Heartbreak Hero

by Frances Housden

  Kel sat up in bed, taking her with him. “Passenger?” He twisted her on his lap till she faced him, straddling his knees, but unlike last time his male strength didn’t rise to greet her.

  “What passenger?” His grip tightened as the glint in his eyes morphed from heated to ferocious. “Who are you taking with you?”

  She shivered in his arms. She’d never seen Kel look so angry, not even yesterday when he’d been defensive over being caught out in a lie. “It’s no one. I told you. I have to make a delivery. It’s no big deal.”

  “No big deal. Huh! I suppose that’s why all and sundry have been chasing after it.” His hands plunged into her hair, spilling it over her shoulders like a black shroud, holding her face between his palms with none of the tenderness he’d brought her in the night as the weight of each fingertip clamped to her scalp.

  She could easily have broken his hold, knew she could remove his hands by simply saying “Kel, you’re hurting me.”

  The emotions warring in his eyes kept her quiet.

  He loosened his grip and pulled her close, resting his forehead against hers. She felt his ragged breath on her face, her lips, listened to him urge her to, “Give it up, doll. Give it to me and I’ll fix it, I’ll make it right for you.”

  “If only it were that easy, I would do what you want in a flash.” She rolled her forehead from side to side, failing to stifle the moan building inside her that shaded her words in funereal drab. “I should have known you were too good to be true. You want the same thing as everyone else, you just took a different approach to get it.”

  She grabbed his neck and punished his lips with a hard, vicious kiss full of pain, disappointment and determination, then pushed him away. “No, damn you, you can’t have it! It’s my life at stake here and I’ll fight you with every fiber of my being before I let you toss it away as if it has no meaning.”

  Face sober, he took the punch she landed as she leapt up off him and out of bed. “You’re right, doll. It’s too much to ask. I won’t fight to change your mind. It might not seem that way at this moment, but believe me, your life means as much to me as it does to you.”

  Relief washed over her, for all her challenge she hadn’t wanted to fight such an uneven battle, she against Kel and her heart. It was hard to keep her voice upbeat as she issued a last challenge. “Then prove it. Come with me when I hand it over.”

  “That’s already a given. But get this straight, I’m driving.”

  “I thought you’d never ask. They say there are some crazy roads where we’re going, and besides that, you guys drive on the wrong side of the road.”

  “Better take a jacket,” Ngaire had said, yet rain had been the last thing on the weather forecaster’s mind. She’d tidied herself as well, navy linen brushed the backs of her knees, and the top that matched the skirt, though short-sleeved, was a lot more formal than anything she usually wore. He had visions of visiting some drug lord’s fancy compound.

  It couldn’t hurt. The more he got on those guys, the better. He just hoped his cover held.

  While Ngaire got ready, he’d tried to call Chaly and give him an update on the situation, but just this once the boss’s cell phone had been off, so he’d made do with leaving a cryptic message.

  Once they set off, Kel could see why she’d been dubious about the roads, though typical of New Zealand. Their route wound over the hills separating Christchurch from Akaroa Harbour. She’d shown him the isolated little township on the map, and he depended on her to navigate the few miles on from there, while he kept them on roads with a hundred-foot drop on their side and no safety barrier.

  The car that had been waiting for them outside the hotel wasn’t a clunker, but it sure wasn’t top of the line when it came to horses under the hood, and a black car, twice the size of theirs, was snarling behind them, waiting for a chance to overtake. But, since he couldn’t see what was coming, he’d have to wait until they picked up speed on the downward side of the hill.

  At last they were over the top, and although he couldn’t see it through the trees he knew Akaroa lay ahead of them.

  Concentrating on keeping the offside wheels on the road as they negotiated a bend he could swear was damn near a 360-degree loop, his grip almost let loose of the wheel as Ngaire squealed, “My God, he’s going to overtake!”

  He let his eyes wander for a brief second to see the other car edging alongside theirs on the tight side of the loop. Throttling down with the stick shift, he rammed the gears into second to slow them down, knowing braking too hard could send them into a spin and over the edge into the tall pine trees with their tops barely cresting the edge of the road. “Keep an eye on him. Tell me if he gets too close while I try to slow this baby down enough to let him pass.”

  “Okay, I’m watching. Oooh,” she gasped. “He’s getting closer. His car’s too long to fit round the tight curve. Try to stop…”

  The horrified tone of her next gasps made the hairs on his neck crinkle. “Sheesh, it’s him! The guy who stole my case in Tahiti. Go, go, go! Go faster. Don’t let him pass.”

  Kel saw the nose of the other car creep level with the driver’s-side mirror, brakes squealing as they reached the halfway point of the bend. This is what he’d feared, a last-dash attempt to steal the formula before she handed it over. Well, the bad guys weren’t going to get the chance to pick over the wreckage of their little car, especially with that dolt Ray Hohepa behind the wheel.

  Not if he could damn well help it.

  The next bend was coming up fast and on Hohepa’s side a rock wall loomed hard and jagged, a place where nothing grew but moss and metal slithers from cars it had eaten whole.

  Staying in second gear, Kel started winding the engine up, easing ahead. The swipe the other car laid on the rear driver’s-side wasn’t powerful enough to spin them off the road, but all he had to rely on was the agility of the smaller car to take the bends faster than the bigger one could rear-end them.

  The humidity inside the little box on wheels they were trapped in increased tenfold, mostly him sweating, as he took the next curve on two wheels that were screeching their little hearts out, the way he wanted to. Except, his fear was locked deep, where it wouldn’t show, as he prayed for the strength to keep Ngaire safe and beat the lunatic on their heels at his own game.

  “I can see a small patch of straight road coming up. If he gets in front of us there it’s curtains, so put the pedal to the metal, sweetheart, or we’ve had it for sure. We’ll either go over the edge or I’ll die of fright.”

  Though he couldn’t see her, Kel heard a smile in her voice. “Glad I could keep you amused, doll. Just one thing, does this baby come with air bags on both sides?”

  The little car rocked round the corner and on to the straight, all fifty yards of it. He glanced in the mirror, saw the other car fishtail, and barely missed the rock face. The engine protested as Kel slammed into third and floored the accelerator. Twenty yards and counting. He gripped the wheel with one hand and dropped a gear with the other as the corner charged closer. It was a tight little curve with a twist in its tail that dove back on itself in an S. He spun the wheel to the left and the car slid sideways, wheels gripping at the last moment as he suddenly flung them in the opposite direction, panicking a little as he saw the road straightening out in front of them in a racetrack where the only winner was high-powered speed.

  His eyes flicked to the mirror as Ngaire gripped his arm, jumping in her seat, and cried, “Oh, wow! We’ve won. A wheel just rolled across the road and over the edge.”

  The sky above them was as blue as a Dutchman’s coat, and the sea in the bay even brighter. Their goal was in sight. It didn’t stop his gaze flicking to the mirrors every few seconds to be certain they’d seen the last of the black car. “Here’s hoping the road has been cleared by the time we want to go home. I checked the map. There’s only one road in and one road out of this burg.”

  “You’ve brought us to a Marae….”

  His surpr
ise was as puzzling to Ngaire as the incredulous note of his gasp. Where else had he thought she’d take the mere. Sheesh, Kel was a New Zealander, she’d thought he’d know all about the culture. “This is the spot where I’ve to hand it over. Pull up close to those four people. I expect one of them is my contact.”

  “What’s the story, is this a gang headquarters?”

  “Get real, Kel. Are you a kidder or what?” She pushed open her door, smiling as a silver-haired man closed the distance to the car. This must be William Ruawai. “No time to explain. You’ll just have to take it as it comes, same as me. I’m the new guy on the block with all this stuff. Come and meet William, my contact.”

  She picked her pack up off the floor. Te Ruahiki was resting on the nest of white silk instead of wrapped in her grandmother’s scarf. Unfamiliar with traditions, she wanted easy access to the mere. How would it look to stand there unwinding layers of silk in a rush? She’d feel like a lunatic, and look like one, too.

  Feeling nervous now that the time had arrived, she waited as Kel locked the car, taking his time to pocket the keys. She wished he’d hurry. He made it just as William reached her. The elder’s skin was much darker than her own, but his features were as familiar as the photographs Pops had kept of her grandmother.

  “Haere mai. Haere mai. Haere mai. Thrice welcome, daughter of the Ngati Kahu.” Placing his hands on her shoulders, William bent his head toward hers. She knew what was coming, the hongi. Her grandfather had once described the action of touching foreheads and noses as the equivalent of a kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you, William, and thanks again for your assistance with the Customs agent.” She glanced at Kel. He was frowning, but didn’t shy from the hongi as she introduced him.

  The formality was repeated as they met an older couple, George and Hine. “Cousins of your grandmother,” William explained. “They’re visitors, too, so I’ve asked them to guide you through the powhiri. Marae protocol can be confusing to the uninitiated.”

  Suddenly, the undertaking took the form of a huge responsibility. What if she wasn’t up to it, did something wrong and insulted the people gathered for the ceremony? Keeping her eyes down, she edged closer to Kel, stopping when their arms brushed. Knowing he was there gave her a shot of confidence.

  William was saying, “Hine will answer the calls from the other women, so don’t worry. As the Rangatira, chief of this hapu, it’s my duty to greet you inside the Marae.”

  There didn’t seem to be a trace of Maori in the last man, Robert McIntyre, but she’d been fooled at Rotorua. Fair-haired, Robert had a ruddy complexion, and with the leather-patched elbows of his sport coat he reminded her of a school-teacher. When introduced, he shook her hand, starting to say, “You’ll never know how much this means to us,” but was interrupted by William’s “We must get on.”

  When she finally glanced Kel’s way, his eyes were intent, his expression cold. But before she could ask him what was up, William began speaking formally once more.

  “This is the Marae, our turangawaewae. It is not just a place for people to meet. It is the spiritual home of the generations who are no longer with us.”

  The words rolled off William’s tongue as if they’d been sung instead of spoken. Her skin tingled with a sensation at one with the air around them, which seemed to sparkle with nervous energy. His words made her think of Te Ruahiki, lost to his people for so many years. And of her family—mother, grandfather, and the grandmother she’d never known but who had lived in this place. All of them lost to her now. Instinctively, she reached for Kel’s hand, as if he was her anchor in the present. The moment their hands touched, Te Ruahiki made his approval known to her.

  “It is a spiritual home for the present generation.” William’s open-handed gesture toward her seemed to say “You.”

  “And will be the spiritual home of generations yet to come.” His hand movements encompassed both Kel and her, as William smiled, saying, “That will be your children.”

  Her heart squeezed inside her chest as if the tribal elder had reached out and gripped it in his large rawboned hand. If only… The words seemed to hang in the air for all to see. As deep inside that same heart, the hurtful knowledge that there could never be any children—not even if her love for Kel was reciprocated—made the wound bleed freely.

  The next few hours merged in a blur of speeches and action songs punctuated by a rhythmic wave of hand and foot movements. The plaintive calls that Hine replied to in her stead seemed to take them back to another place, another time.

  Once the tapu had been lifted from the visitors, it was introductions and hongis all round. She hadn’t realized what a big deal the return of Te Ruahiki would mean to her grandmother’s people. Thank heavens for her little support troupe. Without them she didn’t think she would have made it through the day. Particularly, as after a huge meal, the ceremonies began again.

  Afterward, George took her aside to explain how to proceed from then on. At last she would play her final part in the return of the greenstone mere.

  Wanting to keep Kel up with the action, she tried to convey George’s instructions. “This next part is where I hand over Te Ruahiki. Wish me luck.”

  “Te Rua who?”

  “Te Ruahiki. That’s the name of the greenstone mere that Paul Savage sent you to procure. Didn’t he tell you anything?”

  “Sent me after? What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never met the man. Never heard of him until you mentioned him.”

  She didn’t know whether or not to believe her ears. She’d heard of the Mafia taking out contracts, but subcontracting? “What was that about this morning, when you said you could fix things for me? I thought you meant you’d make sure I’d get the money.”

  “Money? You said that your life was at stake.”

  “Oh, this is too weird. We can’t talk now. I’ll tell you on the way back to the hotel.” Then, as they went to take their places, her breath jolted from her lungs. Hoping she wouldn’t have to point, she whispered to Kel, “There’s the guy who tried to run us off the road. He’s in the crowd at the far side of the meeting house.”

  Kel nodded, the light in his eyes uncivilized. “I’ll take care of him later, don’t worry. You have loads of support now.”

  But she wondered if Paul Savage would ever let her win. If he managed to get his hands on Te Ruahiki, would the curse still hold?

  Her hands shook. For the first time since she’d passed through Customs, the jade mere would be visible to people other than herself. It seemed to shimmer in her hands, pristine as the day it had been carved hundreds of years before, a symbol of mana to its owner. Thankfully, no prediction of death flecked its color. Nudging Kel’s elbow, she whispered, “Meet Te Ruahiki.”

  As if drawn, Kel stroked his fingertips across its pale green surface. She knew he felt the warmth that the jade accepted from its owner. Her warmth. In the back of her mind, she realized that in all her journey, even when they’d traveled through the wild western region where it was unearthed, she’d never bought herself any greenstone. All she had was the small greenstone band that Kel had given her.

  With him on one side and George on the other, they faced the meeting house with traditional red coloring, carved lintels and beams. At last the speaker finished and George indicated this was her moment. The mere had been part of her life for as long as she could remember. Soon it, too, would be gone, like all the other important pieces of her past.

  “This is it, old guy,” she murmured, stepping forward. “I’ve kept my promise. I’ve brought you home. Here’s hoping you’ll be content now and remove the curse.”

  Gingerly, she laid the mere on the ground with its handle toward William and its fighting edge pointing at her support group. “So long, my friend, I really hope you’ll be happy.”

  Back in place, she watched William approach Te Ruahiki. As he bent to pick it up, the strangest thing happened. The air around him appeared to shift and change shape, moving with William, but
not part of him.

  Once more she reached for Kel’s hand, met his without taking her stunned eyes from the Maori warrior rising before them.

  Black hair was drawn up in a topknot at the crown held by two white-tipped charcoal feathers in the form of a V. Swirling tattoos caged his proud face from forehead to chin. There was no doubting she beheld a leader, a battle-hardened chief. One hand gripped the greenstone mere—his spiritual home since he’d died in battle—his arm bent across a kiwi-feather cloak that moved with the breeze. A touch that added reality to the illusion.

  Was that a glimmer of a smile on Te Ruahiki’s face?

  Did he want her to know the curse had been dispelled?

  Who could tell?

  Who could she ask that would believe what she’d seen?

  As the apparition disappeared, Kel gave her fingers a squeeze. Only time held the answer.

  No one acted as if anything out of the ordinary had taken place. The ceremony carried on, leaving her to wonder if her imagination was playing tricks.

  Her gaze turned to the tall man at her side. Rock solid, immovable, Kel still held her hand. Was it fair to pin her hopes on him, to expect him to share the burden of her wait? Their eyes met as he plucked a narrow brown feather off her sleeve and slipped it into his pocket. His head lowered, came closer as he whispered for her ears alone, “How weird was that?”

  Maybe she would tell him about the curse, after all.

  Chapter 17

  S he was laughing as they set off again. “Did you see the look on that guy’s face when they sent those two Maori wardens after him? Sheesh, they were big. Back home, they’d be playing linebacker.”

  Kel’s dry-as-a-bone laughter came somewhere between a laugh and a cough, knowing his own problem had still to be solved. “That’s one guy who won’t be dogging our trail for a while.”

  For the first time since he met her, there was a glimmer of light beckoning in the distance even though their day had finished up as weird as all get out.

  “And by tomorrow, Te Ruahiki will be safely locked up in the Canterbury Museum, on loan from my grandmother’s subtribe.”