Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

brIGGS PRESSED the doorbell at Mr. Dunn’s again. He rubbed the back of his neck, unable to rid himself of the unease snaking through him. He called Detective Morgan, and he confirmed Nancy was still in the hospital. Then the detective asked about Lahela.

That was when Briggs’s world had tilted.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard on the police scanner that her neighbor Rosemary called in after hearing an argument,” Detective Morgan said. “But she said it was fine because Lahela went with Mr. Dunn .”

“Who was she arguing with?”

“Rosemary said a young man , she thought it was you at first but said the guy left in a car and she knows you drive a truck.”

“Trevor.”

“I’ve already sent officers to find him.”

Briggs would feel no relief until he knew where Lahela was and that she was all right. Especially after seeing the blood on her back stoop. Daphne hadn’t called him back, and his hope that Mr. Dunn was home was evaporating with each passing second. But he didn’t know where else to go.

He was about to leave when the door swung open. “Mr. Dunn?”

“Hello, Briggs. How can I help you?”

For a second, Briggs was at a loss for words. He wasn’t expecting Mr. Dunn to be there. “I’m looking for Lahela.” Behind Mr. Dunn, his living room was empty. “Ms. Rosemary said Lahela walked here with you.”

Mr. Dunn wiped at his brow. “That ex-boyfriend of hers was nosing around the front of her house and then he walked into the backyard. I wanted to make sure Lahela was okay. She was bleeding but said it was from the glass and it didn’t look serious.”

Briggs frowned. “Where is she?”

“She left.”

“Left?”

Mr. Dunn shrugged. “I offered to take her to the emergency room, but she said she was okay.” He scratched his chin, and Briggs noticed dark residue in his nails. Was that Lahela’s blood? Mr. Dunn dropped his hand and looked at his nails. “I guess I got some of her blood on my hand when I was wrapping her hand. I would’ve done a better job, but she seemed like she had somewhere to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno, but I’m afraid she’s really considering moving back to Hawai‘i.” He shook his head. “I tried to tell her she should stay, that we’d miss her, but I think she just wants to get away from here.”

Briggs needed to find Lahela now . “You don’t know where she went? Did she walk? Leave with someone?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know.” He stepped back, his hand on the door as he smiled at Briggs. “You let me know if you hear from Lahela.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Mr. Dunn closed the door on him. Briggs always thought the man had a bit of an odd overprotective fatherly connection to Lahela, but if that were true ... why wasn’t he more concerned that Lahela seemed to have disappeared?

Briggs looked across the street to Rosemary’s house. She had the doorbell camera that caught Trevor’s car the night of the fire. Maybe she’d have footage of Lahela. He started down Mr. Dunn’s driveway and then paused. A weird feeling overcame him.

Briggs started walking again but stopped after a few feet and looked to his left. The green Volvo that belonged to Mr. Dunn’s wife was covered. That was it. The thing that was different.

Shaking his head, Briggs walked down the rest of the driveway. He was about to cross the street when that niggling feeling he used to get as a police officer warned him that something wasn’t right. He turned around.