The Pearl Harbor Murders Read Online Free PDF Page B

exotic lurked in those features.
    Before his father showed up for tennis, Hully sat hugging his knees on the sand, next to Pearl, and they chatted. She was on her back, half sitting, leaning on her elbows.
    "I suppose Bill's got your dance card filled tonight," he said.
    Her smile was lazy yet dazzling and as white as her name. "I only get to dance on a few songs—I have to sing for my supper, you know....Is Bill's father going to be here tonight?"
    Colonel Kendall Fielder, chief of Army intelligence, was a good Mend of the elder Burroughs, and frequently stopped by the Niumalu.
    "I think so," Hully said. "He's a regular at these luaus."
    She seemed troubled. "I hope the colonel won't mind seeing his son dance with the likes of me." "He'll only be jealous."
    The smile returned. "If Bill's father breaks us up, how about catching me on the rebound?"
    Hully felt his heart race—foolish though that was. "Why wait?"
    She shrugged, stared toward the vast blue of the ocean, visible through an opening in the palms and across a stubby fence guarding a short drop-off. "I don't think your father would like me much, either. He always growls at me."
    "He growls at everybody. Anyway, he doesn't think for me—I'm free, wuh ..." He paused.
    "White and twenty-one?" The smile was sad now, but no less lovely. "Don't kid yourself, Hully. These are... precarious times. You know Colonel Fielder well, don't you?"
    "Fairly well. He and my pop are tight as ticks." The lovely dark eyes tightened. "Do you think you ... or your father... could introduce us? I'd really like to talk to Colonel Fielder."
    "I'm sure you could meet him." A strange sense of urgency throbbed in the girl's voice. "I really need to see him, alone.... Would you help me? Perhaps speak to your father, and ask him to arrange a meeting?"
    "Well... sure."
    Hully's heart wasn't racing now. The breathtaking Pearl simply wanted his help so she could make her case to her beau's father—which no doubt meant Bill had finally popped the question. And Hully felt sad for her, sorry for her, because he knew how the colonel was likely to respond, in this climate of war clouds, to the notion of his son marrying a nisei.
    Then his father had arrived, and Hully hopped up from the sand and joined the old man on the court. The tantalizing aroma of the nearby roasting pig offered a distraction almost as bad as Pearl in her pink bathing suit, and Hully again lost to his old man, two sets to one.
    As he and his dad headed back to the bungalow for cool showers—the Niumalu's accommodations lacked water heaters, typical here in this land of perfect temperatures—Hully told his father that he'd put them in for the luau.
    They were moving past hedges of hibiscus and morning glory flowering beneath poinciana and jaca-randa trees.
    "I'd rather go to the wrestling match," O. B. grumbled, "and eat hot dogs."
    Hully knew his dad wasn't kidding: they frequently attended the professional wrestling bouts at several local arenas, particularly when the champ, Prince Ali Hassan, was competing, as he was tonight; O. B. found the sport "hilariously exciting," relishing what he termed the "sweaty theatricality" and "hokey sadism."
    "You know a lot of your Navy and Army pals will be here," Hully said, opening the bungalow door for his dad. Nearby, orchids bloomed in coconut shells hanging from a monkey pod. "The brass always turns out for these Niumalu luaus."
    "I'm sure there'll be the usual quota of admirals and colonels," O. B. said, stepping inside. "These admirals are so plentiful they get between your feet and in your hair. I have to comb 'em out every time I come home."
    "What hair?" Hully asked, good-naturedly. "Anyway, you love those Navy guys."
    "Compared to the Army brass, sure," the old boy said, flopping on the couch. "Our Navy is great, but that Army of ours is undermanned and underequipped, if you ask me."
    "I don't remember asking, Pop," Hully said, sitting next to him. "Anyway, Fred said for us, the