The detectives’ SUV pulled up on the sidewalk at Hilo Bay Park next to a loudly barking yellow Labrador. Jake recognized Ginger, and saw a knot of concerned-looking people clustered around a fallen dog on the sidewalk. Even prepared by the things he’d heard Sophie say on the phone, Jake’s heart was still hammering as he jumped out of the back of the SUV and scattered the onlookers. “That’s my dog!”

Tank was still alive, whimpering and trying to rise. The big pit bull was held down at his collar by a sturdy man in a fisherman’s hat. “We called an emergency vet,” the man told Jake as he squatted to inspect the fallen pit bull. “The guy is on the way.”

“Mahalo,” Jake murmured, stroking Tank’s sleek black-and-white head. He had to force his gaze to focus on the wound in the dog’s side, a puncture hole between his ribs that bubbled ominously. “He’d better get here soon. Looks like the shooter hit a lung.” Jake looked around at the crowd. “The man who shot my dog took my partner. Did anyone see what kind of vehicle it was?”

“White van,” an older man said. “Ford Econoline. We didn’t see what happened, but the Lab was barking and the other dog was down, so we noticed the van speeding away.”

“I got part of the plate,” a kid on a bike said. He held up his phone. “I took a video when I saw the van come up on the sidewalk.”

Freitan stepped in, holding up her badge. “Detective Freitan. I need that footage.” She took the kid’s phone and she and Wong clustered close, watching it.

Jake looked around. “Anyone got a rag, a towel, something I can put over Tank’s wound?”

The helpful kid peeled off his tee shirt, and Jake blinked back a tear in his eye as he took it, still warm from the boy’s body, and pressed it down over the bullet hole in Tank’s side. The dog groaned and coughed, and Jake’s breathing got tight too, as the suffering animal wheezed.

“Who would do a thing like that?” a watching woman said. “What kind of monster shoots a dog and kidnaps a woman in a park in broad daylight?”

Jake focused on soothing Tank, trying not to think about what might be happening to Sophie right now.

A moment later, a blue-and-white van with Animal Hospital emblazoned on the side and a flashing red light on the dash pulled up. The vet and his assistant got out. “Thank God you’re here,” Jake said. “This is a rescue dog my partner and I picked up from some folks who are now in jail. He’s in a bad way.”

“I can see that. We’ll likely need to intubate him,” the vet directed his assistant. “Everyone, clear the area so we can stabilize this animal and get him to our facility.”

Wong and Freitan pushed the crowd back and Jake held Ginger’s leash tight as the vet and his assistant worked on Tank.

Freitan touched Jake’s arm, and her sharp brown eyes were compassionate. “We have a BOLO out on the white van, but as you heard, only got a partial plate. We’re going out to pick up Terence Chang and interview him—he supposedly knows this guy. Want to come?”

Jake was tempted, but shook his head. “I need to stay with the dogs right now. I’ll get in touch with you as soon as the situation is under control. Call me the minute you have a lead on Sophie.”

The detectives nodded and the two ran to their SUV.

Jake squatted to pet Ginger. She shivered and whined in distress. It would be best to take her back to the motel room so he could follow the ambulance to the animal hospital and rendezvous with the detectives unimpeded.

His phone rang, vibrating with Unidentified Number. Jake never picked up for anonymous callers, but this time his thumb punched the button and he put the phone to his ear. “This is Jake Dunn.”

“Jake, you don’t know me, but I’m a friend of Sophie’s. I’ve been tracking her phone, and she’s in danger.” The caller had a silky, urbane voice, and the hairs on Jake’s neck rose.

The voice wasn’t Alika’s. Who was this man? “I know all of Sophie’s friends. Who are you, and why the hell are you tracking her?”

“That’s not important right now. She’s in danger. Do you want to know where she is, or shall I call someone else?” The caller’s voice was impatient.

Jake breathed through a wave of jealous, terrified rage, his mind flashing on the men with money and connections he’d sensed were in her life. So many shitty feelings! He hated them. “Tell me now.”

“She’s in a wilderness area just outside the National Park. I have a satellite phone photo I can send you—there’s a dirt track leading to where the van holding her stopped.”

“How the hell do you have a satellite photo? Never mind. Send it.” Jake scanned the area for the Jeep—Sophie had likely driven here from the motel. He spotted the boxy black vehicle, spattered with mud, in the parking lot nearby.

“Sending it now,” Sophie’s secret stalker-friend replied.

Jake pressed the phone to his chest to muffle the audio and turned to the vet. “My name’s Jake Dunn. I have a lead on my partner’s whereabouts and I need to follow up. Call me at this number the minute you know anything about how Tank is doing.” He rattled off the number, and the assistant wrote it down.

The vet nodded. “Good luck.”

“Good luck to you, too. Save my dog.” Jake turned and sprinted toward the Jeep, holding Ginger’s leash tightly. His phone vibrated with the incoming photo, and he glanced at it.

An aerial shot, grainy with distance. A thread of a road. A white spot that was the van’s roof, almost obscured by foliage. He’d have to zoom in to see where the turnoff was.

He put the phone to his ear and spoke to the caller. “Who are you?”

“It’s better that you don’t know. Just find her. I’ll be watching.” The caller hung up.

“Fucking James Bond shit.” Jake dug in his pocket for the spare key, beeped the Jeep open, and got in with Ginger riding shotgun.