Heather looked at him in surprise when he stated the exact formula for gravity. Mike noticed and said, “Sorry. I recite facts when I’m upset. It’s a distancing ploy, I guess.”
“Does it work?”
“Not this time,” Mike said as they got out of the elevator.
They walked slowly toward the woman and then stopped about twenty feet from her. She was on her back, arms spread out to the side, one leg bent at an odd angle under her. Now there was blood seeping in a pool around her head.
“I told the police you could identify her, so we’ll have to stay here and wait for them,” Mike said.
Heather turned away. “So sad. She seemed upbeat each time I saw her, even though she was just candy. Her name is Wendy. Omar likes candy.”
“What? Oh, arm candy?”
Heather nodded and turned back around when they were further away from the woman and took another swift glance at the body.
“Look at her hand,” Heather whispered. She was staring at the woman’s open palm.
“Is it...?”
“It sure looks like the diamond Michelle had.”
Mike put his arm around Heather and led her further away from the woman they now had no doubt was dead.
They saw a man rushing toward the body from the dark area around the pool that was shaded by an overhanging awning. He was almost like a flickering shadow in the dark of the night. Quick as a weasel, he snatched up the diamond.
“Where’d he come from?” Mike muttered.
Neither of them had heard the elevator’s ding to signal it came to the pool area. It was like he appeared from thin air.
“That’s Omar,” Heather said. She shuddered a little.
“Cold?” Mike asked.
“He creeps me out.”
Omar turned and was walking toward them. He didn’t seem to be holding the diamond any more, but maybe he’d slipped it in his pocket, Heather thought. It took all her strength not to flee, or flinch back, as he came nearer. She knew even if Omar hadn’t pushed Wendy off his balcony, he was ultimately responsible for her death.
Omar stopped in front of them. He showed no emotion when he said, “You informed the police?”
When Mike nodded, Omar said, “Tell them I’ll be waiting upstairs.”
They watched him as he went to the elevators.
“Do you remember an actor in some old films named Yul Brynner?” Mike asked. “He was in ‘The Ten Commandments’ and ‘The King and I.’”
Heather nodded.
“Kind of looks like him, with hair. You know, like he’s Asian, but not? And he has that commanding kind of demeanor and presence.”
“Scary as hell,” Wendy said.
“I got that, too. You’ve got to be very careful. Stay away from him, and Michelle, too. At least until after the trial. Hopefully, they’ll put him away for a long time.”
Moments later they heard undulating sirens and could see sweeping blue and red lights as the police arrived. Doors slammed as uniformed men got out of the cars. Heather went over to the gate for the pool area and opened it with her key. She saw an ambulance, along with two police cruisers.
Five men came in and gathered around the body. One of the policemen came over and asked, “Mike Kapahu?”
Mike nodded. “I called the HPD. We saw her fall.”
They went over the details with the police, told them Wendy’s name and where she fell from. Mike added that Omar Satinov was upstairs waiting for them. Heather noticed two of the policemen glance at each other when Omar’s name was mentioned. Evidently they knew of him. He’d become something of a sensationalistic character on Oahu because of his upcoming trial and the allegations of witchcraft and various nefarious and secret late night ceremonies on the windward side of the island. There were whispered rumors that he was responsible for the death of a young girl—one of his followers. The problem was that she had disappeared and a body was never found. But witnesses had seen her used as a sacrificial victim in his final witchcraft ceremony, before he was incarcerated. She was bloody but still alive after the ritual. She hadn’t been seen since.
Heather and Mike left the pool area. As they went to the elevator they saw the medical examiner kneeling beside the body. His assistant was taking pictures. Bright strobes flashing in the night.
“That was awful,” Heather murmured when they went back inside her apartment. She went across the living room and pulled the drapes over the window, hiding the spectacular view. “I don’t want to look outside right now.”
Chapter 4
Omar was glad he had the diamond back, but royally pissed off at Wendy. Stupid, dumb, idiot girl! He’d seen the envelope and wrapping paper on the living room floor. It was evident Wendy opened the sealed package Michelle brought over.
Damn, with his upcoming trial, this was not the time to be causing controversy. Here he was, trying to keep a low profile, and now there was a dead woman who had fallen from this balcony. Some would believe he had pushed her, or caused her death by cruelty, so she committed suicide.
He’d been in the midst of a lovely post-coital snooze when he heard the scream, lying next to Leilanie, a gorgeous witch who had pretty much worn him out with her aggressive sexuality. It took him a just a few seconds to throw on a robe. He had run across the Penthouse and onto the balcony. When he looked down he saw Wendy lying by the pool, dead. He also saw two heads poked out over a balcony down below, one blond and one dark. He knew the blond was Heather. She had some man with her who turned and looked up the side of the building.
Omar leapt back. He didn’t want anyone to know he’d been anywhere near that balcony. Then he ran back to the bedroom, quickly donning the black clothes which were his signature; black jeans and
