Chapter One

Poker Night

            Dr. Jessica Bana sat comfortably at the cherry table in the enormous kitchen of Sara’s Garden, a sanctuary for abused women and children on the northwest side of Maui. She felt tired after a long day of work, and a bit tipsy from too many beers. While trying to maintain her best poker face, Jesse ran her fingers through her long brunette hair and peeked down with green-brown eyes at her mound of poker chips.

Jesse glanced at her husband, Rex, who sat at the head of the table to her left. Rex was gazing back at her with his intense black eyes and a crooked grin on his half-Chippewa features. He nodded at her with confidence. She thought he needed a haircut. She noticed that his black ponytail reached the middle of his muscular back when he tossed back his head and drained his beer bottle.

Jesse turned her gaze across the table at the dark Polynesian face of Sheriff Joe Tonono. Joe’s six-and-a-half foot, three-hundred-fifty-pound body was stressing out his chair. His jowly features remained slack, and his chocolate-brown eyes were hidden behind his lowered lids. She couldn’t read his solemn expression.

            “Joe’s trying to bluff his way to the pot, Jesse,” Rex said. “He only gets that expression when he’s thinking about stealing a third piece of pie for dessert.”

            “That’s easy for you to say,” Jesse commented. “You lost all your chips a half-hour ago.”

            “I have noticed that of Tonono-san as well,” Won Lo said with smile off to Jesse’s right.

            Jesse glanced over at Won Lo, their live-in gardener and a former Yakuza assassin. Lo had tried to kill Rex on more than one occasion before becoming their close friend. He was wearing his usual goofy grin on his boyish Japanese features. His black hair was trimmed in a bowl cut that gave him the appearance of a little kid. If Jesse hadn’t known about Lo’s dangerous past and abilities, she would never have been able to take him seriously.

            “What’re you snickering about, Won?” Rex said, and glared down at Lo. “You were the first one out.”

            “Yes, Bana-san, but I have never played this game. Nor did I boast of being the Maui Poker Champion like you.” Lo grinned back at Rex.

            Jesse glanced down at her cards again. The mansion was dark and quiet. Outside, the Pacific winds seemed to have died, and the leaves of the palm trees in the extensive gardens of the estate drooped in silence.

            “Well, Joe, it’s after midnight, and for once I think Rex is right,” Jesse said. “I’ll raise you the rest of your chips.”

            “You win.” Joe frowned in defeat. “I don’t have anything.” He threw down his cards, and pushed all his chips into the middle of the table.

            “Ha! I knew it.” Rex erupted in laughter. He threw up his huge arms in triumph as if he’d won. “What’d you have, Jesse?”

            “Three kings.” She beamed her beautiful smile, and started raking in all the chips.

            Suddenly, there was a loud bang from upstairs. A child started screaming.

            “Shit,” Rex muttered.

            “Uh-oh, sounds like the boys are up,” Jesse said.

            “How old are the triplets now?” Joe asked. “They sure make a lot of ruckus.”

            “They’ll be two next month,” Rex answered with a frustrated scowl. “They’re already into their terrible twos and get into everything. They’re little monsters, and they’re driving me nuts.”

            “Oh, c’mon, Rex,” Jesse said with a pout. “They’re our boys, and we love’em.”

            “Yeah, but you don’t have to live with them twenty-four hours a day.” Rex frowned. “You can escape to work. I have to stay here and put up with’em. Sometimes I wish I was still chasing serial killers. At least I knew how to handle them.”

            “I thought Won Lo and Ester were helping out,” Joe said.

            “Won’s a great help,” Rex admitted, “but he also has a great deal of work handling the gardening and maintenance around here. Ester’s always off at school or with her friends. She’s only twenty and can’t be expected to handle the responsibility of raising three boys.’

            “I will go see what they are doing, Jesse-san,” Lo said, getting up. “It is past my bedtime anyway. Goodnight.”

            “Thanks, Won,” Jesse said. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

            Jesse watched Lo hustle out of the kitchen before she started cleaning up the table. She winced when she heard another crash from upstairs and more screaming.

            “It’s past my bedtime as well,” Joe said, heaving his mass out of his seat with surprising ease. “I should be getting home.”

            “Oh, Joe,” Jesse said as she began to pick up beer bottles, “will you stay for a minute? I need to talk to you about something.”

            “Can I get you another beer, Joe?” Rex asked while getting up.

            “Sure,” Joe answered. “Is this about that report you sent me earlier this week?” he asked Jesse. “I’m sorry, but I only got to it this morning. I was surprised about the numbers, but I know about the problem. I don’t know what you want the sheriff’s office to do about it.”

            “What’re you guys talking about?” Rex asked as he brought Joe a beer out of the walk-in refrigerator and opened another one for himself.

            “Ori was doing the autopsy on that teenage girl who drowned off Kapalua last week,” Jesse said. “Dr. Ori Alika is the new assistant pathologist we got from Oahu six months ago,” she explained to Rex. “Anyway, while he was doing the autopsy, it occurred to me we’ve had a large number of drowning and shark attack victims recently. So I went through the records since I took over as the ME of Maui County. I found that not only is this the most water-related deaths that we’ve had since the first Yakuza attack a few years ago, but it’s also the most water-related disappearances we’ve had during that time period.”

            “What do you mean by disappearances?” Rex asked.

            “People, mostly tourists, going out swimming and not coming back—disappearing and never being found again,” Jesse said.

            “Don’t you think it could just be an unusually bad year?” Joe asked.

            “I did some more checking,” Jesse said. “If it’s a bad year, it’s the worst in history. I might even be able to accept it’s a bad year except for a few other things.

“First, there’s the fact that almost all the victims are female. The number of male victims coincides with the average number of male victims in a usual year. Then there’s the fact that almost all the victims are tourists, and most of these incidents are occurring on the northwestern shores of Maui. There’re an unusually high number of deaths off Moloka’i, but most of them happen right around here in Lahaina. Finally, there’s the weirdest thing of all. There’re no witnesses to these accidents. Usually there’re witnesses to water accidents, since they normally occur on crowded beaches. No one has ever seen one of these shark attacks. The victims just wash up on shore a few days later—what’s left of them.”

            “Could the Yakuza have returned and be up to their old tricks?” Rex asked.

            “No,” Joe answered. “I’ve kept a close eye out for a Yakuza presence on the island. There’s no evidence to point to any organized crime activity here.”

            “Besides,” Jesse added, “the Yakuza used their murder victims to smuggle things into the Mainland and provide bodies for scientific research. Their victim’s bodies were usually in fair condition. The bodies of these new victims are such a mess they couldn’t be used for any purpose.”

            “What’re you suggesting?” Rex asked with a grin. “That someone is killing female tourists by drowning them or using trained sharks?”

            “I don’t know what I’m suggesting,” Jesse said, exasperated with Rex’s smugness. “All I’m saying is that something is going on, and we have to do something about it.”

            “Again, I have to ask what you want me to do,” Joe said. “There are miles of private and public beaches along the northwest coast of Maui. We simply don’t have the manpower or equipment to patrol all the beaches. I wouldn’t even know what to tell the deputies to look for if we did have the manpower.”

            “I can’t tell you how to do your job, Joe,” Jesse muttered. “All I can do is report the facts. I will say that if it becomes national news that unusually large numbers of tourists are drowning, disappearing, or being eaten by sharks off Maui’s hottest tourist areas, you can kiss your tourist dollars and Maui’s economy goodbye.”

            “Hold on, Jesse,” Rex said. “Don’t you think there could be some simple explanations for the increased shark attacks and drown victims? First of all, I understand that Great Whites have returned to Hawaii, and there’re even more people swimming in these waters than ever before. Some say the Great Whites have returned due to increased numbers of monk seals and humpback whales. Isn’t it possible there’re one or two rogue sharks in the area that have come to enjoy the taste of human flesh?”

            Jesse didn’t respond, but she thought the explanation was too simple.

            “It’s also possible there’s a much larger shark population now days,” Rex continued. “After the public outcry to stop sharking the last few years, many fishermen have stopped fishing them. The shark population may be rebounding. With the overfishing in the area, the sharks may be looking for new food sources.”

            “That’s possible,” Jesse nodded. “But what about all the drown victims?”

            “I already gave you one reason,” Rex said. “There’re more people in the water than ever before. It only stands to reason that more people are drowning. I also read in the newspaper that something like two out of three Americans are overweight. Obesity has hit record levels. It’s possible people that are out of shape are going swimming, overexerting themselves, and drowning.”

            “I’m sure all those things are factors.” Jesse sighed. “But that still doesn’t explain why there aren’t any witnesses to these incidents.”

            “Let’s assume you’re right, Jesse,” Joe said. “Let’s assume someone is killing people . . .”

            “I didn’t say that,” Jesse interrupted.

            “Assuming it’s true, what’s the killer’s motive?” Joe asked.

            “I don’t know, Joe,” Jesse said. “The detective work is your department. I just thought you should know what’s going on.”

            “It’s been my experience that a serial killer’s motives aren’t known until after the killer is caught alive,” Rex said. “Even then, their motives don’t make sense to a sane person.”

             “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jesse,” Joe said, as he finished his beer. “Actually, I’ve been aware of the problem, since all unusual deaths cross my desk. I just hadn’t realized there’d been such an unusually high number of victims.

            “I’ll send your report over to the Coast Guard to see if they have any suggestions, and I think I’ll assign a detective to the case to talk to all the dive shops. Maybe the dive operators can give us a sense of an increased number of sharks in the area, or tell us if they’ve seen anything strange. At the very least, we can make them aware of the situation, and tell them to keep a closer eye on their divers.”

            “Thanks, Joe,” Jesse said. “I knew I could count on you to listen to me.”

            “That’s what I’m here for.” Joe smiled his huge smile. “Thanks for dinner and the poker lessons.”

            “Next time we’ll have to play for real money.” Jesse laughed, relieved someone had listened to her concerns.

            “How many boarders do you have now, Rex?” Joe asked as Jesse and Rex walked him down the two-acre front lawn of Sara’s Garden to the ten-foot double rod-iron front gate that protected the asphalt drive into the estate.

            As Jesse neared the ten-foot volcanic rock front wall, she raised her face toward the starlit sky to smell the trumpet-shaped flowers of a gold tree that grew near the gate. The scent of the tree’s delicate golden flowers was intermingled with the smell of the bougainvillea and hibiscus garden planted along the wall.

            “Just Mimi Monroe and her daughter, Julie,” Rex answered. “Mimi swore out a complaint for assault against her husband last week, but the judge released him on bond. Mimi’s afraid her husband will beat her again for swearing out the complaint, so she’s staying here for a while.”

            “Wow, it must seem like a vacation around here with only two boarders,” Joe said.

            “Not exactly,” Rex muttered. He entered the security code on a pad in the wall to open the gate and let out Joe. “You’re forgetting our three hairless rug-monkeys.”

            “Rex!” Jesse scowled.

            “Okay, they have curly black hair on their heads,” Rex said with a grin.   

            “Keep the faith, Rex. They’ll grow out of it,” Joe said. He started walking next door to his house.

After returning to the two-floor, 27-room mansion, Rex locked up. He went upstairs before heading toward their bedroom. Jesse slowly followed, but she stopped and peeked into the boys’ bedroom. It was lit by Mickey Mouse nightlights, and she could see the room was a mess. She was happy to see the boys were asleep in their beds. Lo was sprawled out on the floor surrounded by toys and snoring.

She smiled at Lo, thinking he appeared like one of the boys. She just wished Rex had Lo’s patience. Then she mentally scorned herself for the thought. Rex was one of the most caring men she’d ever met. She just didn’t understand why he was so unhappy with their children. She closed the door, and went to bed.

            “You’re mad at me for poking holes in your killer theory,” Rex said. He crawled into their king-size bed next to Jesse and stretched out his long, muscular body.

            “No, I’m not,” Jesse answered wearily. “Actually, the thought that someone was killing these people never occurred to me. Leave that to your suspicious mind after all your years of hunting killers.”

            “Then what’re you so mad about?” Rex asked, trying to snuggle with Jesse. She rolled away from him and faced the opposite direction.

“I’m mad because of what you said about the boys. Do you really hate being around them so much that you think they’re monsters? Two years ago, you thought they were the greatest thing that’d ever happened to you.”

“No, Jesse,” Rex said softly. “You and the boys are my entire life. They just frustrate me sometimes. Don’t listen to what I said earlier. I was joking, and I’ve had too many beers.”

“I think you were serious, and it’s not just tonight,” Jesse said. She turned over to stare into Rex’s dark face. “Lately, you’ve been in a bad mood all the time. You’re always unloading the kids on Won, and you never spend time with them like you used to when they were younger.”

Rex laid back and sighed.

“It’s just that life with the boys didn’t turn out like what I was expecting,” Rex said to the whirling ceiling fan. “For some reason, I was thinking they’d be fun all the time. That I’d be out playing with them, teaching them ball and things. But they’re not like that at all. They’re always in trouble. They don’t mind, and it’s a full-time job just keeping track of them. I guess I didn’t expect this to be so much work. I have to handle all the boarders and their abuse problems, plus I have the responsibility of raising the kids. I guess I was expecting more help from you.”

“I’m sorry, Rex. I didn’t realize this was such a burden on you,” Jesse said, feeling guilty. “This has all been a new experience to me as well. I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, I feel guilty if I’m not devoting my full attention to work, but I also feel bad about not being here for you and the boys.”

Rex slid across the silk sheet and moved closer to Jesse. He put his huge arm around her slender waist.

“Well, don’t worry about me,” he said. “I just need to blow off some steam every once and a while. I’m willing to try harder if you are. I figure every parent through the ages faced these problems and survived. I’m sure we can get through this together.”

“Did you really mean what you said about rather chasing killers than raising our children?”

“No, of course not,” he scoffed. “I’ll admit I still think about the past. After years of hunting murderers, being the director of Sara’s Garden and raising three boys is sort of boring. I miss all the action and excitement. It’s just a different lifestyle now, but don’t worry. I’ll eventually get used to it.”

“Will you, Rex? I was thinking the other day about how much you’ve changed since the boys were born. When I married you, you were so cocky and aggressive. After all your years of hunting killers, you acted almost as if you were invincible. Now you’re much less assertive and often moody. It’s almost as if you’ve lost your self-confidence.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted—for me to be less aggressive and stay out of trouble?” Rex asked. “I’ve become domesticated by an easy lifestyle without danger. They say that when you leave the jungle and enter civilization, you become soft.”

“Yes, I guess that was what I wanted initially, but now I’m afraid that what I wanted is changing you from what you really are and want to be. You’re a hunter, Rex, and I’m afraid that I’ve taken away that part of you. I have no right to do that, and it makes me feel bad to see you unhappy.”

“You think too much, Jesse,” Rex smiled warmly. “What I do, I do out of love for you and the boys. I’ll be okay. I’m just a little frustrated and bored.”

“Bored, huh?” Jesse said with an evil smile. “Come here, big boy. Let’s see if I can spice up your life a little.”