I called Wong’s cell. “This isn’t going to work,” I said.
“It will. We already have a story for you. You’re going to the mainland to put on a big wedding. Tell your roommate and it will be common knowledge before noon.”
At five a.m. I knocked on Steve’s door.
“You awake?” I said.
“I am now. What’s going on? You’ve been crashing around for an hour.”
“I’ve got to leave. I got a call from a guy in Las Vegas. Big-bucks, but totally off-the-radar. He wants me to do a fantasy wedding for his latest showgirl trophy wife but it’s gotta happen fast. I’m leaving this morning.”
Steve bolted upright in bed. “What? That’s nuts. Don’t you have two weddings already on the books? How’re you gonna do them all?”
“I’m handing those over to Maui Dream Weddings. This one’s way bigger.”
“Pali, something weird’s going on. Is it Beni?”
“It’s not Beni, and nothing’s weird. I just got a late-night call. I’ve gotta go.” I crossed the room and kissed his forehead. “Tell everyone I’ll be back as soon as I can. Hopefully no more than a couple of weeks.”
“Aren’t you going to call me when you get there?”
“I might be too busy. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” I headed for the door.
“Pali Moon, stop right there. You aren’t leaving this house without telling me what the hell is going on.” By now he’d gotten out of bed and was following me.
“I can’t. Look, you know I love you and I’d stop and chat if I could. But I can’t.”
I started downstairs and then turned and looked him full in the face. We stared at each other for a few moments. Then a flicker of understanding flashed across Steve’s face. “Got it. I’ll let everyone know you were suddenly called away. But do me a favor, okay?”
“If I can.”
“Stay safe. Las Vegas has got some pretty rough characters.”
“Yeah, well so does Maui.” I said.
He nodded.
I finished packing and then wrote a quick note to Farrah explaining that I was leaving but I’d be back as soon as I could. I left the note on the kitchen table. Steve would deliver it along with the news of my good fortune in being hired to do a lavish wedding for a Las Vegas high-roller.
I dragged my suitcase with the gimpy wheel over to the front door. There was an unmarked cop car waiting for me two doors down. As I hefted my suitcase down the porch stairs I looked back at my little house. I’d always considered buying that house my greatest achievement. Better than making black belt or graduating from college. The thought of never seeing it again made me falter on the stairs.
I looked up. A ghost of a moon clung to the edge of the sky. And in the east, the sun was just starting to smudge the horizon with the promise of a new day.
EPILOGUE
On a rainy November day, Agent Elizabeth Stanton Collins was quietly buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Her name has been chiseled into the marble wall of a federal law-enforcement building somewhere in downtown Washington DC, but I’ll bet that’s cold comfort to her family and friends.
Beni Kanekoa folded like a cheap card-table and confessed to killing Agent Collins. He claimed he’d shot her but he’d done so under duress: if he had refused to kill her, he would have been killed along with her by the drug dealers he’d failed to pay in a timely manner. Not that the judge adjudicating his case gave a damn about Beni’s claim of duress. In the end, Beni was sentenced to a life sentence without possibility of parole for murder while in the commission of another felony—kidnapping. Nothing was said in the State’s case about Agent Collins being a federal law enforcement agent killed in the line of duty, since the federal sting operation was still on-going. At trial, Beni did step up and do the right thing by giving testimony to the victim’s bravery and poise, even in the face of death. Again, cold comfort to her family and friends, but her legacy became an unspoken inspiration to those fighting undercover in the seemingly never-ending war on drugs. I figure they need all the inspiration they can get. It must be tough to keep up morale when you’re battling a sadistic opponent with unlimited resources.
And me? Well, I learned that Hatch’s former fiancée was, in fact, murdered by the same drug cartel that murdered Agent Collins. He’d been right in begging me to back off. Not that I’ve had a chance to talk to him about it. Until the feds are finished with their investigation and are ready to bring charges, I’m in limbo. I’m living under an assumed name—which is kind of ironic since the name I normally use is also assumed—in an undisclosed location known only to the fine folks in the Federal Witness Protection Program.
I’d like to give you a hint of what’s going on, but I’ve been told if I plan to stay alive until the grand jury convenes, the less said the better.
Look for all the titles in “The Islands of Aloha Mystery” Series:
Maui Widow Waltz (Maui)
Livin’ Lahaina Loca (Maui)
Lana’i of the Tiger (Lana’i)
And coming in 2013—
Kaua’i Me a River (Kaua’i)
O’ahu Lonesome Tonight? (O’ahu)
Aloha!
JoAnn Bassett
http://www.joannbassett.com
Facebook: JoAnn Bassett’s Author Page
Twitter: @JoAnnBassett
Table of Contents
Copyright 2012, JoAnn Bassett
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
EPILOGUE
Look for all the titles in “The Islands of Aloha Mystery” Series:
Livin' Lahaina Loca Page 23