Dark Red And Deadly

by Frederick Zackel

  * * *

  Rafferty entered a public phone booth near the beach in the touristy part of the island and dialed an 800-toll free number.

  When someone answered on the other end, Rafferty said, "Rafferty here. Yes, I meet with him. He went native. Spacey as hell. I'm trying again tomorrow."

  Then he hung up the phone.

  * * *

  That twilight Henry and Lester were at Henry's farm, a mobile home up on cement blocks and railroad ties, a propane tank in the front yard, some junkers in the weeds, chickens and hound dogs wandering loose. Lester was wired, edgy, pacing back and forth, while Henry sat quietly on the rundown porch.

  "I'm going stir-crazy," Lester complained. Then, making up his mind, he said, "I'm going to town."

  Henry said nothing.

  Lester pulled off his grubby T-shirt, then washed his face and hands with a garden hose, then dried himself with his grubby T-shirt. He found a T-shirt in the back of his truck and slipped it on.

  Seeing Henry watching him, Lester said, grabbing for his car keys, "Fuck you, old man. I need a woman."

  * * *

  The Pikake was a steak and lobster restaurant.

  Rafferty met Jeremiah Quint and his wife Audrey at the bar.

  Rafferty greeted them. "Aloha! I'm glad you both could make it."

  Jeremiah Quint was brutally cold. "That's because you're buying dinner."

  Rafferty ignored the jibe. "Shall we start with drinks?"

  Jeremiah sneered. "On your expense account?"

  Rafferty bought drinks at the front bar. He told the Quints, "I don't blame Jimmy for what happened. And I know Jimmy doesn't believe that, and I know you're helping him as best as you can. But Jimmy's not coping very well here. He needs the help you can't give him."

  Jeremiah Quint was totally opposed. "My brother isn't crazy."

  "I think Rafferty's right," Audrey said.

  Jeremiah Quint was belligerent. "Jimmy stays here. He's my brother."

  * * *

  Tomo Oteas and Jack Draper were talking business in a back booth in the Pikake Lounge. Tomo, part Hawaiian and part Tahitian, was young, handsome and sexy, a broad-shouldered surfer in his early thirties. He wore a very beautiful, a very unique aloha shirt: the white bird of paradise against a flaming sunset. Jack Draper was a young white male in a black t-shirt and camouflage pants. He was short and slim, had slickbacked hair and a thin mustache. Last year part of his nose was shot off in a cocaine bust that went south. He was a son-of-a-bitch, a rotten bastard with a bad attitude.

  "Tomo, when can I take delivery?"

  Tomo considered before he spoke. "At least two weeks for the rest of the harvest, and another two weeks for it to dry. " He concluded, "At the end of the month, Jack."

  "And how much are you asking for?"

  * * *

  Rafferty went for more drinks. While he waited at the bar, he turned to check out the restaurant’s clientele. He noticed in one of the back booths Tomo's very unique aloha shirt. He liked the design, thought about how he would enjoy wearing it in Washington. Then Rafferty saw Jeremiah Quint looking across the cocktail lounge. Rafferty saw Tomo Oreas and Jeremiah Quint making eye contact. He saw how both men flinched from that contact.

  * * *

  Jeremiah became galvanized. He told Audrey, "That man over there on the left. He's a cop."

  Audrey stared at back booth. "Which one? Your left or their left?"

  Jeremiah Quint stood. "Let's go, Audrey." When she failed to move, he became more excited. "C'mon, we gotta go!"

  "But, honey --"

  Jeremiah Quint pulled her arm. "We got to get going now!"

  "Why?"

  "As Isaiah wrote, ‘They are greedy dogs which can never have enough.’"

  Audrey gave up and grabbed her belongings.

  Jeremiah and Audrey left without saying good-byes to Rafferty.

  Rafferty turned to watch the back booth. He stared at Tomo's very unique aloha shirt.

  * * *

  Draper stared at the Quints. "Who is he?"

  "Jeremiah Quint," Tomo said. "A Bible-thumper. A big grower. Bigger than me. He grows real good shit." Tomo was unnerved. "It's bad luck seeing another grower when you're selling."

  Draper was interested in Jeremiah Quint. "How much is he growing?"

  "Maybe three hundred plants," Tomo said.

  Draper was startled. "That many?"

  "He probably sold already. Growers don't come to town until after they've sold."

  * * *

  Rafferty was embraced and kissed passionately by a young and very attractive Chinese woman. Rafferty was stunned. "Ginny?"

  Ginny Hong squealed with delight. "Yes, yes, yes!"

  They embraced, one-time lovers meeting after years apart.

  Rafferty said, "What are you doing here?"

  Ginny said, "I live here now."

  "God, you look great!"

  "Oh, Terry, I've missed you."

  * * *

  Draper and Tomo watched Rafferty and Ginny.

  Draper eyed Ginny. "Small tits but a nice ass."

  Tomo said, "The redheaded haole I don't know. That chick is Ginny Hong, and she's sleeping with Deputy Sheriff Eddie Ka’aina."

  * * *

  Ginny and Rafferty hovered together over Hawaiian drinks.

  Rafferty said, "She was a combat instructor for the CIA. As you can guess, we got married for all the wrong reasons. All we did was fight. And yourself?"

  Ginny was also rueful. "My divorce was ugly and nasty and messy. But I am getting married again. This December."

  Rafferty was delighted. "Congratulations. We have to celebrate."

  Ginny gathered her things. "I know a cheaper place to celebrate."

  * * *

  Draper and Tomo watched Rafferty and Ginny leave.

  Tomo confided, "Jeremiah Quint's never been busted. I think I know why. He's been buying protection."

  Draper was very interested hearing that news.

  * * *

  Rafferty and Ginny approached Ginny's vehicle in the Pikake Lounge parking lot. Ginny drove a bright white ambulance with "Ilima Chapel" stenciled on the doors.

  Ginny unlocked the doors. "I'm still following in my father's footsteps."

  Rafferty said, "How is he, anyway?"

  Ginny hesitated. "He died six years ago. Mom, too."

  They climbed into the ambulance.

  Ginny said, "Mom and Dad were flying back from Kauai. He had a heart attack and the plane fell into the sea. No survivors."

  "Ginny, I'm so very sorry for you."

  Ginny started the car. "I gave them a lovely funeral."

  As the ambulance left the parking lot, Ginny said, "What are you doing these days?"

  Rafferty said, "Have you seen those newspaper stories that start out ‘Senate Investigators alleged that—?’ That's my beat. Washington, D.C."

  "You’re a Senate investigator?" She was impressed.

  Rafferty wouldn’t threaten a cover story.

  The white ambulance drove uphill on a mainly deserted Hawaiian highway.

  Ginny said, "What are you here for? Or can't you tell me?"

  "Just here to see some people who live up in the hills. Seeing if the baby-sitter needs anything."

  Ginny said, "Don't go prancing around in the hills too much. At least not alone, okay?" Seeing Rafferty puzzled, she said, "You could get shot, or—"

  Rafferty joked, "Or worse?"

  "Terry, this is harvest time. People forget everything else at harvest. They're got to get their crops in. And you don't just drop in on people. Even old friends."

  "Marijuana, you mean? Is that stuff still going on?"

  "Did you think it ever went away?"

  "Ginny, you’re making me nostalgic. How much is it going for these days?"

  Ginny was cold. "About three thousand dollars a pound."

  Rafferty said, "That much!"

  Ginny said, "Right now the paranoia is incredible. The growers
are afraid to lose what they've worked so hard for. All it takes is a tourist from Japan, some backpacker from the Mainland—" She looked at Rafferty. "Some Washington, D.C., investigator wandering through the woods ... " She gestured out at the night. "These growers mauka, they'll shoot you right where you stand. And this haole is never heard from again."

  "Mauka?"

  "Mauka is a direction. It means towards the mountains. Makai means towards the sea. In Hawaii, you're either going mauka or makai."

  "You make it sound like some voodoo curse in the movies," Rafferty said. In a stage voice he said, "If you go mauka, maybe you never come back."

  Ginny said, "Maybe you not come back."

  * * *

  Rafferty and Ginny had tropical drinks in a side booth at Suszie’s Sugar Shack, a touristy nightclub whose trademark was a giant neon sign framed by palm trees. The club featured lanai seating, bamboo walls, flaming torches around a live fish pond, tourists and locals, and a good floor show.

  Ginny raised her drink. "To old friends."

  Rafferty raised his drink. "To old friends."

  They clinked glasses and drank.

  Deputy Sheriff Eddie Ka’aina, a big, burly Hawaiian in uniform, saw Rafferty and Ginny and joined them, sliding in beside Ginny. "Ginny?"

  Ginny told Rafferty, "Terry, meet Eddie Ka’aina, my fiancee." Then she told Eddie, "And this is Terry Rafferty, an old friend from San Francisco."

  Putting out his hand, Rafferty said, "I'm pleased to meet you."

  Eddie ignored the hand and told Rafferty, with jealousy, "What are you doing here?"

  Ginny said, "Eddie!"

  The sudden tension could be cut with a knife.

  "A business trip," Rafferty said. "I'm only here for a few days."

  Eddie told Ginny, "I recognize him from the old photos."

  Ginny asked, "How's tonight going?"

  Eddie threatened Rafferty, "Stay away from Ginny. We're getting married."

  A noisier row across the room broke the tension.

  An angry, half-drunk Lester Rahler, beer bottle in hand, stood near a round table, at which five young women were sitting, several who wore nurse's uniforms. Cheryl Park, one of the nurses, a pretty young Korean woman, was the bone of contention, and the other women were encircling her, protecting her. A large plate glass window was behind their table.

  A very thin, blonde and beautiful woman stood between the circle of women and Lester. She wore an aloha shirt identical to the one Tomo Oteas had been wearing earlier, again the white bird of paradise against a flaming sunset.

  Lester Rahler told Nora, "I want to talk with her outside."

  Nora stood up to him. "She doesn't want to. You better leave, Lester."

  Lester said, "Nora, she can tell me herself outside."

  * * *

  As Eddie left their booth, Ginny told Rafferty, "That's Lester Rahler. He's poison. The blonde is Nora Buchanan. She's the Sheriff's sister-in-law."

  A beer bottle crashed at Nora's feet, startling everyone.

  Lester stood in the aisle, empty-handed, glaring at Nora.

  Nora was livid. "You stupid shit!"

  Lester punched Nora in the nose. She fell to the floor.

  Nora sat on the floor, blood coming from her nose, and a glazed look in her eye.

  Eddie grabbed Lester's shoulder to spin him around.

  Lester went berserk. He barreled at the deputy, carried the deputy, and using their combined momentum, threw them both against the plate glass window. The window shattered, and the deputy's head and shoulders crashed against the large hole that appeared.

  People cried, screamed, hollered and cursed. Chairs were toppled, tipped over. A pitcher of margaritas crashed to the floor.

  Lester had the deputy sprawled on his back, his neck hanging over the edge of the broken glass window. Lester pushed down on the deputy, trying to saw off the deputy's neck with what was left of the window. The deputy choked, flailed his arms, and his neck splattered blood.

  Rafferty and Ginny, on their feet, shoved their way through the onlookers, Ginny falling behind.

  Lester was on a rampage, trying to choke the deputy, slice his throat, to kill him with a broken window. But the deputy's shirt collar was up, it covered most of his neck, protected it from most of the glass. Still, blood in great gobs was splashed around.

  Lester planted a knee on the deputy's chest, then tried hopping on his chest, jumping up and down, screaming, "Die, fucker, die!"

  Broken glass cracked beneath the deputy’s collar.

  Rafferty grabbed a pitcher of margaritas and with a roundhouse swing smacked Lester in the head. The glass cracked apart, and Lester ricocheted away from the bleeding deputy. Rafferty went after Lester with the broken pitcher, Lester backed off, threw a chair in Rafferty's path, then took off through the hole in the window.

  Rafferty followed Lester through the broken window. Rafferty saw Lester leaping onto a parked car. Lester kept moving, across the parked car, then he jumped onto the roof of a station wagon coming down the street. Then he was across the street and running away.

  Rafferty was left standing on the sidewalk.

  * * *

  Lester Rahler ran like a deer through the streets and the night. His head was back, his nostrils flaring, the adrenaline coursing through him. After moments, he slowed, then stopped. His chest heaved from the effort. Aching, in pain, he leaned up against a telephone pole to catch his wind. Most of his clothes were splattered with blood and booze.

  Lester's eyes were crazed. After a moment, he started laughing hysterically, from the sheer joy that came when trouble explodes around him, but then his laughter died off. Then, grimly determined, he looked back at where he came.

  * * *

  Rafferty brought the ambulance up by the front door of Suszie’s Sugar Shack, got out and opened the rear hatch, just as Nora, Ginny and Cheryl Park were helped outside with a folding-chair-used-as-a-stretcher carrying Eddie.

  Eddie Ka’aina was dying. As the women used cocktail napkins as makeshift bandages, his neck wounds looked sliced, blood was pulsing out in waves, and his eyes were lolling around like loose marbles.

  Ginny was worried. She said to Rafferty, "He's lost a lot of blood."

  Rafferty helped them get the stretcher inside and said, "If there's anything I can do—"

  Nora was impatient. "Are you a doctor?" Then she eased up. "I'm a nurse, and Ginny's a paramedic." She told Ginny, "Ginny, you get in first."

  Ginny told Rafferty, "You're driving." As she climbed into the back of the ambulance, she added, "County General. Just follow this highway downhill. As fast as you can."

  "If you need blood for transfusions," Rafferty told Nora, "I'm a universal donor."

  Nora was not impressed. She helped Cheryl Park inside. "Great!" Then she climbed in after the other woman. "But let's go, let's go!"

  As Nora slammed the hatch, Rafferty ran and jumped in behind the driver's seat. He slammed it into gear.

  The white ambulance drove fast down the highway, its lights flashing, its siren wailing. The ambulance screeched around one tight corner after another.

  Inside Rafferty was the model of concentration as the road sped by. He drove like a man possessed.

  The highway went down in sweeping curves. The ambulance handled switchbacks and S-curves and hairpin curves on its way down from the mountains.

  Rafferty found the driving was a blur.

  He heard Ginny call his name.

  He stepped on the gas.

  The rain started, a ferocity of raindrops much like hailstones.

  Rafferty flicked on the wipers. The sleeting rain befuddled the wipers and Rafferty lost all visibility in the blurry windshield.

  Ginny said, "Terry!"

  Rafferty arched his back and stood on the gas pedal. Rain drizzled outside the ambulance.

  The highway glistened with rain and flooding ditches. The ambulance almost struck a deer on the road.

  Momentarily startled, Raffe
rty knuckled down over the steering wheel and glared out at the road unfolding ahead.

  Ginny said, "Please!"

  The highway leveled off into the valley. The ambulance flashed past a sheriff's patrol car that had left the road, having heard the ambulance coming. Then the ambulance ran a red light inside the city limits. Then the neon lights of the hospital EMERGENCY appeared.

  The ambulance pulled in and alongside the emergency entrance.

  Rafferty parked, then ran back and opened up the hatch. Nora jumped out, followed by Ginny. They hauled out the makeshift stretcher carrying Eddie Ka’aina.

  Nora said, "Rafferty, are you still offering to give blood?"

  * * *

  That evening Tomo Oteas arrived back at his grandfather's farmhouse, meeting Henry on the side porch. Tomo stood there, smiling slyly, but not saying a word.

  "Did you make a deal?" Henry asked.

  Tomo grinned. "Yeah, grandpa! We get almost three grand a dried pound!"

  Henry had his breath taken away in awe. The two started laughing, jabbing each other in the ribs.

  Tomo said, "How 'bout a little Gatorade and bourbon maybe?"

  They laughed together and started pouring drinks.

  Sheriff Charles Hartman arrived at the emergency room in time to see one of his deputies interviewing Rafferty, who was donating blood and lying on a gurney. The Sheriff took over.

  Hartman said, "I understand you broke up the fight, Mister ... ?"

  Rafferty said, "Terry Rafferty, a friend of Ginny Hong's."

  Hartman stared at the blood bag by Rafferty's arm. "Do you know who attacked my deputy?"

  "Ginny said his name was Lester," Rafferty said. "I don't remember if she said his last name."

  "You're positive she called him Lester?"

  The deputy said, "Her description matches ours."

  Hartman told Rafferty, "Any idea where he is now?"

  The deputy spoke. "I think Lester and his father work for Tomo Oteas."

  Hartman told the deputy, "Call Dispatch, have her call all the men on tomorrow's Strike Force, tell them to be at the Ilima substation within thirty minutes in full gear." He faced Rafferty. "Thank you for what you've done."

  Then he turned and left the waiting room.

  Rafferty said, "Who was he?"