Primitive Flame

by Lakes, Lynde

  Tam blinked his slanted eyes, feigning a crestfallen look. “You wound me,” he said, touching his hundred-dollar golf shirt where his heart should be.

  “What’ll it take to make you disappear?” Without waiting for an answer, Cort turned and left Tam standing in his dust.

  Chapter Twelve

  Two hours later, Lani sat in the waiting room of the kahuna’s office still unnerved by Julie’s confession. It surprised Lani how painful it was to think of Cort with another woman.

  She forced herself to concentrate on the three-page case history the receptionist asked her to fill out. Had she ever been institutionalized? Good Lord, what had she gotten herself into? She quickly checked no with a dark check mark. The next three lines asked about depression, delusions and dreams. She was prepared to tell the kahuna everything in person but hadn’t counted on spilling her guts on paper. Lani tightened her grip on the pencil. What if embarrassing revelations flowed unwittingly onto the page, disclosing things she’d kept hidden, even from herself? She gritted her teeth. To get help, she had to open up.

  She quickly printed a brief paragraph about her dreams. She started to erase the part about possession, then left it and moved on.

  The next question was harder to answer than she would’ve thought. Exactly who was the most important person in her life? Her foster mother, father? But if the question meant right now, her grandfather came quickly to mind. And Cort. Lani’s mouth went dry. Cort? How did he get into the equation? She chewed the eraser on the end of the pencil. Had his name slipped into her consciousness because she and Julie had just been talking about him, or was it his involvement with the burial grounds—the present bane of her existence?

  Eliminating the hard-muscled construction boss from the running, she neatly printed the word grandfather.

  The next question churned her stomach. What would she risk or sacrifice to get what she needed? It was hard to admit that a compulsion to discover the truth about her birth was so strong that to unearth it she would risk even her life. Cort popped into her mind again. Would she forgo love? The question thundered in her brain without resolution. She longed to be loved by a soul mate, longed to start a family of her own. But her child would deserve a mom with a strong sense of self, and she couldn’t be that until she unraveled the secrets in her life. She mustn’t let the lapsed years and deaths of key people stop her.

  Lani stared at the completed questionnaire. Writing down the answers to these questions had required looking closely at herself, and she wasn’t sure she liked everything she’d learned.

  “Dr. Kahaluu will see you now,” the receptionist said.

  Lani took a deep breath and followed the receptionist down a long hall. She was surprised when the woman opened a door into a plush living room decorated in white and pastels with wall paintings of regal Hawaiian ladies in wide-brimmed hats and long gloves. Lani had envisioned a regular office, not something like this with a kahuna in a flowing robe like the one her great grandfather Maiau had worn.

  The kahuna sat on the couch studying a file. She was a striking, big-boned woman wearing a purple muumuu with a white floral design splashed diagonally from shoulder to hip. A band of tiny orchids encircled the black braids secured on the top of her head. When the kahuna looked up, her eyes widened and she drew a quick intake of breath. Her alarmed reaction passed so quickly Lani wondered if she’d seen it at all.

  “Aloha,” the doctor said in a booming voice. “Come, sit down, Lani.” The woman’s huge brown eyes reflected intelligence and warmth. She could best be described as sunshine.

  So why do I feel so off balance? Lani wondered. Stiff-backed, she joined the doctor on the couch.

  “May I offer you tea?” The doctor gestured toward the china teapot on the coffee table. Her fingers moved gracefully like those of a hula dancer, nails long, pearl-pink and manicured.

  “Thank you,” Lani said softly. The teacup would be something solid to hold onto. She sat back into the cushions, trying to relax.

  “I’m Dr. Mililani Kahaluu. Everyone calls me Dr. Millie.” The doctor poured two cups of tea and uncovered a basket of coconut sugar cookies. Half of each cookie had been dipped in rich, dark chocolate. Lani loved that kind, but the knots in her stomach kept her from taking one.

  As the doctor read the completed questionnaire, Lani found it difficult to sit still. Finally the doctor set the form aside. “Have you ever been to a kahuna before?”

  “No. I don’t even know if I should be here now. Grandfather felt you could help me.”

  Dr. Millie smiled and touched Lani’s tightly folded hands. “Keo and I are longtime friends. I’ll do my best, and if I can’t help you, I’ll let you know right up front.”

  Lani wished she could stop trembling.

  “You have nothing to fear,” Dr. Millie said. “My motto is less structure and more aloha. You and I are going to become close friends before we’re through. Do you mind if I record our session?”

  Lani shook her head, but she tensed when Dr. Millie pressed the record button.

  Tamping down her apprehension, Lani related Grandfather’s story about her birth and how the family believed she might be Pele’s daughter.

  Dr. Millie’s jaw dropped, and for a moment she sat there with her mouth open. “Keo told you that?”

  Lani nodded.

  The doctor jotted something down with a trembling hand. She leaned forward and scanned the questionnaire again. Her pikake fragrance was strong, overpowering like the woman who wore it. “Now, tell me about those nightmares.”

  With a wavering voice, Lani explained about everything that led up to her discovering that the man in her fantasy dreams and horrific nightmares was Cort Wayne, construction boss, a man determined to destroy the burial ground she had to protect. A man only she could save. She didn’t know from what. “Maybe from flames,” she said. Or himself, she thought without knowing why.

  Her hands grew icy as she explained about the airplane veering off course, drawn mysteriously to the airspace over Kilauea. “It was as though a giant magnet inside the crater pulled us closer and closer like helpless specks of metallic dust.” Lani’s voice cracked. She took a gulp of hot tea.

  “My dear, you’re shivering.” Dr. Millie took the afghan from the back of the couch and placed it around Lani’s shoulders.

  She mumbled her thanks. “I can’t get those gnarled beckoning fingers out of my mind. I was the only one who saw Pele,” Lani said, feeling defensive. “But even after everyone left the plane they were still talking about the near crash, the stifling heat, and the presence of some erratic force inside the cabin.”

  The doctor wrote something down and underlined it. “I’ll need the date and flight number.”

  Was that doubt in the doctor’s voice? The knot in Lani’s stomach tightened. She removed a copy of the flight itinerary from her purse and gave it to the doctor. Who could blame Dr. Millie for wanting to check her story with the airlines? She admired her thoroughness.

  “I went out to dinner with Cort Wayne, the construction boss I told you about. It’s so complicated. Anyway, Cort’s a pilot and we went up in a helicopter. The face in the orange vapor over the crater, well, it looked like Pele. And me.”

  The doctor held Lani’s gaze. “When was the first time you had a vision?”

  “Three weeks ago, on my twenty-fifth birthday.” Lani lifted the lava stone from its hiding place inside the neckline of her tailored blouse and caressed it.

  The doctor’s eyes darkened to deep umber. “That stone was one of your gifts, wasn’t it?” Dr. Millie arched an eyebrow. “Perhaps with no note or card?” The tension in the doctor’s voice made Lani’s heart pound faster.

  “How did you know that?”

  The doctor tapped her pen against her pad. “Things like this have happened before.”

  That should have made Lani feel better, but it only added to her turmoil. “It seems I’m trapped in this powerful triangle with the land, the relics buried there,
and Cort Wayne. The images are coming with increasing frequency and ferocity.” Lani twisted a napkin in her hands. “What does it all mean?”

  The kahuna glanced at the recorder between them, then apparently satisfied that it was operating properly said, “We’re dealing with a number of things, and we have to consider each one separately. We’ll start with your birth. Using hypnosis, I’ll regress you to your infancy and bring you forward, delving into your memories.”

  “Hypnosis? Regress me?”

  “If we can discover the identity of your biological mother, part of the mystery would be solved.”

  The thought of learning about the woman who had abandoned her in that pool of water brought unexpected tears to Lani’s eyes. She blinked them away.

  “Later, we’ll discuss your adoption and feelings of abandonment.”

  Lani groaned inwardly. She hadn’t mentioned her pain about that. She’d buried it, learned to hide the wound, and she didn’t want to dig it up now for inspection. “I understand that you need background, but I feel time is running out.”

  “It is. We need to move swiftly.” The quiver in the doctor’s voice made the hairs on the back of Lani’s neck prickle. “But what we’re dealing with is complex, risky. First, we need to discover how and why you were brought into what you call the triangle.” Dr. Millie stared at Lani’s lava stone pendant. “If Pele is involved, we’ll need to proceed with extreme caution.”

  “If it weren’t for the other unexplained things, I’d think the story Grandfather told me was ridiculous.”

  “I need to talk to Keo, and check into your story a bit more.” Her eyes intensified with concern. “In the meantime, since you fainted, I’ll set you up for a complete physical exam. I believe in the holistic approach. I’ll refer you to Doctor Prescott.” Dr. Millie touched her chin thoughtfully. “In unusual cases like yours I also find it helpful to enlist the aide of a spiritualist, a medium. I’m a kahuna of the mind, but from what you’ve told me, it’s clear you also need a kahuna of the spirit world.”

  Lani frowned. She was getting in over her head. First Dr. Millie wanted to bring in a medical doctor and now another specialist. “Is that necessary?”

  “Absolutely. He’ll help me contact your ancestors.”

  “My ancestors?” She couldn’t believe she was sitting here discussing this. If Grandfather hadn’t recommended Dr. Millie, Lani would’ve thought she was being duped.

  “If your birth mother or father materialize and confirm you as their child, we’ll know your true lineage.”

  Lani shivered. “Dead people coming back and talking? Do you believe in such things?”

  Dr. Millie’s eyes twinkled. “Do you believe in visions controlling airplanes and helicopters?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Personally, I never discount anything when dealing with the supernatural world.”

  “Then you believe me. You believe it’s all real?”

  “I noticed a troubling aura about you when you came in.”

  “You’re the second person to mention my aura. The man sitting next to me on the plane said it was hot.”

  The doctor glanced at the lava stone necklace again, and her face paled. “I would suggest that you get rid of the necklace, but at this point removal could be dangerous.”

  “Why?” Lani would never take it off. From the moment she’d put it on, it had become part of her, but she needed to know the danger.

  “There could be unforeseen psycho-physiological repercussions to the removal,” Dr. Millie said. “Such as mental discord and abnormally accelerated heartbeat.”

  Lani’s mouth went dry. She was suddenly acutely aware of each beat of her heart. “You’re scaring me.” This must be what it feels like to have an untested pacemaker in your chest.

  “Can you leave Hawai’i?” Dr. Millie asked.

  “Leave? Well, no. I need to be with my grandfather.” Lani closed her fingers into a tight ball.

  Dr. Millie glanced at Lani’s knotted hands and frowned. “There’s more isn’t there? You’re worried about the old hag’s warning.”

  “Yes. If Cort’s really in mortal danger, and I can save him—No. No, I can’t leave.”

  The doctor gently touched Lani’s arm and gave a sad smile. “Be warned, my dear. Your natural need to protect others could be your downfall. Fire is chasing you, closing in on you.”

  Lani shivered. “There’s been fire in my nightmares. Maybe that’s—”

  “I’m talking about real fire.”

  Lani raked a trembling hand through her hair. “Have you ever heard of anything like this before?”

  Dr. Millie sighed. “Many strange things happen in the islands. Until I have more information, I can’t rule out anything. The images are warning signs. But there’s something else—a deeper problem. Your feelings of being abandoned, first by your mother, then by your Hawaiian parents. You fear you’ll be abandoned again if you allow yourself love.” She clicked her pen twice, retracting the point, then projecting it again.

  Lani’s head swirled. The doctor knew about everything, even what was hidden in her heart. She felt naked, exposed.

  “Your aura has grown hotter since you entered this room. I fear it could rage out of control. You need to meet with the spiritualist right away!”

  Lani shuddered. “Set it up. I need answers.” She was grasping at straws.

  “Cort Wayne must be there too,” Dr. Millie said.

  “Oh, no. I couldn’t bring him deeper into this. Besides, he’d think I was crazy.”

  “You have to get him there somehow. He’s the central figure to the trouble.”

  Oh, God. If she brought him to this séance, anything could happen.

  “Call me if you have any problems,” Dr. Millie said. “Keep a journal of your nightmares and anything vaguely related. And stay away from fire!”

  ****

  Cort was still fuming over Tanaka’s visit. The bastard’s veiled threats really pissed him off. If their clash of wills wasn’t enough to mess up a day, Cort noticed Kimo parked across the street. Damn. If the kid had something on his mind, why didn’t he talk to him like a man instead of parking over there like a stalker, brooding about it? He had an urge to go have it out with him. Or maybe it was smarter to let the hothead stew a while. Might be better for Brandy. Families always caught the brunt when a guy was pushed against the wall.

  Cort saw Mochie lumbering toward him. “Hey, boss, can I leave a little early?”

  “We’re short four men,” Cort growled. “What do you think?”

  The good-natured Hawaiian’s face crumpled, like Cort had grabbed his plate-lunch away from him. He weighed about three-hundred and ninety-five pounds and looked like a beached whale, but his size didn’t keep him from being agile and quick, and he was a damned good worker, steady and dependable.

  Cort cursed himself. He shouldn’t take his frustrations out on his men. “Is it important?”

  “Nah. Just Lommie’s first soccer game.” Lommie was Mochie’s seven-year-old son and the light of his life.

  “That’s important. Go ahead. Just come in an hour early in the morning, okay?”

  Mochie made a thumbs-up sign and ran to his new big-wheeled truck, looking like Cort had given him a million bucks.

  Suddenly, in spite of his rotten day, Cort felt like celebrating, and he thought of Lani. Damn, with Mochie taking off, he should work late. I’ll come in early tomorrow, he rationalized.

  He looked at his watch. She should still be at her office. It was probably too late to ask her out. Well, he’d never know if he didn’t try.

  Cort flipped his cellular open. As the line rang, his palms sweated. What if Lani thought he was some kind of emotional idiot for giving her that poem? Had he overdone their date? He tended to do things like that when he liked a woman. And what he felt for Lani was deeper than like. He didn’t want to consider how much deeper.

  When Chinn picked up Lani’s line, Cort grumbled, “I was calling your receptionist.”

>   “She’s gone to the doctor,” Chinn said. “Won’t be back today. Don’t ask for details. She didn’t give any.”

  Disappointment rocked Cort, followed by concern. She’d fainted at his site. Was she still experiencing dizziness? Maybe she had low blood sugar. Or something worse. Damn. Now he had to talk to her to make sure she was all right.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The doctor’s words kept turning over in Lani’s head as she drove home. There could be unforeseen psycho-physiological repercussions to the removal, such as mental discord and abnormally accelerated heartbeat. Lani imagined her heart racing like a revved up engine. She touched a pulse point near the hollow of her neck. The beat was steady. The doctor hadn’t detailed the health dangers, but she’d seemed afraid. The doctor needn’t worry. Lani touched her precious gift. Removing the lava stone would be like cutting out her own heart. It frightened her that she didn’t know what motivated her belief. All she knew for sure was that somehow the stone was a link to the mystery surrounding her birth.

  Lani turned into the driveway. At the sight of her grandfather sitting on the front steps reading the paper, her spirits lifted and a deep tenderness swelled in her chest.

  She parked, then ran and gave him a big hug.

  “I’d have started supper,” he said, “but your friend, Cort, called. He’s taking you out again. He’ll pick you up at six.”

  “He’s entirely too sure of himself,” she muttered, fighting a tremor of delight.

  Grandfather grinned. “He’s a solid young man. Can’t fault a guy for being confident, can you?”

  “You men really stick together.”

  “Don’t get me into this. I just took the message.” He glanced at his watch. “By now he’s on his way.”

  She crossed her arms. “So?”

  Grandfather’s eyes twinkled. “It’s a long drive. Be a shame to drive all the way out here for nothing. I’d have to ask him to stay for dinner, and I’ve had mine.”

  Lani stepped past Grandfather and entered the house. “Men!” she said, slamming the screen door. Grandfather’s chuckle echoed behind her as she headed for the bathroom.