Naked Portraits Pt. 08

Notes from the author:

Hello Literotica reader. Part seven was fun. Nothing like a story of the sea, sun and sand to warm you up on a cold winter day.

I emailed a friend on Maui to ask if the cove in the photo shoot was real. He said it was possible but the island has gotten so populated over the years that such an isolated place seemed unlikely to him. He sent me some photos from that side of island that seem to fit the story. The pics made me want to board a airplane and leave wintery Northern Virginia forever. I think if I still lived in Ohio or much further north than Virginia, I would have gotten on that plane.

**********

Chapter 43 Bones

The next morning, I helped Meka Okuda load camera equipment into the ugly rental hatchback.

"What now?" I asked as we backed out of the driveway. "More photos of naked Hawaiian hunks?"

"Sorry perv, but this assignment is kind of boring. Some guy is paying me to take pictures of some historical artifacts he found. The money's good. Your cut is three hundred." She handed me an envelope of cash.

"Hanging with you is so lucrative," I said counting out twenties with greedy glee.

At the end of the street, we made a right turn onto the Haleakala Highway. It was down hill all the way to the Hana Highway junction at the bottom, where we turned left at the light. Soon, we were cruising through Kahului on Kaahumanu Avenue up to Maui's capital seat,Wailuku.

"Are we going to Iao Valley?" I asked as the West Maui Mountains loomed green and close. It was impossible for me not to think of my mysterious forest goddess.

"No we go to the left to some new suburbs at the base of the mountains near Wailuku Heights." Meka said.

Fifteen minutes later we arrived at a construction sight peppered with unfinished, expensive looking houses.

"It's outside?" I asked as we got out of the car.

"Yeah, just on the other side of that hill," Meka said pointing at a bump of land overgrown with local foliage.

Loaded down with bags of camera equipment and tripods, we walked up a rough path to the top of the plant covered hill. At the top we looked down on the other side at a rough camp that looked like an archeological dig. The camp was spread below on a wide patch of gassy ground not far from a sugarcane field. Cut into the grass here and there were organized holes of red-orange dirt. The holes made me think of open wounds and an inexplicable feeling of isolation descended on me so powerful that it made me stop in my tracks. Meka was halfway down the sloping trail that led into the little camp before she realized I wasn't with her.

"Bags too much?" she call back up at me.

Her voice snapped me out of my creepy little trance.

"No just adjusting." I lied. I put a reluctant foot foreword and soon I was at her side again.

We made a beeline to the biggest tent at the center of the camp. A chubby Asian guy in shorts, muddy sneakers and an equally dirty beige t-shirt stood just inside the flap of the tent. He stopped what he was doing to look at us.

"I'm Meka Okuda," Meka said to the guy. "This is Gwen my assistant. We're the photographers." The guy stared at us wide eyed but didn't say a word. His cheeks colored as he nervously wipe his hands on his belly leaving fresh muddy smears on his already soiled t-shirt.

Meka and I looked at each other perplexed. Maybe he didn't speak English, I thought.

"You have to excuse Rubin," came a deep male voice from inside the tent, "he gets a little tongue tied around pretty girls." Three seconds later, Hawk, my blond surfer lover exited the tent. After squealing like an idiot I ran into his arms and embraced him.

"I thought you were at the dig in Hilo!" I said squeezing him hard.

"Hilo is next week," he said in a tight voice because of the hug.

"Surprise," Meka said with a knowing grin.

"You knew we were coming here and didn't say a thing?" I asked her.

"I like keeping things spontaneous," she said.

Hawk made introductions starting with red-faced Rubin. The guy smiled weakly at me barely meeting my eyes as he shook my hand. With Meka, he couldn't look her in the face at all. Hawk called two females from out of the tent. We were introduced to Laura a petite blonde and Nelly a thin Hawaiian-Chinese girl. Both girls were pretty and very young. Hawk called two guys in from around the camp and introduced them too. Meka and I shook hands with Logan, a local from Maui and William, a lanky kid from Portland, Oregon.

I noticed that our girl Nelly seemed perturbed that Hawk had his arm around me. Apparently, the little thing had designs on her instructor and didn't appreciate the sudden competition.

I don't blame you one bit, I thought with a fresh squeeze at Hawk's hip, but the professor's girlfriend has arrived.

Hawk sent everyone back to work then instructed Rubin to give Meka a tour of the site. Rubin's face turned red and I couldn't tell if the chubby guy was happy or terrified of his new duty.

With a hand on Rubin's shoulder Hawk said, "Rubin is the one who found this site while researching some old documents at the university library for something totally unrelated." Rubin turned redder, but I could tell that he enjoyed being praised in front of Meka and me. "It's your find, you tell them," Hawk encouraged.

"About a year ago—" Rubin started in a soft voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Hawk interrupted theatrically cupping an ear. "The students in the back of the class can't hear you."

"I was reading through manifests of old French cargo ships from the mid eighteen hundreds," Rubin continued a bit louder, "when I came an envelope between the pages of one of them. The document inside the envelope predated the manifest by almost fifty years. Inside the envelope was a letter that described a burial of a Jesuit monk on Maui, near Wailuku where I grew up. A rough little map was included. After an extensive search through the historical records of Maui, I couldn't find any mention of the grave sight at the time period of the document. On a break, I flew home to look for the burial site myself. I found the grave just where the map and document said it would be. I put the find in writing and submitted it to the head of the anthropology department and Mr. Detrick."

"It took over a year to get permission from all concern parties to start digging," Hawk said. "In the beginning we thought that we were digging up a single grave but we soon found out that the site was a small settlement that had somehow gotten lost in the historical shuffle. This dig is hush hush until more research can be done to verify dates. The university has sent researchers to Tahiti and France to track down clues. Rubin was offered either of those assignments, but the stupid fuck chose to stay in the dirt at the site." Hawk slapped Rubin on the shoulder, "Glad you stayed dude." Rubin smiled ear to ear. "Show Meka around," Hawk told him.

Hawk and I watched Rubin walk Meka around the dig. I was mildly amused by the height difference, Rubin was maybe five foot five and Meka near five-ten. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell that Meka was asking questions and Rubin seem to have the answers. With each passing minute Rubin turned less red and even smiled once or twice.

"I'm amazed that Rubin is talking so much," Hawk said in awe. "He's barely made a peep around the two young fillies here at the site."

"Looks like Nelly has a crush on the teacher," I said taking the opportunity to let him know that I knew.

"So does Laura," Hawk added with a small mischievous grin.

Before I could interrogate him further about his cute, young assistants, Rubin and Meka were back at the main tent. Rubin spoke excitedly about something.

"... but the silver cross and rosary are gone, sent back to the university for cataloging and protection from the elements. We took pictures of course but I did several drawings too." Rubin walked into the tent, found his backpack and fished out a beat up sketchbook. He opened it to a specific page and presented it to Meka. "That's actual size," he said.

"It's a fantastic rendering," Meka said. She handed it to me, Hawk came around to look too. The drawing was of a decorative six inch long crucifix done in ink wash with a contrasting black background. The detail was astounding.

"Rubin, I didn't know you could do this?" Hawk said impressed and perplexed as he coaxed me to turn the pages of the sketchbook. It was filled with page after page of detailed drawings of artifacts apparently found at the site. Most impressive were a series of detailed drawings of a human skeleton half covered in dirt.

"I didn't think they were very good," Rubin said.

I looked at him, shocked that he even thought that.

Hawk seized a set of work gloves from a work table and slapped Rubin on the back of the head with them. "Stupid head! The drawings are fantastic. I want you to use them in your summery. If you don't, I'll slap you in front of your mother." He waggled the gloves in the guy's face for emphasis.

Rubin beamed and nodded even as he rubbed the back of his head.

I kept turning the pages in the sketchbook. Rubin had more raw artistic talent then some declared art majors I knew. "Holy shit!" I barked startled by one of the drawings. That weirdness I felt walking into the camp descended on me again.

"What?" Hawk asked looking back at the sketchbook.

"Holy shit!" he said too.

The drawing I held out to him was of a Venus of Willendorf replica eerily similar to the ones Sally Higgins gave to the Kokuras, Hawk and me not too long ago.

"Did you find this in the dig?" Hawk asked as he took the sketch book from me.

"Weird huh?" Rubin said. "I found the little bronze fetish near the surface on that first day I discovered the grave. It's probably unrelated to the what came after but I cataloged it anyway. I sent it to Honolulu with the first batch of artifacts." Rubin looked perplexed. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Hawk said immediately. "It just looks a lot like an item that both Gwen and I own."

"Sally made several of these," I said. "Guess it's possible one could wind up—" I looked around the dig, "here?"

"Possible," Hawk said sounding doubtful.

"I have kind of forgotten about it," Rubin said appetizingly. "I Don't know if Rebecca has had it tested yet."

"I'll give the thing a look when I get back to campus," Hawk said.

"Where do you want me to start taking photos?" Meka asked reminding us why we were here.

"The second grave," Hawk said to her.

I did my best to shake off my weird feelings.

Meka sorted through her bags and hung three different cameras on her person and handed me two tripods. With Rubin in the lead, Meka, Hawk and I were led to the so-called grave two. I noted that Hawk's eyes were locked on Meka's khaki shorts all the way over. I nudged him and whispered, "Better raise those receptors, buddy."

Hawk gave me an innocent, 'whatever do you mean' look.

"It's been raining a lot here," Rubin said explaining the sizable tent covering the grave. He opened the flap to the tent and clicked on the four small electric spotlights clipped to the tent poles. All four spots focused on a rough rectangular hole in the ground. In the hole lay a partially uncovered skeleton, the gray-white bones garishly bright against the reddish dirt. Most of the torso was completely exposed; the eyeless skull lay on its left side with the jaw dropped open in a silent permanent scream. An irregular border of blue string encircled the figure. Meka raised a camera to her eyes.

"Stay outside of the blue line," Rubin advised. When you need to get closer, I'll show you where to step."

"Can I move the lights?" She asked. Hawk nodded.

Meka instructed me where to move the spots. She walked around and took her shots. Half an hour later, Meka gingerly squatted over the bones taking close-ups of the skull while I bounced in some light with a reflector. My legs ached in sympathy just watching her hold the precarious position. She reached out a hand and Hawk helped her step away from the bones.

"We call this one the monsignor because he is older then first body we uncovered," Hawk said. Early test show that he was in his sixties when he died."

"Looks like a fracture on this side," Meka said pointing at the base of the skull. "And some of these exposed ribs look broken."

Hawk nodded. We exited the tent. Hawk pointed to another tent several yards away. "That's the young monk."

"The one with the silver cross?" Meka asked. Hawk nodded. Sensing the drama of the moment Meka asked Rubin, "What was the condition of the monk?"

Rubin looked at his boss. After a couple seconds of silence Hawk nodded giving him permission to speak.

"The back of the monk's head was caved in by blunt force trauma, a blow to the head with a club or smooth rock according to a forensic anthropologist."

"These could be two murder victims," I stated flatly.

"We think so," Hawk said with a nodded. "We've been keeping that quiet. If word got out there would be people all over the site."

My skin crawled.

"When did this all happen?" Meka asked.

"1859, 1860 maybe," Hawk guessed.

Feelings of dread returned. Weirdly, mental images of Twiggy—AKA Charlene Manson—the art department's drawing skeleton, filled my head. Charlene Manson ... what a creepy name. I decided I didn't want to see the young monk.

Chapter 44 Voyeurs

"I'm feeling a little woozy," I told Meka. "Mind if I sit down for a bit?"

"You looked a little odd coming in," Meka said. "Too much sun yesterday?"

I shrugged.

"Rubin, take Meka to the monk," Hawk said. "I'll take Gwen to the main tent to sit."

Rubin took charge of the camera equipment I had carried in and Hawk led me by the hand to the main tent.

"You okay?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah," I said. "like Meka said, overdid it. Too much sun." I forced smile. "We studio artist are cave dwellers and we usually avoid the light. A sugary drink would do me good right now."

"We have sodas. I'll get you one."

He settled me in a canvas chair in the main tent and left the tent to get that soda. I saw Rubin's sketchbook sitting open to the Willendorf fetish drawing. Rubin had written a note that said actual size at the bottom. It was exactly the size of the fetishes Sally gave us.

This is so weird.

Hawk returned and handed me a Coke. He said, "Security is here. Time to call in the troops."

Hawk and Rubin rounded up the crew and everyone spent the next hour securing the dig for the night. With all that done, most of the crew and I loaded into a beat up old van with Hawk behind the wheel. Meka followed in her rental car with lucky Rubin in the passenger seat next to her. The tiny caravan pulled into the parking lot of the dorms of the local community collage on Kaahumanu Avenue. Hawk, the crew and I got out of the van. Meka pulled up besides us and Rubin got out.

"You staying?" Meka asked me from the driver's side window. She popped open the hatchback so that Rubin could get his stuff.

"Hawk has his own room," I said suppressing a sly smile.

Meka returned the smile then drove away with a wave to everyone.

"She's very nice," Rubin said as we walked to the dorms.

"I think she may like you," Hawk teased.

"Give me the updated list of the artifacts and I'll e-mail it to Rebecca at the home office," Rubin said choosing to ignore Hawk's comment even as his face tuned a deep red.

Hawk nodded but his attention was on me, in fact I'm pretty sure he hadn't heard a word Rubin had said. "Um Hawk?" I said, "Rubin asked you for something?"

"The artifacts list?" Rubin reiterated.

"Aw fuck!" Hawk barked. "I left my laptop in the main tent." Hawk gave me a narrow eyed look. "Your presents has thrown me off kilter."

"Just doing my job as the girlfriend," I said proudly.

"'ll go get it," Rubin said.

"No, you have to correlate today's data for Rebecca. She hates it when we're late," Hawk answered. "Gwen and I will go get it and I'll e-mail the list to you from the site." Hawk looked at me and said, "Care for a ride through downtown Wailuku again?"

"Sure," I said, although I wasn't too keen on going back to the dig at night.

By the time Hawk and I loaded in the van and drove back to the dig, it was dark. We parked, hiked the hill and walked into the little hidden camp with the aid of a flashlight. As we approached the main tent, two flashlight beams came our way from the security team.

"It's me Hawk, I forgot my laptop."

Hawk handed me the flashlight and he entered the tent. Seconds later several strings of work lights came on around the camp illuminating the two guards and me. The guards were a male and female team and I noticed that they were a bit disheveled; the pair had been clearly making out just before our arrival.

"You find what you looking for professor?" the female guard asked as she tucked her shirt into her dark green slacks.

"Got it," Hawk said from inside the tent. "I'm gonna send an e-mail. Be just a second."

The woman's local accent was thick and there was an annoying edge to her voice that made the fillings in my teeth vibrate. My eyes narrowed. Although I had never meet this woman before in my life, I was absolutely positive I knew who she was—just by that voice.

"Is your name Stephanie Santos?" I asked following my wild hunch.

"Yeah?" She said a little warily.

This was the woman Matt had fucked in the elevator at the writer's conference in Lahaina.

"Um, I bought your e-book 'The Body on the Beach,' it was sexy, freaky and creepy. I loved it," I said. And I wasn't lying. On that same night I had read Matt's elevator encounter with Miss Santos, I had Googled her and found out she wrote for an e-book company. I read a sample, liked it and have since become a fan of her short, dark and twisted erotic stories. My praise took her by surprise, she smiled and blushed.

"You write books?" her fellow guard, a good-looking Hawaiian-Asian guy with dreadlocks and a full beard asked as he discretely checked to make sure the buttons on his shirt were lined up right.

"Short stories, but you wouldn't know. You too stupid to read," Stephanie said in raspy cruelty. The guy laughed. The barb didn't seem to bother him one bit.

Hawk exited the tent with his laptop. "I sent the list to Rubin we're free to go," he said. His eyes bouncing from the two guards to me. Sensing something was up he asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I said, "I'm hungry I want noodles."

"Sam Sato's is good," Stephanie offered.

"Leave the lights on 'till we get out please," Hawk instructed the guards.

Stephanie nodded. Hawk and I walked out of the camp.

"What was up with you and the guards?" Hawk asked at the crest of the hill.

"I think we interrupted a private party," I said. "They were making out."

"I was so worried about my laptop that I didn't notice a thing," Hawk said with a laugh.

"Do you know who that chick is?"

"The security agency sends different people. I haven't got to know any of them."

"That's Stephanie Santos."

Hawk looked at me blankly and shrugged.

"The girl from Matt's elevator adventure at the writer's conference?"

"Oh," he said with raised eyebrows.

We loaded into the van, Hawk started it up and pulled away, but instead of going back the way we came, he took a different route through a cluster of homes under construction. A minute later, he parked the van to the curb in front of an unfinished house and got out. Puzzled, I followed. He slid open the van's side door and fumbled open a dusty gym bag and held up a set of binoculars.

"Wanna see little Stephanie in action?" he asked with his familiar leer.

"What makes they're back at it?" I asked.

"Matt made her sounded like the kind of girl that finishes what she starts."