The Howling Cliffs

by Mary Deal

  She used the room phone early the next morning to call Birdie and asked her not to say anything. Birdie may be the neighborhood chatterbox, but she could keep secrets. She loved the mystery of the way things happened and loved watching how they resolved. She keenly knew when to be dead serious and this was one of those times.

  Sara remembered Bao's curious actions and hesitated to ask Birdie to talk with him. Hopefully, Officer Makamai had admonished him to silence. Sara would have a chat with him once she was released. She wanted to thank Bao face to face. He had come along on the rescue effort when others may have chosen to leave the situation to the police or Fire Department Rescue. Still, she needed to know why he had accompanied the group.

  Birdie commented he never mingled with people and always seemed secretive. Why was he so interested in neighbors' activities that led him to hide behind his shrubs and peek out?

  What was his interest once he learned she went missing up on that trail? What was he looking for when he spent many moments peering over the cliffside with his flashlight and then surprised everyone by walking back with her backpack?

  Sara had intended to stay a couple more nights as the doctor ordered but he had confirmed she had no after-effects from the brain bleed. All she was doing was pacing in her room. She could do that at home. It was time to leave.

  The next morning, Birdie showed up at the hospital to take her home, even though she had not been released by the doctors. Birdie was the kind of neighbor Sara trusted immediately with a house key, and luckily so. Birdie brought fresh clothes, otherwise Sara would have to wear hospital scrubs home again, not a habit she wished to maintain. Sara was about to leave the pain pills behind, then grabbed them, just in case.

  “Did you hear the storm last night? All sheltered up there in your hospital bed.”

  “Heard some.”

  “Lightning struck right over the house… rattled all the jalousies.”

  “I heard hurricane season could be wet and wild.”

  “What a night! Me all cozy in my bed and the angels up in the clouds… breaking wind!”

  Sara could only grin and shake her head.

  Birdie noticed she had a message waiting on her cell phone. She returned the call while walking out of the lobby. Soon, she happily waved the phone in the air. “Ka'imi's ready to come home.”

  “Great. Did they say what was wrong with her?”

  “Sleeping pills.” Birdie expression showed anger and pain. “Someone slipped her sleeping pills. Could've killed her.”

  “How could that have happened?” Then Sara realized that Ka'imi had fallen back a couple of times on the trail. In the very least, the person had to be someone Ka'imi knew. “Someone caught her and gave it to her. Then she lapped up my water before she went to sleep.”

  “That killer had it all planned.” Birdie's eyes got misty. She loved that dog. “Someone gave Ka'imi sleeping pills to quiet her so he could push you over the cliff. He knew exactly what he was doing.” She gave Sara an empathetic hug before they headed toward the parking lot.

  “I hope you're wrong,” Sara said thoughtfully. “But I can't find any other reason why someone—“

  “Watch your back, Sara.” The intensity in her eyes flashed the warning. “Watch your back.”

  Sara would, indeed, be more wary. After the episode of nearly becoming a victim of the Sacramento River Delta serial killer, vigilance became embedded in her demeanor. Yet, evidently not deep enough. The work she did emphasized the need for a heightened ability to be observant of everything around, at least till she left the island. “I know, Birdie. I know.”

  “By the way.” Birdie kept her eye on traffic as she drove. “That Hien guy was on the island again.”

  Hien came back again? Sara's suspicion heightened. Hien was no angel. “How'd you learn that?”

  “Saw him and another guy go over to Maleko's. They might have spent the night there.”

  Sara couldn't imagine Hien, from a clean home and upbringing, staying overnight in a hovel like Maleko's place. Surely, the pathetic accumulation of junk in his yard would signal disarray inside. “Did you get a chance to talk to him? Was there another hula show somewhere?”

  “No show that I know of.”

  “When was the first time you saw him?”

  “Day before yesterday. I wasn't sure it was him till he came back the second time. I don't think he saw me, but I saw him.” Birdie turned on her signal and glanced into the rearview mirror. “Hien and the other guy brought their ukuleles. I heard the music from Maleko's back yard last night. Judging from the smoke and cooking smells that came from there all day yesterday, they must have barbequed a whole pig.”

  Sara's mind raced as she stared at the dashboard, not wanting to be distracted from putting fragmented ideas together. Why was Hien friendly with Maleko? What did those two have in common? Why was Hien on the island the very day she got pushed over a cliff? And the same day of her accident too. Hien had also been on the island the day Leia went missing, playing music in the same show as Maleko and Leia's mother. Hien's father had said, I don't believe in coincidences. “Can you tell if Hien is still on the island?”

  “Didn't see him leave, but he drove a rental car. It's not there anymore.”

  During the drive to the Kauai Humane Society facility in Puhi, Sara began to unwind the bandages around her arms and legs. “Don't need these.”

  “What are you doing? You're just out of the hospi—”

  “Best way to heal a wound is with fresh air.” She would have to wear the chin guard over the plastic surgery, but she'd rather have the other scabs showing while she healed than to look like a mummy in the making. She balled up the gauze and laid it on the floor. Opening the last wrapping around a knee, she winced. “Ew! That one better stay bandaged.”

  Chapter 37

  On the way to retrieve Ka'imi and passing Kauai Community College, Birdie asked, “Did you read the newspapers up there in your room?”

  “No newspapers for me, no TV either for a while.” Sara flagged a hand in the air. “I just needed to be still and feel that nothing more could happen to me. Why do you ask?”

  “The paper said the missing woman on the North Shore might have gotten into a big black high-riding pickup with big tires and tinted windows, sort o' like the truck you described that ran you of the road.”

  The description was eerily similar. “That happened on the North Shore though.”

  “Yeah, people saw the woman having a few drinks. They said she unexpectedly ducked out with some guy but no one saw the guy's face.”

  “Could anyone describe him?”

  “Only that he wore a dark tee shirt with a hole near the right rear edge. He was tall and had his dark hair up in a bun. Two guys having a smoke outside the bar didn't see the woman or the guy, only saw the dark diesel powered truck pulling out of the parking lot about the time the others say the woman left.”

  Sara was quiet, mulling over the possibilities. The woman went missing on the North Shore in the late afternoon. The truck that ran her off the road was on the West side east of Waimea after sundown. While Kauai had no road from the north directly to the west side because of the Na Pali cliffs, plenty enough time existed to drive from the north, around the island on the east side, skirting the south shore on Kaumuali'i Highway, and then cut to the west side.

  Kauai is a small island. It's one highway can be traversed from Hanalei to Waimea in under ninety minutes providing no big glut of vehicles brought traffic to a standstill. One of Sara's hunches kicked in. “I'm going to discuss this with the police.”

  Ka'imi licked and pawed and whined happily. She appeared like nothing had happened. She was alert and spry and ready to give a tongue bath. Birdie had difficulty getting her to stay in the back seat. Ka'imi stood on the seat and leaned forward sniffing at Sara's bandaged chin.

  “Dogs are wonderful.” Sara tried to push Ka'imi's face away. Ka'imi stretched forward, placed her paws on the back of Sara's seat, and
then rested her head on Sara's shoulder as if to comfort. If Sara would allow, Ka'imi would climb onto her lap.

  It had been an uncomfortable ride home. Sara felt stiff. Birdie stopped beside her own driveway. “Wait a minute.” She let Ka'imi into the gate and then secured it shut.

  In a moment, they pulled into Sara's driveway. “I could have walked from your house.”

  “You'd better let me help you in.”

  “Nah, I can make it.” She eased out of Birdie's Rav 4 and stood a moment beside the car. “Thanks for playing chauffeur again.” She was stiffer than anticipated. Birdie stayed in the driveway till she hobbled to the side door. Sara kicked off her sandals, a bare foot stepping into a dab of wet mud on the walkway. Soon as she touched the knob the door swung open. She saw the floor, looked again at the mud at her feet, and screamed.

  A car door slammed. Birdie came running to the side of the house and nearly crashed into her as she stood peering into the laundry room. “What the hell? I thought you fell.”

  “Look!” Sara pointed to the floor.

  Birdie looked. Sara looked. The door had been busted into. Small jagged pieces of the door jamb lay scattered on the floor. Muddy footprints showed someone had walked into the house slipping and sliding as they went. The prints looked to be still wet. Sara glanced down at her muddy foot.

  “What the hell?” Birdie asked again with sardonic wit. “The intruder forgot to remove his shoes.”

  “Get away, Birdie.” Sara turned and pushed Birdie away and grabbed up her sandals as they stumbled over each other's feet. “Someone could still be in there!”

  Birdie threw Sara her cell phone. Sara dialed 911 as she rushed over to the safety of Birdie's yard as Birdie backed her car out of the driveway.

  Within minutes, sirens could be heard coming up the hill from the beach area below. Knowing how the roads twisted and wound around, they could tell how close the police cars were from the direction they heard the sirens. Finally, a patrol car screeched to a halt beside them standing inside the protection of Birdie's gate.

  As the officers eyed her skinned legs, arms and bandaged chin, Sara told them what she saw. The officers immediately wanted to see if anyone remained inside and to secure the house. “The door is open.” Sara smiled a crooked smile, taking a turn at being facetious. She needed the humor, even at her own expense. Too many dire situations threatened her life and kept her in a perpetual state of frightful expectation.

  Officer Makamai showed up using no sirens. His attention was directed at her. “I guess the break-ins haven't stopped.”

  “Why me?” Sara jabbed angrily at her chest. “Not that I'm feeling sorry for myself, but why me while these other threats on my life have happened?”

  Officer Makamai threw her a sideways glance. “You got anything in your house that someone would want to steal?”

  “No, just the clothes that I wear, and I never talk about what's in my home anyway.”

  “No jewelry, no valuables of any kind that people have seen you with in public?” He glanced at her hands.

  She held up her hands. She wore one vintage gold ring on a pinkie finger. “It's all I brought with me. I've barely had time to settle in, almost spent more time in the hospital than here.” She was being facetious again but it was almost true. “You've seen my house from inside the entry. I barely have furnishings. I'm not planning to live here full time.”

  Officer Makamai's sudden expression showed disappointment at hearing that bit of news. Yet, he had already been informed of the purpose for the house and agreed that it was something special for the veterans. He nodded and waited.

  Then, in her peripheral view, Sara watched Bao again trying to look as nonchalant as possible, hidden and watching, almost indecipherable among the shadows of the statues and stacks of storage boxes in his garage. That man had something to hide.

  Him accompanying the rescue party, and always secretly spying on neighborhood happenings from behind his hedges made his actions seem that of someone who might want to thwart anyone learning information he didn't wish known. His secretiveness made her feel uneasy. Sara half expected him to walk over and invite himself into the conversation.

  The police lab techs were called out to photograph, fingerprint and pick up any evidence. Those officers didn't waste time and showed up within minutes. Living on a small island, where virtually no major crime existed, the police needed to put a stop to the string of break-ins and this incident could offer fresh clues.

  Sara and Birdie went to sit at Birdie's front porch. Birdie leaned close to examine the chin cup. “Plastic surgery, huh? I'll bet when that's healed, you won't even have a scar.”

  Sara smiled. “I hope no scar.”

  “Where they shaved your head to staple you together, the hair's growing back in fast.” Birdie always sounded half-joking, half-serious. “Danged, girl! Kauai's been rough on you.”

  In the back of Sara's mind was how she would explain this latest inexplicable attempt on her life to Huxley. Though he never attempted to control her, he may insist she leave the island and never return. She couldn't leave now. She felt close to solving the mystery of Leia's disappearance. She was sure the attempts to do her harm were connected to the case, the only thing she had become involved in since arriving on the island. The attempts on her life were not random acts.

  Chapter 38

  Officer Makamai came out of the house and called her over. “Walk the rooms and tell us if anything's missing.”

  Soon as she entered the house she saw the light flashing on the house phone in the kitchen. She excused herself to check the message. Who would call her house phone when everyone knew her cell phone, not that she had it any longer, but no one except Birdie and Huxley knew the house number.

  The call registered some hours after she left for the hike and was soon pushed over the edge. It was from Hien.

  Sara remembered she had also given that number to Thanh. Had he given it to Hien, or did Hien snoop through his father's papers? That would beg the question of why?

  His message said he was checking to see how she was getting along after her accident. He must have heard about it from Maleko or one of the neighbors. But did they even know? Surely, Bao couldn't have told Maleko who passed the news to Hien?

  Then Sara had an Aha! moment. Why would Hien call her kitchen phone when he previously called her several times on her cell phone? To give himself some sort of alibi because he knew the cell phone would be over a cliff somewhere with her? The thought that the benevolent Thanh Van Thuy's son, who had a penchant for the wild side, might be involved in the string of mind-numbing occurrences caused a shocking rush of nerves.

  Muddy footprints had been tracked into every room. “I'm sorry for your light blue carpeting.” The officer side-stepped a dab of mud. “Careful there. We should be able to lift some good prints out of those muddy marks on that floor tile. He might have slipped here.” He pointed. “See the toe marks and part of the foot?”

  The red mud had stained the baby blue plush carpet. However, all the floor coverings were older and showed distinctive patterns of wear. Sara had planned to install bamboo flooring down stairs. New blue carpeting would be installed upstairs. She had also entertained the idea of hardwood floors throughout the house.

  Sara high-stepped her way over and around the muddy prints that continued but diminished upstairs. Like most home break-ins, the closet doors were left open and bedroom drawers were rummaged through.

  “Too bad for them.” Sara shrugged a shoulder, actually feeling happy she had nothing worth stealing. “The other three bedrooms are completely empty.”

  The few clothes in her dresser were dumped. She felt her face redden as Officer Makamai stared at her lacy underclothes thrown haphazardly over the floor.

  “I'm sorry for this,” he said apologetically.

  She checked her closet. A couple of hangars hung empty in the middle of the small batch of clothing she had brought with her from the Mainland. She had to thi
nk for a moment to decide which pieces were missing. “A couple of blouses.” She signaled to an officer. “Looks like, maybe, my blue one and a white one.” She sorted through the clothes hanging on the rack to be sure. “Why blouses?”

  After the search, Birdie joined her on the street. The two officers went next door to see if Maleko was home to question if he had seen anyone around Sara's home. Maleko was home. The conversation didn't last long. Maleko raised his voice when talking to the officers, then slammed the door in their faces. He was good at slamming doors.

  When the officers left the house, they gathered around Sara and Birdie still standing on the sidewalk. “That break-in had to happen after I was in Sara's house this morning.”

  The officers looked at one another. One thumbed toward Sara's home. “You were inside this house this morning?” Each looked down at Birdie's tiny clean feet.

  “Yep, I went in there to get her some clothes to wear when I picked her up from the hospital.”

  Sara sighed loudly when again asked why she was scraped and bandaged. Officer Makamai took over and explained without disclosing much. She was thankful for that. He turned to Birdie. “So what time of day were you in there?”

  She glanced at her watch. “I was just there, two hours ago, maybe.” The tone in Birdie's voice dared anyone to try to pin something on her. “Then I picked Sara up at the hospital and we drove down to Puhi to pick up my dog and came home.” She threw out a hand as if to ask So What?

  “That explains why the footprints haven't dried out.” Sometimes an officer had to state the obvious, if only so all the officers knew the same facts. “That's a thin window of opportunity. Did either of you see any strangers in the neighborhood when you arrived?”