Page 24 of Riptide

“I don’t know what to believe yet Kaimana, but I already said I’m going to help you.” Seth slowly approached. Out of confidence or stupidity, he was willing to bet she wouldn’t hurt him. He admired her determination, and damn, if she wasn’t making him believe the impossible.

“I owe him. He’s ʻohana.” Tears brimmed her eyes. She looked to Garrett and then settled her gaze on Seth. “Evan. Is. Alive.”

“We’ll find him,” he found himself saying…believing. This woman would kill him, and he suspected he’d like it.

* * *

Seth sat at the head of the huge wooden dining table and looked at the spread of steaks, lobster and veggies he’d grilled. Kaimana and Garrett silently took bread from the plate, still uncomfortable in each other’s presence.

“Dig in, folks.”

“You keep all this food at your house even though you’re not here all the time?” she asked.

“I’ve got a big freezer. Between that and what we grow, I can survive a few days before I get food in. Sometimes I fish too. Depends on what I’m doin’. It’s pretty isolated out here so yeah, gotta be prepared for anything.”

“You need to get a helicopter,” Garrett suggested.

“I still got some work to do here for sure. I have my boat dry docked now. I’m doing some renovations on it. It’s gonna be sick. When I’m finished, I’ll have a few of the guys out and we’ll do a little cruise, go diving and…”

“I have proof he’s alive,” Kaimana interrupted as she nonchalantly stabbed a piece of lobster and popped it in her mouth.

“What did you just say?” Seth asked.

“I told you before. I have proof. A note.” She reached for her white wine and held her glass in the air.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Garrett asked.

“Because I wanted you both to believe without it. Remember. Analyze. Think critically about what happened that day. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Don’t you think I’ve done that?” Garrett asked, his voice laced with annoyance. “I’ve done it over and over again until I can’t think. And it always ends with the same conclusion. Evan dead and no answers as to how it happened.”

“Analyze without emotion. Time has passed.” She took a small sip and set the glass back onto the table. “You talked about the day he jumped today. You said he was sitting by himself. But now you are questioning who saw him last. This business about his helmet Seth mentioned. Think about it. It sounds like that was out of character for Evan.”

“What are you getting at?” Garrett asked.

“As far as I see it, one of two things happened that day. The person you found dead, the one dressed as Evan, was either killed during the dive or they agreed to commit suicide in exchange for monetary compensation. It would have to be well planned with contingencies. The ambulance who picked him up. What company was it? The medical examiner. Who was it? Could they have been paid off to say it was Evan? Was there a DNA test?”

“There was no DNA test,” Seth offered. “There was no reason to do one. Everyone was there. We identified him to the police as Evan. There wasn’t even a full autopsy. Cause of death was pretty apparent.”

Garrett shook his head and set down his fork. “Okay, okay…let’s say someone set up this elaborate scheme to convince the world Evan died. And in this fantasy world they are holding him hostage. Why? There’s been no ransom demands.”

“They aren’t after ransom.” Kaimana continued to poke at her veggies with her fork.

“What are they after if they don’t want ransom? Why let months go by? Why not just take him and then kill him?” Garrett asked.

“Because he’s useful,” she countered. “He did more than work at your company. You know that. He’s a plethora of information all unto himself.”

“Are you implying he steals data for other companies? Because I still can’t believe he’s guilty of some of the random accusations. He’s not a spy,” Garrett told her.

“Evan isn’t a bad actor by any stretch of the imagination. But he is a spy…so to speak, anyway. He’s never really gotten out of that game. I thought you would have guessed that by now.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying that. He had a job at Emerson. What Evan did…” Garrett paused, choosing his words carefully. “He was a mentor to a lot of people. And he knew just about everything about security.”

“Evan knows a lot about all sorts of things.” Kaimana placed her hands in her lap and spoke with conviction. “Evan used to be a spy for the US government. May still be a spy. I don’t know which agency. And it appears they sure as hell aren’t going to tell you or they would have done so already.”

“Surely they would have had their own medical examiner if he was a spy,” Seth said.

Garrett shrugged. “Maybe not. Maybe he was out until someone pulled him back in. Maybe they think someone took out a hit on him and he’s dead. They don’t get involved because he’s not supposed to be working for them in the first place.”