I come to feeling like someone’s split my head open, like a coconut, with a dull machete. The woman bending over me almost knocks me out again.
“Have I made it to heaven?” I ask her.
“Not yet,” she answers.
I blink. No halo. “You don’t have wings?”
“What?”
“Nothing. Geez,” I grab the back of my head.
“Can you help me up?”
She’s strong. Her grip on my arm could cut off the blood supply. Fortunately, it’s a short trip to sitting up. My head’s pounding.
“Where am I?” I ask, rubbing the back of my head gently.
“It’s one of the warehouses on Pier 17.”
The whole thing is coming back to me. I was going to meet Harry Fong here. He had something too important to tell me over the phone. Or maybe hitting me over the head was something he could only do in person.
“Who are you?” I ask her. She looks a young 40-ish, some kind of Asian mix. Maybe with some Haole thrown in for good, or should I say great, measure. She’s built like she works out, or maybe a swimmer or a surfer.
“Jasmine. Jasmine Komine.”
“Why are you here?” I ask as she pulls me to my feet.
“I was supposed to meet someone here.”
“Not Harry Fong?”
Jasmine does a small double-take. “Why, yes, how did you know that?”
I shake my head gently, trying to clear the cobwebs. “I was supposed to meet him here, too.”
“Strange,” Jasmine says. “He said I had to come alone.”
“Did you?”
“Well, yes, except you’re here. So technically, it could look like we came together.”
“Except I got here first,” I say. “So I got whacked on the head. First come, first served.”
She laughs. “True, no one was here when I came in.
Except you on the floor.”
We start walking to the door. The sun coming through makes me squint. “So why were you meeting Harry?”
“I’m not sure. He said it was something he couldn’t tell me over the phone.”
We step into the sun. She’s even better looking than I thought. “Who are you?”
Jasmine smiles. “I like to think of myself as someone who tries to bring order to chaos. ”
I chuckle. “Say what?”
She laughs. “I’m an investigator for Pacific Insurance. My job is figuring out who’s lying and who isn’t. Harry Fong gives me info about suspected fraud cases I’m looking into.”
“Huh. So detective work.”
“Well, yes, sort of. I don’t get to slap the cuffs on guilty guys myself. But I can get them arrested if they’ve gone too far with their bogus claims. I’ve even had cases turn into murder investigations, sometimes with convictions. Inheritance is the number one problem there.”
Her right eye is blue, the left greenish. It’s hard not to notice.
What about you?” Jasmine asks. “What’s Harry Fong to you?”
“Well, similar stuff. He’s good for me when it comes to information about what’s shaking in the underworld.”
“You a cop?”
“Yes, HPD.”
We’ve arrived at her car.
“You going to be okay to drive yourself?” she asks, opening the door.
Not that I always do this. “Geez, I don’t know. Maybe you could follow me to make sure I look okay behind the wheel?”
“Sure, no problem. I live over by your station, on Wilder.”
“Well, my head, you know. I was thinking of driving home. Lie down, you know?”
Jasmine doesn’t give me a suspicious look.
“Sure, I’m happy to do it. By the way, what’s your name”
“Oh, yes, it’s David. David Chan.”
Lanning Lee 