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“Holt!” Joely screamed. “Help!”
“There’s no need for that,” Tetsuo said. “He’s not here for you. There’s your blackmailer. The same person who was spying on my computer.”
“What?” Joely whipped her head to her sister.
Holt came thundering down the stairs.
“I should have known you two bitches were working together,” Timothy snarled.
“Uncle, what have you done?” Holt said.
“I believe you’re in error, Senator. Samantha Kane worked alone. Our Joely had no knowledge that you were being blackmailed.”
“You expect me to believe she didn’t put her sister up to it?” Timothy snarled.
Tetsuo blinked, and then narrowed his gaze on Joely and Sammy.
“Sisters?” Holt said coming up behind her.
“This is my sister, Sammy. Look, I can make this right,” Joely said. “My old laptop is upstairs. It’s on the vanity. I’ll just go get it.”
“No, you stay the fuck here,” Timothy said. “Let lover boy go get it.”
“Holt, it’s in the briefcase on the vanity.”
Holt didn’t say a word, but took the stairs two at a time.
“What’s all this noise?” Kala said, storming out of her bedroom, wrapping her robe around her.
“Go back to bed.”
She glared at them. “Tetsuo, I warned you about bringing business home. I’m leaving for Wailea tomorrow. I’ve had it.” She turned on her heel and marched back into her room.
Holt came back downstairs, carrying the briefcase. “Here,” he said, stuffing it into Timothy’s hands.
Timothy placed it on the side table and opened it up. “What’s that?”
Holt held the envelope containing her new passport and identification. He handed it to Joely. “Holt, I can explain.”
He wouldn’t look at her.
“Are those copies of the evidence?” Timothy asked.
Joely slid out the passport and driver’s license, being careful not to let him see the name on it.
“See what a treacherous bitch she is?”
“You’re going to stop using that word,” Holt warned.
Timothy glared at him, rubbing his jaw. “Where are the copies?”
“Destroyed,” Joely said, reaching down to hold her sister’s hand.
“Am I supposed to believe that?” he said.
“Am I supposed to believe you’re not going to try to kill me, once all my leverage is gone?”
Timothy smirked. “You’re a smart bitch.” He pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her.
“You dare?” Tetsuo said, stepping in front of Joely even as Holt shoved her behind him.
Joely yanked Sammy behind Holt as well.
“Our deal was I provide the blackmailer to you,” Tetsuo ground out. “I welcomed you into our home, and this is how you repay my good will?”
“I don’t deal with gangsters or thugs.”
“For the right price you will,” Joely said.
“You watch your smart mouth. Now, I’m going to start shooting. If you want to avoid a lot of dead bodies, you and your bitch of a sister are coming with me. I want every dime you skimmed from me.”
“Go to hell,” Sammy said.
“You first.” He raised the gun.
“I lied,” Joely said, quickly.
“There’s a big surprise,” Timothy said.
“I kept a copy of the evidence. It’s in a safe deposit box in Australia. Upon the death of me or my sister, my parents open it up and set that shit free. Every dirty deal you did. Every bribe you took. The world is going to know. Your life will be ruined. The Feds will be all over you.”
“You’re lying,” Timothy said.
Joely forced her breathing to be still and with an iron will spoke so her voice didn’t shake. She was bluffing her ass off right now.
“You don’t have to believe her. You’re a dead man either way,” Sammy said.
“I’m the one with the gun, you little bitch.”
“Do you know what the ninkyo dankai are?” Sammy asked.
“This is America. I speak English.”
“You’re familiar with the mafia, I’m assuming?”
“No comment.”
“Well, you’re holding a gun on the boss of this island.”
Timothy blinked at stared at Tetsuo. He took a step back. One hand held the pistol steady, the other snapped the briefcase closed.
“This isn’t over.” Timothy said, grabbing the briefcase in one hand. His gun hand never wavered. He walked backwards towards the door. Placing the briefcase down, Timothy reached back for the door knob.
When he opened it, Joely saw Mike behind him. Somehow, he had been outside and was waiting for Timothy.
Holt squeezed her hand, and she forced herself to keep her eyes on Timothy so as not to give away Mike’s advantage. When Timothy bent down to pick up the briefcase, Mike attacked.
Things happened fast. Mike yanked Timothy’s gun to the left and smashed his foot into his knee. A shot rang out. Holt dove for the floor taking Joely and her sister with him. He covered them with his body.
From the back of the house, Kala screamed.
There was a brief scuffle. The vase on the side table crashed on the ground. There were grunts of pain and the heavy sounds of fists hitting flesh.
Kala rounded the corner with a shotgun and racked it. The sound of the bullet ejecting from the chamber was almost as loud as a gunshot.
Everything stopped.
“Get that haole piece of shit out of my house,” Kala said.
Joely hoped she wasn’t referring to her.