Chapter 36

I was standing frozenwhen Elle caught up with me. I grabbed her arm, a very uncharacteristic move. "What's going on here?"

"Hard to explain. Better to see."

My heart was pounding as we went up onto the pretty porch and Elle knocked lightly on the door. No one answered, so she unlocked it with her passkey. In a friendly voice she sang out, "Aloha, hello. We're here to see what you'd like to eat for lunch."

She pushed the door open. I slid my heels off and followed her inside. There was no one visible in the beautifully furnished room.

"Aloha," Elle called again. "Come out and we'll bring you something yummy to eat."

My pulse thundered in my ears. I tried to push down my hope for a miracle, but it was there, nonetheless.

After what seemed like hours but was probably more like minutes, a small face with big brown scared eyes peeked out from under the bed. In the way that a combination lock clicks into place with the last number, I recognized the child scooting out from under the bed.

"There you are," said Elle. "I'll bet you'd like to have lunch. How about a grilled cheese sandwich? Chicken fingers? Or some macaroni salad?"

I'd seen her photo in the file at Child Welfare Services and kept a copy of it in my phone. I'd mourned her death. Yet here she was, somehow, some way. "Hello," I breathed. "I'm so glad to see you."

The little girl I hoped was Maile Ortiz slowly stood and crossed her arms, as if protecting herself. She wore a grimy T-shirt and ripped shorts that had probably been a sunny color at one time but were now a drab pale yellow hidden by mud and grass stains. Her shoulder-length brown hair looked as if there'd been an effort to comb it, but it desperately needed to be shampooed.

Elle tried again. "Are you hungry?"

She cast her eyes down and nodded.

"Would you like to pick something from the menu, or would you like me to pick for you?"

"You pick." The girl said, her voice hoarse as if it hadn't been used in a while. Hearing her brought the reality home for me: she was real. She was alive!

I clapped my hands to my cheeks as tears welled in my eyes and coursed down my cheeks.

"Are you sad?" The child glanced at me sideways, hiding behind her dirty hair.

"No, no, I'm not sad. I'm incredibly happy to see you. That's why I'm crying. I thought something bad happened to you, and I've been searching for you. Lots of people have."

She lifted her head and gave a hesitant smile but said nothing.

"Please tell me if your name is Maile Ortiz," I said.

She stared down at her bare feet, tightening her arms across her chest; then, she spun around and dove back under the bed.

"Tell you what," Elle said after a few beats of silence. "You wait right here, and we'll bring you back some lunch. Would you like that?"

No response.

We went outside. I brushed the tears off my cheeks and cleared my throat in an effort to speak. "How did you find her?"

"I didn't. She was brought here this morning by a guy working on the road crew. He said she just walked out of the jungle out by Wai?ānapanapa Park. He said she didn't seem sure where home was, so he brought her here since the road's still closed to Kahului. When I got to work this morning, I couldn't help but wonder if she was the little hermit girl you've been worried about."

"I'm sure she is. Why won't she confirm her name?"

"Good question."

"Did you call Child Welfare Services?"

"The manager of the hotel did when she was dropped off, but they can't get out here because the road is still closed." Elle said she was going to put in an order for a kid's meal while I pulled out my cell and searched through my contacts to make a call.

As the call went through, I said to Elle, "I've got an idea. Could you make it three kids' meals?"

"No problem ordering three kids' meals. I'll make it four, and have one of everything," Elle said, her fingers flying on the menu tablet. "I've got to get back to the wedding."

She took off as my call went through, and I spoke for a few minutes, then went back inside the room. I turned on the water, got it to a comfortable temperature, and showed the girl the sweet-smelling soaps and shampoo in the hospitality basket in the bathroom, holding it down where she could see the toiletries next to the bed.

"I've got some friends your age coming to visit. You want to look nice for them, right?"

The child nodded, clearly wary of taking her clothes off in my presence.

"I'm going to be sitting right out outside if you need me. You can lock the bathroom door." A girl who'd been abused would be grateful for a locked door. It took a while, but I eventually convinced her to take a bath.

Thirty minutes later, a battered truck pulled up at the hotel and Elle called me to come greet the arrivals.

The Nakasone girls got out of the vehicle, accompanied by their dad, Joe. Sandy, who was almost ten, and Windy, aged nine, wore party dresses that were probably secondhand but had been freshly washed. The girls had long black hair which had been pulled into braids. Windy wore an assortment of barrettes, bows, and a sparkly headband. Sandy had opted for a plain black velvet ribbon tied in a bow at the crown of her head.

I went to the driver's side of the truck and talked with their father, Joe Nakasone. "Thanks for getting here so fast. I really appreciate it. I think the girls will be a big help in solving a mystery we have here."

He smiled. "Huh. Seems these girls are always in the middle of your mysteries."

Joe had gone through a tough year after his wife's death, trying to parent two rambunctious girls with the help of his sister, but things were smoothing out. He'd landed a job closer to home, and his grief, although still very much front and center, had eased to a point where he allowed himself to smile now and then.

"Do you mind if I bring them home after the wedding?" I asked. "I think the girls will have fun at the reception. There will be others here for them to play with."

"A day to myself watching football sounds good to me. You said for me to pack three swimsuits and an extra set of Sandy's clothes, and it's all here. I also put in some sunscreen. It's all in that little duffle Sandy's carrying."

"I really appreciate you doing this, Joe. I will make sure all of the clothes get returned in good condition."

He drove off, a smile on his face at the thought of his girls being invited to the wedding reception and having a fun day at the hotel.

I briefed the girls on the situation in a way I hoped would resonate with pre-teens: I told them there was a girl their age who was alone at the hotel. She had no friends and was all by herself; she had appeared out of the jungle and was probably lost. "It would be really nice if you two would play with her and make her feel welcome."

I told Sandy that I'd asked her dad to bring clothes for the girl because her own clothes were too dirty to wear. "Is it okay for her to wear your clothes for a little while? I'll make sure they get washed and back to you as soon as possible."

Sandy frowned. "My dad put in my very favorite T-shirt."

"I promise she won't do anything to ruin it. And if there's any problem, I'll buy you a new shirt. Cross my heart." I made a little X on my chest.

Sandy scowled but nodded her agreement.

"We'll have lunch first, and then afterwards, maybe you can all go swimming in the pool."

Windy countered with, "What do we get for lunch?"

"I think it's something you'll like. Grilled cheese sandwich maybe, or chicken fingers."

"I love chicken fingers! They're not really fingers, though. Just little pieces of fried chicken. Most of the time they come with dip. Like ranch dressing," Windy said.

"Yes. So, can you two be nice to a lonely girl?"

"We know all about lonely," said Sandy. "We were lonely when our mom died."

"I'm hoping you can make her feel better. Do you want to try?"

The girls glanced at each other and nodded. "What's her name?"

"That's part of the problem we hope you'll help us with. She won't say."

"We can get her to talk," Sandy said confidently.

"Good. Then let's go meet her."

Elle had arranged for room service to bring the meals to the bungalow, and the timing was perfect as the Nakasone girls and I followed the server up the steps.

I tapped on the door. "Lunch is here. Along with some friends for you to meet."

We went inside. The child came out from the bathroom, where she was engulfed in one of the hotel's adult-size robes. Her hair and skin were clean, but her arms were still wrapped around herself protectively as I introduced the girls. I waited for her to introduce herself, but all she said was, "Hi."

The server set down a large tray covered with dishes. Windy took the metal lid off one and explained about chicken fingers. Soon the three girls got to work making the food disappear.

I left them to it and went out onto the porch. The fewer adults in the middle of this delicate bonding situation, the better.

Seated in a rattan chair outside the room, I called Lei on her cell. She didn't answer, so I left a message. "Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, Lei, but I have some possible new information about Maile Ortiz, the missing foster child. I don't have an ironclad ID at this point, but I'm hoping we've found her. She's clean and appears healthy. Call me."

A few minutes later, the Nakasone sisters' aunt Lani, a waitstaff at the hotel, arrived in her slim fitting uniform dress with a plumeria behind her ear. "The manager has asked me to keep an eye on the girls, since you have wedding duties," she said.

"Great!" I explained that I was giving the girls some private time to bond.

Lani smiled; she was a real knockout when she did so. It gave me a pang to remember that she and Keone had dated before I arrived in Ohia. Would he go back to her?

"I totally get it. And I'm happy to put my feet up out here and still be on the clock." She pulled a woven rattan ottoman out from under one of the porch chairs and did so. "Just tell them I'm here if they need anything."

I stuck my head inside the room. The girls were done eating and had turned on the TV. The three of them were watching something from the big king-size bed. "Sandy, Windy. Your aunt Lani is out here on the porch if you need anything. I have to go take care of the guest book for the wedding."

"All good here," Sandy said. Windy nodded. The girl gave a tentative smile that warmed my heart.

I shut the door gently, waved to Lani who was scrolling on her phone, and set off back to the main lobby.

It felt like I was walking on a trampoline; my spirits had been so lifted by the lost child turning up. Yes, things were still sketchy with Keone, but smiling at the guests was going to be so much easier now that I knew the girl in the window was alive.