The Kona Strangler (Hawaii Thriller #3) - J.E. Trent Page 0,1

Henry how important the rules of the road for a boat captain were. He also kept an eye peeled for the first whale, and Jessica climbed down the ladder to go keep Gabbie company for a bit.

“When I’m out here on the water, the entire world changes,” Jessica said. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salty air, and slowly let it out. Gabbie nodded as she kept an eye on the fishing line behind the boat.

“Thar she blows,” Sam yelled in his best imitation of a pirate voice as he pointed off the port side of the boat. Henry was jumping up and down in Sam’s lap causing him to grimace. He picked Henry up and set him in the chair next to him, to prevent any further damage to his manhood.

Jessica and Gabbie almost fell over the side of the boat from laughing so hard. They quickly turned their attention to the mother and baby whales who had breached the surface in unison near the boat. The looks on both Gabbie and Henry’s faces were priceless. They had never seen whales that close before, much less whales that had breached the surface of the ocean, causing a splash twenty feet in the air.

They skirted the pair of whales, heading toward Maui, for twenty minutes before momma and baby disappeared below the surface for good. Minutes later as the sun set on the horizon, they all turned their attention to it to see if there would be a green flash. Sam and Henry swore they saw it. Gabbie and Jessica swore it was their imagination.

Sam turned the boat around to head back toward Keauhou Bay. Gabbie had gone back to sitting in the fighting chair, watching the lure skip across the surface in the boat's wake. Just outside Keauhou Bay, she saw it dip below the surface and heard the fishing reel scream, as yards of line reeled off of it in a matter of seconds.

“You better hope that’s not a Marlin,” Sam said jokingly. “I don’t want to be out here all night.” Gabbie didn’t pay any attention to him because she was too busy reeling what was about a fifty pound mahi-mahi.

It was only about a 15 minute fight to get the fish to the boat. It was still light enough to see the translucent gold and green colors just below the surface of the ocean, as the fish came alongside. Sam put the boat in idle and held onto Henry as it rocked heavily back and forth. Once the fish was alongside, Jessica gaffed it and pulled it inside the cockpit and quickly worked to unhook the beautiful fish and get it on ice.

When they got back home that evening, Jessica filleted the fish and they grilled it on the lanai barbecue for dinner. After Gabbie had taken her first bite of fresh mahi-mahi, she said, “That is the best tasting fish I’ve ever eaten in my life.” Sam and Jessica nodded and smiled, as they both filled their mouths with tasty morsels of the catch of the day.

After dinner was over Gabbie said, “Okay, make-believe world is over, I’ll see you in the morning.” It was the end of a perfect afternoon, and would be the last one like it, for a long time.

3

Honl’s

Honl’s Beach, February 14th.

The plan wasn’t to strangle Nora Hobbs that evening. She just happened to be a convenient victim and he just happened to hate her guts. Not because she was a top producer; the reason was the deal she had screwed him out of earlier that year–it had cost him a lot of money.

After a long day of driving looky-loos around, showing them property they couldn’t afford, he sat in his van eating a plate of barbecue chicken with white rice for dinner, while he watched people come and go from the Sack N Save grocery. When he saw Nora Hobbs walk out of the store all he could think about was giving her the payback that he had promised her someday. He wanted to feel the satisfaction of taking another life again, like how he had felt after strangling Christine Ross. That evening he decided Nora Hobbs was going to fulfill that desire for him.

He watched her put the groceries in the trunk of her car while looking around his van for something he could use as a garrote. It was his favorite tool to kill with. It was quick, quiet, and got the job done