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Alyssa wasn’t listening. She shook out more fuel. It splashed into the flames and onto the floor at her feet. Some landed on her skirt. The next time she flung fuel on the fire, the flames followed the stream back to the jug.
Alyssa dropped the jug. More fuel spilled onto her dress. The flames leaped toward her, caught on her dress and flared. Alyssa screamed and slapped at the flames, but they quickly spread across the highly flammable fabric and caught in her hair. Instead of jumping into the water to extinguish the fire, she leaped onto the dock and ran as if trying to escape the pain.
Leilani was surrounded by flames. She turned as best she could, searching for a gap, her body so heavy she could barely make it move. Behind her, the fire had consumed the fuel in one spot and had yet to ignite the decking.
Leilani half-crawled, half-dragged herself through the gap to the starboard side. Grabbing onto the hook that held the donut-shaped life preserver, she used every ounce of her waning strength and pulled herself to her feet. Her entire body shook with the effort.
She had to get into the water.
By now, the fire had eaten into the decking and was spreading toward her.
She pulled the life ring free and dropped it over the side of the boat.
As flames surged toward her, she leaned over the side and let gravity do the rest.
CHAPTER15
Angel and Noawon the three-legged race. The boy was so excited he hugged Angel’s neck for a full five minutes. Then, he dragged his competition partner over to share their win with his mother.
Angel looked for Leilani. She’d said she’d wait at the finish line. He’d seen her standing there when they’d been waiting to have their legs tied together. At one point, a woman in a red dress had joined her. That was when the wild kid caused a commotion, drawing everyone’s attention while the officials and the kid’s mother struggled to get him to stand still long enough to have the rope tied to his leg. Once they were ready, the officials had them line up, the whistle was blown, and they were off and running.
He and Noa had tripped a couple of times, managing to right themselves and continue forward until they crossed the finish line first.
“Have you seen Leilani?” he asked Olina.
Olina frowned, looking around. “Not since before the race.”
“If you see her, let her know I’m looking for her.” Angel waded through the crowd, looking for her petite form, afraid that because she was so short, he might be missing her.
When he came to where Dev, Reid and Teller were sitting, he was frowning in earnest.
“What’s wrong? Did you lose the race?” Dev asked.
He shook his head, still looking around. “We won. Have you seen Leilani?”
“Not since dinner,” Reid said.
“Is she carrying her cell phone?” Teller asked.
“Yes.”
“Call her,” Teller said at the same time as the thought came to Angel.
He selected her number from his contact list and placed the call. It rang five times and rolled over to her voicemail.” His frown deepened.
“Not answering?” Reid asked. “She might be in the bathroom.”
Angel brought up his finder app. His location was correct. He expected Leilani’s to come up with his. It didn’t. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?” Dev asked.
“Her phone shows her at the Maalaea Harbor.” He looked up. “Did she tell any of you she was going there?”
All three men shook their heads as one.
“She wouldn’t have gone without telling me.” His gut twisted. “I have a bad feeling.” Angel spun and headed for his car.
His three friends were on their feet in seconds, quickly catching up.
