Venom: A Thriller in Paradise (The Thriller in Paradise Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

You and Orli catch the next Aloha flight over. Sy, you know what to do about the specimens and so on. I’ll see you at the lab tomorrow.” He climbed out.
    Patria said, “We’ll come over after my interview. Probably the five-thirty flight.”
    “Okay,” Chazz said. He turned to the deputy. “Any idea what this is all about?”
    “No, sir. Lieutenant Takamura just said it was urgent.”
    Chazz smiled in at Patria and shrugged. She frowned, then relented “We’ll see you tonight. You still owe us lunch.”
    Chazz nodded. “All right.” He turned to Locey. “Let’s go.”

THREE
    DEATH SHIP
    Cobb Takamura was angry. His lips had thinned into a dark horizontal line. His brows had knitted together into another thicker horizontal line. This produced fear in everyone who knew the ordinarily smooth skin of his forehead. Sergeant Handel especially did not like to see it.
    “You what?” Lieutenant Takamura asked softly.
    Sergeant Handel did not look at his superior. He looked at the tips of his shoes, which were scuffed. “It seemed like a good idea.”
    “At the time?” Takamura allowed no inflection of sarcasm to enter his voice. Even irony was muted.
    Handel put up a hand, warding off the corrosive effects of the lieutenant’s anger. “It’s regulation,” he protested. “We’re required to notify…”
    Cobb turned away to look out his office window. The blinds were up. Waialeale was again shrouded in clouds. Yesterday had been such a perfect day. Until the call from Kimiko. Now his wife was in the hospital for “observation,” and he had a large problem just made larger by his assistant’s zeal for regulation. “Sergeant Handel,” he said without turning back. “You know how I feel about Commander Shafton…”
    Handel was considering sitting down. There was a green metal-and-plastic chair against the wall he enjoyed sitting in. He could lean the chair back against the wall and prop his feet against the metal filing cabinet. But he did not sit down. Instead he said, “Yes, I…”
    Cobb continued without pause. “I do not feel good about Commander Shafton. He has very small feet. This may seem like a trivial matter to you, but I feel strongly about men with small feet. It is my experience that they are not to be trusted. Commander Shafton is not to be trusted…”
    “I know, Lieutenant, but I…” Handel found it judicious not to point out that Lieutenant Takamura wore a size eight and a half shoe.
    “The commander was going on leave today. This very day, Sergeant. He would have left our island in a matter of hours, and he would have been relieved by Lieutenant Commander Whipple. Lieutenant Commander Whipple is a man of some sense, a reasonable man, even. Had your message taken just a few more hours to reach them, we would have been working with Lieutenant Commander Whipple, who does not have small feet. Do I make myself clear?”
    “You’re upset.”
    Cobb turned and glared at Sergeant Handel. “You are correct, Sergeant, I am upset. Perhaps I should not be upset. I should take everything in stride. I should live in the present, is that it? When you are hungry, eat, when you are tired, sleep, as the Zen masters say. Cut wood, cook food. What is done is done. The happy man is the calm man.’ All right. Now I am happy.”
    Handel relaxed slightly “That was a quote, right? Charlie Chan?” If so, everything would be all right again. Handel sat down.
    Cobb chose not to confirm his quotation. “Never do it again. Commander Shafton will be all over us about this ship. The Coast Guard has certain inalienable responsibilities for derelict ships unclaimed for salvage and so on. His tiny feet will patter on this very linoleum with excitement. He will push his chin over my shoulder as I try to work. He will claim the Kauai PD has no jurisdiction since the deaths might have occurred on the high seas. He will now postpone his leave, perhaps cancel it. He will strut. He will make asinine comments,