Kaua'i Me A River Part 23

"Listen, Sunny. I've learned something you need to know from Arthur Chesterton."

"You know, our former mayor lives in a nursing home for a reason."

"It's not a nursing home; it's a.s.sisted living."

"Whatever. But the man's not, you know, all there." She tapped her head.

"He seemed *there' enough to me. He told me Phil went to college but then he came back in 1981 and discovered my mom had another baby and she'd married his brother and he-"

"Sweetie, you're rambling. Drink up so we can go in and have dinner."

I saw something in her eyes that made me change course. "You're right, I'm so tired. Why don't you go on in and I'll finish up?" I said. "I need to wash up first."

"Good," she said. "See you inside."

I poured the drink down the bathroom sink. After not eating all day the last thing I needed was a syrupy mai tai. I washed my hands and went into the dining room.

About halfway through dinner the room began to swim. I tried shutting my eyes but when I opened them again everything was in a different spot. I had a hard time gripping the fork and I dropped it at least twice.

"Are you okay?" said Sunny.

"I don't know. My stomach feels a little off."

I'd decided that as much I'd enjoy watching Sunny squirm, I should report Arthur Chesterton's confession to Detective Wong about before I said anything to anyone else. Sunny chattered through dinner and never once asked me to finish telling about my visit with Arthur. As she blathered on, I got the sinking feeling she may already know the truth.

"You look so wiped out," she said. "Let me make you a cup of *sleep happy' tea while I clean up the dishes. I love the stuff. After Phil died I used to have a cup every night to help with insomnia."

"I don't think insomnia will be a problem," I said." I could fall asleep right here."

"But I want to hear what crazy Arthur told you. Why don't you go on out to the lanai and put your feet up. I'll bring the tea right out."

"Can it wait until tomorrow?" I said. "I'm so exhausted."

She looked annoyed. "Suit yourself."

I staggered to the guest house with my stomach in an uproar. I felt drunk-sick even though I'd had less than half of the mai tai. I flopped down on the sofa. No way could I bring myself to sleep in the murderer's bed.

On Wednesday morning the sun was streaming in the windows when I woke up. My stomach felt raw and I had a roaring hangover. Then I remembered my visit with Arthur Chesterton and I made myself get up.

I used the bathroom but it didn't make me feel much better. I splashed water on my face and headed over to the main house. I tried the door, not bothering to knock. When I got inside, I heard Sunny on the phone in the back somewhere. The sound of her voice made my stomach hitch and I felt sick again. I nearly made it to the guest bathroom in time. Nearly, but not quite.

I'm not a sickly person, so vomiting always catches me by surprise. But there it was, on Sunny's spotless bathroom floor. I felt a little better but my stomach still burned. I dragged myself to the kitchen to find something to clean up the mess.

I grabbed the edge of the sink and worked to control my breathing. When I'd regained a bit of composure, I opened the cabinet under the sink to look for a rag.

I moved a few things around and then I saw it. It was a bulky yellow plastic jug with an unfamiliar label. Unfamiliar, but not unknown.

I'd first come across anti-freeze when I was doing my final stint of air marshal training in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A fellow trainee had chided me for not *winterizing' my car. He'd warned me that when the temperature dropped I'd come out one morning and I'd find my car had become a one-ton paperweight instead of transportation. On the mainland, people keep anti-freeze in their garage all year long. But I could think of no good reason to keep anti-freeze under a kitchen sink in Kaua'i.

I grabbed the jug and went to find my stepmother.

CHAPTER 32.

I pushed through the master bedroom door. Sunny was sitting in an armchair wearing a white terry cloth robe. She'd wrapped a bright blue towel around her head and she was chatting on her cell.

"What are you doing barging in like this?" she said, popping up. "As you can see, I'm on the phone." I was holding the anti-freeze jug behind my back, and when I brought it out where she could see it, I watched her eyes widen.

"I gotta go," she said to the caller. Then she threw the phone on the bed.

"Look what I found in the kitchen."

"What are you doing going through my stuff?"

"You liar. You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Don't believe that old man, Pali. It just like I said. Robert started it. Phil just grabbed the bat."

"And clubbed them both to death."

"Look, I promised your father I'd-"

I advanced on her in attack position. "Don't you ever refer to that murderer that way again. Philip Wilkerson killed my mother in cold blood."

She stepped back and grabbed a lamp off the nightstand. Then she yanked the cord out of of the wall. "Don't come any closer."

"Why'd you poison Peggy?" I said. "Were you afraid she'd contest the will? Or was she blackmailing you? Threatening to air the Wilkerson's dirty secret unless you threw a few bucks her way?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Peggy died in a car crash."

"Yeah, after you'd laced her drink with anti-freeze. And then you sent her over to me so I'd be the last person to see her alive."

"You're nuts. All that Homeland Security c.r.a.p must've turned you paranoid." She parried the lamp toward me as if goading me to try and grab it.

"Put the stupid lamp down," I said.

She threw it against the opposite wall and as my eyes flicked toward the moving object, she reached into the nightstand and pulled out a pistol. It was a small nine millimeter, probably a Kel-Tec PF-9 or maybe a Walther.

"Okay. I don't want to use this," she said pointing the gun at my chest. "But I just need some time to think."

She sidestepped to the bed and picked up her cell phone. "Timo, I need you to bring the car around."

There was a pause and then she said in a tight voice, "No, right now."

I watched her bearing like I'd read a martial arts opponent. What were my odds? I ran through the likely scenarios and then acted.

I ducked and Sunny fired. So much for not planning to use it. The shot was not as loud as I'd imagined it'd be, but it was certainly loud enough to bring Timo running. I brought up one leg and caught her square in the sternum. She crashed onto her back, but still somehow managed to keep her grip on the gun.

With Timo on the way, my best recourse was to bolt. There was no way I could hold off both of them. The master bedroom had a door that opened onto the lanai. I figured it would be locked, but I managed to twist the lock open and make it outside before Sunny had a chance to aim.

Blam! I didn't bother to turn around and see where the bullet had gone.

I headed toward my rental car but then remembered the keys were in my purse. Just as I hit the steps of the ohana, I heard running footsteps coming up on my right.

Timo.

"Stop right there," he said.

In the split second I had to react, I made my decision. I hit the door of the ohana with just enough time to make it inside. But not enough time to lock the door behind me.

I dodged into the den and hid behind the door. I could hear Timo's heavy breathing as he came through the open front door.

"I got no beef wit' you," he said. "Come out. We can talk."

I controlled my breathing as best I could but I knew it wouldn't be long before he'd start searching the house. And the den was the first room on his right. I hadn't had time to notice if he was armed but I knew I should a.s.sume he was.

His heavy footfalls echoed on the hardwood floors as he came closer. I thought about my mother's last moments and in a flash of resolve I knew what I had to do.

I waited until his bulky frame threw a shadow in the crack between the door and the frame. Then I pushed the door into his face as hard as I could. Even so, it wasn't enough to knock him down.

"You b.i.t.c.h," he screamed.

Now he knew my position so there was no sense staying trapped behind the door. I jumped out, ready to throw a punch or a kick or whatever I could manage against an opponent twice my size.

His face was smeared in blood. The door must've caught his nose. He looked even more frightening than before but I wouldn't allow myself the luxury of being terrified.

In a display of despicably bad sportsmanship I shifted my weight left, c.o.c.ked my leg and aimed right for his b.a.l.l.s.

Timo went down like a harpooned whale. His howling was so pitiful I felt a flush of guilt but it evaporated when I saw Sunny's Kel-Tec on the floor where he'd dropped it. I grabbed the gun.

"Get up," I said, pointing the gun at him "I can't."

"Fine. Stay there."

I grabbed my purse off the coffee table and ran to my car. I had no idea where Sunny might be and no clue whether she had just the one gun or an entire a.r.s.enal. I stuck the key in the ignition and sent up a little prayer of thanks to the Ford Motor Company when the engine turned over. I bounced down the rutted road and had nearly made it to the gate when I had to slam on the brakes. A police car with lights flashing was blocking my way.

CHAPTER 33.

Detective Kiki Wong used her onboard bullhorn to tell me to put down the gun and get out of the car with my hands up. I thought the bullhorn was unnecessary, maybe even a little melodramatic, but why have all the bells and whistles if you never get to use them?

I did what she'd ordered.

"You're under arrest," she said as she told me to put my hands behind my back. She clamped on handcuffs. I was surprised at how much it hurt when I tried to wiggle my wrists.

"You have this all wrong," I said.

"Wow, that's a new one," she said. She opened the back door of the cop car and put her hand on my head as I ducked to get inside. She leaned in. "Really. You win the prize for most original comment made during an arrest by a citizen in a starring role."

Once she and her partner had climbed inside, I went on. "No, I'm serious. That wasn't my gun. It was Sunny's. She pulled it on me when I confronted her about the anti-freeze."

At the mention of *anti-freeze' the two cops glanced at each other. Then Detective Wong's partner, Akuna, turned and looked at me. "Do yourself a favor and save it for the interview, okay?"

We got to the station and Wong and Akuna escorted me to the same room I'd been in the day before. "Don't you guys have more than one interview room?" I said. "Because I've been here four times now and I always get put in this same room."

They chose to read me my rights instead of answer my question.

After a grueling hour of questioning I asked how long I was going to have to wear the handcuffs.

"Oh, my bad," said Akuna. "I forgot." He winked at me as if we were sharing a joke. My wrists were red and starting to swell so the humor was lost on me.

In mid-afternoon they brought me a sandwich and a Diet Pepsi. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I'd taken a bite. Then I wolfed down the rest of the sandwich in less than a minute.

"You still hungry?" said Wong. "I could get you a candy bar or something."

"How much longer is this going to take?" I'd already told them everything I knew about Phil and Arthur's cover up of the murder of my mom and my uncle Robert. I'd explained about finding anti-freeze under Sunny's kitchen sink and how it pointed to Peggy's unexplained intoxication before her accident and my vomiting that morning. It seemed to me their time could be better served corroborating my allegations than asking me the same questions over and over.

"You're no longer a suspect," said Wong. "We've dropped the arrest and upgraded your status to witness."

I looked around the interview room. "I'm a witness?"

"That's correct."

"I have a degree in criminology, so I know the drill. You can't hold a witness against their will."

"That's also correct."

"Then I guess I will have that candy bar. And I'll buy it on my way out of here."

I flew back to Maui without retrieving my overnight bag at Sunny's. I called Steve and he came down and picked me up.

"A lot has happened since you've been gone," he said.