Isle Be Seeing You (Islands of Aloha Mystery Book 9)

by JoAnn Bassett

  She twisted her hands. “I’m gonna make us some sun tea.”

  I flopped into the string hammock Ono had strung across the lanai, breathing in the clean air scented with the spicy fragrance of a blooming vine or flower I couldn’t spot in the riot of green surrounding the house.

  “See anything?” Farrah yelled from inside the house.

  I shifted my weight, careful not to dump myself unceremoniously out of the hammock, and peered down the driveway. “Not yet.”

  She brought out two sweating glasses of deep brown tea. Each glass held a few shards of what looked like month-old ice. “Sorry ‘bout the ice. I told Ono to flip the wire thingy but he must’ve spaced it. I had to use the stuff in the tray.”

  I rolled out of the hammock and took a seat in an ancient plastic chair. I was thirsty and took a deep mouthful. In true Farrah fashion, the heavily-steeped tea hadn’t been sweetened. She eschewed sugar as the “opiate of the masses” and refused artificial sweeteners as “gateway chemicals” foisted on us by Big Pharma. But boy, that tea was harsh.

  Since there were no side tables I placed the glass at my feet. No way I would give in to my thirst and take another swig of the bitter brew.

  “It’s getting near three,” Farrah said. “Where is he?”

  “Maybe Big Island people think ‘island time’ is any time during the same day. Or maybe he missed his flight. Why don’t you call him?” I was growing tired of coming up with excuses for the guy.

  She brightened at my suggestion as if it were a surefire solution. “Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll fetch the number.”

  She went inside and a half-minute later I heard her talking. I was eager to get this thing over with. First of all, I thought a thousand bucks for a half hour of chanting was pretty steep. And second, I was itching to get back to the Palace of Pain and see if I could find a way in. I was desperate to locate something that would persuade the police to look beyond Doug’s confession.

  Farrah came outside, the screen door slapping shut behind her. “I had to leave a message.”

  “He probably forgot to turn his phone back on when he landed.” I couldn’t believe I was still coming up with excuses.

  “Whatever. I hope to get eyes on him soon.”

  I was about to make a snarky comment about her choice of words, but the panicked look on her face made me bite it back.

  We waited. She offered more tea but I declined. I went inside under the pretense of using the bathroom but what I really wanted was a plain glass of water. No ice, no problem. I was parched.

  When I came back out, Farrah was on the phone. Her scrunched-up expression reminded me of Hatchie’s when she’s fighting the bedtime edict. “Hold on a sec. Can I put you on speaker so you can tell my bestie here what you just tol’ me?”

  Farrah punched her phone screen in a punishing way and a strident female voice bellowed from the tiny speaker. “Yeah, like I just said, my no-good, lying ex musta given you my number. It’s not his, that’s for damn sure. He probably doesn’t even have a phone no more, he’s such a deadbeat. Anyhow, he’s calling himself a kahuna or whatever? That’s a total joke. The dude’s a bum. Nothin’ but a lazy, no good, bum. You got scammed girl. But at least you didn’t marry him.”

  Farrah thanked her for her time and hung up.

  I blew out a breath. “Now what?”

  “Now I gotta think what I’m gonna do.”

  “You’re going to tell Ono, right?”

  Farrah snorted a rueful laugh. “Girl, on a scale of one to ten, that’s like a minus two. That’s the over-my-dead-body last thing I’m gonna do.”

  “But he’s going to ask you about it.”

  “I don’t think so. I mean, he thinks this whole thing’s bogus, right? So, if he asks, I’ll just say it went good. You with me?”

  “You want me to lie? You know what a lousy liar I am.”

  “Don’t sweat it. Just say it was groovy. No details.”

  “I hate getting in the middle of this.”

  “Whaddaya mean? You got yourself in the middle when you gave me the moolah.”

  What’s that saying about no good deed goes unpunished? I was so done with good deeds.

  ***

  Farrah spent the next half-hour wailing over losing the thousand dollars and promising to pay me back. Once she’d beat that dead horse to hamburger she started in on how the ghost was going to really amp up the scary tactics since he’d no doubt witnessed her effort to get rid of him.

  “The ghost knows your guy didn’t show up?”

  “Oh, totally. It’s not like I could fake him out, you know.”

  “But you’re willing to lie to your husband?”

  “Mango in the left hand, pineapple in the right,” she said. In Farrah talk that was the same as mainlanders saying, “apples and oranges” meaning one thing was nothing like the other.

  I commiserated with her until almost four-thirty when we both acknowledged it was time to move on.

  “You mind stopping by the store and telling Ono we’re done?”

  “Me? Why don’t you just call him?”

  “I’m gonna make him a nice dinner. Maybe even mac and cheese. He’ll forget all about kahus and lost money when he’s sitting behind a big ol’ mountain of fermented cow milk and high-gluten pasta.”

  She’d failed to answer the question, but I knew better than to point it out. We hugged good-bye and I drove back to the shop. I hesitated to go next door and face Ono, knowing the only thing I had to offer were lies. But putting stuff like that off only makes it worse, so I sucked in a breath and got to it.

  “Hey, Ono, howsit?” His face told me he wasn’t delighted to see me, but I made like I didn’t notice.

  “Could be better. Business is slow. How’d the blessing go?”

  “Good.”

  “How long was the guy there?”

  When I hesitated, he went on, “He isn’t still there, is he?”

  Relieved to be able to tell the truth, I jumped on it. “Nope. Long gone.”

  “What exactly did he do?”

  I floundered for a weasely answer that wouldn’t throw up red flags if he asked Farrah the same thing when he got home. “Oh, the usual stuff, I guess. He and Farrah were much more into it than I was.”

  Ono’s brow creased. “Into what? Into each other?”

  “No, no, no. Nothing remotely like that. I mean, I’m not as into this paranormal stuff as she is so I’m not the best person to ask, I guess. Oh, and a little bird told me you’re going to be eating mac and cheese tonight.”

  I hoped the reference to his vegan wife setting aside her usual disdain of all animal foodstuffs to make him a much-loved meal would steer him away from inquiring further about the blessing. The way to a man’s heart, and all that.

  “Sounds good. But I want to know more about this blessing dude. I mean, what exactly does a guy like that do for a thousand bucks?”

  “Farrah said some of the cost was to cover his airfare from the Big Island.”

  “She couldn’t find one here on Maui?”

  “Don’t know. She said he came highly recommended.”

  “Which brings me back to my point. What’s a guy like that do that’s worth more than I make in a week?”

  I mumbled something akin to “Oh, look at the time” and took off. I didn’t even stop in at my shop, but instead drove to the PoP to survey the scene. I’d locked the car and was heading down the alley door when my phone chimed. I jumped at the sudden intrusion into my thoughts.

  “Aloha?” I hoped my pounding pulse wasn’t evident in the sound of my voice.

  “Aloha, Pali. It’s James Kanekoa.”

  “My phone showed a different number than yours.”

  “Yeah, I’m calling from my sister’s house.”

  “Kaili’s?”

  “Yeah. I need to talk to you. Can you meet me at my office in ten minutes?”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Look, yes or no? Can you meet
?” His tone told me something was definitely wrong.

  “Sure. I’ll be there.”

  When I got to James’ office the door was locked. I waited outside, wishing I’d stuck around the guan for a few more minutes. I had to find a way to peel that sticker off the door. I was digging in my beach bag purse, searching for a nail file or other sharp tool that I’d be able to use later when a voice boomed, “Thinking of picking the lock on my office?”

  I jumped. “Geez, and you wonder why people don’t like lawyers.”

  He ushered me inside and gestured for me to sit. “My nephew says you questioned him at my sister’s.”

  “That’s not true. I went to talk to Kaili and DJ came out and said he wanted to tell me something.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s the problem. You should have directed him to me. I’m his father’s lawyer.”

  “James, the kid was upset. He needed to talk to somebody. I didn’t think it’d hurt to hear him out.”

  The pause that followed let me know James didn’t agree.

  “Pali, I appreciate you going with me to the jail the other day and all, but now this needs to remain solely in my hands. Doug’s represented by counsel and any and all communication to him or about him should be directed to me. No one else. Got it?”

  I had no idea why James was chewing me out. “Did DJ tell you what he was upset about?”

  “Actually, no. He said he was done talking about it. I called you in here to tell me what I should’ve gotten first hand.”

  A few beats of dead air passed between us. I shifted in my chair, organizing my thoughts on how to best bring James up to speed without violating DJ’s trust.

  James slammed his palms down on his desk. “Look, Pali. Don’t make me beg. I’ve had a lousy week, okay? My brother refused to enter a plea at his arraignment so I did it for him. Obviously, I went with ‘not guilty’ and now he’s not talking to me. Then this afternoon I find out you’ve been skulking around interrogating my ‘ohana members without telling me. I’m not in the best of moods, so how about you just spit out what my nephew said without making me say ‘pretty please?’”

  Touchy. But I could see his point. Things certainly weren’t going his way.

  “Okay. In a nutshell, DJ’s upset because he feels responsible for his mom getting shot.”

  “How so?”

  “Seems he had a friend over on Sunday and DJ bragged about Doug being an Army Ranger. The other kid didn’t believe him, so to prove it he asked his dad to show them the sidearm he was issued by Special Forces. DJ said when Lani saw them with the gun she went nuts. She and Doug had a huge fight and the kids were sent to stay next door. DJ thinks in all the excitement the gun probably didn’t get locked up and it was later used to kill Lani.”

  “DJ thinks his dad killed his mom?”

  “No, he’s sticking with the intruder angle.”

  “I see. You have any idea of the caliber of the gun?”

  My Homeland Security training kicked in. “I’m pretty sure it’s an M9 Berretta—nine millimeter. That’s what Rangers carry.”

  “Same type of slug found in Lani.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “There’s something in DJ’s story I can’t quite reconcile.”

  “Yeah?”

  “He said it was Doug who went to the neighbors to see if the kids could stay there.”

  James nodded. “Yeah. I talked with the neighbor and she’s willing to testify.”

  “So, does that sound right to you? I mean, is that how it normally works?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When kids go for a sleepover or to the neighbors’ for dinner or whatever, who normally sets those things up?”

  “Don’t know about other people, but at my house my wife pretty much handles that kind of stuff.”

  “So, no one except Doug saw Lani after the kids left for the neighbors’ place?”

  James tapped his chin. “I guess.”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “I wish I wasn’t.”

  CHAPTER 20

  I returned to my shop, dazed by the realization that Doug might be guilty after all. Things were sure pointing that way. I wanted to get into the guan in the worst way, but if I got caught breaking the seal my cover would be blown. There was still one person I wanted to see before taking that drastic step, Doug’s cousin. How much had Doug told him when he’d asked to borrow his truck? And what had he said when he backed out on doing it?

  I called Piko Kanekoa in Makawao and was pleased when he answered. It was getting late, so I’d hoped he was home from work.

  “Aloha, Piko,” I said. “This is Pali Moon, a friend of your cousin Doug’s.”

  “Hey, yeah, I know you. I came to your house for a party a couple years ago, eh? That was some blow-out. Best ribs ever.” Leave it to a three-hundred pound guy to associate me with the food and not the reason for the occasion.

  “Listen, Piko, can I come by your place in a few minutes? I need to talk to you about this thing going down with Doug.”

  “Ah, that’s some bugga, yeah? I mean, I love that bruddah, but now he do this?”

  “Is it okay if I come over?”

  A pause. “Yeah, it’s cool. But my lady got dinner cookin’. You want you stay for grinds?”

  “Mahalo, but I only need to ask a couple of questions and I’ll let you eat in peace.”

  I asked for his address. “Great. I can be there in ten.”

  I scrambled out to my car and hot-footed it up Baldwin to Makawao. I’d never been to Piko’s place, but found it with the help of GPS. The GPS lady can’t pronounce Hawaiian words with anything even approaching accuracy so I ignore her sad attempt at street names. Mostly I just listen for the directions, such as “in five hundred feet, turn right.” She always gets me where I’m going so why quibble?

  Piko came out to meet me and gave me a big hug, even though I’m sure if pressed he’d never be able to pick me out of a line-up.

  “Eh, Pali. Howsit?”

  “I’m good. How about you?”

  “Can’t complain. But it’s bad what’s going on with my cuz, yeah?”

  “Yeah. I want to ask you about Doug borrowing your truck.”

  “He tol’ me he need it for a day or two but he brought it back after only a couple hours.”

  “What? He did borrow the truck?”

  “Yeah. Like I said. But he was only gone two, maybe three, hours.”

  “When was this?”

  He shrugged. “’Bout a week ago. Yeah, on Friday. I figured he needed it to help a friend move or sumpthin’.”

  “What’d he say when he brought it back?”

  “Said ‘mahalo’ and tol’ me he got done early.”

  “And you never asked him what he was doing or where he went?”

  “Why ask? He’s my cuz. I got a truck, he needed a truck. No stink there.”

  “Well, in light of what’s happened, I was hoping you might be able to give me some information. You see, he told me he was going to use your truck to figure out where Lani was going during the day. He was worried about her but didn’t want her to see him following.”

  “Huh? He didn’t tell me nuthin’ ‘bout that.”

  “On Friday afternoon I went by his guan and he said he hadn’t borrowed the truck after all.”

  “Why he lie?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Piko shifted his gaze to the freshly-washed Toyota truck in his driveway. “Hey, you wanna know where he went? Only take a minute.”

  We walked over to the vehicle and Piko slipped into the driver’s seat. “I got all the bells and whistles on this baby.”

  It was true. I’d never seen a civilian truck with so much extraneous hardware. Radar detector, full-screen GPS, even what appeared to be a CB radio or onboard walkie-talkie complete with handset and exterior whip antenna.

  I shook my head. “Why have you got all this stuff?”

  “Since I lost my job at the suga
r mill I been doing commercial deliveries. Get paid by the mile. I punch in the starting place like this...” He demonstrated setting the GPS. “…And when I get back I turn it off like this. It shows where I went, what route I took, and how many miles I drove. The company I work for wants to see it all. I guess they t’ink some guys take the long way to get mo’ money.”

  I smiled. “But you’d never do that, right?”

  “Not with this stuff breathing down my neck.”

  “Can you see where Doug went on Friday? Or didn’t he use the GPS?”

  “Don’ matter. I set it before he come over. I figured if he didn’t bring it back before I needed it, I’d be able to check online and see where he was. You wanna check it out?”

  A jolt of anxiety shot through me. It was completely disrespectful of me to be spying on my sifu, a man who’d not only trained me to defend myself against tough opponents but also had instilled in me a reverence for authority. The more I learned about the events of the past week, however, the closer I came to losing faith in that same man. He’d gone from a guy who’d flatly refused to lie, cheat, or steal to one who was clearly doing at least one of those things now.

  I sucked in a breath. “Yeah, let’s see where he went.”

  Piko pressed a few buttons and the screen lit up with 07/19, 08:38am. He tapped the screen and 37.8 mi appeared. He tapped again and an address on Mahalani Street in Wailuku filled the display.

  “There you have it.”

  “Do you recognize the address?” I asked.

  “Not really. Let’s look at the map.” He tapped the screen yet again and a map of the area came up. “Looky here. It’s next to the hospital.”

  As Piko walked me back to my car. I thanked him and again he asked if I wanted to stay for dinner.

  “Mahalo, but you’ve already given me plenty to chew on.”

  He grinned as if pleased with himself he’d figured out my little pun. I waved as I pulled away.

  ***

  It was getting dark but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at all that night if I’d neglected to drive to the address on Mahalani Street. It turned out to be a medical clinic with an array of specialist offices—dermatology, urology, oncology, cardiology, gynecology. Seemed just about all of the “ology’s” were represented. But which one had Lani seen? And why had Doug lied to me about following her?