Sinking Suspicions

by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe

  Buck waited in the coolness of the springhouse while his niece's friend stood outside in the sun talking on his phone. Buck had agreed to let the beady-eyed, skinny city fellow take a water sample home to California with him if he and Dee Dee would leave and go home. Buck was tired of putting up with his niece and her disrespectful attitude, and he didn't trust her friend. The Californian's pale skin resembled a piece of white bread, and Buck had immediately disliked the guy. He'd been around enough people to know a creep when he saw one, and this guy was a creep.

  Finally, the man hung up and pushed the cell phone in his pants pocket. Buck watched him turn in a circle as if trying to decide what to do. Buck emerged from the springhouse. “Come on,” Buck said. “Let's go. I'm tired of this.”

  The man quickly turned toward Buck. “Say, can you show me where that sinkhole is you fell in? I've never seen a sinkhole before.”

  Buck took in a long breath and exhaled. “Will you go home after that?”

  The man smiled. “Yeah, we'll go back to California after that.”

  Buck led his niece's friend around the springhouse, using his walking stick to steady himself as they walked to the sinkhole where Buck had been held captive in the ground for several days. When they got close, Buck heard a click, a sound he'd heard many times before—the sound of the safety being switched off on a semiautomatic weapon. He stopped abruptly, turned, and found the man pointing a Colt .45 at him. Anger swelled inside Buck as he slowly shook his head. “You know, young man,” he said, “I've killed better men than you with my bare hands. And the only reason I killed them was because they were wearing a different color uniform than me. They didn't really want to kill me and I didn't really want to kill them. It was just the nature of the beast. Kill or be killed. Don't think I can't do it again if I have to.”

  “Stop babbling.” The Californian motioned with his gun for Buck to move forward. “I have to do this, old man. There's too much money at stake. The water from this spring is the purest I've ever seen.” He bent down and picked up a sizeable stone and balanced it in his other hand. “Sorry about this, but you're not going to survive your fall into this sinkhole again, because I'm going to give you a little help by smashing in the top of your head with this rock.”

  Buck looked past the man's shoulder and grinned. “I'm afraid you're not fast enough. We've got company.”

  Sonny barked and the man turned. Just as he did, Buck whacked him in the side of his head as hard as he could with his walking stick. The gun launched from his hand into the air as the rock fell to the ground and the man crumpled on top of it. Buck raised the walking stick high and hit him again, this time on his knees. The Californian screamed in pain as Sonny arrived and began to bark loudly just inches from the man's ear.

  Joe slid to a halt and Sadie jumped off. “Buck, are you all right?” She ran to the gun, picked it up, and pointed it at the squirming man on the ground.

  “Help me! That old man is trying to kill me,” the man screamed as he held his knees and twisted in pain. “Call off this crazy dog! Please, call off the dog!”

  Sonny continued to bark in the man's face.

  “Stay on the ground and be quiet or I'll shoot you,” she said.

  “What?!” the man cried. “You can't shoot me!”

  “Oh, yeah? There's no one here to stop me, and Buck will back up any story I want to tell.”

  Buck pursed his lips and nodded, and then held his walking stick in the air and looked at it. “This creep cracked my walking stick,” he said.

  “That's okay,” she said. “You can ride Joe back to the house.” Suddenly, she could hear Lance's truck. She waved Lance in their direction. “Or, better yet, it looks like you can ride in an air-conditioned truck.”

  “What were you thinking when you took off like that?” Lance yelled as he flew out of his truck. “Are you all right? You could have been hurt.”

  “I didn't have time to stop and explain,” Sadie said. “I was afraid I'd be too late, and as you can see, I'm just fine.”

  “Call off your dog,” Lance sounded perturbed as he turned his attention to the man who'd started squirming again on the ground.

  “You didn't leave Dee Dee by herself, did you?” Sadie said, alarmed. “She's just as guilty as this guy.”

  Buck looked at the ground and shook his head.

  “She's in fine hands,” Lance said, “having a conversation with Charlie McCord.”

  “Good.” Sadie called to Sonny. “Eluwei! Quiet!” The dog ran to her side.

  Lance leaned over and snapped handcuffs on the man. “Your girlfriend rolled all over you. Get up.” He grabbed the man's arm and pulled him to his feet.

  “My head,” the man screamed. “My knee. I want to press charges. That man tried to kill me.”

  “With what? A walking stick? Give me a break.” Lance shoved the man toward his truck.

  “Oh, no, you don't,” Sadie said. “Buck's riding with you. This guy can walk.”

  Lance took the gun from Sadie and pushed it into his jeans at the small of his back, and then helped Buck with his cracked walking stick into the truck. Sadie took the soft rope she always kept attached to Joe's saddle and knotted it to the man's handcuffs just as the man tried to limp away.

  “Looks like your knee's not quite as bad as you let on,” she said. “Start walking.”

  Chapter 33

  Buck sat in a worn, overstuffed chair in his living room, lost in his thoughts, trying to make sense of all that had gone on the day before. Sadie and Lance sat across from him on a matching sofa. Finally, Lance placed a small box and a pile of letters on the cluttered coffee table between them.

  “I want to apologize to you for taking your things from the old house,” Lance said.

  Buck stared with no emotion at the things on the table.

  After a few moments, Lance continued. “To be honest, I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to find you alive. The trunk was the only thing I found in the abandoned house by the springhouse and, frankly, I thought the structure might fall in on me while I was there.” Lance laughed as if trying to lighten the mood in the room. “I thought whoever left them there must not want them anymore. When I saw they belonged to you—well, I'm sorry. These are your personal items and I apologize.”

  They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Buck finally spoke. “It's good,” he said, as he looked directly at Lance. Then he flattened his right hand and pushed it forward in a downward motion in front of his chest, indicating he had no ill feeling toward Lance for taking the letters.

  Buck resituated himself in his chair using an old, wooden cane for balance. His eyes traveled to a blank space on the wall. “I don't know how that girl could have any Skinner blood running through her veins,” he said about his niece. “She thought she could just throw me away like old trash, all for a dollar.” Buck looked at Sadie and Lance. “That dollar isn't going to help her much now that she's in jail.

  “There's something wrong with this world,” Buck continued. “Nobody cares about anybody anymore. The government wanted to take my place because someone stole my social security number. They wouldn't listen to me.” He reached into the top pocket of his overalls and pulled out a piece of venison jerky and offered it to Lance and Sadie. Respectfully, they each tore off a small portion and handed it back to him. He bit off a piece and ate it before continuing. “The bank was going to take Jelly's place, and they had his money all the time.” He sounded angry. “They wouldn't listen to him, either. That's not right. I'm real glad you could straighten that mess out for him, Sadie.”

  Sadie smiled and nodded. Then she and Lance continued to sit quietly, listening to the old man.

  “Everything's all messed up,” Buck said. “I spent four years fighting in a war so I wouldn't have to take this kind of crap off anyone.” He leaned forward and cursed under his breath. “Sons of bitches.”

  “Buck, have you ever lost your social security card or any other type of identification?” Lance asked
. “We haven't been able to figure out how the identity thief came up with both your name and your social security number. Sometimes these folks pick numbers randomly out of the air, but this guy had your name, too.”

  Buck shook his head. “The only time I can remember doing anything like that was during the war.”

  “Was it in Hawai‘i?” Lance asked.

  “Matter of fact, it was.” He leaned back in his chair. “I was stationed on the island of Maui,” he said, “with the 4th Marines. That's where we lived between battles. I don't know what happened to my personal belongings after I got wounded and shipped back to the States. I guess someone could have taken them.” He thought for a moment, and then used his cane to help himself stand. “Come here,” he said.

  Sadie and Lance followed him into a bedroom and Buck pointed to the map of the Pacific Rim that Lance had seen earlier. Buck used his forefinger to trace hand-drawn lines on the map and began to speak with enthusiasm, as if he'd never shared this story with anyone before. “Here's the Marshall Islands,” he said. He turned and looked at Sadie and Lance. “We sailed straight into battle from San Diego. I hope I never see another ship as long as I live.” He turned back to the map and pointed. “Here's Roi-Namur. We took Roi within six hours of landing, and twenty-four hours later we'd secured Namur Island. That was February 1, 1944.”

  “Wow, you remember the exact day?” Sadie asked in amazement.

  “Unfortunately,” he said, and then continued his story. “They took us back to Maui, where we set up camp and learned how to jungle fight.” He returned to the map and slowly followed another line with his finger. “The next battle was on the island of Saipan.” He pointed to a small island on the map. “See? It's the most northern island in the Marianas.” He looked at Sadie. “That was on June 15, the same year.”

  Sadie nodded, as if embarrassed that she'd commented about his memory earlier.

  He turned his attention back to the map. “Here's where we landed. The Navy had been bombing them for two days before we got there. We had troops invading all along here,” he said as he outlined the west coast of the island. “The Army Infantry followed us in the next day and secured the airfield right here. Without the airfield, and the whipping our Navy put on their aircraft carriers in the Philippine Sea, the Japanese didn't have any way to resupply their forces.” He let his hand fall to his side as he leaned on his cane. “We beat them, but it sure cost us a lot of men. I thought I'd died and gone to hell, it was so bad.” He tilted his head as if trying to remember exact details. “The battle lasted for twenty-five days and they said some sixty-six hundred men from the 4th died. They said the Battle of Saipan was the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Too bad I only lasted about half that long.” He absentmindedly rubbed his upper left arm and then pointed at the map again. “These other lines show where my division went on to Tinian and Iwo Jima.” He headed back to his armchair and sat down again. “You've heard the saying ‘war is hell’? Well, take it from me, it is.”

  “What happened at Saipan, Buck?” Sadie asked after they had all sat down. “What did you mean when you said you only lasted half that long?”

  “I was one of the lucky ones,” he said. “I took a round through my arm. Bullet went clean through.” He held up his arm and pointed at a place above his elbow. “And I took a lot of shrapnel in my legs. I got knocked out from a bomb blast and lost a lot of blood, but my buddies carried me back to the beach where the field doc patched up the bleeding and put me on a transport back to a ship. I don't remember any of it, though. I was unconscious for days, or weeks, I don't know. Woke up days later in a military hospital in Honolulu. They said I had a real bad concussion. I couldn't hear anything for a long time. From there they shipped me back to the States and my stint as a Marine was over.”

  “So you never went back to Maui?” Sadie asked.

  “No. Never did. I don't know what happened to all my stuff. Didn't think it was all that important.”

  “Would you ever like to go back?” she asked.

  A faraway look came into Buck's eyes. “They have the most beautiful flowers there. They even grow flowers on trees,” he said. “There's a tree there that has round red flowers on it, a little less than the size of a baseball.” He indicated the size with his hand. “It looks like a pin cushion. The tree grows up high where the air is cool and the mists swirl around the mountains.” Buck could see the mountains rising above the ocean and the crooked blooming tree, all so vivid in his mind. “It's the prettiest thing you've ever laid eyes on. They said the flowers were sacred to the goddesses of the hula dance.”

  Buck tried to lighten the mood, afraid he'd shared too much when he saw tears well in Sadie's eyes.

  “Have you ever seen a woman dancing hula?” Buck continued. “It's nothing like people make it out to be back here. It's real pretty. It's real nice, the way the real hula dancers do it, that is.”

  Sadie looked at Buck and then to Lance. “I know where we can get some discount tickets to Maui,” she offered, and then smiled.

  Buck turned back to the letters on the table. “Thank you, young man, for bringing these to me. It's time for me to put the war behind me. The man at the Veterans Office down at the Cherokee Nation says I have to open the wound and let the pus out if I'm ever going to get over it. I have a feeling these letters are going to cut it wide open.” He looked at Lance with watery eyes. “I'd forgotten these things were still in the attic down there. Wado. Thank you.”

  Sadie and Lance rose to go. “I'll let you know what happens with your niece,” Lance said. “Right now she will have to be held for arraignment and that won't be until Monday, at the earliest.”

  Buck used his cane to help him stand. “It don't matter. I would like some help getting these vehicles out of my yard, though. Can you do that?”

  “You bet,” Lance said. “I'll get the keys and take care of it right away.” Lance shook hands with Buck, and Buck watched as he and Sadie walked out of his house holding hands.

  When Sadie and Lance walked into her kitchen, the red light was blinking on her phone. She checked the caller ID and saw that Pua had called. Sadie picked up the phone, dialed Pua's number, and then grew silent as she listened to Pua for a few minutes.

  “No, no, no.” Sadie's heart began to break. “Oh, Pua, I am so sorry…. I know.” Sadie turned away from Lance and grabbed a tissue while she continued to listen to Pua. “Pua, if there is anything we can do, please let me know. She was such a delightful person. I know you are going to miss her greatly. Please, keep in touch. Aloha.”

  Sadie put the phone down and burst into tears, no longer able to hold in her pain. Lance took her in his arms.

  “What's wrong, Sadie?”

  “Tutu Lehua died in her sleep last night, Lance. Pua's mother.”

  Lance looked confused. “But, Sadie, you barely know her.”

  “I know, but she was so sweet. I just loved her. She was able to talk about Pua's father for the first time ever while I was there. Pua said it was like a heavy burden had been lifted from Tutu's shoulders. She kept talking about me and how she'd been able to talk about him because I am Cherokee, and he was Cherokee, and she felt like I was a kindred spirit. Oh, Lance, this is just awful. I feel terrible.”

  “Pua's father is Cherokee?”

  Sadie smiled. “You know how everyone thinks they have Cherokee ancestors, well, that's what they think. But they couldn't even tell me his name.” Sadie wiped her nose with the tissue. “He was killed in the war.”

  Lance took Sadie's face in his hands and wiped tears from her face with his fingers. “I'm sorry, honey.”

  “Pua wants me to come back to Maui when they scatter her ashes.” She looked at him pleadingly. “Lance, will you please go with me this time?”

  Lance nodded. “Okay.”

  Chapter 34

  Charlie shuffled through the stack of papers on the corner of his desk and retrieved a brown envelope from the medical examiner's office. He used his po
cketknife to unseal the flap and then pulled out the report. He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of coffee, and almost choked on it when he started reading aloud, “Causes of death are asphyxia and anaphylactic shock due to the severe allergic reaction to the ingestion of mushrooms.”

  “Damn, crooks are so stupid,” he said, and started laughing aloud. The victim was already dead when the Californian shot him in the head.

  Charlie picked up the phone and dialed. When Lance's voice mail clicked on, he left a message. “Hey, Smith, you're not going to believe this. Give me a call when you get a chance.” He hung up, put his feet up on his desk, and began to laugh again.

  It had taken Sadie a full week to convince Buck to accompany her and Lance to Maui. He had come up with every imaginable excuse. It was too far. He'd been there before, and didn't need to go back. He was too old to make the trip. He didn't know anyone there. Who would look after his place?

  Sadie had an answer for every objection. It was most likely the only time she'd get Lance to go, and they could keep each other company. It would be good for him to get away after the ordeal he'd been through; help him forget about his niece and her sleazy boyfriend. Her uncle and aunt had promised they would look after both her place and Buck's. And, as a final argument, Sadie offered to pay his way. He would never agree to her paying for his part of the trip, but he finally agreed to go. A week later, they were on their way.

  The plane began its descent. Sadie pointed out Haleakalā and the West Maui Mountains to Buck and Lance. When the plane reached the south side of Maui, the pilot banked hard to the right and circled back north toward the airport.

  “Look,” she said, pointing out the window with excitement. “That's Ma‘alaea. That's where our vacation rental is.”

  Lance craned his neck to see. “Where?”

  Buck shifted in his seat. “I don't know which is worse,” he said, “airplanes or ships. I may not ever be able to walk again.” He looked out the window. “It sure looks a lot different,” he said.