by Al Boudreau
Neither of us said too much for the remainder of the ride back to the resort, Andrew’s words still bouncing around my head like a beach ball, vivid and bright. I was relieved. And hopeful. I hadn’t looked forward to his arrival, but after hearing him bare his soul, I knew Andrew had the right combination of guts and gray matter to become a decent PI.
Chapter 13
Exactly two hours and twenty minutes after climbing the on-ramp away from the airport onto H1 west, we were coasting down the entry road to Ko Ahiku Resort.
“This place is crazy. A little over-the-top fancy, isn’t it?” Andrew asked.
“Yeah, it’s extravagant, to say the least. When I first got here it actually made me uncomfortable,” I said. “Too rich for my blood.”
“You mind explaining something to me?” Andrew asked.
“Shoot.”
“Why would a potential client put you up in such an expensive place? There are probably a thousand other properties he could have picked, and probably saved a ton of cash in the process.”
“I asked myself the same thing. And I don’t have a clear answer.”
“Mind if I throw out a possibility?” Andrew asked.
“Go right ahead,” I said, curious about how his mind worked.
“I’ve heard it said that if you want to catch a criminal, you have to think like one. So maybe this guy booked a room for you here because he hoped you’d get real comfortable. Could be he wants you to stay a while, for some reason.”
Andrew’s words gave me a feeling of déjà vu, but it took my jet-lagged brain a few seconds to make the connection. Then I remembered the comment Sarah made while on the phone last night. Hope this guy who wanted to hire you and Richard doesn’t have some ulterior motive.
“Yeah, it was a stupid idea,” I heard Andrew say, interrupting my train of thought.
“It’s not that,” I said. “I got caught up in what you said. Your idea made me remember a similar thought Sarah had when I talked to her on the phone last night. She suggested maybe the guy has some ulterior motive for bringing us here. Her thoughts and your thoughts together … well, let’s put it this way—they make for some very interesting food for thought.”
“Okay, cool,” Andrew said, his subtle smile telling me my words meant a lot to him.
“Keep coming up with solid thinking like that, and I may be able to retire soon,” I said.
He laughed. “Yeah, right. I don’t know you very well, Carter, but you don’t seem like the type of guy who could sit still for very long. My guess is you’d miss the life in a hurry.”
I shot him a quick glance before turning onto the side street leading to Tower 1. “Yep, you’ve been talking to Sarah, all right.”
“Wow,” Andrew said, “Ko Ahiku is mega-lush. They must have spent a million dollars on landscaping alone.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I said as we drove down the ramp to the parking garage.
“Does it cost a lot to rent a car here?”
“I have no idea. Our so-called client provided it. Gave me the keys and the rental agreement the night I got here,” I replied.
“Is it possible to get the payment information for the car through the rental agency? You know, see whose credit card account was used to reserve it?”
I pulled into our designated parking space, shut the car off, and nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. That’s on my mental list of information we need to run down today.”
It was now.
Not that I wouldn’t have come to the same conclusion after a few more cups of coffee and a nap, but I had to give it to the guy. He was firing on all cylinders. Which was more than I could say for myself at the moment. “Come on. Let’s head upstairs and I’ll introduce you to Richard.”
We made our way to the elevator and rode it up to the first floor. “Man, this joint is sweet,” Andrew said as the elevator doors slid open. “Even the hallways look expensive.”
“No doubt. Wait until you see our suite,” I said as we walked down the hall to our door.
I slid the keycard and swung the door wide. Andrew began to say something, but was interrupted by Richard. “There you are. I got this GPS tracker up and running. Even figured out how to track multiple targets, because it looks as though we have two to track.” Richard held the device out in front of me. The screen showed a blue arrow moving slowly across a map depicting a small section of the island. “Here’s target number two,” he said, and with the push of a button a new screen appeared, with a stationary blue arrow centered on the map. “The indicator on this one is intermittent. Sometimes it’s there, but most of the time it’s not.”
“Yep, there it goes,” I said as it disappeared.
“I think the location is the airport just down the highway in Kapolei, called Kalaeloa,” Richard said. “It’s a general aviation field. Mostly commuter flights and military operations flying in and out of there.”
“How long have you had this contraption up and running?” I asked.
“Got it figured out shortly after Mrs. Odell came by with the check,” Richard said.
“Probably not a coincidence. Where is that check, anyway?” I asked. Richard pointed toward the coffee table in the living room.
“By the way, Richard, say hello to Sarah’s brother, Andrew.”
“Pleased to meet you, Andrew. I understand you’re interested in becoming a PI.”
“Pleasure, Richard. Yeah, that’s the plan,” Andrew said as he shook Richard’s hand.
“Well, you couldn’t have picked a better mentor than Carter,” Richard said. “He’ll show you the ropes like no one else can.”
I grabbed the cashier’s check and examined it while the two of them engaged in shop talk. Much to my surprise the check appeared to be authentic, drawn on a local Hawaiian bank. I was no expert on counterfeit documents, but judging by the various security features present on the front and back, if it was a fake, it was a darn good one.
“What’s the verdict?” Richard asked, pointing at the check.
“I couldn’t tell you with any certainty. Looks real, though.”
“I thought the same when she handed it to me,” Richard said.
“Mind if I take a look?” Andrew asked. “I had a good many cashier’s checks land on my desk when I was an accountant.”
I handed the check to him. “It has a perforated edge along the top, which is a good sign.”
Andrew nodded as he held it up to the light. “I don’t see any indications of it being tampered with. And it has all the usual watermarks. Padlock icon is there. Bank’s name, telephone number, and Web address are all printed top-center, which seems standard. I’d say it’s legitimate.”
“Huh. Maybe we got lucky,” I replied.
Richard threw his hands in the air. “I looked that check over pretty thoroughly before I handed that pile of cash off to Mrs. Odell. Never any doubt in my mind it was real.”
“We’ll know when I take it to the bank,” I said. “It has yesterday’s date on it, so if it’s authentic, there’s a good chance the teller who issued it will remember the person who paid for it.”
“Not to change the subject,” Richard said, “but what are the new sleeping arrangements going to be?”
“I’m going to sleep on the couch. Andrew will be taking my room,” I said.
“No, no way, Carter. I’m the rookie here. The couch is mine,” Andrew said. “I insist.”
“No hard feelings, Andrew, but I’m not going to argue. The couch is all yours,” I said, doing my best not to laugh.
“What a guy,” Richard said with a chuckle. “Bet you didn’t think he’d take you up on your offer, did you Andrew?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Andrew replied. “Right is right.”
“Andrew, my bathroom is the one off the hallway,” I said. “We’ll share that one. And there’s a storage closet right next to it. You can keep your belongings in there.” I took a seat on the couch to assemble my new burner phone. I needed to call Sarah and the
Honolulu Police Department, so they’d have my new contact number. Then it was time to delegate tasks and get busy. We were way behind our cunning adversaries, with no idea what kind of game they were running on us.
Richard took a seat in the armchair across from me, his attention focused on the GPS device. “According to this electronic map, the first target is traveling adjacent to the coast on King Kamehameha Highway. That’s on the opposite side of the island from us, right?”
“I’m not sure. Is there any way to reduce the scale of that map to show the entire island?” I asked.
“There might be, but I haven’t figured out how,” Richard replied.
Andrew pulled out his phone, and within a few seconds said, “Here, I brought up a map of the island. We can use it to compare with the map on the GPS device, and pinpoint just where that target is.”
“Okay, good,” Richard said as he studied the second map for a moment. “Appears as though they’re approaching Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore.”
I had a thought as I got my burner phone plugged in and charging. I motioned for the pair to follow me out onto the lawn. “Let’s talk about this out here,” I said as Andrew and Richard joined me. “No telling who might be eavesdropping on us. Now, getting back to the GPS device. It’s all well and good that we know where these two targets are. But who are they?”
“What if the one at the airport is our imposter?” Richard asked. “Shouldn’t we head there with the device and find out?”
“Then what?” I asked. “We don’t have the means to detain the guy. No weapons and no grounds. And time isn’t on our side. I think it’s safe to say the guy is in the wind at this point. We just don’t have the resources to be chasing ghosts.”
“What’s our arrangement with the Honolulu police?” Richard asked.
“I gave them everything we have, but I’ll touch base with them in a bit. I still need to find out about this cashier’s check, and email Sarah copies of the prints and photos. Andrew also made a good point about the rental car docs. There might be a lead hiding somewhere in the paperwork. Suppose we could ask the Honolulu PD to call the rental agency to see what they have.”
“I was thinking the same thing last night,” Richard said as he looked at Andrew.
I caught Andrew’s eye and winked. He appeared to be fighting back a smirk, likely trying to avoid offending Richard.
“I’m hungry,” I said. “How about you guys?”
“Starving,” Andrew replied.
“I ate a while ago,” Richard said. “I was up early this morning.”
“Andrew, you willing to grab a bite for us?” I asked as I pulled out a twenty. “There’s a coffee shop in the plaza we passed coming in. It has breakfast sandwiches, pastries, that kind of thing.”
“No problem.”
“You can head out through the security fence. Gate’s over there. Here, you’ll need my keycard.”
“Be back in a bit,” Andrew said.
Richard stood with his hands on his hips as Andrew walked away. “Did you tell him he wasn’t getting paid?”
“Yep. He didn’t have a problem with it,” I said.
“Hmmph. Kid seems like kind of a know-it-all,” Richard said, a sour expression on his face.
“Nah. I don’t get that at all. In fact, I have to say I’m impressed with him. Seems to have a natural ability for what we do.”
Richard furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. “Geez, how can you make that kind of assessment at this point? The kid’s only been here a few hours.”
“Just my opinion. My gut talking.”
“I think your gut might be full of … ah, never mind. It’s not worth quibbling over.”
I never knew Richard to be the jealous type, but I got the sense he was feeling insecure due to the major cluster this trip had become. I wasn’t going to bring it up again, but still wished we’d both paid more attention to detail at the outset.
I left Richard standing out on the lawn so he could stew over his bruised ego in peace, and headed back inside. I decided to take the charger and my new phone into the bedroom in order to make a few calls.
I heard the call connect through the speaker, ringing Sarah’s number. “Hello?” she answered.
“It’s Carter, Sarah. This is my new number. My personal phone’s been compromised. I think our bogus client cloned the SIM card.”
“Uh-huh. Thought it might be you. Did Andrew make it there safely?”
“Yeah. I just sent him out to grab us some breakfast.”
“And did you two have the talk about money?”
“Yep. Went real well. I have to say, I really like the guy. He’s got true potential. Reminds me of you when we first met.”
“Aww, that makes me happy, Carter. You’re a sweetheart for agreeing to take him under your wing.”
“No worries. How are you doing?”
“Other than missing you—and my job as a PI—I’m fine,” Sarah replied. “I’ve got a little project I’m working on right now. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Good. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Well, I’m about to send you an email. The file will have two sets of prints and a few video stills in it. Mind asking Detective James to run them for us?”
“Sure. I was planning on heading into town in a bit, anyway. Did you introduce my brother to Richard yet?”
“Yep.”
“How’s that going?” she asked.
I got up and closed the bedroom door. “Well … your brother hasn’t said a word about Richard, but I think Richard’s got a chip on his shoulder about Andrew being here.”
“Oh, really? Maybe you should give Richard a message for me.”
I laughed. “Now, now. Don’t forget, I have to deal with the guy while I’m here. Let’s not make matters worse.”
“Maybe so, but Andrew is family. And Richard’s … Richard.”
“He’ll warm up to your brother,” I said. “My early impression is that Andrew is a male version of you, Sarah. What’s not to love?”
“You know just what to say to a girl,” she said and began laughing. “Okay, handsome, I’ll let you get back to it. Talk soon?”
“You got it,” I said. I ended the call and dialed Sergeant Kehoe’s direct line at the Honolulu Police Department, hoping to catch him.
“Kehoe.”
“Sergeant, Carter Peterson here.”
“Good. I can cross you off my list of calls to make. Bear with me while I find my notes.” After a beat he continued. “Okay, the department wasn’t able to reach our victim’s wife, but we did locate and contact his brother, Curtis Odell. Curtis made a positive ID on Ellis Odell from the photograph our medical examiner sent over. Curtis lives in Long Beach. He boarded a plane bound for Honolulu about an hour ago, so we should see him early this afternoon. I’m having one of my officers pick him up at the airport.”
“Sounds like progress,” I said. “My real concern is whether or not there’s any truth to Odell’s daughter Amber being kidnapped. Sergeant, we just met with the victim’s wife here on Oahu. I have a cell number for her, which I’ll text to you. Mrs. Odell maintains the girl is missing. Also, I wanted you to know we got that GPS gadget up and running. There were two targets registering roughly ten minutes ago, one showing up at Kalaeola Airport, the other on the North Shore, near Turtle Bay Resort. The Kalaeloa target kept fading in and out.”
“I hope it’s not your imposter trying to evade us. Maybe he’s trying to make a break for it without getting caught,” Kehoe said.
“Interesting thought, though he never mentioned having a tracking implant,” I said.
“Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t,” Kehoe offered. “Either way, I’ve issued a statewide BOLO on the guy, using the stills you provided. But if he’s using Kalaeloa Airport to leave Oahu, there’s a good chance we’ll lose him. We’re also in the process of running his prints. So far, we’ve got nothing. As far as Amber Odell is concerned, I’ll check to see if any missing
person’s reports were filed here in Hawaii. I’ll check Los Angeles, too. And we can ask about her when we talk to Ellis’s brother Curtis.”
“Great. Also, I’m about to fax over some rental car docs that belong to the vehicle our suspect provided us with. Might be helpful if you could request the payment information from the rental agency.”
“Thanks, Carter. Good work. Oh, by the way, that requisition money came through, so don’t be afraid to get yourself some lunch.”
“Fantastic. Thanks.” I pocketed my phone and headed back out to the living area. Richard was still messing with the GPS tracker.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Richard asked.
“I need to go to the bank that check is drawn on, for starters. I just got off the phone with Sergeant Kehoe. They located Ellis Odell’s brother, and they’re bringing him in to ID the body. Then they’re going to question him. Meanwhile, I’m having Sarah run the prints we sent.” I was about to ask Richard to cut Andrew some slack when I heard the door open. Andrew was back.
He approached us, saying in a low voice, “I just caught some dude hanging around in front of our door. He tried to make it look like he was cleaning the wood trim when he saw me, but he bailed once I got close.”
“Describe the guy,” I said.
“Definitely Hawaiian, wearing what looked like a resort employee’s uniform. Grayish-black hair, with an odd ridge running up through the middle of it. You know, like the hair along the spine of those—oh, what’s that breed of dog?” Andrew hesitated. “I’m not sure, but I think they’re called Rhodesian Ridgebacks.”
I grabbed the door handle and stuck my head out in the hallway. No one was around, but by Andrew’s description I knew exactly who he was referring to.
“Kaholo.”
Chapter 14
Any investigator worth his or her salt prioritizes the leads they chase down based on the likelihood of them paying off. Finding Amber Odell would remain first and foremost on our list.
But putting Kaholo under a microscope had just jumped to second.
