Samson gave up and replaced the screen. There must be a way in from the back yard, he thought, climbing over a small fence to get there. Ah, a back door into the house! That looked promising.
Again he used the picks, more confidently this time. No one could see him. Still, he had the same problems. The picks didn’t work. And just as he was rattling the feeling probe he heard a voice behind him.
“Psst, mister, what ya doing?”
Samson swiveled around and spotted a little kid, maybe six years old, who had climbed the fence and was peeking over from the adjacent back yard.
The little boy saw Samson’s scary frowning face when he turned around to see who had spoken. The boy’s eyes widened in fear. He scrambled down from the fence, running straight into his house.
It was over for Samson. The kid could tell his mom or dad that someone was trying to get in the house next door, and call the police.
Samson made a beeline for his car. He thought he’d have to switch this rental for a different one, in case anyone had seen it and got suspicious.
Kaneohe beach wasn’t very crowded in the middle of the day on a weekday. So Leilanie was surprised when two women, in fashionable clothing, holding strappy high heel sandals in their hands approached her. It was odd. The two women seemed uncomfortably aware that they were inconveniently attired for walking in the sand, or swimming in the gentle surf. They were dressed for a night on the town. Leilanie wondered how they even got to the beach.
Leilanie had been reading a novel on her Kindle. She was also watching the girls, who were working together to make a giant sand castle. She smiled, noting they had accumulated a large mound of sand. Turrets kept falling because it was hot and the sand dried out fast. But the girls were undeterred. One was running to fill her little bucket with water from the ocean. The other two were patting sand in place with the shovels to make a moat around their edifice.
The two women introduced themselves to Leilanie, saying they were Hawaiian tourists and had come to see the beach. They sat down in their pretty expensive dresses right in the sand, beside Leilanie.
But their accent! Immediately Leilanie recognized they were from France, and from their voices, she had a suspicion they were from the same district in the south of France where Omar lived.
She was immediately on guard. She couldn’t believe the women were just wandering around this particular, almost isolated, beach. Not in those clothes.
Also, she noted that her protective necklace seemed to be vibrating strangely.
“Three such beautiful children you have,” Chloe said. “They are so cute!”
Leilanie didn’t want to be rude, but something inside her was saying, ‘This can’t be a coincidence. Leave now!’
“They are triplets?” Louise asked.
As Leilanie answered, she was looking for a way to get away from the French women, Chloe and Louise.
She suspected these women might have been sent by Omar, to trick her. The Hawaiian spirit is known to be generous though, and Leilanie was born and brought up in the culture. She didn’t want to be rude or jump to conclusions.
Then Ivory accidently got in the way of Petal’s vigorous paddling with her shovel on the castle walls. She had a tiny cut on her arm. It was bleeding. Ivory burst into tears.
Perfect.
“Oh, sweetie,” Leilanie said, picking up the crying child. “We have to go home and disinfect your cut!”
Leilanie swiftly wiped sand off little feet so she could put on their sandals. They were ready to go in two minutes flat. It was odd the children didn’t protest about not being able to complete their castle. They were not shy children, but they didn’t even look at the two French women. In fact, Leilanie wondered if the kids had some premonition about them, like she had.
As they left the beach, Chloe called out, “We’re staying in Kaneohe. I hope we get to see you all again.”
The question was why? Leilanie thought. Why stay in Kaneohe when there was Waikiki and Honolulu right across the island, perfect for tourists dressed in fashionable expensive clothes like those perfect French women were wearing.
Chapter 15
Omar had never believed Samson and those two French women could bring his three kids back to him. What did they plan to do with the girls if they actually got them? Place them in cages for the long trip back to France? Hoping no one would intervene with three little girls screaming and fighting them nonstop?
No. Omar had always suspected he’d have to do it himself.
What Samson and the two women were doing in Hawaii now was helping him plan. Samson was watching Leilanie’s daily activities so that when Omar got there he’d know the best place and when to strike.
It irritated him that Michelle already had contact with Leilanie. The fact that she knew Leilanie was raising her children must have been a shock. She visited them often, according to Samson’s texts. Omar certainly didn’t want to run into her accidently while in Hawaii. No, he’d like to meet up with her though, at a time of his own choosing. He had some ideas for how he’d deal with Michelle.
Omar was pleased that Leilanie got the message she wasn’t safe when the two strange French tourists showed up, trying to befriend her. It was sure to have aroused paranoia.
Samson had informed him that Leilanie gave Chloe and Louise the cold shoulder. Which meant Leilanie was suspicious and might be getting frightened. He wanted Leilanie nervous and paranoid. Scared people invariably made poor choices.
Omar had observed enough of their short lives to know his three little girls wouldn’t go quietly. They’d probably scream and kick if someone tried to take them from the woman they thought of as Mommy.
But he was Daddy. And he believed he could control them.
It involved some risk. He had to remain free from the authorities. The Hawaiian police had an ongoing file on him, with more charges now since he’d dodged incarceration and fled Oahu. The worst of those charges had to do with allegations against him made by Michelle.
She’d shown up at the Honolulu Police Station and stated that Omar had kidnapped her and married her without her consent. He had taken her to Mexico where medical procedures were performed on her, also without her consent. And she had witnesses. Heather, Mike, Rod, and Vincent Middleton, a professor of the occult, had all filed and signed affidavits that what Michelle said was true.
So he was a wanted man in Hawaii. So what? Omar thought. He had changed his appearance. He just to keep on the down-low with a quick round-trip.
Omar sent away for a genuine actor’s cosmetology kit to help disguise his appearance. Since he was bald, that was an enormous change from his former thick black hair. His blue contacts hid his dark eyes, but he had to do something to camouflage his face even more.
He tried on moustaches and beards and decided no one would recognize him if his face was furry. He hated the feeling of the soft wax he placed around his gums and mouth to further his camouflage, but it really changed the structural appearance of his face.
He planned to place padding under his clothing so he would appear fat. He was already six feet, six inches tall. He would always be noticeable because of his height, but that he couldn’t change.
Omar had illegally formulated a passport and a Hawaiian driver’s license through his criminal contacts in France. He would officially be Morgan Godfry when he arrived in Hawaii.
The false identification was taking some time to be made, but he’d be ready to leave in two weeks.
The last two weeks before Heather’s wedding were hectic. There were the bridesmaid’s fittings, checking the invitations to make a final dinner count for the Moana Hotel, and finalizing a million other things, like the cake, with the miniature bride and groom on top of five tall gooey layers.
Michelle spent her evenings with Heather, who was getting a little burnt out with all the stress.
Rod was also stressed. He was hosting the bachelor party tomorrow night. They decided to have it a week before the wedding so Mik
e, the victim of wine, women, and song, wouldn’t be dreadfully hung over on his wedding day.
Rod’s anxiety was caused because he had decided to fess up about what had become a decidedly risqué, lurid event. He felt he had to tell Heather and Michelle, even if it upset them severely.
It was better if they knew beforehand than learning about it after-the-fact from one of the participants. He went over in his mind how the event got so out of control as he walked down the hallway to Heather’s place.
Rod had never been to an American bachelor party. Since he had been brought up in Japan, once you were in the corporate world, the job always came first, and as part of the job, the men were expected to overindulge with their peers at bars and dinner houses until late at night. Every night. There were lots of loose women, even geishas in this day and age, working as hostesses in these establishments to keep the men happy.
The wives of these corporate men stayed home alone while their husbands overindulged in alcohol, food, and a new woman each night. The men were sexually satisfied and left their wives emotionally alone as well.
Rod had never liked that traditional part of the Japanese culture in the business world, although he had to attend occasionally while working at Heroshi Corporation, as CEO of the whole worldwide corporation.
Here in the US he believed men were more committed to their wives and girlfriends. The guys didn’t work all day and then party all night with other women, ignoring their wives.
Rod knocked on Heather’s door and heard her call out, “It’s open,” so he went inside.
Heather smiled and nodded, continuing to put wedding acceptances in a pile.
Michelle was sitting across the room working on putting together the guest gifts, which would be set at each place setting on the dinner tables. She smiled at him and continued putting the gifts in beautiful decorative bags.
Rod thought she glowed. He could barely think sensibly while gazing at her. Could pregnancy be causing this light that seemed to be coming from inside her, illumining her, and making her seem to sparkle? Or was it pure happiness? Did other people see it, Rod wondered, as he came further inside Heather’s apartment?
Michelle was definitely pregnant. She and Rod had gone to the fertility three weeks ago. The positive blood test and passing the time she had aborted during the first implantation was now behind them.
She was over three months along. Every night she’d take off her clothes in front of the full length mirror in the bedroom, and check her body sideways, rubbing her tummy, to see if there was a little bump. Rod didn’t see anything unusual when she repeated the ritual night after night, but he never said so. The baby was in there, of that he was certain.
The night they got the positive outcome from the fertility clinic they’d celebrated with Heather and Mike, going out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, the Hula Grill Waikiki. It was a spectacular night. And that’s when the glow around Michelle began, shining from within.
Now Rod was going to ruin their good moods.
“I hope we have the dinner count right,” Heather muttered. “Sometimes people don’t RSVP and just come anyway. I think we should order about twenty extra dinners.”
Michelle smiled at Heather. “You’re right. Just to be safe we should have more than we need.” She turned to Rod, “You want to help?”
Rod was standing uncomfortably watching them, possibly messing with their concentration. So he decided to come right out with it.
“About the bachelor party tomorrow night for Mike,” He said awkwardly. “It seems to have become somewhat of a wanton event.”
Heather looked up serenely and said, “You mean there will be strippers?”
Rod nodded uncomfortably.
“And lap dances?” Michelle added, “Some babe bursting out of a cake, naked?”
“And topless waitresses?” Heather said.
“Yeah, all that and more,” Rod said, trying to act nonchalant, waiting for the two women to make horrified objections.
“I want to be a fly on the wall,” Michelle said, chuckling.
“Me too,” Heather said. “Rod, could you let us into the bachelors’ party? Just for a little while? Just to watch?”
“No women allowed,” Rod said vehemently, shaking his head.
“Damn, I’d sure like to see it,” Heather said. “Seems you’ve got it covered nicely, though. What did you want to tell us about?”
“Strippers, topless waitresses, and lap dancers at the party,” Rod said, still uneasy. He could feel sweat trickling down his back.
“Do you have a pole dancer?” Michelle asked.
Rod nodded affirmatively.
“As long as you have enough booze,” Heather said a little anxiously.
“Open bar for everyone. Taken care of,” Rod said nodding.
“Then it sounds like a perfectly splendid bachelor party,” Heather said, beaming at him. “Thanks for all your hard work.”
“Ah…you’re welcome. I see you two are busy. I’ll just go now,” Rod said, making his exit on that positive note.
As he walked down the hallway back to his apartment, he wondered if he’d ever understand the female gender.
Rod decided to go over to the party location and make sure everything was ready for Mike’s big night.
Chapter 16
The two French women were achieving the goal of making Leilanie nervous and paranoid. Samson’s careful surveillance had paid off in spades.
Chloe and Louise just happened to be at the same laundromat, right when Leilanie was doing her weekly wash. They were early risers evidently, watching the swimming tots at the YMCA, where Leilanie took the girls for lessons. They just happened to be buying sticky honey-buns when Leilanie went into her favorite pastry store. And they seemed to know ahead of time, showing up whenever Leilanie took the girls to the beach.
That part of Samson’s and Omar’s plan was going fine. Leilanie was still avoiding the two women, trying to ignore them, but she finally adamantly confronted them in the grocery store, telling the two women to stop following her and her daughters.
Samson was still frustrated though, because he couldn’t seem to locate a time and place where Rod Nakamura would be vulnerable for a fatal attack.
Samson followed Rod around Waikiki in his car for several days, but Rod always seemed to be around people, at his work and at home. Of course Samson had contemplated simply ramming Rod’s car as he followed him, but that might just injure the guy. There was no certainty he would die.
Rod had seen Samson in the past, and knew he was associated with Omar, so Samson had to be careful to keep from being recognized. Rod had pushed Samson off a cliff when Michelle was being attacked by Omar on the island of Kauai a few years ago. Samson had broken both of his legs. He had endured a very painful recovery from that event, so he was especially cheerful about Omar’s order to kill the man.
Samson just didn’t know how to do it without being recognized or caught. Although he had changed his appearance dramatically with his black hair bleached to a light blond, and now he was almost svelte from all the workouts on a treadmill, he still believed Rod might see through his transformed facade.
Today Samson followed Rod through heavy traffic from his office to his home. He thought that maybe Rod’s garage at work would be the best place to plan an attack. It was isolated when Rob left the office at night, and usually vacant because the guy worked long hours.
Samson watched Rod drive into the security parking at his condominium. Then he parked across the street to continue the surveillance.
Samson waited and counted windows in the condo and saw the light go on in Rod’s and Michelle’s place. He waited impatiently in his car, contemplating going back to his hotel. It looked like he wouldn’t accomplish anything tonight.
Then the light went out in the apartment. Samson decided to stay for a while and see if Rod was going someplace, without Michelle, where he would be alone and vulnerable.
Rod was still
a little bamboozled by the reaction of Michelle and Heather when he told them about the strippers and the other women he’d hired for the bachelor party. He chuckled. It was not something he’d want them to see, but he appreciated that they understood that for this one special night, Mike would have free license to get drunk and watch pretty women almost nude in sexy costumes.
He headed out toward downtown Honolulu, where the restaurant he selected for the party was located. There were a few party rooms for rent in the gigantic eating establishment. The one he rented would hold about one-hundred guests, although he suspected that only about fifty guys would gather there tomorrow night.
When he parked and went inside, he went past the bar, through the restaurant, and down a hallway to his party room. It was not rented tonight, so he looked around. There was a stage at the back of the room where a DJ would sit and provide the musical entertainment tomorrow night. The guy had put a tape together so that the strippers could perform to their own music. There would be full-time go-go dancers on either side of the DJ, performing during the entire event.
Rod walked over to the stage and up the stairs. He pulled hard on the pole the pole-dancer would use. He didn’t want any accidents. It seemed quite sturdy, even with his whole weight jerking on it.
There were tables for two or four guests sprinkled around the room, and there was a long bar along one side of the room. The bartender he had hired would watch out for guests too drunk to drive home. He would confiscate the car keys and call Uber if he suspected someone couldn’t drive safely.
Rod went into the small room behind the bar, where a dolly holding a big plastic cake was located. The nearly naked girl inside would have to be very limber to get inside that plastic and cardboard cake contraption, he thought. It wasn’t terribly roomy.
He had contacted the caterer earlier and was happy to hear that all the appetizers he had ordered for the guests were ready to go. Finger food was the easiest, so he had ordered a lot to slow down the heavy drinkers. There were protein snacks, like cheese, sausages, and salty crackers to help the guests survive an abundance of liquor.
Magical Legacy Page 9
