Jaxson (8 page)

*****

By dawn’s early light, Jax quietly slipped out of the house and hopped in his truck. He wanted doughnuts at a minimum. Or some cupcakes. Maybe a cookie or two if he still had room. Baked desserts were his Kryptonite, and though he loved Kehau, he needed a break from really bad cookies. Five minutes on Google led to this bakery on a side street in Kailua town. He could smell warm bread and spices as he climbed out of his truck.
And that is a very good sign.

Begley’s Bakery, the gaily painted sign proclaimed. He strode through the door to see a tall redheaded woman working busily kneading a large ball of dough.

“Good morning, how can I help you?”

“I was thinking of some doughnuts this morning.”

“Sanford, can you come help this gentleman please?”

An equally tall goateed man in a brilliant aloha print shirt came out from the back and assisted him in selecting a half dozen doughnuts and a box of doughnut holes.

“So what brings you around here this morning?” Sanford asked him as Jax paid at the register.

“My girlfriend can't bake for crap. And I need a break from burnt cookies. Love her dearly, but I can't eat briquettes.”

“Ouch, that's rough. Hopefully these’ll fill you up.”

“Appreciate it. Y'all folks have a good day.” And like that he was gone again.

I see a bad moon arisin'

I see trouble on the way

I see earthquakes and

I see bad times today

Creedence Clearwater Revival

After nearly
four month
s together, they had a routine in place
.
If Jax was in town, he brought lunch with him
.
If he was gone, he sent her a single rose a day, at work
.
Her colleagues liked to tease her about it, but they knew she was happy.

Kehau regularly made him baked goods of some kind. She’d done brownies, cupcakes, or chocolate chip cookies at least once a week for him. Jax always accepted them graciously and seemed to eat everything, yet never gained any weight. Kehau didn't know how he did it, traveling all the time like he did.

Today was a lunch day, and Kehau desperately needed it
.
Hell
,
she needed any good news, this week had been rough
.
Fortunately, Jax was waiting in the office for her, and she could smell what he’d brought
.

“Please tell me those are cinnamon rolls
.
And hold the sarcasm
.
I do not need it.”

Jax smiled as he pulled her chair out for her
.
“Yes they are, and who needs to die?”

“Nobody yet, but I could use a break.”

“In that case, I have good news.”

Kehau cocked an eyebrow as she looked up from a massive caramel and pecan covered cinnamon roll
.
“Oh?”

“So I have this event to attend and I need a date
.
Don’t suppose you know where I could find a woman interested in an evening of dinner, dancing, and dressing up in something slinky do you?”

Her gaze would’ve reduced a lesser man to ashes
.
“If you go with anybody else, I will take you shark cage diving
.
Without the cage
.
When is it?”

“Two weeks from now, on Saturday
.
Four-day weekend.”

“Just how big is this ‘event’?”

“About a thousand people in attendance.”

“One thousand people
?
And I’m supposed to find a dress and hair style I like in two weeks?” she shrieked.

Jax looked around sheepishly
.
“Ummm
…
y
eah.”

“
Y
ou’re nuts
!
Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Work
.
Didn't know if I was going to be able to attend or not.”

“Argh!” she threw her hands up in the air
.
“It’s always work isn’t it
?
I still don’t even know what you do for a living!”

“I’m a consultant
,
” he deadpanned.

“Consultant for what?”

When he refused to answer, she pressed on
.
“Why don’t you trust me?”

“Why haven’t I met your parents yet?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you embarrassed about me? Got some hippie parents you’re afraid for the big bad Marine to meet?”

“No but—“

“You want me to share. Then it’s time you start doing the same.”

“No!” She shook her head in defiance. “Absolutely not.”

“What I do for a living is my business and my employees’ business.”

“Not good enough."

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

“Yeah you're being a stubborn asshole,” Kehau snarled.

“And you're not doing the same?”

“We are not discussing my parents.”

“Well then, I guess we’re done talking.” Jax a
bruptly stood and walked out the door
.
No words, no one-liner thrown over his shoulder at her
.
Just gone. "Fine
,
be that way!” she shouted
.
“See if I care!”

She was trying to take another bite of her food when she heard the sound of rubber squealing and burning in the parking lot
.
It faded into the distance with
a
roar.

Kehau found she’d lost her appetite quite suddenly. And she wondered if she hadn’t just made the worst mistake of her life. Rain began to patter against the windows of the office and she threw her food down in disgust.

*****

Jax was pissed
.
Livid, irate, you name it, he was it
.
Why in the hell did she keep pushing when he’d made it obvious he didn’t want to talk about something
?
Damn the woman
!
Was it too much
to
ask for privacy
?
He drove on automatic, hardly noticing the scenery around him. Nor the rain as it began to fall, harder and harder.

Which also meant he didn’t notice the car following him as he took the off-ramp to his apartment in the Salt Lake area.
Only another week or two and my new house will be fully built
,
ready to move into
.
I hate living in an apartment
.
He sighed.
I’ll talk to Kehau later about all of this
.

*****

“Good afternoon, keikis!” Kehau smiled brightly.

“Hello, Miss Makoa,” the children chorused together.

This was quite possibly her most favorite class to teach—Children’s Hula. Kehau loved much about modern dance, but teaching traditional Polynesian dance and culture three times a week to the youngsters brought her the most satisfaction. It was a new program here at the campus, and if it did well in the coming months, Kehau foresaw it expanding.
Unlike my relationship with Jax
.
That looked like it was dead in the water and sinking fast.
Enough of that,
another voice chided her.
Concentrate on the kids and give them your best.

Lightning cracked through the sky, shocking everybody and making the lights flicker.

“Nothing to worry about, kids, it’ll pass in a moment,” Kehau assured them.

The door flew open with a bang. Sione. Followed by two more men holding Machetes. Sione himself held a gun.

“Up against the wall!” he bellowed.

Kehau and the children were quick to obey, even as Sione stalked toward her. “Told you I’d come back for you.” His breath reeked of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot.

She said nothing.

“I’m gonna get your boyfriend too. Make him beg for his life.” He backhanded her across the mouth and she stumbled backwards. “And once he’s begged long enough, I’m gonna kill him in front of you. Then you'll be mine again, all mine.”

There was murder in his eyes, and for once in her life, Kehau knew the meaning of total helplessness.

*****

Jax didn’t notice the white Civic pull up behind him as he approached the door of his house. An all-consuming rage had filled him.
I’m gonna need at least an hour of bag work before I feel any better
.
Goddamn that woman
!
She’s just like all the rest!

He stuck the key in the lock and turned it just as the first pop reached his ears, giving him a milo of a second to realize someone was shooting at him. "Son-of-a-bitch," being yelled was followed by BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM as five shots impacted in the doorframe beside him. In an instant he was diving through the door and scooting behind the cheap couch.

More shots followed as the shooter ripped through their magazine, blasting holes in the drywall, the window, rounds hammering into the partially open door. Adrenaline surged through Jax’s veins, combining with the anger in his heart. Shots pounded against the far wall as he collected himself.
Near ambush, AK-fire directly at my
six
o
’clock
. Considering t
hey missed
,
could only mean
they’re either bad shots
,
or they hadn’t stopped moving.

Reaching down to his right hip, Jax pulled the gun he had waiting there. Two and a half pounds of stainless steel slid into his hand as easy as breathing. The silent weapon seemed to wink at him, as if to say ‘
hello, old friend, it’s been a while since we were in this place.’
He checked the breech, then stood.

Lock and load
,
baby.

The Civic was empty, but he thought he heard footsteps coming up the sidewalk toward the front door.
No idea the number of shooters
.
Damn
.
Oh well
.

Stepping in front of the door, Jax let fly a hammer pair, dropping the first man he saw. Behind him was a second, thinner man, holding a pistol.
Need at least one for intel
.
His aim shifted and he shot the man in his left leg.

Pistolero fell to the ground, handgun forgotten as he grabbed for his bleeding leg.
If he didn’t get a doctor soon though, he’d be in real trouble
.

“You looking for me?”

Eyes widened but the man said nothing
.
Jax looked over them closely, noting the tattoos they wore.

“Nanakuli boys
.
Not real surprising
.
Who sent you?”

Silence
.

Very well.

Without preamble, Jax shot Pistolero in the shoulder
.
He screamed and Jax smelled shit as
the
injured man voided his bowels.

“That was a grazing shot
.
It’ll bleed but it won’t kill
.
The next shot goes through a knee
.
Who sent you?”

“Sione Akamaka
!
And he’s gunning for your girl too!”

“Sione’s in jail.”

“Not after the riot this morning
.
We
we
re supposed to take you to him.”

Jax’s blood turned to ice
.
“Very well
,
” he proclaimed
.
Pulling out his cell phone
,
he made a call.

“Sam, it’s Jax
.
I’ve got two guys on my doorstep, one dead the other’s bleeding
.
Couple of Nanakuli
b
oys doing a wet job for Sione
.
Guess he busted out this morning during the riot.”

Sam’s voice took on an odd, strangled sound
.
Jax had no doubt
the
veteran officer would be cussing up a blue streak after he hung up the phone.

“So that little son
-
of
-
a
-
bitch came after you?”

“Came and failed
.
Sam, he’s headed after Kehau too.”

“
Goddammit.
I’ll roll SWAT over to HPU, but we’re still dealing with the riot aftermath an
d trying to get responders in place
.”

“Roger that."
An idea struck Jax then
.
"Tell the SWAT I’m en
route with a team
.
We can be onsite and make entry while they follow up and secure the perimeter.”

"I thought your teams were all on vacation for the holidays?" Sam asked.

"Squad leaders are still in town until tomorrow night."

"Just the five of you?"

“Against street thugs
?
Please
.
That’s wheat before the scythe and you know it.”

Sam hesitated
.
“If you say so
.
But that’s a helluva gamble.”

"I know
.
Make sure anybody patrolling the freeway hears we're coming
.
Doesn't look good if my guys are getting chased down H2 and up the Like."

"Consider it done
.
Go get those bastards before they hurt anybody else."

Duct tape did for restraints on Pistolero. His friend didn’t need any. The dead never do. “When HPD gets here, I suggest you sing like a rooster. Because that’ll be the only thing that saves you from a hanging.”

Walking around to the garage, Jax climbed inside his truck and pulled a cellphone out of a hard case just below the stereo system
.
It was his business phone
.
Bringing up the program his IT whiz had created, he dialed four numbers at once on a conference call
.
"This is Johnny Rocket, authenticate Charlie-Alpha-niner-tree-fife-tree-fife
.
How copy?"

"This is Pop Eye
.
Uniform Tango eight-four-tree-two-one
.
Secure."

"Rodeo."
Without even being there to see it, he knew they were already moving toward the arms room at a run as they secured their vests
.
Quick Response Force standard required the duty team be out the door and moving less than
three
minutes after a call came in
.
Veterans know their business and what they are about
.

"We have a Breslin in progress
,
" Jax continued on
.
"Bluebird needs us to make entry and neutralize all targets
.
Dress to kill with cans
.
Rendezvous at HPU K-Bay
.
Call for hard location at echo minus tree mikes
.
Questions?"

The conversation had been entirely in the shorthand slang and brevity codes that military men use daily out of habit. But with it Jax had been able to tell the men exactly what the situation was, it’s location, gear they'd need, and what to do along the way. Now all that remained was to go hunt.

"What is our rate of travel?" Marius asked.

"Full cyclic
.
Bluebird knows you're coming and has authorized you to stroll past."

Donny whooped
.
"Hell yeah!"

Jax allowed himself a grim smile
.
Knowing the Rock
star, he’d be on that new Hayabusa
of his and thundering down the road daring anybody to keep up with him.

"
ETA
fifteen mikes,
" Marius announced
firmly
.

As they had been talking, Jax was navigating his way to the H-2 Freeway
.
The on-ramp came into sight and
his
foot
smashed
the accelerator
into the floorboards. Five hundred
horses worth of thunder and fury launched the Chevrolet forward as the tachometer needle soared
.
Today was a
very
good day to die.