Chapter Twenty Nine - This is Your Idea of a Plan?

It must have been something I ate, Rudy thought as her neared his duplex, or one too many kicks to the head. Armageddon, talking Jelly Fish, the Kennedy Assassination. Holy cow! Then he entered the duplex and found Pete sitting in his living room.

“Hey Davis, how come I’m always bailing you out of trouble?”

Rudy had never been more pleased to see anyone in his life. He gave Pete a big hug, something that would have seemed out of place for them at any other time. Since his little chat with the imaginary Jelly Fish, Rudy had been feeling a little better and now, with Pete here, he knew that he wasn’t in this alone.

Pete explained the bizarre series of phone calls that had roused his suspicion enough to board a plane to Honolulu and check up on his old pal. Then it was Rudy’s turn to recount everything that had happened in the last few days.

“Gees, Davis, I can’t leave you alone for a minute.” Pete said. Then, turning serious, “You’re right about one thing, giving the goods to Azeri is not the answer. Right now, they’re all that’s keeping Raven alive; maybe you too. Once he has those, you’re both as good as dead. Of course, I don’t know this Charlie character, but if he’s friends with Azeri, he might be able to help us figure out where they’re keeping Raven and how to get her back. You’re right to be suspicious of his motives but I don’t see a Plan B, do you?

Rudy shook his head. Pete was right; Charlie was the key to everything so Rudy gave him a call. Rudy discreetly forgot to mention that Elder Jelly Fish had said to trust Charlie.

“I can help.” Charlie said. “But I’m sure they're watching your place. Hopefully, they’re not bugging your phone. I want you to get out of there and take whatever you need for the next few days because you can’t go back until this is over. Drive around until you’re sure you aren’t being tailed, and then call me back from a pay phone.”

Rudy still had the keys to Nevermore and he was quite certain that if anyone was tailing him, they would not be prepared to follow him by water. They hurried to the Marina in Laie and sped off. They docked in Honolulu, rented a car in Pete’s name and called Charlie from Pearl City. They met an hour later at the Lehua Community Park.

“Charlie, I gotta be honest with you. I know you’re pals with Azeri. I can’t help but be a little leery but I know you care about Raven so I’m taking a chance here.” Rudy said, almost apologetically.

“I tried to tell you once, and right now is probably not the best time to get into all of the details, but suffice it to say that as far as I’m concerned, Azeri is a piece of garbage. I came to Hawaii to find Azeri with the intention of killing him. I had my chances too but I realized that I don’t want to meet my maker with blood on my hands so I decided to find another way to bring him down. I wasn’t sure how I’d do It, or when, but I knew in my gut that when the time came, I’d know it”.

“Gentlemen, that time is upon us. First, we’re going to get Raven back and then you two are going to help me bring Azeri down, deal?”

“We’re not killers either, Charlie.” Rudy said after a few seconds. “If that’s what you have in mind.”

“Of course not.” Charlie answered. “We’re not going to kill anyone, but we are going to bring him and his entire operation down. Once we have Raven back and in a secure place, I’ll fill you in on the plan.”

“But why?” Rudy asked. “Why are you so interested in Azeri?”

Raven and I have something in common. We have both lost someone close to us because of Azeri.” Rudy was more puzzled than ever. Who had Raven lost? She’d never mentioned anything like that.

I’ll tell you all about it when we have more time.” Charlie said. “From the look on your face, I’m guessing that Raven hasn’t told you about Gabrielle. I’ll leave that to her, Rudy. The thing you need to realize right now is that you and Raven will never be able to have any kind of life until we bring Azeri down.”

Rudy knew that he was right and he knew that he had little choice but to trust Charlie.

“Okay Charlie. As long as we get Raven back. I’m all yours after that but not until. What do we have to do?”

Charlie looked at Pete. “I’m in too.” Pete said, not needing to hear the question before he answered. “Whatever we have to do, I’m in.”

Charlie unrolled some architects plats on the picnic table.

“I’ve spent as much time as I could at the Molokai Ranch. I befriended all of the help, I paced off measurements and made sketches then had an architect take my sketches and draw up every inch of the Ranch as best as he could from the sketches.”

“Azeri owns the drug trade in Hawaii and has a lane to San Francisco with an eye on the entire Western United States. He’s done it by eliminating his rivals. He’s ruthless and tries to hide that fact with his little blue blood routine. Don’t you forget that for a minute.” Charlie warned.

“This little building right here, in the northwest corner of the property, has got to be where they’re keeping Raven. It’s a cell where Azeri has kept rival drug dealers, tortured them for information and killed them when he was done, and it’s key to how he’s succeeded thus far. It’s not visible from the main house except through the security cams.”

“Now, the entire property is surrounded by high voltage electric fence but there is a breach. As you can see from the topo map here, these are pretty steep cliffs behind the cell building. It’s rugged terrain above the cliffs too, accessible only on foot or by horseback. A Jeep can get within a half mile or so of the cliffs but you’ll have to walk the rest of the way. I know because I made the trail with my Jeep and a machete but I didn’t dare get any closer for fear of being seen or heard.”

“The floods last spring washed out enough room underneath the fence to slide under. They’ve been a little slow to fix it because of the cliffs here; they don’t figure anyone can get in or out anyway so it hasn’t been a high priority.”

“So how are we going to get in and out?” Rudy asked.

“You are all athletes, all three of you.” Charlie said. “You’re going to rappel. Climbing back out will be the hard part. It’s too steep to hike but using the ropes and your arms, you can manage. I hope you guys have some upper body strength because you’re going to need it. And whatever you do, don’t touch that fence. There’s not enough voltage to kill you, but you will, by God, wish you were dead if you get zapped.”

“So how do we keep from being seen on the security cam?” Pete asked.

“You don’t. They’ll have you on tape but this is where I come in. I’ll be visiting the ranch and I’ve made it a habit to bring the night man a cup of Joe before at the start of his shift, chat with him for a while. Tonight’s coffee will make him very sleepy. He has a habit of sleeping at the desk anyway so this will just be a little insurance. Once the deed is done, they’ll know it was you anyway, so no big deal if they have it on tape.”

“Call Wally and have him take you to the end of the Jeep trail, here.” Charlie said, pointing to the topo map. “You’ll need him meet you at the dock in Kaunakakai at 2AM. By the time you get to the end of the trail, it should be 3AM. Figure another hour at the most to get Raven and be back at the Jeep. Wally and Soon-Li should leave with you all on the Nevermore. If all goes well, no one will ever know they were involved but we can’t take any chances with their safety, it’s best to get them off the island. It won’t be safe for any of you on Molokai until we finish our plan. I have a safe house in Honolulu that you all can stay in until this is done.”

Okay, we’re going to need a list of supplies.” Rudy said.

“Already have em. They’re in my trunk. Like I said, I’ve been planning something like this for a while. Just been waiting for the right kinda help.” Charlie replied.

“How are we going to get her out of the cell?” Pete asked. Good question, Rudy thought. That was the one detail that had escaped him in all of this planning.

“With this.” Charlie said, holding up a key. He was grinning from ear to ear. “You didn’t think I’d forget an important detail like that? I’ve got a key to every lock on the ranch. And you thought I was just another dumb redneck sumbitch with more money than brains.”

Rudy looked away sheepishly. Charlie was right, of course.

Pete grinned and slapped Charlie on the back. “Jury’s still out on that one, Chuck. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”