Leung leaned forward and jabbed at the sharks, driving them into even more of a frenzy. My nerves shrieked as their teeth furiously gnashed at the pole like a flurry of bullets raining against metal.
“What about Sharkfin Dave? Is he involved in this too?” I asked, wondering if I’d been caught in a well-constructed web.
“Dave made a fatal mistake when he helped you tonight,” Leung placidly responded.
“Why is that?” I asked, almost afraid to know.
Leung nodded at the shreds of flesh that the sharks were still fighting over. “See down there? You’re looking at what’s left of him. But don’t worry. He’s just a little treat to stir up their appetite. You’re going to be the main course.”
I tried not to think about Dave, but tore my gaze away, damned if I’d play the helpless victim as I had in my dream. If I was going to be shark bait, I fully intended to take Leung with me.
I watched as he continued to poke at the sharks, all the while waiting for just the right moment. It came as he dropped the gaffe and turned to throw more chum into the water. Lowering my head, I began to race toward him. But my scheme backfired, as Leung heard me approach and swiftly whirled around. Picking the gaffe back up, he used it to ram me hard in the stomach.
My muscles screamed, and my breath took flight, as my feet slid out from under me. Stumbling backward, I tripped and nearly fell overboard.
“Not so fast,” Leung said, grabbing hold of me. “All in good time. You’re to be the entertainment for my new business associate. I want to show him how we take care of our problems here in Hawaii.”
He didn’t keep me in suspense as to who that might be. A familiar figure emerged from the cabin, and my eyes locked with those of Vinnie Bertucci. There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in his gaze. Rather, his eyes were as deadly blank as those of any shark. I stared in horror, finally realizing that Santou and Kevin had been right all along. It was dangerous to get caught on the wrong side of Vinnie Bertucci—except that I’d learned my lesson too late.
“Nothing personal, New Yawk, but my boss will kill me if I go back without his money. Besides, it’s business. You understand,” he stated in a low monotone.
“Then you’ve been involved in shark finning this entire time?” I asked, cursing myself for having ever been so naive.
“No, just Viagra. But you know me. I’m always looking to hook up with a profitable new scheme,” Vinnie said and turned to Leung. “She’s an acquaintance. Do me a favor and make it quick, will ya?” he requested, and started to head back down into the hold.
“Wait a minute. I planned a special show. Don’t tell me that you’re not going to stay and watch,” Leung responded, with a snort of disbelief. “And here I thought all you New York wiseguys were so tough. This will make a good story for my friends back in Hong Kong.”
Vinnie stopped and glowered at him. “Shut the fuck up and just do as you’re told.”
“No one orders me around. Remember that,” Leung coldly responded.
“Does that include Daddy, too?” Vinnie taunted. “I’m sick of the smell on this shit bucket. Just clean up your mess, and let’s get the hell out of here already.”
What a guy, what a guy.
“Coward!” I yelled at Vinnie’s retreating back, as Leung now began to approach.
I wanted to fight him off, but it would be nearly impossible without the use of my hands. That being the case, I relied on what weapons I could. I bit down hard on Leung’s ear as he attempted to grab hold of me.
“You bitch!” he cried out in pain, and smacked me across the face.
That only angered me all the more, and I went to knee him in the groin. But Leung was ready for such a move and countered with a punch to my chest.
The force of the blow sent me reeling to the back of the boat, where my feet became entangled in a length of coiled rope. I lost my balance and fell against the railing. The ledge cut into my stomach, as I stared down at the bloody remains of Sharkfin Dave floating in the water.
I must have become paralyzed with fright, because I suddenly couldn’t move. The sharks seemed to sense it, too. Either that or they smelled fresh blood, for they now gathered below me.
One took the lead and partially breached the water, as though unwilling to wait for his meal any longer. I stared in dread at the open jaws, abruptly aware which of us was prey and which was the hunter. I was no longer anything other than a quivering tower of red meat.
The shark drew so close that I could smell the stench of death on his breath, and I pulled back with a terrified shriek. My bloodcurdling scream must have jarred the last bit of humanity still left inside Vinnie.
“All right, screw it. That’s enough. Leave her alone, Leung. We’ll find some other way to deal with the problem,” he ordered.
But it was as though Leung had gone stone deaf. He continued to approach. My legs buckled beneath me, and I slid on the deck futilely searching for anything with which to defend myself.
“I said that’s enough,” Vinnie repeated, and roughly grabbed hold of Leung.
Leung’s hand slid into his pocket and pulled out the shark-tooth knife.
“Watch out!” I cried.
Only my warning came too late, as Leung whirled around and slashed Vinnie’s arm.
“You son of a bitch,” Vinnie snarled, and started to go for his gun.
But the blade showed no mercy, slitting Vinnie’s wrist so that the gun fell from his grip. That’s when I spotted the gaffe near Michael Leung’s feet and lunged for it. I clutched the pole between my bound hands, and whacked him across the legs with all of my might. Leung let out an enraged howl as metal hit bone, making contact.
What I didn’t expect was to have the pole ripped from my grasp. But that’s exactly what Leung did, tearing it from my fingers, and flinging it across the deck. Then he stumbled toward me once more. Only this time, the shark-tooth knife was held high in his hands.
I pressed myself into the corner, trying to become as small a target as possible. But once the blade found me, nothing would help. All I could do was to cover my head with my hands and prepare for the worst.
However, rather than the sting of the blade, a loud scuffle ensued, as Leung seemed to sprout wings and fly over me. I scrambled up to find him desperately clinging to the railing, where Vinnie had hold of his legs.
“Don’t throw me overboard! Please, I’m begging you! I’ll pay whatever you want!” Leung cried out, pleading with Bertucci to spare his life.
“Put him down, Vinnie,” I seconded. “I’ll take him back to Honolulu, where he’ll be prosecuted.”
“What, are you crazy?” Vinnie growled, and glared at me as though I’d lost my mind. “Don’t you know how scum like this works? Leung’s got enough connections to walk out of jail scot free in under two hours and come gunning for us. That is, if he doesn’t make a deal and hand me over to the Feds first.”
“Sure, but you were going to let him kill me,” I angrily snapped.
“Aw, come on, kiddo. I wasn’t ever gonna let him do anything. You know I’ve got a soft spot for you. I was just testing the water, so to speak.”
I didn’t have any idea whether or not that was true, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue. Instead I picked up Vinnie’s gun between my bound hands and aimed it at him.
“Just do as I say,” I instructed.
“Unbelievable. You mean, I saved your ass and now you’re turning on me?” he asked in amazement.
“It’s not a matter of loyalty, but of doing what’s right,” I responded, not all that convinced of it myself.
Vinnie released Leung, never taking his eyes off me. That was a fatal mistake, as Leung twisted around with the shark-tooth knife still in his hand. I didn’t give him the chance to plunge it into Vinnie, but quickly pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit its mark, nicking Leung in the arm, so that the knife skittered across the deck, madly clattering like a prototype for shark-tooth dentures. I glanced back up to find two a
ngry men now glaring at me. As if that weren’t bad enough, none of us any longer trusted one another.
“Nice work, New Yawk. What do you plan to do next?” Vinnie asked sarcastically.
I could hear the tinge of rage simmering in his voice. That was a good question. Who knew where Vinnie’s loyalty might now swerve?
“Get some rope and tie him up,” I said, nodding toward a mound of braided cord on the opposite side of the deck.
I expected Vinnie to drag Leung along with him, and was surprised when he released his hold. Great. I’d never felt more like a mouse trapped by a couple of wily cats. I swung the gun back and forth while trying to run every possible scenario through my head. Even worse, I stood dangerously close to the edge, suddenly finding myself caught between the two men.
“Damn it!” Vinnie muttered, bending down for the rope.
I turned to see what he was up to when Leung made his move. He slammed head first into my side, so that I flew against the railing and the gun was knocked out of my hands. I desperately fought to hold on as I felt myself being roughly pushed overboard.
“No!” I screamed, catching sight of the sharks below.
Vinnie must have started toward us, because Leung suddenly let go. I fell back down in time to see him scramble for the knife and start to slash at Bertucci once more.
I frantically searched for the gun, knowing that Vinnie didn’t stand a chance against him. I cried out in relief upon spotting it. That was enough to snag Leung’s attention so that he now came racing toward me. Flinging myself across the deck, I grabbed hold of the gun. Then rolling onto my back, I pulled the trigger as Leung loomed directly above me.
The 9mm shrieked, but even a bullet couldn’t deter Leung from his mission as he swayed and then came crashing down, holding the knife so that it would slit my throat. I tried to shift onto my side, only to realize that I was held in place by his legs. Instead, I twisted my head as the knife angrily raced past, grazing my cheek and slicing into my shoulder.
Leung lay like a dead weight, his warm breath slithering across my neck, when he took a last rasping gasp and whispered something into my ear. But I couldn’t make out the words as Bertucci roughly jerked the man off me. I no longer fought but instead watched as Vinnie lifted Leung up and flung him overboard like a sack of unwanted garbage.
The water burst to life, intensified by the thrashing of shark fins, and teeth, until nothing was left other than blood and silence.
Epilogue
“Come on, chere! You can do it,” Santou yelled encouragingly from the beach.
I took a deep breath, aligned my hands by my ribs, and pushed up. Then I planted my feet in a wide stance, as a magical swell lifted my heart on the crest of a wave, and I was carried toward shore. For the first time, I now understood what Kevin and Santou were talking about. I’d never felt this free in all my life. It was a rush of supercharged energy and power, provided gratis of Mother Nature.
I laughed in pure delight, partly out of exhilaration and partly out of fear. Perhaps what everyone said was true. Maybe surfing really did capture a person’s soul. For me, facing down a wave had become akin to confronting a predatory shark. It forced me to defy my limitations and, at the same time, accept just how vulnerable I really could be.
I jumped off the board and paddled the last few feet into shore.
“Cool bananas,” Santou said, giving me a hug as Kevin flashed the hang-loose sign.
Both men realized what an important step this had been for me. I continued to be plagued by nightmares of what might be lurking in the water below.
“I think you’re well on the way to becoming a hot surfer babe,” Kevin said with a wink.
“What do you mean on her way? She already is one,” Jake replied, and I rewarded him with a kiss.
But I still couldn’t forget what had happened only a few weeks ago. Probably because I dreamt about it every single night.
Vinnie and I had bound our wounds as best we could and then steered the boat back to shore. Once there, he’d jumped into his car and driven straight to Doc No Name’s house. Vinnie had gone alone, insisting he’d be all right and didn’t need any help.
“Just don’t forget that you owe me big-time, New Yawk,” were his parting words.
As if that was something I didn’t already knew.
The last I heard, Vinnie had caught the first plane back to New York, where he said the streets were safe and he didn’t have to worry about looking over his shoulder or getting whacked.
I’d stayed behind and cleaned all telltale blood off the boat, disposing of any evidence as I’d seen Vinnie do once before. Only then did I call Santou and the police, in that order.
I still wasn’t sure what happened next. What I did know was that only after Kevin stepped in was my tale of abduction by Leung, and the ensuing battle, accepted without question. It was a valuable lesson. I learned that it paid to have good connections.
That prompted an investigation into Leung’s illegal activities. Funny how justice sways with the prevailing wind. It was now believed Leung had been responsible for the deaths of Charlie Hong, Stas Yakimov, and Sammy Kalahiki. In addition, a few low-level scapegoats within the Honolulu Police Department were accused of covering up evidence and receiving payoffs. But that’s where the buck stopped.
Most upsetting was that the incriminating photos of Senator Shirley Chang had been taken from my Ford. I’d returned from Leung’s boat to discover the Explorer had been broken into, and the documentation from Yakimov’s was missing. I could only assume who the guilty party had been. Without those, there was nothing with which to tie Senator Chang to the ensuing scandal. Equally frustrating was that S. M. Ting could have been nearly any one of thousands living in Hong Kong.
Much to my surprise, I wasn’t promptly shipped off to Guam, but rather asked to stay and continue my work on Oahu. Things grew even stranger than that. Norm Pryor actually suggested I investigate a few cases that he’d formerly refused to let me work on. I even had my fifteen minutes of fame when lauded by both Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service for having uncovered “an isolated and highly unusual case of illegal shark finning.”
The cherry on top of the poisonously sweet cake came when I received an official letter of commendation from the Hawaii state legislature. The letter was boldly signed by none other than Senator Shirley Chang herself. I was sorely tempted to return it to the sender, but dissuaded from doing so by both Kevin and Jake. I now view it as a reminder of the frustrating role that politics continues to play in my career.
I walked back to the house, leaving Santou and Kevin to surf the waves alone. Heading inside, I gave Spam and Tag-along each a treat, showered and changed, and then left a note that I’d be home in time for dinner. There was a task that I’d put it off until now, wanting to make certain of the final outcome.
Jumping in my Explorer, I drove down through the heart of Oahu and cut over to the West Coast. I didn’t stop until I spotted the mountain that was deeply gouged with a skid mark. Then I turned onto the road that led to Auntie Ellen’s house.
Her powder puff of a pooch materialized to yip and guide the way, much as it had before. However, there was a marked difference in its barking this time. It felt almost as if the dog had come to welcome me home.
The other disparity was that I no longer was tempted to turn and run. There was now a positive purpose for my visit.
Auntie Ellen opened the door as I pulled up, as if she had been waiting for me to arrive all along. A lavender orchid nestled in her hair, delicate as a butterfly, and a brilliant blue muumuu covered her sturdy figure. She waited in silence as I reached into my purse and pulled out a small wooden carving.
“I found this inside Sammy’s box and thought you might want it,” I said, and handed her the sculpted image.
Auntie Ellen clasped the wooden shark to her breast, and her eyes crinkled into a beatific smile.
“Sammy’s grandfather made this for him wh
en he was just a young boy. It represents our family’s aumakua.”
“That’s why I came today. I wanted to let you know that part of the aloha has been repaid,” I said, and suddenly felt painfully awkward.
“I already know,” Auntie Ellen calmly told me. “I heard about what happened, and of how Michael Leung died. It was his fate for what he did to my Sammy boy.”
I shifted my weight and bent down to pet the dog, hoping it would help ease my discomfort.
“The sharks would never have hurt you, you know. They’d have proteced you the same as they would have my Sammy,” she staunchly insisted.
I wasn’t so sure of that myself. On the other hand, I hoped I’d never have to find out.
“I just wanted to let you know that Michael Leung paid for his crime. Also that the police officially declared Sammy’s death to be a homicide, rather than an accident,” I divulged, wondering why I continued to remain so damned uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because I still didn’t believe that I’d done quite enough.
Auntie Ellen looked at me without a word.
“Well, good-bye then,” I uttered, and started to walk down the steps.
“It’s not good-bye, but aloha. You do remember what that means, don’t you?” she asked, by way of stopping me.
“Yes,” I answered, hoping I wasn’t in for another lecture.
“It’s also the traditional way in which we Hawaiians part. Here, let me show you how it’s done.”
I waited as Auntie Ellen made her way down the steps and stood in front of me.
“First we look into each other’s eyes, for that’s where the soul resides. Then we lean forward until our foreheads and noses touch like this.”
Auntie Ellen’s skin felt cool against my own, and I finally began to relax.
“Now inhale deeply,” she instructed.
I followed her lead, and unexpectedly found myself filled with an overwhelming sense of peace.
“That is what is known as sharing the ha, or the breath of life,” she said softly. “It’s the true meaning of aloha. Now you are one of us.”
Restless Waters Page 26