Mai Tai One On

by Jill Marie Landis

  “I was walking the grounds.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you stay at the memorial ceremony?”

  “It’s not a crime to take a walk.”

  “It’s a crime to hide evidence.”

  “Evidence?” She tried to suck the last bit of chocolate shake out of the waxy super-sized cup.

  “Not everyone keeps a femur hidden in a file cabinet.”

  She nearly choked. “I can explain that. Besides, that’s not evidence. That thing is very old. Ancient probably.”

  “So Professor Nelson told me.”

  “You met the Professor?”

  He ignored her question. “When you found out it was old, why hide the femur? Why not turn it over to the Burial Council and tell them where you found it?”

  “I didn’t find it. It came to me.”

  “By itself.”

  “Sort of. It fell off a shelf in Harold’s garage.”

  He stared at his notebook. “Was that before or after someone hit you in the head?”

  “How do you know someone hit me on the head?” The bruises beneath her eyes had all but faded to a yellow tinge she hoped complemented the reddened, chafed skin around her mouth.

  “Sophie told me,” he said.

  “Sophie told you?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She sighed. Her legs were aching. She wanted to get up, walk around and stretch, but not with him here and particularly not with her butt hanging out of a hospital gown. Most of all she wanted to wish this whole thing away.

  “When did Sophie tell you about me being hit in the head?”

  “Kiki called me earlier today. Said Sophie had some information pertaining to your disappearance and ordered me out to the Goddess. Sophie told us you were hit over the head and fell on your face in the parking lot. And about the femur.”

  “Did she say anything else?”

  “Just that she was there that day. Didn’t you suspect her?”

  Em looked down at her hands. It was impossible to ignore the bandages on her wrists. She thought about it for an instant that day, but she wouldn’t believe Sophie could hurt her. Stupid, Em. Really dumb.

  “Not at the time,” she said. “I never saw who hit me that day, but that’s when I found the bone. It fell off of a shelf in Harold’s garage.”

  “Why were you in his garage?”

  “I went in to borrow some hedge clippers.”

  “Was anyone else there?”

  “No.”

  “You were trespassing.”

  “Like I said, I needed hedge clippers. Ours broke. Besides, Louie kept saying Harold had something of his. I’ll admit, I was poking around, very innocently mind you, when the bone fell on my head.”

  “So let’s get back to your abduction. You were walking the grounds of Fernando’s estate, by yourself, while everyone else was watching the ceremony at the beach. Why?”

  She shrugged. He made it sound like a scene out of some gothic novel. She wasn’t exactly parading around alone in the dark in a long white nightgown carrying a candle.

  “Louie kept insisting Harold had something of his. When I found the bone I was worried that was what Louie was searching for. Louie seemed so desperate to find whatever it was. I thought maybe he might have…well…”

  “Killed someone?”

  “Maybe. Maybe he did it a long time ago. Maybe Harold found out somehow. He could have discovered the grave or something. I don’t believe it now but…”

  “You thought maybe Harold was blackmailing Louie.”

  “I thought the bone might be evidence. Or maybe they were in cahoots together. Maybe they killed someone years ago. I looked around Harold’s yard one evening, searched for signs of disturbed ground but I didn’t find anything. I didn’t find anything at Louie’s either. So I decided to search Fernando’s garden where Harold had worked.”

  “The bone you found could be hundreds of years old.”

  “I didn’t know that for certain, not at first. I tried connecting Harold and Fernando—because Harold told him something about bones. Fernando thought he was talking about fish bones, but maybe not. I thought maybe Harold was afraid Fernando’s contractor would find the grave so I was in the garden looking for evidence of recent digging.”

  “Did you find anything, Nancy?”

  She pursed her lips. Shook her head.

  “Nothing. I was ready to rejoin everyone at the beach when I was knocked out. I came to bound and gagged and locked up somewhere.”

  “Did you see anything? Hear anything? Recognize the kidnapper’s voice?”

  “No one ever spoke to me. I was blindfolded. My wrists were duct taped behind me. My ankles were taped together. A strip of tape was across my mouth.”

  He stared at her lips for a second. Made some notes.

  “When I came to, I heard drums. Later I heard people calling my name. I couldn’t have been very far from Fernando’s.”

  “Do you think you were inside his house somewhere? Maybe under the house?”

  She shook her head. “I would have heard more. The music from the memorial entertainment was close enough to hear.”

  “You sure you weren’t kept in a van or the trunk of a car?”

  “No. That was later. I was hidden somewhere with a cement floor.”

  He stopped writing. “Later when?”

  “Sometime this morning I was forced into a car trunk and driven out to the end of the road and dumped in the jungle. The tape was partially cut and eventually I freed myself. I pulled the tape off my mouth and took off the blindfold. Somehow I made my way out to the highway. I was weak and dizzy and barely knew what I was doing.”

  Her pants had smelled of urine. Her hair was matted. Her wrists and ankles were raw and bleeding.

  “The way I looked none of the tourists would give me a lift. Finally a local guy in a truck pulled over when he saw me wandering down the highway. He’d seen me around the Goddess and knew I was missing. By then I could barely speak. He called the paramedics.”

  “So you never got a look at your captor? Never heard his voice?”

  “No, but I know who it was.” Em sighed.

  He set his notebook on his lap and stared at her. “You know who abducted you? When were you going to get around to telling me?”

  “You said to start at the beginning.”

  “I think you’ve been hanging around Kiki and her crew too long. So who was it?”

  “Sophie.” She hated the disgusting I-told-you-so look on his face.

  “You’re sure?”

  She began to tick off the clues. “It was someone with long acrylic nails. Sophie has them. It was someone strong enough drag me around. Sophie’s young and strong but still wasn’t able to pick me up. A man would have just picked me up, right? I was forced to walk. Most of all, I would know the sound of Sophie’s car anywhere. I know I was in her trunk this morning. It had to be Sophie.”

  Em watched Roland walk out of the hospital room when her doctor came in and declared her fit to leave. The doctor went to have her release papers readied and until they gave her the green light, Em couldn’t do much of anything but contemplate how she’d muster the energy to get up. Then Sharpe walked in again.

  “I thought you were gone,” she said.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily. What’s the verdict?”

  “He said I can go home.”

  “You still look pretty bad.”

  “Thanks so much. You really know how to make a girl feel better.”

  “I just got a call about a stolen car. Turns out it was Sophie’s. It was found in an overgrown lot near the end of the road at Haena, probably not far from where you were dumped. I asked the criminologists to go over it with a fine tooth comb and sent a plainclothes detective out to trail Sophie while we get an arrest warrant.”

  “But if her car was really stolen, then …”

  “Yeah. Right. We’ll see.”

 
; “I can leave as soon as the paperwork is finished.”

  “That should give me some time to get the information on Sophie’s car. I’ll go check it out myself over at the impound lot and pick up an arrest warrant. You stay put. I’ll take you home after I get back.”

  Em studied the blanket across her lap and pictured the house on the beach, the broad covered lanai. Home. It sounded so good. She looked up at Roland. “What about Louie?”

  “I’ll send him home with Kiki,” he said.

  “What about Sophie?”

  “Like I said, I’ll have someone trail her until I get the arrest warrant. I want to bring her in myself.” His tone was cold and hard but at least he hadn’t said I told you so.

  She put her hands over her eyes for a moment, gently rubbed them. “I still can’t believe she did this.”

  “I could kick myself for letting your soft spot for Ms. Chin keep me from listening to my gut.” An awkward silence fell. He glanced at his watch. “I’ll find Louie and the others and tell them I’m driving you to the North Shore.”

  “Would you please thank them and say I’ll see them back at the Goddess?”

  “Sure.” He nodded. “No problem.”

  “Are you going to tell them what I suspect?”

  “Not one of them can keep her mouth shut. As soon as word is out on the coconut wireless, Sophie will be on the run. If one of your friends finds her first she’ll be lynched.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “I know I am.”

  “Thank you, Roland.”

  “For what? I’m just glad you weren’t killed. I’d have to live with the guilt for the rest of my life.”

  “Thanks for not telling me how stupid I’ve been.”

  He shrugged and almost smiled. “Hey, it’s going around.”

  Kiki left the others as they made their way downstairs to wait for her at the car. She spotted Roland in the hallway outside Em’s room and went after him before he could take the stairs and ditch her.

  “What are you going to do about Marlene?” She demanded.

  “Marlene Lockhart?”

  “Is there another Marlene running around kidnapping people?”

  “Marlene didn’t kidnap anyone.”

  “She kidnapped Em right before she ran off—supposedly to Maui. No one has seen or heard from her since.”

  “Kiki, listen very carefully. She had a 5:45 flight to Maui but she didn’t make it.”

  “Aha! I knew it!”

  “Because her car broke down just outside of Hanamaulu.”

  “So she says. Did anyone see her?”

  “I’ve got a call in to the tow truck driver for the exact time he picked her up. She did make the next flight out.”

  “So she had time to kidnap Em.”

  “Not if the tow truck driver’s time log gives her an alibi. There’s no way she could be in two places at once. She couldn’t have kidnapped Em, hidden her somewhere, and then made that second flight.”

  “But—”

  “She hasn’t been on any return flights, so she wasn’t here on island to turn Em loose this morning, either.”

  “Maybe Marlene assumed a different identity. She could have somebody working with her. An accomplice! Someone from her new halau. She’s enlisted someone to help her take over the bar.”

  “Let it go, Kiki.”

  “You thought it was Sophie and you were wrong. What if you’re wrong about Marlene, too?”

  Roland opened his mouth as if about to say something and then closed it again.

  “What?” Kiki crossed her arms. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Give, Roland.” She hated secrets unless she was the one keeping them. Especially juicy ones.

  “You’ll know soon enough.” He started to walk away.

  She called after him. “If you don’t tell me Roland, you’ll never dance on this island again!”

  She got even madder when she heard him laugh.

  34

  Sophie’s Luck Runs Out

  Behind the Goddess bar, Sophie readied pitchers of Mai Tai mixer. Louie hadn’t had time to concoct a drink in Em’s honor so he decided on a favorite. 2 for 1, of course.

  So far so good. At least that’s what Sophie kept telling herself. So far so good. Anyone and everyone connected to the Goddess, including patrons and neighbors, was in on throwing a welcome home a party for Em that night. An hour ago, Louie got a call from the detective. Em had finally been released from Wilcox Hospital. She was on the way home.

  Earlier, on his own way home from the hospital with Kiki, Suzi and Flora, Louie had called and asked her to come in to work. The Maidens put their heads together and along with Kimo, came up with a menu for a last minute celebratory party. Kimo was grilling ribs to serve with Kilauea corn on the cob and coleslaw. And rice, of course.

  The lanai in front looked like a circus wagon had exploded all over it. All afternoon people dropped off tributes: ribbons, handmade signs and more votive candles along with huge arrangements of tropical flowers. Fifteen minutes ago someone called from the Hanalei Gourmet to say Roland’s car had driven by. Em was due to walk in at any minute.

  The Maidens were arguing over what song to perform first. Louie got into the fray, voting for the Tiki Goddess theme song. Kiki told him that was about Irene, not Em. Besides, it was always reserved for the big finale. They needed a welcome home song.

  Puana Kimokane volunteered to chant.

  True to form, everyone was still arguing when Em walked in. Sophie didn’t miss the protective way Sharpe hovered behind Em as she walked in the door.

  Em was white as a sheet. Her mouth and the skin around it were raw and chafed. Her limp hair needed a good shampoo and conditioning. Her usually bright eyes were lackluster. There was a sadness lurking there. Sophie’s heart ached seeing her that way.

  “Welcome home!” Kiki shouted. She slipped the first of what would quickly become a thick pile of lei around Em’s neck as people pressed forward to greet her. Trish snapped photos of the happy reunion.

  “Mai Tais all around,” Louie yelled.

  Puana began to chant and eventually the sound of his voice quieted the crowd. When Sophie finally caught Em’s eye, Em didn’t smile.

  A chill went up Sophie’s spine when Em looked away. People were still crowding around her draping lei around her neck. The Maidens had descended and were clucking over Em.

  When Puana finally ended his chant, Em’s voice was soft yet it carried across the silence. She asked of no one in particular, “Will you please take me to the house?”

  The Maiden’s quickly closed ranks and whisked Em out the door. The minute she was gone people started talking again and lined up three deep at the bar waiting for a free round. Sophie started pouring sticky pineapple and guava juice mixer into tall hurricane glasses.

  When she looked up, Detective Sharpe was beside her behind the bar. It irked her how cops never waited in line.

  “What can I get you?” She ignored the crush on the other side of the bar. Having Sharpe so close definitely creeped her out.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” he began.

  Within thirty seconds, you could hear a pin drop in the bar again.

  “What’s going on?” She tried to keep her hands from shaking as she set down a jar of mango nectar.

  “Anything you say can and will be held against you.”

  “What did I do?”

  He continued reading her the Miranda rights. At the end he said, “Do you understand?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Then let’s go. You can walk out peacefully or I can cuff you.”

  “I want to know why.”

  “Try kidnapping and assault for starters. I’m sure there’s more.”

  “Do you have an arrest warrant?”

  He pulled one out of his back pocket. “The ink is still wet.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing.
Let’s go.”

  Louie was there now. Hovering. Confused.

  “What’s happening, Roland?”

  “Ms. Chin is under arrest for kidnapping and assaulting your niece.”

  “Why would I kidnap Em?” Sophie stopped walking.

  “We have it on good evidence.” Roland nudged her forward. “Lots of it.”

  “You can’t possibly…”

  “Your car was found three hours ago. The duct tape you used to tie Ms. Johnson, along with scissors and strands of long blond hair were found in the trunk. I’m sure further analysis will prove them to be Em’s.”

  “But my car was stolen!”

  “Tell that to the judge.”

  In that very moment, Sophie’s world came crashing down around her.

  He took hold of her arm, pulled cuffs out of his back pocket.

  “All right, I’ll go,” she said. Her heart was pounding so hard she was surprised they couldn’t all hear it. “But please, don’t cuff me here.”

  He kept a tight grip on her elbow as he walked her around the bar. The crowd parted. She felt all eyes on her. For a minute she thought she’d pass out before she got a grip on herself. At least she was able to hold her head high. She didn’t look right or left. Didn’t make eye contact with anyone.

  When they reached the car, Roland cuffed her before he opened the back door. He put his hand on the back of her head as she sank into the back seat.

  Before he closed the car door, Sophie looked him square in the eye, refusing to be intimidated.

  “I didn’t do it. I swear to you I didn’t.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “That’s what they all say.”

  35

  Em’s Arsenal

  The Maidens got Em comfortably settled on Louie’s rattan sofa. Lil was in the kitchen boiling water for hibiscus tea. Em couldn’t believe she was still crying. Her misplaced faith in Sophie’s innocence had shaken her confidence. The betrayal hurt.

  “Hey,” Suzi handed Em a fresh Kleenex and drew everyone’s attention. “Has anyone noticed how quiet it is over at the Goddess all of a sudden?”

  “I wonder what’s going on?” Kiki jumped up, ready to find out.