Next Of Kin td-46 Read online

  "What have you forgotten now? When Emperor Smith asks why we have missed the airplane, do not expect me to come to your defense."

  "Sidonie wants us to see something."

  Ahead, the two women walked side by side toward the sea. Remo took pleasure in the sight of Fabienne's auburn hair blown to the side by the breeze, like a shiny copper flag. In the sunlight, the slim outline of her legs showed through the fabric of her skirt.

  Suddenly she stopped short, emitted a small cry of shock, and covered her face with her hands. Sidonie's black arm wound around the girl's shoulders.

  "What is it?" Remo called, running toward them. The sight on the beach made him stop dead.

  By the shoreline, the remains of a giant mako shark littered the sand with bloodied entrails. Fifty feet away, another shark lay dead, its massive jaw gleaming in the sunlight. Its belly was torn open in the same manner as that of the first.

  "Lookee that way." Sidonie pointed south, where a lump of gray skin and red flesh washed in and out with the waves. "They be two more thataway, 'round the trees," she said, gesturing in the opposite direction.

  The four of them stood in silence as the waves washed over the two massive bodies in front of them.

  "He couldn't have done this," Remo whispered.

  Chiun was the only one who heard him. "And why not?" the old man said archly, a twinkle reappearing in his hazel eyes.

  "He was hurt. Bad. And look at the size of these mothers."

  "What you two yakking about?" Sidonie shouted.

  Fabienne began to cry. "It's him, isn't it? The Dutchman's still alive!" She was shuddering uncontrollably. Remo put his arms around her and held her tightly.

  "He's not alive," he cooed, sounding exactly like the unconvincing liar he was. "He won't be back, I know it."

  "Get back, Mr. Remo." Sidonie shoved him aside and, drawing back her dark, calloused hand, smacked Fabienne roundly across the face. The girl started, her tears drying instantly with the impact.

  "Now you listen to Sidonie, girl," she bullied, wagging a finger at Fabienne. "I been living a long time, and I seen trouble's face many time. You seen it once, too, but just 'cause it gone now, you think it never going to come back. You wrong, girl. De trouble always 'round the bend. It sit sometime. It wait. But it come back. Right, Mr. Chiun?"

  Chiun smiled. "Always."

  "But it go away, too. De trouble like the tide. It don't leave for long, but it don't stay long, neither. So if the Dutchman come back one day—" She shrugged. "Dat just the tide coming in again. It be going out before long. You remember that, maybe you get to be as old as me."

  She squeezed the girl in her broad arms. Fabienne dried off her face, embarrassed. "You're right," she said. "I am a fool."

  "No. You just young." She took Fabienne by one hand and Chiun by the other and led them back to the house. In the taxi out front, Jacques was working himself into a lather, drumming on the steering wheel and howling Bob Marley tunes.

  "You try to get back here sometime, Mr. Remo, honey," the housekeeper said, giving his cheek a pinch. "You too, Mr. Chiun."

  They waved out the cab window at the two women, who were standing together clutching handkerchiefs. Without missing a beat, Jacques started the engine and shot down the dirt road at eighty miles an hour, plastering Remo and Chiun against the seat.

  "He's got to be dead," Remo said.

  Chiun sighed. "When will you learn? A shark is only a fish. But Sinanju is Sinanju."

  "He was wounded, damn it"

  "He was brave."

  They rode in silence for a few minutes. "Do you think we'll see him again?"

  Chiun was staring out the window. "If we do, he will try to kill us."

  "I suppose so," Remo said. "The bastard."

  Chiun turned away from the window. His eyes looked directly into Remo's. "My son," he began. "Last evening in the boat, you could have killed the Dutchman. Why didn't you?"

  "Why didn't you? You were supposed to be fighting him."

  "It is not polite to answer a question with a question. Why didn't you kill him in the boat?"

  Remo looked at his hands. "I don't know," he said. "Funny. I didn't even like him. I was jealous, I guess. But it just didn't seem right."

  "You know, of course, that Emperor Smith will blame you for any of the Dutchman's killings in the future."

  "Yeah, I know."

  "You are also aware that Smith will be angry that you neglected to kill Fabienne and Sidonie."

  "Did I?" Remo snapped his fingers. "Damn, I knew I forgot something."

  The taxi pulled into Juliana Airport. Inside, the place was teeming with pasty-skinned tourists sweating in winter parkas while the ineffective ceiling fans twirled lazily around the flies and mosquitoes.

  Remo picked up their tickets, and they filed past the departure gate, the island air outside sweeter and warmer and more beckoning than ever. On the aluminum stairs leading into the plane, Chiun waved at the grumbling crowd waiting behind him.

  "I know why you could not kill the Dutchman," he said, smiling happily.

  "Why?"

  "Do you remember in the Dutchman's castle, when I said I hoped I'd taught you the difference between right and wrong?"

  Remo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Did you say that?"

  "Of course I did," Chiun said, his smile vanishing. "Can't you even remember the words of your wise, self-sacrificing teacher?"

  Remo sniffed. "Yeah, I guess I did the right thing after all. Old Remo comes through again."

  "You are an arrogant lout," Chiun sputtered.

  "Just good old American know-how, I reckon." He clapped a hand on Chiun's shoulder.

  "Unhand me, ungrateful wretch," Chiun shrieked, creating a buzz in the crowd behind them. "How dare you take the credit, after all my years of toil and hardship..."

  "I know just how it is," a white-haired woman on the stairs said, poking her face between the two of them. "My son. A doctor. Do you think he can spare five minutes to write to his mother?" She looked at Remo in disgust and turned back to Chiun, clucking sympathetically. "They're all the same."

  Chiun's face brightened. "You understand?"

  "Oy, do I understand," she said, her eyes rolling heavenward. "The minute my Melvin was born, my heart started breaking."

  "Hey, get in the plane," someone yelled behind them. The woman silenced the complainer with her handbag.

  "Excellent form," Chiun said. The woman blushed. "Would you care to chat with me during the flight?" he asked. "I'm sure my son will be pleased to ride in the lavatory."

  "It's the least he can do," she said, smiling as she elbowed them both past Remo.

  the end

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