“Yeah, I’m here. Where are you?”
“I’ve got Hatch with me and we’re a few minutes away. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Everything’s good.”
“Well, hang in there, because the lady ranger at the gate’s real concerned about you. She took off in an official pickup as soon as we told her we thought you were in trouble. She had the siren going—driving like a bat outta hell. Keep an eye out, she should be pulling up any minute now.”
Great. Ranger Hard-Ass already had it in for me for stiffing her for the park fee, and there I was, squatting next to a guy I’d cold-cocked halfway to heaven. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the unpermitted gun I had stuffed down the back of my pants.
CHAPTER 36
Amazingly, Lisa Marie did as I’d asked and brought me the duct tape. I quickly trussed Brad’s hands and feet and tossed what remained of the roll across the overlook floor. Five minutes later I heard the sound of boots on gravel. I didn’t look up from watching Brad, but I clearly heard only one set of footfalls coming down the path.
As the sound of the steps changed from gravel to concrete, I stood up, held my arms above my head in surrender and flashed the ranger a smile. She smiled back, but it was a gotcha grin. I glanced over at Lisa Marie and saw her gearing up for a performance.
“Thank God you’re here! This woman tried to kill my fiancé.”
Ranger Hard-Ass turned to me, her smile so wide I thought it might dislocate her jaw. “I made a mistake in not pursuing you when you trespassed on federal property. For that, I guess I owe this gentleman an apology.”
She gazed at Brad’s prone body, trussed up like a prize pig. He was dazed, but his eyes were open. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t struggle against his restraints, but instead blew out an irritated breath like a guy stuck in heavy traffic.
The ranger turned back to me. “As an agent sworn to defend federal property and uphold the laws of the United States of America, I hereby arrest you for aggravated assault, improper restraint and kidnapping. You will remain in my custody until proper law enforcement authorities can arrive to transport you to jail.”
I was pretty sure she was hoping the police would take their time. No doubt this was as close to an orgasm as Ranger Hard-Ass had had in months.
Might as well mess with her a little. “Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights?”
“Uh, I don’t have my card with me.”
“You were never issued a Miranda card, were you, Ranger…” I glanced at the difficult-to-read bronze name plate over her shirt pocket. “…Masterson. In fact, you’re not a sworn federal agent at all. You’re a gatekeeper, a ticket taker. You have no authority to arrest me—here or anywhere else.”
Lisa Marie was observing us closely, her face showing she wasn’t enjoying watching me not only play, but triumph, at her favorite game. She piped up, “I don’t care whether you’re a cop or an outhouse janitor. I need you to cut that tape off my fiancé’s hands and feet. He’s got a plane to catch.”
Ranger Masterson whipped out a Leatherman tool from her back pocket. I wasn’t surprised. I’d bet she had some chew and a church-key bottle opener back there as well.
“Don’t be so quick to free him,” I said. “He’s a confessed murderer. And this woman,” I pointed to Lisa Marie, “stole a car.”
Lisa Marie snorted. “Oh yeah, some car. I don’t think it’s against the law to take a pile of crap to the dump.” She turned to the ranger. “It didn’t have hardly any gas in it.”
Masterson glared at me, her eyes like two steel ball bearings. “Why should I believe you?”
“Better safe than sorry, right? You said yourself you wish you’d pursued me when I blew through your toll booth. Now you have another chance to take precautions. Can’t hurt to leave this guy tied up until the police arrive.”
She twisted her mouth to one side, not pleased to be forced to agree with me.
“Maui Sheriff’s deputies have been called and they’re en route,” she said. “I’ll secure the crime scene and maintain physical custody until they arrive.”
Touché, Ranger Hard-Ass. Good save.
At this point, Steve appeared. “What the hell happened here?”
“Long story,” I said. “Hatch didn’t come with you?”
“He’s on his way. But it’s a slow go with crutches. Why’s this guy tied up?”
“This gentleman is the formerly deceased Brad Sanders. It seems he asked Lisa Marie to meet him up here. He had some paperwork for her to sign, but she wouldn’t do it.”
“Liar,” said Lisa Marie. “Brad called me to come up here because he wanted to talk about getting married. He felt bad about missing Valentine’s Day.”
“Ditching a wedding isn’t grounds for a thrashing,’” said Steve. “Why’s he tied up?”
“You’ll have to ask her,” I said.
All eyes turned to Lisa Marie. She shrugged.
“Why don’t you start by telling us why Brad pulled a gun on you?” I said.
“Because—.” She halted. I could imagine the little liar cells in her brain scrambling around, all talking at the same time and bumping into each other.
“Yes? We’re waiting,” I said. I’d seen Lisa Marie in action enough to know she wouldn’t stay stumped for long.
“Because Brad loves me so much he wanted to get married right away by a justice of the peace and I really, really want a fairytale wedding. When he got out the gun he was desperate to change my mind. It was—uh, a crime of passion.”
Not one of her better snow jobs.
I shook my head. “I give that one about a C minus. You want to tell what really happened, or do you want me to do it?”
“I hate you! I wish I’d never met you. You ruined everything! That ugly dress, the stupid crane picture, and then you hired that whore for the wedding ceremony. You screwed it up so bad Brad pretended to disappear and then he had to kill Kevin. If it hadn’t been for you, it could’ve worked out. That company would’ve bought DigiSystems, and Kevin would be rich, and Brad and me would be on our honeymoon instead of him working twenty-five hours every day. It’s all your fault!”
Somewhere in that messy haystack was the needle of truth I’d been seeking.
CHAPTER 37
Hatch made it down the trail about ten minutes later. He looked pissed he’d been dragged into this, but he didn’t say anything. Then another ten minutes after that, none other than Glen Wong and his sidekick showed up. Their beefy Crown Vic must have really screamed up Crater Road to make it that fast. Wong was unable to hide his confusion as he took in the scene—a hog-tied man, tear-stained Lisa Marie, and me, the so-called ‘nobody assistant’ he’d ordered out of the Olu’olu sunroom only a few hours earlier.
“Well, I guess we meet again,” he said, turning to me. “This time I need to insist on seeing some identification.”
“My ID’s in my purse and my purse is in my car. Or at least I hope it’s still there. This woman,” I nodded at Lisa Marie, “stole my car and my purse and drove up here. I followed her and when I arrived I witnessed a man threatening her at gunpoint.” Just in case there might be some confusion over what man I was talking about, I pointed down at Brad.
“Quite an interesting story. But until you’re able to recover your ID, why don’t you just tell me your name.”
“Certainly. I’m Pali Moon. I live up in Hali’imaile, and I have a wedding planning business in Pa’ia.” I probably should have said a bankrupt business in a burned-out building, but I wanted to appear to be a respectable tax-paying citizen.
“That your full legal name?”
“That’s the name on my driver’s license, yes.” I’d be damned if I was going to amuse this sorry lot with the name on my birth certificate. If it showed up in a police data file, I’d deal with it then.
“And if this person allegedly stole your car, how did you manage to get all the way up here? Did these gentlemen bring you?” He nodded toward Hatch and Steve.
“No, Detective. I borrowed a car. They arrived later in their own car.”
“And who did you ‘borrow’ a car from?”
“From her stepmother.” I nodded toward Lisa Marie.
“The stepmother gave you permission to use her vehicle?” Oh great. I could see where this was headed, so I decided to play it straight.
“Not exactly. She’s on the mainland. But her husband hired me to keep an eye on Lisa Marie at all times, so I was following his orders.”
“I see. Well, we’ll deal with that later.”
“And as for you young lady,” he looked at Lisa Marie, who was sitting on a boulder wearing the sulky look of a teenager caught with a joint in her pocket. “I didn’t take you for a nature lover, Miss Prescott. Fascinating to find you up here admiring the view.”
He finally went over to Brad and crouched down beside him. “And you. Let me guess. You bear a striking resemblance to a guy whose picture we were showing around a couple of weeks ago. That guy disappeared off a boat and was never found. Any chance you might know something about that? His name’s Bradley James Sanders.”
Brad grunted and turned his face away.
“And the gun used in the alleged assault. Where is it now?”
I reached back and pulled the Glock from my waistband.
“You got a permit to carry?” Wong asked.
“I was an air marshal with the TSA.”
“Good for you, but we’re not on an airplane. Most people new to Hawaii don’t know we’re pretty strict about folks carrying unpermitted firearms.”
Here we go again. “Detective, I’ve lived in Hawaii all my life. I was raised here on Maui, and I took criminology courses at UH Manoa.”
He smiled and turned to his partner. “Whew. Seems we’ve got a local girl who used to work for the feds. And, she took cops and robbers classes in college. Does it get any better than that?” The partner grinned and shook his head.
They cut the tape off of Sanders feet and hands and replaced it with handcuffs. We were then all marched single file up the trail to the parking lot. Hatch huddled with Wong for a few minutes while we waited for the Maui Fire EMT’s to arrive in their fancy panel truck fitted out for medical assistance. Wong told me he wouldn’t cite me for carrying Lisa Marie’s gun, and he even allowed me to gather my belongings from my Geo and return down the mountain in Steve’s car. I was ordered to appear at the police station before going home, though.
Lisa Marie wasn’t so lucky. When they told her she’d be riding in the police car, she howled “unfair”—adding a few choice expletives regarding Wong’s mother—and demanded to drive her stepmom’s car instead. Wong explained that once they’d gotten her statement she’d be free to retrieve the Porsche at the impound lot. What he didn’t tell her was that toting around a loaded handgun is a class A felony and he’d be citing her for it once they got down to the station.
Brad Sanders didn’t get to join Lisa Marie in the cop car for the scenic ride down the mountain. The EMT’s strapped him to a backboard and fitted him with a neck collar. They radioed the hospital to report they were bringing in a possible concussion. They whispered the last few sentences; probably alerting the Emergency Department this was a criminal transport so prepare for a phalanx of cops as well.
“How’d you find me?” I asked Steve.
“Hatch figured it out. When you didn’t call or come home by three, we got worried. I called your cell and right away I recognized Lisa Marie’s voice. She was blabbing nonsense so I asked her to put you on and she screamed a bunch of swear words and hung up. She wasn’t smart enough to turn off the phone, though. Hatch got the cops to trace your location through the embedded GPS in the phone.”
It was ironic I’d used part of Lisa Marie’s initial deposit to pay my overdue cell bill.
I arrived at the Wailuku Police Station assuming I’d be out of there in an hour or so, but after three hours I’d answered the same barrage of questions, or variations thereof, at least a dozen times. I’d also downed about five Diet Pepsis. Finally, despite the caffeine, I was nodding off and they told me I’d be named as a witness but I was free to go. I got a little speech about Hawaii firearms laws—which was actually a repeat of a lecture I’d attended in college—and they warned me not to leave the island without permission because I’d be summoned to testify at trial.
The next morning I called Todd Barker and gave him an abbreviated version of Monday’s events. He was quiet when I reported Brad had been alive all along, but when I said Brad had killed Kevin and was now facing a felony murder charge, he gasped.
“Why’d he do it?” he said.
“From what I’ve pieced together, Brad disappeared to halt the sale of DigiSystems. Remember you told me there were rumors of a takeover? Well, I guess Kevin was backing the takeover and he’d secretly convinced Lisa Marie to vote for it too. But when Brad went missing the sale went into limbo. Then Kevin stepped in with the idea of a proxy marriage. Marv said he’d have no trouble getting a judge to sign off on it, and that would allow Lisa Marie to not only vote her shares, but Brad’s as well—as his widow.”
Barker sighed. “I always held out hope Brad might be still alive. He took DigiSystems from a spark of an idea to a corporation worth more than three hundred million in five years. The guy’s a freaking genius.”
“Maybe so, but don’t you think a genius could’ve come up with a better way to hold on to his company than bashing his partner’s brains out?” I winced. I hadn’t meant it to come out like that.
“I don’t know. He was just so passionate about it. And Kevin was, well, I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead. But his priorities were never in synch with Brad’s. For Kevin it was all about the money.” I heard him suck in a deep breath and then let it out with a whoosh. “I suppose you’re going to be testifying against Brad.”
“I have no choice. I witnessed him confessing to Lisa Marie about the murder. And then I saw him pull a gun on her.”
“I hear Marv Prescott offered a reward for clearing Lisa Marie. You gonna get it?”
“Fat chance. I had to resort to extortion just to get him to pay me his half of the wedding costs. But I’ll survive. I’ve got friends.”
“Tell you what. I’ll tell the board we need to shake a little reward money your way. After all, with the sale of the company, any cash on our balance sheet will just go to the new guys anyway. Give me your bank’s wiring instructions and I’ll send you the five grand. A goodwill gesture, Miss Moon. Marv mentioned you’re having some cash flow problems.”
Bells went off in my head. Barker had been talking with Marv Prescott about me? And now they’re on a chummy first-name basis?
“When did you talk to Marv Prescott?”
“This morning. With Brad in the slammer and Kevin gone, Lisa Marie’s our majority stockholder now —well, the only stockholder who can vote, anyway. Marv offered to spearhead the sale of the company for us. The next time you call here, pretty much anybody you talk to will be a millionaire. Brad gave stock options to everybody—even the secretaries and the cleaning crew. All those little pieces are worth a lot of coin.”
There was an awkward pause as neither of us seemed prepared to sign off for the final time.
“Miss Moon, I know this may sound a bit out of line, but I feel obliged to let you know I’ve recently gotten engaged to be married.”
“Well, congratulations.” I managed to put a smile in my voice. It’s simply proper etiquette to congratulate the groom. But that didn’t keep me from conjuring up an image of a tall, busty blond purring in his ear that she’d be honored to be his wife—not to mention co-custodian of his newfound millions.
“Anyway,” he said, “for some crazy reason, my fiancée’s adamant about getting married in Hawaii—Maui, to be precise.”
“Smart lady.” Okay, so maybe Todd Barker wasn’t so bad after all. The nouveau riche deserve a fabulous wedding as m
uch as anyone else.
“How much advance notice do we need to give you?” he said. “You know, to have you help us put on this thing.”
“I’m usually booked a couple of months in advance, but let me know when you set the date and I’ll make sure your wedding gets top priority. But first, a bit of advice, Todd. Aim for late spring or summer. Winter around here can get a bit rainy.”
EPILOGUE
Brad Sanders was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his friend and business partner, Kevin McGillvary. He’d struck him in the head, then did a lousy job of burial at sea. At trial, Lisa Marie testified Brad called and asked her to meet him at Haleakala Crater and she was so excited to hear his voice she mistook my car for one of her father’s many vehicles. She went on to say Brad confessed to killing Kevin, but it was justified because he was so in love with her he was heartbroken when Kevin stepped in to take his place. She burbled on, reverting to her original fantasy about Brad falling from his boat and washing up on a ‘desert island’ with amnesia. She said once his memory returned he asked Kevin to step aside, but Kevin refused.
My testimony pretty much blew that story out of the water, and it was corroborated by Todd Barker, various members of the DigiSystems board of directors, and even Kevin’s executive assistant who’d been privy to his campaign to convince Lisa Marie to vote for selling the company. By the trial date, DigiSystems had been sold to a competitor and many of the former employees were busy putting up mini-mansions on Lake Washington, east of Seattle. To them, Kevin McGillvary was a martyr—a guy who’d sacrificed his life for the greater good.
No one sided with Brad Sanders, even though without Brad’s original vision and relentless passion they’d all still be writing code and eating Top Ramen.
Since Hawaii doesn’t have the death penalty for any crime—even capital murder—Brad was sentenced to life in a maximum security prison. I like to think he keeps himself busy conducting Computer 101 classes for guys with shaved heads and biceps bristling with tattoos, but that’s because I always prefer the Disney ending. More than likely though, prison life for him is a never-ending gauntlet. He probably considers it a good day if he makes it from sun-up to sun-down without requiring medical attention.
Maui Widow Waltz (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series) Page 26