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Zero Break

Page 25

by Neil Plakcy


  “From the drugstore. I used to talk to her sometimes. One day I saw her checking out pregnancy tests, and she told me she didn’t believe she was pregnant.”

  Ray stood behind her, holding the baby in his arms and swaying gently.

  “She didn’t even want the baby. And I did.”

  I nodded.

  “She wouldn’t go to the doctor or anything. Finally one day I told her that I was a midwife, and I would deliver the baby for her, and no one had to know.”

  “But you’re not a midwife, are you?”

  She shook her head. “I thought I would help her deliver, and then she would give the baby to me. But she started bleeding, and she wouldn’t stop, and then she passed out.”

  She looked up at me. “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to call 911 but I knew if they came, they would take away the baby.”

  “So you just let her die?”

  “We were both so stupid. We thought the baby would just come out and she could go home. When she passed out I got scared, and I took the baby and went for a walk. By the time I got back she was dead. I didn’t know what to do—she was so big and I couldn’t carry her anywhere. So I had to cut her up in pieces.” She shivered and began to cry.

  I sat there with my arm around Charlotte’s shoulder as Ray called Social Services to take custody of the baby, and a squad car to take Charlotte downtown. Lidia Portuondo answered the call, and I knew she’d be kind, yet careful, with Charlotte.

  As Lidia was driving away, the crime scene techs showed up and sprayed a mix of luminol and a chemical activator in Charlotte’s bathroom. The luminol reacts with the iron in blood to show traces of any blood residue, even after the surface has been cleaned, and the activator causes the luminescence that reveals the traces. It works best on non-porous substances, like the nubby tile on the bathroom floor. They turned the lights out, and we saw a blue glow where Alamea’s blood had spattered. They took some long-exposure photographs that documented the traces.

  Fortunately Charlotte wasn’t a great housekeeper; if she had scrubbed the entire bathroom with bleach or some copper-containing substance, the whole room would have reacted with the luminol, giving us a false positive and effectively camouflaging any of the blood traces.

  When the crime scene techs were finished we locked up the house and drove down to headquarters, where we read Charlotte her rights and she gave us a full statement.

  ≈≈≈

  Alamea had never told Charlotte who the baby’s father was, and no one else even knew she was pregnant. As next of kin, Betty signed the papers so the baby could be put up for adoption. Charlotte was arraigned on charges of negligent homicide, and released on bail.

  We moved on to other cases, but I couldn’t help thinking about Charlotte Montes, and the lengths some people went to in order to have a baby.

  Saturday morning, Mike and I drove to St. Filomena’s with Dominic and Soon-O. It was our first opportunity to meet both Ray’s and Julie’s parents, who had flown in for the occasion, and it was funny to me how quickly Dominic and Mike blended into the crowd of exuberant Italian-Americans from Philadelphia. I was left on the sidelines with Soon-O.

  “Was this what it was like when you guys lived on Long Island?” I asked her.

  Dominic and Soon-O met in Korea, when he was a wounded soldier and she was his nurse. After some opposition on both sides of the family, they had married, and she had worked to put Dominic through medical school, living near his big family in New York.

  “Yes,” Soon-O said. “Except there was a lot more talk in Italian. Dom’s parents were born there, you know.”

  I knew that Soon-O had been unhappy in New York, far from her family and her culture, and that Mike had been uncomfortable as a mixed-race kid. The Riccardis had moved to Hawai’i when Mike was seven, in an effort to make both of them happier. As far as I could tell, it had worked.

  “I’m sorry Michael couldn’t grow up around his cousins, on both sides,” Soon-O said. “And now Vinnie will be the same, so far from family.”

  “We make our own family.” I took Soon-O’s hand. “Look at us.”

  “I know,” she said. “I almost feel like your mother is my sister. And now, Michael will be connected to Vinnie, and to Ray and Julie and their families. That means we all will be, too.”

  I looked up and saw Ray at the door of the church, trying to get everyone to go inside. “Well, then, we’d better go in and join them,” I said.

  I gave one last thought to Alamea Kekuahona and her baby, and hoped that both of them would find loving families, in Heaven and on Earth, and then I joined my family of choice for the ceremony to welcome our newest member.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  NEIL PLAKCY is the author of Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, Mahu Vice, Mahu Men, Mahu Blood , Zero Break about openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka. His other books are Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, Dancing with the Tide, The Outhouse Gang, In Dog We Trust, Invasion of the Blatnicks, and GayLife.com. He edited Paws & Reflect:A Special Bond Between Man and Dog and the gay erotic anthologies Hard Hats, Surfer Boys and Skater Boys. His website is www.mahubooks.com.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A writer needs an ohana, a family and a community, in order to put out a book—and I’ve been lucky to have a very supportive ohana during the years of the Mahu series. Christine Kling, Sharon Potts, Mike Jastrzebski, and Miriam Auerbach all critiqued parts of this book, and their help has been invaluable.

  Cindy Chow once again provided invaluable service by reading the manuscript and pointing out so many mistakes I’d made about Hawai’i, though any remaining errors are my fault, not hers. She has been a wonderful tutor into the intricacies of life in the Aloha State.

  For their personal support I am grateful to my mother, to Eliot Hess and Lois Whitman, Fred Searcy, John Spero, Steve Greenberg, Eileen Matluck, Andrew Schulz, Elisa Albo, and Lourdes Rodriguez-Florido. And as always, gratitude is due to my other colleagues in the English department at Broward College’s South Campus for their support and encouragement, and to the college’s Staff and Professional Development program, which has allowed me to attend conferences and conventions.

  For professional advice and encouragement I want to thank Wayne Gunn and my fellow members of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

  A big mahalo to Laura Baumbach, Kris Jacen, J.P. Bowie, Lisa Edwards and Victoria Landis, for all their help in bringing this book out.

  TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGMENT

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  7-11: Southland Corporation

  Aloha Stadium: State of Hawaii

  Bank of Hawai’i: Bank of Hawaii

  Barbies: Mattel Inc.

  Blackberry: Research in Motion Limited

  Bluetooth: Bluetooth Sig Inc.

  BMW: BMW of North America LLC

  Brooks Brothers: Retail Brand Alliance

  Camaro: General Motors

  Cartier: Cartier International

  Children’s Discovery Center: Children’s Discovery Centers of America, Inc.

  Crocs: Crocs, Inc.

  Denny’s: DFO, Inc.

  Dole Plantation: Dole Food Company, Inc.

  Excel: Microsoft

  Facebook: Facebook, Inc.

  Fire Rock Pale Ale: Kona Brewery LLC

  Foodland: Foodland Super Market, Ltd.

  Google: Google, Inc.

  Gucci: Gucci Shops, Inc.

  Harvard: President and Fellows of Harvard College

  Hawai’i Five-O: CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman Productions

  Hilo Hattie: Pomare Inc.

  Honolulu Community College:

  Jeep: Chrysler Group LLC

  Kawasaki: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.

  Maui Divers: Maui Divers of Hawaii, Ltd.

  Mini Cooper: BMW of North America LLC

  MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Tec
hnology

  NASCAR: Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.

  Nissan: Nissan Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha TA Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

  Old Navy: Gap Inc.

  PowerPoint: Microsoft

  Roy’s: OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC

  Royal Hawaiian: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

  Sears: Sears Brands, LLC

  Shirokiya: Shirokiya International

  Star-Advertiser: Honolulu Star-Advertiser

  The Wizard of Oz: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros.

  TiVo: TiVo Inc.

  Toyota Camry: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

  Toyota Highlander: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

  UH Warriors: University of Hawaii

  Vicks Vapo-Rub: Proctor & Gamble

  Word: Microsoft

  Zippy’s: Zippy’s Inc.

  MLR PRESS AUTHORS

  Featuring a roll call of some of the best writers of gay erotica and mysteries today!

  Derek Adams

  Z. Allora

  Maura Anderson

  Simone Anderson

  Victor J. Banis

  Laura Baumbach

  Helen Beattie

  Ally Blue

  J.P. Bowie

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  Nowell Briscoe

  Jade Buchanan

  James Buchanan

  TA Chase

  Charlie Cochrane

  Karenna Colcroft

  Michael G. Cornelius

  William Cooper

  Jamie Craig

  Ethan Day

  Diana DeRicci

  Vivien Dean

  Taylor V. Donovan

  Theo Fenraven

  S.J. Frost

  Kimberly Gardner

  Michael Gouda

  Kaje Harper

  Jan Irving

  David Juhren

  Thomas Kearnes

  Kiernan Kelly

  K-lee Klein

  Geoffrey Knight

  Christopher Koehler

  Matthew Lang

  J.L. Langley

  Vincent Lardo

  Anna Lee

  Elizabeth Lister

  Clare London

  William Maltese

  Z.A. Maxfield

  Timothy McGivney

  Tere Michaels

  AKM Miles

  Reiko Morgan

  Jet Mykles

  William Neale

  Cherie Noel

  Willa Okati

  Brynn Paulin

  Erica Pike

  Neil S. Plakcy

  Rick R. Reed

  A.M. Riley

  AJ Rose

  George Seaton

  Riley Shane

  Jardonn Smith

  DH Starr

  Richard Stevenson

  Liz Strange

  Marshall Thornton

  Lex Valentine

  Haley Walsh

  Mia Watts

  Missy Welsh

  Stevie Woods

  Ian Young

  Lance Zarimba

  Mark Zubro

  Check out titles, both available and forthcoming, at

  www.mlrpress.com

  GLBT RESOURCES

  RAINBOW ROMANCE WRITERS

  Raising the Bar for LGBT Romance

  RRW OFFERS SUPPORT AND ADVOCACY TO CAREER-FOCUSED AUTHORS, EXPANDING THE HORIZONS OF ROMANCE. CHANGING MINDS, ONE HEART AT A TIME. WWW.RAINBOWROMANCEWRITERS.COM

  THE TREVOR PROJECT

  The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves lives though its free and confidential helpline, its website and its educational services. If you or a friend are feeling lost, alone, confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Helpline. You’ll be able to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24/7.

  The Trevor Helpline: 866-488-7386

  On the Web: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

  THE GAY MEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT

  Founded in 1994, The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project is a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community. The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project supports victims and survivors through education, advocacy and direct services. Understanding that the serious public health issue of domestic violence is not gender specific, we serve men in relationships with men, regardless of how they identify, and stand ready to assist them in navigating through abusive relationships.

  GMDVP Helpline: 800.832.1901

  On the Web: http://gmdvp.org/

  THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION/GLAAD EN ESPAÑOL

  The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (glaad) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

  On the Web: http://www.glaad.org/

  glaad en español: http://www.glaad.org/espanol/bienvenido.php

  SERVICEMEMBERS LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK

  Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (dadt).The sldn provides free, confidential legal services to all those impacted by dadt and related discrimination. Since 1993, its inhouse legal team has responded to more than 9,000 requests for assistance. In Congress, it leads the fight to repeal dadt and replace it with a law that ensures equal treatment for every servicemember, regardless of sexual orientation. In the courts, it works to challenge the constitutionality of dadt.

  sldn Call: 800-538-7418

  PO Box 65301 or (202) 328-FAIR

  Washington DC 20035-5301 e-mail: sldn@sldn.org

  On the Web: http://sldn.org/

  THE GLBT NATIONAL HELP CENTER

  The glbt National Help Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that is dedicated to meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and those questioning their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is an outgrowth of the Gay & Lesbian National Hotline, which began in 1996 and now is a primary program of The glbt National Help Center. It offers several different programs including two national hotlines that help members of the glbt community talk about the important issues that they are facing in their lives. It helps end the isolation that many people feel, by providing a safe environment on the phone or via the internet to discuss issues that people can’t talk about anywhere else. The glbt National Help Center also helps other organizations build the infrastructure they need to provide strong support to our community at the local level.

  National Hotline: 1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)

  National Youth Talkline 1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)

  On the Web: http://www.glnh.org/

  e-mail: info@glbtnationalhelpcenter.org

  If you’re a GLBT and questioning student heading off to university, you should know that there are resources on campus for you. Here’s just a sample:

  GLBT Scholarship Resources http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/tell-us-about-an-lgbt-scholarship

  Syracuse University

  http://lgbt.syr.edu/

  Texas A&M

  http://glbt.tamu.edu/

  Tulane University

  http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/oma/lgbt/index.cfm

  University of Alaska http://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/leadership/organizations/active/index.xml?id=61

  University of California, Davis

  http://lgbtrc.ucdavis.edu/

  University of California, San Francisco

  http://lgbt.ucsf.edu/

  University of Colorado

  http://www.colorado.edu/GLBTQRC/

  University of Florida

  http://www.multicultural
.ufl.edu/lgbt/

  University of Hawaiÿi, Mānoa

  http://manoa.hawaii.edu/lgbt/

  University of Utah

  http://www.sa.utah.edu/lgbt/

  University of Virginia

  http://www.virginia.edu/deanofstudents/lgbt/

  Vanderbilt University

  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/

  Table of Contents

  ZERO BREAK

  blurb

  copyright

  dedication

  Little Caesar’s Discovery

  Home Invasion

  Sunshine and Colorado

  Searching for Suspects

  Finding a Dragon

  The Baby Daddy

  Dinner Discussions

  What Judy Knows

  The Linebacker

  Finding Freddie

  Neng Yuan

  Defensive Tactics

  Juvenile Records

  Baby Daddies

  Moving to the Mainland

  Marriage Matters

  School Days

  Numbers Don’t

  Crash

  The Cat is the Key

  Go Fly A Kite

  Helen Wheels

  North Shore

  Dinner with Ben

  Field Trips

  Lunch Break

  Nishimura

  Breaking Up

  Boat Rescue

  Pursuit

  Interrogation

  Finale

  Other People’s Children

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Trademarks Acknowledgment

 

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