The phone rang and rang and she almost gave up, but a harried-sounding voice finally answered. “Aloha. East wing nurses’ station.”
“Hi there. I’m a shark biologist working on the recent attacks. And I’m calling to find out how and when I can speak with the shark incident patient in room 206. My name is Dr. Gray.”
There was such a long pause that Minnow began to worry that maybe Angela hadn’t made it. “Yes, well, we can’t give out any personal information without patient consent. And no visitors at this time.”
“I’m not a visitor. I’ve been hired to work on the case.”
“Hired by who?”
Good question. “By the university—the state.” Though she couldn’t even be sure who exactly she was working for.
“Hang on. I’ll need to go check,” the nurse said.
As she waited, she watched a fat gecko scurry down the weathered wooden post, a mongoose weave in and out of the bushes, and a gray heron land on a rock out front. At least she wasn’t alone.
Five minutes later, the nurse came back on. “The patient is sleeping and the doctors are busy, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
At least Angela was alive.
“Is there any family I could talk to? The man who was with her in the water? Please, I’m doing my best to figure out what’s happening and prevent any more incidents.”
She knew she was dancing around the obvious, but she wanted to remain discreet since she had no idea how many people knew.
“Why don’t you give me your name and contact info, and I’ll pass it on,” the nurse said.
There was a yellowed sticker on the side of the phone with faded numbers, but it was illegible. “I don’t know the number where I’m staying. I’ll call back tomorrow.”
Frustrated, she hung up. It was hard to imagine Angela Crawford lying in a hospital bed up in Waimea, possibly fighting for her life.
Angela had burst on the scene the same year Minnow graduated from college, almost a decade ago, causing a firestorm with her appearance in the movieHour of the Hawk, opposite Kevin Costner. Strangely, Minnow bore a resemblance to Angela, and watching her was like watching a more striking version of herself: a mess of long dark hair, porcelain skin and a fiery spirit that came alive on the screen. It was her passion for hawks that made Minnow take notice of her, even though she knew Angela was only playing a role. That was her gift—to shape-shift into whatever character she played.
Since then, Angela had become America’s favorite wild card—making blockbuster after blockbuster but also occasionally starring in low-budget indie films. It was something Minnow had admired in her, that independent streak and the desire to take on roles for the love of the story, not for the money. But that was the weird thing about famous people—you somehow felt like you knew them, when really, you only knew the characters they played, not their motivations and desires, hopes and fears. And despite Angela’s fame, Minnow simply wanted to meet the woman who’d just had a devastating encounter with a massive white shark and lived to tell about it. Something like that was bound to bring anyone down to earth.
When Minnow called Mayor Lum’s office, his secretary put her right through. Nalu had briefed her on his background. Hawai?i County mayor, retired attorney, smart and charismatic, and a guy whose favorite pastime was going to Vegas.
“He’ll smile and make nice, but don’t trust the guy as far as you can throw him,” he’d warned.
It would’ve been nice to meet in person, but his office was in Hilo, close to two hours away, and she had serious doubts the truck would even make it that far.
“Miss Gray, I appreciate you for flying out here so quickly,” hesaid. “I understand you are somewhat of an expert on great white sharks.”
Miss?She had introduced herself to the secretary asdoctor.
“No problem, Harry. And yes, white sharks are my specialty.”
“Despite what people are saying, our waters are generally pretty safe. I want to remind people of that. I wantyouto remind people of that. So, do you have any updates for me?”
“Nope, nothing new. I’m just getting started, but tomorrow I’m going to try to interview the most recent victim. It’ll help to take some measurements and hear her story, and I’m also determined to find Stuart’s surfboard. That would at least tell us if it’s the same animal.”
“I’ll tell you what I told Dr. Eversole. Spring break is coming up next month, and with it the Kiawe Roughwater Swim. We’ve got people coming from as far away as China, and our businesses count on this race to keep them going. If you don’t have this thing figured out in two weeks, I may have to authorize a shark hunt. Open season—”
Her stomach twisted in on itself. “I strongly advise against that.”
“There’s a shark out there hunting people in my waters, so advise away. I’ll do what I need to protect our interests.”
“Mayor Lum, shark hunts have been shown to have a detrimental effect on the ocean. We need our apex predators to keep things in check. All the shark hunts here in the past did nothing but mess things up—other big fish proliferate and eat the reef fish, which causes microalgae to explode, and that makes the coral susceptible to bleaching. Give us the time we need and we’ll figure this out. Plus, we believe the great white sharks head back to the mainland sometime in April.”
He blew out into the phone, and she pictured him sitting in his office with a thick head of white hair, smoking a cigarette. “April is a long way off. Plus, it’s not like we would be taking sharks all over Hawai?i. Just along this coast.”
