by Kathi Daley
“If that were true, why did he leave Dad in the office, but transport me to the shed on Tatsuo’s estate?”
Shredder frowned. “That does seem intentional.”
“The person who locked me in the shed on Tatsuo’s property and the person who buried Palakiko in a shallow grave on the same estate seem to be intent on chasing Tatsuo away. He isn’t on the island now, so it is unlikely their intent was to have him arrested, but if he becomes a murder suspect, he will be unable to return to the island anytime soon.”
“I would think Spade has a reason to want to eliminate the competition, but if he really is above killing, it couldn’t have been him who killed and buried Palakiko.”
“Yeah, something still isn’t quite fitting,” I agreed. I thought about it some more. “I feel like there is something wrong with the timeline at the Palakiko house as well.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“When I arrived, my dad was passed out on the floor, but I didn’t see Mrs. Palakiko anywhere nor did I notice a car parked near the house other than my father’s and Mrs. Palakiko’s. And my dad had left hours earlier to visit Mrs. Palakiko. If he had interrupted the person sent to fetch the woman and was knocked out for his effort, why was the person who knocked him out still there to knock me out?”
“So you are thinking there were two intruders.”
“It makes sense. My dad told me he was heading over to the Palakiko home about two hours before I showed up looking for him. I suppose it makes sense if the Palakiko phone was bugged, that the person who bugged the phone was made aware that we had seen Kinsley with Tatsuo and Spade. Based on what Jasmine told me, it sounds as if the person who bugged the phone, maybe Samantha, had called Spade and told him to kill or possibly detain Hoku. He shows up intent on either killing or detaining the woman, only to find that my dad is there as well. He knocks him out and then drugs him, and then takes Mrs. Palakiko to whoever had tasked him with doing so. Two hours later, I come by and find Dad, and someone else, someone who broke in later, hits me over the head and then locks me in the shed.”
“That makes sense to a point, but you were drugged the same as your dad. If there were two different intruders, it makes no sense that they would have the same MO.”
Shredder was right that the drug angle did seem to indicate a single intruder, but why would one guy be at the house for so long? “I feel like we should take another look around the Palakiko house. I’m sure we are missing something important. Maybe if we take another look at the scene, it will come to us.”
Chapter 20
When we arrived at the Palakiko home, the first thing we noticed was a light at the back of the house. We didn’t have any reason to believe that anyone was at the house, and it was possible that someone had simply left a light on, but Shredder wanted to check it out before we entered. He told me to wait by the front door while he went around to the back. I did as I was told, even though I hated being left behind. I quickly grew tired of waiting and was about to follow Shredder around to the back, when I heard a gunshot. Without even stopping to consider what I was doing, I tried the front door which was open, and let myself in. I heard a noise coming from the back of the house, so I took off down the hallway. Upon entering the kitchen, I found Shredder laying on the floor in a pool of blood. I was about to approach when I remembered my experience with my father. Instead, I paused to look around.
“Mrs. Palakiko?” I gasped, stunned to see the woman standing off to the side holding a gun.
“Why are you here? Kinsley has been found. Your job is done.”
“We were hoping to find you,” I answered, as I tried to wrap my head around whatever was happening. “We thought you’d been kidnapped by the same person who killed your husband.” I looked at Shredder. “Why did you shoot him?”
“I didn’t mean to shoot him, but he startled me and the gun just went off.”
“We need to call for help. We need to get him to the hospital.”
“No.” Mrs. Palakiko raised her gun.
“What do you mean, no? He’ll die without help.” I ran forward and knelt down next to Shredder. He was bleeding heavily, but he had a pulse. I took off my shirt and shoved it over the wound. “Call 911!” I shouted.”
“I said, no.”
I turned slightly and looked at the woman whose hand was shaking. I could see that she was even more frightened than I was. I applied additional pressure to Shredder’s wound. “I don’t know what is going on, but I am not going to let my friend die. If you won’t call for help, I will.” I pulled my cell out of my pocket.
“I said, no!” The woman screamed, her eyes clearly communicating her panic.
I knew I was taking a chance that she would shoot me as well, but I needed to get help for Shredder, so I ignored her and hit the autodial button for Jason.
“Put the phone down,” she screamed. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”
I continued to ignore the woman. When Jason answered, I jumped right in. “I’m at the Palakiko home. Shredder has been shot. Send an ambulance.”
“What are you doing?” the woman sobbed. “I said, no cops. You are going to ruin everything.”
“Ruin everything? What are you talking about?”
“It should have been over. It all should have been over. Why are you here?”
Okay, this lady had definitely hopped on the crazy train at some point along the way. “What do you mean it should have been over? What should have been over?” And then I knew. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense. I increased the pressure I’d been applying to Shredder’s wound. “It was you. You are the one who knocked Dad out and then when I showed up, you knocked me out as well. Why?”
“Everything went wrong. So very wrong. Samantha convinced me we had a good plan, but nothing worked out the way she said it would. Now people are dead, and I can’t figure out what to do. I need time to think.”
I paused to see if there was anything I should be doing for Shredder that I wasn’t, but other than applying pressure to the wound, all I could do was wait for the ambulance. Hoku still had a gun pointed at us, so I decided to keep her talking. “What did Samantha talk you into doing?”
The woman used a forearm to wipe the tears from her eyes. I didn’t think she was going to answer, but then she started to speak. “A woman came to the door a while back. She said her name was Samantha. She said something happened to her pilot and she needed Kinsley to do some international flights for one of her special clients. He told her no. She tried to bribe him, but he wouldn’t budge, so she waited until Kinsley wasn’t home and came back to talk to me. She told me that she was desperate for someone with Kinsley’s unique skill set and would pay a lot of money for just a few weeks of work. We really needed the money after Kinsley gambled it all away, so I found myself agreeing to help her.”
“Help her how?”
The woman let her arm drop to her side. She still clung to the gun, but at least it was no longer pointed at me. Eventually, she continued. “I spoke to Kinsley about taking the job, but he maintained his stance on the issue. I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere with the stubborn mule head of a man, so I went to Samantha and told her that I’d tried, but hadn’t had any more success than she had. She told me that she knew a man who she thought could help. She asked me to go along with whatever they worked out, and I unwisely agreed.”
“Spade. She worked it out to have Spade help her.”
Hoku nodded. “I knew about the poker game on Friday, and only acted angry that Kinsley had gone. Then when he left on Saturday, I knew that he was actually going to a private poker game, but I also knew that was part of the plan. Samantha called me on Sunday to let me know the plan had worked, and that Kinsley had agreed to the flights. She told me that Kinsley wouldn’t be home for a few days, but that when he did come home, he would have enough money to pay off our debts and refill our savings. Then she called me on Monday and said that Kinsley’d had a change
of heart. She said he was refusing to cooperate. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she wanted me to speak to him, so I met Samantha at the airstrip where Kinsley was supposed to pick up the plane he was to use. I tried to tell him just to do what he needed to do to get the money, but he was adamant that he wasn’t going to transport people against their will. Samantha told me not to worry about it. She told me that she would take care of it, so I left. After I got home, I continued to stew about it. I had a bad feeling and was afraid I’d made a mistake. I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen at that point, so I called your dad with the missing person story. I figured that he might be able to get Kinsley out of the mess I’d gotten him into, and even if he wasn’t able to accomplish that, at least I’d have an alibi of sorts if things ended up getting ugly.”
“So you knew that Samantha was going to kill Kinsley?” Wow, it really did take all kinds.
“No. I didn’t know that she was going to kill him, but I knew that if he continued to refuse to cooperate, something bad would happen, and he might even turn up dead. I figured that if I reported him missing, no one would suspect me as being involved in whatever happened.”
“And then?”
“And then you somehow managed to get a photo of Kinsley with Tatsuo. After your dad called me to let me know that my husband had been found, I called Samantha and told her about the photo. She was not happy. She told me that it was important that no one could link Tatsuo and Kinsley. She told me to kill your father when he arrived. I have a gun, and she knew it. I told her I would do what she wanted, but then once he arrived, I couldn’t do it, so I hit him over the head and then drugged him. I figured that would give me time to think. I was trying to decide what to do next when you showed up. I knocked you out as well, and then called Samantha back. When she arrived, she told me that Tatsuo was going to kill her for getting things so messed up. She wanted to figure out a way to get him off her back, so she came up with the idea of chaining you up inside the shed on his property. After you’d died as a result of your ordeal, she would arrange to have you found. She figured that everyone would blame Tatsuo for your death, and that would make him a wanted man, which would cause him to avoid coming to the States, which would effectively get him off her back.”
“But then I got away and messed things up.”
“Exactly. She knew she needed to figure out another way to get rid of Tatsuo, so she left evidence for you to find that would lead you to Devil’s Door, and she killed and buried Kinsley for you to find. She had a good plan. It should have worked. She should have had Tatsuo off her back, and I should have had the money that had been promised to me, but then you wouldn’t leave well enough alone.”
I could hear the sirens in the distance. I knew I just needed to stall a little longer. Shredder had lost a lot of blood, and he was unconscious, but he was still breathing.
“Did Samantha kill Walter Evans?”
“Who is Walter Evans?”
“The man she hired to pilot for Tatsuo before Kinsley. I’m pretty sure she killed him. I’m pretty sure it was inevitable that both men would die from the moment they agreed to the job flying for Tatsuo.”
The woman was sobbing.
“Do you even feel a little bad that your little plan ended with the death of your husband?”
“This whole thing was his fault. If he hadn’t gambled away our money, I wouldn’t have had to work with Samantha in the first place.”
The woman had definitely taken a turn toward the dark side. I didn’t think she’d shoot me or whoever busted through the door to rescue us, but she did have the gun, and she was definitely not thinking rationally. I decided to try another tactic. “It sounds like you were the victim in this.”
“I was. I shouldn’t have to go to jail. I didn’t mean for anyone to die. I just wanted Kinsley to earn back the money he had gambled away. None of this is really my fault.”
“I agree that it was a good plan. It should have worked. If you hadn’t shot Shredder, it would have worked.”
The woman lifted the gun. I suppose my statement about Shredder wasn’t the best move. I think I actually reminded her that she had the gun. Her eyes were wild, and her hand shook so hard I was afraid she’d accidentally pull the trigger on the dang thing whether she intended to or not.
I held out my hand. “Give me the gun.”
“What? No.”
“When my brother arrives, I’ll tell him I shot Shredder. I’ll tell him it was an accident. I’ll tell him that you came down from upstairs after I’d already shot him.”
“He won’t believe that.”
“Yes, he will. He is, after all, my brother. No one saw what really happened. Shredder probably never even saw you before the gun went off and even if he did, he’s lost a lot of blood and won’t remember what happened. If you give me the gun, I can make this whole mess go away.” Even as I lied to the woman, I felt bad about it, but I didn’t want her intentionally or accidentally shooting anyone else. I could hear the cars pull up out front. “It has to be now. Give me the gun.”
Amazingly, she handed it to me. I called out when I heard the front door open. “Back here. We are in the back of the house.”
As the sound of men running echoed down the hallway, I glanced at Hoku one last time. I know that it was illogical to feel remorse for the lie I had told her, but I found that I was sorry all the same. She’d made some really bad decisions, but it sounded like Samantha had managed to seduce her with money the way Jasmine felt she’d seduced Spade with her body.
Chapter 21
Tuesday, July 2
Shredder had been whisked to the hospital, Hoku had been whisked off to jail, and I had been whisked down to Jason’s office to provide an official statement. I’d been covered in blood, and terrified for my friend, so the last thing I wanted to do was sit through some long interview. Jason had promised to make it brief, and then he’d promised to go to the hospital with me. In the end, I agreed to answer his questions. I told him everything I’d figured out, which took longer than I would have liked, but I hoped the information I had would be enough to put everyone involved behind bars.
By the time Jason and I arrived at the hospital, Shredder was out of surgery, but still unconscious. The doctor recommended I head home and get some rest. He assured me that there was nothing I could do and that Shredder wouldn’t be conscious until the following day anyway, so while I didn’t want to leave, in the end, I let Jason talk me into doing as the doctor suggested.
That was a mistake.
When returned to the hospital the next morning, Shredder was gone. I was told that someone from the government had come by and checked him out. I was assured he was being seen to and should be just fine. I knew that Shredder was considered to be some sort of a valuable asset, but it seemed a bold move for whomever he worked for to snatch him away from the hospital where he’d been admitted for treatment. As I stood dumbfounded in the waiting room of the hospital, it hit me that Shredder really was some sort of superspy. I’d suspected that for a while, but this made everything that much more real.
I had no way of getting ahold of Shredder, so all I could do was hope he’d get ahold of me. I went home and commenced with the worrying stage of this nightmare. Riptide was still with me, so I knew he’d be back, eventually.
At least Kekoa had come home last night. It was late, and she was physically and emotionally spent, so I’d decided to wait until this morning to fill her in.
“This story is so crazy as to seem completely fictional,” She said as we sipped coffee on the lanai. “This whole thing started with three seemingly related deaths, and in the end, the deaths weren’t related at all. I mean, what are the odds?”
“Pretty astronomical. The really crazy part is that our client turned out to be indirectly involved with murder victim number one who just happened to wash up on the beach behind the condo.”
“Involved? Involved how?”
“Samantha Jones, the headhunter w
ho provided Tatsuo with pilots for his human trafficking ring, killed both Walter Evans and Kinsley Palakiko,” I reminded my cousin.
“Oh, that’s right. I guess I am still trying to sort this all out. You’ve provided a lot of information. So the first victim, who wasn’t placed for you to find, but just happened to have been found by you anyway, was a pilot the same as your missing person, and both men were hired by Samantha Jones to fly the women Tatsuo kidnapped to the States. Is she in custody?”
“She is. Jason managed to catch up with her at the airport. She was headed for Hong Kong, but I guess she must have run out of pilots since she was attempting to board a commercial flight.”
“And Tatsuo?” Kekoa asked.
“He is in the wind. I doubt that anyone will catch up with him anytime soon. But at least this series of events will make it harder for him to continue to do what he has been doing. Someone will catch up with him at some point.” I suspected it would be Shredder when he healed from the gunshot he received, but I still hadn’t been able to speak to him, so I really had no idea what was going on with that situation.
“And Spade?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Jason is going to interview him. I guess the whole thing will come down to proof. Spade is a careful sort of guy. There is a good chance there won’t be any. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I feel so bad from Jasmine,” Kekoa said.
“Yeah. Me too.”
Kekoa slowly shook her head. “This whole thing really is crazy. The pilot was killed by the woman who hired him, the nightclub owner was killed by a rival, and the food truck guy was killed by a man wanting to send a message to your dad. It looked as if all three murders were linked to you but it turns out that none of them really were.”
