O'ahu Lonesome Tonight? (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series #5) Read Free

Sunday.”
    Okay, as Steve
would say, ‘kismet.’ Tomika Fujioka owned the
catamaran Ono skippered. When she said jump , Ono didn’t even ask how
high? That’s not to say Tomika isn’t a nice lady.
She’s a very nice lady, and generous to a fault. But beyond being merely boss
and employee, Ono and Tomika have a bond forged by
overcoming a shared demon. There was nothing either of them wouldn’t do for the
other.
    I told Ono
about Farrah’s dilemma and although he sounded a tad disappointed when I
explained I wouldn’t be making the trip with them, he agreed to meet her and
discuss it.
    Farrah was more
wary.
    “I don’t know.
Maybe the universe isn’t cool with me ditching work for four days,” she said.
“I mean, I can probably get Beatrice to come in and work. She’s got eight cats
now and she’s always needing more cat food. But I’ve
never dug boats. I mean, what if we end up like ‘Gilligan’s Island’ or
something?” Farrah lived in sort of a time warp of the sixties and seventies.
She’d been named for her dad’s favorite actress on the original ‘Charlie’s
Angels.’ And, since she worked until ten o’clock every night, the only TV she
watched was late night reruns of her parents’ favorite shows—things like ‘I
Dream of Jeannie,’ ‘Bewitched,’ and “The Addams Family.’
    “I think if the
catamaran gets stuck anywhere between here and O’ahu it’s going to be on Moloka’i,” I said. “And, last I heard, they have cell phone
service over there. So, as romantic as it sounds, you can forget about getting
washed up on a deserted island with Thurston Howell the Third or the professor.
Although, come to think of it, I’ll bet Ono could make a radio out of a coconut
if he needed to.”
    “Is it safe?”
    “The sail to O’ahu ? Of course it’s
safe. I’ve done it.”
    “That doesn’t
mean jack. You pay money to fight people. You, my dear girl, are not the best
judge of ‘safe’.”
    “Farrah, I
haven’t been in a martial arts tournament in more than a year. Not because it’s
not safe, but because I’ve been kind of busy. But the federal government spent
a lot of money training me to keep people safe. I’d never try to convince you
to do something that would harm you.”
    “But you want
me to fly in an airplane.”
    “Flying is
extremely safe. Really. But if you don’t want to do
it, then try something else. Like sailing.”
    It went on like
that for longer than I’d hoped, but in the end, Farrah agreed to let me take
her down to Lahaina Harbor to meet Ono and check out
his catamaran.
    ***
    The next day we
started for Lahaina right after the noon rush at the
store. Farrah left the store in Beatrice’s capable hands. But although Bea’s
seventy-year-old hands are capable, her hearing is not-so-much.
    “We’ll be back
around four,” I told Bea while I waited for Farrah to come downstairs.
    “Huh? Something on the floor? I don’t see nothing ,”
she said, scrutinizing the worn planks of the plantation-era flooring.
    “Not the
floor,” I said. “ Four . Like four o’clock.” I pointed to the Felix the
Cat clock on the wall. Bea and I both looked over at the clock. Its tail wagged
back and forth marking the seconds.
    “Yeah,” I said
waving my hand to get her attention. I held up four fingers. “Four. We’ll be
back by four.”
    Bea mimicked my
four-fingered wave. “Okay, dear. Fine by me to use the back
door.”
     
    ***
    “I love your new
car,” said Farrah as I whipped my new Mini Cooper through the swerves of
Highway 30 on our way to Lahaina . “But why don’t you
put the top down?”
    “It’s too
windy. When we get closer to town I’ll put it down.” I love the open
convertible at speeds under fifty. But any faster than that makes me feel like
a rotisserie chicken in a convection oven.
    We pulled into
the Lahaina Harbor area and, wonder of wonders, I immediately found a parking spot.
    Farrah turned
to me. “So, are you cool with Ono?  I