Molokai Reef Read Online Free PDF

water. On the bottom, he could see the anchor chain
disappear into the sand. The anchor lay under the sand. Satisfied
that the anchor was set, Gybe spun the dink around and aimed the bow
for the dinghy dock next to the causeway launch ramp.
    Kara
sat in the bow surveying the anchorage that she had not seen last
night during the raucous trip from the hotel to Ferrity .
    At
the floating dock, she looped the painter around a cleat, then
stepped onto the dock. The dock was barren of any other craft.
    A
taxi was waiting for the arrival of the morning ferry. Gybe and Kara
climbed in.
    “ To
the police station and step on it.” Gybe said.
    Kara
rolled her eyes.
    8
    Gybe
couldn’t read the driver’s expression in the rear view
mirror but he suspected it was not a sign of respect. The police
station was less than a mile away. There were no traffic lights,
only two stop signs, and they couldn’t have made a rush hour if
they had collected every car on the island.
    The
Rainbow Taxi crunched across the coral gravel in the parking lot of
Moloka‘i’s sole police station. Kara handed the driver a
twenty, who returned a ten and three ones along with his business
card. A scan of the card showed that he was the owner and operator
of Rainbow Taxi, “The best taxi on the island,” he
gloated.
    He
failed to mention that there were only two taxi companies with
combined assets of five vehicles. No one had seen all five vehicles
running simultaneously.
    Across
the street, Kara noticed a little league softball game and recognized
one of the teams from yesterday’s ferry trip from Maui.
“Little league must be a challenge when the teams compete from
different islands.”
    Nine
new Ford Expedition SUVs and five older Ford Crown Vics each bearing
the logo of Maui County Police Department, sat in the parking lot.
With fourteen in the lot and presumably more patrolling, “how
much crime is there on this small rural island?” Gybe wondered
aloud.
    In
profile, the island of Moloka‘i resembled a running shoe. The
toe was to the east towards Maui, the heel to the west towards O ‘ ahu.
To the north, Kalaupapa Peninsula – made famous by Father
Damien and his leper colony - protruded as the tongue of the shoe.
Kaunakakai harbor and town lay near the instep on the south side of
the island. Like most island towns, Kaunakakai rested on the flat
coastal plain only a few feet above sea level.
    The
island of Moloka‘i was one of the least visited islands of
Hawaii. It lay fourth from either end of the seven populated
Hawaiian Islands. These islands lay generally along a line from
northwest to southeast. Geologically, the oldest islands were in the
northwest with the newest island – Hawai‘i or “the
Big Island” – at the southeast end of the chain. From
northwest to southeast, Niihau, Kaua ‘ i,
O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i , Maui, and the Big Island formed the populated Hawaiian islands.
    Rural
it was, because on the Internet Kara had found one operating hotel, a
disconnected phone number to a second hotel, and reference to a
bankrupt resort. Fewer than seven thousand people lived on Moloka‘i.
    Inside
the station, Kara identified herself and asked to see Susan. The
desk sergeant, Hawaiian in appearance, gave her da stinkeye .
The quaint cultural custom, a decidedly sneering look, is a sure way
to start a fight thought Gybe.
    No
doubt, the coconut telegraph had signaled her arrival in town.
Another officer led them to a small room where he took Kara’s
purse and asked Gybe to face the wall.
    Attired
in aloha shirt, surf shorts, and sandals, Gybe had few places to
conceal a weapon. In lieu of the pat-down, he lifted his shirt. The
guard was unimpressed, so he dropped his shorts too. “OK?”
    The
guard grunted and turned to Kara. “Face the wall.”
    “ You
lay one paw on me and my lawyer will see that you spend the rest of
your career picking pineapples in a sugar cane field.” Kara
threatened.
    The
standoff held for a full