Chapter 16

The plan was to have a great supper with the two new managers and after they were safely home, we would set up to protect the family on the boats rather than in the hotel. The theory was that we could be aware of any problem before it could get to us.

Just to be on the safe side, I called the local Coast Guard station to make sure they were aware that there could be a problem on the water, near the shore in front of Dewey's hotel.

As an additional precaution, Dewey had the hotel turn on all of the beach lighting in front of his hotel. The lighting made the beach in front of the hotel look as if it were daylight. The additional lighting was sufficient to light up the water past where the Irish Bell was anchored.

The evening was very laid back and had a party mood to it. The two ladies were celebrating their ascension to management while Dewey, Steve, and Michael were celebrating the success of the trip here. Dewey had Steve ride in the hotel limo that was taking the ladies home so we knew they were safe. Since Josie lived off campus from the hotel, we were concerned how she was going to manage, we sent J.J. along to stay at her place overnight.

Back on the boats, the Captain of the Irish Bell prepared his men to be on watch from the highest point on the big yacht. He had sufficient men to have two men on watch all night. Steve made up a two on - four off watch list with his ladies and I used Ben and Carl on Dewey's boat to also make us on a two on - four off schedule, but I planned on staying up most of the night anyway. This was kind of my problem and not the rest of the families'. The three groups on watch would stay in communications with hand held radios provided by Michael. His radios had multiple frequencies, including the Coast Guard emergency frequency.

From ten to midnight absolutely nothing was stirring. I went across to Steve's boat to see if he thought we could turn on the radar to make sure there wasn't anything in the water. Steve said, "The nearest we can set the radar will be at the three mile range. Let's turn on the radar on all three boats and have the Irish Bell set one of their radar units to ten miles. If anything approaches from the sea, they will see it faster.

I was sitting up with Carl, dozing a little, about one thirty when he said, "There is something right along shore. It's so close it's taking on the form of ground clutter, but see, it's moving along toward us. It's about a mile out."

I radioed both boats, advising them what Carl had seen. Steve responded back that Sue had seen it too and was watching it. The crew on the Irish Bell said he had noticed what he thought was surf clutter but now realized that the clutter was moving closer.

About ten minutes later, a crewman from the Irish Bell called, "I can make out two boats full of men coming slowly from the north. We're also watching the south approach but don't see anything there."

Steve said, "I'll report to the Coast Guard that we are being encroached on. I'm getting the girls up to keep anyone from getting on board. Chuck, get the kids up over there."

Carl radioed, "Already done, Dad. They're on deck now, we're ready."

Steve said, "When they get within about fifty meters, all of us should put our spotlights on the boats. Dewey's and mine have bulletproof glass, so Irish Bell, if yours doesn't have protected glass, don't turn yours on."

The crewman said, "The lens has to be protected glass in the UK. We'll light them up with you."

I checked with the kids and Dewey and found that they each had a shotgun with an extended tube for extra rounds. Each held eight rounds. The first two were explosive rounds and the last six were all double ought buckshot. I had my AR, but didn't put the scope on as at fifty meters, about a hundred and fifty feet, I wouldn't miss. I checked that my Glock was ready and I had plenty of spare magazines for both.

I told the kids, "As soon we turn on the lights, shoot at the boat. Try to shoot a little high so it hits inside the boat instead of against the side. That way, the explosive rounds will do the most damage. I'm going to try to take out whoever is steering the boat."

I figured Steve would do about the same but had no idea what the Irish Bell crew would be doing.

Steve gave the command, "Light 'em up."

All the big spotlights focused on the two boats coming toward us that were now parallel with each other. As soon as the approaching boats were lit up, the men on board fired at the lights. In quick response my two kids and Dewey fired their first two rounds right into the boats. There was a lot of screaming and yelling plus muzzle flashes as they continued firing at the lights.

This gave me opportunity to pick off the helmsman on the right, and then as I was sighting the one on the left, he pitched back. Both boats turned into each other and kept approaching, but at a slower speed.

It was obvious Steve was matching me as we were picking off men standing in the boats one by one. They were soon crouching down, trying to use the sides as protection, but we were sighting down and not in any light, so they couldn't tell where we were shooting from.

When the boats were about thirty feet from us, the men stood up with grappling hooks and rope. Carl, Ben, and Dewey emptied their shotguns at the men. Between my three and the women from the Mercy Mercy, there was no one left standing in the boats. While the kids and Dewey were reloading, I was standing over the side looking down at the carnage inside the boats.

Steve hollered to me, "Let's take the dinghy and make sure there aren't any that need medical attention." He then hollered to the Irish Bell, "Get your skiff out and see if there are any floaters or people trying to swim ashore. We have to get them all."

I was off the side of the Mercy Mercy and into the dinghy quickly while Steve started the motor and took us to the boats. I still had my rifle at the ready for some quick bursts, if necessary. There was one guy hanging onto the side of the boat that we pulled up and put him with his dead buddies. He was shot, but not critically. I jumped into each boat and threw weapons into the dinghy while checking for pulses. I found a couple more men that were alive, but not doing well.

We were pulling the two boats into the resort dock when the Coast Guard came roaring up to the dock. One of the Coast Guardsmen said, "These guys are all unarmed."

Steve hollered back, "I have all of their weapons right here. The law of the sea, they attack I kill and keep the booty."

The officer on the Coast Guard boat said, "If the weapons are worth anything, you should keep them. I would like to inspect them and their serial numbers to see if any are stolen."

Local police came up to the rear of the resort hotel and came down to the dock to inspect what had happened. About that time the skiff from the Irish Bell came back with four men they had found floundering in the water. Only one of the four had not been wounded by exploding shotgun shells.

I had to ask the Coast Guard officer, "Who has jurisdiction, do you, since the attack occurred offshore? Or, since we are within the territorial waters do the local police take over?"

The officer said, "I don't know, we should probably pull them out fifteen miles and scuttle their boats. These were some really nice boats before you guys shot them up so bad. How many people were shooting anyway?"

Steve said, "Me and four women, Chuck, Dewey, the two kids, and six crewmen on the Irish Bell. Let's see, that's fifteen. A pretty fierce squad, don't you think?"

The local police had called the coroner and some ambulances to take the wounded away. I showed the Coast Guard and the local police my ID and began questioning the lone man that was not badly injured. As I took him up on the beach, I drew my Glock and held it at his head and reminded him, "Remember, I'm the one that did Donello in earlier today, so I'm pissed that you guys think you can treat us this way. You will talk to me or you will die right here."

I had taken the guy into the shadows, away from everyone, so he must have thought I was serious. He began talking. I found out that the Donello family had come to the islands about thirty years ago and had set up shop, running a protection scam and fencing stolen goods. As the family grew, it became more powerful. Several other families had tried to muscle in on the Donellos but had been run off or prosecuted. The Donellos had no friends, and the men that perished or that were hurt were the last of the Donello men.

As I took the man back to the police, I said, "You know, you will be in jail a long time but if you get out, there will be those that say you lived because you must have been a coward and an informer. I think you should never come back to Hawaii when you get out of prison." The man hung his head in shame, because he knew I was right.

When all of us were free of the nastiness that had happened, I flexed my left shoulder. The collarbone felt pretty good, considering. I was afraid that I had hurt it this morning and now with all the excitement, I was apprehensive that something else could have happened.

Steve made the women go to bed and I suggested to the kids that they also do the same. Sheila and Sheena dragged Dewey off to bed, so Steve and I, along with the Captain and the first mate of the Irish Bell, were in the lounge of the Mercy Mercy toasting each other with a scotch. Steve said, "We make a good force. We all did what we knew to do and it worked out that no one was injured and if there is any damage, it's to the paint or minor chips. It seems the only light they tried to hit was on Dewey's boat. We'll check everything out in the morning to make sure none of the sails were hit."

The Captain said, "I've always been in the Navy, so I was never involved in the war. We were trained, but not like you two were. You had your people firing in volleys and in stages. That was one hell of a battle plan."

Steve said, "What we needed was a couple RPGs. Those boats would have never gotten that close. We could have taken them out at a couple of hundred meters."

I offered, "This gave us a chance for them to back off though, Steve. Turning on the lights was a warning. When they fired at the lights, it was our turn and the kids and Dewey fired the shotguns. I think that's all we needed to do. You and I picked off the two helmsmen and then worked our way through whatever crew was still left. When they were close, the shotguns finished them. That worked."

Steve and I stayed up on deck, watching out over the water to make sure nothing else was coming. We would nap later, after breakfast.

About six AM, the ladies began coming up to see how Steve and I were. We had cleaned all the weapons and put them away, keeping only our sidearm out. Steve and I were having coffee and were soon surrounded by kids eager to go ashore to run and play.

Steve asked me, "Do you have any more money to invest? Dewey and I have one more piece of property we want to look at. It might be something you would want to get in on."

I told Steve, "I used up the money that I was investing to help others. I have a little personal money, so depending on how much, I might be able to get in."

"We'll go look at the place this afternoon. Dewey found it and likes it, but I don't know whether I like it or not. I was thinking that if you liked it, I'd do it."

After breakfast, Steve and I went to our cabins to nap. I know Sue went to lie down with him and Mercy came into my cabin and lay down with me. We didn't do anything but she was nice to hug as we slept. I liked it a lot more that we were just friends enjoying each other's company.

I woke up by myself about noon, feeling rested. I took a shower and put on fresh clothes. While I was dressing, my head was flooded with Mercy saying something to me that I didn't understand. I walked up on deck and surprise, Mercy was standing there with Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani. All three came to me and hugged me. "What are you girls doing here?"

Brandy said, "All of us came. Frieda, Nancy, and Judy are on shore."

"I had to see my big white boy that I love so much," Tiani said, as she clung to me.

Lisa was on the side opposite of Brandy and Tiani and hugged me. She said, "I told you I had another surprise for you. This is it. I flew your Lear all the way here. We put the extended fuel tanks on and had over an hour's fuel to spare. Your Lear is really nice. Since we've been flying it, it has been perfect. Of course, we do have Jimmy babysitting all of our planes."

I saw a tall, slim lady with a big top, up on shore, "Is that Wanda?"

Lisa said, "It sure is, and John flew right seat with me. We didn't have a full aircraft and I wanted them to enjoy a couple of days in Hawaii too."

Brandy said, "I thought you were in a sling. It hasn't been four weeks yet, so you should still be in a sling."

"I'm doing great. I'm being careful though. No lifting or anything."

Brandy said, "Sure you have. We've already been over to the new resort hotel and heard what happened there yesterday, and we had to hear you were in some kind of skirmish last night. You always keep finding trouble."

"It finds me, Brandy, I don't go looking. Let's go ashore. I want to say hi to the other girls, as well as to Wanda and John."

As we were riding into shore, Lisa said to me, "I brought you another toy to play with. I want us to play a little together. Oh, I also have the videos from our trip to Atlanta. You're not going to believe how good they are. Pops and Rags are selling them like hotcakes. They have their own label, and the promoters are cutting it and are going to put it out as an album. Pops said we were going to get some good money out of it."