Wedding Day Dead: A Murder on Maui Mystery (24 page)

“Searching for my phone.”

“Why would it be in the grass?”

“I think Kai’s friend knocked it off me when he knocked me out.”

“Let me call it.”

Alana pulled out her phone and called my number. She quickly hung up.

“Went straight to voice mail,” she said. “Let’s get you back in the house. We’ll find the phone later.”

“I’m fine,” I protested.

“You need to be resting and not crawling around in the yard.”

Alana and I went back inside. Maui the dog ran up to her. He did his usual thing of collapsing on his back in dramatic fashion so she could bend down and scratch his belly.

“Hello, Maui,” she said.

Alana stood after tickling Maui’s stomach.

“Did the headaches go away yet?” she asked.

“Much better since I quit taking those painkillers.”

“So what are you doing for the pain?”

“Pretending it doesn’t exist,” I said.

“Is it working?”

“Not well. You know, I never followed up with you about Kai and his friend. When did they get arrested?”

“They didn’t,” she said.

“How’s that possible?”

“I went looking for them and found them in the hospital.”

“The hospital?”

“Apparently they checked in just after you checked out. They claimed a certain retired football player paid them a visit.”

“Foxx?” I asked.

“He broke both their arms, meaning both arms on each guy. So that’s four broken arms to your one.”

“Really?”

“You’re surprised? I’m pretty sure that’s why Foxx asked me to drive you home from the hospital. He went looking for them.”

“I guess he found them. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”

“They wanted to file an assault charge against Foxx when I reminded them you could easily file one against them.”

“So you cut a deal.”

“I didn’t think you’d want Foxx going back to jail, even if it meant keeping Kai and his friend out.”

“I see your point.”

“I don’t think they’re going to bother you anymore,” she said. “Here’s another interesting development. Makani’s mother called in a missing person’s report on Makani. His family hasn’t seen him for a few days.”

“Think he fled the island?” I asked.

“Maybe. I’ve got a guy checking the flight schedules as we speak. Certainly lends credence to your theory,” Alana said.

I already felt bad for confronting Makani before I had gathered the evidence. Now I felt even worse, but why would he leave when I was convinced Kai was the killer? Was Makani there too when the murder occurred? Probably. I couldn’t think of another theory that fit.

“I better get back to the office. I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she said.

“You coming back after work?” I asked.

“Absolutely.”

I walked Alana to the front door.

“Do me a favor and stay off the grass. You need to rest,” she said.

I smiled and promised I would stay in bed. A few minutes after Alana left, though, I took Maui the dog outside so he could do his thing. He roamed around the yard for a while and then disappeared into the bushes.

“What are you doing in there, Maui? You find a bird or something?”

Maui the dog came out of the bushes with a black object in his mouth. I bent over to examine it. It was the plastic case for my phone.

How did it get all the way in there?
I thought. I got down on my knees and felt under the bush for my phone. I found it against the base of the bush. I pressed the button on the bottom of the phone, but the phone was completely dead. I guessed that was why it went straight to voice mail when Alana called.

I took Maui the dog back inside and plugged my cell phone into the charger. It powered up after charging for another ten minutes or so. A few minutes after that, a text message appeared on the display.

“Meet me at the marina. M.”

I assumed
M
stood for Makani. I wondered when he sent the text, though, because it registered as having just been sent. I thought that was
because the phone had just been turned on. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Alana said Makani had gone missing. What if he’d been at the marina all this time? I called Alana but only got her voicemail. Foxx still wasn’t back from the store. I called Makani’s number back. It went to voicemail after several rings.

I knew I should wait for one of them, but my impatience got the better of me. I grabbed my car keys from the kitchen counter and headed out to the car. The BMW Z3 is an automatic, so it wasn’t that hard to drive with one hand.

I got to the marina in no time. I walked down to the dock where Panos’ boat was. I didn’t notice the smell until I hopped on the boat. I opened the door to the cabin, and then the smell became overwhelming. The scene was difficult to describe, but I’ll give you the somewhat censored version because I doubt you’d want to hear the true horrific details. Makani’s body was slumped on the sofa. His blood and brain matter were spread across the cabin wall behind him. I looked down and saw a handgun on the floor, just off to the side of his body. There was a small table bolted to the floor in front of the sofa. A cell phone was on the table, along with a note that said “play.”

I pressed the home button on the phone and immediately saw my phone number listed as a missed call. There were a several other missed calls listed but only from a couple of different phone numbers. I didn’t recognize the numbers, but they probably belonged to Kai and his mother. I tapped the video icon on the display. There was only one video shown on the phone’s drive, so I played it. Makani’s image appeared. The video was somewhat dark, but it was clear enough to tell it was shot in the boat cabin. Makani spoke directly to the phone’s camera. His voice cracked as he spoke, and he did so in a slow cadence as if he were searching for the right words to say.

“I can’t allow my brother or Hani to be blamed for something I did. The flashlight belonged to me. I took it out of my glove box when I got to the marina. I found Panos sleeping. I hit him in the back of the head so he wouldn’t wake up. I pulled his head back and cut his throat. I threw the knife in the ocean. You’ll never find it.”

Makani looked down. He mumbled into his chest, and I couldn’t tell if he was talking to the camera or to himself.

“He wasn’t a good person. He shouldn’t have done the things he did to Hani,” Makani said.

He looked back at the camera.

“Hani is innocent. Please let her go.”

Makani reached toward the phone, and the video ended. I tapped on his text icon and confirmed he had sent me the text message a few days ago. He must have come here shortly after our conversation at the surf shop. I felt sick to my stomach for multiple reasons. The site was gruesome for sure, but I also felt somewhat responsible for driving Makani to suicide.

I put his phone back on the table and pulled mine out. I called Alana, but it went to voice mail again. I left her a message to get to the marina as quickly as possible. I then hung up and called 911.

I left the cabin and stood on the dock beside the boat and waited. The sky was beautiful, and the waters were calm. Makani was gone. I had such a hard time processing that.

The first police car arrived about twenty minutes later. It was a single police officer. He looked like he was in his early twenties. I wondered if he’d just joined the force. He was about to see something he’d never be able to purge from his mind. I knew I wouldn’t be able to no matter how hard I tried. I told him where the body was. I told him to prepare himself for the smell.

Detective Adcock and Alana showed up a few minutes after the initial officer. They were in two different cars, but they got to the marina around the same time. The police officer came out of the cabin. He walked to the stern and hopped onto the dock. He stood still and sucked in the fresh air. I tried not to look at him. I wanted to give him his space, but it was easy to notice the sweat rolling down his face as he walked by me. The police officer headed up the dock and greeted Adcock and Alana who were walking toward him.

“Body inside, Detective,” the police officer told Adcock.

Adcock walked past the officer without stopping and headed over to me.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

“There’s a cell phone on the table in the cabin. Play the video. Everything will be clear.”

Adcock stepped onto the boat and disappeared into the cabin.

“Makani?” Alana asked.

I nodded.

She followed Adcock into the cabin. They both came out a couple of minutes later. In that short time, another police car and an ambulance had arrived.

Adcock walked up to the original police officer. He pointed at me.

“Arrest him,” Adcock said.

“Arrest me?” I asked.

“For murder,” Adcock said.

“You’re going to pin this on me?”

“You found the body. How did you know it was here?” he asked.

“Check the text messages on his phone. He told me to meet him here.”

The officer approached me.

“Put your hands behind your back,” he said.

“I don’t think you’re going to get cuffs around this thing,” I said, and I held up my arm with the cast.

“This is bullshit, Glen, and you know it,” Alana said.

“Don’t interfere. This is my case,” he said.

“You saw the video. The guy confessed,” Alana said.

“And why wouldn’t he with your boyfriend pointing a gun at his head?”

“You have zero proof he was coerced,” she said.

The police officer read me my rights as he escorted me up the dock and to his car. He removed a thick canvas belt from the trunk of the car. It had a metal loop on it, and he wrapped it around my waist. He then pulled my good arm behind my back and handcuffed it to the metal loop. He then zip-tied my cast to the belt. My arms weren’t going anywhere. He shoved me into the backseat of the car and shut the door. I looked back toward Panos’ boat but couldn’t see it from the angle the car was parked. I knew the murder charges wouldn’t stick, but I couldn’t help but be nervous. This was my first time in the back of a police car if you don’t count the time Alana pretended to arrest me outside Harry’s.

They took me to the station and booked me on murder charges. They then threw me into a large cell populated by about twelve other guys. I had no idea what they were in there for, and I had no desire to get to know them.

Despite what I may have implied earlier, I don’t think Detective Glen Adcock is a dumb guy. In fact, I think he’s somewhat clever in certain aspects. I do think he’s an incredibly lazy detective, and there’s no doubt in my mind he royally screwed up this investigation. Did I think he’d ever acknowledge that or even apologize to me? No chance. He’s clearly a vindictive tool. He uses the law to settle grudges and perceived grievances. But is he dumb? No. Case in
point, he arrested me on a Friday afternoon. He knew nothing was going to get done over the weekend, so I would sit in that cell for close to seventy-two hours before they finally let me out.

I probably would have been locked up even longer had it not been for Alana. She visited me a few times over the weekend and told me she was doing everything she could to get me free. I believed her, but it didn’t make the weekend any better or go any faster for that matter. They finally let me out late Monday morning. Adcock wasn’t there. In fact, I didn’t see him anywhere in the police station. I guessed he decided to do a coffee run or just take a personal day to work on his insecurities. Maybe he needed time to reflect on how he messed this thing up. Maybe he was just brainstorming on other bogus charges he could hit me with. Either way, I was glad I didn’t see him.

“The medical examiner is a friend of mine,” Alana said.

We walked toward the exit.

“I convinced her to do the examination over the weekend. Makani’s time of death is around the time you were in the emergency room. You’ve got multiple witnesses to confirm that, as well as your medical records. By the way, we owe the M.E. an incredibly expensive steak dinner.”

“No problem. I’ll be glad to buy her and a date of her choice dinner anytime.”

We walked outside. The sky was overcast, and it looked like it might rain any second. I didn’t care about the crappy weather. I was just thrilled to be out of there. We walked toward Alana’s car, which was parked in the back of the lot.

“What about Hani? That video has to exonerate her,” I said.

“Mara Winters has seen the video and has filed a petition for her release. I don’t see the judge not granting it, but the hearing isn’t until this afternoon.”

“If the judge agrees, how fast will she be out?”

“By today if all goes according to plan. She knows what you did for her. She told me to tell you how grateful she is.”

“It’s no problem,” I said.

“No problem? You got your arm broken, and you were thrown in jail.”

“You know what I mean. I wanted to help.”

We reached her car. Alana put her arms on the roof and looked across the car to me.

“I know what you did too. Thank you,” she said.

“I did it for you,” I said.

“I know.”

We climbed into Alana’s car, and she drove out of the parking lot. We drove in silence for several minutes.

“I guess Kai and his mother know what happened,” I said.

“I told them. It was bad, especially with the mother.”

I nodded. I couldn’t have imagined how difficult that must have been for them to hear. As much as I disliked Kai, I didn’t want something as awful as Makani’s suicide to happen to his family. Their pain had to be beyond belief.

“Did you get a chance to look over Makani’s phone? Was there any other information on there that’s useful?”

“We went through everything. Nothing stood out but the text to you and the video recording of his confession,” she said.

“What about the gun Makani used to kill himself ? Does it match the weapon used to murder Peter Bell?” I asked.

“I’m still waiting on the ballistics report. My guess is yes.”

We drove for several minutes, and we approached the turnoff for the marina.

“Foxx and I picked up your car. It’s back at the house.”