|
My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Negative vibrations
» H-3
Accuracy with a pistol shooting from a stable firing position is tough enough. Accuracy shooting backward out the rear window of a vehicle traveling at 85 mph, and from an SUV with a stiff ride at that, is nearly impossible. And damn the child safety window that only went halfway down!
But Wili was a good shot, and in this case favored the .45 they'd just taken after killing the new Halawa criminal's cousin and the mystery man he'd been unable -- too sacred -- to name at trial, along with the brick of brown heroin. Wili was able to squeeze off three shots, aiming low, that ricocheted up into the Honda's grillwork and undercarriage. That and Tai's shot with his extended-barrel .45 that punctured and spiderwebbed the windshield was enough to keep the Honda 40 yards behind. Whatever firepower the two guys in the Honda had, Wili was guessing, they had to be in close.
As they raced up the H-3, nearing the Tets Harano Tunnels, frantic cell phone calls from concerned and frightened citizens were being made to 911.
But the city's 911 system being the maze it is, the one guy who really should have known what was coming his way didn't get the word until it was too late.
And so HPD solo bike officer Quinn Ah Sun and the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa, riding Quinn's off-duty BMW bike, the police radio on, were exiting the tunnel, braking for the turn-around. Technically, it's not a turn-around, but there's room for a bike to squeeze between the gates -- he did it often enough in uniform.
Traffic whizzing past on both sides, Quinn stopped behind the waist-high concrete barrier wall, pointed up at the fortress-like tunnels. Quinn guessed it was the work of the same architect who created the Halawa prison.
Had all the same grace and flare.
"An amazing feat, that tunnel," the young lama said, lifting his face shield. "And an impressive structure. But something about this place ..."
As a living Buddha, the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa felt, and was aware of, everything in the universe. Now the smile of bliss he'd worn since getting on the bike back at Kamasami Khan's home in Kaneohe was replaced by a frown.
"Negative vibrations," he said.
"Lots of controversy over this project, years of controversy," Quinn said over his shoulder. "Native Hawaiian groups protested because the original route would have disrupted historical cultural sites. Couple of guys died digging the tunnels. But I have to say, it's made a lot of people's lives easier."
"Mm ..." the lama said, nodded. "It's more than all that."
Frowning, he turned away from the tunnels, facing traffic coming from town.
That's when they heard the first gunshots, the screeching of tires.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com