"Love sought is good, but given unsought is better." Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 1
The linen fabric with Jeddy cradled in it dropped from sight. Knowing that the house was set by a cliff and the second story balcony, with a patio underneath, was next to a steep drop with craggy rocks that led to the beach, everyone in the room froze for a moment while staring at Elizabeth's smug smile. Elizabeth's eyes were gleaming with delight at the horror struck look on C.J.'s face. The room full of men, who had all killed for one reason or another, were stopped short by the actions of someone who was supposed to be of "the fairer sex". It took the room a moment to recover from witnessing such a cruel act towards someone so innocent.
In a flash, time began to behave in ways it never had before for C.J. It was going fast and slow all at the same time. Every moment of it felt surreal. Duval Sr. was standing up slowly, but Duval Jr. was streaking across the room to grab Elizabeth by the shoulders. He shook her hard, but in slow motion. C.J. could hear every shout from Houston, Kai and Duval Jr. but none of the words. She mostly heard her ragged breath and the blood coursing through her veins. Her only thought was, "My baby. My baby." She heard a woman screaming. No, that wasn't right. It was more like an anguished wail. She couldn't figure out who it was, but she wished they would stop. It was so loud in her head, and she couldn't think straight with all the noise. Again, she thought, "My baby. My baby." Her entire being was aching and all of her strength rapidly gone. She began to melt slowly into the floor before her bottom hit the sofa and time returned to a normal pace. But she wasn't there; not really. She was with her one-month old son. Her eyes were riveted to the spot she saw him last as if expecting him to float back up to her; to her arms and to her breast so she could kiss and snuggle and nourish him once again. Suddenly, a man was putting a waste basket in front of her, and she vomited.
Kai and Houston were both quickly looking between C.J., their captors and the each other. They were recalculating their next moves, knowing C.J. was now in no state to assist in an escape. Her screams and wails were evidence of that. Duval Jr. continued to shake then slap Elizabeth as he screamed, "You dumb bitch! There was no reason for that!" He was a cold-blooded assassin, but even he had his limits. His plan had been to raise the boy as his own after the baby's parents were disposed of.
Feigning courage, Elizabeth yanked away from him, "Of course there was a reason, it proves that Houston's still under our programming." She quickly rubbed her face where it had been slapped, but just as quickly dropped her hand, lest it appear that she was at all bothered by Jr.'s actions.
Duval Sr. had been carefully studying all of the tapes and, now, with Houston standing in front of him the truth couldn't be any clearer. There was a scoff from him, "My dear, you really aren't that bright, are you? I'll wager he slipped the programming well before you went back to him. He's been playing you this whole time."
Houston, who was briefly stunned from seeing his first born murdered so callously by a woman he once loved, knew he'd have to think about that later, he had more pressing issues at hand. He locked eyes with her and managed an angry, "That's right. Everything you think you've done in the past ten months has all been an illusion." Elizabeth was shocked and terrified at what his words meant.
"So, you see, my dear, you failed in your mission," was Duval Sr.'s bemused response. Inwardly he sighed, "Another worthless hire. And she wasn't even good enough in bed to keep her around for amusement. Well, we'll dispose of her along with the rest."
Elizabeth panicked, she shook her head, "No, no, no. No, that's not right. You couldn't have been lying to me. You're not the kind of man to do that. You wouldn't have slept with me, if you loved her." She knew what her failure would mean, and she was desperately trying to defend herself. She moved to being just out of Houston's reach and pointed to herself and then to the distraught C.J., "You love me, not her." She added with the utmost disdain, "And you certainly don't care about her squalling mongrel half-breed." She kept talking while planning how to get out of the room alive. She stepped and turned so she could see Sr., then she looked back at Houston. Now she was only a few steps away from the door. She argued, "And besides, the codes you gave me worked."
Houston decided not to correct her in that moment about Jeddy's linage. He was too angry that she had killed him and he seethed, "Ya' see, we were onto you. We just needed to know who hired you because it couldn't have been Elgin Cody alone. And those codes? They were to dummy accounts that I had set up a week before you showed up again at my building. So, ya' see, Masters wasn't the only one who knew how to create a shell within a shell." He had a feeling that his words were condemning her, but he didn't care at that moment. He was all at once too livid and too heartbroken.
Duval Sr. had a lot of respect for a man with that kind of cunning. "Well, played, Mr. Houston," he smiled and slowly clapped his hands together in semi-mock applause. While he really could have used Houston's money, he could always get money from other sources. He had just wanted to make Houston look foolish after what had happened on his island a few years ago.
But Houston was focused on Elizabeth, he challenged, "So what happens now that you've 'failed your mission'?"
Elizabeth tried to get to the door, but one of the guards caught her. "No!" Then she looked to Houston and pleaded, "Please, don't let them kill me. You're a good guy. Please!"
Houston had turned to ice, "You murdered an innocent child." Then his next words caused a look of dumbfounded comprehension to cross her face, "My child." He paused to let that sink in, then continued, "What makes you think I give a damn what they do to you?"
She knew right then that all was lost for her. There would be no pleas that she could offer that would make him want to stop what would happen. How had she not seen that the baby was his all along? She briefly thought of pleading to C.J.'s sweeter and forgiving nature, but one look at C.J.'s tear stained, anguished face let her know that strategy had no possibility. She knew she would have an eternity to replay her mistakes over and over again. As she considered this, Duval Jr. grabbed Elizabeth by her frizzy, red hair and dragged her screaming form back over to the balcony, facing her towards the sea. There was a flash of sliver and Elizabeth clutched her neck, which was now spurting gushes of crimson, before he quickly lifted and shoved her over the balcony railing.
Houston had looked away from the scene after the flash of silver. He had looked down at C.J. and could see that she was physically present, but mentally absent. Her eyes were unfocused as she replayed the last moments of their son's life. He wanted to hold her, but he knew he needed to plan his next move to get them out of there alive first. As he looked to Kai, he saw Kai's eyes widen. When he turned his head, he saw two heavily armed men dressed all in black combat gear, their faces covered, swing into the room from the balconies. The ropes were coming from somewhere above. Then the shooting began. Houston and Kai simultaneously grabbed C.J. and pulled her to the ground and covered her body with theirs. Just then more Black Ops guys burst through the door, and moments later, when the shooting stopped, Houston looked up. It took a minute for the smoke to clear, but when it did, he could see that both the Duvals were dead and so were their guards.
Houston heard a moan and looked over to see there was blood percolating from Kai's chest on the right side. C.J. picked up her head and whimpered, "Kai?"
His voice was strained and raspy as he reassured her, "It's okay, Babe. Just a flesh wound." But everyone could see that is was more than that. He had clearly taken several shots to the chest and shoulder.
She stroked his cheek, she softly and urgently told him, "Kai, I love you." She was all to familiar with bullet wounds and she needed him to know.
Kai, he stroked her hair and smiled, "I love you, too, babe" was his horse reply. Then, without a word, two of the Black Ops guys picked up and basket-carried Kai out of the room, while another radioed to set the chopper down so they could fly him to the hospital. C.J. suddenly regained her bearings and followed them out of the room and down the stairs.
Houston, after witnessing the exchange, briefly thought, "That was all I had to do in the warehouse. Just say the words to her." How different life would have been if he had, but he shook that thought off, then he was hot on her heels.
As C.J. watched them preparing to load Kai in the copter that was landing, she was approached by one of the soldiers coming from the direction of the house. He had the linen cloth from the sling in his arms and C.J. almost broke down again, until she saw a little arm moving accompanied by familiar fussing sounds, and the towering 6'6" man said, "Hey, I believe this little guy belongs to you." And he offered her the squirming Jeddy, who was beginning to cry.
Her jaw dropped, and she quickly gathered Jeddy into her arms and began inspecting him while saying," Jeddy?! Jeddy!" She looked at the soldier and asked, "But how?"
Even though he was wearing a black mask, his eyes smiled at her, "We had a drone watching the house as we got into position. They alerted us to what was happening and I reached out and caught the little guy. He didn't even wake up."
She lunged at him and gave him a hug, "Oh, my god! Thank you! Thank you!" Then she realized, "I have to tell Kai." And she dashed off to the helicopter. They were just beginning to get him in when she arrived and yelled so he could hear over the blades. "Kai! Kai! Jeddy's alive!" She held a crying Jeddy up into Kai's line of sight as way of proof. "They caught him! He's alive!" Kai's eyes fluttered and a weak smile played across his face before they guided C.J. away so they could take off.
Houston watched the scene then looked at the soldier and gratefully acknowledged, "Thank you for saving my son." And reached to shake the young man's hand.
As the soldier put his hand out, his sleeve moved up a bit, and the tall, African-American man remarked casually, "All in a day's work, sir."
"What's your name?" He almost said, "My wife and I" but then remembered that he and C.J. weren't married. Instead he said, "His mother and I will want to tell him of the man who saved his life when he grows up."
The man shook his head, "I'm not really allowed to say, but you can tell him Dark Angel was the one who caught him."
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Hours later they were in the hospital waiting room with Kai's mother, brothers, sisters and other family members. C.J. was holding and rocking Jeddy. Even though he was in the sling, she rarely took her hands off of him for more than a few seconds. Houston sat quietly next to her, not sure of what to say or even where to begin. He knew he was the odd man out at this moment, but he also knew he needed to be there to support C.J., who was clearly still shell shocked by the events of the day.
Shortly after they had arrived at the ER, he spoke to the hospital administrator to let them know to send all the bills to him, so Kai and his family wouldn't have to bear the burden for the cost of treatment. A while later, when he was getting antsy, he brought food and drinks for everyone, and kept a close eye on the door. He wasn't sure if any of the Duvals' men might be coming for revenge.
Houston, after calling Vince to tell him what had happened, also spent some of that time with the local, state, and federal authorities going over what transpired. Howard and Grumwald were there and they scolded Houston for going against their best advice. Houston just snipped, "I guess it's a good thing you were following my every move then." They wanted C.J.'s statement, but he told them it would have to wait, and they agreed that they had enough to go on for the time being. It was going to take them days to sort out who was in charge of the case, who would get "the collar', and why some of them were "just hearing about this". Vince offhandedly mentioned to Houston, as they were walking back to the waiting room, that the feds would most likely end up handling it since it was their guys that did the shooting. He also told Houston to bring C.J. and Jeddy back to the house whenever they were ready. They would all stay with the Novellis for as long as they needed to. Then Houston made a quick call to Roy and Will and gave them a brief summary of what had happened and promised to fill in the details later. He hoped that Will wouldn't be too angry that he had been left out of the loop.
Kai had been in surgery for many hours and everyone was doing their best to stay positive. C.J. had been very quiet, not saying more than a few words to anyone, and had been deep in thought for the past half hour. It was beginning to concern everyone; she was normally so talkative. Then, all at once, she got up and pulled Kai's mom, Aheahe, aside, "There's something I need to tell you…" She didn't want to lie to his family anymore. She didn't like the lie in the first place, but Kai had always told her it would be alright and that they wouldn't care when they found out the truth. She just didn't want them to hate her for the lie if Kai didn't make it.
Aheahe, an older woman, short of stature, with long, shiny, curly black hair that had hints of gray, a round face, and a sweet nature, reached up and caressed C.J.'s cheek. She softly acknowledged, "Pika isn't Kai's child by blood."
She was taken aback, "Yes, how did…?" She had thought they agreed not to tell anyone.
She gave C.J. a little smile, "Kai told me." She added, "That boy tells his mama everything. It's okay." She rubbed Jedd's back, "This baby is his hanai and is as much a part of Kai as he is of you. No matter what happens, Pika will always be Hawaiian." C.J. nodded and tears began to trickle down her cheeks and the older mom embraced the new one for a long time.
An hour after that, the doctor came out, and Aheahe, handed Jeddy back to C.J. So far, she was the only one C.J. had let hold him. Even when Houston had offered, she quickly declined and he didn't push the matter. They had to ask a nurse for diapers, wipes and to borrow a breast pump. Aheahe had asked if she could do the honors of changing Jeddy, and C.J. willingly let her.
The look on the surgeon's face was a weary, but serious one. He didn't cushion the blow, and stated bluntly, "We did everything we could. But the damage from the hollow points were too great. We have him on life support so you can say good-bye."
The family was stunned, most let out sobs of grief, then one of his uncles took charge and decided who should go back. His mom, six siblings and C.J. with Jeddy, walked back to the room where Kai was resting in bed, hooked up to, what seemed to be, several dozen machines that included a heart/lung bypass machine. Everyone was used to seeing him as a big, strong man, but lying on the gurney he looked smaller and frail. Not at all like the Kai they knew.
After his siblings said their good-byes, a weeping C.J. placed a slumbering Jeddy on his chest, then leaned down and stroked Kai's hair and whispered in his ear, "You are a good man and a great friend and an even better father. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this." She sniffed, "Your last name means "warrior", and that's what you are. A true warrior." Because of all he had given to her and for her, she needed to give him something, so she gave him her word, "I promise to never change Jeddy's name. He will always be a Parsons-Kekoa. Always. I will make sure that we have that big party on his first birthday, and that he learns about being Hawaiian from his family." She kissed his cheek, her tears slipping onto his face, then she stroked his beard, while she whispered in his ear, "I'm gonna miss you. I love you. Rest well, my hoa aloha. My hau'oli 'uhane." A sob escaped her as she stood up and she wiped her eyes with her finger tips.
Then as C.J. was about to lift Jeddy up, she was stopped by Aheahe, "Let me." C.J. nodded and stepped back. Kai's mom whispered something in his ear as the doctors moved to turn the machines off. She picked up the baby gently, then moved him so that his forehead touched Kai's. It was the last honi, a traditional Hawaiian "kiss", that her son would ever have in this life. She held Jeddy there until the machines were all off and Kai was pronounced dead. Aheahe lifted Jeddy and cradled him in her arms, then kissed Kai one last time on the cheek before bringing Jeddy back to C.J. and they all hugged and cried for a long time.
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It was early evening when Houston and C.J. arrived at the Novelli's house. Houston had called ahead to give them the sad news. Everyone had tears in their eyes, and expressed their sympathy to C.J. The boys all said what a great guy Kai was and how they were going to miss him. Then Mama hugged C.J. tightly. "Come. I made a nice dinner for you."
C.J. shook her head, "I'm not hungry, Mama." The last thing on her mind was food.
Rosa gave her a look that had a mix of concern and stern sympathy, "Now, C.J. you told me you no wanna bottle feed the baby, yes?" C.J. nodded and Mama continued, "You don't eat, you don't make enough milk, then you hafta bottle feed. Huh?" C.J. nodded. After eating and drinking enough to appease her, Mama hustled C.J. and Jeddy off to her room. She had decided that she would bunk in with her. C.J. made no objections and Houston was glad that she would have someone right next to her as she slept; hoping it would stave off any night terrors. Each of the boys offered Houston their bed, but he declined and took the couch out in the front living room.
It was very early the next morning, well before sunrise, when Houston awoke and overheard Mama and C.J. talking in the kitchen. The kitchen was open to the family room that had hallways to either side that lead to the bedrooms and bathrooms. He laid very still and pretended to be asleep. Even letting out a soft snore when he heard Mama say, "Not to be senza cuore…" C.J., wearing a pair of Teresa's sweatpants and a t-shirt, looked puzzled and shook her head, so Mama tried to translate, "Uhhh, antipatica…" C.J. shook her head again, then it came to Rosa, "Without the heart, but, you and Houston, get married now, huh? He's da father of Jeddy. You give it another try, huh?"
C.J. continued to rip the bread into bite sized pieces for the French toast casserole that would be taken over to Aheahe's house for the memorial service that was to be held two days from then. The bread needed time to dry and with Hawaii's humidity, it would need to slowly toast in the oven to get it dry enough. Kai's family had decided that they would have a service on the beach, and then the men would paddle the outrigger canoes out to sea to release his ashes, then around the island to, keeping with the old Hawaiian custom, place his bones in a cave with the ones who had gone before him. C.J. sighed and answered seriously, "No, Mama. I'm done with relationships."
Mama let out sad, "Oohhh, why? You love him. I know you do." It was obvious to Rosa from the time she had met them.
She had been dreading this talk with Mama. She paused then stated, "My love for him has never been the issue. His feelings for me on the other hand." All she could do was sigh heavily before she explained, "Because, let's face it, when it comes to love, I'm cursed."
Mama quietly chided, "Nooo, don't say such things! Houston love you. He do. He worry 'bout you all da time." Vince had told her and Teresa everything Houston had told him, so she put up a defense for Houston, "He maka mistake… He try to get da information…"
C.J. was in no mood to hear it. "No, Mama. He was engaged twice before and he would never, ever have even considered cheating on either of them for any reason." She scoffed, "But with me…" Her words trailed off. Mama started to correct her, but C.J. put her hand up to stop her. The exhaustion was in her voice as she explained, "It's the cold hard truth, Mama. And my track record is horrible. Either they get killed, like Carl and Kai…" She had to take a breath to stop the tears from coming again, "Or they break my heart into millions of pieces, like Robert and Houston. So, I'm done with trying. I'm going to focus on raising my son and leave the relationships to people who have better luck at it."
Rosa could see was not going to get anywhere if she tried to debate the subject with C.J. and switched topics, "So, you move back to Los Angeles?" Her strategy was that if she were close to Houston, working along side of him, maybe things would eventually turn out all right.
She shook her head, "No, I'm staying in Hawaii. I like it here. It's laid back and I can use that right about now." Los Angeles was a fun, exciting place for her when they had moved there from Texas in the early '80's, but now she wanted something more relaxed. She added, "And Jeddy has family here," She touched Rosa's hand, looked into her eyes and gave a little smile, and said earnestly, "Two families, that want to watch him grow up. He'll have lots of cousins to play with, and that'll be just as good as having siblings." They both paused because they could hear Jeddy begin to fuss, so C.J. exited the kitchen to go to Mama's room.
After the bedroom door shut, Mama walked over to the living room doorway and softly asked, "You hear dat?"
Houston froze for a moment wondering how she knew he was awake and listening to their conversation. Then he replied quietly, "Yeah, Mama, I heard."
Mama, who had always considered him one of her boys, nodded, "Good. What are ya' gonna do about it?" She knew this was a problem he would have to fix straightaway or he would never get her back.
He tucked his arms behind his head and answered honestly, "I don't know, Mama. I do not know."