“I don’t want this night to end,” he said.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “It doesn’t have to. Not this time.”
“I heard it said that, like fate, once you let go everything becomes perfectly clear.”
“Is it, Jack. Is it perfectly clear?”
He slid his arm up around her. “Perfectly.”
She snuggled in tight against him and remained that way. The moment was as intoxicating as the wine had been.
A half a block away, the neon sign advertising Ernie’s Tattoo cast an orange glow onto the street. He’d been ignoring his bruised ribs. It had been easy with Dana there to keep his mind off the pain. But if they were going to have a meaningful relationship, she deserved to know everything that happened to him earlier in the day.
No secrets. The truth.
“I have to tell you something.”
She eased out of his grasp and peered up at him. “What’s that?”
“This afternoon I got a call from a young Japanese woman wanting to meet with me. She said she had information about Ichiro Makoto, the man I pulled from the ocean the other day.”
“A woman?” Her voice had a sharpness to it that wasn’t there a minute before.
“Relax.” He took both of her hands in his and held them. “Let me finish telling you what happened.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I was caught up in us.”
“So was I.” He held her gaze. “That’s why I needed to tell you.”
“I’m listening.”
She relaxed in his grasp, and he described the entire event in great detail. The dread he felt when he walked past the church and cemetery, being momentarily aroused by the young Japanese woman and letting it get in the way of his judgement—everything. She listened without interruption.
Her eyes spoke volumes.
A side of her that made it impossible for him to lie.
When he was done explaining, he said, “I might not be the good boy you think I am.”
She appeared to ponder his comment. “I never said you were a good boy. I said you were a gentleman. I still think you are.”
“I seriously contemplated not telling you about it. Not tonight, anyway. After having such a wonderful time together, I was afraid I’d spoil the evening.”
She walked him toward her parked car. At the driver’s door, she turned and peered into his eyes. “I think you need to go to the police with this.”
Her comment didn’t come as a surprise. He shook his head. “I ran the idea over in my mind a dozen times and talked to Robert and Kazuko about it. That’s not going to happen.”
“And you think that’s wise?”
“Not really. But that’s the way it stands. I want to know what’s going on and how that man ended up floating face down in the ocean.”
“I might be able to help,” she said. “On behalf of the Coast Guard, I can make some official inquiries.”
He’d hoped she’d agree to do exactly that.
Now he didn’t think it was such a good idea.
“They came after me. And I’m not so sure they will hesitate going after you.”
“Wouldn’t that be risky for them?”
“Because you’re a member of the United States Coast Guard?” He shook his head. “The thugs that worked me over didn’t strike me as men who’d be frightened off by a uniform . . . any uniform.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I still want to help.”
He considered the bad things that could happen. He’d witnessed the worst kind of brutality firsthand—even been part of it—and he didn’t want her hurt.
At all.
“And if it gets too dangerous”—he shuddered at the thought—“you’ll back off, right?”
“I’ve faced danger before,” she said with conviction. “What do you think I did on that cutter in Alaska? Death looks you straight in the eye every day.”
He felt a tad ridiculous. But it didn’t lessen his concern.
“You’re right of course,” he said. “The difference is, in Alaska you didn’t have a choice. It was your job. With this, you do. And I want you to promise you’ll not put yourself in a position to let anything bad happen to you. I couldn’t live with the notion I had something to do with it.”
She kissed him softly on the corner of his mouth. “The choice is mine. I’m helping.”
CHAPTER 21
It rained hard that night.
Jack lay on his back with his arm bent at the elbow, his forearm resting across his closed eyes.
But sleep escaped him.
Outside the open window in his second-floor room, water ran off the roof, the gutters, and slanted in on the open-air balcony. Lightning crackled across the sky, thunder rattled the glass. Fat drops pelted the palms.
For over an hour he listened to the downpour. Not because of the noise the storm brought with it, or the occasional bright flashes that lit up the dark clouds like a vortex of sinister powers. The phone conversations with Dana over the past couple of days, spending the intimate hours with her at dinner, stirred deep feelings for her he thought were buried, never to be resurrected.
It felt good to know they were still there.
He’d not run from them, again.
He dozed, slipping into a pleasant dream of warm female skin and soft, full lips pressed against his. A lovers’ dance that intensified until a faint, almost imperceptible knock on his door, brought him instantly awake.
The person in the hallway could have been Dana sneaking back to his room; he knew that. But the alarm sounding inside his head told him it was someone else. Not Robert, not Kazuko.
An unexpected visitor.
Who?
He sat up straight when he heard three more knocks, louder this time.
The digital clock on the table beside his bed flashed 2:23 AM. Groping clumsily for his pants, he gathered them from the floor and slipped them on. He didn’t bother with a shirt or shoes. He padded quietly to the door, stood to the side of the frame, and listened to the quiet. Casting a shadow on the glass of a security peephole could prove deadly if someone on the other side was waiting to put a bullet in him.
But why would someone want him dead?
It made no sense. The goons had delivered their warning not even 24 hours earlier, and he’d made no attempt to dig deeper into the enigma.
Another series of knocks flattened him against the wall.
The visitor was not going away.
He steadied his nerves and considered his options. There still might be someone in the hallway waiting to shoot him through the door. But with the room lights off there was little chance motion at the peephole would be noticed. And he had to find out who the persistent knocker was.
He put his eye to the fisheye glass and saw the young Japanese woman who’d set him up earlier the day before. She was alone as far as he could tell. And wet. And nervous, by the way she kept glancing around as though concerned someone she was afraid of might see her.
So they hadn’t left the island.
Her, anyway. But what’s she doing here?
He opened the door, pulled her inside, closed it, and secured the deadbolt.
All very fast and efficient.
Before she could protest, he pushed her onto the bed and held her down by her shoulders. Her knee-length, jade-colored silk dress rode up on her bare thighs revealing pink lace panties. She didn’t resist.
“What’s this about?” he pinned her with his gaze. “A nasty trick? A scam to compromise me? I suppose your friends will be busting in here any minute claiming I raped you.”
“It's nothing like that.” Her eyes were soft and dark and pleading in the surreal glow from the display on the clock.
He kept his hands where they were, but eased up on the pressure. “What is it then?”
Her breasts rose and fell. “I said I want to help and I do. Ichiro Makoto was my brother. She used him. Just as she uses me.”
There was a tone of disgrace
in her words.
“Do you have a name?”
“Maiko.”
There was a certain undeniable sexuality about her that he was well aware of. More importantly, she displayed a sense of vulnerability he respected. No pretense of being strong and fearless. If what she was telling him held true, she’d taken a huge chance coming to his room.
Especially in the middle of the night.
And with Crewcut close by.
Trust was a valuable commodity in his life of late. One he didn’t give lightly. Looking at her in the dim light, he couldn’t be certain she wasn’t concealing a more sinister agenda, but he’d listen to what she’d come there to tell him and draw a conclusion from that.
And he just might get the answers he searched for.
He let go of her shoulders, switched the table lamp on low, and stood peering into the flawless face staring innocently up at him. She’d set him up to be worked over by her friends. Even so, he felt compassion for her.
“What do you mean, she used him?” He crossed his arms tight against his chest. He wanted answers. “And who is this woman?”
Maiko sat up on the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap. “First, you must understand, I did not have a choice yesterday.”
“And you do now?”
“They do not know I’m here.”
“Who’s they?”
“Ms. Chiharu Takahashi and those three men. I do not like her or the people who work for her.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“It is the truth.”
“All right,” he said. “You came here to tell me something. What is it?”
CHAPTER 22
Jack retrieved his cellphone from the bedside table and called Robert.
“There’s someone in my room I want you and Kazuko to meet,” he said when his friend answered the call.
“What?” Robert’s voice was groggy with sleep. “It’s almost three.”
“Don’t worry about the time. I promise she has an interesting story to tell.” Jack had listened to each sordid detail, but what Maiko told him sounded too farfetched for him to believe. Still, there had to be some truth to it. Why else was she there talking to him?
“She?” Robert asked.
Jack shook his head at the phone. “Just drag your butt out of bed and get over here.”
He clicked off; two minutes later there was a knock at his door—three quick raps not near as subtle as Maiko’s had been. He let his friends into his room and re-locked the deadbolt. They both wore a white terrycloth robe that appeared a little warm for the weather and sandals. Neither of them had combed their hair.
“Okay we’re up,” Robert’s tone clearly showed he was none too happy with having been awakened out of a sound sleep. “Who’s she and what’s going on?”
“This is Maiko,” Jack said. “She’s the woman who set me up.”
Robert glanced at Kazuko and then Maiko, before he turned his gaze back on Jack. Clearly he struggled to understand what had happened.
Jack didn’t push.
There was a pause before Robert spoke. Finally he said, “What, yesterday wasn’t good enough? She suckered you into meeting her so three thug friends could work you over and now she shows up at your hotel room in the rain, in the middle of the night, to tell you something she could have easily told you over the phone and saved you an ass kicking?”
Jack was at a loss.
“Well,” Robert insisted.
“Relax,” Jack said. “It was my ass. Let the lady tell her story.”
Maiko made no effort to get up from the bed or plead her case.
“I think Robert’s worried this is another trick of some kind,” Kazuko said in a calm voice. “I am, too.”
“Exactly,” Robert added. “When a pretty young lady is involved, you’re easily persuaded.”
“In other words, I’m a pushover?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Robert was right, of course. Jack couldn’t deny it.
“I admit I have my moments.” He made no effort to dispute the point. “But not this time.”
Kazuko shot a glance at Maiko. “You think she’s telling the truth?”
“You be the judge.”
“All right,” Robert said. “If she can shed some light on this debacle, I’ll listen.”
Maiko looked at Jack, obviously waiting for the go-ahead.
He nodded. “Tell them everything.”
Facing Robert and Kazuko, she asked, “Do either of you know a very powerful woman on Oahu by the name of Chiharu Takahashi?”
They exchanged glances and shook their heads.
“Not surprising.” She explained, “The woman is very rich and well-connected in the Japanese underworld here on the Islands. But few people, other than those she conducts business with, know she exists.”
Jack leaned casually against the wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom. The part coming up was what really got his attention.
“I’ll ask another question,” she said. “Have you ever heard of the Black Star of Africa?”
Jack waited and wasn’t surprised when Robert spoke up.
“The diamond,” Robert said, his forehead furrowed. “A few months ago, I read a short article about it. There was a photograph—a large, black center stone set in a white diamond necklace—but not much information. As I recall, the gem was last seen in Tokyo in 1971, and at the time was valued at more than a million dollars. It’s rumored to have been sold to an Asian buyer in the 1980’s, but the sale had not been verified. The thing weighed something like 200 carats.”
Maiko nodded. “I do not know how Madam Takahashi came to possess it, but I did learn she has kept the diamond hidden for over forty years. Until a week ago, when she sold it to a wealthy Korean by the name of Gheewhan Horiguchi for twenty-five million American dollars.”
Robert scoffed. “The price seems a bit excessive, but then maybe it’s not. The stone’s rare and quite exquisite; nevertheless, twenty-five million? Is it really appraised that high?”
She continued, “For many years, Mr. Horiguchi had made offers to buy the Black Star of Africa from her. All of them rejected. He became obsessed. When she finally agreed to sell it to him, he did not question the price. At that point, I believe he would have paid almost anything to acquire it. Madam Takahashi counted on that when she negotiated the sale and made plans to take the money and then steal the necklace back from him.”
“A neat trick,” Robert said. “But what has that got to do with us pulling that man’s body from the middle of the ocean?”
“Ichiro Makoto was my brother.”
“Your brother?” he answered right back.
“That is correct.”
“A real family affair.” Robert’s annoyance was clear in his tone.
She offered a slight bow of her head. “We were orphans living in Japan when Madam Takahashi found us. I was fourteen. My brother was twelve. We had no choice. Beg on the streets and eat from trash cans, or go with her.”
“So you became her concubine.”
“Yes.”
Kazuko laid her hand on Robert’s arm, and said, “You were telling us Chiharu Takahashi made plans to take the money from Mr. Horiguchi and then steal back the necklace.”
She nodded. “Mr. Horiguchi was here on the islands on his yacht, Orochimaru. Her entire plan hinged on him remaining aboard once the sale was finalized. I told you Madam Takahashi is very rich and well-connected in the Japanese underworld. She arranged to have the propulsion engineer aboard his yacht disappear, most unexpectedly. When Mr. Horiguchi asked if she could arrange a replacement, she sent my brother.”
Robert looked at Jack, his eyes steady. He was clearly interested.
Jack smiled. “This is where the story really gets interesting.”
CHAPTER 23
Jack studied Maiko. Her gaze flicked to the door and back to him. The vulnerability he’d picked up on was still present. But t
here was also strength born from resolve. She’d not back out now. He was confident of that.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Tell them everything you told me.”
There was a moment’s hesitation. He tried not to read anything into it. He offered an encouraging nod.
With that, she continued, “The plan was for my brother to kill everyone on board the Orochimaru when they were far from land. When that was complete, he was supposed to disable the emergency beacon, substitute a special location indicator operating on a frequency monitored by Madam Takahashi, pilot the yacht into water shallow enough for divers to work in, and sink it.”
“She intended for him to die?” Kazuko asked the question.
“No,” explained Maiko. “He was supposed to escape in the Zodiac kept aboard to transport guests and supplies to and from shore. But something went wrong. Madam Takahashi got a fix on the location indicator, then lost it in the channel between Molokai and Lanai.”
She stopped talking, and everyone looked at each other. Even the storm pelting the town with fat rain drops, flashes of lightning, and distant rumbles of thunder quieted, allowing them a moment of silence to let the information sink in.
Jack scratched his head. “Well?”
“This all sounds very complicated,” Robert answered. “He kills everyone aboard. Okay, how? And what about their bodies? There’s probably four or five crewmembers and Horiguchi himself to dispose of. How does he accomplish that without some trace showing up?”
“I asked her that very question.” Jack looked at Maiko. She seemed content to let him fill in the details. “You’re familiar with the pufferfish. Tetrodotoxin, the poison found in them and several other fish, even toads, is one of the deadliest poisons found in nature. The plan was for Makoto to slip toxic amounts of it into their dinner. Without proper medical attention, the dose is fatal. Probably within an hour. He’s got time, so he drags their bodies on deck, ties them securely to the anchor, and drops them in two thousand feet of water.”
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