Chance rubbed his fingers over his chin, then down his neck. “Maybe she realized Alvarez was a dangerous enemy.”
“For sure. She had all the records. But here was this guy who came and went like a ghost. Anyway, she said I’d be safer if I didn’t have the details and totally wouldn’t talk about it anymore. She never even told me where she hid the drive.”
“So if Mandy didn’t tell you where she hid this thing, how’d you find it?” I asked.
I caught the hint of a smile, the kind people get when they’re remembering the good things in life. The memories drifted back to the recesses of her mind as quickly as they’d surfaced, and her sadness returned. “From the time we were young, me and Mandy always kept secret hiding places for stuff. Right after we moved here, she said if anything ever happened to her I should turn the trophy over to Hisao Fujita and disappear. She said he’d take over for her. She was my best friend, and I knew she wouldn’t give it to him unless it was really important.”
“Hisao?” Tapping my knuckles against my chin, I tried to come up with reasons for Mandy to cooperate with Hisao. I could only think of one. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. She even gave me his phone number.”
“So they must have been involved. Just when I’d convinced myself Hisao hadn’t cheated on his wife. This sucks. It happened because they worked together so much. Didn’t it?”
Penny laughed derisively. “You are so wrong, dude. Those two didn’t get along at all. Oil and water—or however that one goes. Mandy was this free spirit, you know? She called herself a traveler in life. I’d never seen her, like, totally consumed by a serious issue. But Hisao, he’s all rigid and strait-laced. She had no interest whatsoever in him, mostly because she saw him as being so much like her uncle.”
“We have a witness who saw them making out at the Pony Club,” Chance said matter-of-factly.
Anger flared in her eyes and Penny’s response came without hesitation. “Your witness totally lied. Mandy had such clear boundaries when it came to men. Hisao Fujita would never have gotten anywhere with her.”
Now I had no reasons. “Then she must have wanted you to give him the drive because they were on the same side.”
“You’re like, clueless, aren’t you?” Penny laughed. “The only person who’s ever totally stood up to her uncle is Hisao. She wanted the drive to go to someone who was tough enough to follow through. Hisao and her uncle were cut from the same mold. He’ll do anything to get what he wants.”
“Harsh, but true,” I said as I looked around the table. Chance, Lexie, and Benni were all nodding. Apparently, they agreed, too. “How’d you figure out Mandy’s hiding place?”
“I was packing, saw the trophy, and started bawling. I must have, like, sat in this chair for half an hour with that stupid thing in my hands. All I did was turn it over and read the inscription. It made no sense why she’d want Hisao to have it.” Her laugh, filled with sorrow, also conveyed a sense of pride. “Then I realized it would be so like Mandy to hide the evidence against her uncle in something he would treasure. I flipped it over, saw the plug thingy, and it made total sense.”
“Who else knows about this?” Benni asked.
Penny seemed to think for a moment, then her brow furrowed. “Hisao Fujita. She wanted to make sure he didn’t just throw away the trophy when he got it, so she filled him in about the meeting and the recording. But, she didn’t tell him everything. Like I said, she didn’t trust him, so she told him he’d receive a package with the proof he needed if she died.”
I pointed at the trophy. “So Hisao isn’t aware of the trophy?”
Penny shook her head. “All he knows is he’s getting evidence from Mandy. He probably has no clue how much is on the drive. They were kinda sorta working together, but Mandy kept him at a distance. Like I said, she totally distrusted him.”
“Talk about twisted,” Chance said.
I had to agree, but on the other hand, there was some kind of perverted logic in play. “Hisao’s lack of cooperation is starting to make a whole lot more sense to me. He must want this to be a high-profile trial. Maybe he’s thinking he can force the evidence into the open and take down Finance International.”
“That’s a risky move, McKenna.” Chance pulled out his cell phone and began flipping it over in his hand like it was a deck of cards. “So many things could go wrong. The evidence gets kicked out of court or suppressed. Once the drive is made public, a guy with Poussin’s connections could make arrangements for it to disappear. The list is almost endless.”
“Why would Hisao take such a huge gamble with his future?” Benni asked. “This whole thing with him isn’t working for me.”
I formed a steeple with my hands, rested my chin against them, and sighed. There had to be more. ”You’re right, Benni. There’s a missing piece, something we don’t know. Did Robson Poussin know what Mandy was doing? Could he have found out while she was working for him?”
“No question. He had to know she had the proof hidden because Mandy told me they really got into it before we left the mainland. They had, like, this big blowup and she gave him three months to shut it all down.”
“Or?” Chance asked.
“Or she’d go public, dude. That’s when it got super nasty. He called her weak and said she couldn’t give up his money. He even threatened to disown her. Mandy was, like, so focused on getting this done she didn’t care. She stormed out the door, came home, and said we had to execute the Maui Plan. It was like totally starting over. We left town that afternoon. We drove to San Francisco and flew to Honolulu two days later.” She snickered as her eyes flicked toward the kitchen, then back. “I must’ve heard the story a dozen times on the way to Frisco.”
Chance, who had been silent while Penny explained, continued to stare at her. “She wanted him to stop all Hawai‘i operations? You’re sure?”
“No question. Mandy never would have lied about something she was so committed to.”
“Do you know how hard that would be to accomplish?” Chance sat shaking his head, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Hey, buddy, not the time to argue big business.”
“Right, McKenna. Sorry.” He shifted position and looked at Penny. “When did the three-month countdown start?”
“The day we moved. Two-and-a-half months ago.”
I let out a low whistle, still wrestling with my biggest question about Robson Poussin. Would the man really kill his niece to save his company? Was he that cold, or just as much the victim?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Penny said. “I don’t think her uncle would have harmed Mandy.”
“It doesn’t seem possible that a parent or a guardian would kill their own child,” Benni said.
I locked my gaze onto hers. She was correct; it didn’t seem possible. Yet, it happened. “You have good instincts, and I want to believe you. If you’re right, it means Alvarez operated independently.”
“It’s the million-dollar question,” Chance said. “Did Robson Poussin sanction the guy or not?”
Penny pulled a slip of paper and her phone from her shoulder bag. “This is her uncle’s cell number. It was in Mandy’s notes. She’s the one I’m doing this for. Where do I tell him we should meet?”
Chance snapped his fingers and his face lit up. He stretched his arms in a long, slow move designed to get our attention. It worked.
“Spill,” I said. “You’ve got an idea, and it’s time to share.”
“What about The Pony Club?”
“For what?” I asked.
“The meeting. It’s perfect.”
“Seriously?” Lexie glared at him. “Why would Robson Poussin go there? Why would Penny?”
“That’s precisely why it’s the ideal place,” Chance said.
“He’s right,” I muttered. “It’s perfect.”
Be
nni was watching me with one eyebrow arched. “You’re linking this back to the dream, aren’t you?” The little lines around the corners of her eyes tightened with worry.
I grabbed her hand and squeezed. This was right. At least, that’s how it felt. “Masks on the walls.”
Everyone else stared blankly at me, but Benni’s eyes narrowed and the normally faint creases on her brow deepened. Her lips parted as she thought, then they formed a smile. “You mentioned dancing tikis before, and now you think the masks are the symbol for those? Which means the Pony Club is where the showdown will take place.”
“Exactly.” I wanted to congratulate Benni on her dream-interpretation skills. It was either that or console her on being in love with a lunatic.
46
Benni, Lexie, and Penny looked at me as though they should have the men in white coats pay us a house call. However, the smile on Chance’s face told me he understood. The kid was getting more devious with each investigation we tackled, and at the rate he was going, he’d soon pass me in the sneaky department.
“I like your idea,” he said. “It’s classic. We set the location, and he sends his henchman to the meeting early so he can double-cross us.” He paused and stared down at the floor. When he looked up, concern lined his face. “You realize he might not show up at all.”
“Chance is right, McKenna.” Benni pulled back her dark hair and curled a strand around her finger.
Uh oh, she did the hair thing absentmindedly when something didn’t set well with her. We had a simple problem. Only one of us could be correct. So how would this play out? As Kimu had told me it would. That’s how. My pulse raced along with my growing certainty.
“We have to trust I’m interpreting the dream correctly. Frank Alvarez will show up at the Pony Club, and the showdown will take place there.”
“That’s a mighty big bet, McKenna.”
“True, but any move we make is a gamble. My gut tells me it’s the right choice.”
Looking around, it was obvious the others remained unconvinced. Even Lexie. She scrunched up her face and shook her head. “McKenna, you could be picking out the parts you want. Where’s the orchestra. What about the beach?”
Despite the pushback, I wasn’t about to give up. ”Tell him to meet you in two hours,” I insisted. “Alvarez will show long before.”
Everything would work out. It had to. But, poor Penny had the deer-in-the-headlights syndrome going on. She rested one hand on her phone, but stared at me. Clearly, she felt compelled to help her friend, but fear prevented her from calling Robson Poussin. I couldn’t blame her and started to have second thoughts about my certainty.
I jumped when Benni caressed my hand. Seeing the concern on her face, my resolve dropped another notch.
“You’re not sure either, are you?” she asked.
I hesitated, considered about how much we had at stake, then huffed. “Maybe we’re still searching for the right solution.”
We all contemplated the plain off-white walls while studiously avoiding further discussion of the subject. That was only going to work for a short time though. The buffeting of wind against the front window and the occasional roar of a sudden downpour interrupted the silence hanging in the air.
A fisherman’s netting and shells hung on the wall behind the couch. It was such a sharp contrast to the Fujita home with its tasteful artwork and elegant furnishings. “Penny, why didn’t you two do more decorating? Was this only a temporary stopover?”
“We didn’t have a lot of money,” she muttered. “We scrimped to save every dollar. What about it?”
“I’m surprised. I thought two girls would do more to make the place homey.”
“That’s kind of sexist, McKenna.” Chance winked at me, but I didn’t see the humor.
“Not what I had in mind, Chance.” I glanced around. “My question was, if they intended to live here for a while, why wouldn’t they soften it up a bit? Let’s face it. This apartment borders on sterile.”
Chance shrugged and gazed at me with his blue eyes. “I still don’t see what that has to do with solving Mandy’s murder.”
“Not much, but it indicates they never expected to be here for long. You said Mandy didn’t return from her meeting with Hisao. Were you two planning another get away? You were living with one foot out the door. Weren’t you?”
Tears rolled down Penny’s cheeks. When Benni handed her a tissue, she clutched it in a white-knuckled grip, but never moved to wipe away the tears. Instead, she gazed around at the four drab walls.
“Mandy had the fishing net idea. It was our one splurge. We wanted to decorate, but money was too tight.”
“Were you planning to stay? In this apartment, I mean?”
Penny worried the tissue between her fingers, then smiled as she dabbed at her cheeks. “We never, like, really decided. I think deep down we both realized how dangerous it was for Mandy to be working against a man as powerful as her uncle.” She closed her eyes and her shoulders shook. “The answer to your question is, no, we didn’t think we’d be here very long at first. But, once Mandy was committed to that stupid group, she wouldn’t leave. All she wanted to do was make a difference.”
Much like Hisao. And now, it appeared he might not have been the last one to see Mandy alive. I sighed. “The passion of youth. What I don’t understand is this. If Hisao thought Mandy had stolen from the consortium, why did he even meet with her? Are you sure there was nothing going on between the two of them?”
“Positive.” Penny’s voice was flat. Determined. She rubbed the back of her neck and stared toward the kitchen for a few seconds.
Her sudden disconnection gave me the feeling she had more to tell.
“When she called him, she promised to turn herself into the police if he wasn’t convinced. But, he wouldn’t have killed her. The man wanted her alive because of what she knew. I’ve never met Hisao Fujita, but from what Mandy told me, it’s scary how much like her uncle he is. They’re both controlling and cold.”
I stared intently at Penny. This was going nowhere fast. “That doesn’t prove much.”
“The other thing is she called to tell me she’d met with Hisao and was on her way home.”
“Okay. Where did they meet?” I asked.
“The Pony Club. He stormed out when she told him she didn’t have the money.”
“Okay, assuming he didn’t kill her after she made the phone call, we’ll still need to verify what’s on the mysterious flash drive. It may be nothing at all.”
“Oh, it’s not nothing.” Penny shuddered and held it up. “It’s totally scary, that’s what it is.”
“McKenna,” Lexie said. “I think we can find out just how much hard evidence there is on that drive very easily.”
“Go for it.” I sat back, crossed my arms over my chest, and waited anxiously. This, I had to see.
Lexie and Benni glanced at each other, then nodded. It was Lexie who asked the question. “Is there an email from Finance International to Colin Alcott from last August on the drive?”
“Several.” Penny snickered. “You’ve heard rumors about the supposed bribe to the esteemed Congressman Alcott. He says the rumors are slander, but Mandy has copies of the emails. Plus, she’s got copies of checks to his campaign from questionable sources. How’s that for concrete?”
Benni dismissed Penny’s response with a flip of her hand. “We have to see the email. Can you produce a copy now?”
“Sure.” Penny left the room and immediately returned with her laptop. She turned on the power, inserted the flash drive, and began typing. Within a minute, we were looking at an email from Robson Poussin to Colin Alcott.
It is of the utmost importance we mitigate the opposition to our plans. To fail in this endeavor would be catastrophic to our financial and political presence on Maui.
“That’s about as blatant
of a threat as you’re going to see,” Chance said. “Help us or we won’t help you. But, I thought you said you didn’t know what was on the flash drive.”
“I didn’t. At least, not before Mandy died. After she was murdered, I couldn’t stop myself. Call it morbid curiosity, but I was, like, binge reading. It’s no wonder she was so worried. This is the kind of stuff that people kill to suppress.”
“Before we get too carried away, is that the only copy of the evidence?” I asked.
Penny nodded.
“We need a secure backup of the files,” Chance said. “How long will it take?”
“Depends on how much data I have to transfer.” Benni stood. “I’ll grab my laptop from the truck and back the files up to one of my online accounts so we can secure them. It will make it easier to share, too.”
Chance and I both nodded.
It took a moment for Penny to agree, but then she reluctantly handed over the drive. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“No worries,” Benni said. “I’ve got some big clients with their own secrets they don’t want people learning about.”
I blinked and stared at her. “You do?”
She smiled at me, then sighed. “Why do you think I avoid talking about my work? I’m almost always working under a nondisclosure agreement.”
“Well, slap me silly,” I said. “I went on vacation with a spy and didn’t even know it.”
Benni rested her hand on my arm and squeezed gently. “I’m not going to slap you, but you can help me.”
Help me? Had she really said those words? The same as what she’d yelled out in the dream. It was what drove me forward to fight Alvarez. There was something wrong. So wrong...
“You’re white as a sheet, McKenna. Are you okay? Have you been drinking water?”
Maui Magic Page 24