Chapter Thirty Four - The Molokai Minstrels

Look at you.” Soon-Li laughed at Rudy seated next to her in the back seat of the Jeep. “You face all paint black, clothes black. You look like Minstrel.”

“That’s it,” Wally agreed from the driver’s seat. “We should call you guys “The Molokai Minstrels.”

“Why you paint your face when you have mask?” Soon-Li asked.

“Um.” Rudy started. “Um, I’m not sure. Cause Charlie said to?” It sounded more like a question than an answer. They all laughed, still giddy and punch drunk after their ordeal.

Rudy had forgotten about the greasepaint and now he was wiping his face on his shirt. He wished that Raven were here in the Jeep instead of piloting the plane but they had been separated in all the commotion as they scrambled to get off the ranch. Maybe she could dress his wound, if she were here; so far the only first aid he’d received consisted of wrapping Pete’s t-shirt around his shoulder.

Mostly, though, he just wanted to talk to her and sort out their troubles. He was hopeful that they were alright now that this was done but he wasn’t sure and he desperately needed to know.

When they were on board Nevermore and Wally was piloting them safely away from the island, Soon-Li cleaned his wound with alcohol, which hurt more than getting shot in the first place had. Then she wrapped it with clean gauze from the boat’s first aid kit.

“Don’t worry. I clean bullet wound before, much more worst than this.” She said. Rudy smiled at her interesting use of English. He remembered her stories of escape from Laos and her brothers’ wounds and almost felt silly about this minor injury.

The Cessna went to Charlie’s hanger at the Kahului airport on Maui and Nevermore docked at Kahului Bay, a couple of miles down the road. Raven found Rudy lounging on the Nevermore deck with his Walkman on. He didn’t see her come aboard.

Pete and Raven exchanged glances and burst out laughing at the sight of Rudy in the lounge chair, sunglasses, headphones and remnants of grease paint on, screeching at the top of his lungs to Neil Young.

“Why do ah-hi, why do ah-hi, why do I keep fuckin’ up?” he wailed. Rudy had a lot of talents but singing was clearly not one of them.

Pete discretely made his exit while Raven tiptoed up to Rudy and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled, eyes still closed behind the sunglasses as he wrapped his arms around her. She climbed into the lounge chair and cuddled up with him as he pulled the headset and sunglasses off.

“I don’t know,” she said, “why do you?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” she laughed. “Ready for that talk now?”

“Yeah. Please.”

She started with her 16th birthday and told the story of the present her sister had given her and then went through Gabrielle’s whole, sad story.

“I can’t believe it. All the times I’ve visited your parents, they’ve never said a word about her. I’ve never even seen a picture of her. I don’t get it.”

“My mother fell to pieces and my father tried to hold it together for the both of them but he was barely hanging on himself. As time went on, we all began to live our lives again and we never really talked about what had happened. We just sort of pretended that everything was alright, just to get through another day.”

Raven went on with the story of her college years and the years with the DEA. As she talked, the little pieces that hadn’t made sense to Rudy began to fall into place. He’d always had a hard time picturing Raven as a Dental Tech and now he knew why. She ended with the story of the raid that went bad and the 12 year old and her vow to herself.

If Rudy had misjudged Charlie, he was ten times off the mark with Raven. Her attitude about Azeri and their recent troubles suddenly made perfect sense. He had forced her to choose between him and compromising herself. He realized, not for the first time, that he was a simple man who often missed the complexities in others.

“But why didn’t you just tell me all of this in the first place?” he asked.

“I was in deep cover for 12 years.” She answered. “I’ve never told anyone the whole story, not a soul. My parents still think I was a Dental Tech in the Army. I didn’t know what to say to you or how to say it or when to say it. You don’t just walk up to the man you’ve recently fallen in love with and blurt out, ‘Did ever tell you that I’m a child killer?’ And, I mean, it wasn’t just that boy; I saw a lot of action in my years with the DEA. I was afraid I’d lose you if you found out the things I’ve done. I’ve killed people, Rudy. How do you reconcile with that?”

“That’s ridiculous. Do soldiers stop being loved because they were in a war?”

“Not everyone sees what we did in the DEA as a war.”

“But you did. You were a soldier, doing your duty, right?” He needed to hear her say it.

“I did see myself as a soldier at the time but I gradually came to see things differently. It got harder and harder to live with myself until, eventually, I had to get out.”

“I think I was so angry at everyone who had anything to do with drugs after Gabrielle that I joined the DEA to make them all pay. As I grew up and saw more of what life is really like for so many people, I began to realize that most people are just trying to get by. I met some evil people, don’t get me wrong. But the little guys, the everyday people, are just doing the best they know how. We sit in judgment but we don’t have a clue what life is like for most of the world.”

“It was really Gabrielle that I was mad at for being so stupid and leaving us all in our grief to try and make sense of it.” She was speaking through sobs now and wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“It was just such a waste, you know? She was so beautiful and bright and kind and it was just such a stupid, asinine waste. It broke my heart to see my parents grief and for a long time I hated her for that.”

Rudy held her in his arms. “Anything else you need to get off your chest?” he asked after a long while.

“Well, I already told you that I was a groupie.” She laughed through her tears, wiping her cheeks. “So I guess that’s it. All of my secrets are out. It must be your turn now. I’m sure you don’t have nearly as many secrets as me but I would like to know how you managed to get us into this mess. I’m sure Circe was behind most of it but I’m having a really tough time understanding how you ever got messed up with that skank in the first place. I’ve met a lot of despicable human beings and she’s right up there with any of them”

Rudy flushed with embarrassment. He’d asked himself the same question almost from the beginning and he still didn’t have an answer that didn’t make him look like an idiot. He felt like a coward for wanting to duck this little bit of embarrassment when Raven had been so brutally honest in baring her soul.

“Horny?” he finally said.

Raven rolled her eyes as if to say ‘try again schmuck’ so he pushed forward. He told her how John and then Circe had shown up on his doorstep, how he’d heard Circe stash the briefcases under the house and had later found them.

“I’ve done plenty of things in my life that I’m not so proud of. You asked me what happened to my NBA career and as you know by now, I don’t like talking about it much but I guess I have to bare my soul too. I guess if we still like each other after this, we’ve got a real shot.” he said, smiling kindly.

“I was always the best player on the court, starting in the 7th grade and right on through college. By my sophomore year, I knew I was headed for the NBA. There was a lot of talk about whether I was big enough to compete at that level but I was young and brash and cock sure of myself. I was indestructible, you know?”

“But I had no idea just how good everyone in the NBA is. The worst player in the NBA is better than virtually everyone I faced in college. It seemed like everyone in camp was bigger and faster and stronger, and these were just the guys trying to make the team, not even the stars that I’d have to face in games.”

“I had never really been tested like that before and I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t have anyone around to help me, my old support system wasn’t around and I just didn’t know how to handle myself.”

“Hell, it’s 12 years later and just this week I learned that I still hardly know how to conduct myself under pressure. I mean, when they took you... I was so afraid. I was afraid I couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to come through for you and you’d die because of me. I was afraid for you because you were unfortunate enough to be dependent on me.”

She gave him a squeeze and he continued after a bit.

“Anyway, instead of rolling up my sleeves and just outworking everyone like I’d always done, I got into “the life”. Parties, women, limos and coke, lots of coke. I think I was afraid that I couldn’t compete so I just checked out and partied. Of course, the coke made me feel invincible again, for a while. Then the poster happened and that was pretty much it for me, psychologically.”

“20 games into the season the Clippers had had a gutful of my antics so they paid off my contract and sent me packing. That’s how stupid and cocky I was. I had a no-cut contract for the first year; it had never even occurred to me that they’d want to be rid of me so bad that they’d eat my contract.”

“Truth is, I’d give almost anything to have that chance back. If I’d just laid it all out on the line, given it everything I had, then I could have lived with the consequences no matter how it came out. Now I’ll never know if I could have made it or not and it never stops eating at me.”

“I went to Europe and finished the ’80-‘81 season there but I’d lost heart and by the end of that season I had a major coke problem. Somehow word had gotten back to my family and one day Colonel Davis just showed up in Turin, where I’d been hanging at a friend’s house and partying.”

“The Colonel was standing in the doorway in full dress uniform and I came stumbling in looking like I’d been run over by a gravel truck. I’ve never felt so small in my life as I did when I saw the disappointment on my father’s face. He’d always been so proud of me as my career progressed and I’d let him down to a degree that had been unimaginable a year before.”

“He stuck me in rehab and two months later I was back in Utah, licking my wounds and completely at a loss as to what to do with my life.”

“I had a grand total of $25,000 dollars left out of nearly a million I’d gone through over the course of that season. Someone told me about this hot, new stock in a company called Apple so I sank my last 25K into Apple stock and locked the certificates in my safe deposit box at my bank in Utah. The plan was to leave it alone until I retired and I’d have something to show for NBA career no matter what else happened.”

“When I got ready to move here, I went to the bank to clear out my box but the certificates were gone. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to what the stock was doing but I know they were worth something in excess of $200K.”

“When I found that briefcase full of cash under my house, I knew where it had come from. It was my money that Circe and John were using to finance their plans to become big-time dealers. So I stashed both briefcases and waited for Circe to come back for them, figuring I’d confront her then, but she never showed.”

“Azeri called me that night demanding that I return his property but I knew that at least the cash was mine. I had no idea how long his reach really was plus I wasn’t convinced it was really him. I thought it might be more of Circe’s conniving and I pretty much just told him to stick it where the sun don’t shine. The next day, he repaid my arrogant stupidity by grabbing you. I’d have gladly forked over my 200K for none of this to happen but in my hubris, I had no idea how much trouble I’d bought. I guess you know about as much about it from there as I do.”

“I guess I do” she said as she snuggled in.

“So, we know the worst about each other now. Do we still like each other?”

“More than ever here. How about you?” Rudy asked though he sensed the answer.

“More than ever.”

At long last, they’d said all there was to say so they drifted away under the Hawaiian sun for a well-earned nap.

Chapter Thirty Two - I Thought You Were Friends

Rudy and the Hawaiians were at the park shooting warm-ups when Pete arrived. Pete was introduced to Ben and Bill and then Rudy asked how Raven was.

“She was real upset.” Pete said. “Cried all night. All I could do was hold her and try to calm her down.”

Rudy shot a dagger his way. The idea of Pete consoling his girlfriend all night infuriated him.

“Come on.” Rudy said, “Let’s play some two on two while we wait for Charlie.” He fired a short range rocket pass at Pete that was way too hot to handle. It went through Pete’s fingers and bounced off his chest and high into the air.

“Hey. What the hell was that?” Pete asked incredulously.

“It’s called a pass, you pussy. Can’t you handle a pass?” Ben and Bill gave each other a puzzled look.

“Fine, Davis. Check the ball.” Pete said, firing a hot pass of his own at Rudy, who covered the fact that he couldn’t handle the pass by giving it a fingertip volley ball return pass, then he assumed a defensive position.

Pete lobbed the ball inbound to Ben and followed him down court to their basket. Ben made a sweet bounce pass to Pete, who caught it under the basket and went up for a lay in. As soon as his feet left the ground, Rudy gave him a body slam that sent him stumbling into the chain link fence surrounding the court.

Pete gathered himself and said, “I’ll take the ball out for the foul.”

“North Shore rules, brudda. No fouls in this game.” Rudy shot back. He took the ball out and resumed play while Pete stood with his hands on his hips shaking his head.

A few minutes later Pete set a screen for Ben to run a pick and roll. Rudy was shadowing Ben when he tried to rub off the pick and Pete took a small step into the play. Rudy didn’t back off and crashed into Pete sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
They got to their feet and Pete gave Rudy a two handed shove.

“What’s your problem, Davis?”

“You moved on the pick, man. That what happens when you try to set a moving screen.” Ben and Bill watched the pair, unsure if they should intervene.

A play later, Pete had the ball and an open look at the hoop. He started to go up for a jumper when Rudy stepped behind him and bent his knees into the back of Pete’s knees, throwing him off balance. It was one of the oldest playground tricks in Rudy’s arsenal and it always pissed people off but was tough for a ref to spot.

Pete half-leapt off balance and stumbled to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and made a bull rush at Rudy, catching him mid-body with his shoulder and driving the two of them onto the clay court. Before either of them could do much damage the big Hawaiians had pulled them apart and were restraining them.

“Da hell’s da matter wit you two?” Ben asked. “I thought you were sposed ta be friends?”

“That was before this sumbitch tried to steal my woman. I should have seen this one coming, Pete. Ever the knight in shining armor, just waiting for your chance to move in, Mr. Smooth fucking Operator. ‘I’ll look after you, Raven”.

Rudy lunged at Pete but couldn’t get free of Bill’s grasp.

“Is that what this is about? You’re jealous because I went with Raven last night? What was I supposed to do, just let her walk off into the night by herself? You think I needed any of this?”

“You got Beth and now you want Raven. At least I had the decency to get out of the way once it was clear that Beth chose you.”

“You are a stupid little shit, you know that Davis? I couldn’t steal Raven if I tried, which I wouldn’t. The woman is in love with you, you jerk. She wants to have your children! How can you not get that?”

Rudy was quiet for a minute. As his anger eased, he was beginning to feel like an idiot. Finally, he swallowed his pride, something he’d never been very good at. He let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I know you’re right. I had a long, sleepless night, my stomach is in knots and then you show up talking about holding Raven all night and I lost it. I guess I just needed an outlet.”

Ben and Bill let go of Pete and Rudy.

“It’s OK, brah.” Pete said, with an arm around Rudy's shoulders. “Now take it out.”

He slammed the basketball as hard into Rudy’s chest as he could and then ran down court.

“You are dead meat, asshole.” Rudy shouted as he gave chase.


As Charlie worked through the last few details of his plan, he thought of all the times he’d had a chance to kill Azeri. The two of them had hunted wild boar so many times together that Charlie had lost count and he could easily have put a bullet in the man pretty much any one of those times.

The first time they went hunting had been his first opportunity. He drew a bead on the man and just like that, the moment he’d waited so long for was upon him. Azeri’s head in the cross-hairs but he couldn’t do it. His wife was gone and all he’d had left was his daughter and now she was gone too. Here was his chance to avenge her but it wasn’t right. How could he face his loved ones in the next life with murder on his hands?

He wasn’t a religious man but that night he asked the Universe what he should do. He wasn’t willing to walk away or to turn the other cheek. He knew he’d be leaving the world a better place if he took Azeri out of it but he couldn’t let Azeri turn him into a killer. Azeri had taken enough from him and he wasn’t taking anything else, especially not his soul.

He had a dream that night that he was talking to a jelly fish, a Sea Nettle actually, who insisted that he belonged in the Atlantic. It told him that the best way to take Azeri down was to take his money just before new product arrived and then let the bad guys be bad guys.

“Don’t worry,” the smart-assed fish had told him, “the elements will all come together and when the time is right, you’ll know it. In the meantime, get prepared and trust your instincts. You’ve never been a patient man but you’re about to become one.”

That was the reason he’d taken Rudy under his wing by helping him out with cheap rent and drawing him further into his social circle; his instincts told him to. When Charlie had seen Raven’s furniture at a gallery, he sought out the artist because he sensed that he was supposed to. He didn’t know why but he was trusting his instincts, like he'd been told.

Now, with everything that had happened and more than six million dollars in cash sitting in Azeri’s safe waiting to make the exchange, Charlie knew that this was the time.

Rudy and Pete were waiting for him when he arrived at the Beach Park in Punaluu but Ben and Bill discreetly waited on the court until they were summoned. Charlie had decided to explain himself to Rudy and his friend before they called the locals over. It would be a huge relief to finally tell someone and they needed to understand what this was all about for him.

“When my wife died,” Charlie began, “I didn’t deal with it very well. My daughter Chloe, was 19, just finished freshman year at the University of Texas in Austin. She came home to be with me but I was too involved in my own self-pity to be of much use to her. I was so grief stricken that it didn’t even occur to me that Chloe needed me more than I needed her.

She and my wife had been real tight. Truth be told, I was so busy with my business and investments that the two of them were the only real support system either of them had.” Charlie sighed. He’d been looking forward to sharing this with someone, getting it off his chest, but it was harder to talk about than he’d expected.

“After a few weeks of being ignored by her old man, Chloe wanted to come to Hawaii and stay in one of my condo’s, take a little R&R before resuming her college career. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing but I knew that I wasn’t much use to her so I figured maybe a change of scenery would be good for her and it might give me a chance to recover a little too.”

“Six weeks later I got the call that no parent should ever have to take. Chloe had jumped from the 9th floor balcony of the condo. The autopsy showed that she had a lethal dose of cocaine in her system and that she had already been dead when she hit the ground. That’s when I sold my business and moved to Hawaii to assume this role of pleasure-seeker that you know me as.”

“I hired a private investigator to look into Chloe’s death and we learned that Chloe had hit the party scene pretty hard after she arrived. She’d met some coke-cowboys in Makawao who were part of Azeri’s goon squad and it wasn’t long before she was partying at Azeri’s Ranch. Azeri took a shine to her and showed her how to shoot up but misjudged the dose and she OD’d. He had one of his goons, a dirty work expert by the name of Tony, take her back to my condo and throw her body off the balcony to make it look like a suicide.”

“That’s the condo I stayed in on Maui.” Rudy said.

“The same.” Charlie replied before resuming his story.

“When it comes to badass drug dealers, it’s not that tough to find out what happened but it’s real tough to get anyone to testify, so the police were never able to make a prosecutable case. That fact that Azeri owns most of them didn't help either." :

"That’s when I decided to kill Azeri myself and that’s what I set out to do when I befriended him. But when my chance came, I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t willing to become a killer but I wasn’t willing to let Azeri walk away from this either, so I came up with the plan that we’re about to execute.”

“Wow, Charlie.” Rudy said. “I feel pretty bad about misjudging you.”

“You thought of me the way I wanted you to.” Charlie said. “Toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life is let people think of me as a frivolous old fool who would hang with a scumbag like Azeri but I had to do it. I guess you could say I was in deep cover.”

Ben and Bill were called over and arrived wearing the big Hawaiian smiles that Rudy so much enjoyed about them. They were two of the happiest people Rudy had ever known. When the introductions were finished, Charlie laid out his plan.

“An old friend of mine worked for the CIA. Of course, he never gave up any state secrets but we spent many evening discussing some of the ways and means the CIA uses to accomplish things. He said that the secret to success was planning. Their most important jobs could literally take years of planning every detail, establishing an identity, endlessly reconnoitering until every stone has been turned, until every contingency has been explored and planned for.”

“I’ve been on the Islands full time now for two and a half years. Practically everything I’ve done in that time has been toward this end. I know alarm codes, safe combinations; I have copies of every key in that house. I’ve befriended Azeri’s men, given them gifts and looked after their families until they’re probably more loyal to me than to Azeri, if push ever came to shove. And now, the Universe has brought all of the elements together to make this happen.” He didn’t mention the Jellyfish, not wanting to be thought stark raving mad.

“Azeri is expecting a big shipment at 6 AM tomorrow morning. He has a pretty slick operation but he’s been a bit slow to join the computer age. Most big time dealers move their money around via the Information Superhighway to off-shore bank accounts but Azeri still believes in good old fashioned cash. That, gentlemen, is what's known as an Achilles heel and it's we’ll exploit to bring him down.”

“The goods are brought on a sailboat from Columbia. The traffickers have a pretty slick deal where they outfit sailboats for long distance sailing for folks with more money than brains. Once they’ve been outfitted with the latest navigational aids and safety systems and fortified for rough water, they take the boats for a major shake down cruise before delivering to the ignorant client.”

“The beauty of the operation is that it is completely legit, except for the cargo. They never use the same boat twice and they file all their logs and sailing plans, and communicate with the Coast Guard just like they’re supposed to. They get the goods via boat to boat transfers so they never go off route and never appear to be coming from Columbia, or some other suspicious port and they never enter or exit a port laden. Before they reach the dock in Kihei, the product is transferred to a speed boat that takes it to Azeri’s private dock in Halawa Bay.”

“The goods come from the Cali Cartel, who took over the Colombian trade when Escobar’s Medellin Cartel fell. They preferred bribery and graft to the over-the-top violence that Escobar was famous for and that’s how they quietly helped bring down Escobar and took the Colombian trade over. Don’t let that fool you, though, they’re bad mo-fo’s and they don’t hesitate to use violence when they need to.”

“When the Cali people arrive with six million dollars worth of cocaine and Azeri doesn’t have the cash, it’s going to be war. I can understand if any of you have a problem with that and want out but I, for one, won’t lose any sleep over bad guys killing bad guys. The way I figure it, this is going to put a serious kink in the Pacific drug trade for a long time to come.”

Charlie looked at each of them one at a time. “I’m in.” Rudy said. Pete nodded in agreement.

“Bad guys killing bad guys is one thing," Ben said, “but I need to know how we goin ta pull dis off witout bloodshed on our part.”

“Instead of guns, we’re going to arm ourselves with trichloromethane or methyl trichloride, commonly referred to as chloroform. Now this stuff ain’t like they show in the movies. It takes a lot more than a few drops on a hanky to knock someone out and it is risky. The amounts required to disable someone could potentially be fatal, though it’s unlikely to kill anyone if you stop administering it as soon as they go down.”

“At that point, you bind their hands and feet with these plastic handcuffs, then wrap the shit out of their ankles, wrists and mouth with duct tape to keep them from wriggling loose anytime soon. The chloroform will only last for about 10 minutes so we’ll want to move fast. We disable the staff, load up the money from the safe and get out, 1,2,3, just like that. No screwing around, no time to waste.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing with this chloroform stuff?” Ben asked.

“Oh, I know what I’m doing. I’ve sold my soul repeatedly over the last two years to put this plan together. I’ve tested every aspect of this plan, including using the chloroform on test subjects to make sure the dosages were right. I did that with college student volunteers under the auspices of a research project. Being filthy rich has its advantages.” Charlie smiled.

I’ve tested every single key I’m handing out, not just the masters they were cut from. That’s the level of detail I’ve put into this. I know this is a solid plan and this is the right time.” Charlie continued. “If this doesn’t work, if I get any one of you hurt, may my soul burn in hell for it.”

“Damn, brah, don’t get carried away.” Ben said with a grin.

“Like I said, there’s something over six million dollars in the safe. Azeri will shit when he finds out that I know the combination. I don’t need the money so it will be split five ways between you guys.”

“There are only four of us, Charlie.” Rudy said.

“I have an inside guy.” Charlie replied. “Best you don’t know who he is for now. He’s on the outs with Azeri and needs to pull this off to stay alive, so we can trust him. He still has friends on the goon squad and he knows the lay of the property better than anyone, except for maybe me.”

He went on to lay out the particulars, unfolding the plats and going over every inch of the house, meticulously explaining exactly where the staff would be at any given minute and exactly where he wanted each of them and when. If any of them had any doubts about Charlie’s plan going in, there were none left when Charlie got done laying it out. It was that meticulous.

“So that’s it, gentlemen,” he said when he finished. The Cali boys are due at 6 AM so we’ll hit the place at 4. That gives us just enough time to get in, secure the place and the personnel and get the hell out without leaving the Azeri crew enough time to react even if someone does manage to get loose and free them all after we’re gone.”

They dispersed to get some rest before putting the plan into action.

When Rudy and Pete got back to the safe house, Raven and the Wanker’s were nowhere to be found but Raven had left a note.

Rudy,

I know I can’t talk you out of this and I understand why you think you have to do it. I don’t know, you might even be right. I do know that if I could stop you, I would, but I can’t.

There are a lot of things about my past that you don’t know. I should have shared it all with you long ago but until now it seemed best just to let the past fade to distant memory.

I need to clear my head and I’m worried that Circe might get caught and the safe house will be compromised so I’ve taken the Wanker’s to a safe place to wait this out.
I know I told you that I won’t want you around anymore once you’ve done this but the truth just may be that you won’t want me once you know everything. When this is done, we’ll talk and I hope we can sort things out between us. Until then, be safe.

I love you.

Raven

Chapter Thirty One - The Molokai Six

Tensions were high back at the safe house. The Molokai Six, as they’d dubbed themselves enroute, had initially been in high spirits. By the time they reached the safe house, the lack of sleep and the aura of secrets hanging in the air had exacted a toll on their collective mood.

Rudy wanted to know about the sister that Charlie had alluded to and Raven wanted to know what kind of plan Pete and Rudy were cooking up with Charlie. Circe never missed a chance to land a jab or plant a seed of doubt, mostly just because she was Circe. Pete was tired and fed up with the tension in the group and Soon-Li and Wally just wanted to go home as soon a possible and as ignorant as possible.

“Look, everyone,” Pete finally spoke up. “We’re all tired and cranky. Obviously we all have things on our minds. Let’s just get some sleep. Once we’ve had some rest we can deal with our issues. We should hear from Charlie this evening and then we’ll figure out how to finish this thing off and get on with our lives.”

For the most part, they grunted their agreement and padded off to their rooms.”

Pete was first to rise early in the afternoon. Circe had tried to seduce Pete but had been banished to the sofa after he’d refused to allow her in bed with him. Now she was nowhere to be found and it didn’t break his heart one bit. He’d never had much use for her.

When Raven and Rudy appeared in the living room a couple of hours later, Raven didn’t receive the news of Circe’s disappearance well.

“Don’t you understand? They could find her, like they have once already and she’ll lead them right to us. How could this happen? We need to leave, right now.”

“We can’t leave until we hear from Charlie.” Rudy said. “If we take off, we’re vulnerable too, plus Charlie won’t know how to reach us.”

“Oh, who gives a damn about Charlie.” Raven countered, “I don’t know what he has in mind for you guys but I’m pretty sure it’s not legal and it could get you both killed. I’ll tell you right now, you can count me out.”

“Fine, you’re out.” Rudy snapped. “He didn’t mention wanting your help anyway. Damn it Raven, you know we’re not safe as long as Azeri is in the picture.”

“And just how do you think you’re going to get him out of the picture? You two idiots turn into hit men now?”

Raven had seen too many raids go wrong when carefully planned by professionals. Who knows what kind of trouble this rag-tag bunch of idiots could get into? She’d seen enough bloodshed for ten lifetimes and she knew in her heart that she was about to see more. She had to find a way to put an end to this nonsense now.

“I don’t know.” Rudy was losing his temper. “We’ll just have to see, won’t we? I’m sorry but I have to do this. I gave my word and we have to finish it somehow, end of story!”

“End of story!?” Raven was furious now. Nobody, but nobody talked to her like that. “I’m warning you, Rudy, you do this and we’re finished. I won’t have any part of this and I won’t have any part of you if you go through with it.”

Raven’s eyes burned a hole right through Rudy.

“Look, Raven, I don’t want to lose you but if that’s the price of saving your life, I can live with it. It’s a no-brainer.”

“Oh, my hero.” Raven was shouting now, “Who asked you to be my big fucking hero? You don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into, you big, stupid jerk.” She was crying now, like some silly hysterical girl and that pissed her off even more. She slapped Rudy and stormed out of the room.

“Whoa. She’s really pissed brudda.” Pete said, trying to lighten the mood. Rudy stared after her, dumbstruck.

“Listen, she’ll come around, don’t worry. We’ll just do what we know we have to and she’ll come around when it’s over. Charlie’s got this all worked out; we’ve got to trust him. Look, the first part went off like clockwork, right?’

“Yeah.” Rudy finally said. “Yeah, it did. I just hope you’re right about Raven.”

“I am right. Jesus, the woman is ass over teakettle for you, don’t ask me why. I guess she just doesn’t know you like I do.” Pete said with a grin and a slap on the back.

By the time Charlie finally called it was nearly 10 PM and the house was ready to explode from the tension inside.

“Charlie, I was really getting worried about you. I was afraid maybe Azeri suspected your involvement and you were in some sort of trouble.” Rudy said into the phone.

“Of course he suspected my involvement,” Charlie said, “but never underestimate the charm or the persuasive powers of a good ol’ boy from the Guff. I had to stick around a while, play dumb, which apparently I’ve gotten pretty good at.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re alright.” Rudy said.

“Yeah, I’m fine but we’re going to have to move fast on part two. We’ll need some muscle for this, just some extra bodies, won’t hurt if they’re big extra bodies. What about those locals you play basketball with, you think they’d be willing to help if there was a seven figure payday in it for them?”

“Oh man, I don’t know, Charlie. Ben and Bill own a construction company. They’re legit guys, doing alright for themselves; they don’t need to get mixed up in anything like this.” Rudy was thinking as he spoke. “I’ll talk to ‘em but what do I say? I don’t even know what the plan is.”

“The plan is we’re going to rob them. No violence, just like I promised, I’ve got it all worked out.” Rudy was getting real tired of hearing how Charlie had things all worked out. He could only hope that it was true but he couldn’t imagine how it could be. And last he’d checked, robbery was still a felony, no matter who you robbed.

“I don’t want to get into any details on the phone but suffice it to say that there’s a seven figure payday in it for everyone. Azeri’s associates will do the dirty work when they arrive at the Ranch with six million dollars worth of cocaine and find his safe empty. You’re supposed to play basketball with those guys in the morning, right?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Rudy asked.

“I told you Rudy, I’ve been working this out for the last two years. I know everything... everything. Get ahold of the locals tonight, don’t tell them too much, just see if they’re interested. I’ll meet you and Pete at your game tomorrow and I can bring them up to speed then, 7 AM right?”

“Right. 7 AM.”

“Bring Pete but not the others. I don’t want to involve them in this; they wouldn’t be much use anyway. Have them sit tight at the safe house until they get the word from us. If you can get the two Hawaiians, plus the three of us, that’ll be enough if we do this right.”

When they hung up, Rudy called Ben and explained his predicament the best he could.

“Listen, I can’t for the life of me come up with any good reason why you guys would want to get involved with this.” Rudy told him honestly. “If you’re not interested, I totally understand; no hard feelings.”

“I guess you doan get this, brudda, but Hawaiians are all about family.” Ben said. “You an' Raven, you family and you need our help, that’s good enough for me. The payday don’t suck either.” he added.

“Jus one ting worry me, though. You want us to rob dese big time drug dealers but no violence? I dunno how you gonna pull that off but we ain’t no da kine killer, me and Bill. Like I say, we got families; we don’t need no showdown wit no coke cowboys.”

“I understand,” Rudy said. “How about we all meet with Charlie tomorrow, hear the plan. If it doesn’t sound right to you, you guys walk, no hard feelings, end of story. Truth is I wouldn’t have it any other way. If it doesn’t make sense to you, you should walk.”

“Fair ‘nuff, brudda. See ya tomorrow.”

Rudy hung up the phone, a little surprised that Ben and Bill were actually considering helping. He turned around to find Raven standing across the room, arms folded across her chest. Everyone else had discreetly gone to their rooms, sensing the impending explosion.
“You’re gonna rob Azeri?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Rudy answered. He had no clue what else to say to her and right at this moment he’d have sold his soul to find the words to make her understand that he had to do this. She was smart and level-headed and incredibly competent, so why couldn’t she understand this simple fact?

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. No stinkin’ idea whatsoever. You just tell me this; what do I need to say to you to change your mind?” She asked.

“Nothing, Raven. There’s nothing you can say to change my mind. I don’t know why you can’t get that but I have no choice. I have to. I made a promise to the man in exchange for his help in saving your life. I gave my word...”

“Then I’m outta here. Don’t ever darken my door again.” she said with a stunning coldness that took his breath away. She spun and headed for the front door.

“Come on, Raven, where do you think you’re going?” Rudy asked, following her to the driveway.

“I can’t stay here. I can’t be a part of this. I can’t be around you right now.” she said.

“This is insane. Where are you going to go? How are you going to get there? You can’t go home, you understand that, right?”

“I’ll walk to the 7-11 on the next block and call a cab. I’ll get a room somewhere. Now let go of my arm.” she said, yanking it away. He hadn’t even been aware that he had hold of it.

“Wait.” Pete called from the doorway. “Rudy’s right,” he said, approaching the two of them in the driveway. “It’s not safe for you out there, Raven.”

“I’m leaving.” she said, and started again down the driveway.

“Then I’ll go with you.” Pete said. “At least let me go and make sure you’re okay. Azeri doesn’t know me; I can rent a room in my name.”

Raven stopped and thought about it for a minute. “Fine.” she said finally. “Suit yourself.”

“I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.” Pete said to Rudy. “I’ll look after her, don’t worry.”

Rudy watched them disappear down the sidewalk and into the darkness. “Be early tomorrow.” he called to Pete. “We should talk before Charlie gets there.”

Pete waved in agreement as he ran after Raven, who was already a half block away.

Rudy thought about running after them and begging Raven to come back and discuss this but he knew it would do no good. He knew there was no stopping her once she made her mind up.
He stood in the driveway watching until the darkness swallowed them and then he went back inside the house, sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands.

The house was eerily quiet except for the gentle snoring coming from Wally and Soon-Li’s room. He did his best not to let anyone hear him sob.

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.”

Chapter Twenty Eight - Gabrielle

It was stuffy in the tiny cinderblock tomb and Raven didn’t deal well with confinement. She lay on the harsh metal bed and closed her eyes to escape to a better place in her head. How ironic that she was imprisoned by the man that she had once vowed to kill and she wondered now if she had been wrong not to keep that vow.

Her mind drifted to her beautiful older sister and a tiny smile found her lips. Five years older than Raven, Gabrielle was already a top fashion model by Raven’s sixteenth birthday in 1974. She had been in Paris for a photo shoot so Raven and her parents were surprised when she showed up at Raven’s sweet sixteen party in a brand new BMW 2002.

“Nice car.” Raven said as she hugged her sister.

“You like it?”

“I love it. It’s totally cool.”

Good thing, since it’s yours. Happy birthday little sis.” Gabrielle said as she held out the keys.

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No way!” Raven shouted.

“Way!”

“You can’t afford to give me this.”

“Actually, I can.” Gabrielle replied. “You cannot imagine how much money I get for a shoot.”

When the party ended, Raven and Gabrielle went for a long drive. They talked and laughed and neither had a care in the world. Raven jumped with glee when they passed a magazine stand and they found Gabrielle’s picture on the cover of Glamour.

Gabrielle stayed only a couple of days before she left for a shoot in the Caymans. After the Cayman shoot, it was back to Paris where Gabrielle met a young man with a mysterious underworld air about him. She had no idea what he did for a living but she was pretty sure it was illegal and, to be honest, she found his dark gangster world fascinating.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were inseparable, living life in the fast lane with the help of the white powder that was so fashionable at the time.

Her beau was a small time coke dealer with big time aspirations by the name of Leonard Azeri. It would be a couple more years yet before Azeri would start going by Leonardo in an attempt to appear more exotic. Azeri had grown up in the streets of New York but was learning to speak and act like a real blue blood. His practiced aristocratic demeanor fooled some people but the old money usually saw through his act. Not that they cared; his coke was the best in town.

If Gabrielle had been naïve about her boyfriends’ occupation in the beginning, it wasn’t long before she was fully aware and fully immersed in the life. They ran with the Jet Set, a fast crowd of good-timing idle rich; beautiful people with too much time and too much money and too little substance.

Perhaps she’d burst on the scene a little too quickly, gone from obscurity to fame and fortune too fast, and she lacked the maturity and perspective to deal with it. It was all too easy for an impressionable young girl like Gabrielle to get caught up in the scene.
For all of her charm, for all of her personality and intelligence and her big heart, Gabrielle still fell for the white powder as big and as hard and as fast as anyone ever has. It was astonishing to see how quickly a beautiful young girl can go from good-time party girl to nosebleeds on her satin gown to sticking a needle in her arm.

Leonard kept her supplied for as long as she was pretty, looked good on his arm and could satisfy his sexual appetite. When the coke took its toll on her looks and her personality, he put her out on the street to fend for herself, penniless and strung out. She boomeranged back, begging for coke and making a scene, so he had his goons take care of her.

A month before Raven graduated from High School, her parents got a desperate call from Gabrielle. She was strung out and sobbing and begged her parents to wire her some money, which they quickly did, on the promise that she call again as soon as she received it. In the meanwhile, they would make arrangements for her to enter a rehab clinic close to her in Paris. A few hours later they confirmed that the money had been picked up but they never heard from Gabrielle again.

They contacted a private investigator to find Gabrielle. Her father made plans to fly to Paris to assist the investigator but her mother was so distraught that he was hesitant to leave her. Raven convinced them to let her go instead. When other kids in her graduating class were getting drunk and celebrating their passage into the next phase of their lives, Raven was boarding a plane for Charles de Gaulle airport.

She was met at the airport by the investigator and he told her that he thought Gabrielle had been located. He had taken her picture to the Jane Doe section of the Paris morgue and believed that a young, unidentified girl with a bullet in her brain was Gabrielle. Her body had been found in a dumpster in a part of town dominated by run down warehouses.


Raven made the ID. Though the skinny, greasy haired corps bore little resemblance to her glamorous sister, Raven knew her too well to be fooled. She made the agonizing call home to her parents and then accompanied the body on the long journey back to Kauai.

Raven had already made plans to attend the University of Hawaii in Honolulu but had yet to decide on a major. Now she knew that she would major in Criminology and become an agent for the recently formed DEA. She would see to it that the kinds of people who used up beautiful young girls and left them dead in dumpsters would get what they deserved.

Upon graduation in 1980, she put the BMW that Gabrielle had given her into storage, and she joined the DEA as a deep cover agent, supposedly a Dental Hygienist in the Army. For the next 12 years she chased drug lords all over Central and South America. She had a stellar career in the DEA, was instrumental in some of the largest busts in history, participated in many fire-fights and learned how it felt to have the blood of another human on her hands.

In 1990, she participated in a bust gone bad in Bogotá and found herself face to face with a 12 year old who had a gun pointed at her head. She fired first to save her own life. That night she made a solemn vow to herself and the Universe that she would never shed a drop of human blood again, not for any reason.

She had joined the DEA to avenge her sister’s death and to save others from the same fate as Gabrielle. What a naïve little fallacy that had been. The system was corrupt; the Government was using the War on Drugs as an excuse to wage war on the civil rights of Americans, while the CIA was running the same drugs that the DEA was supposed to be stopping, to finance their secret wars.

In addition to all of that she began to believe that she had failed to consider the question of personal responsibility. All the drug busts in the world could stop neither the supply nor the demand. No one had forced Gabrielle to do what she had done. There were those who enabled her but no one had made her do it.

She had come to the slow realization that it would be impossible to stop the supply so long as there was a demand. The real question, she realized, was what caused so many people to seek their happiness and satisfaction in chemistry?

Raven had had a gutful of the DEA, of the Federal Government and of the angry vengeance that had consumed her for a dozen years. It was time to let go of the anger and bitterness that had driven her for so long.

The next day she requested a desk job and was reassigned to a regional office in San Antonio. Once there, she rented a small shop space and spent her nights and weekends and vacation time procuring the exotic woods and making the “Olsson Originals” that would soon make her famous.


She had seen too much for a beautiful, 33 year old artist and she put all of the anger, all of the passion and all of the heartbreak that she had seen into her work. She’d always known that she had inherited her mother’s artistic talent but had chosen not to paint because she wanted to find her own path. Now, in this new medium of wood and kilns and tools, she had found the outlet for her artistic expression and her social conscience.

Now here she sat, locked in this little tomb on Leonard Azeri’s property. During her time with the DEA she had investigated her sister’s murder and had come to believe that Azeri was behind it. When she came to the realization that she could not make a case that would hold up in court, she had vowed to kill him.

Before she could act on that vow, the incident with the 12 year old had happened and she made a new vow that there would be no more bloodshed in her life. Now she wondered which of these competing vows she would keep.

Chapter Twenty Two - That Ain't Opportunity Knocking

The waves crawling up the beach outside Rudy’s open window lulled him quickly to sleep though he’d needed little help tonight. He was having sweet dreams of swimming in the ocean with Raven when every now and then Elder Sea Nettle would swim by with a smirk on his face. Suddenly this bizarre dream was interrupted by a loud banging on his back door.

He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but the banging persisted. He was barely conscious and not quite aware of what was intruding on his dreams. When the banging started for the third time he bolted straight up and headed for the door, still in his boxers. It was the loud bang of trouble.

“Who is it?” he yelled from behind the door, clutching his baseball bat.

“Rudy Davis?” The voice was familiar but he couldn’t place it.

“Maybe, who are you?”

“John.”

“John who?”

“John Preston.”

Rudy opened the door and there stood John, looking like he’d been hit by a car. If a brick had fallen from the sky and hit Rudy in the head, he couldn’t have been more surprised. John was dirty, covered in blood and had something that might have once been a white shirt tied around his waist. Rudy was too shocked at the sight of him to speak.

“I know I’m the last person you ever wanted to see,” John began, “but you always struck me as the decent sort and I don’t know where else to go.” It came off sounding remarkably like the way he’d rehearsed it.

“What the hell happened to you?” Rudy asked, still clutching the bat.

“It’s a long story,” John said, “can I tell it to you inside?”

“You must be kidding. Why would I want any part of what ever trouble you’re in?” Rudy asked incredulously.

“I can’t give you a good reason but I’m desperate. Please. It’s a matter of life and death and I know you’re not the type to turn you back on another person in need.”

Oh please! Rudy thought. Skip the transparent flattery. He desperately wanted to send this trouble on down the road and climb back in bed but something told him it wouldn’t go away that easily.

“Okay,” Rudy said, against his better judgment, “come in. You need a Doctor, let me throw some clothes on and I’ll get you to the emergency room.”

“No.” John said sounding panicked. “I can’t go to the Emergency Room. Do you know a Dr. who could just dress my wound without making a report?”

“Oh, sure John, got a whole list of people like that.” Rudy smacked the back of Johns head. “The hell do you think, moron? What kind of trouble are you in, anyway? What happened to you?”

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” Rudy fixed an unamused glare at him. “Suffice it to say,” John continued, “that some very bad people are after me and I need to lay low until I can get off the island. Plus just one other thing…”

“Yeah, what?”

“I need some cola.”

“Cola?”

“Yeah, cola… coke, you know.”

“You need coke.” Rudy repeated in disbelief.

“Big time. Look at me, I’m wounded and I’m crashing hard to boot. I’m desperate. You must know where to score some.”

This was too much. The man shows up on his door step with a bullet hole in his side and his biggest concern is where he’s going to score some coke. Rudy very nearly threw him out of his house and locked the door behind him.

He thought for a moment and he realized there was only one person who would know how to deal with this. He picked up the phone and called Charlie. Not a problem, Charlie told him, one of his golfing buddies was a Doctor. Charlie said he’d arrange for him to look at John. Like most people Charlie knew, the good Doctor owed him a favor, and now, so did Rudy, thanks to the scumbag that was currently bleeding on his furniture.

“OK, here’s the deal,” Rudy said when he hung up. “I’ve got a Doctor on his way, a friend of a friend and he won’t make a police report. After the Doc treats your wounds, my friend is going to fly you over to the Big Island in his Cessna and get you in a rehab program he works with.”

It was the first Rudy had ever heard of Charlie working with any rehab program.

“No one will know you’re there; you’ll be safe from the boogie man, or whoever the hell is after you.”

“Hey, I don’t need rehab, Okay? Just score me some friggin’ coke and let me hang out here for a few days until things cool off and then I’ll be gone and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Not gonna happen like that, Paco. My way or the highway, plain and simple.”

“Fine, I’m outta here.”

Rudy walked to the front door and held it open for him. “Okay, good luck.” he said.

From the look on John’s face, it was obvious that he hadn’t expected this. He got slowly to his feet and walked to the door, trying to decide what to do now.

“Shit.” He said. “I got no where else to go. Shit.” One last try; “Just score me some coke and I’m gone.”

“See ya.” Rudy said, still holding the door. “You’re letting the bugs in, hurry up.” In all honesty, he hoped that John would leave and he could go back to bed and pretend like this had all been a really lame dream.

John stood in the doorway staring at him. “Man, you just don’t understand, I need…”

“Hey,” Rudy cut him off, “I don’t need to understand, brah, what’s it going to be?”

“Shit.” John said again. “When does the Doc get here?”


The morning sun woke Circe and she blinked and shaded her eyes with her hand, then pulled on the lever to raise her seat and sat up behind the steering wheel. Her back ached from her short nap in the rented Nissan and she desperately needed a little wake-me-up. She was parked at a beach park a few miles from Honolulu. The dashboard clock read 6:30, way too early to be up as far as she was concerned.

She had worked it out so carefully, but nothing was going quite like it was supposed to. She was just too damn soft. If only she’d killed Tiny and John like she’d planned, she’d be on the mainland right now, money and drugs in tow. She could easily have done it last night and she was certainly a better shot than that, but when it came right down to it, murder was tougher than she figured. Just too damn soft.

Still, Plan B had gone pretty well. She smiled at the thought of how she’d played both John and Tiny for the fools that they were. Neither had ever suspected that she was up to anything; each had thought that it was they who were using her and in fact, she had needed John to help her cash in the stock certificates.

She really hadn’t planned to mess with Tiny but when he started calling and hitting on her a couple of months ago, it had all made perfect sense. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure that she covered all the bases and her soft spot at the moment of truth last night had proven that to be a wise idea.

She had no idea how Tiny could have gotten out of the handcuffs so quickly but she had recognized one of his associates at the Hawaiian Airlines terminal when she’d showed up for her flight to Seattle last night. She managed to slip away unseen and she knew that she was lucky to be alive.

Now she was going to have to come up with a plan to get off the island with the goods before the goons caught up to her. Either that, or find a place to lay low for a while. Even Tiny’s boss, whoever he was, couldn’t watch the airport forever.

First things first, she thought as she pushed the trunk release to get the cocaine out of the trunk and fix herself a hit.

When she walked to the rear of the car, a silver Buick cruised slowly past and then turned around. She’d been made. She jumped back into the Nissan, fired it up and headed toward the highway. As she sped away, she checked her mirror and saw the Buick stop at a scenic turnoff. A silver haired woman got out of the passenger side, camera in hand and took a picture of the beach.

Tourists... If the goons didn’t get her, the paranoia would.


Once the pain subsided, Tiny got pissed. He was a large man and, although he was seriously overweight, he was still very strong. Back in his days as an offensive lineman at the University of Utah, he could bench press more than any man on the team. That was before he got caught dealing and thrown off the team.

The bed was a wooden-framed piece of Ikea-looking crap and no match for a furious, oversized Hawaiian. It took less than five minutes of thrashing before the bed was demolished and he was free. He was so angry that he didn’t even notice how badly he’d bruised his wrists and ankles in the process.

When Circe had approached him with the gun that last time, he’d been more frightened than he’d been in a long time, certain that she was going to shoot his balls off. That fear was nothing compared to the fear that coursed through his veins now as he dialed his boss’s number.

“This better be good.” Leonardo Azeri said when he finally came on the line.

“We had a little problem with the exchange.” Tiny said, trying to sound as if the whole thing were just some minor misunderstanding.

“What kind of problem?” Leonardo asked warily. He listened intently as Tiny recounted the whole story. It was especially difficult to tell the part about allowing himself to be hand cuffed, be he’d learned long ago never to lie to his boss. Leonardo had a way of finding out the truth and lying was how you ended up dead.

“I’m sorry, boss. I screwed up bad, I know, I’m sorry.” Tiny waited for the explosion that was sure to follow.

“Okay,” Mr. Azeri said calmly, “I’ll send some people to the airport and we’ll start checking all the hotels. They won’t get off the island alive. Meanwhile, you stay right where you are. I’ll send Tony over to your hotel; you do exactly as he says.”

“Yes sir.” Tiny said humbly, and hung up.

He’d expected Mr. Azeri to come uncorked but he’d taken the whole thing rather calmly. Hey, things go wrong sometimes, right? Maybe this wasn’t as bad as it seemed.


“Speak.” Tony answered the phone in his usual way. He wasn’t known for being particularly friendly and he thought it made him seem no-nonsense to answer the phone like that. He was fiercely loyal to his employer and he had a mean streak you could drive a Mack truck through. Most of Leonardo’s men had killed when they had to but Tony was the only one who seemed to like it; and he had a gift for it.

“Tony,” Leonardo began, “Tiny had a little problem with the exchange tonight. I want you to meet him in his room at the Sheraton Waikiki. You two find the girl and her boyfriend and take care of them. Make sure you get the money and the goods before you take them out. When that’s done, take Tiny out. I can’t have this kind of incompetence, you understand?”

“Sure, Mr. Azeri, “I’ll take care of it.” Tony grinned. He could hardly wait to off Tiny. That worthless, overgrown Hawaiian was long overdue as far as Tony was concerned.

“Keep me informed.” Leonardo said, and hung up.