| |
––––––––
THE PERFECT STORM OF rage and adrenaline had passed. All I felt was fatigue and weakness. I was sick of the case and tired of Hawaii. I wanted to go home, I wanted to see Malone. Did I want him to comfort me? To feel sorry for me for all I’d been through? I didn't know. I only knew this was meant to be an ordinary missing person case, but it had turned out anything but. A real mare’s nest.
At the end of the red dirt road into the cane fields was a paved road. With no idea where I was, I turned left onto the road because I had to go some direction. Looking at the odometer I noted the mileage. I’d need to be able to provide directions to this place. After five minutes or so I came to an intersection with another road. There was a sign at street sign at the intersection. The road I’d been driving on was Kahuku Road and I had arrived at Kamehameha Highway. There was a servo at the intersection. After parking, I walked to a pay telephone near the petrol pumps. I dialed 911. I told the operator that there was an unconscious man down with severe injuries. I explained the man was on a rural road in some cane fields. After giving the operator the directions from the intersection I was at, she asked my name. I hung up the phone and got back in the car.
After debating the wisdom of it for a few moments, I picked up the receiver and made another call. Allison Shaw answered the phone.
"Ken didn’t get the job done," I said. "I’m on my way back there. We’re all going to sit down and have a civilized conservation about who killed your father."
Allison gasped in astonishment, but she stayed on the line. I told her I’d seen her shoot Jimmy Kamaka and that I had the gun she had used.
"If you and your mum aren't waiting at the house when I arrive, I’ll ring the police and tell them everything I've told you. I’ll give them the gun. Have the conversation with me when I arrive. Let's work something out."
The line went dead. I didn’t know whether that meant Allison had accepted or rejected my offer. Only one way to find out.
––––––––
STOPPING IN THE DRIVE in front of the house, I saw a neat row of suitcases on the porch next to the front door. The door was standing open. With care, I entered the house, clearing the place room by room as I continued down the hallway. There were no voices, no noises at all. The house had the feel of emptiness. There was no sign of Kathleen or Allison. After searching the first floor, I went upstairs. Still nothing. Where had they gotten off to? Why would they have left without the luggage? I didn’t believe Kathleen would have left at all without hearing news of Ken. I started back out the front door to check the outbuildings when I saw it. There was a note pinned to the wall beside the front door. I pulled it off the wall and read it.
I have Kathleen and Allison. Bring the money to St. Catalina Seaside Chapel on Kalanianaole Highway. It’s off the entrance to Sea Life Park. Be there at 10:00 p.m. sharp. Come alone and be on time. NO TRICKS. I’m out of patience. If I smell one whiff of the cops. Or you’re late, or you don’t bring my money they will both die, and their blood will be on your hands.
Adam, the rat bastard. He kept turning up. Seemed he had managed to get away from the cop in Kailua and somehow had made it back to Shaw’s place ahead of me. Bloody hell. The note be damned, it seemed it was time to turn things over to the Honolulu police.
All I knew for certain was that I wasn't going to show up at St. Catalina Seaside Chapel and hand over the money to Adam. No bloody way. He’d crossed the line by committing an actual kidnapping now. No doubt following his instructions to the letter would likely get both the Shaw women killed and me. Still in a bit of a fog from the blow to the head, I needed an objective opinion. I walked out to the motorbike and retrieved my mobile from the compartment beneath the seat.
I punched in Malone’s mobile number. It wasn’t that I needed Malone to tell me what to do. What I needed was another perspective. I needed the opinion of someone who could look at the situation through the lens of objectivity. Malone answered on the second ring.
"You all right T. J.?" Malone said.
"No, not feeling too flash at the moment," I said. "Things keep going from bad to worse."
"What happened?"
I gave Malone the highlights.
"Ah shit," Malone said. "T. J., I think you need to get the cops involved now. If the guy who tried to kill you in the cane fields is dead, you’re going to catch some heat over it. Sounds like you still aren’t completely out of the woods on the Douglas Shaw murder. Now you’ve got a double kidnapping."
"Yep, I had sort of come to the same conclusion, but what if it goes wrong. The note said he would kill them if I called the cops. I believe he will do it."
"It would be unfortunate if Adam kills them," Malone said. "But, if he does, that’s on him. And, think about it. What do you owe Kathleen and Allison Shaw? They both more or less consented to you being murdered and buried in a cane field. Seems obvious they were somehow involved in getting you framed for Douglas’ murder. Hell, one of them may have murdered Douglas."
"Yep, I have considered all that," I said. "But, they don’t deserve to die for it."
"No, they don’t, but I still think you need to turn this over to cops now," Malone said.
"Yep, you’re right, of course," I said. "I only needed a second opinion from a clear head to be sure I was doing the right thing."
"I’m sorry you walked into a shit storm," Malone said. "I never dreamed a simple missing person case would turn into something like it has."
"No worries," I said. "Not your fault. Shaw wasn’t straight with you on what was going on. No way you could have known that until I got here."
"So, you will call HPD?" Malone said.
"Yep, I’ll call Detective Young when I hang up. Then I’ll go collect the money, and the gun used to kill Kamaka. I’ll come clean and tell them everything I know, minimizing the first kidnapping part of it of course. I’ll give the police everything along with the note and let them take it from there."
"I think that’s best," Malone said.
"Sorry I’ve done such a shit job with the first real case you’ve given me," I said.
"T. J. you have done nothing of the sort," Malone said. "You can’t look at it that way. You've done an outstanding job with what you’ve had to work with."
"Thanks and all that," I said, "but I still feel like it has been a big fail. I let the client be killed, and now his wife and daughter may be next."
"You’re hurt and exhausted T. J., that’s all. After you finish with HPD, go to a hospital and get your head checked out. Then get some rest. I need you back home in one piece."
"Ahkay, I will," I said.
"And call me if you need anything, anything at all," Malone said.
"Yep, sure, I will," I said.
We said goodbye and hung up. I was still packing a bit of a sad, but I felt a little better knowing Malone didn’t seem to think me a total incompetent.
I called HPD and left a message for Detective Young to call me. It seemed best to wait for his call before going to Kailua to retrieve the money and guns from the locker. It was a short wait. He called back in less than five minutes.
I first told Young about Ken, where I’d left him, and that I’d already called 911. Then I told him about Adam, the kidnapping of Kathleen and Allison Shaw, and read him the note left at their house. Last, I told him I had a lot of other things to tell him and some property to turn over to the police and asked to meet him. He agreed to meet me in the lobby of my hotel as soon as I could get there. I told him to give me until seven because I had to make a stop on the way to get the property I’d be handing him. We hung up.
The helmet made my head throb all the more, but I climbed on the motorbike anyway and took off for Kailua.
