My Kind of Town
Excuses, excuses
>> Highway 99
Commander Chuck Ryan of Navy intelligence braked his rented champagne Intrepid as the traffic light at Kalaloa turned red. The silver-blue van slid into the left-turn lane.
"They're turning into the Arizona Memorial parking lot," Ryan said into his secure-line cell's hands-free mike. "They're all yours."
"I'm on it," replied Lt. Martin Luther Washington.
Waiting for the light to change, and with the protection of tinted windows, Ryan studied the occupants of the van to his left. The driver, the girl they code-named Sandy, the one who had come to Martin with a tale of impending treason and possibly terror, looked comfortable. She was doing her job perfectly so far. In the passenger seat was Muhammed Resurreccion. He was a slick one, looking like a well-to-do Filipino businessman, not a Muslim terrorist. But Ryan knew better. In the back seat was a Filipina and a little girl, cute as can be. The woman, they knew, worked as a maid in Hawaii Kai, the girl was her daughter. They too had the last name Resurreccion.
"You sonuvabitch," Ryan muttered at Muhammed. But that was the Muslim terrorist way. Not only did you use women and children as tools and shields, you used women and children from your own family to unwittingly do your dirty work. Where was the honor in that? Or the manhood?
The light switched to green and as the van turned left into the Arizona Memorial lot, Ryan accelerated through the intersection. "I'm looping around," he said. "Once he's inside, let me know, I'm there."
"Will do," Martin said.
"Marty, somehow he's gonna use the girl. She's the perfect cover."
>> Honolulu Soap Co.
When her father left her office, Lily Ah Sun kept finding excuses not to return her cousin Quinn's call. First she called Donna Gomes at Uku Miles Travel, to change her flight to San Francisco. Lily wanted to get there for Laird's graduation a day ahead of their father. Then she called San Francisco and confirmed lunch with Donato Catalano, who owned an international chain of spas. Donato wanted Lily and Ola Essences to create a special line of phyto-cosmetics for his spas.
She called Laird, left a message that she was coming in a day early and wanted to take him to dinner. Lily started to dial her favorite cut-throat attorney Suzanna B. Balls, but thought better of it. No sense calling off the attack dog until after she was sure that Laird would support her, and until she saw what happened when Laird told their father he didn't want to take over the Soap Co.
But Lily was putting off more than just returning Quinn's call. She was fighting the urge to run to him and fall into his big, strong arms.
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