Darby Stansfield Thriller Series (Books 1-3 & Bonus Novella)

by Ty Hutchinson

  After a short wait, the shadowy figure moved from its hiding spot and made its way down the hill. It had already spotted the child it wanted from earlier in the day and knew which tent she was in. It was the one farthest from the chaperones and closest to the hill—how convenient.

  It was only a month ago that the stranger had spotted the girl with the beautiful hair at a store and had begun keeping tabs. She was perfect. It would only be a matter of time before luck intersected with opportunity.

  The stranger moved to the last bush, faced the openness of the sandy beach, and listened. Satisfied that the quiet reflected the state of the children and the chaperones, the stranger moved over to the tent and knelt beside it.

  Again the stranger remained patient and listened for movement amid the tents. Nothing could be heard except for the churn of the ocean. Moving around to the front, the stranger unzipped the tent enough to peek inside. There she was, sleeping quietly.

  Long strands of blond hair crisscrossed the little girl’s face. She looked to be no older than seven or eight. She was beautiful, with tanned skin providing the right amount of contrast with her golden locks—rare for children of Hawaiian ancestry but not unheard of. The hair color on this little one was almost a bleach blond due to the long amount of time she spent playing at the beach. On either side of her were two other girls. All three were deep in dreamland.

  This will be quick. The stranger removed a utility knife, moved around to the back of the tent, and made a slit in the thin material from top to bottom. Grabbing hold of the little girl, the stranger gently pulled her out. Just then she began to stir, but the dark figure had already picked her up and begun patting her soothingly on her back. She quickly fell back asleep without a worry as she disappeared into the bushes, lying limp in the stranger’s arms.

  Chapter 8

  Izzy and I arrived in Honolulu with smiles stretched across our faces. It was a no-brainer for us to take off for a month and distance ourselves from Teleco and that crap Harold pulled. We had become bitter and unhappy at the change in our travel plan, and we desperately needed a cleansing of our minds and souls. Immersing ourselves in the beauty of island life was just the solution.

  The plan was simple: Spend our time on the North Shore where all the great surf was located.

  I had secured an old cottage in Haleiwa. The place sat right on the beach with neighbors to the left and across the street from us. To the right was about twenty feet of trees and brush before it opened into a public beach. We were thrilled with the idea of living in the country and not the city. Slow living was our motto.

  “This is perfect,” Izzy shouted as she inspected the wood-built house. She then ran out the back door and onto the beach. Spinning around she said, “It’s like we have our own private beach. I can’t believe it. There’s even some surf straight out.”

  I joined her outside. It was beautiful. The sun was hot; the ocean was blue; the air smelled wonderful. This was the island life I pictured in my head all along and I had my two favorite things with me: Izzy and the ocean. This was going to be wonderful. I had a feeling.

  We spent the next couple of hours surfing the waves in front of our place. It was special, like the break was there just for us. We were the only ones playing in the two to three feet of surf. The paddle out was a good hundred yards, a nice workout. The water was clear as could be. Sitting on our boards, we could see the sand and parts of the reef below us. There were colorful fishes swimming around. Turtles were poking their noses out of the water for a breath of air and then dipping back down. I was having a ball. And not once did I miss or even think of my consulting business. Was this a sign of good things to come?

  The work that had consumed my life for almost three years was now suddenly an afterthought. I had experienced so much heartache during those years, not to mention what I put Tav through. Why did I do it? Well, for one, it’s the reason I could afford this trip to Hawaii and have a nice place in Pacific Heights. It’s the reason why I had the confidence to go after a sexy surfer girl. Would I have obtained all of this without that business? I don’t think so. But I’m here now. It’s not about what I did in the past. It’s what I will do from now on. Right?

  Izzy splashed water in my face, interrupting my thoughts. “Did you hear me?”

  “Sorry. I was enjoying the view. What did you say?”

  “I asked if you were ready to head in. We could get something to eat.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  We caught the next wave and rode it inland. The house came with a handy outdoor shower that we both used to rinse off before changing into dry clothes. It was nice and warm out and it felt good on our skin so we decided to explore by foot even though I had rented a Jeep Wrangler for the month.

  Eventually we found ourselves on a strip of Kamehameha Highway filled with stores and restaurants. We walked for a bit until we saw a small market with a little outdoor diner attached to it. There was a metal sign that read Luau’s. “Looks like this will be where we do our shopping. I hope the diner is good.”

  “I dunno. It looks a little run down.”

  “Yeah, but I only see locals eating here, so it must be good. Come on.”

  I pulled Izzy the Reluctant inside the place. It was fairly simple. There were three six-foot tall cinder block walls surrounding six wooden tables. There were about two feet of open space between the top of the wall and the roof. That must be the air conditioning, I thought. There was a counter for ordering: Place an order at one window and pick up at the other window. The plastic menu board was filled with pushpin lettering, some missing.

  I turned to Izzy, “What looks good to you?”

  “Umm, the sweet shrimp plate sounds good.”

  “Shrimp it is. I’m going for the Loco Moco. I have no idea what it is but I’m getting it.”

  I walked up to the window to order while Izzy grabbed a table. We sipped on fruit punch, the best thing we had ever tasted, until our order was called. Izzy’s shrimp plate looked great. It came with nine jumbo shrimp, two scoops of rice, and what looked to be a scoop of macaroni salad. The Loco Moco looked like a mound of food. The only thing I could make out right away was that everything was covered in brown gravy.

  Izzy peeled into her shrimp while looking at my food. “Good luck with that,” she said as she slurped the first of her shrimp out of its tail shell.

  I wasn’t quite sure what was on my plate, but it did smell good. That’s when a young woman in her early thirties appeared next to our table. “You know what that is?” She asked.

  “It’s the Loco Moco,” I said.

  “Yeah, I know, but do you know what type of food it is?”

  I stared at her until she laughed. “My name is Momi. I’m the owner of this place.”

  Momi had a warm and inviting smile that said, “Let’s be friends.” Her chestnut hair curled just above her olive colored shoulders. She was dressed casually in a white blouse and denim mini-shorts that made you want to tour her legs. I stood up like an eager beaver and offered my hand.

  “Hi, I’m Darby. This is my girlfriend Izzy.”

  Izzy waved at Momi.

  Momi folded her arms across her chest. “You two look like you’re fresh off the plane.”

  “We got here today,” Izzy said.

  “How long are you guys staying?”

  “A month,” Izzy beamed.

  “We rented a house,” I added as I sat back down. “It’s on Pikai Street… near a small beach.”

  “Yeah, I know that area. I grew up around here.”

  “How come you don’t have that funny accent?” I asked.

  “That accent is called pidgin English. I grew up with a mother who wouldn’t allow us to speak it in the house. I usually only speak it when talking to locals. Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll meet plenty of people who use it. So, getting back to your food before it gets cold. I’ll explain to you what you ordered.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Okay, th
is is an island favorite. First we put two big scoops of rice on the plate. Then we put two large hamburger patties on the rice. On top of that we put two sunny-side-up eggs. Then we drown it in brown gravy and serve it with a side of macaroni salad.”

  I pushed my bottom lip up like a wise guy agreeing. “Damn that sounds good.”

  “This is a typical meal that is eaten all over Hawaii.”

  I quickly scooped a bit of everything on to my fork and shoved it into my mouth. “I think I just found my most favorite food in the whole wide world.”

  Izzy looked over at Momi and said, “He’s serious. He will eat here every day.”

  “You won’t find me complaining. I’ll see you two around. Enjoy.”

  Momi turned around and headed back into her store. I think we had just met our first friend.

  Chapter 9

  The little girl had slept on and off since that night she was taken. She must have gotten all the sleep she could possibly need, for she was wide awake. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. This wasn’t her bedroom. Her bed was filled with stuffed animals. This one was not. Plus, the room was dark and smelled funny, like wet dog. Her tongue stuck to her mouth and it was difficult to swallow. Something cold to drink would be nice.

  When she sat up, she noticed rubber cords wrapped around her ankles. Her legs were tied to the corner posts of the bed. She tried to untie them but the knot was too tight. Her first attempt at calling out was raspy at best. She cleared her throat as best she could and tried again. “Hello?”

  She waited a bit, but there was no response. Again she tried, a little louder this time. “Hello?” More silence answered her.

  She lay back down wondering where she was and what was going to happen to her. She knew well enough that this was a bad place to be, but she couldn’t figure out what she did wrong to end up here. The little girl began to quietly cry again, praying someone would come and get her.

  Someone did.

  She heard a key slip into the lock on the door. Who was it? Help?

  The door swung open. The girl turned her head toward that direction. In walked a dark figure. She froze. She dare not take a breath. Maybe it won’t see her. Faster than she could imagine, the figure moved and was now standing next to the bed looking down at her. A hand gripped her by her long hair and jerked her up. Only then did the little girl realize her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. With her eyes adjusted, she could see clearer now, but she didn’t look up to identify who was pulling her hair. She couldn’t. Her eyes were glued to the sharp blade held inches from her face.

  The wrong person had come.

  Chapter 10

  Izzy and I were still lying in bed that morning when I suggested we venture beyond our own surf break and try out the spots the North Shore was known for. We of course knew about the Banzai Pipeline, but figured there had to be dozens of spots the locals knew about besides that one.

  “We should ask Momi. I bet she knows all of them.”

  “Great idea. Last one in the shower waxes the others board.” And with that I jumped out of bed with Izzy fast on my tail shouting, “I waxed your board last night.”

  It was a little after ten in the morning when we drove over to Luau’s. We decided to check the store first for Momi. As soon as we entered, we spotted her stocking the shelves with potato chips.

  “Hey, Momi.”

  “Hey, guys. What’s up?”

  “We were wondering if you could do us a favor.”

  Momi stopped stocking and turned to us while she brushed off her jeans. “Sure.”

  “Could you point out the local surf spots on a map for us?”

  “I can do that but I have a couple of questions first.” She walked around behind the counter and pulled out a paper map. “What kind of surfers are you? Newbies or pros?”

  “Well, Izzy here has been surfing a lot longer than I have.”

  “I’m comfortable on four to five-foot swells,” Izzy said. “I’ve surfed bigger but I think those are the perfect size.”

  Momi looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

  “I like them closer to three feet.”

  Momi began circling and naming spots all along the north shore. “There are so many breaks that come and go, but these spots are pretty consistent. You’ll find that where there are waves, there are crowds.” Momi stopped writing. “You guys heard about the Black & Blue, right?”

  “The who?” I asked.

  “The Black & Blue. They’re a group of surfers that regulate the waters out here.”

  “What do you mean by ‘regulate’?” Izzy asked.

  “I mean exactly what I said. They make sure that the right people are surfing the waves, that people out on the water respect the land and the ocean. Most of all, they’re there to prevent every wave from becoming a chaotic free for all. You’ll need to be accepted by them in order to surf these waters.”

  I looked at Izzy; she had the same blank look on her face that I probably had on mine. I looked back to Momi who was still writing on the map. “Momi, you can’t be serious.”

  Momi stopped writing and looked up at us and said. “Oh, I’m serious.”

  “So what do we have to do, introduce ourselves or something?”

  “More or less.”

  “Well, where are they?”

  “Don’t worry. They’ll come up to you. Go out there and surf. Have fun. When they approach you, tell them you know me. You’re nice people and if you can follow the rules, everything should be okay. It’ll be fine.”

  I didn’t like hearing about a gang that ruled the waters. I was trying to rid my life of gangs. “Is it safe for us?”

  “Yes, it is. They’re mainly there to keep troublemakers away. Look for the surfers in half black and half blue shorts. That’s how you’ll know they’re the Black & Blue.”

  Momi handed me the map. I guess she could see the apprehension in our faces because she grabbed individually wrapped blocks of rice with meat on top of it. “Spam musubi. It’s an island favorite—it’s on me. Go have fun. And don’t leave anything valuable in the car. There are a lot of thieves patrolling these spots as well.”

  This wasn’t what I wanted to hear. As we walked back to the Jeep, Izzy asked, “You think what Momi said was true?”

  “Eh, I think she’s being over dramatic.” At least, I hoped she was.

  Chapter 11

  Once we passed Haleiwa beach, we didn’t have to drive very far east before we started seeing some great breaks. We passed Puaena Point, Laniakea Beach, and Jocko’s Point. Izzy recognized one of the surf spots, Log Cabins, from a magazine and it had both right and left waves. We were going to head there but we spotted a surf break through a row of leafy trees.

  “Looks like there’s a spot here. Plus there’s a bunch of cars parked along the road.”

  Izzy looked down at the map. “Well if I’m reading this right, this place is called Chun’s Reef. Momi put a star next to this location.”

  I put the car in park. “Let’s check it out for a bit.”

  We crossed the street and found a short trail that we followed until we popped out on a nice sandy beach. There were people sunbathing, a couple of families picnicking, and a few children playing in the calm waters near the shore. But out farther, past the reef—that’s what caught our eyes. We watched swell after swell break into perfect rights, glassy and hollow. Plus there wasn’t much of a crowd out there.

  Our eyes met. “We’re surfing here,” we said in unison.

  Within fifteen minutes we had grabbed our boards from the Wrangler and were paddling out. The water was warm and refreshing. We were like salivating shoppers waiting for Walmart to open the day after Thanksgiving. Every wave seemed to turn into an awesome tube ride. We paddled harder and faster. Before we knew it, we were in position for a large swell coming in.

  It was definitely Izzy size. “You take the first one.”

  She paddled into position as the swell continued to develop. It was looking like
this one would be unusually large. “It’s all you,” I called out.

  Suddenly out of nowhere, three surfers surrounded me. Two more had paddled and stopped right in front of Izzy while a third positioned himself to take the wave. It turned out to be a nice five-foot break that obviously barreled the guy because you could hear him cheering. What the hell is going on? It was then I noticed the black and blue shorts; they were all wearing them. We had officially met the Black & Blue.

  They stared at us quietly with smirks on their faces. Almost all of them sported tattoos up and down their arms and backs. A few of them seriously spent way too much time in the gym. The first thing I did was paddle over to Izzy so she wasn’t alone.

  “What’s up, guys?” I offered cautiously.

  One of them finally spoke, a smaller, younger surfer who had a snarl rather than a smirk on his face. The pidgin English was strong with this one. “Brah, you not welcomed here. Better take your chick and get out before you get hurt.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. I had never had anyone tell me to leave a public beach.

  “Kalani, cool it,” said one of the older, muscular surfers. He looked at me. “You know us?”

  “You’re the Black & Blue, right?”

  “That’s right. You know what we do?”

  “Uh, we were told you regulate the surfing out here. We haven’t done anything wrong. We’re very respectful.”

  “Brah, you gotta get permission for surf here. See this break? Nice huh? Not crowded. It stay like that ‘cause we keep it this way.”

  “Momi, the owner of Luau’s, can vouch for us. We’re really nice people. I’m Darby and this is my girlfriend Izzy.”

  “Momi told you about this place?”

  “Yeah.”