My Kind of Town
A father’s blessings
>> Queen's Medical Center
Gwen Roselovich came armed with more than the 20 pounds of Hawaiian heirloom jewelry that jangled on each wrist. She came armed with the blessing of Quinn's father -- HPD Sgt. Mits Ah Sun, who had called her at Dispatch and asked if she could look in on Quinn while Mits was on duty. Gwen couldn't think of a better way to spend her lunch hour, and her heart raced with excitement as she opened the door to Quinn's room.
"Hello," she said softly. No response.
Stepping to his bedside, Gwen saw that Quinn was asleep. She leaned down, softly kissed his cheek, leaving bright red lip prints.
"Everything," she whispered, "is going to be OK, Sweetie."
Still he didn't stir -- knocked out apparently by some pill.
Gwen was on duty last night when Quinn called about an intruder in a Portlock home and moments later he was shot. Curious about the wound to his right thigh, Gwen lifted Quinn's hospital gown. The leg was heavily bandaged. And then Gwen raised the gown a little higher. Her fantasy was about to come true.
>> PanAm Building
Could it be just coincidence that Machiavelli Yang was coming to visit HPD Detective Sherlock Gomes' sister Donna at her travel office at the same time Gomes was there to pick up a ticket for Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka's flight to a Portland drug rehab clinic? No, Gomes didn't believe in coincidence.
A better explanation, perhaps, was that the senator told Yang, his aide, about being busted by Gomes last night. Further, Gomes would not be surprised if Yang knew about the sibling relationship between his travel agent and the detective. But how would Yang know precisely when Gomes would be picking up the senator's ticket? That was troubling.
>> Queen's Medical Center
Her Uncle Mits was sadly mistaken, Lily Ah Sun thought as the elevator stopped at Quinn's floor, if he thought he could do anything to keep her and Quinn apart. That was impossible now that they'd finally reunited after 21 years apart, and especially since they'd fallen in love before realizing that they were first cousins.
And they were on a mission that was bringing them closer together: discovering why their fathers quit speaking 21 years ago. That's why Quinn asked her to go to the State library and research Ah Sun references in the Honolulu newspapers from back then. What she found was both exciting and puzzling, and she could hardly wait to share the printouts of those stories with him. Lily was so excited to see Quinn, she didn't bother knocking on the door to his room.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com