Free Saving Sophie: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson

fifty dollars an hour.”
    Jenkins stood and held out his hand. “You can have Hemmer, anything you need. Money will not be an issue. You’ll have our full cooperation.”
    “I’ll think about it. Let me know when you get served.”

 
    T WELVE
    S OMMERS MERGED INTO THE noontime stream of pedestrians walking along Kalakaua. Waikiki’s arterial vein was full of midday energy. The breeze was light and the sun beamed hot upon his skin. Dressed in sandals, shorts, a light blue golf shirt, dark sunglasses, and a U-of-H cap, he felt more secure walking in public without fear of recognition. As Malani had described it, he was “melting” into the population.
    At Lewers Street, Sommers took a turn onto Kalia Road. He knew where he had to go and what he had to face. Since arriving in Honolulu, he had stayed away, but his yesterdays were beckoning to him and he wanted to know what they had to say. At the end of Kalia, he reached the Hilton Hawaiian Village and its shops, pools, and expansive crescent beach.
    Bittersweet memories carried him along the winding pathway, past the kidney-shaped pool, past the sunbathers and the children squealing in the water. Next to the beach was an outdoor café, where Sommers took a seat. He shut his eyes and allowed the sounds and smells to take him back to earlier times when life was sweet. Before his world imploded. He prayed that when he opened his eyes, it would be three years ago. Alina would step out of the pool, grab a towel, and come to him, her brilliant smile lighting up all of Waikiki.
    “Can I get you something, sir?” the waitress said, wresting him from his daydream. She set a glass of ice water on the table.
    “There are three of us,” he said with a knot in his throat. “Please bring us two mai tais and a fruit juice, and they all must have purple umbrellas.”
    She nodded and left to fill the order.
    Damn, I’m a prisoner in the present. I don’t want to be here. I don’t have the strength to be here. I want to open my eyes and find out that the last two years were nothing but a bad dream.
    Without waiting for the drinks, he stood, left money on the table, and walked past the Rainbow Tower to the beach. He stared intently at a spot where the ocean met the sand. Again, he saw only his memories. Sandals in hand, he walked across the hot sand to stand in the shallow water. He looked down at Sophie, sitting with her plastic bucket and shovel. He looked back to the sand to see Alina on a beach chair reading her magazine. Images that quickly dissolved. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
    God, his mind shouted, are you listening to me? Because it’s time for you and me to have it out. Right now, right here! Why did you do this to us? C’mon, I want answers! Alina always told me that everything happened for a reason, there was purpose in the universe. Okay, what’s the purpose? What possible reason could you have for destroying my family? What’s your grand plan? You took my wife, you’ve stolen my daughter, you’ve reduced me to a common thief. I’ve lost everything I had, including my self-respect. Are you happy now? Does this suit your grand plan? And my little daughter, she’s just a baby, why would you do this to her?
    He dropped to his knees in the surf and wept convulsively.
    Please, please, God, help me get my daughter back. She doesn’t deserve this. I need your help.
    A man came up to him and bent over. “Are you all right, fella? Do you need me to call someone, get you some assistance?”
    Sommers splashed water on his face and stood. “No, no, I’m okay, thanks. Really, I’ll be all right.” He walked out of the surf toward the hotel lobby.

 
    T HIRTEEN
    C ATHERINE HURRIED TO MEET Liam at Café Sorrento, but she was almost an hour late. She found him sitting at the bar watching the Bulls and the Lakers. His cocktail glass was nearly empty.
    “Sorry,” she said as she set her purse on the bar and slid onto a stool. “The pretrial conference lasted all