had.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Zoe when she came out of the bathroom.

  “Yeah. I’m fine. The smell completely overwhelmed me when we walked in, and then when I found…” Zoe’s voice trailed off, but she was beginning to look green again.

  “If you want to check the closet I’ll look around in here.”

  Zoe nodded and went there while I began opening and closing dresser drawers, which were mostly empty; most of the clothes the pair had with them appeared to be strewn across the floor. One of the drawers held a Bible, but the phone book was missing in its entirety. As with the missing page from the phone book in the other room, anyone could have taken it at any time. I doubted the housekeeping staff checked for its presence after each occupant checked out.

  There was no way I was going to crawl under the bed, so I just squatted down and peeked.

  A quick trip into the bathroom confirmed that Hulk and Cracker hadn’t taken their toothbrushes or other toiletries. I supposed even slobs like them would take their toothbrushes if they planned to be away for a while. After opening and closing all the cabinets and looking in the bathtub, which had a black ring around it, I decided to check the rest of the room, hoping all the while my senses had adjusted to the stench.

  They hadn’t.

  Zoe followed me, although it appeared she was holding her breath. I knew we needed to take a close look around, but there was nothing about this that was going to be anything but awful. Deciding to start near the desk, where they must have had their computer set up, I stepped over half a hamburger someone had stepped on and mashed into the carpet. Housekeeping was going to have a hell of a time getting this room ready for the next guest.

  “It looks like someone took the computer but left the cord,” Zoe commented.

  “Yeah. They must have left in a hurry.” I looked around. “If someone did kidnap them you’d think there was a struggle of some sort that someone would have overheard. There’s a room above it and another below, plus rooms on either side. Why don’t you start knocking on doors while I finish looking around?”

  Zoe hugged me tight. “Thank you. I guess I’m still not feeling all that great.”

  “No problem. It seems a better use of our time to split up anyway. Meet me back here when you’re done.”

  After Zoe left I continued my search of the disgusting space the men had shared. If someone had detained them without anyone reporting it they must have shown up with a gun, convincing them to go along quietly. The fact that they hadn’t bothered to take the power cord to the laptop indicated time had been of the essence.

  The sheer amount of mess and clutter was overwhelming. I had no idea what might be important and what was just part of the mess. There were items on the floor that normally wouldn’t belong there, usually suggesting a struggle had occurred, but given Hulk and Cracker’s casual approach to daily life who could tell? I opened every drawer and cabinet, looking for anything that might serve as a clue, but after twenty minutes I could no longer take the odors. It was just about time to check in with the others anyway.

  I exited the room and looked for Zoe in both directions in the hallway. She should have been back to meet me by now. Of course if she’d checked all the rooms on either side of Hulk and Cracker’s as well as the ones above and below, it could have taken her longer than I’d anticipated. I waited a few more minutes, then texted her.

  She didn’t reply.

  I called her phone. Still no reply.

  I doubted she’d go back to the cottage without me, so I knocked on the door of the room to the right of Hulk and Cracker’s. One of the women I recognized from the competition answered.

  “Hi. My name is Lani. I’m looking for my friend Zoe. She was going around asking about Hulk and Cracker. Is she here?”

  The woman shook her head. “No. She came by maybe thirty minutes ago and told me Hulk had been found dead. She wanted to know if I’d heard anything, but my boyfriend and I got up early and went to Hāna. We just got back an hour ago. Do you know what happened to Hulk?”

  “Not yet. His body was found floating in the ocean. I’m sure the event coordinators will make a statement tomorrow, and the local authorities may be by as well.”

  “The whole thing is so tragic. First that sweet girl falls from a cliff and then Hulk drowns.”

  I didn’t correct the woman regarding Hulk’s cause of death because I wasn’t certain what was and wasn’t public knowledge, so I thanked her and then knocked on the door on the other side of Hulk and Cracker’s. No one answered. I texted Zoe again, then went upstairs to check the rooms.

  After I’d spoken to everyone I thought Zoe would have I headed back to the cottage. Maybe she was feeling sick and had gone back without letting me know, although I sort of doubted she would have. I was halfway there when someone grabbed me from behind. I was about to scream when a large hand slammed over my mouth. I was about to try a backward kick when everything went black.

  Chapter 15

  When I awoke sometime later I was on a sofa in a windowless room. Zoe was sitting on the bed across from me and Cracker was sitting on a nearby chair.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Zoe answered. “I was walking up the stairs to the third floor when someone grabbed me from behind. The next thing I knew, I ended up here. Whoever grabbed me must have used chloroform.”

  I put my hand to my head. I felt a little dizzy but generally unharmed. “Yeah, the same thing happened to me.” I turned to Cracker. “How long have you been here?”

  “All day. Two men broke into our room this morning and kidnapped Hulk and me. They brought us here.”

  “Why?”

  Cracker sat down next to me on the sofa and motioned for Zoe to sit on his other side. He lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “I’m pretty sure the room is bugged. I don’t think they have video, but I’m certain they have audio. We need to continue to have a conversation we’re comfortable with them overhearing while having a second one that’s kept between us in the pauses. Do you both get that?”

  We both nodded our heads.

  “How’s your head?” Cracker asked in a voice loud enough to be overheard.

  “It hurts and I feel dizzy,” I answered in an equally loud voice.

&
nbsp; “Maybe you should lay down for a minute,” Zoe added.

  Then Cracker leaned in close and whispered in a voice so soft I really had to concentrate to hear him. “They wanted me to break into the Haleakalā Observatory, but I refused. Initially, they tried bribery and then minor torture, but I still refused. Eventually—” Cracker’s voice broke. I was sure he was going to break down in tears, but he somehow found a way to get it together and continued. “Eventually, they told me if I didn’t do it they’d kill Hulk. I didn’t believe them until the guy admitted to killing Cammy. The son of a bitch confessed to luring her to the cliff and then pushing her off when she wouldn’t agree to keep what she’d figured out to herself. I was stupid and made a comment about Cammy being brave to stand up for what she believed to be right and then the bastard pointed the gun at Hulk and shot him. Hulk was alive when they dragged him away. I just hope he still is.”

  I glanced at Zoe, who gently shook her head. She was right. There didn’t seem to be an immediate need to tell Cracker his friend was dead. He was already such a mess and we needed his help to get out of there.

  “Have you tried breaking out?” I whispered.

  “I’ve been trying all day, but there are no windows and the door is both locked and solidly built.”

  “I could use some water,” I said in a loud voice.

  “The bathroom is functional,” Cracker answered. “You can get a drink from the sink.”

  We all got up and went into the bathroom, where I turned on the water.

  “What happened after they took Hulk away?” I said in a soft voice.

  “I hacked into the observatory. I hoped if I did what they wanted they’d help Hulk, but I don’t know what happened after they left.”

  “What did they want you to do once you hacked in?” I asked.

  “Nothing. They said I was done for now, but they’d need my services again later.”

  “Is the computer you used in the room?”

  “Yeah. It’s on a table through the door at the back.”

  “We can use it to let the guys know where we are,” Zoe whispered.

  “No,” Cracker responded. “They’re monitoring every keystroke. If I deviate from the task they’ve assigned they’ll know. I’m pretty sure they need me, but they don’t need the two of you. Now that Hulk is gone I have a feeling they brought you here to serve as motivation for me to continue.”

  I paled. I was certain Cracker was correct. We were here to keep him motivated.

  Cracker turned off the water, then motioned for us to return to the other room. “That took a while; are you okay?” he asked in a voice loud enough to be heard over the listening device.

  “Yeah. I’m okay,” I answered. “We need to get out of here.”

  This was something I’d say if I didn’t know I was being monitored, so it seemed to be the next conversation to engage in for the benefit of the listeners.

  “I’ve tried,” Cracker assured me. He went on to tell me all the things he’d attempted without success. He paused several times and we continued our whispered conversation as well.

  “Do you know when they might ask you to complete the next task?” I whispered.

  “They didn’t say. I have a feeling someone will be back soon. After the tall guy with the gun dropped you off, he mumbled something about it almost being time.”

  “We need to figure out a way to get a message to Zak without cluing in whoever is monitoring your keystrokes,” Zoe said. “By now the guys have realized we’re missing. They’ll be looking for a message, but I’m not sure how to deliver it.”

  We continued to speak loud enough to be overheard while we gave Cracker a minute to work out a plan. Zak had been following Cracker’s hacks all week. I was sure that checking his activity would be one of the first things he did when we didn’t return, so by this point he knew he’d hacked into the observatory. I had to trust that Shredder and whoever he was dealing with were all over that, so I was devoting all my attention to getting the heck out of there.

  Zoe rambled on as a distraction while I lowered my voice and informed Cracker that Zak had been following his hacks all week. He looked doubtful until I informed him that the Zak who had entered the contest was really Zak Zimmerman and had been on to the conspiracy from the beginning. Then his face lit up, as if for the first time he believed we all might get out of this alive.

  It was too risky for Cracker to do anything on the computer until instructed to, so he used his time to work out a code he planned to implant into the pathway used for the hack. He tried to explain it, but it was too confusing for me, so I just nodded and offered my support.

  About an hour after I’d been dumped in the room the man with the gun came in. He handed Cracker a burner cell that already had someone on the other end of the line. Cracker listened.

  “That’s not a lot of time to do it,” Cracker said.

  He must have been told to put the phone on speaker because that was what he did. Now we could hear the person tell Cracker to figure it out because if he didn’t, his friend would shoot us.

  Cracker paled. “Okay. I’ll try. But what you’re asking isn’t possible.”

  “Take the phone off speaker,” the man growled.

  Cracker did, and I could see his body stiffen as he listened to what he was being told. Eventually, he hung up and handed the phone to the man. Then he sat down at the computer and got to work.

  All Zoe and I could do was wait. God, how I hated to wait. I knew we couldn’t help Cracker; all we could do was trust him to somehow do the impossible to keep us from dying.

  After at least another hour the burner cell rang. The man with the gun answered it and handed it to Cracker, who glanced in our direction before picking it up. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure the others could hear it. There didn’t seem to be a way out unless Cracker was somehow able to notify Zak.

  “I know. I took a wrong turn, but I found my mistake and made the adjustment,” Cracker argued.

  The man on the other end of the line said something that made Cracker’s eyes widen. The man with the gun raised his weapon and pointed it at Zoe.

  “Wait,” Cracker yelled into the phone. “I’ve been listening to you, but now it’s time to listen to me. I’ll do the hack, and even though the deadline you’ve given me is an impossibility I’ll do my best to meet it, but there will be no shooting and no more wasting of my time with phone calls. The hack you want is extremely difficult. It’s going to take all my concentration. If either of my friends are hurt in any way I’m out. Do you understand?”

  I couldn’t hear how the man responded, but he must have agreed to Cracker’s demands because he handed the phone to the gunman, who placed it in his holster.

  Zoe and I both let out long breaths.

  Cracker went back to work and Zoe and I went back to waiting. I could only hope the wrong turn Cracker had taken had been a message to Zak that he would receive and understand. I still wasn’t sure what they wanted Cracker to hack into, but I was certain that once he accomplished his task we were all dead.

  Chapter 16

  Friday, May 5

  I must have dozed off at some point because the next thing I knew Zoe was shaking my arm. The gunman must either be in the bathroom or he’d stepped out because I didn’t see him. I heard a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot and then the door flew open. Shredder came barging in, a gun held in front of him. The man who had been watching over us came out of the bathroom with his own gun drawn. Cracker dove to the floor as he took a shot at Shredder. He missed but immediately recovered and aimed the gun at Shredder’s head. I stifled a scream as the man pulled the trigger of his gun a microsecond before falling to the floor.

  I did scream when a puddle of blood spread over his chest. I looked to the door to find Luke standing there with a gun in his hand. I didn’t think; I simply ran into his arms and wept. Shredder was on the phone with someone and Zoe was being led into the hall by Zak, who must have been waiting outside.<
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  “How did you know?” I asked Luke. “How did you know where to find us?”

  “Zak found Cracker’s hidden code.”

  I glanced at Cracker, who was speaking to a man I didn’t recognize. “Who’s that?” I asked Luke.

  “Maybe NSA. I don’t know for sure, but he seems to be working with Shredder. Our instructions are to get you and Zoe out of here. They’re taking Cracker for debriefing.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait until the police get here?”

  Luke shook his head. “Zak’s hired a private plane that’s waiting to take us to Oahu. We packed up the computers and they’re already loaded onboard. Shredder said none of us should be here when MPD arrives.” Luke took my hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

  I glanced at a clock on the plane after we’d boarded. It was four a.m. I must have slept a lot longer than I’d realized. Still, I couldn’t wait to get home and curl up in Luke’s big bed.

  ******

  I could hear voices in the other room when I woke up. The sun was streaming through the window and the clock on the bedside table told me it was almost noon. I climbed out of bed and pulled on some clothes before wandering into the kitchen, where Luke and Zak were sitting at the table drinking coffee.

  “Morning,” I greeted them as I headed to the coffeemaker to pour my own cup. “Where’s Zoe?”

  “Still sleeping,” Zak said.

  “And Shredder?”

  “He’s busy with the NSA. He said someone will be by to interview us later in the day.”

  “And Cracker?”

  Luke shrugged. “As far as I know, he’s with Shredder. Everything that went down last night is highly classified and we aren’t to say anything to anyone about our part in it. Once we’re debriefed we might know more, but I doubt it.”

  I frowned as I sat down at the table. “So we might never know what the men who held us wanted Cracker to do?”