North Shore Nanny

by Terry Ambrose

  I didn’t expect her to succumb without more prodding, but when I held out my hand, she didn’t pull the phone away.

  “Well?” I asked.

  Whatever she'd done was eating away at her. Her conscience would bring her down. Just like an avalanche, the fragile base was eroding fast. She extended her hand, and I grabbed the phone immediately.

  I checked recent calls. Saw the last call. Didn't need to go any further. The name was one I would never have expected, but I knew it. What now? I turned the phone off and stuffed it in my back pocket. “Why were you calling Carl Lum? What did he tell you about us?”

  Penny’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll cooperate. But I’m going to need protection. Carl’s gotten us in with some dangerous people. I want out.”

  “What people?”

  “A Honolulu drug gang. All I do is make the deliveries. If I cooperate, will you get me immunity?”

  She might as well be asking the tooth fairy for help. It never ceased to amaze me how often desperate people would seize any possible solution, no matter how ridiculous it might be.

  “If you have something worthwhile, I’ll put in a good word for you." It wasn't a lie, but who was going to listen to me? "I’m sure the Prosecuting Attorney will appreciate your cooperation. Why’s Carl working with a gang?”

  Her fingertips went to her forehead. She massaged her temples and closed her eyes, once again took a deep breath. “I’ve delivered to Carl’s customers for years. But, lately, online sales have crippled the business. He was going to lose the store until some guy who calls himself Tol contacted him. This Tol said his mother had been a longtime customer of Carl's and he had a business proposition.”

  She paused to gaze at the floor. Nuh-uh, I wasn't backing off now. “Which was?”

  “Tol was just getting started and needed a legitimate way to deliver his drugs to clients.” She grimaced. “His business isn’t so different from Carl’s, except Carl never did anything illegal. Now, he’s a front for Tol. He’s in so deep, he’ll never get out.”

  All damning stuff for Carl and his business, but I still didn’t see how this had anything to do with my case. “How does this connect back to Trinity Kraft’s death?”

  “All the nannies ordered from Carl.”

  "So?"

  “Trinity ordered from him, too.”

  “What did she order?”

  “A marijuana tincture. Carl told her to take it at night and during the day when she got stressed.”

  At this rate, it could take all day to guess exactly how Penny’s deliveries connected to a murder. It was time to work the pregnant pause, so I waited. It took about fifteen seconds. Her neck and cheeks flushed. Her breathing quickened. Eyes darted about.

  What had she done? Her lower lip trembled, then she broke into tears. She croaked, “I gave her the wrong vial.”

  “What’s that mean? Who? Trinity? What did she get?”

  “Aconitine. Carl always labeled it Acai extract, but this time, he got the orders mixed up.”

  “So Juliana got marijuana?”

  “No, she got Aconitine also.”

  "He put Aconitine in both vials? How could he make such a stupid mistake?”

  “His memory has been declining; his writing’s become illegible. He’s sharper in the mornings, but by afternoon, he’s exhausted. I caught him messing up a couple of times recently. At first, I thought it was just because he was too busy. But, after the third time, I realized the stress of dealing with Tol was more than he could handle. I started double-checking a lot of the orders after the last mistake, but he warned me so much about this stuff—I didn’t even want to touch the vial. I delivered the order on Thursday afternoon. She must have used it when she woke up Friday morning. Carl said if she took even one drop of that stuff, it would have killed her right away.”

  “Why doesn’t Juliana just tell the world about the mix-up?”

  “Carl and I are the only ones who know the truth.”

  “But, the cops would have found the vial.” It would be in the evidence, which the birds had been retrieving in the dream. I held Penny's gaze. She'd retrieved the vial. “You realized what happened, didn’t you?”

  She closed her eyes, then her face scrunched up. “Carl called me in a panic Friday morning. He told me to get the vial back. I went to see Trinity. She was already dead, so I called Carl again. He told me to make it look like a suicide. He said to doctor Trinity’s coffee with a few drops and destroy the vial.”

  “Which you did without a second thought.” My pulse pounded as I tried to fathom how far Penny would go to save herself.

  “I couldn’t leave her there. I couldn't bear the idea of someone walking in and finding her...dead." She shuddered before continuing. "I called the cops from her phone.”

  She wrapped her arms around herself. Were we supposed to believe she was sorry for tampering with a crime scene?

  Chance and Keawe stood nearby. It appeared they had come to some sort of agreement. While not best buddies, they were tolerating each other. “How much of that did you get?” I asked.

  “Enough to know I’m gonna tear her apart.” Keawe ground out the words between clenched teeth.

  “Take a breath,” said Chance. He gripped Keawe’s arm with his right hand. “We need to get all the facts.” He directed his next question to me. “McKenna, Keawe had nothing to do with Trinity's death. They weren't involved."

  "You're sure?" My eyes darted over to Penny. Her lower lip trembled. I was sure she knew what her little gossip session would cost her.

  "Positive." Chance's brow wrinkled. "Didn’t Juliana say she took a cup of coffee to Trinity that morning as a peace offering?”

  “Yes, which makes this the perfect frame job.”

  “No, the one she took in wouldn’t have the poison.”

  Penny sucked in a breath. “I destroyed it. I'm sure it was the one on the little conference table in the corner because it was still full. Trinity never touched it.”

  “Chance, do you think Kai realized what Carl was up to? Maybe figured this out?”

  “I don’t see how.”

  Another piece of the dream puzzle fell into place. Kai coming to rescue Juliana. I pulled out my phone and dialed June. When she answered, I asked, “Have you heard from Kai lately?”

  “No, but I just got a call from the nanny. She’s left the house. I have no idea what she's up to this time.”

  “What about the locator service on her phone?”

  “Let me check. I was so rattled, I didn't even look.”

  Keawe shifted position; Chance put a cautionary hand on his shoulder.

  It was all starting to make sense. The courtroom. Kai surfing to the rescue. She’d stolen Juliana’s phone. She was smart enough to have checked the call log.

  “She’s on the Kamehameha Highway, right near Wahiawā,” June said when she came back on the line.

  “She’s probably on the 52," I said. "Can you see her call history?”

  “Yes…why?”

  “Just look at her most recent calls.”

  There was silence, then about a minute later, June came back on the line. She gave me the news I feared most. Kai had made a short call to Carl Lum thirty minutes ago. She’d received a call back a minute later.

  “June, I need you to do two things for me.” I could only hope we made it before it was too late.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I was still on the phone with June when Chance fired up the Ferrari. The moment I mentioned Tol’s name, she went into a panic. He had a growing reputation, and June warned us to steer clear of him. I told her to call the police, which she promised to do on her way to Carl’s.

  When the call was done, I realized I was also exposing Kai's mother to danger. I should have kept my trap shut and called the cops myself. Thank goodness Keawe now wanted to be a team player, so at least something was going right.

  We left Keawe in charge, and he promised to make Penny stay put. I also made him promise to
not do her bodily harm. He'd agreed even though he wasn't happy about it.

  My hope was it would take Kai at least another hour to reach her final destination. We had the red rocket. She had a bus. And a healthy head start. The timing would be close.

  The apothecary wasn't crawling with cops as I'd expected. Instead, it was wide open and looked deserted. Chance nodded at the doorway, where we saw Kai standing. She gave me a shaka sign, her thumb and pinky extended straight and her middle fingers folded over. “You got my text, yah?”

  Text? I pulled my phone and checked. Sure enough, one new message. It looked like it came in while we were on the Kamehameha Highway. “Sorry, but I didn’t. Chance’s Ferrari isn’t exactly quiet.”

  Kai rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Whatever. I’ve got this whole thing figured out.”

  The sound of someone vomiting broke the otherwise quiet atmosphere. I pointed at Chance. “Get her out of here. I’ll check it out.”

  He nodded, clamped a firm hand on Kai’s shoulder, and guided her away despite her protests.

  I found Carl on the floor behind the counter, doubled over, and lying in a pool of his own vomit. I rushed to his side and dialed 9-1-1.

  He spoke in a raspy, barely audible, voice. “They took June.”

  “Who?”

  The 9-1-1 operator answered, asked for my emergency, and I told her a man needed an ambulance. By the time I hung up, it was too late. Carl’s body gave one final spasm, and he collapsed. I checked for a pulse. Nothing. In his hand, he held a scrap of paper. I took it from him. It was an address.

  Was that where they’d taken June?

  Outside, distant sirens wailed. But, they were police sirens, not those of an ambulance. I hated to take the time, but I had to report what I knew, even if it meant an hour-long Q&A session. I stepped out the door to tell Chance that Carl was dead. I found Chance with Kai one storefront down. Kai was on the phone, her face ashen. I joined them as two HPD cars screeched to a stop in front of the store. Kai ended her call. She had tears in her eyes. “They have my mom.”

  We already had police on the scene. Why couldn't we just report this and let them deal with the kidnapping?

  “She told me to call the police, then some guy took the phone and said he’d kill my mom and Juliana if I didn’t keep quiet.”

  "They always say that, kid."

  "I have to save my mom." Kai wailed.

  I read the note in my hand. Another cop car pulled up, then another. The sudden surge of cops must mean the first responders had found the body. The place would be a crime-scene madhouse in a matter of minutes.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “We have another stop to make.”

  “What about the police? Why are they here?” asked Chance.

  “I’ll explain on the way. They’ll be here for a while.”

  As we walked to the car, I gave them both the details of Carl's death. I hated to expose Kai to such violence, but she was already in the middle of this whole mess. My plan was simple. Go to the address on the note, take a quick peek. If June was being held hostage, we'd call the cops and let them deal with it. If there was nothing there, we could head back to Carl’s store and fess up that we'd left the scene.

  The three of us piled into the Ferrari and motored away. Cozy didn't come even close to describing the experience.

  The address for the note turned out to be an old abandoned warehouse. Before Chance could even turn off the engine, I knew we were in trouble.

  “Chance, this isn’t going to work.”

  “Why’s that, McKenna?” His gaze skittered around. Obviously, he wasn't comfortable with the neighborhood either.

  “Her name is Kai. If we leave her on her own, she’ll follow us.”

  Chance nodded. “We can’t bring her along, she’s too impetuous.”

  “Hello! I’m right here!”

  I gave Kai my best disgusted senior-citizen scowl. “Go ahead and roll your eyes, kid, you’ve disobeyed every instruction you’ve been given. You’re headstrong, careless, and—ah, crap.”

  A white van cut in front of us. An old Corolla pulled in behind. A short, kid with a bad case of acne ran from the Corolla to the driver’s door before Chance could get out. Two more thugs took up positions at the front. Pimple Face's gun swept across each of us before settling on Chance. “Out!”

  The three of us piled into the back of the van. Pimple Face kept his weapon trained on Kai the entire time. He assumed neither Chance nor I wanted to endanger Kai's life. How right he was.

  “Where are we going?” I tried to sound nonchalant, as though a friend were giving me a ride to the grocery store. Unfortunately, it came off as more of a scared inmate on his way to his execution than anything else.

  Pimple Face snorted. “Shut up.”

  The trip was short. In fact, I think we just pulled into the next driveway and rode through the parking lot to the back of the building. Less than a minute after our abduction, our driver parked and opened the rear doors.

  We were invisible from the street, outnumbered, and outgunned. It was no surprise this side of the warehouse was more decrepit than the front. There was one bay, a banged-up large sliding door, and one sleek, black SUV. Pimple Face gestured at the building. “Inside.” To his friends, he said, "Keep an eye out."

  I hadn’t realized it in the surf shop, but in the moments before Chance took down Keawe, a strange serenity had come over him. I saw that same calm on his face now. On no, he was going to make a move. I shook my head, and he grimaced as one of our captors pushed against one end of the door to create an opening.

  Daylight flooded into a room filled with ratty furniture. Pimple Face uttered something in a staccato burst and the two men who had helped kidnap us, pushed us inside. The door slid shut behind us.

  As my eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of daylight, I made out other people in the cavernous area. I recognized June and Juliana. The third was a big man I’d never seen before. I assumed this was Tol.

  Pimple Face stood off to the side, his gun flitting between Chance, Kai, and me. Before anyone could react, Kai yelled, “Juliana! She ran forward, but stopped when the man next to June commanded. “Freeze, you little brat!” He jammed the barrel of his gun to June’s head.

  “Kai, don’t come any closer,” Juliana said.

  June had tears in her eyes. “Please, honey, do as the man says. Okay?” She turned to her captor. “Just let her go. I’ll do anything you ask.”

  Juliana put a hand on June’s arm, then looked at the man. “I’m the one you want. Let everyone else go.” Her voice cracked. “Kai, I love you more than anything, so I’m going to give this man what he wants.”

  “You ain’t got no leverage, lady.”

  Grimness had replaced the calm serenity I’d seen outside on Chance's face. I cursed myself for not letting him take down our attackers while there had been only one gun in sight. Now, we had two guns and four guys instead of one and three.

  “You must be Tol,” I said.

  He snickered. “And you da great McKenna, yah?”

  I swallowed hard. That almost sounded like he wanted the reputation of being the one who shot Billy the Kid. “I don’t know who said I was great. I’m only an apartment manager.”

  A smile crossed his face. “I got no beef wid you. But, you causin’ me big problems. Just like dis kid.” He shook his gun at Kai. “Get over here.”

  Juliana stepped between Kai and Tol. He gestured with his gun. “Get outta the way.”

  Tears streamed down Juliana’s cheeks as Kai stepped around her. Kai took tentative steps as she approached Tol. What was she feeling? Fear? Anger? I might never know.

  Juliana fell to her knees. “Please. I’ll do anything you ask. Let the others go. I’ll confess to murdering Trinity Kraft.”

  “No!” Kai yelled. “You didn’t do it!”

  Juliana shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I did, Kai. It matters that you’re safe.”

  “Be even easier if you
all disappear,” Tol growled. He pulled the slide on his weapon.

  Kai screamed, "Hi-ya!" She lashed out with a fierce kick. The sickening crack of bone breaking filled the air. Tol went down on one knee. June launched herself at him and the gun exploded.

  Chance took out Pimple Face with a quick punch to the kid's solar plexus. Pimple Face doubled over and threw up.

  Kai jumped on Tol’s back. He twisted in violent circles to shake her. He fired again, this time, it went wild.

  I tackled him in a full-on charge before he could shoot again or throw Kai off. Even before we hit the floor, white-hot pain shot through my back. We landed in a heap with Tol on the bottom, Kai to one side, and me on top. The gun lay on the floor a few feet away.

  Tol’s right leg was twisted at an unnatural angle. He screamed in agony. I lay next to him, barely able to move.

  I heard more screams now. Juliana knelt over June. There was blood pooling beneath her.

  Kai’s foot was swelling fast, but she dragged herself across the floor on hands and knees until she was next to her mother. “Mom! You can’t die! I need you! Please don’t die.”

  Juliana pulled off her tee shirt and pressed it against the wound. “She’s losing a lot of blood. I need an ambulance, stat!”

  Chance handed me one of the guns and went to the sliding door. He locked it from the inside, then dialed 9-1-1.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The cops, the ambulance, and the curiosity-filled onlookers arrived within minutes. The bad guys on the outside had fled, tires squealing, at the sound of the first siren’s wail.

  That night, I went to bed early with an ice pack and a heavy dose of painkillers. It took a couple of days for my back to stop spasming, but I was eventually able to move without a cane or other support.

  Two weeks later, the Palakiko's invited Chance and me to a barbecue at their home. Chance brought Lexie as his guest. I'd hoped Bennie could attend, but she had another megastar client. Her reputation as the personal assistant of choice on the Big Island was growing.