Sinking Suspicions

by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe

  “Do you recognize anything?” Lance asked.

  “No. I've never seen it from this high up before. We only rode in and out of here on ships. Looks a lot different.”

  Lance had returned a call from Charlie shortly before they boarded the plane in Tulsa and then relayed the information to Sadie. She began to rerun the events in her head.

  The ballistic tests, he'd said, revealed that the shell casing found at the crime scene in Cynthia Tanner's trailer, where the Samoan identity thief had died, matched the gun Dee Dee's boyfriend had in his hand when he attempted to kill Buck. But the medical examiner's report held the most shocking revelation: The identity thief was already dead when the killer pumped a round into the back of his head. He'd died of anaphylactic shock. Evidently, the big man had an allergic reaction to some mushrooms he'd eaten. His throat had simply swelled, closed off his airways, and caused him to suffocate. A search of the crime scene had indeed uncovered a bag of dried morel mushrooms.

  Sadie could hardly believe her ears when Lance had told her the story. That is simply bizarre, she'd remarked, shaking her head.

  They released Becky Tanner, Lance had explained, but Dee Dee and her boyfriend were still in jail, charged with conspiracy to murder Buck. Sounds like they're going to have free room and board for a while, he'd added.

  At Buck's request, Sadie had taken him to visit Dee Dee in jail before they left on their trip to Maui. When he saw her, he told her he never wanted to see her again. Dee Dee tried to blame it all on her boyfriend. When she said she was innocent, Buck simply turned his back to her and walked away. Sadie's heart broke with sadness for Buck, knowing his niece was his only living relative.

  Sadie's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the plane's brakes screeched on the tarmac, just as they had on her first trip, and then the plane slowly taxied back to the airport terminal and parked at the gate. The passengers disembarked and made their way through the open-air airport and down the escalator to the baggage claim. Buck's knee had healed so well he didn't even need his cane, but Sadie found a place for him to sit anyway where he could guard the carry-on bags while she and Lance gathered their luggage.

  After all the bags had been collected and rolled out onto the sidewalk, Sadie guided them to the rental car window. The process moved more quickly this time. Lance drove and Sadie directed him as they rode through Kahului and Wailuku on their way to the condos, a different route than she had taken on her first visit. She watched Buck as he gazed out the windows of the car.

  “It looks a lot different,” he said in a childish voice.

  “This is Kahului,” Sadie said, repeating many of things Pua had told her. “It's hard to tell when you drive out of Kahului and into Wailuku, but Wailuku is the seat of Maui County, where all the county buildings are.”

  Lance drove slowly down the street, past Queen Ka‘ahumanu Shopping Center and Maui Community College, the Maui County Fairgrounds and Baldwin High School. They passed under a small bridge that appeared to be very old, and Sadie announced they had just entered Wailuku. After a few blocks, she directed Lance to turn left at an intersection onto a highway that would take them directly to Ma‘alaea. They passed a rock church with magnificent stained-glass windows and a circular driveway. The structure appeared to be at least a hundred and fifty years old.

  “I've been there,” Buck erupted from the backseat.

  Lance slowed the vehicle. “Do you want to stop?”

  “Maybe before we go home, we could come by and go inside.” Buck's voice wavered. “It's a real nice church. They used to feed the men meals there on Sunday afternoon,” he added. “It was the best food I had while I was here.”

  “I'll find out from Pua how we can make arrangements to get in, Buck,” Sadie said. “Okay?”

  Buck nodded.

  They continued toward the south side of the island, driving past dozens of mature monkeypod trees that flanked the highway, their high limbs arching gracefully over the road. The trees eventually gave way to sugarcane fields, and before Sadie knew it, she was back at Ma‘alaea Banyans renewing her acquaintance with the front desk clerk. She had arranged for Buck's room to be next to the one she'd rented for Lance and her in case he needed anything.

  After leaving their things in their respective rooms, they walked a short distance down the street to a restaurant near the Maui Ocean Center, where they watched boats, large and small, sailing in and out of Ma‘alaea Harbor. They ate fish and rice and indulged in lilikoi cheesecake while an animated Buck told war stories, nonstop. Sadie watched him with admiration. She had never seen him display such excitement. She and Lance leaned back in the booth and watched Buck point through the huge glass windows at the ocean and describe where the ships would wait in the harbor to take the men into battle.

  Lance put his arm around Sadie's shoulders and pulled her close. “I'm glad you came up with this idea to bring Buck and me here,” he said.

  Sadie fell into his chest and kissed him on the cheek. “Me, too,” she said. “I'm so glad you came with me this time. Isn't it wonderful?”

  When they could eat and drink no more, they walked slowly back to the condo building.

  “Let's get some rest,” Sadie said. “Pua's coming early in the morning to take us on a tour of part of the island. The ceremony to scatter her mother's ashes will be the following day. After that, we're on our own to do whatever we want.”

  Buck nodded and closed his door behind him; Sadie and Lance did the same.

  The next morning, Sadie made an early morning run to the grocery store and returned with eggs, bacon, and everything she needed to make a hearty breakfast in the small kitchen of the condo. As soon as the coffee was ready, Lance invited Buck to join them on their lanai to enjoy the view of the ocean while they ate.

  Buck sopped his runny fried eggs with toast and spoke with a full mouth. “I've been up and ready to go for hours,” he said. “I'm ready to see this island again.”

  Joy filled Sadie's heart, tempered with sorrow. She felt more certain than ever that convincing Buck to come back to Maui had been the right thing to do, but she hated that the main reason for the trip was to say her final good-bye to Tutu Lehua. Life was so full of unexpected twists and turns.

  She looked at Lance while he and Buck continued to talk, and she realized how much she truly loved him. Maybe it was time for her to reconcile that fact with herself.

  A knock at the door snapped Sadie out of her thoughts. It was Pua.

  “Welcome to our island,” Pua said, as Sadie opened the door and invited her in.

  After introductions, Pua hugged Sadie and kissed her on the cheek, then did the same to both Lance and Buck. Turning her attention to Buck, she said, “I understand you've been here before, Mr. Skinner, during the war.”

  “Please, Miss, call me Buck,” he blurted, and everyone laughed.

  “As you wish,” she said, and nodded her head.

  In a few short minutes they had climbed into a van and Pua was driving toward Kahului. “I thought I would take you by Giggle Hill,” she said, turning to look at Buck. “That's where the Marines' camp was, right?”

  “Yes, ma'am.” Buck nodded, his face glued to the backseat passenger window.

  They passed through the edge of Kahului, past the big-box stores, and before they reached the airport road, turned right at an intersection onto Hana Highway. Emerald-green sugarcane fields dominated the nearby landscape against the backdrop of the majestic dormant volcano—Haleakalā. They passed the Kaunoa senior center and a small area of luxury homes in Spreckelsville before rolling into a small tourist-looking town.

  “This is Pa‘ia,” Pua said. “We can stop here on the way home and look around if you'd like.” She drove past the Pa‘ia Town Center and Charley's Restaurant and Saloon. “If you're lucky, you might run into Willie Nelson in Charley's,” Pua said, and laughed as she continued to drive along a curved road flanked with more hearty fields of sugarcane and pineapple. “Here's Mama's Fish House,” she sai
d, pointing to her left. “They have fabulous island food.”

  Continuing around the island, the road rose high above steep cliffs. “This is Ho‘okipa. The surfers and the windsurfers love this area.” Then she pointed back inland. “You can see Giggle Hill from here.”

  Sadie turned and caught a glimpse of Buck's face. His earlier jovial attitude had turned somber. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

  “Do you remember any of this, Buck?” Sadie asked, concerned.

  “Yes,” he said quietly.

  “Some people refer to this area as the Ha‘iku, or Kokomo, area,” Pua said, as she continued along the highway and turned right onto Kokomo Road toward Giggle Hill. The conversation inside the van waned as Buck struggled to see out all sides of the van at once. Finally, Pua pulled off the road at the bottom of a hill and turned off the van in front of a 4th Marine Division Memorial sign, next to a park and children's playground.

  They got out of the van and Lance helped Buck crawl out of the backseat. When Buck had gained his balance, he stood and stared. A light mist fell on their shoulders and a huge rainbow formed directly in front of them. Sadie marveled at the beauty of a place where men like Buck had joined together to offer their lives for their country. Pua and Sadie migrated to the memorial; Buck and Lance pointed at their surroundings and talked about the 4th Marines, roads, tents, and airfields.

  “Look at this,” Sadie remarked, and started reading aloud. “Battle of Marshall Islands, Battle of Saipan, Battle of Tinian, Battle of Iwo Jima. December ’43 to November ’45. That's a lot of war.”

  They stood silently staring at the memorial for several seconds before Sadie spoke again. “I'm so sorry about Tutu Lehua,” she said. “She seemed to be in such good health and so vibrant.”

  “I know,” Pua said, “But I am glad that she passed so peacefully, even if the pain in my heart may never go away.” Pua looked at Sadie. “And, I'm so happy she got to meet you. I asked her after you left why she could tell you things she'd never shared with our family.” She smiled. “She said because you were the first one to ask her.” A tear streaked her left cheek. “I'm thankful you came into our lives.”

  “I loved meeting her,” Sadie said. “I will never forget her.” They hugged and cried together.

  Lance approached and put his arm around Sadie. “Are you two all right?” he asked.

  The two women smiled and wiped their faces. “Yes,” Pua said. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Buck wants to drive up this road,” Lance said, pointing toward the mountain. “He says there's a waterfall he wants us to see.”

  They all climbed back in the van, and Pua drove while Buck spoke freely about where he'd camped as a Marine and where he'd walked to different places on the island. He'd point and say, “This used to be the field hospital,” and, “We used to have a baseball diamond right where that house is now.”

  The lush vegetation grew dense, the air felt damp, and the houses became scarce as the van climbed higher up the mountain. Finally, Buck pointed to a small trail and asked Pua to stop. She found a safe place to pull off the road and parked.

  “We'll have to walk from here,” Buck said. He exited the van with vigor this time.

  Sadie could hear rushing water in the distance as they followed Buck on an unmarked, well-worn path into thick, jungle-like vegetation. Cooler temperatures brought a chill to Sadie as they continued to slowly climb. Then, out of nowhere, the four walked into a clearing and stopped directly in front of a stream of crystal clear water cascading down a thirty-foot rock wall into a pool. They all stood, motionless, staring at the grandeur of it all.

  Suddenly, Buck took off around the right side of the pool toward a tree covered in red blooms. When he reached the tree, he stretched for a bloom, but it was too high. He looked around as if trying to figure out how to climb on the wet foliage behind the tree to get a better angle.

  “Lance, please don't let him climb up there,” cried Sadie. “He's going to fall.”

  At that moment, Buck slid to the ground onto his hands and knees. Lance ran to Buck and helped him stand.

  Buck looked up at the gnarled and twisted tree. “That's ohia,” he said. “I want one of those flowers,” he continued, in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Okay, hold on,” said Lance. “I'll get you one.”

  Lance circled to the right, testing his footing and slowly working his way up and back around to the tree. He pulled out his pocketknife and cut off three blooms, pitched them to Sadie, and climbed back down.

  Sadie gave a flower to Buck, another to Pua, and kept one. “These are beautiful flowers, Buck,” she said. “It appears that you have picked these flowers before.”

  “I will tell you the legend of this tree,” Pua said, and she began to speak.

  “One day Pele, the goddess of the volcano, met a handsome young man named Ohia. She desired to have him as her sweetheart. He confessed that he already was in love with another young girl, Lehua. This enraged Pele and she used her magical powers to transform the young man into the ugly Ohia tree. Lehua was terribly sad and pleaded with Pele to return the young man back to his human form. Pele refused, so Lehua begged the gods to help her to be reunited with Ohia. Instead of changing Ohia back to a human, the gods transformed Lehua into a lovely blossom to adorn the Ohia tree. Now when anyone picks a Lehua blossom, it will rain because the lovers have been separated.”

  Pua stopped speaking and, as if on command, light rain began to fall. Buck fell to his knees. Sadie and Lance ran to his side to help him up. “Are you okay?” they said in unison.

  Buck stared at Pua and his lip began to quiver. “Please tell me where you learned that,” he said.

  “My mother taught it to me,” she said. “Her name was Lehua. She was named for this bloom.”

  Lehua's words echoed in Sadie's head. I called him my Ohia…he was Cherokee…he died in the war. Sadie's heart drummed inside her chest.

  “Buck, did you know a woman named Lehua when you were here on Maui?” Sadie asked.

  “Yes,” he said and nodded as Lance pulled the old man to his feet. “And I have never stopped thinking about her.”

  “Oh!” A guttural cry escaped from Pua's throat. “What is your name?” she cried.

  “Benjamin,” he said.

  “Which is ‘Peniamina’ in the Hawaiian language,” she said, and then in a quiet tone she added, “You are supposed to be dead.”

  Sadie's knees felt like rubber. “Oh, no. I can't believe this,” Sadie said. “Could it be—?”

  “—that he is my father?” Pua finished Sadie's sentence and walked closer to Buck. “Tell me what you called my mother—her pet name—the name no one called her but you.”

  “Baby,” he said. “I called her the Cherokee word for baby—Usdi.”

  Pua and Sadie gasped at the same time, as bewilderment crossed Lance's face.

  “Usi,” Pua said. “You mean Usi. Right? My name is Pua Usi. My daughter's name is Usi. We were given the name my father gave my mother before he was killed in the war.”

  “Lehua must have dropped the ‘d,’” Sadie whispered, trying to digest the events happening before her.

  Buck looked at the ground. “Now, I wish I had died. I never dreamed…I don't know what to say.”

  Pua fell against Buck and sobbed. The rain began to pour from the sky.

  “I think we need to find someplace dry to finish this conversation,” Lance said. He took Buck by the arm and guided everyone back down the path. When they reached the van, he turned to Pua. “I'll be glad to drive. I think you two have a lot of catching up to do.”

  Pua hugged Lance and gave Sadie a kiss on the cheek. “Yes, we do.” She sounded dazed.

  When they arrived back at the condos, Sadie and Lance gave Buck and Pua some private time and retreated to the lanai to sip tea and stare at the palm trees and the ocean. In the distance, Sadie could see the island of Kaho‘olawe. Pua had finally taught her to pronounce it: “Ka-ho-oh-lah-vay”—not so
hard after all.

  Below, they could see Buck and Pua walking slowly along the water's edge. Pua stopped, picked up something from the beach, and then tossed it into the ocean.

  “They've got a lot to work through,” Lance said, “and it's not going to be easy. If Buck really is her father, and it sounds like he is, then this is going to take some adjustment.”

  Sadie nodded, took a drink of tea, and leaned into Lance. After a moment, she sat straight up.

  “Oh, my gosh, Lance, I just realized something. Usdi must have been Dee Dee's Cherokee name. The name she hated so much she had it legally changed—from Usdi to Dee Dee.” Tears welled in her eyes. “He lost Dee Dee and got a daughter and a granddaughter in return.” She wiped at her eyes and leaned back against Lance. “I just wish this could have happened before Lehua passed.”

  “You know,” he said, “life turns on a dime. You should never put off for tomorrow what you think you should do today. Tomorrow may never come.” He scooped Sadie into his arms. “And based on that philosophy, I need to tell you something.” He kissed her gently and then said, “I love you, Sadie, and don't you ever forget it.”

  Sadie melted into his chest. “I love you, too, baby.”

  About the Author

  Sara Sue Hoklotubbe is a Cherokee tribal citizen and the author of the award-winning Sadie Walela Mystery Series. She grew up on the banks of Lake Eucha in northeastern Oklahoma and uses that location as the setting for her mystery novels to transport readers into modern-day Cherokee life.

  The American Café (University of Arizona Press, 2011) was awarded the 2012 WILLA Literary Award for Original Softcover Fiction by Women Writing the West, won the 2012 New Mexico–Arizona Book Award for Best Mystery, and was named 2012 Mystery of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.

  Deception on All Accounts (University of Arizona Press, 2003) won Sara the 2003–2004 Writer of the Year Award from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.