She glared at him but didn’t say anything.
He continued. “As soon as I got out there in the water with all the fishing gear, ready to lay lines and troll, I realized I may not be able to go through with it. I made up excuses to buy myself time, but I wanted that boat and I was carrying on this monumental battle in my mind about pulling in one big shark so I could keep it.
“When the guy checked in with me, I lied. I told him I had caught two big ones but they both cut the line and got away. By then I’d found out he was ex–Special Forces, and he was pretty intimidating. I started hating myself again and I knew if I actually did catch a shark, I’d have sold my soul.” He looked like someone had let all the air out of him. His eyes watered. “Then you showed up.”
All this talk of killing sharks caused a cramp in her side and she had to sit back down, this time on the edge of a bed. “So you never got one?”
“Not one.”
Minnow flashed back on those first encounters with him. The gold reels and the smell of baitfish. The odd hours. That sense that something weird was going on with him. Suddenly she needed to know who was behind this.
“Who hired you, Luke?”
He stiffened slightly. “That’s the thing. The guy who took me out on the boat was just the middle man. His name was Bob, but I think he was working for Callahan. Who else around here has that kind of money?”
It didn’t add up. “Sam Callahan?”
“Yeah.”
“Why wouldn’t he just ask you himself?”
“I’m guessing he was worried about upsetting the Hawaiians. From what I hear, down at Kohola there’s a cultural practitioner who educates all the billionaires about protocol and what to do and what not to do. Killing the family guardians is not good PR. I’m sure you know from Woody that a lot of the locals are not happy about a huntalong this coastline. Also, Bob told me in no uncertain terms to keep this whole thing quiet.”
She tried to make sense of this bizarre new turn. “So why are you telling me?”
“Because I walked away.”
“What about the boat?”
“It’s gone. I told Bob I was out.”
Hope nudged at her. “How did he react?”
“Didn’t seem too bothered since a whole fleet is going out tomorrow.”
She glanced over at the note sitting by the telephone just as a gecko on the outside of the screen caught a moth. The moth was bigger than its mouth, but the lizard hung on dearly and soon swallowed the whole thing. Eat or be eaten—one of nature’s most brutal truths.
She went over, lifted the note and handed it to him. “When I got back today, this was on the doorstep.”
Luke held it up to the light and read. “What the—”
“Your man Bob?”
“He’s not my man, but I don’t know. Bob knows how to spell. Did you tell anyone about this?”
“Not yet. It’s been a crazy afternoon.”
His eyes flickered. “Where are your two brother friends?”
“They went home for the night. But honestly, I’m having a hard time imagining Sam Callahan as the guy behind this. When I spoke to him, he seemed like such a reasonable guy. Even in his devastation, he was quite matter-of-fact.”
“I looked into the guy. People say he can be ruthless. It’s why he’s made so much money. In this case that shark took what was most important from him.”
“That still doesn’t mean he hired you. And if he did, how would you find out?”
“I think Sawyer might know. I went to find him this morning, but I guess he was on Maui for the day.”
“Would he tell you if he did?”
