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Title: <\/b>\u00a0As The Sun Sets <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The evening sun gave a red tint to the close-cropped dark hair of the tall man nursing a tumbler of top-shelf whiskey and cigar. His diminutive companion sipped from her own tumbler as they ended another day in paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomething troubling you, Thomas?\u201d She asked as they watched the birds settle in the trees surrounding the lagoon.<\/span><\/p>\n Magnum turned his attention from the sunset to the woman who had started as a mentor\u00a0and had become a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNot so much troubling as thinking about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n Hetty Lange had known Thomas Magnum for over thirty years and had become very familiar with his thought processes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI hope you are not spending so much time worried about what will be that you are ignoring what is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. I\u2019m at one of those milestones where most people see the past through age-colored eyes realizing how short of time is left in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, you\u2019re brooding?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you have somewhere else to be? Off causing mayhem with Morrow or whatever it is you do now?\u201d Thomas glared at his former boss.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere has been plotting and planning, but it will be a few years before any of that comes to fruition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about that time?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll look for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t fixate, Thomas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI should probably have that tattooed someplace where it\u2019s easy to see.\u201d Magnum mumbled into his tumbler as he took a drink.<\/span><\/p>\n The two friends turn to watch the sun slip further below the horizon.<\/span><\/p>\n *^*^*^*<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI never understood your incessant need to get up at the ass crack of dawn.\u201d Wyatt grumbled as he slouched in his chair with a mug of coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAn old habit left over from my SEAL days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing I\u2019m around. You\u2019d end up acting like Higgins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Magnum nearly snorted coffee out his nose at his lover\u2019s declaration. \u201cI can imagine myself doing a lot of things, Wyatt, but acting like Higgins is not one of them. He\u2019d be mortified in his British stiff upper lip way if he heard you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe man hides a lot behind that stiff upper lip fa\u00e7ade.\u201d Wyatt yawned before diving into his coffee. \u201cAh \u2026 The good stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShould I leave you and your coffee alone?\u201d Thomas chuckled at Wyatt\u2019s antics.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to get up with the birds, <\/span>Kapena,<\/span><\/i> you<\/span><\/i> have to put up with me and my coffee.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou could have rolled over and gone back to sleep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd let you sit and brood through the beginning of another day in paradise?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it with you and Hetty? I\u2019m not brooding. Self-reflection is not brooding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, <\/span>Kapena,<\/span><\/i> what self-reflection are you brooding over this morning?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou \u2026 Us \u2026 Our years together \u2026 Your shenanigans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow I know you need to get away from Hawaii. Higgins is a bad influence on your rascal self.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHiggins has taken himself off to Australia to spend time with his Mate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou should have stayed with my Aunties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd have them give me the disappointed eyebrow over my shenanigans?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere is that.\u201d He set his mug down long enough to light a cigarette.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI hate I\u2019m not going to be able to have your back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou worry too much, Love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou get in SEAL mode and don\u2019t worry enough.\u201d Wyatt huffed into his coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI still see the sunrise every morning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUgh. I hate morning people.\u201d\u00a0 Wyatt slouched in his chair, his mug resting on his stomach. \u201cWe should do this more often, <\/span>Kapena.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe did.\u201d Magnum settled back to watch the beginning of another day in paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n ^*^*^<\/span><\/p>\n Hiroaki Inaba was not a paranoid man. As a fixer for the Yakuza and a Vampire, formerly known as General Chang, he considered himself an apex predator. It was only when he visited Hawaii did he have a feeling of being the hunted instead of the hunter. He knew his old adversary, Thomas Magnum, was involved in federal law enforcement, but the former occupant of Chang\u2019s Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp had not been in the public eye for several years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That thought brought Chang up short. He had lost track of Magnum, and made some assumptions based on his past knowledge of the SEAL. After he established his residence on O\u2019ahu, Chang charged his <\/span>daughters<\/span><\/i> with collecting intel on any and all Vampires residing in the Islands.<\/span><\/p>\n He thought he\u2019d been given a boon when they found Jonathan Higgins, Thomas Magnum, and a former American President, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had returned to the Mainland several months after their meeting, so the former North Vietnamese general ceased considering him a threat. The few other names his girls had ferreted out of rumors and gossip had appeared to not be worthy of his attention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was time to rethink his position. In his arrogance, he had become comfortable with this life. Comfort in his adopted children, his position with the Yakuza \u2026 Comfortable with the unspoken truce between himself and members of Oceania and Sylum Clans. He\u2019d let his guard down, and lost track of those who could be a threat to his identity and his life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The crystal tumbler shattering in his hand dripped blood and bourbon on the marble floor of his O\u2019ahu penthouse was the only outward sign of his agitation. His daughter, Neeko, moved quietly into the room after hearing the commotion knowing her father probably had work for her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Neeko Inaba loved her father deeply but held no illusions about the man. Any softness in the man was only shared with them, but failure was not tolerated. She stood quietly waiting to receive her orders, glad her twin, Ania, had married and started a family rather than standing here beside her.<\/span><\/p>\n Leaving the mess for his housekeeper, Chang motioned Neeko to follow him into his office.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0*^*^*^<\/span><\/p>\n Lowering the monocular, Magnum walked back to an older pickup truck that looked like hundreds of others on the Island. After watching the interaction between Chang and his daughter. He knew she\u2019d soon be looking for any tidbit of information about him.<\/span><\/p>\n He and Chang had maintained an odd detente for many years. Hiroaki Inaba never stepped outside his businessman persona, but then Chang never got his hands dirty \u2026 That was the reason for lackies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou and Change haven\u2019t locked horns for years, <\/span>Kapena.<\/span><\/i> Why are you doing your impression of Riki-Tiki-Tavi now?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have to leave for a while. I\u2019m not leaving someone the likes of Chang behind while Higgins and my family lives here.\u201d Thomas headed in the direction of <\/span>Robin\u2019s Nest<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t shoot him down in the street like a scene from a spaghetti western.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rolling his eyes at his former teammate and lover, Magnum pulled his ball cap low. \u201cSEAL, Wyatt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not Ivan, Thomas. Ivan thought you were too much of a white hat to shoot him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cChang knows better. I was the one on point while TC carried Rick. A lot of guards didn\u2019t make it back to the camp.\u201d Magnum\u2019s smile was all teeth.<\/span><\/p>\n Braxton slumped in the passenger seat. \u201c<\/span>Kapena.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not the boss of me anymore, Wyatt.\u201d Magnum growled.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone needs to be. Where\u2019s Higgins?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWith his Mate.\u201d He turned his attention back to the road.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know I\u2019ll figure it out, Thomas. I\u2019m intimately familiar with the inside of your head.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were together a lot of years, Wyatt, but this is Vampire business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh ho, so that\u2019s how this conversation is going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hazel eyes flashed gold with a bit of fang. \u201cBraxton \u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wyatt Braxton\u2019s family had been Chosen Ones since Captain Cook landed in the Hawaiian Islands, so he raised his hand in surrender and bared his neck in a show of submission.<\/span><\/p>\n Magnum drew a deep breath and let it out to settle his Vampire, giving a snort of disbelief. \u201cTry that submissive act on someone who doesn\u2019t know you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI bow to your wisdom, <\/span>Kapena.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pulling the pickup into the NCIS garage, Magnum headed to <\/span>Robin\u2019s Nest <\/span><\/i>his personal vehicle, a sage green Jeep Rubicon. Now that he had Chang\u2019s attention, he needed to refine his plans. The last thing he needed was Frankie kicking his ass for doing something stupid.<\/span><\/p>\n A wicked grin crossed his face. Nobody had better plans than the Oceania Spy Liaison. Time to use all his resources \u2026 Maybe talk Quigley into visiting Hawaii to pull a little <\/span>twin magic<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n ^*^*^<\/span><\/p>\n A forest of paper cluttered the usually neat desk of Neeko Inaba. She probably knew more about Thomas Magnum than anyone. Employment information, financial information, and as much personal information as her private investigator could find, but none of it led to the conclusion that he was stalking her father. The PI had followed Magnum, now Thomas Sullivan, for a month. All the man did was travel between O\u2019ahu and Kaua\u2019i. He helped the Braxton family work their cattle ranch and the produce farm while acting as Caretaker at <\/span>Robin\u2019s Nest<\/span><\/i> while Jonathan Higgins was in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n There were gaps of time when the PI could not follow Magnum. No way to use a drone over the Braxton\u2019s private property without drawing unwanted attention, nor could he have traveled between the Islands without a paper trail.<\/span><\/p>\n A few weeks after his meltdown, her father had reverted to business as usual as the feeling of being watched disappeared. He added additional people to his security detail. He had been called back to Kyoto earlier in the month, and since his return to O\u2019ahu, he seemed to have settled back into himself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pausing to look in the mirror as she left her office, Neeko took an objective look at the lines on her face and the gray in her hair. Soon, Hiroaki Inaba would have to leave this life and move onto the next. As his Chosen Ones, she, her twin, and her family would prepare for him to return. The paper trail was already being laid for a wayward family member to return to the fold. Satisfied that all was as it should be in her family, Neeko tuned out the lights on another day in paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n *^*^*<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Two men stepped out of the luxury sedan parked at the private marina. They exchanged a look over the roof as the man on the passenger side opened the back door. Their usual cool and unemotional boss had been growling under his breath the whole twenty-minute drive from his penthouse. Inaba ordered them to wait in his car until his return from his meeting with the <\/span>Shatergashira<\/span><\/i> for Hawaii.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Touma Hasegawa\u2019s mental deterioration was causing extreme paranoia, and he insisted no one be present during any meetings with his best fixer. The old man had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s, but he had not yet informed his <\/span>Oyabun<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Chang himself was playing a dangerous game between the two men. He spoke privately with <\/span>Oyavbun<\/span><\/i> about the situation in Hawaii on his last trip to Kyoto. The <\/span>Oyabun<\/span><\/i> immediately began working on Hasegawa\u2019s replacement and would soon be making an announcement. He did not want to be caught up in the backlash when the <\/span>Oyabun<\/span><\/i> recalled Hasegawa to Japan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Caught up in his thoughts, about the imminent leadership change in Hawaii, Chang dismissed the man fishing from the end of the pier. His security watched the man and their boss to ensure he was not a threat, but he was intent on baiting his hook and paid no mind to the yacht preparing to leave her slip.<\/span><\/p>\n ^*^*^<\/span><\/p>\n The man at the end of the dock continued to fish for an hour after Hasegawa\u2019s yacht left the marina. Pulling a stringer of fish from the water, he nodded an acknowledgment at the men waiting by the luxury sedan as he made his way to an older model pickup. Placing the fish in a cooler, the man carefully packed away his fishing equipment. As he slid behind the wheel, everyone in the marina looked up as a LifeFlight helicopter headed out across the water. With a shrug, the pickup pulled away from the marina.<\/span><\/p>\n A smile crossed the man\u2019s face as an ambulance raced past him. Magnum was glad he\u2019d called Frankie. The Clan\u2019s Spy Liaison had the most deliciously devious mind.<\/span><\/p>\n Dinner that night was prepared with the fish Thomas had caught as he watched Chang and Hasegawa take off for a business meeting on the ocean. He\u2019d spoken with Lady Blossom earlier in the week. The Shogun Spy Liaison had relayed news of the change in the leadership for the Hawaiian Islands. Watari Fukaya was more big business than crime boss, but that wouldn\u2019t stop the new<\/span> Shatergashira <\/span><\/i>from following the <\/span>Oyabun\u2019s<\/span><\/i> plans. He would have his hands full until his relationship solidified with his underbosses. Things would be quiet for a few years.<\/span><\/p>\n The next morning, Magnum sat with his coffee enjoying the sunrise. The newspaper headline proclaimed the mysterious deaths of two prominent businessmen while on board a private yacht. Touma Hasegawa and Hiroaki Inaba were found unconscious on the main deck after a private luncheon. The captain had contacted the authorities. The authorities had not yet determined the cause of death.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re feeling rather smug this morning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re absolutely right, Hetty. At the moment, all is right in my world. My family is safe, and my enemies are \u2026 indisposed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, you are content?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s next on your agenda?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be visiting Wyatt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI doubt that boy is very far from you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Characters:<\/b>\u00a0 Thomas Magnum, Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, Chang, Oceania Clan Members, Sylum Clan Members, Original Characters
\n<\/span>Rating:\u00a0 <\/b>PG-13
\n<\/span>Summary:<\/b>\u00a0 As the s\u00e5un begins to set on Magnum\u2019s life as <\/span>Thomas Sullivan, <\/span><\/i>he packs up his life in Hawaii.\u00a0 Before he leaves, Magnum enacts his plan to leave the Islands, a place where his family can live in peace as he prepares to leave them behind.
\n<\/span>Sylum Timeline:<\/b>\u00a0 2060<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/banner_AstheSunSets.jpg?resize=500%2C208&ssl=1\")
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