And Not to Yield

Chapter 3

Words: 4,027

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Coming around a shoulder on a high ridge close to KoKo Head, Magnum slowed to catch his breath. Mountain side, the way he had come, the Robin 1 Ferrari was a red dot far below. Ocean side, a blue green vastness flecked with white stretched out to the ends of the earth. The trail he had been climbing curved away behind outcroppings, disappearing to the left as it wound further up the ridge, but in front lay a small deserted knoll with a view equaled by few high priced resorts.

"Magnum, is it?" The voice seemed to come out of nowhere and it took Magnum a moment to locate the figure sitting in a semi-lotus position behind him to his right, sheltered in a small natural alcove. The man sat with his eyes closed, his shirt open letting the sun pour onto his upper body, revealing a bandage dressing on his left side held in place by strips of white surgical tape. The tan of the skin highlighted circular scars, some puckered with reddish edges, and other scars of straight lines with the dots of old sutures along side them. His reddish hair was long and disordered, as was his mustache, but his cheeks were clean shaven and the worn clothes were clean.

"Yes... The Duchess said I could meet you here."

"That's a fact. Sis asked so, here I am. Otherwise it'd just be you and the scenery." A smile crossed his face but his eyes remained closed.

Stepping to the side where he could both look out over the ocean and face Bob, Magnum sat down on a rock outcropping and wiped the sweat from his eyes. "Its beautiful up here, I see why you like it."

"Yeah," came the somewhat baleful reply. "So what do you want, Mr. Private Eye?"

"How's your wound?"

"Its fine."

"The three men you saved last night, Higgins, Rick, and TC, are concerned about you and Higgins would like you to come and stay at the estate until you've fully recovered or as long as you'd like. Its private and no one would bother you there."

"Nah, man. I like the open air. I'm used to it."

"Well, would you consider just coming by. They would like to meet you, to tell you... well, nothing seems appropriate, but to thank you."

"No need for that... No reason to give thanks for having your sentence in this world extended."

"Well, they didn't want to die and they're grateful to you for, as you put it, extending their sentence." Magnum sat quietly for a second and when Bob made no move to respond, continued. "Actually, I am not sure I understand you. If you believe what you just said then why did you risk your life to save three strangers you didn't know?"

Bob opened his eyes and the force of his smoldering gaze was almost physical in its impact. "Oh, I believe it. Its just that I also understand others don't." Then a strange smile twisted his lips. "Plus it suited me to interfere. That punk had no respect. He'd won. He should have let it end. If he had I would have kept walking."

Magnum looked away over the ocean but the images that flickered through his mind contained the face of a Russian interrogator, bamboo cages, TC with tormented eyes, and his other friend Mac's burned and nearly unrecognizable corpse. Finally he looked down at the ground and nodded his head. "Yes. I can understand that. But even so, there's no harm in letting my friends thank you proper. It would mean a lot to them. Surely you understand how they feel..." Magnum looked at this enigma before him and wondered what it would take to reach him.

Bob switched his gaze to the far horizon and sat quiet before replying. "You can tell them... I appreciate their thoughts." Then his gaze swung back at Magnum and the wild look returned. "But its too late now for any of that."

"Why is it too late?" Magnum said with fervor as he hunched forward. "Its never too late if you try. No matter how hard it gets if you hold to the belief that there is some good some where in this world then you can go on."

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." Bob looked seriously at him, and then laughed. "The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:7... I know all the quotes and all the philosophy, Mr. Private Eye.

"When the race gets hard to run, then I say to my soul, take courage, battle to be won." Bob's maniacal smile got wider as he began to hum. "But I have no friends in high places... and someone will have to pay..."

"Bob Marlee, I believe." Magnum murmured.

"Very good deduction, Mr. Private Detective, out of sequence but still you got it." Bob nodded his head in time to the music in his head. "Mr. Marlee understood how things are."

"Perhaps he should have tried harder to see things as they should be." Magnum said softly.

"Ah..." with a slap on his knee Bob jumped to his feet and strode to the edge of the knoll. "I used to love Don Quixote. I can't remember the number of times I went to see the off Broadway productions; and I used to have the album when I had a record player to play it and a home to sit in to listen to it... No one can sing those reaffirmations of belief and faith like Richard Kiley." He stood on the edge of the ledge and swinging his arms wide rose on his toes with his head back and eyes closed, as if sacrificing himself to the sun or in preparation for a sacrifice to the rocks below.

After a minute he turned and sat down on a rock close to where the trail emerged onto the knoll. "But I no longer have the albums and I no longer have the illusions that life is good and that somewhere a great benevolent God awaits to bring us into his fold of love and happiness forever. Life shows little evidence of such a being, but much of a underlying malevolence that twists and distorts what ever good may appear. Do you dispute that Mr. Private Eye?"

A flash of sunlight from a red and orange blur over the channel moving fast toward Molokai caught Magnum's attention momentarily as he took his cap off, rubbed the side of his head and putting the cap back on refocused his attention on Bob. "I think you may be somewhat correct about the facts but to paraphrase General Howe, your interpretation might be lacking."

"Oh? So tell me, Mr. Private Eye, how would you interpret the facts that because I help your friends now the pigs are after me?" A glare twisted his face as he rubbed the scar over his eye.

"Look, I don't get along with the police either all the time. But in this situation you have to give them a little slack. There are two people shot dead and they can't just pretend it didn't happen..."

"There are witnesses that know what happened, they don't need me to confirm it. I know how it is with them, they just can't leave people alone, they just want another chance to beat the 'truth' out of someone who doesn't conform to their petty narrow minded concepts of how people should live. That's why I didn't hang around the emergency room and why I ain't meeting with those damn pigs."

"I understand you've had bad run-ins with the cops before, but it doesn't have to be that way this time. I'm here telling you we'll stand by you, all we have to do is arrange for you to turn yourself in and give a statement..."

"And you believe this, Mr. Private Eye? You giving me your personal guarantee about this?" Bob fixed Magnum with a challenging stare.

"I believe that society has to have a certain amount of rules otherwise everything would just be chaos. And the only way society works is for people to be willing to go along, to cooperate to an extent..."

"So, you believe in being a good citizen, a pillar of society, Mr. Private Eye?"

Magnum took a breath and let it out slowly. "You're not making this easy. I'm not your enemy.."

"No, but you're not my friend either." A tight grin lifted the corner of his mouth as he stared at Magnum. "I'm trying to figure out who you are Mr. Private Eye, and whether you believe what you say, and say what you believe; or if you're just another big talking phony..."

Traces of anger flared in Magnum's eyes but he fought it down as Bob stared at him. "Look, this is a homicide investigation. The cops have to follow procedure, they need to talk to you because you're the one who pulled the trigger. They have to do their job and if you refuse to talk with them..."

"Ha..." Bob tapped the scar over his eye. "I know all about how Honolulu's finest like to talk."

"No one's going to do anything like that if you keep cool. At the most you might have to spend the night in the lock up, but we'll have bail all arranged and get you out. It might not even come to that if you go in voluntarily before they issue a warrant."

"Let'em issue a warrant, it don't matter none."

"Damn it! Why won't you be sensible? You don't have to provoke them into taking the next step and then the next and then the next. You've got people who'll stand beside you, who'll help you work it out. Or is it that you're too damn proud to accept help?"

"Proud? I got past proud a long time ago. When I was twelve, after school I'd deliver papers and walk past the tavern where my mother spent all her time, and damn, if I was lucky maybe the door would be open and I'd get a glimpse of her... that was about as close as I ever got to her. Then one Easter one of her friends she boozed it up with all the time, called me over as I was walking by and gave me an Easter basket with all sorts of junk candy and stuff in it. I got all excited because I thought my mom got it for me, but she hadn't. She didn't even know about it 'cause she was passed out in a booth. Pride... there ain't no pride, man. There's just yourself. There ain't no one or nothing else."

"I know sometimes everything sucks, but there are people who care. There are people who can respect what you've done and are willing to stand by you, but you got to ease up a little, you got to give people a chance, especially when they are trying to understand and willing to help."

Bob ran his hands down to his knees and leaned on his arms as he stared off down the beach where small figures could be seen. "You ever go to the beach with your old man?"

"Sure, during the summers my folks took me to the beach all the time when I was a kid."

"Closest I came to playing on the beach with my old man was after my mom died. I didn't know where else to go so I went begging to that son of a bitch. He walked me out to the street and pointed at the ocean. Told me to start walking and not to stop." A fierce expression contorted his face and he flashed Magnum a smile exposing his teeth and gave a short laugh. "Fooled that old bastard, bet he never thought I'd make it this far."

Magnum started to say something but checked himself with a small helpless shrug and sat still, not having any words that didn't sound trivial or trite.

After awhile Bob took a deep breath and with a slight twitch of his head seemed to force his mind to other thoughts. "So, you married? Wife? Kids?"

"No... well... I mean I was... but I'm not now. I have a little girl... but I guess she's not so little now." Magnum's voice faded off.

"Don't you know?"

"Well, my wife... she... remarried and I haven't seen them for a while."

"Hmm... so, Mr. Private Eye, when you're not on some big case like me," he gave Magnum a sardonic smile, "what do you do? Where do you hang that cap of yours?"

"Well, I run security at Robin Master's estate, which is where I live; and for play I like volleyball, ocean kayaking, swimming... you know. Nothing overly exciting."

"Yeah, I know." Bob nodded to himself. "Seems to me you've pretty much opted out of the rat race. No home, no family... sort of avoiding responsibilities, living on the fringe so to say. Its almost as if you didn't feel like you fit in that pretty society with its little rules and conventions." He turned and gave Magnum a big grin. "It almost sounds like you're the same as me." He gave a laugh and looked off over the ocean again.

"I hear you were in the Nam, Mr. Navy Lieutenant. Perhaps you were the Morale and Welfare officer on one of those cruisers that cruised the great South China Sea? Making sure everyone wrote home and watched wholesome movies and read good books?"

"Actually I worked mostly in the Delta with the Riverine Forces and some recon stuff. That's how I got to know Rick and TC. TC was a chopper driver and worked with our unit a lot and Rick was his crew chief. The Duchess mentioned that you had served a couple of tours, you ever get down in the Delta?"

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Lieutenant. I was in the Delta a couple of times. Was up out of Khe Sanh too. In fact," he pointed to a scar on his right side, "I got that one up on Co Roc one nice bright and sunny morn." He smiled at Magnum. "You got any scars you want to show?"

Magnum shook his head and laughed. "I've got a couple, but I can see you got more than me, Rick, and TC put together."

"Yeah, well this ain't all of them. I got willy peter scars on my ass from tossing grenades between my legs as me and the team were trying to claw that mountain side down to get away from those sorry ass NVA capture teams." He got a far away look in his eye and shook his head. "That was a trip, man..." For a moment he seemed lost in thought then his eyes clouded over and his hand unconsciously rubbed the scar on his temple, "but not as bad a trip as being back in the world.."

"So, why don't you consider coming out to the estate? Rick and TC can show you their scars, and believe it or not so can Higgins. He was quite a terror in his day, served all over in the British Army during WWII. Of course after his hundredth war story you might wish to get back out here, but in truth he is one of the good guys. He understands a lot of things that are just murky in my mind. I give him a bad time usually but when things get tough he's always there to back you up or take the point if need be." Magnum paused.

Bob lost his smile and looked pensively at the ground at his feet. "I don't know..."

"You would be doing Higgins a big favor. He really is concerned and feels responsible because if he had insisted on waiting to go out to the warehouse until this morning, he feels none of this would have happened, and you wouldn't have ended up in the hospital and in trouble with the police. If he could meet you and provide you with any assistance you could accept then it would give him something positive to do and I think he would recover a lot faster. You know how those old Sergeant Majors are, the team daddy that can't rest if one of their own is in need. And that's how he thinks of you. His exact words to me were, 'I want you to find that lad, and let him know we will stand by him.' We all feel that way, bro."

A strange troubled expression came over Bob's face, as if he was wrestling in silent agony with himself. His jaw muscles worked as his hands kneaded his legs and his eyes searched the knoll aimlessly. Finally he quieted and sat with his arms braced against his knees, head down. After awhile he nodded silently to himself and looked up at Magnum. "I..." As he started to speak he glanced towards the trail and stiffened. Rising to his feet he peered down for a moment. Magnum saw his shoulders slump for a second and then the wolfish expression returned. "Well, well. Looks like KoKo Head is getting popular."

Magnum got up and strode over to stand next to Bob. Far below he could see several police cars and a group of suited and uniformed officers beginning to climb the trail. "Damn it!" He turned to look at Bob before swinging his furious gaze back along the trail. "I don't know what's going on."

"Don't sweat it, Mr. Private Eye Man." He gave a laugh. "The old bard knew how it goes, its just more slings and arrows reminding me what I already knew. You see Sis, you tell her I just had to do what I had to do."

There was a slight rattle of disturbed rocks and when Magnum looked up the knoll was deserted again. He looked around quickly and then walked over to the edge and looked down, but there was nothing below but ocean swells and rocks.

Two uniformed officers carrying shotguns came around the rocky shoulder and walked slowly onto the knoll looking around and scanning the higher elevations. There was the sound of clattering rocks followed by a curse, and then Lieutenant Burke emerged on the knoll and breathing heavily sat down on the rock Bob had occupied. He wiped at the flowing perspiration with a soiled handkerchief and looked around with bleary eyes. After a few moments he coughed and looked at the two uniformed officers. "You see anything?"

They shook their heads as they peered up at the towering lava. "Don't see a damn thing, Lieutenant," one said.

Burke got wearily to his feet and coughing spat a glob of phlegm into the rocks. "Well, keep looking, he's gotta be up here some where."

"You know, you're a right bastard, Lieutenant." Magnum's voice seemed to spring out of the very rocks. The two uniformed policemen spun around, shotguns half way to their shoulders, eyes frantically searching. Burke jumped back, his hand flying to his holster. "Show yourself, Magnum. I know that's you."

"I thought you knew where I was, Lieutenant since you tried spitting on me." There was rustle of motion in the alcove and all three officers spun to face it, the shotguns, now at their shoulders, centering on Magnum who was sitting in a semi-lotus position with his cap resting on one knee.

After a moment's hesitation Burke moved forward until he was towering over Magnum. "All right, where is he, Magnum?"

"Where is who, Lieutenant?"

"Don't give me that crap, Magnum. You know who I mean. Your two-bit hero buddy." He snatched a folded document from the inner pocket of his jacket and waved it at Magnum. "You play games with me and I'll throw the book at you. Obstruction of justice, harboring a known felon, and anything else I can think of."

Magnum grabbed his cap off his knee and rose to his feet, thrusting his face into Burke's. "I don't know what the hell you are ranting about. What I do know is that I went to your office and offered to assist you in finding someone you wanted to talk to. You told me to take a hike. Which is what I did. I come up here to get away from people and to get some peace and quiet so I can think, and next thing I know you show up waving guns in my face and threatening me. If there's going to be any charges filed, Lieutenant, I'll be the one filing them; and if there's going to be any explaining done its going to be you explaining to me what the hell you are doing here and why I shouldn't be filing a complaint with the Police Commission for you putting a tail on me."

"I'm in charge of a homicide investigation and if I want to put a tail on a crum bum private dick who's up to his eyebrows in trying to hide a perp I'll put a tail on him. You bums think you're so smart, you go through my files and you think I don't know it. You think I don't know you're going to run right over to that half-way house and talk to that bleeding heart who gets her rocks off coddling all those losers? You think you're so god damn clever and you drive that red whore wagon my grandmother could tail in her sleep. So you'd better believe I put a tail on you, it was waiting for you at that house for losers which is where you'd gonna end up if you don't turn that perp over right now. I know he's here."

"If you know so much, Lieutenant, then I suggest you get busy and find him. If he was here and didn't know you were I'm sure he does now, since they can probably hear you ranting all the way to the Big Island. And I'll tell you something else..."

"Excuse me gentlemen, I hate to break up a friendly discussion but perhaps someone could update me on what's going on here... Lieutenant Burke?" Burke swung his hate filled eyes around and suddenly seemed to deflate as he looked at the slight Japanese American wearing tennis shoes, a white floppy hat, and a well worn Hawaiian shirt.

"Captain, I got this one and I'm about ready to get him to toss up the perp I've got the warrant for." Burke stepped away from Magnum and weakly waved the warrant in the air and then shoved it back in his pocket.

"I'm quite familiar with Mr. Magnum." The captain turned his gaze on Magnum and gave a slight nod. "Thomas."

"Captain Tanaka." Magnum nodded in return and put his cap back on, the anger slowly dimming in his eyes.

"So, Lieutenant, let me get this straight, you can put Mr. Magnum together with your perp and you followed him here because you had information that these two were having a meeting here, is that right?"

"Not exactly, Captain. But I know this crum.. I know this guy. He's looking for this perp and he's going to find him, so I figure I'll follow..." As Burke's voice trailed off his face turned a scarlet red and he began vigorously wiping his face with the handkerchief.

"In other words you don't have anything connecting Mr. Magnum with the person named in your warrant?"

"Captain.. I..."

Tanaka gave a slight sigh. "Thomas, why don't you go along. And if you come across any information that has a bearing on this case I would appreciate it if you would contact us."

Magnum took a deep breath and let it out. Wiping his hands on his thighs he gave the Captain a nod and headed down the trail without once looking at Lieutenant Burke, an act that took every bit of will power he possessed.

---- Dissolve----