Finders Keepers, page 28
He then cleared away several branches that might obscure his sightlines. Flash then moved some earth with his hands to make for a more comfortable seat and settled into his position. Next, he opened the backpack, withdrew a police radio headset and earphones.
He turned on the radio and said, “Radio check. Flash in place, observer position A, standing by, over.”
“Roger, Flash. You’re connected to the mission ops network, commencing now.” He checked his phone; the time was ten-twenty-five.
Flash listened to the radio traffic as the other units took up their positions. The Coast Guard cutter Kittiwake tracked the Invincible on radar as it made its way along the coast of Kauai toward the landing. Invincible was two miles offshore, estimated to be adjacent to the landing site at ten-forty-five. Kittiwake was three miles offshore and slightly behind the Invincible.
The Harbor Police Zodiac was a mile up the coast, tied up at a small stone jetty near the Beach House Restaurant at Lawai Beach. The arrest team was stationed in two SUVs currently parked in among civilian vehicles at the Shops at Kukui’ula parking lot, five-hundred yards or so from the entrance to Koloa Landing.
Chief Aukai, also in the shopping center parking lot, was in his mobile command center. The SUV bristled with electronics. He would be in contact with all units, with individual team leaders, police headquarters, emergency medical services, and Coast Guard headquarters in case they needed more help.
After about ten minutes, Flash’s eyes had adapted to the dark, and he saw four separate lights way out on the water. A warm, gentle breeze was blowing in from the ocean. He looked down toward where he knew the boat landing was—still dark, no sign of life or light, yet. Part of his assignment was to call in any sightings of the Invincible, the Zodiac, or the Land Rover, or any other vehicle. And now was the time to wait. And wait.
Twenty minutes later, Flash heard an outboard motor out in the bay. He tried to see through the dark, but nothing. The unseen boat came closer and closer, then veered off, and the sound moved away.
The Kittiwake reported, “Radar shows Invincible two miles offshore, a smaller boat, probably the Zodiac, launched and headed to shore. The small boat veered away from the shoreline, is now heading back toward Invincible.”
Flash wondered if the bad guys were waiting for some sort of signal from Sachiko—radio or cellphone or light—or were just taking a quick look-see to make sure the ramp was unoccupied.
Chief Aukai’s voice came over the communications network. “Hold positions, hold positions. No lights, no sounds, no movement.”
Ten minutes later, Kittiwake reported again. “Radar shows a smaller vessel, probably the Zodiac, moving away from Invincible again, heading toward shore, slowly this time.”
Chief Aukai again said, “Hold positions.”
Flash was straining to see if he could make out any shape in the bay. He did see a far-off light, perhaps the Invincible, but he had no way of telling at this distance. He struggled to hear the sounds of an outboard motor. But he detected nothing.
Then he heard a sound from the landing below, tires slowly moving on gravel. He saw a dim glow, probably dashboard illumination, like a distant, slow-moving cloud drifting through the entrance onto the boat ramp, creeping down toward the water. Then it stopped, and the cloud went dark.
Flash reported, “Possible sighting. Vehicle, lights extinguished, entered the ramp, stopped thirty feet from the water’s edge.”
The Coast Guard reported, “Zodiac continues slow approach, now seven-hundred yards offshore. Over.”
Aukai said, “Harbor Police, move out. Slow and easy does it. The Invincible will be watching on radar. Coast Guard, move slowly off-station toward Invincible.” They were all keenly aware that the Invincible was most likely heavily armed, while the Zodiac crew would likely have handguns.
Flash saw the interior of the vehicle on the ramp light up. He could identify Sachiko’s Land Rover now for sure. The passenger side door opened and a man got out, then closed the door. He lit a cigarette. Keanu.
Flash toggled his mike. “Land Rover in place, parked down near water’s edge on the ramp, confirmed it is the Land Rover.”
Aukai relayed. “All units, the Land Rover is on the ramp.”
Five minutes later, the Invincible’s Zodiac nosed up onto the ramp. Flash couldn’t see it because it was running without lights, but he heard the scraping sound as the bow slid onto the concrete, followed by a soft whining as the twin outboard motors were elevated. A spotlight from the Zodiac flashed twice. The headlights of the Land Rover blinked twice and then remained on. The Zodiac searchlight switched on again, lighting the ramp, the Land Rover, Sachiko, and Keanu.
Flash reported, “Target Zodiac landed, light signal acknowledged by Land Rover. Headlights from the Land Rover show two men from the target Zodiac on the landing, one man remaining on board. Three men in total.”
Aukai gave the command, “Mobile one and two, go! Mobile one and two, go! Proceed with lights and sirens down onto the ramp behind Land Rover. Block the ramp exit. Harbor Police Zodiac proceed toward the ramp. Be prepared to light up once mobile one and two move down the ramp. Block target Zodiac exit. I repeat, block target Zodiac exit! Go, go!”
Flash watched as Sachiko and Keanu walked slowly toward the Zodiac. Two men had jumped from the boat onto the ramp. One of them was holding the bow rope, carried it up the ramp, and looped the end around a dock cleat embedded in the concrete along one side of the ramp. He then joined his partner as they walked farther up the ramp to meet Sachiko and Keanu in front of the Land Rover.
Someone shouted something Flash couldn’t hear. The Zodiac extinguished its searchlight, but the headlights from the Land Rover adequately lit the scene. The four stood face to face, talking. Sachiko, who was carrying what looked like a canvas shopping bag, handed it to one of the men, who looked into the bag and held it out to his partner, who also looked. Then the first man turned and walked back down the ramp and put the bag into the bow of the Zodiac.
Flash could see pulsing blue lights in the distance from his elevated seat on the hillside, and then he caught the faint note of a siren. The people on the ramp didn’t seem to notice, as they were fifty feet below street level on the enclosed ramp near the water’s edge. Keanu walked down toward the Zodiac to meet a returning crew member who was carrying three mid-sized backpacks. Keanu took the proffered bundles, turned, and began walking up the ramp toward the Land Rover.
Sachiko was still talking with one of the Zodiac men when the two mobile units, lights and sirens going, arrived at the top of the ramp. One vehicle swerved at an angle, blocking the exit entirely; the second moved down the ramp right behind the Land Rover and then also turned sideways.
A loudspeaker screeched, “Get down on the ground, hands above your head! Get down on the ground, hands above your head!” Three officers in tactical vests, guns drawn, made their way down the ramp from the cruiser at the very top of the ramp. Car doors opened on the other cruiser, and four vested and armed officers rapidly exited and took up positions using the SUV as a shield, guns at the ready.
Out on the water, Flash saw the Harbor Police approaching the Invincible Zodiac. The police boat had blue lights flashing and lit up the scene with two powerful searchlights. Keanu, who had reached the Land Rover, opened the door, threw the backpacks into the back seat, pulled a gun from somewhere, and using the door as a shield, fired four shots at the officers up the ramp. Five or six shots answered, and Keanu’s gun flew out of his hand as he spun out from behind the door and fell screaming and holding his leg, thrashing about on the ground.
The officers behind the SUV nearest to the Land Rover filed out, ducking low, and one by one sprinted down the ramp to the rear of the Land Rover, using it as cover. The two Zodiac men had turned and were running back down the ramp toward their boat. Halfway down the ramp, one of the men veered off and ran over to his right to release the bowline, which had been sloppily secured with a large loop. He reached the cleat, flipped the loop off the cleat, then turned and ran toward the boat.
The Harbor Police Zodiac was at least two hundred yards away. The twin outboard motors on the Invincible Zodiac had been raised when the boat was moored. They were now slowly being lowered into the water.
Flash threw off his radio headset and jumped onto the sixty-degree incline between him and the landing. He slid almost uncontrollably, slowed only by the undergrowth. At one point, as he regained his footing, he tripped when the uneven ground caught his foot, and he tumbled and somersaulted through one painful rotation, again landing on his feet, grabbing a branch to break his fall and keep running.
He hit the ground at the edge of the ramp. The twin outboard motors were now fully lowered. The bow rope was moving slowly down the ramp as the Zodiac slid into the ocean. Flash grabbed the looped end of the rope and threw it over the last cleat on the ramp. He then threw himself back onto the vegetation on the side of the ramp, hoping to avoid any gunfire.
The Zodiac captain threw the motors into reverse. The boat lunged back, then abruptly stopped, the bow rope pulled taut. One of the men pulled out a knife and began sawing frantically at the rope. By now, the Harbor Police’s Zodiac was closing in. The loudspeaker boomed, “Turn off your engines, get down, hands over your heads, get down now, or we’ll open fire. Get down now, or we’ll open fire. Turn off the engines.”
The bow rope snapped where it was being cut by the deckhand, and the Zodiac lunged down the ramp. Simultaneously, the Harbor Police’s Zodiac rammed into their rear, knocking all three men down and driving the boat aground. The twin outboard motors, propellers out of the water, whined and screeched, metal on concrete, metal on metal.
Two officers jumped from the Harbor Police boat, guns aimed at the three crewmen, who were down on their knees, hands behind their necks.
Three officers moved out from behind the Land Rover and approached Sachiko and Keanu. She had her hands in the air; he was writhing on the ground next to her. The officers put her in handcuffs and led her up the ramp toward the nearest SUV, its blue lights still flashing.
Two EMTs, accompanied by Kellie and another officer Flash didn’t recognize, moved toward Keanu. He was yelling. Kellie checked to make sure Keanu wasn’t armed, then motioned for the EMTs to move in to examine him.
Flash was scratched, bruised, and bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Kellie and Bob made their way over to him.
Bob looked him up and down and said, “I never thought I’d see the day. The Lone Ranger rides again! Nice rope trick, kemo sabe.”
Kellie said, “Jesus, Bob. You okay, Flash?”
Flash smiled. “Hi Ho, Silver.”
CHAPTER 36
Fiona’s cell phone chirped at seven-ten. She was seated at the counter in her kitchen, drinking a cup of English breakfast tea with milk and four spoonfuls of sugar. She believed in the power of caffeine and sugar in combination to kickstart the day.
“Shit,” she said, then pushed the green button to accept the call. “Good morning, Mr. Haysmith. How can I help you?”
“Fiona, the office is closed today, so don’t come in. Take a sick day. You’ll be paid, but the office won’t be open for business.”
She hardly recognized his voice. The sound was scratchy, constrained, almost forced. That he would pay her for not working struck her as even more baffling. What is going on here?
“Closed? Why closed, if I may ask, sir?”
“We’ve just received word that Monsieur Planc has passed away, quite suddenly. So as a matter of respect and security, I’ve been ordered by Zurich to close the office for at least today. Maybe longer. I don’t know. But you’ll be paid, as I said. No need for alarm on your part.”
That was when she knew something must be really wrong. Malcolm-the-cheap-bastard-Haysmith trying to reassure her? No way.
“So I’ll just stand by and wait to hear from you? I have quite a bit of work to do, sir.”
“Yes, ah, no. Ah, yes. What I mean is wait, yes. I’ll call and tell you when to come in. Oh, and we may be receiving some visitors from Zurich in the next few days to sort out the new organizational structure, what with Planc gone and all.” She thought she heard someone else in the office—a man’s voice, unfamiliar, with an accent, maybe German or Slavic?
Haysmith signed off with an uncharacteristically cheery, “Have a good day.”
Have a good day? Her brain was spinning, boosted by the caffeine and sugar. She went online and quickly found the article on CNN Europe. Planc had been shot while walking in the center of Zurich. The Swiss police were assuming the incident was a targeted assassination. The victim had long been suspected of being a drug lord, although he had never even been indicted. The article went on to suggest that his death might be a precursor to an internecine conflict among the forces of evil. So Haysmith’s boss was a big-time European drug lord?
She grabbed her phone and dialed the one person in her universe who might be interested in this news: Flash One-Night-Stand Tucker.
“Hey, Flash, got a moment?”
“Fiona, I’m with some people. Let me call you right back, two minutes.”
Two minutes later, he called back and said, “Hi, there! This is a pleasant surprise. How are you?”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, no, no—love to chat, perfect time. In fact, it couldn’t be a more perfect time. It’s a great day to be alive on Kauai. What’s up?”
Fiona relayed her news, and waited for Flash to say something.
“Flash, you there?”
“Yeah, I am, just thinking.” After another long pause, he said, “Fiona, do you have any idea what Haysmith is up to?”
“No. Not a clue. I just this moment heard from him, and then put two and two together with the CNN story. Apparently, the authorities think Planc was a drug lord. What does that make Haysmith, I wonder?”
“Well, you’re a bright person, and you know more about him than anyone else I know, so what do you think?”
“I think it explains why Haysmith is such a jerk, for one thing. I mean, if Planc was a drug lord, well, Haysmith is a drug lord’s flunky, a pawn, or something like that.”
She waited for his answer, but all she got was another long silence. “Hey, Flash, it’s your turn to talk now!”
“Yeah, I know. Remember, we talked about this the other night. Haysmith is definitely a crook, and now something bad has happened in the kingdom. The king has been shot, and one of his flunkies is acting— what? Out of character? Frightened maybe? I mean, why shut down the office when the Village in the Sky is in full swing?”
“Dunno. You’re the journalist, not me. What do you think?
“I think you may be in danger. I’m thinking you might go into the office and find yourself in the middle of a war zone. Fiona, what would you say about taking an unscheduled vacation, like maybe on an inter-island getaway, a secret getaway?”
“Sorry? What are you talking about, Flash?”
“I think anyone around Haysmith or that office is in mortal danger. We know he’s been getting paid under the table, collecting illegal bribes from contractors—that’s bad enough. Then his boss, Planc, is murdered, leaving Haysmith unprotected. Planc’s partners won’t take long to figure out that Haysmith has been fleecing the project and jeopardizing their investment. The situation would be bad enough if he were stealing from a legit business, but, Fiona, he’s been stealing from the nastiest people on earth.”
Fiona was stunned. She took the last sip of tea, put the cup on the butcher block counter, and stood, looking down at it, as if it were a curious artifact. She said, “What should I do?”
“Pack an overnight bag with clothes for three or four days and fly to Kauai this afternoon. I’ll put you up for a while. You have to get out of Honolulu until this blows over.”
She said, “Okay, Flash, okay. You got a house or apartment? I can’t afford—”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll put you up. Nothing fancy. But don’t tell anybody you’re leaving or where you’re going. Oh, and turn off your cell phone and don’t turn it on for any reason. Call me from a pay phone at the Honolulu airport with the flight number. Use a pay phone, not your cell. A guy named Pika, from the Kauai Taxi Service—he’s a buddy of mine—he’ll meet you when you land.”
“God, okay, I’ll call from the airport. Flash, are you sure about this? You’re really scaring me!”
“Good! You should be scared. Now please get off the phone, turn it off and leave it off, and get moving! See you later this afternoon.”
The morning light on the Pacific Ocean across Waikiki Beach was sparkling, otherworldly. The view calmed Erebus just enough for him to get a grip and look more critically at Haysmith, who was pale, perhaps hung over, fragile, and near breaking. His jowls were veined and pink, most likely from high blood pressure.
Earlier that morning, Erebus had surprised Haysmith in the Brit’s bedroom, shouting at him, shaking him awake. “Get up, get up, you fool! Don’t you know what’s happened? The good news is Planc is dead. The bad news for you is Planc is dead!”
Haysmith had been startled, disoriented, and frightened out of his wits, shocked awake by the last person he would want to see, Erebus, the killer.
“What—what are you doing here? God, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, please! I have money!”
Erebus couldn’t have asked for a better reaction. The priggish bastard was almost catatonic with fear, curled up in the fetal position. As if he could protect his delicate parts, stomach, lungs, balls, by rolling himself into a protective ball like a stinking sow bug.
“I’m here because Planc is dead. You paid me to kill him, remember? And I did kill him! But I don’t want to kill you, Haysmith. I’ve come to save you.”
“What, save me?”
“Mm-hmm, to save you, for a fee, of course. What did you think would happen when Planc was knocked off? Did you believe his partners at LM Global would grant you a free hand with their treasure chest? Haysmith, Planc’s partners hated him! And they hate each other too. Planc’s presence was the only force that kept them together, mostly through intimidation. When you ordered Planc’s execution, which I am pleased to say was a thing of beauty, you released the furies. And now they’re coming to get you.” Erebus laughed, a little out of control.
