The Lady Justice Trilogy, page 55
“Yeow!”
More silence, then again—
“Yeow! No more please!”
The door opened, and Mary stepped out with a knowing smile on her face.
“I think the dude is ready to talk to you now.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I asked anyway.
“What in the world did you do to that guy?”
“All you gotta do is put a pair of pliers to a guy’s testicles and he’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
Involuntarily, Mr. Winkie and the boys recoiled in horror.
“Yeah, I can see how that would work.”
When I approached the guard, he was much more cooperative.
“So where have they taken our friend?”
“To the cane fields, just past Puunene.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “In thirty minutes your dark friend will be brown sugar.”
“What’s this idiot talking about?” Mary moved toward the guard with pliers at the ready. “Let me have another shot at him.”
“The cane burn. They’re burning the cane fields for harvesting. They’re going to burn Willie alive! And we only have a half hour to stop them.”
“There’s a truck outside,” Maggie volunteered. “I’ll bet this guy’s got the keys in his pocket.”
“He does, but that’s not going to do you any good,” said a voice behind us. “Now put down that gun.”
We turned and found ourselves staring into the barrel of a twelve-gauge shotgun.
“Now put down that gun and untie my friend. Looks like we’ve got more kindling for our fire.”
I should have realized that there would be more than one guard at the Keheawa wind farm.
I knelt down to lay the .38 on the floor and looked past our captor just in time to see a figure running full speed toward the shed. Recognizing our friend, I yelled to Mary and Maggie, “Hit the floor! Now!”
Liho came barreling through the door and hit the gunman squarely in the back. The shotgun discharged harmlessly into the air then flew from his hands as he hit the floor. Liho flipped the guy onto his back and drove his massive fist into his face.
“What kind of man threatens a woman and child?
You will not threaten my family again!”
The second punch put the guy’s lights out.
“Liho, they’ve got Willie in a cane field near a place called Puunene. They’re going to burn him. Do you know where that is?”
“It’s about fifteen or twenty minutes from here.”
“Then we’d better hurry or Willie’s toast!”
We hog-tied the second guard and pulled the truck keys from the first guard’s pocket.
“I’ll drive,” Liho said. “I know the fastest way there, and you’re not going to want to do what I have to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Crash the gate at the bottom of the hill.”
Thankfully the pickup was an extended cab, and Mary and Maggie piled into the back. I took shotgun.
We barreled down the hill at an alarming speed, and as we approached the locked gate, a guard stood in the road frantically waving his arms.
“Hold on!” Liho said.
At the last minute the guard jumped to the side, and we smashed through the gate just like you see in the movies. I glanced back just in time to see the angry guard give us the finger.
I’m guessing it was a Hawaiian finger, but the translation came through loud and clear.
As we rolled past the Maui Ocean Center, I looked at my watch.
In fifteen minutes, the cane field would be a burning inferno.
Liho hung a right at the Walmart, and we sped toward the old sugar mill—only three minutes left.
“We have normal trade winds today, blowing from east to west,” Liho said, “so they’ll start the fire on the east side.”
We were coming from the west.
As we approached the field, a wisp of smoke rose on the far side.
“Oh crap! We’re too late.”
I remembered what Harry Chinn had said: “It would only take fifteen minutes to engulf the whole field.”
“He has to be in there somewhere,” I said. “Let’s drive into the middle of the field. We have to find him.”
“We’re not going to do it in this thing,” Liho said.
“The cane’s too thick. We need a dozer.”
“What about that one?” I yelled, pointing to a big
Cat that had just finished clearing the fire break around the field. “Can you drive it?”
“I worked in the fields when I was a kid, and I saw my uncle operate one. I hope I can remember.”
“It’s like riding a bike,” I said. “Once you learn, you never forget.”
Liho pulled up beside the dozer and hopped into the cab.
I turned to Maggie. “Call Harry Chinn. Get him out here.”
I hopped into the cab with Liho, who by this time had the big diesel engine belching smoke.
My heart sank as I looked out over the field.
Forty acres is huge, and to my dismay, I saw that the cane stalks were eight to ten feet tall. From our vantage point in the cab, we could only see a few feet ahead.
I pointed to the blade. “How high will that thing go?”
“Maybe ten feet.”
I climbed onto the blade and shouted back, “Take her up as high as she’ll go and head for the middle of the field.”
The blade lifted into the air, Liho gunned the engine, and we were off.
I could see the flames eating away at the field on the far side. We had maybe five minutes before we would be engulfed in the fiery conflagration. We plowed ahead, but all that I could see was cane.
Then fifty feet ahead, I saw an iron fence post that had been driven into the ground, and bound to it was my friend Willie.
I pointed in the direction of the post, and Liho swung the big machine around.
The flames were close enough that I could feel the searing heat as I jumped from the blade to free my friend. I had my pocketknife ready to cut loose his bindings, but a feeling of dread swept over me when I saw that he was bound with wire.
I had no wire cutters or pliers, and I stood helplessly watching the advancing flames.
At that moment, a small gecko, fleeing the flaming inferno, crawled onto the dozer’s blade. He looked at me, and he looked at Willie; then he leaped into the fence post and disappeared.
Okay, I thought, if I can’t get Willie off the post, then we’ll just have to take the whole thing.
I motioned for Liho to bring the blade flush with the post then push gently. The post leaned forward in the soft ground. Liho backed off, and I pulled Willie and the post upright. The post wiggled back and forth, and I hoped it was loose enough because the fire was advancing fast.
I climbed onto the top of the blade into a sitting position and wrapped my arms and legs around the post and Willie’s torso. I motioned for Liho to lift the blade, and I hung on for dear life.
At first the post remained stubbornly in the ground, but Liho inched the blade forward just enough to break it loose, and the blade lifted skyward with me holding Willie and the post tightly in my arms.
The back of the dozer left the clearing just as the flames broke through. The dozer slowly plowed ahead, but the flames were moving faster.
Just as the burning cane was about to overtake the big Cat, a burst of water nearly blew me off the blade.
A huge pumper truck used for irrigation had been pressed into service and retarded the advancing flames just long enough for us to reach the edge of the field.
I can only imagine the shock of the onlookers who had gathered to watch the spectacle, when the huge dozer burst through the smoking cane carrying a white guy on the blade who was clutching a black man on a stick.
It’s something you don’t see every day.
After Willie was cut free, we found Maggie and Mary, and we fell into each other’s arms.
We hugged and we cried and we hugged again.
When it’s all said and done, I’ll bet this will be a honeymoon that none of us will ever forget.
EPILOGUE
Detective Harry Chinn arrived minutes after our harrowing escape from Pele’s fiery cauldron.
He listened in utter disbelief as we recounted the improbable rescue of our two friends.
With our testimony, the men responsible for our abduction were captured and remained in custody, but the battle of ideologies was far from over.
Throughout history, men have fought one another and given their lives to protect their basic rights and freedoms.
These men were labeled revolutionaries, terrorists, martyrs, or heroes, depending on your point of view.
And somehow it seems that one significant entity has been excluded from this ongoing saga of mankind.
That entity is Lady Justice.
There is no greater paradox than the history of our own United States.
The brave settlers of the New World fought to free themselves from the tyranny of the British Empire, yet these same revolutionaries took the land and freedom from the Native Americans, who were branded as “vicious savages” for fighting to protect their way of life.
Heroes or savages?
And as if to validate the old saying, “History repeats itself,” men sailed across the Pacific to a small chain of islands and in the course of a hundred years took the land, the government, the religion, and the way of life from the indigenous population.
Where was the justice in all of that?
That is the question being asked still today by some who seek the return of their land and the restoration of their government.
Heroes or terrorists?
I guess it depends on your point of view.
There is an old saying, “Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.”
With that in mind, I find it difficult to condemn those who seek justice and restitution, but at the same time, there is truth to the wise words of my old friend
Nathan: “You can’t un-ring a bell.”
What’s done is done, and sometimes the best that that can be done is to get the lady with the blindfold involved and hope that justice prevails for the generations to come.
We were thankful that our remaining days in paradise were free from murder, mayhem, and evil deeds.
We did all the wonderful stuff that tourists do. We spent a day at the Maui Ocean Center, explored the beautiful Iao Valley, and soaked up the warm tropical sun on the sandy beach.
One evening, as we strolled along Front Street in Lahaina, I was drawn into one of the little souvenir shops. There were both T-shirts and bumper stickers proudly proclaiming, “I got lei’d in Maui.”
I bought two of each.
Later that evening I asked Noelani about the history of the Hawaiian lei. She told me that the lei had been a part of the Polynesian culture beginning with the first voyagers who sailed to the islands. Leis were symbols of love, of a spiritual meaning or connection, of healing, and of respect. The maile lei was perhaps the most significant. Among other sacred uses, it was used to signify a peace agreement between opposing chiefs.
Reflecting later on our conversation, I thought how wonderful it would be if somehow Lady Justice could bring the lei of peace to the leaders of the Hawaiian people, to ensure that the history and culture of their people would be preserved and passed on to future generations.
The significance of the double entendre in the bumper sticker was certainly not lost on me.
Maggie and I had chosen this place out of all of the beautiful places in the world to exchange our wedding vows, and we were not disappointed. In years to come, as we go about our life back on the mainland, we will remember these weeks in paradise.
We will remember standing on the bridge over the lagoon at the Coco Palms, where our two lives became one.
We will remember all of the beautiful beaches and mountains.
But most of all, we will remember the beautiful people who will always remain our friends: Jimmy on Oahu; Sammy and Uncle Larry on Kauai; Liho, Noelani, Nathan, and even Detective Chinn on Maui.
Noelani told me that over the years, as the tourist industry blossomed, “Boat Day” became a tradition on Oahu. Lei vendors would line the pier at Aloha Tower to welcome visitors to the island and locals back home.
It is said that departing visitors would throw their lei into the sea as the ship passed Diamond Head, in hopes that, like the lei, they would return to the islands again someday.
As our plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the sky, I saw the great dormant volcano Haleakala standing like a sentinel, a silent witness, to both the past and the future of this beautiful island, and I felt the connection that Maggie and I would always have with this magnificent mountain.
In my mind’s eye, I removed the flower lei from around my neck and cast it onto the craggy peaks of the summit, knowing that someday we too would return.
The author and his wife, Peg, lived on the island of Maui for five years in the little village of Pukalani on the slopes of the dormant volcano, Haleakala.
Like Elvis and Maile in Blue Hawaii, and Maggie and Walt, Bob and Peg recreated the beautiful wedding ceremony from the movie.
The beautiful lagoon at the Coco Palms Resort, the site of the wedding ceremony in Blue Hawaii.
The ‘real’ Uncle Larry Rivera, our good friend on Kauai.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning author, Robert Thornhill, began writing at the age of sixty-six and in five short years has penned twenty-one novels in the Lady Justice mystery/comedy series, the seven volume Rainbow Road series of chapter books for children, a cookbook and a mini-autobiography.
Lady Justice and the Sting, Lady Justice and Dr. Death, Lady Justice and the Vigilante, Lady Justice and the Candidate, Lady Justice and the Book Club Murders, Lady Justice and the Cruise Ship Murders, Lady Justice and the Vet and Lady Justice and the Pharaoh’s Curse won the Pinnacle Award for the best new mystery novels of Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Summer 2012, Fall 2012, Spring of 2013, Summer 2014 and Fall 2014 from the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs.
Many of Walt’s adventures in the Lady Justice series are anecdotal and based on Robert’s real life.
Although Robert holds a master’s in psychology, he has never taken a course in writing and has never learned to type. All 32 of his published books were typed with one finger and a thumb!
His wit and insight come from his varied occupations, including thirty-three years as a real estate broker. He lives with his wife, Peg, in Independence, Missouri.
Visit him on the Web at: http://BooksByBob.com
LADY JUSTICE
AND THE
AVENGING ANGELS
Lady Justice has unwittingly entered a religious war.
Who better to fight for her than Walt Williams?
The Avenging Angels believe that it’s their job to rain fire and brimstone on Kansas City, their Sodom and Gomorrah.
In this compelling addition to the Lady Justice series, Robert Thornhill brings back all the characters readers have come to love for more hilarity and higher stakes.
You’ll laugh and be on the edge of your seat until the big finish.
Don’t miss Lady Justice and the Avenging Angels!
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LADY JUSTICE AND THE STING
BEST NEW MYSTERY NOVEL ---WINTER 2012
National Association of Book Entrepreneurs
In Lady Justice and the Sting, a holistic physician is murdered and Walt becomes entangled in the high-powered world of pharmaceutical giants and corrupt politicians.
Maggie, Ox Willie, Mary and all your favorite characters are back to help Walt bring the criminals to justice in the most unorthodox ways.
A dead-serious mystery with hilarious twists
http://amzn.to/1gS4JMA
LADY JUSTICE AND DR. DEATH
BEST NEW MYSTERY NOVEL --- FALL 2011
National Association of Book Entrepreneurs
In Lady Justice and Dr. Death, a series of terminally ill patients are found dead under circumstances that point to a new Dr. Death practicing euthanasia in the Kansas City area.
Walt and his entourage of scrappy seniors are dragged into the ‘right-to-die-with-dignity’ controversy.
The mystery provides a light-hearted look at this explosive topic and death in general.
You may see end-of-life issues in a whole new light after reading Lady Justice and Dr. Death!
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LADY JUSTICE AND THE VIGILANTE
BEST NEW MYSTERY NOVEL – SUMMER 2012
National Association of Book Entrepreneurs
A vigilante is stalking the streets of Kansas City administering his own brand of justice when the justice system fails.
Criminals are being executed right under the noses of the police department.
A new recruit to the City Retiree Action Patrol steps up to help Walt and Ox bring an end to his reign of terror.
But not everyone wants the vigilante stopped. His bold reprisals against the criminal element have inspired the average citizen to take up arms and defend themselves.
As the body count mounts, public opinion is split.
Is it justice or is it murder?
A moral dilemma that will leave you laughing and weeping!
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LADY JUSTICE AND THE WATCHERS
Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games, Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World and George Orwell wrote 1984.
All three novels were about dystopian societies of the future.
In Lady Justice and the Watchers, Walt sees the world we live in today through the eyes of a group who call themselves ‘The Watchers’.
