“Or pretty much anyone on the island,” Farrah said. She picked a copy of the Sunday Edition of The Maui News from the stack on the counter. The headline read, ‘Ancient Human Bones Uncovered in Pa’ia.’
“Wow, I wonder who tipped them off,” I said.
“Yeah,” said Farrah. “I wonder.”
“Can I see it?”
“The heiau? Sure.”
She pulled a key from a nail under the counter and grabbed a flashlight hanging by the back door. “Follow me. I’m getting to be a pretty good tour guide.”
She unlocked the door to my old shop and as I went in my heart squeezed in my chest. I loved the place. It didn’t smell like it had when I’d worked there. The fire and the water from the fire fight had pretty much ruined all the floors and walls. Everything had been stripped down and replaced with new. But the windows were where they should be, and the mahogany door out to Baldwin Street was still there. How many times had I sat at my desk, staring out those windows trying to come up with the perfect attendant’s gifts or puzzling over a complicated seating chart for a rehearsal dinner?
Farrah stood quietly by while I wallowed in my reverie. I looked over at her and she lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said. “Where are the iwi?”
She crossed the room and dragged aside a three by five piece of plywood that covered a large hole in the floor.
“Down here.” She flicked on the flashlight and shined it down into the crawlspace.
It took my eyes a minute to focus. Then I saw it: a pile of lava stones—maybe twenty or thirty—with a half-dozen bleached bones at the base.
“There you have it,” she said. “I told Bessie to get a kahuna to come over and check it out but she refused. Said it would just make things worse—you know, people talking and all.”
“Lucky for you,” I said.
She shot me a quizzical look.
“Farrah.”
“Yeah, Pali?”
“Anything you want to tell me?”
“I miss you being here.”
“Yeah, and I miss you. So, what kind of bones are those?”
“Pua’a—pig. From that luau down on Ka’anapali Beach. I asked your sifu’s brother who works there to save me some and he did.”
“You were able to fool the historical society with a stack of volcano rocks and some pig bones?”
“Pretty pathetic, huh?” she said.
“No, pretty damn smart.” I gave her a hug. “I probably should go.”
“It kind of creeps me out that Beni just vanished,” she said as she moved the plywood back into position. “You don’t think he’s gonna end up like Crystal, do you? I mean, he’s a weird little dude, but he’s Doug Kanekoa’s cousin.”
“When I get home I’ll call Sifu Doug and tell him to get in touch with James. No way James should be talking to the cops after what happened today. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince someone in Honolulu to come over here. Until then, James needs to think of a way to protect his client.”
“Assuming his client ever shows up again.”
I went out the front door and Farrah locked up behind me. I noticed a plain white Ford Fairlane parked across the street. There were two guys inside. I trotted over to see if either of them was Wong, but as soon as I approached, they took off.
I got in my car and headed for home. Even though I was still smiling from seeing Farrah’s artful heiau hoax, inside I felt like I’d swallowed a sack of cement. I was knock-down tired. I’d been only five when my Auntie Mana told me my mother had died. At first I didn’t believe her. For a week I did all kinds of superstitious things: I told myself if I ate all my dinner in less than ten minutes then mama would come back; or if I was nice to my little brother and gave him a long piggy-back ride in the back yard, mama would come to the window and smile at me.
It didn’t work back then, and nothing I did now would erase the overwhelming sense of loss I felt at seeing Crystal’s body. A beautiful young woman had been brutally executed by thugs who were still at large. My hometown police were hell bent on covering it up. And the only witness to the crime was in the wind—or worse. I choked up and my eyes started leaking as I drove home.
Damn, I hated feeling so helpless.
CHAPTER 30
When I turned the corner to my block, a white Ford Fairlane was parked in front of my house. I pulled around back and came in through the kitchen door. There were voices coming from the living room, so I went to check.
“Here she is,” said Steve. He beamed as if I’d popped out of a birthday cake.
“Are you stalking me?” I said, glaring at Detective Wong. He and his partner were seated on the sofa side-by-side; Steve was in an armchair across from them.
“Now, is that any way to greet our guests?” Steve said.
“They’re not guests, Steve. They’re just trying to cover their tracks.”
Steve lurched out of his chair. “Would you two please excuse us?” He grabbed my arm and dragged me back through the swinging door into the kitchen.
“Are you insane?”
“No, I’m not. I haven’t had a chance to tell you what your boy toy’s been up to. Those two are running interference for whoever killed Crystal Wilson. I’m not sure why, but I think it has something to do with them being on the take from the local drug pushers.”
“Uh-uh. No way. I don’t believe it for a minute,” he said. “Besides, that’s a pretty serious allegation. You can’t just go around spouting off stuff like that.”
“Trust me, it’s all backed up by facts.”
Wong pushed the kitchen door open, startling us. “We don’t have time to sit around while you two talk story back here. I need to have a word with Ms. Moon and then we’ll be leaving.”
Steve mumbled his good-byes and left out the back door. I returned to the living room and took the seat Steve had left. Wong resumed his seat next to his partner.
“Ms. Moon, I’ve been more than forthright with you about my expectations regarding this investigation and you’ve ignored me every step of the way. Now, I’m afraid, I’m going to have to impose sanctions.”
I shot him my best bored teenager scowl.
“You called me to come into the station this afternoon on my day off. I came in, happy to take your statement. But now you’ve done your civic duty, or whatever you think it is, so it’s time for you to back off—completely. I’m warning you: if you attempt to meddle in this matter any further, you’ll force me to play hardball.”
He probably expected me to ask him what he meant by that, but I just stared him down.
“I’m not messing around here, Ms. Moon. If I hear, see, or even suspect, that you’ve been snooping around or talking to anyone about this I will charge you with obstruction of justice and impeding an official police investigation.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You mentioned that before. I’m really scared.”
“You should be. I can hold you for forty-eight hours.”
“Ooh, that sounds cozy.”
“This isn’t a joking matter, Ms. Moon. I’m dead serious. No more bullshit, no more games.” He stood and his partner followed suit. “Oh, and one more thing: I have reason to believe you’ve been harboring a wanted fugitive. That’s also a crime punishable by jail time. Do yourself a favor and stick to your wedding cakes and bridal veils and leave the investigating to us. You hear me?”
I didn’t answer, nor did I bother to get up and show them out.
I called Sifu Doug, but had to leave a message. “Sifu—this is Pali. I need you to call James and tell him not to talk to the cops about Beni for any reason. I repeat, call James as soon as you get this message and tell him the deal with the cops is off. I’ll explain it all when you call me back.”
Ten minutes later the phone rang. I picked up, expecting it to be Doug, but it wasn’t. It was Hatch.
“Hey, how’re you doing? I’ve been thinking of you,” he said, his voice husky.
“I’m okay.�
��
“I’m off today. Back on tomorrow. I was wondering if you’d like to go out and grab a bite, or maybe come over here for some wine and pupus. I miss you. And Heen’s been missing you too.”
“Mahalo for the offer, but tonight’s not good. I’m not feeling a hundred percent. I think I’m going to turn in early.”
“You sick?”
“Not big sick, just kinda hinky.”
“You still worrying about that missing girl? I’m sure she’s fine. Probably just went back to the mainland without telling anybody. I haven’t seen anything on the news, have you?”
“No.”
“So there you go. By the way, what’d you do this weekend? I was hoping you’d call. When you left the other night I was a mess. I’m sorry I flipped out on you like that.”
“That’s okay. I’m sorry you had to relive that.”
“Maybe you’re feelin’ funky ‘cuz we need to get together and do some making up.”
“Sounds fun, but I’m just too tired. I really need to hit the hay—catch up on some sleep.” The lying was beginning to take a toll and I was actually starting to feel kind of sick. “How about a raincheck?”
“Yeah, sure. I was hoping we could get together before I have to go back on shift, but that’s okay. How ‘bout you come by the station tomorrow if you’re feeling better?”
“Sounds good.”
I hung up feeling like a traitor. I’d spent the whole day with Ono and it never crossed my mind that Sunday was Hatch’s day off. And lying about being sick was pretty low, but there was no way I could tell him the truth of what I’d been doing all day. I’d go by the fire station on Monday and try to make amends.
***
Ono pulled in front of the house a half-hour later carrying a big brown bag emblazoned with the Home Depot logo. Ever since Maui made plastic bags kapu on the island, most people carried around their own shopping bags or they recycled good paper ones. In any event, even though the bag said otherwise, I was pretty sure Ono hadn’t picked up dinner at a big box hardware store.
“Hey, you found my house,” I said as I opened the door.
“I hope you’re in the mood for fish and chips.”
“Always. Thanks for picking it up. It smells ono.”
“How ‘bout that—two onos for the price of one,” he said. We went in the kitchen and he put the bag down on the table. “So hey, how’re you doing? You still bummed out about what we saw today?” He leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips.
“Yeah, that and more.” I told him about Wong coming by the house. “He said he could throw me in jail for forty-eight hours.”
“That dude worries me. Nothing worse than a crooked cop. But don’t worry—you’re this close to sewing it up.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together. “Once you get the state cops involved we’ll see who’s going to jail.”
We sat down and Ono pulled out enough food to feed a pee-wee football team: two kinds of fish—mahi-mahi and opakapaka, a small Styrofoam bucket of freshly chopped cole slaw, a white bag with about a pound of crisp fries, a coffee cup full of tartar sauce and two cold beers.
“I’m a little short on drinks,” Ono said. “But there was a big line so I didn’t want to ask her to go back for more.”
“It’s perfect,” I said. “And besides, I’ve got beer here and a bottle of pretty decent wine.”
We dug in and for the first time in days I didn’t think about Crystal or Beni or drug dealers or crooked cops.
“I’m glad you’re able to eat,” said Ono. “Some people who see stuff like you saw today lose their appetite.”
“What? Is that a nice way of saying I’m pigging out?” I wiped my chin.
He laughed. “No, I’m serious. I admire a woman who can roll with the punches.”
“Oh, I roll. Believe me, these last few days I’ve been rolling like a Michelin on fresh blacktop.”
I got up to clean up the mess and Ono came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. He leaned in to nuzzle my neck and I jumped.
“You sure you’re okay? You seem kinda fidgety.”
I turned around and looked into his soft blue eyes. His face started to lose shape, like I was seeing his reflection in a funhouse mirror.
“Hey, hey,” he said, swiping a tear from my cheek. “What’s this?”
“Nothing. I guess I’m not rolling as well as I’d like to think. I can’t shake the image of Crystal’s body lying in that hole. Oh, and thanks again for not making me take the pictures. I’ve never seen a dead body like that.”
“Wish I could say the same. When I was on the streets, I saw more than my share of bodies. But first time or tenth, it never gets easy.”
“I can’t imagine you homeless. You seem so normal.”
“There are a lot of normal people on the streets—war vets, guys out of work, even families who went broke taking care of a sick kid. Believe me, you don’t choose that life, it chooses you.”
He leaned in and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. After the heartache of the past few hours it felt better than I expected.
I wasn’t quite ready to pull away when there was a knock at the front door.
“Probably one of Steve’s friends,” I said. “I’ll just tell ‘em he’s down at the Ball & Chain. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”
As soon as I went through the kitchen door I recognized the face peeking through cupped hands at the picture window. He’d seen me too—no retreat.
“Hatch,” I said, opening the door. “What’re you—”
“I figured what the heck, you’re always bringing stuff over to me,” he said, thrusting a covered casserole dish at me. “And if you’re gonna get well you need to eat. So here, I made you some soup.”
“That’s really nice. I don’t know what to say.”
“How about, ‘Why don’t you come in?’ That works.”
“Uh, sure. I’m kind of…uh, I don’t know.”
“No, don’t worry, it’s not like that. I’ll only stay a minute, I promise. I know you want to get to bed.”
Ono came out of the kitchen. “Everything okay out here?”
There was an ugly silence while everyone sized up the situation.
“Oh great,” Hatch said. “Joke’s on me, I guess. When you said you were going to bed early, I figured you were going there alone. Rookie mistake. My bad.” He turned and rattled down the porch stairs as fast as I’d ever seen him move.
“Hatch!”
He threw a hand in the air, waving me off. There might have been a single finger salute in there, but it was getting too dark to tell.
“Hey, Pali, I didn’t know,” said Ono. “I’ve been accused of a lot of things, but horning in on another guy’s territory isn’t one of them.”
“Another guy’s territory? Really? What do you think I am, a tree that’s been peed on?”
“No, that didn’t come out right,” he laced his fingers together and cracked the knuckles. “I guess I better go.”
“You don’t need to leave. Hatch was out of line just showing up like that.”
“Yeah, well, whatever.”
He grabbed the doorknob.
“Mahalo for going up there with me today,” I said. “And I really appreciate the chopper ride, too.”
“No worries. That’s what friends are for.”
He dashed out the door and clattered down the stairs almost as quickly as Hatch.
I sat in the shadowy living room, too spun out to turn on the TV or even a light. What a couple of weeks it’d been: first realizing that Crystal had disappeared, then Wong lying and threatening me, and Keith and Nicole vanishing and leaving me holding a wad of drug-infused cash. Then, in just the last twenty-four hours, I’d lost track of the only witness to Crystal’s vicious murder, and I’d actually witnessed her bullet-ridden body. And, as if that weren’t enough, I’d managed to run off the only two guys who’d shown any interest in me in ages. Detective Glen Wong migh
t be a dirty cop, but there was no doubt in my mind I should’ve taken his advice and stayed completely out of it. Would’ve saved me a ton of heartache.
I waited an hour before I called Hatch. Time for him to cool off, and time for me to figure out how to ‘fess up and make amends. Sure I was attracted to Ono, but he walked a tougher stretch of town than I was used to.
Hatch’s phone rang once and went directly to voicemail.
I left a message. “Hatch, I’m really sorry about what happened. I should have told you I had plans. Please call so I can explain.”
When he hadn’t called by eleven o’clock I went to bed. I tossed and turned. The last time I looked, the clock said it was just after one in the morning.
I was half-dozing when I heard the creak of the hinge on the front door. I’d forgotten to lock it. I wasn’t concerned, though, because it was just Steve coming home from the bar. He usually parked his car in the garage and came in through the back, but sometimes when he’d been out this late drinking he was smart enough to ask for a ride from a designated driver. I flipped my pillow over to the cool side and blissfully drifted back to sleep, glad to have him home.
***
I felt a presence in the room even before I was awake enough to see anything. Steve? No, it was someone else. And then there was the odor. Like a hand over my mouth, the smell enveloped me—overpowering the clean scent of sheets and pillow.
My eyes came into focus and there was Beni, standing over me with his stringy, clumped hair falling on either side of his face like a half-opened curtain.
“Hey, wahine, guess what? You sold me out,” he hissed. “Now you pay.”
I wasn’t worried. Regardless of his threat, we both knew I could take him down in three moves.
“Get the hell out of here, Beni,” I said. “I told you before if you pulled this stunt again, I’d lay you out like a prayer rug.” I propped myself up on one elbow.
In the dusky glow of a three-quarter moon, the glint of something shiny was impossible to miss. It was a gun. A really big gun. And it was pointed right at my face.
Livin' Lahaina Loca Page 21
