Then I went to sleep, thinking of Mike and how it would be to have sex with him again-this time with actual physical contact.
Frank O’Connor from ICE called the next morning. He asked me to set up a meeting with my source as soon as possible. When I spoke to Haoa, he was eager to get things moving. “How soon can we do this?”
I went back and forth between him and Frank, and we ended up with a ten o’clock meeting at Frank’s office. Haoa said he would bring Sergei, even if he had to tie him up and throw him in the back of the truck. “Do we need an attorney?”
I asked Frank.
“I want to get a line on who’s bringing these people in,” he said. “I’m not interested in putting your brother behind bars. Or his brother-in-law, as long as he’s willing to cooperate.”
Ray and I researched the rest of the guys on Lenny’s list. We ended up with a nice selection of who’s who in Hawai’i. The UH dean, a couple of corporate executives, a few politicians, a professional athlete, and a competitive surfer. All of them had something to protect.
“The next step is to see if any of these guys have been blackmailed,” Ray said, when we were finished. “And if any of them are willing to swear out a complaint. What’s your gut feeling on that?”
I shrugged. “If I were on the list, I’d be reluctant to air my dirty laundry. I might just sit back and hope somebody else brings the blackmailer down.”
Ray looked at his watch. “Time to get moving,” he said. “You okay doing this with your brother? Because I’ll handle it if you want.”
“No, I promised Haoa I’d look out for him. I’ve got to go.”
A group of Hawaiian nationalists from the Kingdom of Hawai’i group were picketing outside the Prince Kuhio Kalaniana’ole Federal Building. Young Hawaiian men in red T-shirts carried our state flag on poles, the British Union Jack in the upper left corner, surrounded by red, white, and blue stripes. Women in muumuus carried signs that read Ku I Ka Pono: Justice for Hawaiians. Men from luas, or schools of Hawaiian martial arts, wore traditional kihei -tapa cloth cloaks tied in a knot-and carried staffs and other weapons. Kids carried portraits of King Kamehameha and Queen Lili’uokalani.
The demonstration was peaceful, but it took Ray and me extra time to get through the crowd and security. By the time we arrived at the ICE office, Haoa, Tatiana, and Sergei were sitting in plush seats in the reception area. Tatiana had tamed her wild blonde hair into a severe French braid, and she wore a severe gray business suit I was astonished to see that she owned. She somehow forced my brother into a navy blazer with the green UH logo on the left breast, along with a green tie with a repeating logo pattern.
Sergei, though, was wearing an aloha shirt, khakis, deck shoes, and a puka shell necklace. Just a casual outfit for an interview with the Feds. I wondered if Tatiana had dressed him, too-deliberately and subtly highlighting who was who in the situation. I wouldn’t be surprised. Despite her artsy attitude, Tatiana’s very savvy.
From their body language, I could tell that Haoa and Tatiana were angry, and Sergei scared. “I’m not going back to jail, am I, Kimo?” he asked me as I sat down across from him.
“This is not my operation. I’m looking out for Haoa and Tatiana.”
“But Kimo, we…you know.”
“Yes, Sergei. We had sex. It’s not a secret. That doesn’t mean I’m on your side in this.” I knew we had to have his cooperation, so though I was angry with him for putting my brother and sister-in-law in jeopardy, I had to soften my approach. “But if you cooperate, you can walk out of this.”
As Frank led us into a conference room with an oblong wooden table and comfy chairs all around it, I made the introductions. “Why don’t we start with you, Mr. Baranov,” Frank said to Sergei. “What’s been happening at Kanapa’aka Landscaping?”
“I landed here in Hawai’i about two months ago,” he said. “I was kind of a fuckup in Alaska and I was trying to do a good job for Haoa. But it was next to impossible to find guys to work for him. I was bitching about it to this trick one night, and he said he could help me out.”
I saw Haoa and Tatiana look at each other, and once again I remembered that magnetism that drew them together. Did Mike and I have that, too?
“Trick?” Frank asked.
“A guy I met online,” Sergei said. “Stan. He puts security guys in all these big high-rises, so he said he knew what I was going through.”
I looked at Ray, and both our eyebrows raised. “You know Stan’s last name?”
Sergei shook his head. “Something Italian, I think. We didn’t trade business cards, you know?”
“We’ve been following someone in a different case,” I said to Frank. “Stan LoCicero. He owns a company called Mahalo Manpower.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Sergei said.
“We’ll talk about your case later,” Frank said. Despite his youthful looks and the goofy red hair, he had a way of speaking that commanded respect. “So this guy, Stan. How’d you move forward with him?”
“He said he’d send a couple of guys over, but I shouldn’t look too closely at their papers.” He looked at Haoa. “It was just when you were getting the contract for that industrial park by the airport, and you were pressuring me to find you guys.”
Haoa didn’t say anything, just stared at Sergei.
Sergei looked back at Frank. “So these three Chinese guys show up the next morning. They hardly speak English, but they look like they can work. I filled out some papers for them and sent them off to Naleo, one of Haoa’s superintendents.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Later that morning, Stan called. I thanked him for the guys, and he told me how it was going to work.”
Frank said, “And how was that?”
“I was supposed to short each guy’s pay, and give the difference to Stan. Oh, and he said I could keep a little piece for myself, too. For my trouble.”
Haoa’s rage was simmering, but Tatiana kept her hand on his.
“You have anything in writing from Stan?” Frank asked.
Sergei toyed with his puka shell necklace. “No contract. I just wrote a check to Mahalo Manpower every week, for consulting services.”
“You never questioned these checks?” Frank asked Haoa.
My brother shook his head. “We have an electric check writer and a stamp with my signature. When Tatiana started managing the accounts I got out of the habit of paying attention.”
“Mr. Baranov, I’m going to need something I can take to a judge,” Frank said. “We’ll wire you up. You’ve got to get something incriminating on tape if you want to walk away from this.”
“I can’t. I’m scared.”
“I’ll go with you,” Haoa said. That probably scared Sergei even more.
“How about this,” Ray said. “Stan knows Kimo, but he doesn’t know me. Suppose we say I’m your new boss, Sergei. And I’ve figured out what you’re up to, and I want a cut. I go with you to meet with Stan.”
“What do you think, Mr. Baranov? You’re not going to get a better offer.”
Sergei nodded. “Haoa and Tatiana didn’t know anything about what I was doing.” He turned to them. “I’m so, so sorry. You guys gave me a chance, and I fucked it up. That’s all I ever do, isn’t it? I just screw up, every time.”
Tatiana said, “This could be what turns things around for you, Sergei. You’ll put this jerk Stan behind bars; you’ll help all these people who are being victimized.”
It was touching to see Tatiana still believed in her brother. I wished I did, too.
While we sat there, Sergei pulled out his cell phone and called Stan, and did a pretty convincing job of explaining that his new boss wanted a cut. “Give it to him out of yours,” we heard Stan say.
“He wants more than I get,” Sergei whined. “He’s gonna call the cops.”
They arranged to meet at the Rod and Reel Club that evening at six. Ray and I made a plan to meet Sergei at five to get him wired up and rehearse their story. “You’ll keep tabs on your brother, Mrs. Kanapa’aka?” Frank asked.