Death in Paradise Read online

  Dr. Kiyoshi smiled. “She’ll be fine. She’s awake now. We want to run more tests and keep her overnight. You guys should go home and come back in the morning to pick her up.”

  Everyone shook Dr. Kiyoshi’s hand and broke down into tears and hugs. Even Uncle Jack showed signs of a tear or two.

  Pua had to get home because of Kainoa. Jasmine had to get back to running the resort. Uncle Jack had to go explain why he’d used a marijuana eradication helicopter to save a civilian. And Sam had resolved to stay in the waiting room until Jessica was ready to go home.

  The next morning, a nurse came in and woke Sam, who had slept the night in a chair. “You’re waiting for Jessica Kealoha?”

  Sam nodded as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  “We’ll bring her out in a few minutes and you can take her home.”

  Sam stood, stretched, yawned and waited until Jessica came through the double doors in a wheelchair. Jessica had hoped it was Sam waiting for her, and she couldn’t have been happier to see his smiling face. Although he looked like he had been through the ringer after sleeping in the waiting room all night. He had a five-o’clock shadow, bloodshot eyes, and disheveled hair. Not his typical put together look–Jessica loved all of it.

  Sam wanted to hug Jessica, but she put her hand up to stop him. “There’s nothing I would love more than a hug from you. But I have two broken ribs from all the fun I had yesterday.”

  Sam recoiled as if from a hot flame. “I’m so sorry, honey.” He then reached down, caressed her hand and kissed it. “I almost lost you. Never do that again. Okay?” His eyes welled with tears.

  * * *

  As Sam and Jessica drove along Mamalahoa Highway, Jessica didn’t take the view for granted. The plumeria flowers along the highway were more beautiful that morning than they had ever been before, the ocean bluer and the salt air more soothing. Nothing like being dead yesterday to make one grateful to be alive today. And for Sam, having almost lost Jessica made him even more determined to enjoy every minute with her–from that day forward.

  “Pua has been working on getting the house at Keauhou Bay. I wish it were ours now. I mean, ready to move in. I’d just take you there.” Jessica looked at Sam for a second with admiration and then looked back toward the road as they drove through Kainaliu toward Kailua Town.

  Jessica reached over and rested her hand on Sam’s thigh. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop at the old airport.”

  “Sure.”

  Jessica sighed. It was nice to be taken care of for once.

  “I’d just like to sit on a picnic table underneath one of the naupaka trees and watch the surf for a little while before going home.”

  And that was what they did. They sat like two geckos on a pineapple for an hour, and stared at the ocean. They watched the surfers catch waves, then get barrel rolled and glide all the way to the beach, as if on a magic carpet.

  She thought about what had happened the day before, how the sea had taken its best shot at her and had come up short. But she knew she had been fortunate. Jessica didn’t view it as any god looking out for her. Getting slammed onto the reef was just bad luck; wrong place at the wrong time. It was as simple as that. Or at least that was her first thought; she had decided a long time ago that there was no God. And if there was, He didn’t seem to care about people, as evidenced by all the rotten things that happened in the world.

  Sam said it was obvious someone or something had looked out for her. The nurse who’d been on the beach, in the right place at the right time. Uncle Jack had access to a helicopter by making a phone call. The most senior ER doctor was on duty at the Kona hospital when she arrived. Sam didn’t believe in coincidences. He believed everything happened for a reason. They were opposites when it came to their view on whether or not there was someone or something behind the scenes overseeing things. Jessica had never wavered in her beliefs before, but she had started to reconsider.

  They sat mesmerized at the picnic table, watched the surfers rip up and down the waves and the fishing boats cruise by. “Yesterday when I was on that beach not breathing, I had an out-of-body experience. And the funny thing about it? It was okay if that was how it would end. But the paradox was, I wasn’t ready to leave yet. It must have been my sense of making things right that pulled me back. My father’s murder cannot go unavenged. And if I don’t bring the person responsible for his death to justice, I might as well have died.”

  Before Sam responded, an HC 130 Coast Guard plane flew overhead, as it scanned the ocean. The only time you saw them in Kona was when someone was having a dreadful day. And for the first time in years, Jessica said a short, silent prayer for whoever the Coast Guard was looking for–just in case it turned out that it mattered.

  22

  Homecoming

  Sam took Jessica back to her dad’s bungalow where everyone gathered, on front on the lanai, waiting for her arrival. There must have been fifty people who waited to greet her and share aloha. It looked like a gathering at the courthouse; most of them were cops, and two were Jessica’s yakuza uncles. Jessica looked at Sam, as they drove up the driveway, surprised by the crowd.

  “Know anything about this?”

  Sam shook his head no and grinned.

  Only in Hawaii was what came to mind when Jessica recognized all the people she knew. They were from both sides of the legal fence; those who enforced the law and those who broke it.

  Sam parked the truck and announced to the crowd, “No hugs, she has two broken ribs.” He opened her door and slowly helped her out of the truck and up the steps of the lanai to an empty chair.

  For the next hour, Jessica’s family and friends showered her with love, and leis, to let her know how glad they were that she was still with them and hadn’t been taken by the sea.

  After everyone left, including Sam, Jessica went inside. There was a message on the answering machine from Mr. Jennings’s law office. It said that Mr. Lau had made another offer to buy Aloha Village, this time for full retail value, in spite of all the work the property still needed to have done. Jessica called Mr. Jennings back and told him Lau couldn’t buy Aloha Village–at any price.

  She didn’t care how much money he offered. Just like her father, she would never sell it to him. Especially now that she knew Woo Ching had been spotted at the airport, exiting the hangar Mike kept his plane in, and was suspected of causing her father’s death.

  23

  Stage Four

  Jessica called Pua the next morning to set a lunch date for later that day at Kona Inn. It was Kona’s oldest watering hole and a favorite of Jessica’s since she was a little girl. The old fans that hung from the ceiling and the koa wood canoe over the bar were remnants of days gone by in Kona.

  She realized after her near-death experience that it was time to put the living first. While it was important to bring her father’s killer to justice, spending time with Pua became her top priority. She didn’t know if Pua would survive the cancer, and it was time for her to set aside their differences.

  When she and Pua arrived at Kona Inn later that day, the song “Over the Rainbow,” by Brother Iz, played throughout the restaurant at a low volume, and Jessica felt a sense of well-being she only experienced when she was in Hawaii.

  The two sisters sat at a table on the outdoor patio next to the three-foot-high rock wall closest to the ocean. It had an unobstructed view of Kailua Bay and the tour boats as they came and went from the pier. A few minutes later, a middle-aged waitress approached their table. She had a friendly smile and a beautiful plumeria flower above her left ear.

  “Aloha. Would you ladies like something to drink?”

  “I’ll have iced tea,” Jessica said.

  “I’ll have the same,” Pua answered.

  After the waitress walked away, Pua asked Jessica. “Are you still on the wagon?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “How long has it been this time?”

  “In dog years?” Jessica smiled,
then her expression turned serious. “Three years, two months and six days. But who’s counting?”

  “Way to go, sis.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you still go to AA?”

  “When I can, sometimes the job gets in the way. So far, so good, knock on wood.”

  “In your case, knock on wood and go to meetings,” Pua said with a serious tone.

  Jessica nodded and smiled just as the waitress returned with their iced teas.

  As they sat on the lanai and sipped their drinks they took in the view of the swaying palm trees and turquoise bay, with small, white-crested waves breaking along the shoreline, fronting Kona Inn.

  They watched two young local girls play in the surf at the small beach across the bay, next to the pier, just like they had when they were kids. The trade winds blew, and that kept the humidity to a pleasant level. It was almost a perfect day weather wise.

  Jessica didn’t want to ask, but she had to know. “Did you get the PET scan results this morning?”

  The grim look on Pua’s face gave Jessica her answer. “On the way here my doctor called me. It’s not good. The cancer has spread to my liver.” She picked up a napkin and dabbed her eyes as they filled with tears.

  Unlike when she had been told Marlin House, of Pua’s cancer, Jessica attempted to not cry–she needed to be strong for her sister.

  “Take it one day at a time. It’ll be okay.”

  Pua dabbed her eyes again with her napkin and nodded.

  “The doctor says he wants to take out part of the liver.”

  Jessica scooted her chair over next to Pua and put her arm around her shoulder. For a few minutes they didn’t say a word, they just watched the canoes that paddled in Kailua Bay, that readied for the weekend races. Jessica’s phone buzzed in her purse, as it broke the moment of silence. She glanced down and saw it was Mr. Jennings’s number and decided she better take it. “Hello, this is Jessica.”

  “Hi, Jessica. I got your message declining Lau’s offer. I wish you would reconsider. Finding another buyer willing to pay full price for Aloha Village in its current condition will be hard, if not impossible.”

  “The answer is still no, Mr. Jennings.”

  She hung up the phone and continued to rub Pua’s shoulder, which she had lightly squeezed as she talked on the phone.

  “What was that all about?” Pua asked.

  “Lau made a full-price offer on Aloha Village. But I told Jennings to tell him that it’s is not for sale–at any price.”

  “You didn’t feel it necessary to run that by Jasmine and me first?” Pua snapped.

  “Do you want to sell it to the man who’s most likely responsible for Dad’s death and would turn the Village into a casino?” Jessica countered.

  “If you weren’t here, I’d sell that place right now and be rid of that nightmare. It’s a never-ending money pit, and the sooner we’re out from under it, the better.”

  Jessica didn’t react; she didn’t want to get into an argument in public about the property. She knew it would get back to Mr. Lau and the less he knew about the Murphy ohana, the better.

  “I’m just trying to do the right thing here,” Jessica said quietly.

  “Have you considered asking Sam if he’d be interested in buying or investing in the resort? Or what about Uncle Jack? Dad alluded more than once to Uncle having made a lot of money investing in stocks.”

  Jessica hadn’t thought about Uncle Jack. The only thing she knew for sure was that she would not ask Sam for the money, to save anything. Nothing made couples fight more than money and relatives. Then the thought crossed her mind, We’re a couple?

  Jessica wasn’t optimistic by nature. She believed that what could go wrong, would go wrong most of the time. She knew this wasn’t a healthy way to think, and she fought it daily. But this time, she knew in her heart everything would be okay–all of it. Pua, Aloha Village and her relationship with Sam. Nothing like a near-death experience to get your attitude about life straightened out, she thought.

  “We need to form a partnership to buy the resort,” Jessica said, with excitement in her voice. “What do you think?”

  Pua chewed on a cold French fry for a minute, and thought about what Jessica had said, before she answered. “Maybe we could get Uncle Jack to invest.”

  Pua and Jessica were so excited they drove out to the harbor to see if Uncle Jack was in port, since he didn’t answer his phone as usual. They couldn’t wait to pitch him their idea to save the Village.

  24

  Uncle Jack

  Uncle Jack sat in the fighting chair on the deck of the A Hui Hou, as he read the local fishing news and puffed on a cigar, when Pua and Jessica drove up. So much for peace and quiet, he thought when he saw Pua’s truck park in front of the A Hui Hou’s slip.

  “Hey, Uncle,” Pua and Jessica called out as they walked down the dock toward the boat. Uncle Jack didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen those two together–and happy about it.

  “For someone who was almost dead a couple days ago, you look pretty good, Jess,” Uncle Jack said.

  “Let’s say I’m re-energized,” Jessica said, and flashed a grin.

  Pua never minced words or wasted time when money was involved. She told Uncle Jack what they had in mind about forming a partnership of investors to save Aloha Village. Since real estate was her thing, Jessica kept her mouth shut and let Pua talk, while she nodded at the appropriate times.

  “I think it’s a noble idea. But I’m broke. You know the old cliché—‘if you want to be a millionaire in Hawaii, bring two million with you.’ A month ago, I paid off the boat and its slip because I didn’t want any payments when I retire for good.”

  Pua and Jessica both looked like they’d had their balloons popped.

  “But, I think I know where you can get the money. If I were you, I’d call an employee meeting at the Village and pitch them the idea of making all the employees part owners,” Uncle Jack said.

  “Dad paid them well, but I don’t think he paid them that kind of money,” Pua said. The optimism on Jessica’s face had disappeared.

  “You’re right. But one of the aunties, that teaches lei making to the guests, is from a family that owned half of Honolulu until a few years ago. When they cashed out during the last real estate boom, each family member walked away with about three million dollars each. She doesn’t work at the Village because she has to, she does it to share the aloha of old Hawaii with the visitors. You could skip calling a meeting, and just ask her, but you never know, there might be others working there that have some money stashed away who would want to invest.”

  25

  Employee Meeting

  All twenty-three Aloha Village employees gathered Saturday morning at the beach for the meeting. Most of them had worked at the resort for over twenty years, and it was more like a working ohana than what most people would consider a job.

  Jessica started the meeting by thanking everyone for their years of service and then got right to the heart of the matter.

  “Aloha Village is broke. We can’t borrow enough money to fend off foreclosure. The owner of the Ming next door wants to buy us and expand his property to include a casino almost on top of where we’re standing.”

  Auntie Loana had worked at the Village since the early seventies. She stood up and said, “No can!” with a thick pidgin accent.

  Jessica nodded in agreement. “We won’t sell the Village to them at any price. But we have a problem. We need to sell to someone, and the Village isn’t in sellable condition right now. We want to form a partnership to fund the resort going forward and would like to offer you guys the opportunity to be in charge of your destiny.”

  Auntie Loana stood back up. “How much you need, sista?”

  Jessica looked Auntie in the eyes. “We need at least five hundred thousand to buy us some time. Or a little over a million to finance repairs, then get the trust landowner to renew the lease for anot
her twenty years.”

  “Only a million? Shoots. Can handle.” And with that and a huge smile, the old Hawaiian woman sat back down.

  Jessica couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Nobody knew Auntie Loana had that kind of money. She had been driving the same Kona cruiser to work for the last ten years. It was an old faded red '83 Toyota Tercel. Other than one gold bracelet that said “Ku’uipo.” By all outward appearances, she didn’t look like she had two nickels to rub together.

  “Okay, we all work for Auntie now,” Jessica said. Everyone laughed and one by one, each person hugged Auntie Loana.

  After the meeting, Auntie Loana got out her checkbook and wrote a check for one point two million dollars. She’d included a couple hundred thousand extra, just in case the resort needed it. As she handed Jessica the check, she said, “This is a loan. I don’t want to own the Village. You pay me back when you can.” Jessica and Pua both had tears of gratitude in their eyes.

  “Wait until Monday to deposit. I need to move the funds from my investment account on the mainland to the local bank.” Jessica and Pua looked at each other in amazement. They’d never dreamed Auntie Loana was this sophisticated, secret millionaire.

  “Okay, Auntie–Monday,” Jessica answered.

  26

  Decision

  After the phone call from Mr Jennings, which relayed Jessica’s message that the Village wasn’t for sale at any price, Mr. Lau decided that Jessica must be eliminated if he was going to be able to buy Aloha Village. It was clear she was just as stubborn as her father had been and would never sell the property to him.

  With Jessica out of the way, Lau was confident that he could persuade Pua to sell.