Chapter Eight
Day Three – Late Afternoon
When Thomas and Rick entered La Mariana twenty minutes later, they found Juliet and TC seated side by side at the bar counter going over new Island Hoppers brochures.
TC spotted them first, and he called out to his best friends with a half laugh, "Yo, what happened? I thought you went to the hospital to see the little girl's father."
"We did. But we didn't get a chance to talk to the guy," Rick answered, walking past them to the back bar. Opening the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of water, opened it, and handed it over to Thomas before taking another one for himself.
"He pulled out his IV this morning after the police talked to him but collapsed before he got to the door. They had to sedate him," Magnum explained, answering the question on their friends' faces. Perched on the stool next to TC, he adjusted his sling and then took a quick drink.
"Why on earth would he do that?" Higgins said, aghast.
"Katsumoto mentioned that he was rather agitated after seeing his wife and child last night," Magnum answered contemplatively. "Maybe he got worried about his family and just wanted to get back to them."
"Or maybe he found out that Crandall was about to make bail," Rick griped, his disgust evident.
TC's eyes widened. "He's what? How…?"
Between sips of water, Magnum quickly filled them in on what they managed to find out from the HPD detective and the hospital staff, with Rick animatedly adding on to the narrative every now and then. It was when they came to the part of the black sedan that their friends grew increasingly alarmed.
"Did you manage to get the plate number?" Higgins asked from her seat beside TC.
"We tried but most of the numbers weren't visible."
"I think there was a 7? Or a G," Rick added to Magnum's reply with a helpless shrug.
TC shook his head. "This sounds serious, man. Maybe you should let HPD handle it like Katsumoto said."
"Gordy did ask us for help," Magnum reminded the big guy. "And I think we stand a better chance of finding out what's going on when we talk to Kekoa compared to the police."
"He does appear to be afraid of something or someone," Higgins agreed. She looked from one man to the other, her pretty brown eyes troubled, and continued, "TC's right, though. You both need to be careful. This case appears to be more than a difference of opinion between the two men."
Beside her, TC bobbed his head, his kind, good-natured face a mask of worry.
"Don't worry, we will," Magnum assured them. He took a glance at his watch and stood up, clapping Rick lightly on the shoulder. "C'mon, if your nurse friend is right, he should be awake by the time we get there."
"You're heading back to the hospital?" Higgins asked, surprised.
"Well, that's kinda my fault," Rick grimaced. "It was my idea to go get food while we were waiting for Kekoa to wake up but then…"
"You had to take the next exit to lose the guy following you," TC concluded with a contemplative nod.
Rick grinned at how easily TC finished his sentence. "Yeah, and by the time we did that we were closer here than the hospital so we decided to come back and see if this place was still standing…"
"That's hilarious, Orville," TC shot back with a mock glare. "Just how long have you been waiting to use that?"
"As soon as we walked in but it felt like forever," Rick admitted with a satisfied sigh, making TC and Thomas laugh while Juliet shook her head fondly at the three men.
"Hey, since you missed out on food earlier," the pilot said, getting off his seat. "Let me get you two something to eat before you go."
As if in reply, Rick's stomach growled, loud enough for those near him to hear. Catching Magnum's smirk, he muttered, "Shut up, Tommy."
With another laugh, Thomas winked at Juliet, who was politely hiding her own smile, and then met TC's equally amused eyes. "Mahalo, brother."
~O~O~O~
In the end, it was easier to get into the hospital room to see the injured man than to talk to him. They found out from an earlier conversation with Kekoa's doctor that the bullet went through without hitting anything vital. But since he tore his stitches in the fall while trying to leave the hospital so soon after his surgery and lost quite a bit of blood, he was being kept back for a few more days for further observation.
Thomas introduced himself and Rick to the morose man on the hospital bed but he could tell that Kekoa's mind was somewhere else. It wasn't until he brought up the shooting that they finally got his attention.
"I've already told the police everything," Kekoa said with a scowl. He glared at them suspiciously. "Who are you again?"
"My name is Thomas Magnum, I'm a private investigator," Thomas repeated patiently and then indicated his silent friend beside him with a wave of his hand. "And this is Rick Wright."
Instead of looking towards the door like how he'd been doing since they'd walked in, Kekoa stared intently at them, frowning. His eyes widened as realisation dawned on his face.
"You're the guys from the other day. The ones who–" he cut himself off and then seemed to deflate right before their eyes, sinking back onto the hospital pillows. "Crandall…" he muttered, almost to himself.
Thomas glanced over at Rick and received a puzzled shrug from his friend in return. Turning back to the man on the bed, he tried again, "Mr Kekoa–"
"I have nothing to say to you," he interrupted sullenly, closing his eyes and turning his head away. "Not to you or Crandall, not until…"
"We're not here because of Crandall," Thomas said after the man trailed off mid-sentence. "We actually spoke to your wife–"
Kekoa's head snapped around so quickly that Thomas was sure the man gave himself whiplash. "Nancy? Is she okay?" the man demanded. His face had lost all colour and the PI could see the sudden apprehension in his eyes. "My daughter…?"
"They were both fine when we saw them yesterday," Thomas hurried to reassure him. The older man continued to stare at him and Thomas pushed ahead, "Listen, whatever trouble you're in, we will do everything we can to help you."
"No one can help me," Kekoa shook his head, turning away. "Please, just please go away and leave me alone."
After that, he wouldn't even look their way, let alone speak to them, and after several futile tries, Thomas and Rick left the hospital with more questions than answers.
"What now?" Rick asked as they walked towards where he'd parked the car.
It was getting late; the sun riding low in the sky was starting to paint everything in red and gold. While there were still a number of cars in the hospital parking lot, there was hardly anyone around, save for the occasional passerby. When they reached the Porsche, Thomas paused at the passenger side and looked across the roof of the car at his best friend. It had been a long day – he was tired and achy, and Rick looked about as exhausted as he felt. It didn't help his mood that they'd not made much progress in the case other than to confirm the theory that there was something more going on between Kekoa and the man who shot him.
He was about to answer Rick's earlier question when he felt a presence right behind him – the very same moment he saw the former Marine's eyes widen in alarm as his friend looked past his shoulder, his mouth opening to call out a warning. Before Thomas could turn around, there was a sharp, white-hot pain at the back of his head and suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet him. Faintly, as if from very far away, he heard Rick cry out his name as he landed hard and awkwardly on his injured shoulder. The burst of agony that followed further dimmed the edges of his vision and it was all he could do to stay conscious.
There were a couple of hard kicks to his ribs and he gasped, drawing his knees close to his chest. Then someone grabbed his hair, pulling his head painfully back, and hissed into his ear, "You should have minded your own damn business. Get Kekoa to give us back what's ours and drop it off at the pavilion near the duck pond in Kapiolani Park by noon tomorrow. No cops… or your friend dies!"
The man let go of his hair but before Thomas could process any of the given instructions, there was another explosion of pain and everything went black.
.
A/N: Lhaven, Drjscully (You just had to say it… 😆), SaraWrites120, and Marlab – thanks so much for reviewing Chapter Seven!