Chapter Fifty-six
“You’re going where?” Sloan couldn’t believe that Les was involved in Kean’s disappearance until he explained about Libby and him getting together. Once he’d told Sloan everything, Sloan jumped into action. “Thanks, Les. I’m on my way.” He ended the call.
“Pat, can you head back to the city?” He’d commandeered Pat to be his driver when they’d planned to search the airport. After passing on his change of plans to the SWAT team leader, Henry, who already had uniforms searching the departure lounges at the airport and the airline manifests, he explained his new information.
“Good luck, Booker. I’ll send back-up. Keep me informed.”
Sloan took a minute to call Alia and let her know his change of plans. “There’re men at the airport right now, baby. They have Kean’s photo and will stop him being taken off the island. In the meantime, I have a new lead that he might be at the marina. Turns out, Paul bragged to Libby that he likes to go deep-sea fishing whenever he’s here in Hawaii.”
“It’s true, Sloan. He had a picture of the boat in his office. Mind you that’s a lot of years ago. It was calledLia Mine. I’ll never forget it because Paul made a joke about the name when we met. I’m coming right now. I’ll meet you there.”
“Good. We’ll probably arrive at the same time. I’ll watch for you. And Alia? I… ahhh, you know I’ll do whatever it takes to get Kean back. Trust me.”
“I do. That’s why I… I like you so damn much.”
“Ilikeyou too, baby. See you soon.”
Sloan sat on tenterhooks all the way to the marina, and by the time Pat peeled into the lot, he’d lost his cool multiple times and had to swallow back the acid gathering in his throat. Who knew fear had a taste? Guess he’d never been on a job before that mattered so fucking much.
Sensing his issues, Pat hadn’t said a word but now he spoke. “What’s the plan?”
“Alia will be arriving soon. But I’m not waiting. The guard’s just starting his shift so I’m going to ask him about a boat calledLia Mine. It’s the one that Alia remembers Paul used to hire.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Sloan searched his phone’s photo gallery for Kean’s picture, got Pat’s number and sent it to him. “Can you stay here and wait for backup. And, if anyone tries to leave with this kid, stop them.”
“You got it.”
Sloan ran over to speak to the arriving guard who was unlocking the gate. “I’m Agent Sloan Booker with the FBI. He flashed his badge. Did anyone come in the late hours of the night with a boy who looks like this?”
The guard, a Hawaiian that Sloan had seen around occasionally, shook his head. “We close the gates at midnight. After that, anyone who comes and goes has a key. Besides, I wasn’t on duty last night. I work dayshift.”
“Do you have a boat moored here calledLia Mine?”
“Used to. She’s gone now.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“That old girl hit the rocks a few years back. Sunk off the reefs near Maui.”
Shit!“Did the owners replace her?”
“Oh sure. They called her replacementMy Lia II.”
“Can you tell me which slip she docks from?”
“Yep. But you won’t find her there. She left on a trip about a week ago. Haven’t seen her return.”
Suddenly a text message dinged and Sloan checked to see it was from Les.
Bingo!