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

by Ty Hutchinson

  “Brah, all you need is one more beer to get rid of that beating.”

  Souza was right. Even though I felt like a dozen guys had played the drums on my head and face, there wasn’t that much damage. “Weak punches” is what Souza called it. Whatever. I was happy to not have a fat lip or a black eye—just a bruised ego. Thank God, because having to explain this to Izzy wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

  “I saw you at Kolohe’s a few nights ago.” I peeked at Souza from under the beer bottle.

  “Yeah?”

  “I mean, you looked familiar and I think that’s where I might have seen you.”

  “Every now and then I grab a cold one from there,” he said, taking a swig.

  “Thanks for the beer. It’s helping a lot.”

  “No worries. I seen you around, too.”

  I laughed a little. “As a haole, it’s hard to blend in around here.”

  “Small town. It’s kind of hard to stay a stranger whether you one tourist or not.”

  Our conversation was in danger of dying unless one of us kept it up. I didn’t get the feeling Souza was volunteering for that job. But why would I? What interests would I have in it? Small talk, being polite—sure those are reasons. Or was it because he was a gang member?

  “So, do you surf a lot?” I asked.

  “Nah, it’s recreational. But a lot of the guys you see out here every day stay either pro or pro-amateur hoping for go the distance.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. They treat it like a job. They put in the hours everyday.”

  Darb, why are you making friends with this guy? Stop it. He’s with the gang. “That makes a lot of sense. I wish I could make a living from surfing. Sounds like one of the best jobs in the world to have. Compared to that, my job is a snore.”

  “For real? That’s not what I went hear. I went hear you had one great job.”

  “Right,” I said with a snicker.

  “Seriously, brah. I been wanting for talk to you about it for some time now.”

  I chuckled at Souza’s attempt to crack a joke. It was unexpected, much like his next remark.

  “You the telecommunications consultant for gangs, right?”

  Chapter 19

  At around four in the afternoon, Izzy returned to the beach cottage. She’d had a great time hanging out with Momi—the mimosas, the good girl time. It was all worth it. It turns out the two had a lot in common. They both liked to work out. They both preferred organic foods. And they both loved scary movies. They even watched Momi’s favorite, Silence of the Lambs. She mentioned that she had watched it over one hundred times.

  Izzy’s buzz had no plans on leaving just yet, so she decided on a nice warm bath to compliment it. Some spa time before Darby gets home, she thought as she stripped down in the living room before getting the bath going. She wasn’t worried about the large windows that lined the living room. There was no reason for anyone to be walking through the trees and bushes on that side of the house. To be honest, Izzy didn’t really care if someone saw her naked.

  Which was great, for the figure watching her from the trees, right near the window, from the moment she got home.

  The stranger had a perfect view inside. The windows allowed the afternoon light to drift into the house. She was so on display; Izzy might as well have been walking on a catwalk.

  The stranger’s eyes followed Izzy as she walked from room to room, straightening up while waiting for the tub to fill. She got herself a glass of water and closed the door to the bathroom three quarters of the way. The stranger could see part way in and watched as Izzy immersed herself in the water. With the noisy faucet still filling the tub, now would be a great time if someone wanted to break in.

  The voyeur moved in closer and quietly fiddled with the windows. None of them would open. Moving to the back of the house, the stranger realized the wooden door was open and only a closed screen door stood in the way. A quick check revealed it to be unlocked. The stranger inched the door back in anticipation of squeaking. There was none. The water was still plunging into the tub, keeping the decibel level high. The stranger moved toward the bathroom and stood just outside, listening.

  In the tub, Izzy lay with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the rising tides around her. She hummed a lazy nonsense tune. There was nothing to warn her that the bathroom door was now open and someone was standing in the doorway staring at her—nothing, except a slight draft of wind.

  Izzy opened her eyes and noticed the door was open. I could have sworn I left it closed. Maybe it opened on its own. She was too comfortable to get out of the tub and close it. She also wished she had remembered to place her glass of water near her instead of forgetting it on the shelf near the door.

  She stared dreamily at the glass of water—until a dark reflection on it moved. Izzy pressed her back against the tub and sucked in a quick breath. How could a reflection on a glass move? Reflections in an empty house don’t move. Izzy’s heart raced. Was she alone? Worried she might be overreacting and letting her imagination run wild, she called out, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

  “Yes,” a voice replied.

  Chapter 20

  “How are you?” I asked, peeking into the bathroom.

  Izzy looked like she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide open and she was sitting in a ball with her knees up against her body.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Her body relaxed as if the pressure of a million tons had fallen off her shoulders. “Shit, Darby, I didn’t hear you come in. You scared me.”

  I watched her slowly stretch her legs back out as she relaxed in the tub. “Sorry,” I responded as I walked away. “I got bad news.”

  “What do you mean bad news?”

  I appeared in the doorway again. “I had my wallet stolen. I got mugged down by the beach.”

  “What? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

  “Eh, I took a couple of knocks. I was more embarrassed than anything.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  “Not right away, but I did stop by the station to file a report.” I walked over to the tub and gave Izzy a kiss. “I’m okay. Everything’s fine. It’s just a few bucks and I’ve already put in calls to the bank and the credit card companies.”

  “It’s just shocking to hear.”

  “I know,” I said as I got up and walked out of the bathroom. “How was your day with Momi?” I called out from the bedroom.

  “It was fine,” Izzy called out. “We did girl things, watched a movie… I also learned that Momi had a daughter.”

  “She did?” I shouted out from the bedroom.

  “Yeah but she died at age nine from cancer.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  On my way out of the bedroom I noticed that the screen door was slightly opened. Sheesh, did we grow up in a barn or what? Just as I was about to shut the door, something caught my eye. I looked toward the beach and saw the kid from the Black & Blue, Kalani, walking by. He turned and looked at me, staring me down before disappearing down the beach. What the hell is he doing over here? Does he live around here? I closed the screen door and locked it.

  I could hear Izzy talking as I headed back to the bathroom, something about Momi’s daughter.

  “That’s a shame,” I said as I stood in the doorway again.

  Izzy looked up at me. “She got pregnant at a young age and even after the father bailed, she decided to have the baby.”

  “Wow, that’s rough.”

  “She was thankful that her mother was around to help out. She passed away a few years ago, though.”

  “Geesh. Was she okay talking about this?”

  “I guess. So what else did you do besides get yourself mugged?”

  “I checked out a bunch of surf spots on the map that Momi gave us.” I didn’t dare tell her about meeting Mike Souza. That would mean too much explaining.

  “Cool. How were they?”

  “Some really good spots. It’s amaz
ing how great the surf is around here.” I looked in the mirror to see how my face looked. The swelling had disappeared. “Oh, I meant to tell you, I have to fly back to San Francisco for my monthly status meeting.”

  “When?”

  “In a few days. I’m trying to arrange it so I take the redeye out of Honolulu and arrive in San Francisco in the morning. I’ll do my meetings during the day and then hopefully catch the afternoon flight back to Hawaii,” I said as I sat on the sink counter top.

  “Aggressive schedule you got there.”

  “You gonna be all right by yourself?” I asked.

  “I think I can handle it.”

  I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. The local news was on and it wasn’t good. A couple of men hunting pigs found the little girl—or at least what was left of her.

  Chapter 21

  San Francisco, California

  It was a few days later when my flight landed at San Francisco International Airport. By the time I jumped into a cab, it was just after 7:30 in the morning—too early to head into the office. I called Tav to let him know my flight had landed and I was headed over to The Vic.

  Traffic was decent and I made good time. Twenty minutes later I was opening the front door to my place. It felt good to be back. Ralphie was on the couch when I got to the top of the steps. He leapt off and sprinted towards me, well, as fast as pugs sprint, anyway. He nearly ran me over as he barreled into my legs. Snorting and sneezing was his way of saying, “Welcome home.”

  I could hear that Tav was in the shower. I pounded on the door to let him know I was there and went to fix a pot of coffee. A few minutes later Tav appeared.

  “Hey, man, welcome back.”

  We shook hands and gave each other a man hug. I poured Tav a cup of coffee and slid the mug over to him.

  “Man, it feels good to be home.”

  “Tell me you’re not tired of Hawaii already.”

  “No, not by a mile. I think it’s the familiarity of being back in San Francisco. Everything is still new in Hawaii. We’re still discovering.”

  “How’s Izzy doing?”

  “She’s doing good. How are things here? What’s going on at the office?”

  “Everything is cool here. Ralphie and I are holding down the fort. No big parties, Dad. The office is the office. What are your plans today?”

  “I gotta check in with Gerald Thorn, give him some face time. A little housecleaning with my accounts, make sure my final orders went through. Nothing big.”

  “What’s next?” Tav asked.

  I knew what he meant. He was asking about my consulting business.

  “Like I told you before I left, I’m done with that. This surf trip is the start of a new life.”

  “I’m proud of you, Darb. I think you’ll do just fine. You won’t even miss it.”

  Then why do I keep thinking about the NBB?

  • • •

  We rolled into the office about an hour later. Tav got off the elevator at the sixth floor, and I continued up until the twelfth. I opened the door to my office. Everything looked just how I had left it. I had to assume that Harold had turned my office the minute I left. I didn’t care. I always kept it scrubbed of any information.

  I spent the next couple of hours looking over my accounts and tying up loose ends. The last of my orders from a small gang in San Jose was working its way through the system. This order would help me make my sales goal for the month and even carry me halfway through the next. I needed to start thinking about new clients—legit clients. I wasn’t even sure where to start. I didn’t have a list of leads sitting on my desk. For the first time in the glory of my new start, I was starting to have self-doubt.

  What was I thinking? I can’t go back to calling on pizza parlors and beauty shops. There’s no money in closing clients like that. They don’t buy. Yeah, I knew I promised Tav that I would give up the consulting business, and that was the plan. The problem was I didn’t really have a plan after that.

  What about Izzy? We were supposed to start spending more time together. And we were. I loved it. I thought it was great. Why would I mess with that? Had I already forgotten that I was on my knees not too long ago, staring at my grave?

  It also didn’t help that Souza knew who I was. I was floored. One minute we’re clinking beer bottles; the next he’s calling me out as the telecommunication consultant to the criminal underworld. It did feel good, though, to get some recognition. I had worked hard for the title.

  I remember turning to him and asking, “What makes you think that?”

  “Brah, stop pretending. I get one cousin who lives in San Jose. He runs with a small gang there. He went tell me about how you went help them.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I kept denying it. “What makes you think I’m this guy?”

  “Nevermind that. What the odds of us meeting, huh? Crazy, huh?” Souza flicked his eyebrows up twice.

  He had me. I decided to come clean. “All right, you got me. Yes, I’m that Darby Stansfield but I’m retired now.”

  “People like you don’t retire.”

  “Sorry, but I did.”

  “There no one else like you out there. You get one monopoly. How you gonna give that up?”

  “Say I wasn’t. What’s all this mean to you?”

  “My gang needs help.”

  Unbelievable. Had I actually developed a reputation? Apparently, yes. A positive one too, it seemed, because a gang was calling on me for help. I had trouble wrapping my head around this. Here I am, on the way out and biz is calling for me to stay. This was making it all too easy. How could I turn this down? I did, though.

  “Look, Mike—”

  “Call me Souza.”

  “Okay, Souza. I made the decision to go straight. It’s something I want to try.”

  “I still think you should hear us out.”

  I had told Souza I had to fly out of town and would talk more with him when I got back. It was just a ploy to buy more time so I could think of a better excuse for why I couldn’t help the gang. It seemed like retirement and pursuing a crime-free lifestyle weren’t cutting it.

  I sat at my desk facing the realization that what Souza said a few days ago was the truth. I can’t give up my consultation. I had a monopoly and I made good money from it. I liked my comfortable life. But I didn’t want to screw things up with Izzy either. Getting myself killed, or worse, involving her somehow, is not what I wanted. What was I to do? I leaned to the side, letting my left ass cheek rise off the chair so I could let one go. Just then there was a soft knock on my door. Great!

  I looked up and saw Lois Burkhardt smiling at me. I used to work with her when I was a bottom-feeder. She was the mother hen on the sixth floor who had taken an extra special liking to Tav and me.

  “I heard you were coming into the office today. I wanted to say hi.”

  “Hi, Lois. Come in.”

  She handed me a small tin. “I baked you some cookies.”

  “Thanks.” I brought the container up to my nose and inhaled deeply. “Mmm, I’ve missed your baking.”

  “Are you and Izzy having a great time in Hawaii?”

  I ripped open the tin and shoved one of the cookies into my mouth. Ten seconds passed before I could answer without crumbs spilling out. “It’s amazing,” I said between chews. “I’m so glad we went, even if it is for just a month.”

  “Yeah, bummer about what Harold did. Speaking of, I saw him roaming around the floor while I was on my way to see you.”

  “Thanks for the heads up.”

  Lois backed up to my doorway and peeked outside quickly. “I’m sorry, Darby, but I have to go. I don’t want him to see me up here. I’ll still keep an eye on him for you. And air out your office,” she said, making a face.

  “Thanks, Lois. I’ll see you again real soon.”

  I had my meeting with Thorn anyway. I gathered my stuff and headed toward his office. I don’t know why I was surprised to see Harold exiting his of
fice. Must be his daily ass-kissing time.

  Harold’s legs kicked out to the sides as he walked toward me. Tubby thighs. He had that stupid grin on his face, again. Oh, how I wanted to slap it straight off.

  “Mr. Stansfield,” said the walking masturbater, “enjoying your month in Hawaii?”

  “Having the time of my life.”

  “Too bad it’s only a month and not six. Boohoo, huh?”

  What a jackass this guy was. Why I continued to waste my breath with this hippo was beyond me. I tried to get around him, but the hog sidestepped in front of me. I could see that some old food had crusted on his shirt. Gross.

  “Don’t even think of trying to stay all six months. If Izzy quits, I swear I’ll make it my job to find qualified candidates up the ying yang for Linda so that she can’t hire her back.”

  I used my notepad to push him out of the way like one would do to the contaminated. I didn’t want to experience anything close to the run-in we had not too long ago. Walking away from him, I was surprised that Harold would sink so low as to even think of hurting Izzy’s career just to get to me. This guy was unbelievable.

  I knew right then what I had to do.

  Chapter 22

  O’ahu, Hawaii

  It was nearing seven in the evening when Izzy hung up the phone. Darby was stuck in San Francisco with fog shutting down incoming and outgoing flights. The best he could do was jump on the first flight the following morning, so she was on her own.

  Izzy had spent the day surfing their break in front of the house, not wanting to brave a new surf spot by herself. She was beat, though, and since Darby wasn’t coming back, she decided to turn in. It would make getting up for a sunrise surf session easy.

  She slept soundly until around one in the morning, when she had the urge to pee. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, her bladder insisted now was the perfect time. She felt her way in the dark to the bathroom, sat on the toilet, and closed her eyes.