“Don’t be stupid. Meet me where the jeep road ends.”
He hung up.
Minnow turned to Luke. “Looks like you’re off the hook. Woody’s going to get me in his truck.”
For a heartbeat she thought he seemed disappointed, but then he looked at his watch. “Sounds good.”
“All right, then.”
Back on land, things felt different between them. Stiffer and less ease, as though their long swim together had never happened. Minnow wanted to take him by the hand and lead him back out to the ocean. A strange but powerful urge.
“Oh, by the way, are you coming to the meeting here tomorrow night?” he asked casually.
“What meeting?”
“Sawyer offered to have a task force meeting here, I guess. I figured you knew.”
“I saw Mayor Lum earlier at the hospital being interviewed, but he was gone before I finished talking to the news lady. It feels like he’s avoiding me.”
“I’m sure you’re invited.”
It wouldn’t be the first time she was left out of the game. Wouldn’t even be surprised if they had somehow invited Nalu and not her, boys club that it seemed.
Minnow studied him for a moment. “How did you know about it?”
“Sawyer.”
Now that they were in a well-lit area, standing still, Minnow looked more closely at his tattoo. It was a Native American depiction of an orca.
“Beautiful tattoo,” she said.
He glanced down at it, then shifted from foot to foot. “Thanks. So, you all good with your ride?”
“Of course. This path is the one that leads out, right?”
“Yep.”
Minnow felt a strange inertia, as though her feet wanted to remain planted here in front of him. He stood there, too, unmoving, rubbing his tattoo. This time it was her turn to shiver, and not from the cold.
Eventually she snapped out of it. “Good night, Luke.”
“Sweet dreams.”
If only he knew.
Journal Entry
From the journal of Minnow Gray
Hawai‘i, February 24, 1998
They were so connected. So in tune with the world around them. I envy them that.
Pua ka wiliwili, nanahu ka mano.
When the wiliwili tree blooms, the shark bites.
—Mary Kawena Pukui,?Olelo No‘eau
