I sat there a little stunned. Balagot had found evidence that made complete sense but it was totally the wrong guy. If he hadn’t stopped by our house that night… “All along I thought you cracked the case and that’s why you showed up at Momi’s.”
“I did crack the case,” Balagot said. “I spoke with Momi that night. She’s a great actress, that woman. She said she never saw either one of you. I was getting ready to leave, to meet the police back at your place, when I noticed she smoked the same brand of cigarettes I found outside your house. My mind started to make the connections. Each one pointed at her.”
“Izzy mentioned how much Momi loved her hair. She had a heavy bag. The kicker was the pair of shoes she was wearing. Part of the video footage caught their fight. Momi was still wearing the pair I saw in the video. That was the final connection, yeah? I knew it was her. She must have seen it in my eyes, yeah, because as I thought that, she attacked me.”
“So you did crack the case.”
“Of course,” Balagot said, flashing his trademark grin. “Momi got the jump on me; that’s all.”
I felt better knowing that Balagot did figure it out. He was looking out for us and did try to save us. Had he not shown up, Izzy and I would both be dead.
Chapter 72
Before leaving town, I put a few more calls into Souza and got the same response: nothing. It was as if this guy had disappeared off the island. Where the hell was he? Souza was my contact. It was through him that I interacted with the gang.
I decided to take a chance and pay a visit to the Kahuku house. They usually had poker nights every other Wednesday. I figure that was my best chance at tracking down my missing contact, or at least finding out what was going on.
The two guys sitting outside the house recognized me instantly and nodded for me to go on inside. I made my way through the house and toward the lanai. The tables were packed. Seemed like the gang was off to a profitable night. I looked over toward the corner, hoping to find Akahi. He was there, and thankfully Roger wasn’t.
“Eh, Darby, long time no see. Where you been?”
I took a seat next to him. “I’ve been tied up, literally.”
“Yeah, brah, I went hear about that. That some crazy shit. How’s your girlfriend?”
“She’s fine. We’re flying back east so she can spend time with her family. I’ll be out of town for a week but available via cell. Speaking of, if it looks like I haven’t been around, it’s because I haven’t been able to get a hold of Souza.”
“That’s funny. Neither have I.”
Things just got interesting. Souza was MIA. It doesn’t bode well for gang members who go missing. I thought it was safe to assume this guy was dead somewhere. The question was, did the gang have something to do with it? Worse yet, did they think I had something to do with his disappearance?
The big guy took a long swig of his beer and then looked at me. He didn’t have to say anything; his eyes said it all.
“What? You think I have something to do with this?”
“I never know, brah. You the one hiring private investigators. Who knows what’s been coming out of your mouth.”
Just then a bunch of the NBB members closed in on me. If I wanted to run, that option was just eliminated. “Look, Akahi. You’ve got to believe me. I haven’t said anything about you, your crew or our arrangement to anyone.” Well, maybe a little but not everything.
“So, you telling me you don’t know where Souza?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I stopped by tonight. I’ve been trying to get a hold of the guy for, like, a month.” I leaned in closer to Akahi. “Has he disappeared before? What about his cousin? Isn’t he in some gang in San Jose? Maybe Souza split.”
“Nah, Souza not like that. Something went happen to him and I need to find out what.”
Thankfully, nothing happened to me and I was allowed to leave. That’s where I left things before jumping on a plane. I wasn’t certain what they were thinking but getting out of town seemed like a good idea right about then.
Chapter 73
Quantico, Virginia
Izzy and I flew into Ronald Reagan International Airport. It was the closest to Quantico, about an hour’s drive to the north. I hadn’t planned on traveling with Izzy, but we were having some wonderful alone time and the thought of not being together for at least a month didn’t sit right with us. So I made plans to fly out with her, and stay for a week. Plus it was a good opportunity to spend more time with my soon-to-be in-laws. Izzy’s sister was a student at NYU and she was also making plans to take the train down and stay for the weekend. It would be one big reunion.
Things went well right from the start. The Webers were a fine bunch to be around. I felt extremely comfortable with my new family. Tobias had a boat and we spent a good amount of time on the Potomac River. I thought I even spotted the tough guy smiling at me at one point.
The day before I was to fly back to Hawaii, Tobias called me into his study. This was his sanctuary, the one room in the house that nobody but him dared enter. The white-haired oligarch sat behind a beautiful oak desk with ornate carvings around the edges. The room sported wood paneled walls and a nautical theme, complete with a large brass anchor in the corner.
“Sit, sit, Darby.”
I pulled out the tufted leather and wood chair and took a seat.
He was looking over some papers in a manila folder when he raised his eyes without lifting his head. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve asked you in here.”
I’m not going to lie: I got a little nervous when he said that but did my best to conceal it and made a joke about the situation. “I’m not in trouble, am I?” I asked, forcing a chuckle.
“No, don’t be silly.” He reached down and opened a side drawer in the desk and removed another manila folder. He placed it in front of me and I just stared at it. The last time someone placed a folder in front of me without saying anything, it didn’t turn out so good.
“Well, go ahead and take a look inside.”
I picked up the folder. It contained a bunch of eight-by-ten photographs, clearly of someplace in Hawaii. I looked back at Tobias only to have him motion me to keep looking at the photographs. They were photos of various locations on the North Shore. Some were of the surf spots that Izzy and I surfed. There were a couple of pictures of the diner, Luau’s, and a few other restaurants and bars. I kept flipping through them, not really paying attention, but wondering why Tobias Weber was showing me pictures of the North Shore. Did he take them during his last trip?
It was when I saw a picture of the Kahuku house that I stopped wondering and started worrying.
Chapter 74
O’ahu, Hawaii
Jiro Harada and Takeo Dazai were busy adding figures up on a plastic calculator and making notes. They were using a small table lamp to fuel their activity.
As usual, the club wasn’t open to the public yet. Mama, of course, was busy conducting the daily inventory of the liquor. One of the hostesses had shown up early. She sat at the bar eating her lunch while talking to Mama.
When the front door opened, Jiro and Takeo immediately looked at a confused Mama. The entrance should have been locked.
Before they could say anything, a large shadow the width of the doorway appeared. The two Yakuza members recognized the person immediately. It was Akahi, head of the NBB.
He entered the establishment with a slow graceful walk, making his way to the back booth. Behind him were two other members of the gang. They took seats at the bar, near the hostess.
“Akahi,” Jiro said as he motioned for him to sit. “Thank you for making the trip into town. We appreciate it.”
Akahi took a seat in the booth opposite the two men. His girth seemed to fill his entire side. “Always happy to see my friends. How’s business? Good I hope.”
“Business is well. Thank you for asking.”
“So, what you guys want to discuss?”
Jiro looked at Takeo before letting out a breath. “Akah
i, there is no right way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. We have been approached by a member in your gang who wishes to develop a partnership with us.”
“Partnership? Doing what?”
“Distributing,” Takeo said.
“I see.” If there was any anger in the big giant, he certainly wasn’t letting any of it surface. Akahi sat with his thoughts for a moment before asking. “Who this member that wishes to partner with you?”
Jiro shifted in his seat a little. Nervousness? Perhaps. He was about to out a man who would stop at nothing to see him dead. Regardless, it needed to be done. This order came down from his boss. The Yakuza wanted nothing to do with Roger Kwan and they did not want to engage with him. Not that they were afraid of him. He simply wasn’t worth the effort. It was better to let his own gang deal with him.
Akahi watched Jiro. His face was motionless, devoid of any tell. When he finally said the name “Roger Kwan”, it wasn’t unexpected.
Chapter 75
Quantico, Virginia
What was Tobias doing with a picture of the Kahuku house?
Keep your cool, Darb. Don’t let on that you recognize anything but that these are pictures of someplace in Hawaii. I hesitantly flipped back through the previous pictures. My worst fears were coming to life. As I suspected, there were people in each one—all of them NBB gang members. I flipped back to the picture of the house wondering what was next. Would there be a picture of me with the gang?
I flipped through the rest of the pictures and, I admit, I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t in any of these pictures. So if I wasn’t in any of the pictures, why was Tobias showing me them?
“Nice pictures,” I said. “Did you take these while you were visiting us?”
“Those aren’t my photographs. They were taken by a couple of guys I know with the Bureau a few days ago.”
“The FBI?”
“There’s only one Bureau.”
Wiseass. I placed the folder back on the desk. Tobias finally stopped looking at the papers on his desk and gave his attention to me.
“Listen up,” he said, as he took off his reading glasses. “There’s no polite way to say this so I’m just going to give it to you straight.”
Uh oh.
“My daughter means the world to me—”
“To me as well.”
Tobias raised an eyebrow, a warning about interrupting him when he had the floor.
“Sorry. Please, continue.”
“Izzy is special, one of a kind. If you’re going to marry her, there are expectations.”
Oh, shit.
“I need to know you can protect my daughter.”
Izzy’s a trained kickboxer. She can take care of herself.
“I realize some things will be out of your control, that you can’t help, like this Momi woman. I do appreciate your proaction in securing the house; the locks, the cameras—all good stuff. The private investigator was a nice touch. Why you guys waited until now to tell us what had happened, though, I’ll never understand.”
We had finally come clean to Izzy’s parents a few days earlier. There were so many questions of how we could have been targeted by this crazy killer. It wasn’t adding up, especially for the old man.
“I want you to know in the future, you can and should come to me. I’m your private investigator. I’m your detective. I’m your muscle.” Tobias leaned forward, his head tilted to the side. “Do you understand what I’m saying here?”
I nodded. I felt like the best thing I could do was keep my mouth shut.
“These pictures are a way to show you how I can help.”
There must have been a look of confusion on my face because Tobias took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together as if he were going to have to explain this to an idiot.
“Did you know there’s a gang on the North Shore called the North Beach Boys?”
Sure. They’re my client. “No, I didn’t know.”
“Of course not. I do, though. Those places in the pictures are where they are known to hang out, where they congregate.”
What’s your point?
“This pestilence is sprouting up everywhere, even in Hawaii. My contacts only needed a few days to find and track them. The threat is all around us. You must always be on guard.”
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out during our remaining time in Hawaii.”
Tobias’s eyebrow arched. “This goes for San Francisco, too.”
Great. I have Big Brother as my father-in-law.
“Don’t disappoint me,” Tobias said as he stood up and stretched his hand across the desk. I smiled and shook his hand.
Stay out of my business and I won’t have to.
Chapter 76
O’ahu, Hawaii
I didn’t have any other conversations with Tobias about the NBB or any other gangs, or the possibility of me being involved with them. Whether he knew anything or not, I couldn’t be sure. This was a situation that I would have to play by ear. Maybe I can go legit after I wrap up my consultation with the NBB. Maybe I’m lying to myself.
I returned to the North Shore exactly one week later. The house was still intact. For some reason I was half expecting to come back and find that someone had broken in. Everything was fine, though. I walked around the property looking for signs of trespassing and found none.
Back inside, the place felt empty—especially the bedroom. Izzy had packed up most of her clothes and daily necessities. She left her board, of course. Missing having someone around was a first for me. I’d never had a problem living by myself before. I’d always enjoyed it. I had gotten used to the bodies, though. There were three of us at The Vic back in San Francisco—four, counting the pug. Out here it was just Izzy and me. The reality was, I really liked spending all that time with her.
Our relationship had progressed while we were in Hawaii, even with what had happened. We had definitely grown closer. I don’t think it would have been possible back at The Vic. It was as if there was a wall stopping us. Maybe the wall was Tav.
Out here, we didn’t have to worry about another person being around. We could just be. And that made it work so much better. I didn’t want to screw things up with Izzy. I still wanted to marry her.
I spent the rest of the day surfing our local break. The waves were a perfect three to four feet. It helped clear my head of the conversation with Tobias. I still hadn’t figured out what to make of it, but forgetting about it for now seemed like a pretty good idea.
Later that night, I stopped by Kolohe’s for food and beer. The crowd was mellow, which I welcomed. I had wanted a chill evening. After eating, I stocked up on beers and made my way over to the comfort of my big friend, Braddah Moku.
“Eh, Darby, howzit?”
“Hey, Braddah Moku.” I opened two bottles and handed one to him.
“You guys took off for awhile, huh?”
“How did you know?”
Braddah Moku pointed to the side of his head. “Always got my ear to the ground.”
“Well, Izzy’s family wanted her to come spend some time at home. She’s gonna hang out there for a month.”
“I don’t blame her. A lot of people around here were shocked at what happened.”
“What’s the consensus on Momi?”
Braddah Moku’s forehead crinkled at my question. He flipped his hand away and said, “Good riddance—that’s the consensus.”
We both took swigs of our beers—a moment to ponder what was just said.
“Oh, Darby. How’s that investigator… Balagot?”
“He’s fine. I had a chance to visit him before leaving. He’s sore but healing. Did you know at one point he thought the intruder was Roger Kwan?”
“Roger?”
I went on to tell Braddah Moku everything that Balagot told me, not thinking much of it. He listened, nodded and chugged his beer as I spoke. I asked him what he thought and all he said was, “That fucking backstabber.”
Chapter 77
I didn’t know what Braddah Moku meant with the backstabber statement, but I knew my consultation with the gang was coming to an end. I didn’t want any trouble flaring up. I would be severing ties soon with the NBB. Just like Braddah Moku said the other night, “Good riddance.”
That morning, I decided a run on the beach would be fun. It turned out to be more walking than running, though. It allowed me to clear my thoughts and focus on wrapping up business with the gang.
With Souza still MIA, most likely dead, I started dealing directly with Akahi. We’d left matters unresolved before I went to Quantico. It was time to put things to bed. Plus, I still needed to check the balance on Tav’s ID card.
I made the drive out to the Kahuku house at around four in the afternoon. Part of the visit was to handle this unfinished business regarding my involvement with an investigator and Souza’s disappearance. The other part was to sell them on one last system, the Set-Up-and-Watch program. It was a simple car theft program I had developed for a previous client. I figured they could use it to boost rental cars from the tourists that visited. It made complete sense. The cars were all insured anyway. No harm to the tourist, just an inconvenience.
When I arrived at the Kahuku house, I parked and sat there for a while. This was the first time I didn’t have any anxiety about entering the place. No nervous thoughts. No queasy stomach. I felt empowered. Maybe it was because of what I had just gone through. This was my new don’t-give-a-fuck attitude.
I entered the house and made my way back to the lanai. Roger wasn’t there, not that I cared. I was DGAF’ing.
Akahi immediately waved me over and I took a seat next to him. It’s funny. He’s such a big man but he had such a quiet voice. In a lot of ways, he was a lot like Braddah Moku, but big in a different way.
“How’s your trip?”
I shrugged. “It was all right.” My soon to be father-in-law who is an ex-FBI agent has photos of your entire gang and this house, if that’s what you were asking.
Darby Stansfield Thriller Series (Books 1-3 & Bonus Novella) Page 73
