Page 50 of Riptide

“I’m good,” Seth lied.

“I think you may have hit your head a few too many times when you went over that cliff.”

“Yeah, funny.”

“Be careful.”

“I don’t’ need to be careful. I’ve got this. Kaimana’s like the perfect hundred-foot wave. Biggest rush ever. Sure she could kill you, but she’ll give you the ride of your fuckin’ life. And you know I can’t resist a good ride. Life is short, man. Gotta make the most of it.”

“You know. I’m surprised you don’t like cats. Because you sure do act like one. Not that I’m keepin’ score, but I think you’re almost out of lives.”

“Hey now. I’m not dissing cats cause you know I love a little pussy, but I’m no cat. We’ve only got one life. That fine line between life and death is always there. Some days I just get a little closer than others. I always weigh the risk, and Kaimana’s one worth taking.” Seth laughed and handed him a bowl full of açaí.

“You’ve got it bad.” Garrett shook his head and sprinkled strawberries in his bowl.

“I don’t have it bad,” he lied. “I’m intrigued.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t say I didn’t tell you, though. Listen, we should talk about LA.”

“I’m not expecting much. I think we need to tap our friend Dean and see if we can get any info about what’s happening in Hawaiʻi. He works with the Feds, right?”

“Talked to him this morning. Sounds like something is definitely happening from what Dean’s contacts know. It’s not his territory though. I’m guessing most buyers will probably be taking private jets. They’ll drag their feet on submitting flight plans.”

“If they even file one. They’ll hit private strips.” Seth shrugged. “Whoever is organizing it might have property on any of the islands. They could chopper over to Oʻahu. Or boat over.”

Seth slid onto a bench at the end of the counter and proceeded to sprinkle fruit onto his açaí. “I know one thing. We’ve got to have Dean involved to bust these assholes. I’m thinking it’s time to bring the FBI into this.”

“Already on it. I’ve got a friend in the bureau. He’s meeting us up in LA. Of course he’s going to want to interview Kaimana.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Kaimana—”

“Kaimana, what?” she asked.

Seth smiled at his sexy mermaid, his thoughts lost. Dressed in his blue velvet robe, she wore only a light gloss on her lips…ones that begged to be kissed.

“Kaimana, what?” she repeated as she slid next to Seth and reached for a bowl.

“FBI,” Garrett replied.

She released an audible sigh and scooped dried coconut onto her spoon. “Evan wasn’t working on his own. You guys know that right? I mean he was tough, but it wasn’t like he was completely on his own.”

“Do you know who his contact was?” Seth asked.

“No. We didn’t talk much about business, but he insinuated other people in the government knew about Marretta.”

“Evan would have had contacts in the bureau,” Garrett confirmed.

“But he never said who. When he went for the event in LA. The day I think they took him. I stayed with the yacht. We’d had it docked on the big island.” Her expression fell flat.

“In all that time, did anyone know you were with Evan? Did you go anywhere on land together?”

“Not really. At the time he saved me, aside from letting my family know I was okay, there was no one else we hung out with. There was the crew. But they were vetted. He’d told me he had a contact in the FBI. He’d only mentioned it once. I can’t remember the name. Maybe it began with a N? No, maybe a M. I’ll have to think on it. Whatever. The point is that whoever that was in the bureau. They knew that it was happening. They’re planning on stopping it. At least that’s what Evan was told. Coincidence he ended up going missing, though. Maybe there’s a mole there too?”

Garrett sighed. “I have someone I know. We go way back. He’s clean. That’s not to say the people around him are, but I’ll clue him in. See if there’s a log of your report. Even if they were keeping your location under wraps, the bureau would know of your existence. We’re not going to be able to go up against Marretta by ourselves.”

“We’ve got to find Joli,” Kaimana told them. “She can help us.”

“Can we trust her? She may have given you Evan’s message but that doesn’t mean she didn’t share it with someone else. She could have told anyone. Even by accident or someone she thought was safe.” Garrett bit into a piece of bacon.