Homicide in Hawaii

by Susan Harper

  Pauline took a picture with Kendell’s phone. “I think we know who killed Makani,” Pauline said.

  “I think we do,” Kendell said. “If we can get Mikey to confess to us that Johnny is his dealer, that will probably be all we need. Mikey told us that he suspected his dealer might be behind this.”

  “I bet you anything Mikey and Johnny are both at that surfing competition,” Pauline said as they lowered the drugs back into the underwater capsule beneath the rickety ship. They closed the little hatch and covered it with the rug, making sure everything that they had moved was back in its proper place.

  “Let’s go,” Kendell said. “We have a surfing competition to get to.”

  13

  Kendell and Pauline arrived at what had to be the most crowded beach they had ever seen. There were lifeguards posted every thirty feet, and ropes blocking people off from the water. White chairs lined one side of the beach, and a number of truck vendors were posted all along the sand. There were vendors selling clothes, food, crafts, and even surfing lessons. There was loud music blaring, people dancing, and of course, surfers in line getting their numbers pinned to their chests to compete.

  Surprisingly enough, Kendell saw Nick in the lineup with the number 42 proudly pinned to his chest. They approached him; he was standing with Brandon, his sister, and their parents. “Glad to see that you decided to still partake in the contest,” Kendell said. “Good for you.”

  “I’m wearing Makani’s number,” he said, tapping his chest. “I’m not much of a surfer, but if I am awarded anything—even if it’s something small—the announcers will call her name out.”

  “That’s very sweet, Nick,” Kendell said, nodding toward the crowd where she could see Makani’s family gathered to support Nick and some of Makani’s friends who were competing in the surfing contest. “So, who all is here?”

  “Pretty much everyone,” Nick said. “Johnny and Bane are both competing. So are some of the other surfers you guys met at the luau. Ikaika is here with his food truck. I think I saw Mikey hanging out around here somewhere…”

  “Where did you see him?” Pauline asked.

  “Um…probably around Ikaika’s food truck,” Brandon said. “Sounded like he was hoping to get some free food. He told us his new job is going well, but he won’t get his first paycheck for a while.”

  “Good for him,” Kendell said. She reached out and put her hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Kick some butt out there for Makani today, all right?”

  “I’ll do my best. But, I’m just a New Jersey boy trying to go up against Hawaii-born surfers.”

  “You had a great teacher,” Pauline said, and Nick beamed.

  “Thanks,” he said and headed toward the lineup of surfers who would be going out in the water with the first round of competitors.

  The sun was beating down on their backs that day; Kendell wished that she had thought to wear a swimsuit so she could go splash in the water at the edge of the competition where contest volunteers were allowing some swimmers to go. But she knew that could not be her main focus that day. She and Pauline slipped away from Brandon and his family and made their way over to Ikaika’s food truck. After the painful amount of food Kendell had already ingested that day thanks to Pauline’s room service buffet-style order, she definitely wasn’t going over there to eat. She wanted to talk to Mikey, and Pauline seemed to be on the same page as far as that was concerned.

  The two women said hello to Ikaika, and Pauline asked him if he had seen Mikey. The big-bellied Hawaiian smiled. “Yeah, I saw him just a few minutes ago. Gave him a plate.” The man leaned out of the window of his food truck and pointed toward some picnic tables that had been set out in the sand for the event. “There he is, chowing down.”

  “Thanks, Ikaika,” Kendell said.

  “Any time, ladies. What do you need Mikey for?” Ikaika asked curiously.

  “Just needed to ask him some questions about Makani,” Pauline said. “We think we might have found something that could help the police with their investigation, and we just need to confirm something with him.”

  “Oh, Mikey’s not in any trouble, is he?” Ikaika asked, sounding worried.

  There was a line forming behind Pauline and Kendell now, so Kendell quickly settled the man’s mind. “No trouble,” Kendell assured him. “We just need to talk.”

  “Okay, if you say so. All right. Next order! Aloha!” Ikaika called out, glancing past Kendell to the next person in line.

  Pauline and Kendell hurried over to the picnic table where Mikey sat alone. They sat down without an invite—Pauline right beside him, and Kendell across from him. The man nearly choked on his food in surprise. “Ladies,” he said, raising a brow. “Can I…can I help you two with anything?”

  “Who’s your dealer, Mikey?” Kendell asked, and the man’s eyes widened.

  “I don’t do that anymore, and it’s none of your business,” he said under his breath. “And, chill, would you? My boss is here watching the competition. This is not exactly a conversation I would want her to overhear.”

  “You said you were worried your dealer might have killed Makani?” Kendell asked.

  “No, I was worried his supplier might have,” Mikey corrected.

  Pauline shook her head. “Yes, that would make sense, if the man hadn’t been in jail when Makani was killed. She got him booked a while back.”

  Mikey grew pale. “So…you think my last dealer…”

  “Who is he, Mikey?” Kendell asked.

  “I shouldn’t say,” he said, nervously tapping his fingers against the picnic table. “I really shouldn’t say.”

  “You ever seen that To Kill a Mockingbird movie or read the book?” Kendell asked.

  “I read it in high school before I dropped out,” Mikey said. “I think we watched the movie too. Why?”

  “The lawyer, Abacus, had a theory about practicing law—specifically about when you were questioning someone. Do you remember what it was?” Kendell asked.

  “No.”

  “Never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to,” Kendell said, and Mikey’s shoulders slumped. Kendell stared him down. “We know Johnny has been dealing.”

  Mikey frowned. “Okay, okay, hush!” he hissed, sinking further in his seat. “No one in our group of friends knows about Johnny dealing on the side. He doesn’t do drugs himself. He just deals. After my old dealer went to prison and I started having bad withdrawals, Johnny pulled me aside and started dealing to me. That was over a year ago before I decided to get help. Before Makani decided I needed to get help, that is. He and I were cool about me not buying from him anymore, but he was dead serious about me keeping my mouth shut about it. The surfers that hung in our crowd were all big on making society better, mostly because of Makani. He didn’t want to lose his job driving the bus for Ikaika, and he was worried Makani would actually report him even though they were friends. So, I kept it a secret for him. Makani would always pressure me to give her the name of the new dealer I went to, but I kept quiet because Johnny was always a good guy despite the dealing.”

  “Thanks for confirming,” Kendell said, she and Pauline exchanging worried glances.

  “How did you know that Johnny was my dealer?” he asked. “Johnny is pretty quiet about that sort of thing around this crowd.”

  “We went to his boat. He’s got drugs being smuggled there…and, Mikey…we think we might have found the murder weapon that killed Makani on his boat—a fishing spear,” Pauline said, and Mikey’s face contorted from sad to very, very angry.

  “You’re serious?” he asked.

  “We think so,” Kendell said. “But we want to try to get a confession. See if he can talk his way around it sort of thing.”

  “Let me do it,” he said angrily. “I’ll confront him. I’m not afraid to.”

  “Where is he?” Pauline asked.

  “He is down at the beach…waiting his turn…” Mikey stood up.

  “Whoa there, Mikey, not now!”
Kendell yelped, but he was already darting off toward the crowd.

  Johnny was standing in a line along the beach among those surfers cheering on their fellow surfers already out on the water. Nick was among those swimming out to get ready to catch a wave, as was Bane and about six others. Kendell pulled out her cell phone, wanting to get the confrontation between Mikey and Johnny on film, even though it was happening in a way she did not prefer. She much rather would have planned something, but instead, Mikey was on the hunt.

  “Johnny!” he shouted, and Johnny looked up with a large grin.

  “What’s up, Mikey?” he called, but Mikey came right up to him, nose to nose.

  “Hey, man, personal space!” Johnny yelped, attempting to take a step back.

  Mikey grabbed Johnny’s board, pushing it down. “Where were you the morning Makani was killed?” he demanded.

  “Man, I was heading toward the beach. I done told you I was among those who found her,” Johnny said.

  “You and I both know that’s a lie,” he hissed.

  Johnny grabbed Mikey by the arm, pulling him aside and away from the other surfers. “Dude, what are you talking about?” Johnny asked.

  Kendell kept a safe distance, but continued filming with her phone. “You know what I’m talking about,” Mikey said. “Makani put your supplier behind bars. She wiped out half of your income when she took that guy out. And you knew that she was trying to identify my dealer. Trying to identify you. You decided to put an end to your little problem, didn’t you? You knew she was going to be at that beach by herself that morning. Probably got her to go out in the water with you to surf.”

  “I did not such thing, you little washed-up creep,” Johnny snarled. “Get out of here before I beat you down into the sand.”

  “I know you got her with a fishing spear,” Mikey said somewhat loudly.

  Johnny’s eyes widened, and he reached out and grabbed Mikey by the collar of his shirt. “How the hell did you know that, you worthless little hobo?” he snarled and pulled his fist back. Mikey took the hit, and he fumbled back into the sand. “How about I stab you in the back of the head like I did that uptight, Miss Do-gooder Makani!” Johnny reached down, grabbing Mikey again by the collar of his shirt again and pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go. You and I are leaving.”

  Kendell glanced around for Pauline, but she was nowhere to be seen. She thought to ask the surfers standing around her for backup, but she wasn’t sure how quickly she could corral them together to help Mikey. She definitely couldn’t take out Johnny, and Mikey didn’t look like the type of guy to put up much of a fight. But she wasn’t about to let Johnny drag Mikey off the beach and away from witnesses. “Yo, Johnny!” she called, and Johnny glanced up in her direction just as a beach rover with the word Lifeguard painted on the side came zipping by, driven by Pauline.

  Brandon was in the passenger’s seat as they zoomed by, and he swung a spare surfboard right into Johnny’s back. It knocked the man clear out, and of course, lifeguards immediately swarmed them—one of them tackling Brandon to the ground after pulling him from the stolen beach rover.

  “Nice,” Kendell said, glad she had still been filming.

  “Hey! I only did it because he was trying to kill him!” Brandon yelped as though he really was not entirely sure and had just been taking Pauline’s word for it.

  Kendell hurried over to the lifeguards, one of them checking Johnny over since he had just been KO-ed by Brandon. She showed them the video, and they were on the phone with the police in an instant. The police arrived just as Johnny was coming to. Kendell played the confession for them, and he was carted off. “Nice job, ladies,” one of the officers said as Kendell sent him the video.

  “Wait until Nick hears what you did,” Brandon said, pointing toward the beach.

  Nick and several others were still out in the water waiting on the preliminary rounds to start. A large group of waves came in, and the judges gave the signal that they were ready to start. Nick and Bane both caught a wave, followed by several other surfers. Brandon, Kendell, and Pauline stood toward the front of the viewing crowd, watching with anticipation. Then, Bane dropped out. The man smiled at Nick and threw himself clear off his board, as did every other surfer out there. Nick rode the wave in. His tricks were very amateur, but with no other surfer competing against him, he managed to rack up the most points. Makani’s name was called over the loud speaker as the surfer who had gotten the most points in this first set of preliminary rounds.

  Kendell smiled as Bane made his was over, followed shortly by Nick. “You had the other surfers jump off their boards,” Nick said to Bane.

  Bane pointed to a giant chalkboard stationed behind the judges. “I heard you were wearing Makani’s number. Just wanted to make sure I saw her name up on the leader board one last time.”

  “That’s just too sweet,” Kendell said.

  “So, where’s Johnny at?” Bane asked. “I thought he was going in the next round?”

  Kendell smiled slightly in their direction. “Well, about that… I think you two might want to sit down. We have some news on the Makani front.”

  14

  Kendell rolled out of bed the next morning, doing so slowly and with very little energy. The surfing contest had really taken its toll on her, and she’d had to go give a statement after the contest about how she and Pauline had managed to identify Makani’s killer. Between the video confession and Mikey’s testimony, Johnny was going to be going to prison for a long time. She felt accomplished, and she had somehow managed to actually relax a good bit.

  Pauline was still asleep; the poor old woman had to run out of batteries eventually. Kendell threw on her bathing suit, and she and Brandon made their way down the beach. They had already shared their good-byes with Nick, Bane, Ikaika, and Mikey—all the friends they had made during their stay. The two friends enjoyed some time relaxing on the beach, hardly able to believe that their flight left in a few hours.

  “These touristy beaches are pretty lame when you’ve been to the locals’ sights,” Brandon said.

  “Way too crowded,” Kendell agreed. “But I’m really glad your brother was able to show us around and give us an authentic taste of Hawaii.”

  “Same,” Brandon said.

  “So, what is he doing? Is he going to stay in Hawaii?” Kendell asked.

  “I think so,” Brandon said. “He has made a life for himself out here. He wasn’t just slumming around with a girl, you know? He came here with her to get to know her, but he totally fell in love while he was out here. Not just with her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With this place,” Brandon said. “He may have been born in New Jersey, but he is a Hawaiian all the way. It kind of sucks, though. I’ve really missed seeing him all the time, you know?”

  “You literally work at an airline,” Kendell said. “Use your vacation days. And be glad your brother moved to freaking Honolulu. He could have moved to Chicago.”

  “God, I hate Chicago,” Brandon said.

  “I know you do,” Kendell said. “But instead, whenever you want to visit your brother, you get to come to this amazing place.” She extended her arms, waving toward the crystal-clear ocean. “Not a bad place to visit.”

  “No, definitely not,” he said, moaning. “My flight back to New York leaves in two hours.”

  “Our flight leaves at about the same time. I guess we should head back inside and get showered,” Kendell said.

  “Where are you two going next?” Brandon asked.

  “I have no idea,” Kendell admitted. “It’s weird. I don’t even bother asking her until we’re at the airport.”

  “That’s weird,” Brandon agreed.

  “Yeah, but it’s kind of fun and exciting at the same time,” she said.

  They headed back up to the hotel, each heading to their respective showers to get dressed and ready to go. By the time Kendell was dressed and had dried her hair, Pauline was on the suite’s kitchen phone.
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  “Who are you talking to?” Kendell asked. “You better not be ordering room service galore again.”

  Pauline laughed, hanging up the phone. “No, I just reserved us a seat for lunch. I’m going to treat you and Brandon before we have to fly off.”

  “Sounds great,” Kendell said, and the three made their way down to the resort’s restaurant, where they enjoyed a meal together. They shared a cab to the airport, and Pauline took Dot out of her carrier to let her use the restroom outside before the flight.

  Once inside, the ladies bid farewell to Brandon. “Enjoy your flight back to New York,” Kendell said, giving him a hug.

  “Enjoy your flight to…wherever…” he said, laughing.

  “Peru,” Pauline said. “We’re going to Peru.”

  “Oh, wow!” Kendell exclaimed. “That sounds fun!”

  Brandon gave Pauline a hug as well. “Ma’am, it was so nice meeting you. You are just wonderful. And thank you, thank you so much for what all you did for my brother. I don’t think you realize what it meant to him to see justice for Makani.”

  “Kendell helped, you know?” Pauline teased.

  Brandon laughed. “Of course,” he said, giving Kendell another hug. “Thank you. And don’t worry. I’m going to keep an eye out on Jack for you.”

  “Appreciated,” Kendell said and waved good-bye as he headed off in the opposite direction.

  The two women went and waited in line for boarding, and eventually they found themselves sitting on the plane waiting for takeoff. Kendell set her carry-on in her lap, and then her face grew pale. “Oh, no! I forgot to get a sticker for my bag!” she yelped.

  “No worries,” Pauline said, reaching into Dot’s carrier. “I snagged you one from the resort’s gift shop while you were showering.”

  Kendell grinned and thanked Pauline for the kind gesture. She took the little sticker; it was a surfboard with the word Honolulu written on the side. “That’s just perfect, since we went to a surfing competition!” she exclaimed, thanking the woman again before putting the sticker next to her London and Nairobi stickers.