A Tuesday teaser from the latest Hawaiian Storm mystery
By Scott Bury
Summer 2004
Vanessa recognized the Kahuna’s Dodge as soon as the bumper cleared the mailbox on the corner, sleek and black as a seal in the bay. She let it come to her, reclining on her parents’ front stoop, elbows on the step behind her, legs stretched out in front of her, ankles crossed, one heel a pivot on the cracked concrete walk.
The Dodge stopped in front of her, parked the wrong way on the street so the driver could lean out the window. He shook his long, black hair out of his eyes and said, “Howzit, babe. Why doncha come ovah heah?”
Vanessa regarded him for a long moment, eyes half open. She tilted her head to say, “What for?”
The Kahuna held a hand out of the car window. Something long and thin dangled from his hand, glittering in the light of the setting sun. “Gotcha a present.”
Vanessa’s heart pounded, but she didn’t show it. “What is it?”
“It’s a set of hubcaps. Cantcha tell?”
Vanessa couldn’t resist any longer. She jumped up and almost skipped down the walk to the curb. Her ponytail, tied in an attempt to bring cool air to her shoulders, bounced against the back of her neck. When she reached for the gold necklace, though, the Kahuna jerked his hand back into the car. “What a minnit. I get honi, first.”
The Kahuna leaned out of the car as Vanessa bent down. She pushed his thick black hair away from his face and gave her boyfriend a peck on the mouth. “There. Now gimme.”
“You call that a kiss?” The car rocked a little as the Kahuna killed the engine. He got out, a young god in an open-necked shirt and board shorts. He pulled Vanessa into his arms, leaning down to a deep, slow kiss.
Vanessa savored the feeling of the Kahuna’s full mouth over hers, the strength of his arms around her, then pushed him away as his hands roamed lower down her back. “Not here,” she said, squirming out of his grasp. “My parents might see.”
“So? They don’t know you have a boyfriend?”
“They don’t mind that I have a boyfriend, but they don’t necessarily want to watch you groping me. Now give me my present.”
The Kahuna smiled broadly and held up the necklace, a delicate gold braid. He reached around Vanessa to clasp it behind her neck, and kissed her gently again. He stood back like a sculptor admiring his own work. “You make it look even more nani, babe,” he said, using the Hawaiian word for beautiful.
Vanessa lifted the necklace for a better look. “Oh, Dylan, it’s beautiful. Thank you. But it must have been very expensive.”
“Nah. I got it for a steal.”
“Dylan—did you steal this?”
“No, I didn’t. I told you before, I don’t steal anything. I bought this from a guy. There was a local meet in Hamika last night, and I sold a shit-load of weed. I bought the chain from a guy I know.”
“From a guy. Is that why there’s no box?”
“Who needs a box? I threw it away.”
Vanessa tilted her head, her green eyes flashing in the setting sun. “You should know you can’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying when I say I didn’t steal this necklace.”
“So, your dopey friends stole it.”
“They’re not really my friends. They do what I tell them.”
“You should tell them not to steal.”
“Hey, a man’s gotta make a living somehow. I can’t let ’em sell pakolo. They’re not akamai”—smart.
He reached in the car window and took two cans of beer out of a cooler on the back seat. “Man, is it ever hot. Why are you out here in the heat?”
“My parents never installed air conditioning. It’s worse in the house.” She took a beer and cracked the top to take a long, cooling drink. “It’s not so much the heat as the humidity. My skin is all sticky.”
The Kahuna leaned in again and kissed Vanessa’s long neck. “Sticky. Mm, ono,”—tasty.
“Silly,” Vanessa said, and sat on the hood of the Dodge, enjoying the feeling of the air on her bare feet.
The Kahuna jumped to sit beside her on the car, and took a long drink of his beer. Vanessa sipped hers. “It’s warm.”
“Sorry. It wasn’t in the cooler for very long.”
“Usually, when you buy beer in a store, it’s already cold. Or did you get this from a ‘guy,’ too?”
Dylan laughed and took another drink. “Eh! It is warm.”
They sat together quietly, sipping warm beer, savoring each other’s company. A soft summer rain started. Vanessa tilted her head back, enjoying the cooling drops. Then she sighed and looked down between her swinging feet.
“What’s wrong, Nani?”
“My parents are moving.”
“What? Where to?”
“Burlington, Vermont.”
“Huh? Where’s dat?”
Vanessa pushed the Kahuna’s shoulder, but it was like pushing on a mountain. She nearly slipped off the hood of the car. “In Vermont, of course.”
“Where is that? On the mainland?”
“Yes, north. Near the Canadian border.”
“Never heard of it.”
“What? Vermont? Or Canada?”
“Who cares? Bummah. When they wanna go?”
Echoes: Hawaiian Storm mystery 4
“I am hopelessly in love with a memory. An echo from another time, another place.” — Michel Foucault
In 1999, the Kahuna was The Man on Oahu’s west coast. The coolest guy at the wildest parties, with the coolest posse, the best weed and the most beautiful girlfriend.
Then he disappeared.
Fifteen years later, that girlfriend is no longer a high school senior. She is FBI Special Agent Vanessa Storm, and she sees through every lie the Kahuna spins when he shows up again to beg her help.
How can she say no when the Kahuna wants her help not for himself, but to protect his little sister. Young Christine Koraka is ready to set fire to the whole Oahu illegal drug trade—for revenge.
Get it today in your choice of e-reader format:
About the author
After a 20-year career in journalism, he turned to writing fiction. “Sam, the Strawb Part,” a children’s story, came out in 2011, with all the proceeds going to an autism charity. Next was a paranormal short story for grown-ups, “Dark Clouds.”
The Bones of the Earth, a historical fantasy, came out in 2012. It was followed in 2013 with One Shade of Red, an erotic romance.
The Eastern Front trilogy tells the true story of Maurice Bury, a Canadian drafted into the USSR’s Red Army to face the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Army of Worn Soles, the first volume, was published in 2014, followed by Under the Nazi Heel in 2016 and Walking Out of War in 2017.
The Hawaiian Storm mystery series now includes Torn Roots, Palm Trees & Snowflakes, Dead Man Lying and now Echoes.
In between writing books and blog posts, Scott produces Beyond Barbarossa, the first English-language podcast in the world that focuses on the Eastern Front of the Second War.
He lives in Ottawa with his two mighty sons, two pesky cats and a very understanding wife.
You can find more about Scott Bury, and contact him through his website, his blog, Written Words, and on Twitter @ScottTheWriter.
