Lei'd With Cupcakes (Cupcakes 3)

“No, I haven’t talked to her since the other day. I tried to get a hold of her last night, then this morning. One of our friends who lives next door to Hannah, called and told me her parents were looking for her. That she hadn’t come home. I’m scared, Lila,” Alani said, looking like the frightened young girl that she was. “What if Yusuf took her?”

“We’re going to find her,” I said as an answer. I was afraid that Yusuf had taken Hannah, but I didn’t want to worry Alani more than she already was, so I skirted around the question. “Cade is out doing his thing, talking to people, and putting ears to the ground. And I came here hoping to find these, which we have.”

“What’s in ‘em?” Alani asked with a sniffle as she pushed her hair behind her ear.

I turned the book so she could see what was written on the page.

“I think this is today’s date,” I explained as I pointed. “And, your brother said this is the name of one of the commercial ports. He has this on his phone, so I’m sure either he, or some of his guys, are heading there. I think it’s best if we go meet them. We’ll take this and look through it on the way, see if there’s anything else that will help us find Yusuf.”

Once I was sure nothing was out of place except the journals, which were in our hands, I led Alani out of the office, then out of the building.

“Where are you parked?” I asked once we were on the street.

“I ran out of gas and walked the rest of the way. I figured Cade could help me with it later, I didn’t want to wait and have something happen to Hannah,” Alani said.

“You’re right about not having the time… But there’s no way in hell I’m taking you with me. What if you drop me off and go back to the house to let everyone know what’s going on. I’ll survey the situation and get with Cade,” I suggested, trying to sound nonchalant. I didn’t want her anywhere near those docks, but I also didn’t want to leave her on her own.

“Okay, but…”

“What’s up?”

“Do we have a minute to grab a snack?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the bakery. “I didn’t eat breakfast.”

The thought of a cupcake had me nodding. As we walked over I s

aid, “We have to be quick though. And, I hate to say it, but you missed a kick-ass Loco Moco breakfast.”

“Shoot, really?”

“Yeah, sorry, kid,” I replied, then suggested hopefully, “Maybe if you ask your mom, she’ll make it again tomorrow.”

I found a place to park on the street, but realized I had no idea where to go from there, so I agreed to let Alani show me the way, before splitting up.

We headed into the port, or was it a shipyard? Whatever … We got to the place with all of the big boats, and started snooping around in vain. The place was huge. I mean, absolutely freaking massive, with big ships everywhere.

Alani had been to the port before and pointed me away from the cruise terminal and toward the freights. From what Cade had said, I was assuming the place we were looking for was not on a cruise ship, but on a shipping freight of some sort. Something big enough to host a party, and illegally smuggle human beings out of Hawaii.

We wandered around for an embarrassingly long time, before I finally saw a sign with numbers that matched what was in the book. We followed the signs until we reached the docking station we were looking for.

“This is it?” I asked Alani, knowing what I wanted to do, but wanting to make sure I was in the right place before going off half-cocked.

“Yeah, this is it…”

“Okay, great,” I said, grabbing her for a quick hug before saying, “Now get out of here. Tell your mom and dad what’s going on, and keep trying Hannah’s phone, yeah?”

Although the thought of getting on the ship, which is a thousand times bigger than any dolphin-watching boat, scared the shit out of me, I needed to snoop around and see what I could find. But, I needed to keep Alani safe, so I wanted her to get going so I could do what I needed to do.

Luckily, she said, “Yeah, I’ll go. Be careful.”

“I will,” I said, feeling momentary relief, then said, “Oh, crap,” when I realized I was supposed to call Cade, and I never had. I patted my pockets only to find them empty. “Shoot, I think I left my phone in the car. Can you also call Cade and give him an update?”

“Yup,” Alani replied, then started jogging back out the way we’d come.

Once she was safely out of sight, I crept closer to the ship and tried to find a way on. As I stepped aboard and began searching, I should have wondered where all the dock workers, and crew of the ship, were. I should have wondered why it was so easy for me to walk up to a ship and climb aboard without running into another soul.

In my defense, I’d never been to a port before, let alone on a ship or even to a boat dock, so I had no idea what I should expect.

Still, my gut should have warned me that something bad was about to happen.