Chapter 8

The paramedics arrived before the police. They called for the meat wagon and worked on the unknown woman. Glancing at my shoulder wound, the paramedic, a thin, petite, cute Japanese woman with a lot of energy and about my age squirted on some antiseptic which hurt like hell, cleaned the wound which hurt even more, than slapped on some gauze and tape and told me to press on it. Tempted to flirt, I proved again the old joke that a man can have a hard-on in any situation, but figured Penny wouldn't appreciate it. Besides, the woman spent barely a minute on me before heading back to the ambulance to grab a gurney. When the police arrived, guns out and moving carefully before noticing the paramedic working on my shoulder and holstering the guns, they surveyed the mess. They ordered us not to touch anything. The older of the cops told the paramedic working on the woman not to move her. The paramedic asked if the cop wanted her dead.

"Do what you gotta do," shrugged the cop. He looked around my living room and spotted my camera. "You got film in that?" he asked. I nodded. "Grab it," he said. We then shot photos in the back area of the woman and the damage around her, particularly the door which hung loose and open, threatening to fall. Once we finished back there, he asked if any film remained. Nearly done, he suggested shooting the front until the film ran out and to give him the roll.

"That's fine, officer, but I'll want to examine the film myself," I said

"Talk to the head of the investigation," he said. I nodded. The cop impressed me.

"Joe Solomon," I said, putting my hand out to shake.

"John Balleia," said the swarthy man shaking my hand. He was in his late twenties, of Portuguese heritage, probably going back several generations on the island.

"I'm a PI," I said, handing him my card, watching his reaction. He didn't smile or frown as he glanced at it and slid it in his breast pocket. That was a good sign.

"Waikiki PI? You're partners with Sandy Shaw?" he asked. I nodded my head. Sandy had a way of getting noticed. "You're lucky. She's smart and hot."

"I'll introduce you." I told him.

He played with the ring on his left ring finger and shrugged sadly.

While I took a couple shots at the front door, John walked around the house. He noticed the damage in the kitchen. "Can you get a shot of these," he said. I used my final two shots to record the kitchen damage.

"You should see this," said John's young blond partner. I walked behind John, following him into my bedroom.

"What the fuck happened here?" asked John, looking at the rope.

"It's a long story," I said.

"No doubt," said John. "Something to do with the woman out there with handcuffs and duct tape and a hole in her head?"

I nodded. "If you don't mind, I'll wait for Nakamoto."

"You called the Lieutenant?" I nodded. "He's a good man to have on your side."

Penny sat on the stool by the bar looking catatonic. When the cops arrived she had Martine's pistol held loosely in her hand resting on her thigh. The blond cop had gloved up and gingerly removed the gun and bagged it. She hardly seemed to notice.

When John wanted us separated for interviews, the blond guided Penny to the guest room, walking her like she was a patient at a mental institution lost in her mind or drugged to the gills and he was an orderly. I didn't worry what Penny would say if she could even talk. I just worried about Penny.

"I wish I could go back there and talk to Penny," I said to John.

"You know I can't let you do that," he said.

"I know."

It got chaotic when the lead homicide detective, the coroner and the forensics people arrived simultaneously with Nakamoto. With the bottleneck at the door, the detective, not one of Honolulu's finest but semi-competent, and Nakamoto had their argument outside as to whose case this was. Nakamoto outranked the detective. The forensics people, three CSIs arrived. They walked through the house, and then the lead assigned various specific tasks. I stepped outside to talk to Nakamoto.

"You should be in the hospital," said Nakamoto.

"My friend was involved in the shooting. She's traumatized. I thought maybe I could talk to her, help her come to her senses."

"You know that's a bad idea."

"If you and Officer John Balleia came with me, making sure I didn't coaching her or pass notes, wouldn't that be kosher?"

He thought about it. "Okay, but then you go to the hospital, if nothing else to get some pain killers. I'll interview you there."

"Thanks."

By the time we entered in my guest room, Detective Hosumi already tried to talk to her. She kept silent. "What are you doing, detective?" asked Nakamoto.

"I thought you were interviewing this guy. And what is he doing here?" said Hosumi.

"He's going to see if he can get his friend to snap out of it," said Nakamoto. "We'll keep an eye on them. It looks like you weren't getting very far." Hosumi shook his head.

"Penny? Penny? Listen to me. It's Joe. Everything's alright. You did good. You did what you had to do. You saved my life. Please come back to me." I lifted her head with a finger under her chin. We stared into each other's eyes. I sensed getting through to her. I kissed her gently. "Thank you for saving my life, Joan," I said.

"You know I'm not Joan anymore," said Penny.

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Joe. Give me another kiss."

We shared another sweet and gentle kiss. She smiled.

"Are you ready to talk to these strangers?" I asked.

"I guess."

I whispered to Nakamoto, asking him to okay what I was about to say. He nodded.

"Tell them anything and everything. Be honest? Don't try to protect me."

"Should I get a lawyer?"

"Have you read her her rights?" I asked Hosumi. He shook his head. "Do you plan to?"

"Probably, but not until we bring her downtown to an interview room," Hosumi answered.

"If you feel like you're incriminating yourself, you can always refuse to answer," I explained to Penny. "But you know you were protect..."

"Enough," yelled Nakamoto.

"Sorry," I said. Nakamoto's surprisingly booming voice startled me, and I thought it might have startled Penny. I looked down at her with concern.

"I'm okay," said Penny. "You better get yourself to the hospital or you won't be. I'll be fine." I nodded and left her to the cops.

Nakamoto stepped out with me. "Check yourself into the hospital, get yourself a nice bed and stay there until I arrive," he ordered.

"I'll see you there. Be nice to Penny. She's extremely sensitive. And her real name is Joan McAndrews, but she would rather be called Penny. Oh and check out the license plate on that cherry red Mustang parked on the street."

"I'm not too worried about car theft right now," said Nakamoto.

"And the thief isn't going to talk, ever."

Before heading out the door, I glanced down to the floor at a puddle of blood. The woman stranger had been removed. I hoped she lived but doubted it. A wave of sadness swept through me. I told John I was heading to the hospital.

"I better tag along," he said. "You want me to drive you?"

"I'm okay to drive. You trust me, don't you?"

"Enough to drive yourself, but you are a participant in a possible triple homicide."

I looked sadly into his eyes. "I am, aren't I?"

Having John there actually helped me get the bed I promised Nakamoto I'd get at the hospital. When the doctor removed the bandages, the wound still oozed blood. I passed out.

When I awoke, a needle attached to a container of blood was being removed from my arm. My head blurry and my mouth seemingly full of cotton, I reached my hand to touch my wound when the nurse stopped me.

"We stitched you up while you slept," explained the middle aged plain and heavy Hawaiian nurse. "I'll get the doctor."

Five minutes later, a balding, plump little white man, the same man I had seen briefly removing my bandage, arrived. He looked through his bifocals at my chart. "It looks like you really do have a chip on your shoulder," said the doctor.

Dr. Oglby was a sweet man, seeming to embrace the concept of bedside manner better than any doctor I ever met.

"I guess you wanted matching scars," he said. "Trying for some symmetry in your life." He must have noticed the scar of a bullet wound on my other shoulder. I wondered if he saw the knife scar on my abdomen from another case or the one on my ass cheek when I was thrown onto some glass. Probably not, but he realized I had some problems with violence. "Now that you got some balance, I hope you avoid any further additions," he said.

"I hope so too, but in my line of work, things happen."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"I'm a private investigator."

"Can't say I remember having many of those as patients, and I've been at this for awhile. Maybe with your luck you might consider another line of work."

"They haven't killed me yet," I said.

"Yet being the operative word," said the doctor.

As I said before, Dr. Oglby was a sweet man, and his needling I took as gentle albeit slightly dark humor.

"I love what I do," I told him.

"That's good. Me too. Just be careful, okay? You seem like a nice young man, and I can tell we would get along just fine, but I'd be happier if we never met again."

"You got it, Doc." We shared a smile.

"We're going to keep you overnight for observation, make sure there's no unexpected swelling or reaction. I'm pretty sure I got everything cleaned up, but you never know. I made out a couple of prescriptions. You said you're not allergic to anything, right? There's an antibiotic and a pain killer. Take the antibiotic three times a day until it runs out. Drink a couple cups of water each time you take a pill. Take the Percocet as needed for the pain. Okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

"There's a cup of ice chips you'll find very refreshing. Keep the wound clean. Replace the bandages every time you bathe. You can have the sutures removed in one week in the emergency room. I don't think we'll be seeing each other again, so you have a good life.

"You too, Doc."

Soon after the doctor departed I slept.

"Joe?" I awoke to Nakamoto's voice. Two others shared the small room. One was my lawyer, Morrie Washington; the other worked for the DA, Charlene Cox. My lawyer was a good man. He did alright financially, but not as well as he could. He was the best for the price by far. Big and black and handsome and bald, he could have been intimidating in a dark alley, but he always dressed well in tailored short sleeve shirts of impeccable taste. He really was too cool to intimidate. Charlene, an attractive woman in her early thirties had a deceptively nice smile. She could be ruthless in getting what she wanted, but in a good way. She impressed with her dedication getting the scum off the street for as long as possible.

"What's up?" I said.

"We have to read you your rights," said Nakamoto. He did.

"I'm a little out of it, guys."

"Maybe that's a good thing," said Charlene.

When they immediately asked me about Martine, I requested time alone with my lawyer. After I told him everything, he said, "Shit."

"Yeah," I said. "I don't know about the sex part. I think we can keep that out. Of course I don't know what Penny told them. We have the door she kicked in. Unfortunately Penny handled her gun. I'm just going tell them what happened minus the sex."

"They may not have the proof to back you up," said Morrie. "Maybe telling them could guide the investigation your way."

The two others joined us. I told them everything, giving them my reasoning when they let me. They didn't ask about the sex, but were concerned about the drugs. Making it clear to them that I needed to calm the situation down as well as needing to protect Penny and myself from Martine and then from the proven possibility of Cole finishing what Martine had attempted to start they heard without much response. I wanted to put my two cents in about fingerprints on the bullets and gun, but figured the forensics team and Nakamoto didn't need those two pennies.

After a grueling hour and a half that felt like five, the interview ended.

"Am I under arrest?" I asked.

Charlotte said, "No, but don't make yourself scarce."

When they left, I relaxed, feeling a loss of consciousness coming on. Unfortunately Nakamoto kept my sleep away by returning.

"Tell me about the McAndrews Brothers," said Nakamoto. I took a deep breath. I hadn't been specific about the embezzlement, only that when Penny rejected Cole, he took revenge on her and me.

"Can I ask you a couple questions first?" I asked. It was Nakamoto's turn to take a breath. He nodded.

"Who was the woman shot at the back door, and is she alive?"

"She's alive, critical but stable. She's a secretary for a local corporation, and seems to have no record, but also seems to be living pretty high on the hog for a secretary. We're looking into the finances of the company very carefully."

"There you go. You have the model for the McAndrews. A beautiful lady enters the corporate scene suddenly, and a dummy corporation suddenly starts sucking up large quantities of funds. The funds are redirected somewhere offshore or to Switzerland or whatever, and then end up being used by Cole McAndrews alias Maxim M. Greene, alias whatever. Question number two: What did Penny tell you about the money?"

"You already asked two questions about the secretary. And Penny's name is Joan McAndrews so stop confusing me. Okay, I know I can trust you or I would be insane to tell you. She explained the triple homicide at your house as the result of her not accepting Cole's advances as you explained. She was more specific in describing those advances. She said Cole and her husband had been siphoning money out of her husband's company via Martine's sister, or at least being assisted by Martine's sister. Cole forced her husband to do this because of some mysterious death of the real Penny Kolhaas and some threats to expose Jordan for it. You told her that didn't you?"

"Yes I did. I'd hoped she wouldn't bring up those speculations."

"Well she did. That, and the fact she wouldn't even respond to us unless we called her Penny makes us take her testimony with a grain of salt."

Timing is everything, and it was at that moment that the ladies arrived. Penny, looking a lot better, but shooting daggers at Nakamoto having overheard what he said, accompanied Carol who I had never met but was soon introduced to, and my lovely partner Sandy, who of course made the introduction. Carol handed a file to Nakamoto.

"Here's your proof," explained Carol. "The dummy corporation appearing in the ledgers being sent large chunks of money and the absence of anything gotten in return is all there. I'm not worried about getting fired over giving you the files, but being sued might be a problem, so please use the information with discretion."

"Okay," said Nakamoto. "I'll talk to my friends at the FBI. I'll make it clear about discretion."

"You know Gabe Kahalani?" I asked.

"The PI from Maui, yeah," answered Nakamoto. "He's good."

"Give him a call tomorrow. He has the address of Cole's fancy house in Hana. He's looking into the financing. Be sure and tell him I sent you."

"Okay, yeah, sounds good." After giving Sandy a quick kiss, he left.

"Did you hear about the backdoor girl?" I asked Penny.

"No."

"She's alive."

"I'm glad."

While Penny looked much improved, Sandy and Carol looked exhausted. To tell you the truth, I felt like shit myself. We paused for a minute.

"So how did you and Penny..."

"Her number was by your phone," explained Sandy.

"The police drove me home after the interview," said Penny. "They took my car."

"Yeah, sorry about that Penny. Cole lent it to you, didn't he?" She nodded. "It had stolen plates."

"That asshole. And it was such a nice car."

"Yes it was," I said.

Another long pause ensued.

"We should go," said Sandy.

"I'd like to stay," said Penny.

"I won't be very good company," I said.

Penny smiled. "You're always good company. Besides, I brought the script. I can get it copied while you sleep."

Sandy gave me a kiss and set a brown bag in the closet. "Change of clothes," she explained.

After they left I passed out. Waking up confused, I placed myself in the hospital. A flash of pain made me push the help button. I looked over towards the window and saw Penny sleeping on a cot. She looked beautiful. When the nurse arrived, she bore pills. "One of those is a painkiller I hope," I said. She nodded and I swallowed drinking down the water in nearly one gulp.

"Breakfast?" asked the nurse.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"2:30 in the morning," she said the pretty blonde of medium height and build and with a pleasant demeanor

"Why do the pretty ones arrive when Penny is around," I thought to myself. But the point was Penny was around.

"I'll get you some more water," said the nurse.

"I'll take care of that," said Penny. "You go feed my hungry man." They winked at each other. "Hi," Penny said to me when the nurse left. She gave me a soft kiss.

"Hi yourself, beautiful," I said gravelly through the pain.

"I still feel jittery," said Penny.

"Me too," I said.

"I get these flashbacks. Do you think they'll go away?"

"I'm sure they will. You should talk to Lieutenant Nakamoto. The cops know how to deal with post shooting anxiety."

"I suppose. He did take my car."

"He's a very good man."

"Okay. Let's do some lines."

"I think I've got another drugs swimming through my veins."

Penny handed me some Xeroxed pages. "Silly boy, I mean let's work on the play. It'll take our minds off our troubles and pain."

By the time the nurse arrived with breakfast, a couple of egg sandwiches and juice for the two of us, the narcotic kicked in.

"I want to make love," said Penny with a wicked smile as soon as the nurse left.

"The nurse might object," I said.

"We could always invite her to join in. You wouldn't mind. Why do I always end up with the horny dogs?"

"Because we're men? At least I invite you to the fun."

She kissed me, a slow burn of a kiss that heated up. By the end of it she draped along the edge of the bed, fondling my sluggish penis, her hand under the covers. She lay on my good side so I could press my fingers against her pussy though her thin cotton shorts. When the kiss ended, she checked to make sure the door was closed, pulled the blanket down to my knees, pulled off her shorts and panties, and carefully straddled me.

"You sure you don't want the nurse to join us?" she asked breathlessly. "She looked like she would be fun."

"No room and you are all the fun I could ever need," I sighed as she grabbed my loose but hardening cock and stroked the head along her pussy lips and against her clit. When she decided it was stiff enough, she steadied it under her pussy, guiding it inside the wet hot sheathe, her hand preventing any resistant bending. Once she sat down, her ass meeting my thighs, the play of muscles inside her encouraged my cock to attain full hardness.

She rode me like a horse, not rising up and down but rocking forward and back. She leaned down to continue our kiss, and the fucking and kissing made my heart seethe with warmth. More than at any other time with her, I felt we made love. My good arm surrounded her back, near her waist, my hand caressing, sliding from her upper back to her ass and up. We kept it quiet, the sealing of lips helping. She rested her cheek against mine as she gave forth a nearly silent wail. I could tell, despite or maybe because of the quietness, that the orgasm had completely shaken her. When it subsided, she resumed rocking on my dick. She looked into my eyes, utterly contented.

"I don't need to cum," I said. "It's enough that you did."

"It was good, Joe."

"I could tell."

"Let's get back to work," she said, getting off me, dressing and scooting her chair close to the side of my bed. While we traded lines, one of her hands held the book while the other kept stroking my cock as if she didn't know realize it. When she sensed chafing, she stopped to apply some lubricant from her purse and resumed. After a half hour I was ready to pop. She put her lips around the head and sucked the cum right out of me, this time swallowing most of it.

"Good," was all I could manage. She covered my cock with the blanket and kissed me, sharing my essence.

"I love you Joe."

"I love you Penny."

She kissed my forehead. I soon slept.

When I awoke, she kissed my forehead, only it was 8 am. A doctor stood there smiling. His shift must have just started.

"Let me look at your shoulder," said the doctor. He carefully lowered my smock and removed the bandage. The pain was bearable even when he prodded it with his gloved fingers. "I see no reason for you to stay. Take your pills. Once the nurse redresses your wound you can go. Don't forget your prescriptions." He left.

The nurse, a new one, bandaged her millionth customer after twenty years at it. At least she was quick. Penny got the clothes Sandy had brought and helped me dress. An orderly came by with a wheelchair and pushed me through the hospital and outdoors. Once we hit the sidewalk, I bounded from the chair. It took a moment, but where I had parked yesterday evening came back to me.

As we walked through the parking lot, Penny said, "Come stay with me for the time being."

I thought about rejecting her kindness, but realized it was the best solution with my home taped up and bloody, and Sandy already had a guest.

"I'm calling a real estate agent when we get there," I told Penny after agreeing. "I seemed to have overstayed my time in that house."

"Yeah, it's like a mini ghost town."

"I loved the house, and I did bring the purchase amount up by being stubborn. I guess I'll call the buyers first to find out what I'm getting."

We drove to Penny's house. Agreeing on the ride over to let her call home first, I sat on the bed while she dialed.

"Hi Juanita, its Joan. I'm good, how are you? Thank you sweetheart, I miss you too. Are the kids still in school? What time is it there? 1:30? Could you do me a huge favor? Could you go to the school and pick them up? As soon as possible. And write down this number. Do you have a pen? Okay, it's 808-555-6093. Do you have it? Great. Have them call me as soon as they get home. No, I'm fine. How would you like to come to Hawaii? I'll take care of everything. You wouldn't have to worry about a thing. You won't need a passport, silly, it's the United States. Be as quick as you can, okay. I'll phone Principal Lundquist and let him know you are coming, okay? Great. I'll let you know the arrangements once everything's agreed on. Good. See you."

Penny hung up. She took out a worn address book, found the number and called. "Hello? Can I speak to Principal Lundquist. It's Joan McAndrews. Hello Bob? It's Joan. I'm fine. I've been fine. I know. I know. Look Bob, I can't go into the specifics, but there's an emergency. My maid Juanita is coming by the school to pick up Todd and Fredericka. They're going to have to miss at least a week. It's my husband. I can't go into specifics; all I can say as he's got himself in a whole lot of hot water. Okay, good. Thanks for understanding. Bye."

She handed me the phone. She was nervous and excited. "Do you have a travel agent?" she asked.