“I haven’t decided yet,” Kaimi replied. “I’m meeting him next week. He said he has information on where the girl might be hiding. I will decide when I get there, I think.”
“I have to transport you to another meeting?” Mr. Kimura asked.
Mr. Kimura’s volume rose a few notches. Dante couldn’t imagine a man such as him yelling, so this might have been the closest thing to it.
“I will be gone in a few weeks. You won’t have to think about me for a long time,” Kaimi replied.
There was a tense pause.
“Where is this meeting supposed to take place?” Mr. Kimura asked.
“Hilo Forest Reserve,” Kaimi replied.
“Why so far north?” Mr. Kimura complained.
“He’s leading a Marshals training near Hilo all week and through the weekend. He can only break away for a few hours,” Kaimi replied.
Dante’s mind started racing. The annual training? Max would never lead that.
“If I transport you to this man, then I need something in return,” Mr. Kimura responded.
“What is that?” Kaimi asked.
“Keep him alive. I can use him,” Mr. Kimura told him.
There was a pause for a moment or two. Dante gripped the steering wheel. He fought with his sharp disbelief. He couldn’t believe it wasn’t Max. Max would never lead the training. It didn’t make sense.
“Fine. It’s all in the family, as they say,” Kaimi responded. Mr. Kimura chuckled.
“Where in the Hilo Reserve?” Mr. Kimura asked.
“Deep in the forest near the volcano, along a small access road. It used to be a safe house for the Marshals Service,” Kaimi told him. Dante took in a deep breath.
“It’s no longer in use?” Mr. Kimura asked.
“No, apparently too full of holes,” Kaimi said. He and Mr. Kimura both laughed.
Dante clenched his left fist, pressing it to his lips. He lost David in that house. They were laughing about it. His gut burned with instant, white-hot rage.
“It’s a bit arrogant of him to hold the meeting there, after what happened,” observed Mr. Kimura.
“Yes. I suppose it was a subtle reminder of why I still need him. Even though he has proven to be nothing but a disappointment. But if he is of use to you, then I will let it pass,” Kaimi said.
“Yes, I think he would be very useful. If he’s in a position to train all of the other Marshals, then I might be able to use him to make even more friends. I don’t mind if he comes to me with some minor damage. Might make him a little less cocky and a little more useful,” Mr. Kimura said.
“Easily done,” Kaimi told him. “Now, I think I will go finish some work downstairs and then retire.”
“Good night,” Mr. Kimura replied.
“Good night,” Kaimi said, as the door squeaked and scraped its way close.
Dante sat stone still for the next few minutes as the noise in the office turned to the sound of the aquarium and the tapping of the keyboard as Mr. Kimura took up his work. Half of him wanted nothing more than to drive over to the mansion, storm the door, and drag Kaimi down to the nearest Marshals office to dump on someone’s desk. The other half wanted desperately to not have heard what just came through the speakers. He knew who conducted the yearly training session, but Dante didn’t want to believe he was the mole. Dante was willing to accept almost anyone as the mole except him.
Dante switched off the receiver for the listening devices, and sat at the wheel of the truck.
“I’ll be damned,” Albert said. “We found him.”
“Yes, now what are we going to do with him?” Bob turned in his seat.
“We gather intel, of course.” Albert took a sip of coffee.
“We don’t have time to gather intel. His mole in the department has information on Laurie. We have to get to Kaimi before that meeting.” Bob slapped his leg.
“Before the meeting or during that meeting?” Albert gave Bob a sly smile. “No one knows that safe house like my son does. You can have both Kaimi and this mole next week.”
Albert directed his comment to Dante, but he didn’t respond. He sat in silence. His heart sank to the bottom of his chest. All of the exhilaration in finding Kaimi drained straight out of his soul.
“But we don’t know when they’re having the meeting.” Bob lifted a hand and gestured to Albert.
“Exactly. Until we know when the meeting is, how Kaimi will get there, and who is going to be there, then we need to continue doing what we’re doing. Once we’ve gathered all of that, we go back to the safe house and get ready to catch ourselves a killer.”
Bob and Albert both nodded at one another in agreement before turning to look at Dante.
“Dante?” Bob asked after a few minutes.
“The mole isn’t Max.” Dante’s throat strained with emotion.
“You know who’s supposed to lead this training?” Albert sat forward in the backseat.
“Yes.” Dante blinked. “Only one man has led that training since I came here.”
There was a lengthy pause.
“Who?” Albert prompted.
“My boss, Rick.” Dante looked from his uncle to his father and back at the steering wheel.
He was too hurt to be angry. Rick had trained him, mentored him. He thought of Rick as the father he never had. This betrayal poked holes in Dante’s confidence in everything he knew, everything he’d ever been taught.
“I’m sorry, son.” Albert placed a hand on his shoulder. “He trained you, didn’t he?”
“Yes. I thought it was bad enough it was one of my own men, but Rick? Rick?” Dante ran a hand down his face, rubbing his eyes.
“We still don’t know it’s him for sure.” Bob’s tone was gentle. “They didn’t say a name.”
Rage shot straight out of Dante’s heart, into his arm, coursing its way through his veins. Dante slammed his fist into the steering wheel. Then he did it again, and again. He cursed his way through every terrible word he knew. He turned to look at his uncle, and he knew his anger burned in his eyes as his uncle shrunk back from him.
“Rick is in charge of the entire Witness Inspectors office. He’s the longest serving Marshal here. He’s the only person who has led that training session in seven years. He looks forward to it every year. He talks about it all the time.” Dante’s voice rose in pitch and speed with every other word. “It can’t be anyone else.”
Bob nodded, looking away, out the windshield, into the distance.
“Dante, I know this is a shock for you, but don’t take it out on your uncle. This is a bloody business. If Rick is the mole, then all of the witnesses here are in danger. Laurie’s life will continue to be in danger until both he and Kaimi are put behind bars. I’m afraid you have to put your feelings about this aside. You have to focus on what we came here to do.”
There was something kind in his father’s eyes that made Dante bite back the response that leapt to his tongue. Dante thought about what he said for a few minutes. He turned to sit forward in his seat, just staring at the pavement in front of them.
“I’m sorry.” Dante glanced at his uncle askance.
“Don’t worry about it kid.” His uncle gave him a faint smile, clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s been a hell of a day.”
Dante nodded agreement. With heavy movements, he turned the key in the ignition and drove back to the motel in complete silence. Dante dissected every word that had come out of Kaimi’s mouth. He thought about Rick, and he began to see everything Rick had ever done in a new light. He thought of Laurie, and he began to wish like hell she was there. She knew how to console him; she would know what to say to ease the blow he’d just received. He looked down the road to see the faint lights of the motel in the distance, but his thoughts were thousands of miles away.
***
Laurie