Last Night (25 page)

"You
'
ve been gone for weeks,
"
Lillian said.

It had only been a few days. Lillian was losing it— a little—but did that mean she had to be yanked out of her home and sent to an institution?

"I
'
m back now.
"
Dana sat at the edge of the bed. "Are you ill? Do you want me to call Dr. Winston?
"

"No. I'm just tired.
"
She looked at the door, seeming to check for her daughter, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Fran
'
s going to put me into a home. She took me to see it.
"
Lillian was silent for a moment, tears filling in her eyes. "It smelled awful. They had people strapped to their chairs to keep them from falling out. They were all lined up in the hall. I don
'
t want to be sitting there with them.
"

Dana took Lillian
'
s hand. It was thin, the blue veins raised. "Fran can
'
t make you go there. Just tell her that you won
'
t. I
'
ll stand by you.
"

Lillian dabbed at her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief. "You don
'
t understand. If I
don
'
t sell the house and move to Twin Palms, Fran won
'
t ever speak to me again.
"

"Does she call now, or come to see you?
"

"No,
"
Lillian admitted, tears now seeping over
her lashes.
"
But she says she's sorry and she
'
s going to be better.
"

Dana thought this was about as likely as Mick Jaggar becoming the Pope, but she didn
'
t voice her opinion. Lillian was a lonely old lady, and like many parents who were alienated from their children, she prayed that things would change.
"
If you sell the house, who's going to manage your money?
"

"
Fran will see that the nursing home gets money to keep me.
"

Exactly what Dana suspected. Fran didn
'
t give a hoot about Lillian. She merely wanted the money. Lillian
would
end up strapped into a chair, brokenhearted. Alone.

"
You don
'
t have to go into a home. Let me talk to Fran,
"
Dana said, although she had no idea how she could persuade such a hardcase to change her mind.

"
I
wish you were my daughter.
"
Lillian squeezed Dana
'
s hand, her fingers trembling.
"
I know you'd never toss me away like some worn-out old shoe.
"

Dana gazed at the older woman in despair. "We
'
re calabash cousins, you know.
"

The Hawaiian term f
or friends who were as close as
relatives garnered a suggestion of a smile from
Lillian.
She loved the island lore and often told
Dana
stories based on the ancient
menehune
leg
ends
like the night marchers.

"I'll help you all I can. You don't have to let Fran bttdger you into moving to Twin Palms.
"

"
I
k
now you will, sweetie, but…
"

But what? Dan
a wanted to scream. Why wouldn't
Lillian defy a daughter who didn
'
t give a hoot about
her anyway?

"I don
'
t think it matters anymore,
"
Lillian insisted.
"
I hear the night marchers all the time now
.
They're coming for me.
"

Dana sucked in a calming breath. First Lillian was convinced she
'
d spend her final days strapped to a chair at a decrepit nursing home; now she was certain she was going to die. She was confused and lonely, but she didn
'
t need to be bullied by an ungrateful daughte
r. She needed tenderness and un
derstanding.

"When I'm gone, promise me you
'
ll take Molly. I don
'
t want Fran to put her to sleep.
"

"Of course, I will,
"
Dana said, picturing the marmalade-colored cat who
'
d wandered into the neigh
borhood and immediately found the softest touch on the block, Lillian Hurley. "But you and Molly are going to be together for a long time."

Lillian shook her head.
"
No. The night marchers keep getting closer and closer. I want to know those I love are in good hands."

A wild flash of gr
ief ripped through Dana. What if
Lillian died? She was such a sweet lady. Why hadn't Dana spent more time with her? Dana stroked her cheek, brushing Lillian
'
s soft white hair off her face. "You know you can count on me. I
'
m positive you
'
ll be fine and we
'
ll work this out with Fran, but i
f
something happens, I
'
ll take care of Molly.
"

"I miss you already,
"
Lillian whispered. "You
'
re
the
best thing that
'
s ever happened to me. Since you moved in I
'
ve been happier. I tried to mother you a
l
ittle,
pretending you were my daughter.
"

A
sob stalled in Dana
'
s throat as she noticed the
forlorn
shadows beneath Lillian
'
s eyes. In the older woman
'
s expression she saw sadness and something deeper, somethin
g she intuitively recognized be
cause she
'
d just discovered it. Love.

"I
'
d
counted on being at your wedding,
"
Lillian confessed. "You
'
re going to be such a beautiful
bride.
But now
I
know
I
won
'
t live that long.
I
won
'
t
s
ee your
children either.
I
wanted to hold them and
c
uddle them the way I did Fran.
"

Dana didn
'
t trust her voice. If there was ever a
perfect
grandmother, it was Lillian. How could life
be
so unfair, cursing her with a daughter like Fran?

"Give me a hug and a kiss,
"
Lillian said. "Tell me
good-bye."

Dana
gathered Lillian into her arms, surprised at
Lillian
'
s
frailness. "I
'
m not telling you good-bye, be
cause—
"

"Don
'
t worry, Dana. I
'
ll be in a better place than
the
Twin Palms. I
'
ll be with the
menehunes,
watch
ing over
you.
"

Tears welled up in Dana
'
s eyes and she opened
them
wide to keep the tears at bay. Until now she
hadn
'
t
realized how special Lillian was, how much
s
he
counted on seeing her each day. She couldn
'
t
face
losing her.

"Hey,
lady!
"
boomed Fran
'
s voice from the other
room.
"
A limo just pulled up in front of your house.
"

Big Daddy! She
'
d forgotten all about him. She tried to let go of Lillian, promising herself she
'
d deal with Fran later, but Lillian refused to release her.

Frail arms locked around her, Lillian stared into Dana's eyes.
"
Promise me you won
'
t forget me. I want somebody
on this earth to remember that I
lived and loved and did my best to be a good mother.
"

"
Oh, Lillian. You
are
just like a mother to me. A wonderful, loving mother. I won
'
t forget you, I
swear.
"

"And promise me you
'
ll be very careful after I
'
m gone.
"
Her voice dropped until it was nothing more than a whisper on the wind.
"
The night ma
rchers are coming for you next.
"

22

N
ight marchers?
Dana thought as she sprinted across Lillian
'
s backyard and into her own. Was Lillian really losing it? Or did she somehow sense danger? Well, Lillian did
seem a bit off-kilter. But…

Dana had to admit that she
'
d felt a certain uneasiness, a chill of apprehension. It had certainly been with her that day at the beach. She wasn
'
t pron
e to such thoughts, but that da
y when she'd been caught in the riptide, she
'
d believed that she had heard the night marchers.

Later that afternoon when she
'
d climbed the hill, she'd heard them again. Maybe it was a premonition. A warning.

She skirted the pygmy palm Lillian had planted for her earlier that summer and dodged the chaise where she'd made love to Rob. Breathless, she dashed through the back door into her kitchen.

Rob was waiting for her. "Let Coltrane do the talking. That way we'll know what he's up to. I
'
ve
ri
gged your an
swering machine to record every
thing he says, but I doubt he
'
ll be stupid enough to say anything incriminating.
"

"Good thinking,
"
she replied.

Big Daddy was here. Now she would find out if he was the one blackmailing her. The bell rang, and the blood throbbed in Dana
'
s temples as she followed Rob into the living room.

He sank onto the sofa and Dana quickly noticed he
'
d cleaned the room. There wasn
'
t a trace of last night
'
s brawl. Except for the cut on his lip, Rob didn't appear to have been in a fight. He
'
d shaved and must have found her makeup and used it to conceal the livid bruise that shadowed his jaw.

Dana raked her fingers through her hair, then opened the door. She longed to blast Coltrane with some cutting remark, but Rob
'
s warning reminded her to keep a stranglehold on her temper.

"Where
'
s Vanessa?" Big Daddy barged past her.

"She
'
s in a safe place where you
'
ll never find her." Rob's voice had t
he immutable ring of authority.

Coltrane halted, glaring at Rob, who was still seated, one arm casually draped over the back of the sofa. While his posture was relaxed, his expression was one Dana had never seen before. It clearly said: Don
'
t screw with me.

Big Daddy
'
s gaze swept the room as he seemed to consider his options. Finally he turned to Dana. "Let
'
s talk this over."

Without waiting for an invitation he dropped into a chair, and Dana sat beside Rob. The older man
looked at Dana, his black shark's eyes appearing even more threateni
ng beneath the shock of arctic-
white hair that glistened in the morning light.
"
Let
'
s do a little horse trading. You
'
ve got what I want, and I
'
ve got what you want.
"

Here it comes, Dana thought. He
is
the blackmailer.

"You
'
ll come up for election next year. I can help your campaign. I co
uld deliver two ken clubs. Imag
ine all of them waving signs with your name on them.
"

This was the last thing she expected Big Daddy to say. True, she had been appointed to the bench and would have to run for election next year. She hadn
'
t yet tackled how
she would mount a campaign. Ha
waiians disdained mainland media blitzes. During elections, supporters stood on street corn
ers, wav
ing posters with their candidate
'
s name on them.

Mustering enough supporters to stand around in the broiling sun was an awesome challenge, but ken clubs, associations of Japanese-Americans who were very powerful in the islands, would be a godsend. To work her way up the judicial ladder Dana needed to hang on to her seat until she was appointed to a higher court. That meant running—and winning—in the next election. Big Daddy had to know how tempting his offer was.

"I
'
ll get those ken clubs behind you,
"
Big Daddy promised. He pause
d and grinned slyly. "I can con
vince them that you
'
re the best judge around. All
you have to do is persuade Vanessa and Jason t
o
come home.
"

Dana waited silently for him to mention Hank Rawlins
'
s death, but he didn
'
t. Finally she said,
"
This is Vanessa
'
s decision, not mine. I won't trade my career for her happiness.
"

"Think twice,
"
Big Daddy warned, rising to his feet. He crossed the room and yanked the plug out of the answering machine. "I can ruin you.
"

"Don
'
t threaten her,
"
Rob said, his voice low but forceful. "Think of
what it would do to your reputa
tion if people knew you were nothing more than a lowlife Peeping Tom who spies on his guests.
"

"You can
'
t prove shit. It
'
ll be my word against yours.
"

"True, but you know how devastating gossip can be. What if the story appeared in Mirah
'
s column in the
Waikiki Tattler
?
"

That got him. His wild brows furrowed into a deep vee above his eyes. The
Tattler,
the island tabloid devoted to muckraking, had a distinct fondness for reporting
the real—or invented—sexual pec
cadilloes of well-known islanders. People claimed they never read it, yet its biweekly issues sold out.

"You
'
re bluffing,
"
Big Daddy said, but he didn
'
t sound convinced. Again he turned to Dana.
"
I have witnesses who
'
ll swear Vanessa is an unfit mother— a wacko. The court will give Eric full custody. You
'
ll see.
"

Dana
'
s temper flared and she almost lashed out at Big Daddy, but Rob's steadying hand on her arm
reminded her to let Coltrane do the talking. As she stared at him, his expression like the devil
'
s death mask, she realized this threat was his trump card.

An uneasy silence filled the room and she stole a quick glance at Rob. A flicker in his eyes confirmed her suspicions. A kaleidoscope of images whipped through her head. Big Daddy with bloody clothes from the pig sticking. The
kapu
sign. Big Daddy
"
talking story
"
about the three sharks he'd killed.

The man was many things. A sneak. A pervert. A disgusting human being. But he wasn
'
t the black
mailer.
He isn
'
t the one blackmailing me.
The thought ricocheted through her brain. She almost gasped out loud, stopping herself just in time. Oh, my God, they
'
d been on the wrong track.

Big Daddy isn
'
t the blackmailer.

This should have been a comforting thought, but it wasn
'
t. There was someone else out there who hated her. An unknown enemy. Somehow that was even more chilling. Vanessa
'
s divorce would make an enemy of Big Daddy. Now she would have two enemies. A double threat.

Concentrate on this situation, she told herself. She couldn't do anything about the blackmailer right now, but she could help Vanessa get away from the Coltranes. The thought of Big Daddy spying on her sister sickened her. What would become of Jason if this monster raised him?

Dana couldn
'
t allow that to happen. She loved Jason, and she loved Vanessa too. She
'
d been there when Dana needed her. A mother, a sister, a best
friend. Big Daddy could try to ruin her, but she wasn
'
t giving up without the fight of her life.

Big Daddy rose, his eyes still on Dana. "Think it over carefully. Don't do anything you
'
re going to re
gret.
"

"
Speaking of regrets,
"
Rob fired back, "the
mokes
you sent last nigh
t are going to get what they de
serve—and so are you.
"

G
arth awakened to the happy sounds of Puni and Jason chanting,
"
Sue the bastards! Sue the bas
tards! Sue their asses!"

He dressed and wheeled into the kitchen, cheered by the thoroughly domestic scene. Jason was sitting at the breakfast table with Puni moonwalking up his arm, while Vanessa made coffee.

"
Morning,
"
Garth muttered, uncertain of what to say. Last night they'd sat on the lanai, their hands linked, until the first etchings of a tropical dawn seeped up from the horizon in a misty mauve that soon became the sharp crimson halo of the sun. The cooing of dozens of awakening birds, harbingers of a new day, had reminded them that it was time to part.

They'd said good night, but he doubted either of them had slept much. He certainly hadn
'
t; the few hours he
'
d spent in bed had done little to rest him. If anything, he was more keyed-up now—and less tired—than he had been in weeks. He couldn
'
t help thinking about Vanessa. And wondering.

The telephone rang, and Vanessa hushed Jason
and Puni while Garth answered it. "Rob,
"
he mouthed to Vanessa as he listened with mounting concern.

"What
'
s wrong?
"
Vanessa asked after he hung up, and Garth rolled his eyes at Jason. Immediately she caught on. "Jason, why don
'
t you take Puni outside?
"

"Ooookay, Puni, here we go.
"
Jason moonwalked backward to the
door that opened onto the fern-
filled lanai.

Vanessa joined him on the sofa in the alcove overlooking the lanai, her blue eyes troubled. "What happened?
"

As gently as possible, Garth repeated what Big Daddy had said and the story of the
mokes
lying in wait for Dana and Rob. "They stole the tapes,
"
he concluded, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Now there
'
s no proof, no leverage against the Coltranes.
"

"Can
'
t you do something?
"
she asked, her expression as beseeching as her voice.

He tenderly put his hand on Vanessa
'
s shoulder and gazed into her eyes. "Let me be dead honest with you. The best you can hope for is joint custody with Eric, and that means Big Daddy will see Jason half the time. If the Coltranes carry out the threat to smear you as an unfit mother, you may very well lose custody of your son entirely.
"

"I
'
m a good mother,
"
she insisted. "They can
'
t—
"

"The Coltranes have the money—and the influence—to get a number of the servants at the ranch, as well as his sons, to lie about you.
"

The pain in her eyes told him the words registered, but she didn't say anything. Her gaze drifted to the plate-glass window; through it they could see Jason frolicking with Puni.

"There might be a way.
"
Vanessa
'
s emotion-
charged voice startled him.

"Like what?" he asked gently, unwilling to give her false hope.

She shrugged, then braced her hands against her tanned thighs. The long nails bit into the soft flesh, digging deeper as she kept her head averted.