Chapter 3: Get Away!

I had a plan to get the will. I had done it a million times at least in my mediating career. But for some reason, it was going as well as I liked it to.

I was sitting in Lena's parlor sipping, of all things, Hawaiian tea. Only moments before, I had done what I usually done and told her to give the will to Kirks wife. Her reply was a simple, "no".

"Lena, Kirk knows you have it." I tried to reason with her. She merely raised an eyebrow in response.

This was ridiculous. I was sitting on a Hawaiian (ironic, no?) print couch, drinking tea for God's sakes. I had just told her that a dead person had sent me here and she didn't even falter. Most people, when I tell them, put their hand to their chest, let out an exasperated sigh and do whatever I ask them to since they are in so much shock. But Lena? Yeah, she is the exception to this.

James set his cup of tea down onto the little coffee table. I could tell he was getting frustrated with her.

"Lena? Give us the will. Now." He said in an angry and threatening way.

"No. Do you know what my family is going through? And what that shop will do to help us?" She replied flicking back her black hair.

"Do you know what Kate, Kirk's wife is going to go through? And all the memories she's going to loose if she looses that shop too?" I countered. "That shop holds the final memories that she had with her husband! Its all she has left!"

Now I was getting pretty worked up. I really wanted to just smack her senseless until she cried uncle.

She smacked her lips at this and leaned back in her chair.

James leaned next to me and whispered so I could only hear, "Your plan sucks. But I have a plan B. Go with it."

I hate it when people try to horn in on my territory.

"You know what? This isn't going anywhere. Suze, will you just give me a minute? I want to use the bathroom, then we can go." James said and got up an, put his car keys on the table and left.

Ok how was I supposed to go with that? My only guess is that James didn't have to go to the bathroom but rather he was going to search for the will. So that meant I had to keep Lena from noticing how long James is gone.

I sighed again and decided to use a little bit of Opra/Doctor Phil.

"So Lena, you said your family was having problems? Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. She seemed a little bit happier now that James had called off the interrogation.

"Well, my dad used to own a ton of sugar cane crop. You've been here awhile so I'm sure you've seen it."

I had seen it. It almost looked like wheat growing. Andy had made us go on a boat tour and the guide had pointed out a part of the island full of sugar cane.

"Well, the part that he owned got burned down because of a fire started by fireworks last July. Some tourists had brought some to celebrate and stupidly fired them in the field. He lost everything. An entire years worth of growing. We were just about to harvest it too. Now, were completely broke and I get barely any pay from working at Kirk and Kate's. So my mom is working two jobs at this restaurant and my dad is working in the fields instead of owning them just to make ends meet."

Wow. She did have things bad. But still, the will belongs to Kate not Lena's father.

"I'm so sorry Lena." I said.

She looked on the verge of tears.

I got up and handed her a tissue.

"Thanks. Your not so bad for a psycho chick."
Damn. And just when I started to like her too.

Just then we heard a loud craaaack and then the sound of glass breaking.

I stood there wide-eyed wondering what the heck James had done.

Lena sprang to her feet spewing cuss words and ran towards the sound of the glass breaking. I guess she knew that James was just not using the bathroom.

"Suze grab the keys and run!" I heard James holler.

Oh dear God. I was going to start the get away car. How the heck do I get myself in this?

I ran out the front door and hit the unlock button and slide, Dukes of Hazarded style, across the roof to the drivers side. Thank God I was wearing my crappy jeans and converse.

I threw open the door to the convertible and jammed the key into the ignition. I watched as James ran out, Lena on his tail, to the car.

He didn't even open the door but instead jumped into the passenger seat.

"Go, go, go!" He yelped and I put the car into gear and sped off. Lena was left in our dust hollering and screaming.

Once we where a safe distance away from her, I pulled over and smacked James on the arm.

"You just made me apart of your get away scheme!" I yelled.

"Well, yeah but on the bright side you drove terrifically. And think about this, how many times do you get to say that you drove a get-away car?" He asked and handed me the will.

"So you actually got the will?" I asked laughing.

"You bet your sweet cheeks cupcake." He replied.

I slapped him on the arm again. "Don't ever call me that again."

"Sorry Mrs. Sensitive." He mocked.

I rolled my eyes. "Now, tell me how to get to Kate's house so we can hand deliver this baby. I don't want Kirk popping up in my bedroom when I get home tomorrow night."

"You're leaving?" He asked me while turning on the puppy eyes.

"Well yeah. I have a life to get back to." I answered.

What did James expect? That I was going to live on the island forever?

He didn't really reply to what I said. After a moment of sitting he told me how to get to Kate's.

After a drive of silence, except for the radio belting out The Plain White T's, I was happy to get out of the car. I tossed James the keys and he handed me the will.

"Should we just give it to her?" He asked, the first thing he's said since leaving Kate's.

"I'll do it. Why don't you wait in the car? It might be better for you if you're not connected anymore then you already are." I answered.

He nodded, not giving me trouble like he usually does. In a way, he was acting like Paul. Good thing Jesse's not dead otherwise I may have to worry about James exorcising him. Ok, maybe that was a little full of my self to say but still.

I knocked on the door and a petite women answered the door.
"Hi are you Kate?" I asked wiping a bead of sweat off my forehead. Man it was hot on the mainland. I could only imagine how my hair looked right now. Thank God it was getting dark out making it harder to see the 'fro I was sure I had.

"Yes…May I help you?" She asked.

I could feel cold air blast through the screen door that was separating the two of us.

"Um. Yeah. I have something for you. I can't explain how or why I have it but I do. So here." I held out the paper for her to see.

She pulled a pair of glasses out of her pocket and looked at it through the screen. As soon as she read the first line, she yanked the screen door open and snatched the paper.

"Oh my God…But…How?" She whispered.

"Kirk wants you to have it." I merely replied.

She said something in Hawaiian.

"Thank you. Whoever you are…Thank you. I'm sorry to say that I've been cursing Kirk's name for the past couple of days because of this." She said and let out a laugh. Then she hugged me and gave me a peck on the cheek. "You'll have to excuse me. I have a lawyer to call." She danced, I'm not kidding danced, into the hall and disappeared.

I, still in shock by Kate's forwardness, just stood there for a moment before I walked back to the car.

James, who was now sitting in the drivers seat, was laughing.

"Did she just hug and kiss you?" He asked between fits of laugher.

"Yes. Yes she did. Take me back to the hotel. I think I may need to scrub my face. Wow, she's forward." I replied.

..OOOOOO..

"Want to go get one last Pina Colada with me Suze?" My mother asked me that night.

I nodded in agreement and finished brushing my hair. Doc had made our bathroom a last minute science lab to finish the reports on that bug. I was now forced to use the bathroom in my Moms room. It was still odd to see Andy's shaving gel and wallet sitting on the counter next to my Moms hair shampoo.

I put my brush back into my makeup bag and shoved it under the sink. We then made our way to the bar for some more mother daughter bonding time. Only to our surprise, Andy, Dopey and Sleepy where sitting there at a large table.

"I guess night surfing was a bust." I muttered to my mom.

"I suppose so. Lets join them."

Yay. Just what I want to do with my last night on the island.

"Hi honey!" Andy brightened when he saw my Mom. He got up and gave her a kiss.

All three of us kids gagged on the site.

"Shut up guys." My Mom mumbled. Her cell phone started to ring just then. She broke away from her embrace and answered it.

"Hello?" She said.

I went over to the bartender and ordered two Pina Colodas, one virgin of course.

"Suze's its for you! Its Jesse." My mom hollered from behind me.

I whipped my head around so fast that it hurt.

I hadn't talk to him since I've left. What did he want? I thought.

I snatched up the phone, motioned towards my mom to take care of the drinks and darted outside.

"Hello?"

"Susannah? It's Jesse." He said.

My legs practically melted. How could I stay mad at him? I loved him, obviously.

"Hi. What's up?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see when you're coming home." He said.

"Tomorrow. I'll be home tomorrow night. I…I miss you." I blurted out.

"I miss you too, quierda." He replied.

"Jesse, I'm so sorry! I don't care that you're working for the police. I mean, I care but it doesn't bother me. I'm really sorry for our fight."

"Susannah…Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow ok?" He said.

"Ok. Bye Jesse." I hanged up the cell, finally feeling at peace and truly relaxed.

..OOOOO..

I woke up to the sound of Doc in the bathroom running water, no doubt working on the experiment still. Why couldn't my mother have married into a normal family? Glancing at the clock, I realized that it was 5:30 in the morning.

"Doc! Go back to bed!" I yelled and pulled the blankets over my head.

I heard the bathroom door open.

"Suze. We leave in 6 hours. I need to finish my experiment!" David replied. "And I don't mind the nickname by the way."

"What?" I asked and pulled the sheet off of my head.

"Doc. You called me Doc."

Dang it. I had been caught.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to." I answered.

"No. I like it." He replied and marched back into the bathroom.

Well, it is my last day, and the sun was coming up. Might as well watch the sunrise I suppose. I grabbed my suite and changed quickly, not really worrying about Doc abandoning his experiment anytime soon.
Just as I was about to leave, Doc stuck his head out of the bathroom door again.

"Oh. Suze I forgot to tell you last night. There is a message on the hotel phone for you. It's CeeCee. She says it's urgent and to call as soon as you can, day or night."

"Ok thanks." I replied and he disappeared again.

I plopped back down on my bed and dialed CeeCee's cell, not worrying too much about waking her since there was time change.

She answered on the second ring.

"Suze!" She said.

"Hey Cee. What's up?" I asked.

"Not to much. Just one little tiny thing."

"What's that?"

I really didn't like the sound of this.

"I saw Jesse at the police station yesterday. I was their giving one last statement about my former boss being an accomplice to a murder and all. You know, everyday activity.

"Anyway, Jesse was there. And when I asked Patty, the cop I was giving my statement to, why he was there, she said she couldn't say. That it was between the county of Carmel. I just thought that it was odd and was wondering if you could shed some light on that." She said.

My heart started pounding in my chest. Jesse had been caught. And by my best friend of all people.

"No idea. I guess we will just need to talk to him about it when I get back." I lied.

"Yeah I suppose so. If you aren't to tired, want to meet at the Clutch tomorrow?" She asked.

"Sounds good." I replied and cleared my throat.

"Ok. Bye!" She hung up.

I sat there on my bed in a state of shock. Jesse's secret is going to be a hard one to keep.