Burning up the Rain (Hawaiian Heroes) (30 page)

“This case has been a difficult one,” the judge said, regarding the courtroom gravely. “Containing as it does issues that are important to all Hawaiians. I have considered with great care all the evidence as well as the laws that affect the legal transactions undertaken by both parties.”

He turned to the Ho’omalus. “Once in a while, I am forced to make a decision which goes against everything I feel as a native of Hawaii. But I have sworn to uphold the laws of Hawaii and of the United States of America.” He paused, and Lalei hung on to Jack’s hand, a horrible premonition building in her chest.

“In this case,” Judge Makao went on, “I have no choice but to follow the latest laws as they have been laid out for me. My ruling is this—the transaction of 2009 between the Apalas and TrendWest Corporation was legal, based on the latest surveys done by Hawaiian state surveyors. Since that is true, the further purchase of this land by TropicSun Corporation was made in good faith and also stands.”

There was a moment of dead silence in the courtroom, and then a roar of sound, both jubilant from the TropicSun side and furious from the Ho’omalus and their supporters. Lalei reeled in her seat, and beside her, she felt rather than heard Jack groan with anger and regret. Bella was on her feet, Joel with her. She heard furious voices shouting in Hawaiian.

After a long moment, the judge banged his gavel. He banged it again and again.

Homu Ho’omalu rose from the table where he sat with his lawyers and turned to the crowd. Drawing himself up to his impressive height, he looked around the courtroom and held up his hands. His face was grave, his eyes sad but full of authority.

Slowly, the courtroom quieted. Bella dropped into her seat beside Lalei, flopping like a discarded doll. “I can’t believe it,” she mumbled. “I just can’t.”

Lalei leaned on Jack’s broad shoulder, feeling as if her heart would break. They had failed. Failed to protect Pele’s wild mountainside, failed to protect the Ho’omalu stronghold.

“Thank you, Mr. Ho’omalu,” the judge said, irony in his nod.

Homu returned the nod, one ruler deferring to another, and sank back into his seat. The judge frowned at his courtroom. “I realize this case is one that contains a great deal of emotion. But we will conclude in a civilized fashion.”

He pointed his gavel at the TropicSun table, where Decker was chatting with his head attorney, ignoring the judge. “And that includes citing you, sirs, with contempt of court, if you do not cease your conversation. This case may be closed, but I am still at the bench and still in charge of my courtroom.”

With everyone’s eyes on them, the two sat up, although Decker sneered at the judge.

Judge Makao set his gavel down and folded his hands. “This case is closed,” he said heavily. “All who choose are free to leave the courtroom. I have nothing more official to say.”

Not a single person moved. Lalei exchanged a look of bewilderment with Jack. What was going on? She stared at the judge, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She clutched Jack’s hand.

“Now,” said the judge. “This is somewhat—very well,
most
irregular, but I believe there is someone else in this courtroom who wishes to speak to the principles in this case. Which, I remind you all,
is closed
.”

He looked at Ned and Timothy Pa’aku, who both nodded. Timothy stood up, his face a polite mask as he turned back toward Lalei. “Yes, Your Honor. I would like to invite Mr. Darren Smith to say a few words.”

“What the hell is this?” Decker asked his attorney, his voice clearly audible as the slim, pony-tailed conservationist worked his way out of the aisle behind the Ho’omalu family and walked up the broad aisle to the witness stand.

Judge Makao slammed his gavel again, making Lalei jump. “Silence.”

The bailiff stepped forward as Smith approached the stand and then stopped, turning to the judge in confusion.

Judge Makao nodded. “I believe it would be appropriate for Mr. Smith to take an oath.”

The courtroom was so quiet that Lalei could hear every word as the bailiff swore Smith in.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do.”

Smith sat down, his gaze passing over the Ho’omalus and then away.

Ahead of her, Daniel leaned forward to ask his mother something. She shook her head. Homu turned from the lawyers’ table to lay a silencing finger to his lips.

“Mr. Smith,” Timothy began. “I understand that you have been a resident of Hawaii for some time.”

Smith said something, inaudible. Tim leaned over to adjust the microphone for him.

“Twenty years,” Smith said, his soft voice carrying clearly this time.

“Can you tell us why you came to Hawaii?”

Smith grimaced. “To get away from my family.” Someone in the back of the courtroom laughed and was shushed.

“And what have you been doing since you arrived?”

“I teach school up in Hapa, a little town up on the north side of the island. And I’ve been working with the Hawaii Preservation Coalition, a nature conservation group.”

Timothy nodded. “And you became involved in this case through the urging of your partner, Ms. Iolani, correct?”

Smith nodded. “Partly. I was also interested because of the principal movers behind the development.”

The TropicSun lawyer surged from his chair, impatience in every line of his body. “Your honor, I fail to see how any of the details of this man’s life—however fascinating they may be—have any bearing on this case. You’ve ruled, now we’d like to move on. Go have a few drinks to celebrate.” He turned to smile at the people behind him. Some of them laughed.

The judge banged his gavel again. “As I have already stated, you are perfectly free to move on, Mr. Sharpe. But if you stay, you may learn a few things.”

Lalei reached her free hand over and gripped Bella’s. They looked at each other. Something was happening—Lalei could feel the energy gathering in the courtroom as if ho’omalu power was surging, about to erupt.

The judge nodded at Timothy, who went on.

“What was your interest in the TropicSun involvement?” Timothy asked Smith.

Smith regarded the TropicSun people, his hands clasped between the arms of his chair as if he were addressing students. “Their funding.”

Decker leaned forward, and what Lalei could see of the edge of his beefy face and neck was dark red, suffused with blood. He muttered something to Sharpe, who shook his head, clearly not pleased.

Timothy turned and surveyed the courtroom. “We all know that the principal funding for the proposed TropicSun development comes from a deal struck with the CalTrend Corporation, owned solely by the Helman family. Stephan, Denas and Camille Helman are all deceased.”

He turned back to Smith. “Mr. Smith, can you please tell us all your given name?”

Bella gasped, her hand tightening on Lalei’s. “Oh Pele,” she breathed.

“Darien Helman,” the man on the witness stand said clearly.

“
It’s a damned lie
,” Frank Decker roared, surging to his feet. He shook his fist at Smith. “Darien Helman is
dead
. That money is mine, legally and rightfully. I’ve got the contracts to prove it, signed by Camille Helman.”

Judge Makao’s courtroom once again burst into noisy chaos.

“I
knew
it,” Bella cried, turning first to Joel and then to Lalei, her eyes wild. “I knew there was something familiar about him. He looks just—just like
her
.” Her face crumpled, and Joel pulled her into his arms, talking to her in a low voice.

Lalei patted her cousin’s back. Then she clung to Jack’s hand, an anchor in a world tilting on its axis. Oh Pele, they’d spent the last days sitting inches away from the brother of the woman who had tried to murder Bella and planned to come after the rest of the Ho’omalus.

They’d all been in this room with the brother of the people who had done their best to bring deadly, addictive drugs into Hawaii, to claim as much of her as they could and ruin the rest. She stared at Smith, searching for she knew not what—perhaps some taint of his bloodline.

“Jesus,” Jack breathed. “This is unbelievable.”

“What do you think it means?” she asked him. “I mean—why come forward now? Does he want to take over the development?”

He shook his head, watching the front of the courtroom.

A piercing whistle cut through the din. Daniel Ho’omalu was on his feet, scowling ferociously at the crowd. “Quiet,” he thundered.

The judge shrugged expansively as if it was out of his hands. Lalei put her hand over her mouth to smother a nervous giggle.

Smiling, Timothy turned back to Smith—or Darien Helman, if that’s who he was. “Mr. Helman, can you explain again why you have chosen to come forward now to reveal your identity?”

Smith looked down at his hands for a moment and then at the courtroom. His voice was still quiet, but the courtroom was hushed, everyone now hanging on his every word. “I grew up ashamed of who I was, of what my family did to make money. My father and his cohorts sold drugs, guns and even people, anyone and anything they could to make money.

“When I came of age, my father informed me that I was the heir to his empire, the successor to all he’d done. He told me my job was to watch over my siblings and what he’d built.”

He stopped, and his face tightened, his mouth a grim line. Then he swallowed and went on. “To him, I was an extension of his tainted glory. I’d known for a long time that I wanted out. But at that point, I realized he would never understand, never accept that any son of his would wish for something else. Might even kill me if I tried to walk away. So…I faked my own death.”

“Which is a matter of public record in the State of California,” Sharpe called out, on his feet again. “Your Honor, this man is the fake, trying to cash in on the publicity of this trial and the recent death of the last of the Helmans.”

Timothy walked over to the table and took the paper his father handed him. He held it up. “Mr. Helman has been fingerprinted, and his identity…” For the first time, the young lawyer smiled. “Confirmed by the State of California.”

He turned back to Darien Helman. “Mr. Helman, please continue.”

“I worked my way over to Hawaii on a steamer,” Helman said. “Once here, I stayed and grew to love the place and the people.” He looked past Lalei with the glimmer of a smile. She turned to see the small Hawaiian woman smiling back at him. Oh, so it was like that.

“And now,” Darien Helman said, his voice hardening in an eerie echo of his family’s ruthlessness, “I will be goddamned if I will sit back and watch while my family’s money drags down this island into their filth. I am stepping forward as the official heir.”

Timothy held up his hands as a murmur of sound rushed through the room.

“And your intent in doing so, sir?”

Darien Helman turned his implacable gaze on Decker and his lawyers. “I am working with the FBI, the DEA and the US attorney general’s office to liquidate all money the Helmans and CalTrend Corporation earned from illegal activities. Anything left after they’re through will be donated to California law enforcement charities and the Hawaii Preservation Coalition.”

A collective gasp swept through those listening.

Judge Makao slammed his gavel down. “Bailiffs, clear the room of all observers.” He looked out at the crowd. “Time to go home, folks.”

Daniel turned, gesturing for her, Jack, Bella and Joel to stay in their seats. Lalei’s mind whirled as the rest of the observers in the courtroom rose and grumbled their way out, obviously knowing they were going to miss part of the show. Did this mean the Ho’omalus hadn’t lost after all? Was the mountain safe, or would the land just be sold to another developer?

Joel leaned over the back of his seat, reaching his hand out to Kay Iolani. “You’re staying?” he asked. Lalei turned to see her nod. “Sure didn’t know what a firestorm I was opening up when I called you folks.”

“Oh, we would have contacted you,” she said in her liquid native tones. “The Ho’omalus, I mean. Darren is a good man.”

Joel nodded. “That’s evident.”

Jack nudged Lalei, gesturing toward the back of the courtroom. “Wonder who those guys are?”

She turned, as did Joel and Bella. A small group of people, three men and a woman, stood unsmiling in the rear of the courtroom. They all wore businesslike dark suits. Behind them, the bailiffs were closing the doors.

Joel turned to Jack, a smile dawning. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Jack nodded.

“What?” Lalei hissed.

“FBI,” Jack whispered in her ear. “They’ve got the look. This should be good.”

Lalei turned to the front of the courtroom as Judge Makao spoke. “Counsels, we will now discuss amongst ourselves what will happen next. You may speak freely, but I will caution you that you are in front of witnesses, so anything you say may be used in further jurisprudence.”

Sharpe shot out of his seat, his face livid. “This man’s claim that he can break the TropicSun development is ridiculous. He’ll never be able to follow through. My client has watertight contracts with Camille Helman’s banks.”

Judge Makao nodded. “Duly noted. And I believe we have some folks here who can address that for you, Mr. Sharpe.” He beckoned. Two of the strangers, a man and a woman, walked forward to stand in the aisle near Joel and the second row of TropicSun people on the other side. Both gave off tough, no-nonsense vibes.