Honolulu Blues Read online

  "Then what?" Jackie said.

  "You need to be waiting at the terminal exit, so you can pass me a pistol once I'm outside the secured area," I said. "Then, I'll get the drop on the thug and make him drive us to a location we will organize tonight. You’ll meet us there. I'll extract the meeting location from him and show up at the meeting alone and armed."

  "It's a federal crime to enter an airport carrying a firearm," Jackie said.

  "Yep, sure, but you don't pass through any metal detectors unless you're trying to board a flight," I said. "You can do this, Jackie. Just enter the terminal when someone exits and wait near the exit doors until you see me. Then, slip the pistol into my bag, and Bob's your uncle."

  "Don't you think we should bring Kevin in on this?"

  "No," I said. "Kevin wants to do everything within the law. That will never provide a permanent solution. If I want this to stop, I have to raise the ante. I’ll send those bastards in Hong Kong a message that if they keep going, the price will rise."

  "So, you're telling me, you intend to kill the guy."

  "Yep, if everything goes according to plan, that's exactly what I intend to do. After the hit on Mike, it's game on."

  "Okay, if that's how you want to play it, then I guess I'm in," Jackie said.

  Taking a lockbox down from the wardrobe shelf, I entered the combination. After opening the box, I removed the Sig Sauer P320 subcompact .40 caliber semi-automatic. I retrieved a box of ammunition from the lockbox and thumbed cartridges into two magazines. I put the pistol and magazines into a leather handbag and grabbed a light jumper from a hanger in the wardrobe.

  "Right-oh, let’s go,” I said, opening the bedroom door.

  Jackie and I crept through the lounge and out the front door of the flat. I locked the door behind me. Then we went downstairs to the car park and got into Jackie’s car. Jackie drove us to the flight line at John Rodgers Field.

  After Jackie parked the car outside the hangar, we went inside. While I waited, she exchanged her shorts and top for a flight suit and then picked up an olive-green case from the floor behind her desk. Opening it, she pulled out an aviator's helmet. It had what looked like a miniature pair of binoculars attached to the front.

  "Night vision," Jackie said. "I could get us there on instruments, but I prefer the NVGs."

  We walked to the helicopter. After Jackie inspected the exterior, we got in, and Jackie started the engine. She went through the pre-flight checklist.

  "Buckle up, buttercup," Jackie said. "We're ready to rock."

  By the time I had strapped myself into the seat, we were in the air. Jackie had pulled the goggles down in front of her eyes. We both wore headsets so we could hear each other speak over the engine noise.

  Once we left the lights of Oahu behind, it didn't seem we had been over the sea for long before the lights of Maui appeared. Forty minutes later I watched the waves breaking on the beaches below in the moonlight. We descended, and Jackie brought the chopper down at Kapalua Airport, a general aviation airport on the west side of the island.

  "A pilot friend of mine leaves a car parked here," Jackie said. "He lets me use it whenever I'm here. It will save us from trying to find a rental in the middle of the night."

  "Awesome, good thinking," I said.

  Once Jackie had secured the helicopter on the ground, we walked across the tarmac to where her friend had parked the car. Jackie felt under a tire-well and retrieved a magnetic metal box. Inside the box was the ignition key. We got in and Jackie started the car.

  "Where are we going?" Jackie said.

  "Dunno," I said. "This is only the second time I've ever been to Maui. The first time I was about twelve, on holiday with my parents. I don’t remember much about the place. But, what we’re looking for, if you have any ideas, is a remote location with an abandoned or unoccupied building on it."

  "Okay, let me think," Jackie said. "Best place fitting those parameters I can think of is an old concrete building off Maui Veterans Highway that used to be part of a World War II naval air station."

  "How far is the building from Kahului Airport?" I said.

  "It's about a ten-minute drive," Jackie said.

  "Sounds perfect," I said. " I want to see it."

  "No problem," Jackie said. She put the car in gear, and we roared off into the Maui night.

  Forty-five minutes later, Jackie pulled off the motorway, took a dirt track, then stopped the car next to a square, dilapidated two-story concrete building. We got out and walked to the entrance. "Damn, I wish I'd thought to bring a torch," I said.

  Jackie reached into a pocket and produced a tiny torch. "Your wish, our command at Fitzgerald Air Transportation." I knew she was grinning because I could see her teeth in the moonlight.

  I took the torch and found the switch. It emitted a red beam of light.

  "For fuck's sake, why is it red?" I said.

  "Because white light screws with your night vision," Jackie said.

  "Yep, sure, I recall that now from the army," I said.

  We entered the building, which was dirty and filled with piles of rubbish. Someone had covered the walls with graffiti. There were some dilapidated metal office furnishings, including chairs and file cabinets.

  "Is this still military property?" I said.

  "No, the military turned it back to the state a long time ago. The state just hasn't worked out what to do with it yet. It's all concrete, thick enough to withstand direct bomb hits and even naval bombardment. So, it's not like they can tear it down and build something else here."

  "Awesome, just what I was looking for," I said.

  "And what are we going to do here?"

  "We'll bring the bloke here that the crim boss sends to meet me at the airport in the morning. I need to learn what he knows. Considering he is a bloody gangster, I doubt he will cheerfully tell me a bloody thing if I only ask nicely. Lacking the luxury of time, I will have to persuade him quick smart to change his mind about not talking. It's likely to get a bit loud before we're done."

  "You're planning to yell at him until he talks?" Jackie said.

  "Not that kind of loud," I said, "more like him screaming in pain."

  "Oh, shit," Jackie said.

  "Yep, exactly," I said. "They should have considered that before they tried to murder Mike."

  "Okay, so we bring him here, you get him to talk, and then what?"

  "Then I'll go to the meeting alone, and take care of business," I said. "I need you to stay here with the guy until I finish that bit. If we leave him alone, someone might come along and find him, or he might manage to escape. Then he could ring his boss and warn him. If that happened, my plan would not end well for me."

  "Okay, what will we do the rest of the night?"

  "Find a place we can park the car, and try to sleep," I said. "I'll set the alarm on my phone, so we wake up in time to get to the airport before the flight from Honolulu arrives."

  We got back into the car and Jackie drove us back to town. We found a car park at a strip mall to park the car. Then we put the windows down and slept as best we could while sitting upright in the front seats.

  We were both already awake before the alarm sounded at seven that morning, the time I'd set it for. Jackie drove us to the airport and stopped at the curb in front of the arrival terminal exits. I took the Sig Sauer out of my handbag and passed it to Jackie.

  "Be inside those exit doors by eight," I said. "Find someplace where you can see me approaching in time to slip the gun in my bag when I pass by without it being noticed."

  "Okay," Jackie said. "I'll be here."

  "Then once you transfer the weapon, just get in the car and drive back to that abandoned building. We should all arrive at about the same time."

  "Got it."

  "Sweet, see you soon," I said, getting out of the car.

  Jackie pulled away from the curb, and I walked down the footpath to an entrance door. I went to the ticket counter of Aloha Air and purchased a one-way ti
cket to Honolulu International. I had to have a boarding pass to get into the secure area where the gates were. With a boarding pass and my identification in hand, I passed through security and headed to the gate number I'd gotten from the arrival board at the ticket counter. Passing a coffee shop, I stopped in and bought a double espresso before proceeding to the gate. I saw no one who looked like a Triad greeter, so I found a place out of the way where I could get to the arrival gate as soon as the passengers disembarked.

  The flight was due to land at seven-fifty, so I reckoned it would be at the gate around eight. As the time approached eight, more people arrived at the gate for the departure scheduled after the flight from Honolulu arrived. I felt confident that there was a large enough crowd to allow me to slip unnoticed into the throng of passengers when they walked out of the jetway.

  Right on time, I heard the announcement that the Honolulu flight was arriving at the gate. Moments before, I had spotted a dodgy looking Asian guy clad in black lurking about the gate across the walkway. I watched the glass doors to the jetway until an airline employee opened them and propped them open. A minute or two later, passengers streamed out the door. Waiting until the queue stacked up a bit, I slid beneath a nylon barrier and melted into the queue. I followed the passengers towards the walkway in front of the gate. The Asian guy looked directly at me, then he pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and approached. I stopped walking and waited.

  23

  "You O'Sullivan?" the guy said.

  "Yep."

  "Follow me, I'll take you to the boss."

  "Ahkay," I said. I followed a step and a half behind him. He never turned back to make sure I was following. Guess he reckoned I wouldn't have come this far if I hadn't planned to go through with the whole thing.

  We walked downstairs and headed for the exit doors. It was a relief when I saw Jackie walking towards us, still wearing her flight suit. Just after she passed the Asian guy, she deftly dropped the pistol into my handbag, which I was holding open. We both kept walking in opposite directions.

  I followed the bloke out to the car park. He pointed to a dark green Toyota.

  "Get in the back, but on the other side, not behind me," he said.

  "Sure, mate," I said. I got into the back seat while he was getting behind the wheel.

  After starting the car, the guy pulled out a mobile and dialed.

  "I've got O'Sullivan in the car, we're on the way," the guy said, before hanging up.

  The phone call to his boss could be a problem. I couldn't afford to waste time getting the information I needed. Arriving later than expected at the meeting site would raise suspicion.

  We drove out of the airport car park onto a motorway. I slipped off the seatbelt, slid across the seat behind the driver, and touched the barrel of the Sig Sauer to the back of his head. He stiffened but was smart enough to keep both his hands on the steering wheel.

  "There has been a slight change of plans, mate," I said. "I'll tell you where to go, and you drive us there. Make no mistake, if you do stupid shit, I will put a rather large bullet in the back of your head and take my chances with the car crash. Understood?"

  "Yes," the driver said.

  "Good, now where are you carrying your weapon?" I said.

  When he didn't answer right away, I tapped him hard on the back of the head with the pistol barrel.

  "Small of my back," the guy said.

  "Sweet, lean forward towards the steering wheel, and don't forget what I told you a minute ago."

  The driver leaned forward in the seat. I slipped my hand down between his back and the seat until I felt the pistol. I jerked a Beretta semi-automatic out of his waistband.

  "How the bloody hell did you get this into the airport?"

  "Didn't," the guy said, "I left it on the seat and picked it up when we got in the car."

  "Ahkay, got it," I said. "Now take the mobile out of your pocket and toss it back here."

  The guy took the phone out of a pocket and tossed it back over his shoulder. I picked up the mobile off the seat and put it inside my handbag. Then I gave the driver turn-by-turn directions to the abandoned building.

  It was early on a Saturday morning and traffic was light. I reckoned people who had worked all week were having a sleep-in. That was good; the fewer people about, the better.

  "How far from the airport to where you were meant to take me?"

  "You're nuts if you think I'll tell you shit," the driver said.

  "Yep, I expected you to say something like that. But, I think I'll change your mind about not talking when we get where we're going."

  About ten minutes later, I directed the driver off the motorway onto the dirt track that led to the building. Jackie had already arrived and had parked the car belonging to her friend beside it. I told the driver to stop, then I had him hand me the car keys. After he did, once I was out of the car, I covered him while he got out. Jackie appeared in the doorway of the building.

  "Walk inside," I said, and I followed with the pistol pointed at his back. As we walked past Jackie, I handed her the Beretta. I heard her rack the slide to make sure that there was a round in the chamber. Inside, Jackie had set up an old metal desk chair against a concrete column near the center of the building. It was one of those old-style desk chairs with a padded seat, back, and arms, but the padding had long since rotted away.

  "Sit," I told the guy, and he did.

  Jackie had followed us inside and stood next to me.

  "Cover him while I secure him to the chair," I said to Jackie. Tucking the Sig Sauer into my waistband, I retrieved six heavy nylon cable-ties from my handbag I'd brought along from Honolulu. Dropping the handbag on the dirt-covered floor, I secured the man's wrists to the chair-arms with two of the nylon ties, then I secured his forearms with two more. I knelt down and tied his ankles to the front chair legs with the last two ties. I'd always liked the locking nylon zip-ties better than handcuffs.

  I stood up and pulled the Sig Sauer out of my waistband. The guy was staring up at me with obvious defiance. I stared back.

  "Now, I want to know where you were meant to take me," I said.

  "Fuck you," the guy said.

  "Sorry, but I need to know a few things," I said. "You will tell me what I want to know before we're done here. And, I don't have a lot of time. It will get quite painful for you, quite fast, if you don't cooperate."

  "Look, lady, I'm not telling you shit. Better people than you have tried to make me talk. They tried everything, and I never told them a damn thing."

  "Is that so?" I said. "Did they try this?" I pointed the Sig Sauer and shot the guy in the right kneecap.

  Several minutes passed before the guy stopped screaming, cursing, and almost hyperventilating, so we could continue our chat. I was sure he would have gone over backward in the chair had it not been up against the concrete support.

  "You’d better kill me," the guy hissed. "If you don't, I swear I'll kill you for that."

  "Not worried," I said. "You will never walk properly again. I'm not frightened much by a cripple. Besides, unless you become more cooperative soon, you won't be able to walk again at all once I shoot you in the other kneecap."

  I could see the doubt in his eyes. He wasn't so sure anymore that I couldn't make him talk. But, he wasn't ready to talk yet. Grabbing the Sig Sauer by the barrel, I slammed the butt down hard on the exposed fingers of his right hand. The sound told me the blow had broken a few bones. Again I waited out another round of screams, curses, and hyperventilating. Then, the guy went quiet. It seemed he was all done making threats.

  "Ready to talk now?" I said.

  Instead of replying, he shook his head from side to side. I had to admit he was earning my respect. He seemed a tough bloke. I dug the end of my thumb into the bullet wound in his knee. He screamed again. There wasn't so much cursing this time. It seemed he was really feeling the pain now.

  "Kill me," the guy said. He was a bit weepy now. Tears streaked his cheeks
, mixed with the dust on his face that had drifted down from the dirty ceiling above.

  "That will not happen, mate," I said. "You're of no use dead. You have information I want. Sure, before we're done, you could bleed out. But, trust me that will seem like a long time from now for you."

  When the guy didn't respond, I continued. "Where were you meant to take me? If you tell me, I promise I'll let you go. Then, if you're ever up for it, you can try to get even for all this."

  The guy didn't answer. He only stared at me, with his teeth clenched, the pain etched on his face.

  "Ahkay, mate, have it your way," I said. "But, this is all so unnecessary."

  I pointed the Sig Sauer at his left knee.

  "No!" the guy screamed. "Stop! You swear you will let me go if I tell you what you want to know?"

  "I swear it," I said.

  "Breakers Resort," the man said. "That's where I was taking you."

  "And then?" I said, tapping the wounded right knee lightly with the gun barrel.

  "To a room on the top floor."

  "Awesome, see how easy this can be?" I said. "Room number?"

  "Eight-oh-two."

  "You have a key?"

  "Yeah, a key card in my shirt pocket."

  I reached into the guy's shirt pocket and withdrew a white plastic card with "Breakers Resort" on the front and a magnetic stripe on the reverse side.

  "And who is there waiting for me to arrive?"

  "The boss."

  "Just your boss? You sure there aren't some other blokes like you there too?"

  "I swear, just the boss. It would only have been the three of us."

  "What was meant to happen when I arrived?" I said, "out of curiosity."

  "The boss would have made you get on your knees and apologize for interfering in Triad business. Then he intended to take off your right hand to send to his boss in Hong Kong?"