Maui Magic

by Terry Ambrose

  “Why aren’t we focusing on Frank Alvarez?” Chance asked. “He’s our man. Has to be.”

  “I agree, but where would we look? In the dream, the ocean pulled Alvarez back into the sea after we fought. Let’s consider the possibility of his disappearance meaning we shouldn’t worry about finding him. But, Benni was left alone on the beach with Penny. That has to be our connection.”

  “Are you sure, McKenna? Really sure?”

  I shook my head. “No, we need to go after the low-hanging fruit. In this case that would be Penny. There’s something she’s not telling us about Mandy. When I interviewed Dixon at the bar, he told me they’d come into the store together. It only happened one time, but the implication is they hung out—at least once or twice.”

  “Right.” Chance grabbed the handle of his bag. “Let’s do it.”

  “Not so fast, buddy. Let the girls finish up. I don’t want to rush them. Every piece of information could be critical at this stage.”

  We waited until Benni and Lexie finished, then rushed through the airport to the rental car vans just before six. Flights to Kona were scarce at this hour, which meant Benni was most likely stuck on Maui for at least tonight. Even if she changed her mind about leaving, I had one day left.

  It felt like we’d travelled back in time a few hours as we took our respective seats in the Escalade. My spirits were buoyed just a bit because at last, even though we had terrible odds, we might be able to take down the bad guys.

  Chance served as driver, Lexie as our navigator. While we waited in traffic on the Hana Highway, Lexie told us about her call to the landlord of the Kamehameha Apartments. Apparently, she’d bluffed her way through “an emergency address verification” for Mandy. Though the manager put up a bit of stink, Lexie had discovered Apartment 203 was rented to Penny Ditting, not Mandy Kenoi.

  While they were occupied in the front seats, Benni and I sat in the back. We didn’t talk, but the silence felt agreeable. When she was ready to talk, I swore I’d listen. And respond truthfully.

  The Kamehameha Apartments were in an older, rundown section of Kahului. With its wooden siding, flat roof, and aging architecture, the building was a close cousin of shabby complexes everywhere. The property was perched on the rental ladder midway between slum and decent middle class. We parked in front of a bank of mailboxes near the entrance. It was nearly seven and the office, now closed, would not provide any help.

  A gust of wind nearly pulled the handle out of my grip when I opened the door. I glanced skyward. Black clouds rode the jet stream across the darkening sky and a sickening lump filled my gut. The clock was ticking way too fast.

  “Trades are picking up,” I said when Chance came and stood next to me facing into the wind.

  “Storm coming, McKenna?”

  “I hope not.” But, there was an angry chill in the air. What trouble, either natural or man-made, might tonight bring?

  “This is a big complex,” Chance said. “Maybe we should split up?”

  We all started checking mailboxes. Each was numbered, but there were no names. When Lexie found 203, she jabbed at it with her finger. “Got it.”

  Chance and Lexie agreed to go left. Benni and I took the buildings to the right. Benni clasped my hand as we strolled along the path. I was thankful we’d ended up going this way because the building shielded us from the wind.

  Palms towered above us. Hibiscus flowers were beginning to shrivel for the night. Though still only dusk, the pathway lighting came on to reveal another aspect of poor maintenance, lights out here and there. Peeling paint on the buildings belied the tropical landscaping and gave the place a tired ambience.

  “It’s really too bad,” I said. “This was a nice complex in its day. I guess the owner realized he could make more money not fixing anything.”

  “McKenna?” Benni stopped and gazed at me.

  I faced her. Her dark eyes brimmed. Her smile, tentative, yet yearning, broke my heart. She’d placed her trust in me and what had I done? I clasped her free hand in mine, fully prepared to once again apologize for not being the man she wanted.

  “I love you.” She stepped forward and kissed me. Her lips felt warm and tender, and I thought my head and heart would crack wide open with the rush of my emotions. I swear there was lightning and thunder overhead, but when I looked up, the same black-and-gray shapes rode the same air currents across the sky.

  The world hadn’t changed. Had I?

  “Oh, someone tell me, what did I do to deserve you?”

  Benni snuggled closer, and for a brief moment, I savored the warmth of her body against mine. When she pulled away, she smiled and we walked side-by-side, hand-in-hand. By the time we reached the next sidewalk leading to the building itself, my phone chirped.

  I showed Benni the text. “They found the apartment.” My spirits fell, our moment dashed by the inevitable. Would we have another?

  Across the complex, I spotted Chance waving from the second story. I waved back, grabbed Benni’s hand, and we went to see if our efforts were about to pay off.

  42

  Chance and Lexie waited at the top of the stairs, and their collective self-satisfaction was obvious as Chance cocked his head sideways at Lexie. “She’s got a good idea.”

  She winked at Chance. “Penny’s not going to want to talk with the four of us. I think Benni and I need to do this.”

  No, no, no. I’d just gotten Benni back. “It’s too dangerous. What if she’s not alone? I don’t like it at all.” It was the wrong response. I knew it was, yet I couldn’t stop myself. I could no more prevent what was about to happen than I could change the dream.

  Benni squeezed my hand. “You’ll be right here. If we have a problem, we’ll yell. It’ll take you—what—like three seconds to charge in?”

  Reasonable logic—rotten timing. I just had the best make-up kiss of my life and there was no way I would part with Benni for even a moment.

  “We’ll spook her if she thinks she’s facing a large group,” Lexie said.

  “Okay, but, all you two need to do is get her talking.” My breath caught. There was a better way. “Benni, call me and put your phone on speaker. We’ll listen in while you guys prime the pump. If there’s trouble, we’ll be there in a flash.”

  Benni dialed and, to my surprise, the idea worked. We now had our own little eavesdropping system. I muted my phone, then Chance and I hid while the girls went to the door.

  They knocked. Waited. The cords in my neck tensed in anticipation. Was Penny even here? What if she called the police when she found out we’d tracked her down?

  “Who’s there?” The words came from the speaker of my cell phone.

  I poked my head out and whispered, “That’s her.”

  Benni jabbed her finger at me, then the corner where I was supposed to be hiding. Rats. I hated being on the sidelines. When I backed up, I bumped into Chance.

  “Geez, man, give me space.”

  The kid had a hangdog look on his face. “I hate waiting,” he hissed.

  “Me, too. Guess we’ve been reprimanded.”

  When the woman’s voice returned, it was more insistent. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “It’s Lexie. Benni’s with me. We need to talk.”

  We heard a door open, then the voice again. This time, it was much clearer. “Are you crazy? How’d you find me?”

  “It wasn’t easy,” Lexie said. “This is about Mandy, or whatever name you want to use for her.”

  “I got nothing to say. You gotta leave. Now.”

  Chance whispered, “Oh, man, I’d so love to see what’s happening.”

  “Me, too.”

  We nodded at each other and peered around the corner. I felt like a schoolboy at a peep show, sneaking peeks and cheap thrills. There was a perverse satisfaction when we went unnoticed. Our timing had been pe
rfect. Benni had her back to us and Lexie was too focused on Penny to pay attention to the audience.

  “You have to let us in.” Benni put out her hand and shoved the door. She and Lexie barged inside.

  “Wow,” I whispered.

  “Pick your jaw up off the floor, McKenna. I didn’t know they had it in them either.”

  Before I could say another word, Penny yelled. “You can’t do this! Get out. I’m calling the cops.”

  “You’re an identity thief. I don’t think you want the police around,” Benni said. “This is just a one bedroom. Yah?”

  “Looks like you’re getting ready to leave, Penny. Hey, this is small for two people.” It was Lexie, but her voice was distant, as though she were in another room.

  “Two? No, I…”

  “We know you shared the apartment with Mandy. Right, Benni?”

  “Nice bluff, Lexie.” It was Chance, and he was practically drooling in my ear.

  “Right.” Benni’s tone softened, and she came across as more of a concerned friend than an intruder. “If you were friends, that’s okay. We don’t want to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

  “Good job on the consolation, Benni.” I chuckled and winked at Chance.

  Lexie’s voice, which had been faint, grew louder as she spoke. “There’s nothing in the closet. Is this going to be a long trip?”

  I turned sideways to look at Chance and smiled. “Lexie must be back in the living room. Those two are tough. I’m not messing with them.”

  “Please.” Penny’s sobs were clear enough. “I have to get away. They’ll kill me. You, too, if you’re here when they show up. You have to leave.”

  Chance straightened and started toward the apartment. I grabbed his arm and shook my head. “Wait. Let’s see where this goes.”

  “Who’s coming?” Benni asked.

  I gave Benni’s question a solid fist pump. Chance looked perturbed when I wrinkled my nose at him.

  Penny’s silence was followed by the sound of rustling papers.

  “New ID?”

  “You go, Lex!” Chance did his own fist pump.

  Seriously? He was going to turn this into a contest to see whose girlfriend could get more information?

  A gust of wind hit us broadside, sending a chill into my spine. Gathering darkness in the sky reinforced Chance’s earlier observation. A storm was brewing over Maui. “It’s good we got here when we did, Penny must have been planning to skip.”

  “Wanna go in?” Chance asked.

  I gritted my teeth. What to do? Let the girls handle this? They’d done well so far, but they were both inexperienced. I waited, listening and hoping for an invitation. There was a break in the conversation and an eerie silence. I wanted to rush in, but knew barging in would be courting disaster. “It’s not time yet.” I held up my index finger to indicate we should wait.

  “Penny, let us help you,” Lexie said.

  Benni added, “You remember McKenna and Chance. They’re still working the case.”

  “Hey, hey.” I swiped my finger across my tongue, then made a mark on an imaginary scoreboard in the air. “She’s trying to get us in. Point for Team McKenna.”

  Chance grumbled.

  “We know all about Frank Alvarez and Robson Poussin,” Lexie said. “A fake ID will only take you so far. They’re powerful men and have the resources to find you if they want.”

  Chance made a swiping motion on the imaginary scoreboard. “Go Team Logan. Come on, Lexie, follow through, follow through.”

  “You can help us expose them,” Benni said. “Will you talk with McKenna and Chance? It might be the only way out of this mess.”

  “Point McKenna.”

  More sobs came through the phone. “If you don’t get out of here, they’ll kill all of us.”

  “They’ll do that anyway.” Lexie said. “You’re running because they killed Mandy and you think you’re next. Right? We can help you, but you have to trust us.”

  Chance laughed as he slashed the board. “Take that. Tied.”

  “It was a nice touch.” I tried not to sound grouchy. Really.

  “Consoling and threatening at the same time.” Chance beamed. “That’s my girl.”

  “I…I don’t know,” Penny stammered. “What was that noise?”

  Benni said, "McKenna, Chance, get in here.”

  I raised my fist high, my arm extended to claim the victory and started a little happy dance. “I won, I won.”

  “McKenna!” Chance hissed. “Not so loud! I think they heard us.“

  Oh, crap. I squared my shoulders and gestured toward the apartment with an open hand. “After you.”

  Chance draped an arm over my shoulder and gripped me tight. “Oh, no. We’re doing this together.” He whispered, “Let’s just say we got kind of carried away. Okay?”

  “I won’t tell if you won’t.” I winked and raised my palm.

  Chance pulled back, nodded, we high-fived each other just as the door opened. Benni glared at us with her arms crossed. For a moment, she reminded me of a young Mrs. Nakamura. It was almost scary.

  “What are you two? Twelve?” She rolled her eyes and huffed.

  Uh oh, Chance might have been right. But maybe she was mad about something else. It was time to follow McKenna’s Skip Tracing Secret #2, When in doubt, lie.

  Good and Bad McKenna agreed with each other for a change. “Play dumb!”

  Why not? I planted a hand on my chest. “What did we do?”

  “What a pair of juvenile delinquents," Benni said. "You think we couldn’t hear you? You two were all of ten feet away. What were you doing? Keeping score?”

  Rats. I glared at Chance. “You started it.”

  “No, you did.”

  Lexie was standing off to the side, hanging her head and watching the floor. “Oh. My. Gawd.”

  “You two, in here,” Benni snapped.

  Penny sat at the dining table. When she saw us, she groaned. “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Suave and his grandpa. These are the two you think are going to save me? No freaking way.”

  “Believe it or not, they can,“ Lexie said.

  Penny buried her face in her hands. “I’m, like, totally screwed.”

  43

  The front wall of the apartment shuddered with a gust from the approaching storm. Despite the conditions, this little bit of weather wouldn’t ground Robson Poussin’s plane. Plus, if by some miracle the traffic controllers shut down outgoing flights, the only place we could reliably find Poussin was on the tarmac. Alvarez was an even bigger problem. Would he be with his boss? Or hiding in some hole we’d never find? We had to draw them out soon, which meant we needed Penny’s cooperation to lay our trap.

  “You don’t look anything like you did the other day,” I said. She’d ditched the goth makeup and jewelry. Had lightened her hair, switched to demur colors, and wore a conservative T-shirt and shorts. She looked like any other visitor to the islands—and half the locals. “Disguised as a normal person? Is that how you plan to get off island?”

  “The tourist bit is only a disguise. What I wear has nothing to do with who I am. I have a flight first thing in the morning, and I don’t want to attract any attention.”

  “Just another pretty girl named…” I glanced at the ID Lexie handed me. “Sally Beach? Tell me, is Penny Ditting your real name?”

  She shrugged. “Does it matter?”

  I shook my head. “I suppose not. Just like Mandy was really Teddie Lawler. It’s time for the truth. What kind of connection did you and Mandy have—or should I call her Teddie?”

  Moisture filled her eyes, and she stared at the kitchen counter. “She liked Mandy more.” Penny sniffled and seemed lost in thought, in the process of revisiting a fond memory. She smiled weakly and then continued. “She said the name gave her a new perspecti
ve on life. We’ve been friends since junior high. All the guys hear that and think—oh, girlfriends—maybe I can get a threesome. It wasn’t like that at all. Sure, we told each other everything. Her uncle didn’t understand her because he was always too focused on business. He’s such a…never mind.”

  “If you and Mandy were friends, why did Billy refer Mandy to you?”

  “What? No man, Mandy gave my number to Billy. Just in case, you know? It was supposed to be a business-to-business relationship, but he never called.”

  Chance and I stared at each other and he growled, “Aimee lied to me. So did Billy.”

  “I’ve spent a lifetime listening to lies, Chance. You’ll get used to it.” I turned to Penny. “So you two moved here to escape from her uncle?”

  “We came over on vacation once. Mandy loved it so much. I kinda made a joke and said if we ever wanted to get away, we could take new identities, fly over, and live our own lives.”

  “Why would you have to change your identity?” Lexie asked.

  “She’s right,” I said. “You wouldn’t need a new ID to move. People start over all the time. That’s how I came here.”

  “You know, all Mandy wanted was to be allowed to make her own decisions. Deep down, she knew her uncle would never let her do that.”

  Chance raised his hand and when Penny looked at him, he said, “Who’s this uncle you’re talking about?”

  Penny nodded. “Oh, you don’t know. Robson Poussin.”

  I nearly choked on my tongue. “What? He’s Mandy’s uncle?”

  “Yeah, he strong-armed her into going to work at the company. She thought things might get better because she was starting at the bottom. After a week, he promoted her into finance. The people she worked with despised her for the promotion. Mandy hated the job and his oversight. It got to where we were calling him General OCD. It was unbearable.”

  “Why didn’t she break away sooner?” Lexie asked.