When Rick had deleted the lights, there was suddenly a cozy atmosphere in La Mariana. The sounds of the water and the boats in the marina came only very damped to them in the dining room. It wasn't completely dark either: fairy lights glowed on the ceiling.

Rick shrugged as he saw Thomas looking at them.

"I like them being the only thing shimmering in the dark."

"It's okay," Thomas said. "Whatever calms you down."

"I am calm," Rick claimed.

Thomas sighed.

"Brother," he said. "You're anything but that."

"Anyway," Rick said, working out the second cot with a few handles. "Voila."

"Thanks." Thomas sat down on the cot and pulled out his shoes as he watched Rick stretching out on his field bed.

"We should go to TC tomorrow," Thomas said sotto voce. There was no reaction from his friend.

"Rick?"

"He won't talk to me."

"That's bullshit," Thomas contradicted . "He might be sulking a little, but not for long. I bet he will be back to his charming self tomorrow."

"Yeah?" Rick opened his eyes and looked at his friend reproachfully. "How long did you two have argued over Hani Iona?"

Thomas thought about.

"One or two days?"

"And I had to suffer from it."

Thomas suppressed a smile.

"You're just a sensitive plant."

"Exactly." Rick closed his eyes again. Apparently the conversation was over for him.

"Nevertheless," Thomas said .

"Thomas!" Rick exclaimed. "Please let it go, okay? I'm tired."

"Okay."

Thomas stretched out on the couch and tried to relax. The cot was not so bad. He only wondered why Rick kept it in the storage room of his bar.

He listened for a while on the sounds of the harbor and on the quiet breathing of his friend. Once again he made sure he had his weapon at hand. Just as he knew Rick, his friend also kept one somewhere near.

All was to be expected.

Nevertheless, he fell asleep a few minutes later.

He woke up from an unfamiliar noise in the middle of the night and sat up immediately, the hand on the gun before he even knew what was going on.

But it was just Rick, who was sitting on the other cot, head down, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't wanna wake you."

"What's going on?" Thomas asked, stuffing the gun under the pillow again and changed from his to Rick's bed edge. He settled next to his friend and put his hand on his knee.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Rick shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Probably." Soothingly Thomas rubbed small circles on Rick's knee. "You're still trembling."

He looked around. La Mariana lay still in the dark. No sign of a burglar or anything else.

"I'm okay," Rick claimed weakly. "Lay down again."

Thomas looked at his friend. Rick seemed a bit shaky, but his breathing already calmed down again. Sweat stood on his forehead, but that was nothing unusual, if one had dreamed badly.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?" Thomas asked gently, but Rick shook his head.

"I don't know anymore."

"Okay." Thomas stayed for a moment longer. "You think you can sleep some more?"

Rick swallowed.

"I'll try."

"Good."

Thomas got up and went to his cot. He lay down, pulling the blanket up again and took a deep breath. He heard Rick tossing and turning on his cot and then stayed awake for a long time to listen to the sound of his friend's breathing .

Thomas stood at a boatslip and watched Rick negotiating with one of the boat owners when his phone rang. He fiddeled it out of the trouser pocket and took the call.

"Higgy," he said cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to ask you the same," she said. "How are you? How was the night? "

Thomas walked a few steps away from his friend.

"We're okay," he said truthfully. "Rick had a nightmare, sometime around 3 o'clock, but otherwise nothing happened. No attacker, no burglars, no tire slit. "

"How is he?" Higgins asked.

Thomas looked over to his friend who sealed the business with a handshake. Hopefully he did not bought the boat, Thomas thought. It had somehow the appearance.

"I guess he's fine," said Thomas. "He doesn't behave unusual. Maybe he doesn't remember anymore. "

He doubted it. Rick hadn't mentioned the nocturnal incident in the morning, but he still looked exhausted.

"We have to solve the case as soon as possible," Higgins advised. "Before it gets to Rick."

"I hear you," Thomas said. Rick came to him, a key in his hand.

"We're ready to go," he said.

Thomas switched on the speaker and held the phone on chest height.

"I have Higgy in the line."

"Hey, Jules," Rick called. "You all right?"

"Yes," Higgins said. "All's well. How are you?"

"Good." Rick shot Thomas a stern look. Let us treat what happened last night confidentially. Well, too late.

"Higgy, we can not reach Leilani by phone and have decided to take the boat to Kaua'i," Thomas said. "We have to find out more about her ominous evidence before we can make the next step."

"Do I go right in the assumption that TC has not yet reported?" Higgins asked.

Rick pulled a face and Thomas sighed.

"That's right."

"And that's why you take a boat."

"Exactly."

"Shall I come?" Higgins asked.

"No," Thomas said. "But it would be good if you could pick up the debris at Noelani's. I had promised her to get it today. "

"I will," Higgins said. "Take care of yourselves, guys."

"Okay," Thomas said.

"You too, Jules," Rick answered.

Thomas ended the call.

"Where is it?" he asked his friend. Rick nodded with his head in the direction of the next slip.

"She's called Almost Heaven," Rick said.

Thomas snorted.

"Well, hopefully not."

Higgins parked the Range Rover in the underground car park and made her way through the building up to Noelanis office. But she had not quite arrived as she felt that something was wrong. It was unusually quiet, but somewhere, far away, she heard a voice screaming. Shouting? Commands, it shot through her head. Someone roared commands.

She reached for her weapon. Nobody met her in the hallway in front of Noelanis office, but there were still about 30 yards to the door. Suddenly the door was torn open, a big figure dressed in black and with a ski mask on his head stumbled out of the room and stormed past Higgins. She froze, but only briefly, then she lifted the weapon and aimed.

"Stop!" she called and fired a warning shot just past the figure. But he ran towards the staircase. Higgins followed closely. The black figure had about twenty yards lead, but Higgins was faster, she picked up speed. The figure pushed open the door to the staircase, Higgins only seconds later. She never saw the hit coming, probably from the weapon of the attacker. But it reliably knocked her out, if only for seconds.

When she came to, she was alone and lay on the cold stone floor of the staircase.

And her weapon was gone.