Woody leaned over and whispered, “He can talkhaolewhen he wants to.”
“What about the other boat ramps up the coast? Are you folks blocking them too?” Josh asked.
“Yep.”
“How long do you plan on being here?”
“As long as we need to be.”
Minnow wanted to run up and hug him. The metallic taste of blood in her mouth was fading and she felt stronger and more alert. Boundless, almost.
“I assume you realize you are breaking the law. Are you willing to go to jail for this?” Josh asked.
“Our?aumakuaprotect us, we protect them. So yes, if that’s what it comes to. You know, I don’t think the mayor thought this through. Even with all the research stacked against a hunt, he goes ahead and calls one anyway. All just to cover hisokole.” Cliff paused and looked up at the mountain, his profile backlit by the sun. “That is notpono—not right.”
Josh seemed to sense someone behind him and he turned around. When he saw Minnow, his eyebrows went up. “Speaking of research, what do you think of all this, Dr. Gray?”
“I support the people who have lived here longest. They are the ones we need to listen to. More than research and more than me or any other scientist. They have hundreds of years of experience in these waters. To be honest, these guys are my heroes.”
She smiled at Cliff and he winked; then she turned and walked away. This was no longer her story and she wanted no part of the spotlight. It was bigger and older and deeper. The story of a people keeping watch over their own.
Woody came with her and she headed toward Luke, who was waiting by the Whaler. Along the way, they passed several people holding signs that saidShark ManaandTheir Water, Not Ours.
“You must be proud of Cliff for orchestrating such a huge deal,” she said.
“One thing about my brother, he’s all or nothing. Neither of us slept a wink last night. I don’t know how long we can keep this up, but I’m hoping those bruddahs in power are paying attention.”
“I’m sure they are.”
On the boat ride over, Minnow had been thinking about how to catch the chummers in the act. An idea had dropped into her head in the middle of the night, waking her with a start. Now she told Woody.
“I’m there. I’ll tell Cliff and we’ll bring some friends,” he said with a nod.
Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind and she spun. “Nalu! You made it.”
The brightest smile spread across his face. “This is rad. I had no idea.”
“Neither did I.”
It was the best kind of surprise.
A wavy-haired man with wire-rim glasses stood next to him and held out a hand. “Dr. Gray, I’m Chip Young. I’m an admirer of your work.”
Minnow had heard of him too. “I wish you could have come sooner, but I’m glad you made it.”
He nodded. “Nalu’s filled me in and it sounds like you’ve made a valiant effort. I applaud you on that. My whole department does,” he said.
“There’s still plenty of work to be done, so I hope you’re ready for a long day—and an even longer night,” she said.
His mouth lifted on one side. “Absolutely.”
At four the following morning, three boats left from Hale Niuhi under the cover of darkness. Minnow reasoned that whoever was doing the chumming must have been doing it at night. And all those lights she’d seen in the early morning hours, maybe it had been them. Luke, Nalu and Minnow rode in the Whaler, while Woody and two brothers from Hawi named Dean and Liloa took theMidnight Blue, a yellow fishing boat. Cliff, Chip Young and an ex-cop named Kamaki were in a twenty-six-foot Zodiac with more horsepower than a jet airliner.
They’d all duct-taped their running lights so they’d be invisible, and they headed north toward Papapa. Each of the boat drivers wore different color glow sticks around their wrists—green, purple, pink—so they could keep track of one another. They also knew the coordinates of their destination. Minnow and Chip both had cameras and Kamaki packed a pistol and his old badge. No one needed to know he was retired. The plan was to float around in the dark just beyond the buoy and wait.
For most of the way out, Minnow imagined Luna swimming in the deep beneath them, listening for engine sounds and homing in. Sharks had good hearing and sensed vibration from a long way off, and Luna and others had obviously been lured in and were now programmed. She didn’t like that word in use with animals, but it was accurate for what was going on here.
Once they hit the coordinates, they drove slowly out to sea for a couple of minutes, then cut their motors. The outline of land and mountains stood dark against the starry sky. There were sprinkles of lights here and there, but it was only four thirty, so much of the world still slept. Minnow loved the silence and listened for anything large passing under them but heard only the lap of water on fiberglass.
