Fire Prayer (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-four

Niwa and Skelly rode in silence from the office to Skelly's home. The lights were still on and Helene stepped out the front door wearing a cotton robe and slippers.

“Any news?” she asked. Out of politeness, she asked Niwa in for coffee.

“No thanks, Helene. We've got squad cars looking for Luke and Tanner. I've got to get some sleep.”

Helene and Skelly watched until Niwa's car was on the main highway. “I always told you they were no good,” Helene said.

“Don't start.” Skelly's voice was low and cold. Without another word, he went into the house, grabbed a jacket from a rack inside the door and his car keys from the table. He pushed by Helene, back out the door.

“Where you going?” She clutched her robe around her.

“I've gotta talk to Connor.”

Helene bit her lip and went into the house. She turned out the lights one by one as she made her way upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Skelly banged on the door to Connor's apartment. He hoped Connor was there, and not at the girlfriend-of-the-week's. He banged again, waited what was probably only fifteen seconds, and considered calling some women he knew Connor liked, when he heard a thump from inside, followed by a string of swear words.

One eye appeared at a crack in the door. “This had better be a big emergency.”

“It's me.” Skelly's voice was a low growl.

“Yeah?” Connor opened the door the width of his head.

Skelly pushed it the rest of the way and walked in. “Anyone else here?”

Connor smirked. “She left about an hour ago.” He pulled at his worn, discolored Fruit-of-the-Looms.

“I doubt it.”

“You jealous?”

“No,” Skelly snorted. “I'm pissed.”

Confusion crinkled Connor's brow. “Why? What did I do?”

“The key.”

“The key? You mean the one under the pot?”

Skelly moved fast as a snapping dog and shoved his brother with a smack to his bare chest. Connor fell back onto the coffee table behind him, collapsing two legs as if they were cardboard.

“Hey, stop.” Connor held up a hand, no longer so tough. “I'm just being safe. We could get robbed.” A whine crept into his voice. “It's my business, too.”

“You took the insulin and Tanner's pills.”

“I've got it in my fridge. I was going to give it to you.”

Connor struggled to his feet, and Skelly pushed him again. Connor sat back down on the coffee table and the other two legs buckled.

“Luke's sick and needs that stuff. As in last night. He looked for it and it wasn't there.” Skelly took a deep breath, sucking it through his teeth. He gave his head a shake, as if to resume control. “We let a kid down, a little kid who's sick.”

“I'm sorry, man.” Connor almost sounded contrite.

“You need to stop the 'roids. I'm putting the word out.”

“I can't. You can't make me.” Connor's face turned purple. “I mean, I can't stop them all at once.”

It took a moment for Skelly to answer and Connor retreated a few inches. When Skelly answered, his voice was low and dangerous.

“You want to keep your part of the business? You can't control yourself when you're hyped on this shit. I need you to get it together.”

“I am. I—”

“No.” Skelly leaned over him. “You'll be in the office at eight this morning. And you'll be clean.”

“But—”

Skelly's breath hissed through his nose. “And one more thing.”

“I can do that.” Connor scrabbled to stand up. “What?”

Skelly clenched and unclenched his fists. “You've been blabbing.”

The color drained from Connor's face. “Skelly, no. I never—”

“I keep my mouth shut all these years. Ten years. Protect you, and what? You shoot off your big fat mouth.”

“When? When did I ever?” Connor got to his feet again, and did his trapezius-flexing move in an attempt to stand up to Skelly. He gave Skelly a push. “Whaddya mean, you protected me?”

“Mom and me both did. I told her, you know. Told her you ran outa the house first, screaming. That you were the first one to know it was on fire.” Skelly was red-faced and shouting, but Connor tried to hold his ground.

“You think I—” Incredulity raised the level of Connor's voice to a near-squeal.

“You were where it started. Fire inspectors can tell where it starts, you know.” Skelly put his face right up to Connor's. “Mom and I both lied for you, you miserable runt.”

“Never. And stop shoving me around.” Connor gave Skelly a hard shove, but Skelly was ready. He hit him with a closed fist, and Connor hit the floor with a crash, then a whimper.

Skelly pivoted, hunched his shoulders as if he expected a blow to his back, and slouched out the front door. He didn't see Connor sit up and wipe the blood out of his eye, nor did he hear him repeat, “Never.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Storm surveyed the Lodge's parking lot. She needed wheels and had no intention of asking Dusty to borrow his truck again. When she saw Delia working on one of the Ranch's big vans, she had an idea.

Delia saw her coming and waved in her direction. The bat wings fringing her eyes may have been factory-made, but the bosom swelling from her cropped fluorescent pink and silver sequined tank top was definitely the real thing.

“How you doin'? I heard your boyfriend fell off a horse.”

Hamlin would hate this. Storm was glad he wasn't around to hear the scuttlebutt. “I'm okay, but he went back to O‘ahu to see a doctor.” She was going to hear it anyway.

“Too bad. You want to go out with me and my friends tonight?”

Storm bet it wouldn't be a dull evening. “I'm supposed to meet my aunt and uncle for dinner, but thanks. Any chance you're going into town this morning?”

“You bet. A container ship came in with the air conditioning compressor for the kitchen. I'm leaving in a few minutes. Wanna ride?”

“I could help you load it. After, could you drop me at the airport?”

“The guys at the dock will help me load it, but maybe you should come along.” Delia winked at her. “No problem, the airport is on the way. You leaving tomorrow?” She sounded wistful.

“I thought I'd rent a car. The only rental places are at the airport.”

“You're telling me.” Delia arched a penciled brow. “Dusty using his truck?”

“I don't want to impose.”

“Right.” Delia threw some packages in the back seat. “Sure, I'll drop you.”

Five minutes later, they were winding their way from Maunaloa town to Kaunakakai. Delia gunned the whining engine around a curve in the road. “That Dusty can be a moody SOB, can't he?”

Storm grimaced. “I asked him about Tia and the fire.”

“Oof, bad combination.”

“No joke.” Storm squinted over at her. “How well do you know him?”

Delia put her dark glasses on and snapped her gum. “I know him.”

Storm recognized the tough act. “I had the hots for him once, too.”

“Once?”

“I didn't get to see him very often.” She grimaced. “And he's a friend of my uncle's.”

“Your uncle would have had a fit, right?”

Storm laughed. “Totally. What happened with you?”

Delia kept her eyes on the road. “We went out for a few months a couple of years ago, but we're not a good match.”

“When I knew him, he was kind of a playboy.”

A long moment passed and when Delia spoke, there was acquiescence in her voice. “Yeah, he's not the type to settle down.”

“Did you know Tia?”

Delia nodded. “I met her when I first moved here. She was a hellion, you know. Marched to the beat of her own drum, so to speak. Drove Dusty crazy.”

“Weren't you about the same age?”

“I'm two years older.” Delia looked over at Storm. “Aren't you my age? I'm thirty-one.”

“Me, too,” Storm said. “So Tia and Dusty fought?”

“Big time.” Delia let a few moments pass. “For a long time, I thought she went away.”

“You don't think so anymore?”

“She would have turned up by now, wouldn't she? With a little boy and all that?”

“Seems like it,” Storm agreed. A thought passed through Storm's mind. “Did Jenny ever go out with Dusty?”

Delia made a snorting noise. “Of course.”

“She didn't have an easy life, either, from what I've heard.”

“Guess not.”

“Did Tia and Jenny know each other?”

“Sure.” Delia looked over at Storm. “Jenny was trying to help Tia get a job with the local paper.”

“Did Jenny date one of the editors?”

Delia laughed out loud. “Probably.” Her expression grew thoughtful. “You know, I think she and Tanner were still together back then. Barely, though. I think the editor had covered one of her art shows.”

They rode in comfortable silence for a while. Storm had to admit she was glad she wasn't a single woman on this island. “You ever think of moving to Honolulu?”

Delia shrugged. “Sometimes, but it's big and busy, and no one would care if I lost my job or was down in the dumps.”

“It's not so bad,” Storm said. “And you'd make new friends, lots of them. Better job opportunities, too.”

“You've got a degree.”

“Now I do, but I had a lot of jobs before that.”

“You earn a lot, too, right?”

“I make ends meet.”

Delia seemed to chew on that for a few minutes. “Are you going to look for the kid? That why you need a car?”

“What kid?” Storm asked, but a stab of dread went through her.

“Luke Williams. Your friend Tanner's son. You knew Jenny died, didn't you?”

“I heard about that, but I figured Luke was with Tanner.”

“Not yet. Tanner was on the north shore when it happened.” Delia's voice softened and she glanced at Storm. “Luke freaked out about his mother. They took him to the hospital, but he left.”

“Where's Tanner now?” Storm asked. “I need to find him.”

“I'd guess he's either on the north shore or out looking for Luke.” Delia swung onto the airport road. “Forget about going to the docks with me. You probably want to pick up your car right away.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

By the time Storm was making her way out of the airport, still adjusting mirrors and opening windows to get rid of the smell of stale cigarette smoke, she'd decided to drop by the police station. The cop who'd come to see them last night at the Lodge seemed like a nice guy, and she wanted to talk to him again.

Storm walked into the small station and approached the front desk. No one was there, and she had to ring the bell on the counter before a short man wearing very thick glasses came around the corner. He gave her a big smile. “Those roosters still waking you up? We issued Mr. Koichi a warning already.”

“No, I'm looking for Sergeant Niwa. Is he around?”

“Sorry, I got you confused with someone else.” He peered through the glass that separated them, and she could see his name tag, which read
Jerry Sanchez
.

“He's out looking for that poor boy.”

“Luke?” Storm asked. She'd never get away with this in Honolulu, but a flash of intuition told her the personal touch would serve better here. “He's my friend's son.”

A shocked expression came over the little man's face. “Jenny's your friend?”

“Tanner, but I heard about Jenny. What a shame! I'd just met her.”

“And the poor boy so sick!” The man clucked his tongue.

“He is?” When Delia had told her he was in the hospital, she'd made it sound like he'd needed care because of his mother.

“Yes, you didn't hear? Diabetes. Like me, except he's young and his is harder to control.” He leaned toward the hole in the glass. “If he gets hypoglycemic, he's
pau
.”

“You mean he'll die if he doesn't eat?”

“If his blood sugar drops. Gets worse if he has some shock to his system, like an injury. His mom's death was already a huge one.” Sanchez's forehead creased and his brows met in the center. “He could just fall asleep and not wake up.”

“That's terrible,” Storm said. “I'm going to try and find Tanner. Maybe that will help.”

“Where you going to look?”

“I'll start at Hawai‘i EcoTours.”

“If he's not there, try their storage hut out by Halawa.”

“Okay, thanks. And if you see Sergeant Niwa, will you ask him to call me? Here's the number to my cell phone.”

“It won't work when you get out of Kaunakakai,” Sanchez said.

“Oh.”

Sanchez shrugged. “Back to the good old days.”

Out on the sidewalk, Storm stood in the sun, but it was too hot to think there, so she went to the car, which was a smoky oven. She burned her fingers on the chrome of the seat belt.

Luke's disappearance changed things. Both Tanner and Niwa would be looking for him. Probably Skelly and the brother, too. She didn't know the island well enough to guess where they'd go, either. And before she considered driving even a mile in this heat, she needed water.

Amos' Crack Seed store was only a couple blocks away, and though it wasn't air-conditioned, the ceiling fans stirred an anise-scented breeze and the darkness was welcome relief from the hot noon sun. It took several moments for Storm's eyes to adjust to the dimness.

She heard Rolly's voice before she saw him. “Did you see Jenny Williams the other day?”

Storm made out his hulking profile in the gloom at the back of the store. “Yes, and I heard about her death yesterday.”

His eyes followed her as she made her way down an aisle. “And?” he asked softly.

“And what?”

“She was okay when you saw her?”

“Yes. I thought so, anyway.”

“Was Tanner there?” He hadn't moved, and his voice was so low she had to strain to hear him. But he had her attention.

“I didn't see him.” Storm stopped in front of the counter and regarded him. She decided not to mention the argument she'd overheard. “Do you know Tanner?”

“He loves his boy.”

“How about Jenny?” Storm asked.

“She was nice to me.” He smiled sadly.

“Was she nice to Tanner?”

“I don't think so.” Rolly pushed air audibly through his nostrils. Storm tilted her head. “She was angry with him. He wouldn't control his disease.”

“It's probably hard to do.”

“You have to try.” Rolly's voice was firm, as if he had firsthand knowledge of the effort Tanner should have put forth.

“I suppose.” Storm didn't want to start an argument. In fact, his statements sounded oddly unsympathetic. She didn't know how to respond to him, so she walked to the cooler against the wall and pulled out two bottles of water and a packaged sandwich. “What do I owe you?”

Rolly didn't move. “You think I don't understand.”

Storm stared at him.

“I've lost a hundred forty pounds. My insulin requirements are a third what they used to be.”

That was about what Storm weighed. He'd lost the body weight of a whole person. “That's quite an accomplishment. You should be proud.”

“Not yet.” Rolly picked up her items and punched in the prices. “That's four dollars and eleven cents. I still have to lose a hundred fifty more.”

“You're well on your way. Good luck.” Storm handed him the money. He was harmless, she decided, but she didn't understand him, and she began to leave. She almost missed his parting words.

“Tell Tanner Luke's got his meds.”

She turned. “Luke was here? Do you know where he is now?”

The huge man shrugged. “Nope.”

“Did you ask where he was going?” She knew she was coming on strong, the big city lawyer type. Bad idea around here.

“No way, lady.” Rolly looked affronted. He scooted his chair back further into the shadows.

“Okay. Thanks, yeah?” Storm said. “I'm glad you're Luke's friend.”