Robert nodded. “Like a place where you don’t have to check in to get a room.”
“My thought, exactly,” Jack said. “Once we’re out of here and safely on the boat, I’ll give Kimo a call and see if he has any ideas.”
“What about Dana?” Kazuko arched a brow in Jack’s direction. “I assume you plan on seeing her again.”
He didn’t have to think about it.
“I really like that girl,” he said. “It’s only fair I tell her everything. In fact, I was planning to.”
“Officially?” Robert asked.
“Unofficially,” he said. “Until I hear what she has to say.”
CHAPTER 27
Jack stopped on the finger of dock where, miracles upon miracles, they had found an open slip for rent, though the price was excessive. In front of him, Fast Times sat lashed to the mooring cleats. Marlin boats sat in the slips on each side of her looking like long lost sisters. Fast, sleek, fishing vessels dressed out in custom outriggers and a dozen chrome rod holders mounted along the flybridge.
He hopped aboard and was stopped by a queer feeling.
They were being allowed to leave too easily.
He studied the forty-foot sportfisher, visualizing what might be waiting for them below deck. He was sure Madam Takahashi knew more about him and his friends than they did her.
Robert and Kazuko joined him. He had a feeling they were reading his mind.
“What do you think,” Robert asked.
Jack believed Madam Takahashi’s henchmen weren’t about to leave Maui or even Lahaina without finishing what they were there for. Especially after murdering Maiko. Eliminate all the loose ends in one morning and get on with business.
“I think we’re being allowed to leave too easily.”
“A trap?”
Jack shrugged. “To be on the safe side, let’s not crank over the engines until we make sure she’s not wired to blow.”
“You’re thinking a bomb of some sort?”
“Anything to make the explosion look like an accident.”
“To draw suspicion away from them.” Robert shook his head. “It would be just like those bastards to pump the bilge full of gas waiting for the first spark to blow us all to hell.”
Jack smiled. “Good thing those engines run on diesel.”
Robert shot him a pained look. “Not even funny.”
“I didn’t intend it to be funny.” Jack slapped his friend on the back. “Let’s check her out.”
He stopped at the gunwale, Robert and Kazuko behind him. He hadn’t planned on her joining them. He’d risk his life, not hers.
“Why not have Kazuko wait inside the old courthouse,” he said, looking at Robert. “No reason to put her in any more danger than she already is.”
“Forget it,” she said before either of them could object further. “I’m part of this group.”
Robert shrugged and turned to Jack. “She’s got a point. And you know how she is when her mind’s made up.”
Jack looked at Kazuko, and said, “Now who’s being reckless?”
“Protecting my investment.” She brushed past him and hopped aboard without further comment.
Jack realized there was nothing he could do. “I’d say her mind’s made up.”
“Told you.” Robert followed after her.
Not what Jack wanted, but he wasn’t about to argue further.
“I’ll check out the engine compartment,” he said. “You two check the rest of the boat.”
Robert turned and pointed at the access cover. “Be my guest.”
“You know something I don’t?”
“That’s where I’d put a bomb if it was me.”
Jack lifted the hatch and paused. “You could have argued.”
“It was your idea.”
“Guess it was. Let’s get it done and be away from this town.”
Without another word, he dropped inside the hold and sniffed the air, realizing he could have saved himself the effort. If the bilge had been flooded with fuel and full of fumes, he’d have smelled them the moment he opened the hatch.
That was only one possibility. There were dozens of equally lethal set-ups that could be waiting for them.
He’d know soon enough.
Most engine compartments were dank, greasy pits that stunk of oil. Fast Times’s twin engines shined with glossy gray marine paint. Pristine as the day they were built. A byproduct of Robert’s OCD side. The space was cramped but negotiable as long as he stooped low and didn’t try to stand. And enough daylight spilled in through the opening to see by.
For the first time in several years, he envied the Menehune for their size. At three feet tall, they were perfect for this kind of work. But only in theory. They were better off where he’d taken the last surviving clan, hidden from the world.
He dropped to his hands and knees. Taking his time.
This was new territory.
Over the years he’d faced guns, knives, and big brutal men with knuckles of granite. Never a bomb.
It took him about sixty seconds to find what he searched for. The hastily placed wire was connected to the starter on the starboard engine.
Exactly how he pictured it.
He had an idea where the connection would terminate.
Staying focused, he traced the insulated copper lead along the transom to a blasting cap pressed into a putty-like substance stuck to the side of the starboard fuel tank.
Crude at best. Diesel didn’t explode the way gasoline does.
But it would have done the job.
CHAPTER 28
Jack sat back on his heels, letting a moment pass to steady himself.
This is how it looks in movies.
Only this was real.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and wiped sweat from his eyes with his fingers. Reality taking its toll. His life and the lives of his two best friends depended on him and the steadiness of his hands.
Movement overhead drew his gaze toward the access hatch.
“All clear up here,” Robert said, leaning in.
“Wish I could say that.” Jack turned back to the danger in front of him.
“What is it?”
“We guessed right about them rigging the boat to blow. The bastards wired about a pound of plastic to the starter. Hand me a pair of cutters and I’ll disarm this thing.”
“Back in a flash,” Robert said.
‘Flash’ was not a word Jack wanted to hear. There were any number of things that could go wrong.
Impatience wasn’t going to be one of them.
He took a breath and held it. Steadied, he slid the blasting cap free and gently set it aside where there was no chance of it being jostled or striking something that would cause it to go off. Letting himself exhale, and then taking in another breath and holding it, he carefully peeled off the explosive. If a person didn’t know better, they’d swear it was modeling clay.
And they could very well end up dead wrong.
“Here you go,” Robert said from the open hatch. Kazuko stood next to him peering inside, just as curious.
Jack handed him the plastic and took the cutters.
“Semtex?” Robert said. A statement as much as a question.
“That’s my guess.”
Jack ducked below. They weren’t out of danger, yet. One slip, one wrong move and the blasting cap could explode. If that happened, and it ignited the fuel, the end would be the same. He and his friends would be chum for the swarms of small fish cruising the harbor for food.
Once again, he held his breath to steady his hands and snipped the wire where it was taped to the detonator. Then with the gentleness of a mother’s touch, he handed the device to Robert who stooped to accept it.
“Be careful with that,” he said, and hoisted himself out of the compartment.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Robert said. He held the explosive and the blasting cap in opposite hands. “What should we do with this shit?”
J
ack surveyed the area. If one of Takahashi’s thugs lurked in the shadows watching, they were getting an eye-full.
He’d like to give them a good close look.
And more.
He took the plastic from Robert’s hand and squeezed it. “Stuffs harmless without the detonator. I’m thinking we hold onto it. Could be it’ll come in handy.”
“You’re kidding,” Kazuko said.
“Not at all.”
“You’re saying you have no intention of turning it over to the police?”
“Now you’re catching on.”
“Catching on? You’ve got to be kidding.” She jabbed her index finger at Robert’s hand. “There’s a good chance they’d be able to lift a fingerprint off that blasting cap. That’s all they would need to arrest the person who put it here.”
“Assuming the suspect’s fingerprints are in the database.”
“This isn’t a game, Jack. They for sure intended to kill us.”
“You thought the game would change?”
“No, but—”
“You’re familiar with the gecko,” he said.
“Of course.”
“What happens when it’s attacked by a cat or some other critter?”
“The cat ends up with the tail while the gecko escapes.”
“Exactly.” He held up the Semtex so she could see it. “Think of this explosive and the person who left it as being that wriggling tail.”
“With Madam Takahashi left running free.”
“We have one chance of stopping her. That’s finding that diamond before she does.”
“But the stakes keep getting raised.”
“In for a penny. In for a dollar.”
“I say we have two choices,” Robert said. “You two can stand out in the open and debate this all day. Or we can get our asses moving. I say, let’s get the hell out of here before someone starts shooting.”
“Guess I’m in,” Kazuko said. “I’ll stand by to cast off the bow line.”
Jack took the blasting cap from Robert. “I’ll stow these and ready the stern line. You start the engines.”
He paused for one more glance around.
At least they’d be safe on the water.
CHAPTER 29
Jack tossed the stern line onto the rear deck and jumped aboard a second after Kazuko. Fast Times was already moving. Robert steered her away from the dock and through the moorings as expertly as he’d backed the boat in.
The going was slow where many of the boats belonging to the locals were moored to round, faded orange buoys of different sizes. Jack flanked his friend at the helm topside, turned his back to the bow, and watched the pedestrian activity on the wharf behind them. The weather hadn’t cleared. It was even muggier on the water, but the breeze created by the movement of the boat, washed a whisper of coolness over him that made the humidity tolerable.
He savored the salt air. Feeling himself relax. Being on the water aroused a sense of freedom. His element. No fear of someone sneaking up behind him to turn out his lights for good.
Freeing events already set into motion.
But the concern that he and his two friends wouldn’t be able to accomplish what they were setting out to do, remained. They had to succeed.
Their lives could very well depend on it.
“Are we being smart,” Kazuko asked. “I’m still not convinced we’re making the right decision not going to the cops with everything.”
Far behind them, a large boat navigated the channel. Fifty or sixty feet of gleaming white hull, tall outriggers touching the sky. A fancy sucker. Perhaps it had made a morning run from Oahu in-between storms. Or it had gone out only to find the water unfishable. Either way the yacht was heading for safe harbor.
They weren’t the only ones.
“We haven’t done anything except make ourselves scarce,” he said.
“But I know what comes next.”
“When I talk to Dana, this whole mess may go away.”
A wisp of long, straight, black hair fluttered and pasted itself across Kazuko’s face. She tucked the strands behind her ear. “We can only hope.”
Jack had heard enough negative talk. He stared at Molokai miles to the north and the expanse of open water between them and the island. Where the big shiny boat had been.
“You know how it works. Even if we’d turned that bomb over to the PD it would be days before there were any arrests made. Providing they could. A lot of bad shit can happen in that amount of time.”
“And the Coast Guard will move quicker than the police will?”
“I’m not saying what they’ll do. Frankly, I’m not putting any money on it.”
“Neither am I,” offered Robert.
His comment quieted Kazuko.
Which was fine with Jack.
They cleared the moored boats and Robert shoved the throttle levers forward, increasing speed. The sharp bow of the sportfisher sliced through the swells without much spray. Astern, a V wake and a blue and white path of foam churned to the surface by the props pointed out their southerly direction of travel. But the froth dissipated into a slate gray sea a hundred yards behind them.
There was no trail left for anyone to follow. Only a blank slate of water.
As good as if they had disappeared into thin air.
He was relieved to be putting distance between them and the killers.
A day or two, anyway.
There was much to plot out in their minds. And far too little time to do it in. Somewhere, miles to the north of their present location, lay the submerged remains of a yacht and a rare black diamond worth millions. Finding the sunken wreck would be near impossible unless they knew where to look. At the moment, it might as well be on the moon.
Another possibility existed. Perhaps Madam Takahashi already knew the boats resting place and was just waiting for divers to recover the jewel from the bowels of the dead ship.
Salvage operations didn’t happen overnight.
Or even two.
They take time. And a boat.
All they’d seen besides Ichiro Makoto’s body had been a shark.
A little voice in the back of his mind told him Takahashi was no closer to finding that necklace than he and his friends were.
CHAPTER 30
As they motored south, Jack turned his gaze forward. In front of them the horizon was a palette of blues. Overhead and behind them, the sky was bluish black with impending rain.
Brighter horizons ahead.
The cloud cover ended at Maalaea Harbor the way it often did. Held there by the West Maui Mountains. Only to appear again—dark and threatening—to the east over Wailuko and Kahului, and the slopes of Haleakala. The space observatory on the dormant volcano’s rim was obscured in a shroud of gray mist. Kihei and the rest of South Maui was sunny and hot.
Robert piloted Fast Times into the flat expanse of water off Sugar Beach and throttled back the engines. The six-mile stretch of white sand was subject to strong afternoon winds making it less desirable and far less crowded than the beaches farther to the south. At the moment the wind was a light breeze that carried little coolness with it.
Jack hurried below, and Kazuko followed him down the ladder. He made short work of setting the anchor. The engines stopped, and he joined his friends on the rear deck.
“Let’s get out of the sun,” he said, opening the door to the salon.
He got no argument from Robert and Kazuko.
Cool air greeted him as he followed close behind them.
He slid in on one side of the galley booth and Kazuko slid in on the opposite side. Robert stepped into the master stateroom in the bow and disappeared from view. Running off generator power, the boat’s air conditioning managed to keep the rising heat outside at bay.
Only a few degrees, but it was enough.
Jack sank into his seat cushion and listened to what sounded like rummaging through a storage locker.
He couldn’t imagine what Robert was looking for.
“I’m sorry for sounding like a broken record.” Kazuko had calmed. “You’ll hear no more complaints from me as long as you and Robert don’t do something totally stupid.”
Stupid?
He wondered what she meant by that. The entire situation was stupid. Serious and dangerous, but ridiculous at the same time. How far would she go before she called a halt to everything and notified the police?
With or without his and Robert’s blessing.
Her strong will fueled more than one fire in the years they’d known each other. She’d do what she felt was needed to protect their lives. Even go against him and Robert. And have no qualms about it. But she wasn’t easily shaken in the face of danger. She’d proven that, too.
More than once.
He was glad to have her there.
“This ought to do nicely.” Robert’s voice drew Jack’s gaze forward.
He slid from the booth, banging the tops of his thighs against the edge of the table. On occasion, even Robert surprised him.
This was totally unexpected.
“You had those onboard and didn’t tell me?” He eyed the long guns in his friend’s hands.
“Beauties, aren’t they.” Robert first held up the rifle. “A stainless steel mini-14 with a twenty-round clip.” Next he lifted the shotgun. “And a five-shot, 12-gauge pump with an 18-inch barrel.”
Jack shook his head in disbelief. He’d have never imagined Robert would conjure up a couple of weapons when they might very well need them. Was this a new side to his friend, fostered by the deadly scrapes they’d been in over the years?
He wondered.
Robert handed him the short-barreled shotgun. It had a good feel. Better than the .45 semi-automatic pistol he had in South America.
“Interesting,” he said, “I suppose you recently started keeping these aboard just in case?”
“Only when I’m on the water.” Robert grinned, then added, “Never know when you’ll be attacked by pirates.”
Pirates, indeed.
Jack turned the shotgun over in his hand and peered into the loading port. The shiny brass base of a shell was visible in the tubular magazine. He was sure he didn’t have to ask, but did anyway. “Fully loaded, OO buckshot, right?”
Shipwreck Page 9