by Toby Neal
Lying on her float, looking up at poufy clouds tinted salmon-pink with evening as she bobbed in the sheltered man-made cove in front of the Hyatt Regency, Marcella enjoyed the gentle, soothing rocking of the ocean, its briny scent clearing the last of the smoke and chemicals from her nostrils. She finally closed her eyes on the beautiful scene of Diamond Head wreathed in sunset clouds, and just relaxed.
Her mind mulled over the events of the day. Dr. Wilson, a psychologist friend, had once told her that the secret to being able to think about her cases without getting stressed was to simply observe her thoughts, let them flow by, and let whatever insights or ideas that needed to, come to her of their own volition.
Sophie. Her friend’s beautiful face appeared in Marcella’s mind.
Marcella was trying to do right by Sophie, but she was still angry with her too. And as she observed herself, Marcella suddenly knew why Sophie had not told her about her involvement with the Ghost.
Marcella was first a cop, then a friend.
And she always would be.
Sophie knew that, and she would not have wanted to compromise Marcella’s integrity or put her in a position to have to choose the friendship over a case. In that way, Sophie was being a better friend than Marcella was, harboring all this anger while outwardly “doing the right thing” to try to help.
Sophie had suffered enough, and would continue to suffer, because of her choices in men. A real friend wouldn’t hold that struggle against her.
Marcella released a long sigh. In the end, Sophie had told her all she could about the Ghost, and she was no longer with him. All Marcella needed to do now was release her anger and frustration. All that judginess. Just let it go.
She reached up to touch the slim gold cross her mother had given her at first communion in Jersey so many years ago. Though not a practicing Catholic, Marcella knew when prayers were in order.
“Dear God, please help Sophie find her way through this. Keep her safe. And bring her back, so we can be friends again.”
Marcella felt a subtle release of emotion: a new compassion for Sophie, followed by a wave of gratitude. Marcella had it all: a secure job, a wonderful man who loved her, caring (if smothering) parents, good friends, her health, and good looks. What did Sophie have?
So little, right now.
Marcella heard an excited burst of Japanese from the tourist family on the beach nearby, and lifted her head off the inflatable pillow to look up at what they were exclaiming over as they pointed out to sea.
A rainbow arched down from one of the sunset clouds over Diamond Head, an extravagant statement of hope. The scene was postcard-worthy.
“I hear you, God.” Marcella closed her eyes, and just let it all go.
Chapter Thirty-One
Alika ran down the jungle trail, headed back to the chopper. Urgency gave power to his stride as he barreled along, bypassing Sophie’s hidden tent and the encampment village. He finally reached the main trail and turned up the path leading toward the waterfall landing area where he had first encountered Sophie. The track was wide enough to run, and jogging up the narrow, overgrown, boulder-studded trail reminded him of the hikes he and Sophie had enjoyed all over Oahu. Oahu had many good hiking trails, but the Na Pali Coast was so much less trafficked, and so spectacular.
He mentally pushed away the good memories—he had struggled to get Sophie out of his mind as he did physical therapy and tried to rebuild to where he’d been before… But it had been difficult, and now he was with her again. Her powerful body flexing beneath his as they tried to move the boulder had been sexy as hell, and also a great feeling of teamwork. Then, a few minutes later when she disappeared in a fall of debris, he’d about had a heart attack. She was wrecking him all over again!
The Dragonfly was undisturbed, and he unlocked the cockpit and activated the radio. Reconnecting with the first responder team he had notified on his first call, he added that his colleague had found evidence of the missing boy’s existence in a collapsed lava tube, and that his partner had also fallen in.
“We have a fire and rescue team scrambling to get out your way in a chopper,” the operator told him. “Sorry it’s been so long already. They should be to your location in about an hour.”
“I’ll leave my chopper’s transponder on so you can find me easily and park in this clearing. I’m going back to monitor the situation at the site. I will bring a walkie-talkie and leave another one on the outside of my bird near the door. The team should be able to reach me on the frequency I leave it tuned to, and when they contact me I’ll guide them to the rescue area.”
“Copy that. No cell signal out there, so that should work. Will advise the team to look for the walkie unit.”
“Roger.” Alika returned the radio to its cradle and turned off the unit. He reached into the netted storage area in the tail of the Dragonfly and took out an emergency survival kit containing a flashlight and pack of glow sticks, and a large hank of strong poly fiber rope. Looking around inside the chopper, he grabbed several protein bars and the first aid kit. No telling what shape this kid would be in. He transferred the items into a small day pack.
He locked the chopper up and slipped his arms into the straps. A zing of familiar pain shot up his ribs and down the arm that had been broken. His healed leg was setting up a steady throb, too, irritated by the strenuous uphill run.
“Nerve damage,” his surgeon had said, when, months after the broken bones had healed, he still experienced strange, lightning-like bolts of sensation, as if the injured areas were all communicating in protest. “It should improve with time.”
But Alika had learned to ignore the pain. It served no purpose. The pain did not mean that his injuries were getting worse, only that they had been there—like shadows cast by the beating, his body reminded him of it.
Alika headed back down the trail, this time pacing himself. The emergency team would be here in an hour. Sophie was fine where she was, and whatever had happened to the boy, one hour more or less would not make a difference.
Still, Alika was winded when he arrived at the boulders, the extra weight of the pack and his efforts catching up to him. He took a moment to chug a water bottle before going to the boulder he’d identified as secure and anchoring the rope to it.
“Sandy!” He called down into the hole. “I’m back with the rope.”
Some part of him was not even surprised that there was no answer, and when he flicked on the powerful flashlight he had brought, shining it around in the hole as best he could, she was nowhere to be seen in the area.
If Sophie had heard that boy calling for help, she would not have waited for Alika’s return, light or no light. She was comfortable in darkness, though he didn’t know why. The dark of that lava tube was not the terror for her that it would be for most.
“Sandy!” he called one more time. No reply. “Damn it.”
The first responders would be here in an hour; he was sure he could catch up with Sophie and help her before they arrived.
He tied knots every foot or so in the length of rope closest to where he had attached it to the rock. He checked the rope around the boulder with several yanks, leaning back with his body weight to make sure that it would hold him.
Alika tightened the straps of the supply pack and swung out into the hole, gripping the rope tightly at the knots and lowering himself into the cave.
At the bottom, he turned around, facing blackness in all directions. Truth was, he had no idea which direction she had gone, and the impenetrable black was disorienting.
“Sandy!” Alika curled his hands around his mouth. The shout was good and loud. “Sandy, tell me where you are!”
“This way!”
Her voice was faint but clear, and that was all he needed to head in her direction. Alika switched on the powerful flashlight and, cracking a couple of glow sticks from the survival kit, dropped them as he walked toward where he’d heard her call.
Shining the flashlight’s beam around the lav
a tube as he went, he took inventory of a roughly eight- to ten-foot-high circular tunnel with a small stream of water to the left and jagged interior walls. The ground underfoot was lightweight, sharp a’a lava in frothing, bizarre formations. Smoother, waterworn stones and pebbles near the trickling stream provided an easier surface to traverse.
Drag and scuff marks in the edge of the stream showed that someone had crawled beside the water, and periodically, holes had been dug.
What was that about?
Alika pushed on, the flashlight bouncing—and suddenly he caught Sophie in the flashlight beam, kneeling beside a rockfall that completely blocked the tunnel.
A young teen lay flat on his belly beside her sheltering body. He looked up. The flashlight caught the boy’s wide, unfocused eyes, and he screamed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Alika knelt alongside the boy, keeping the beam turned away so that the light didn’t hurt the kid’s sensitive eyes again.
“Nakai, this is Alika. He’s my friend, and here to help,” Sophie said.
The boy nodded, a jerky movement. Clearly, every motion caused pain.
“Where are you hurt?” Alika touched the boy’s shoulder gently.
“His leg is trapped in the rockfall. We are going to have to move the stones off of his leg to get him out,” Sophie said.
Alika shined his flashlight carefully over the boy’s body as Nakai hid his head beneath his arms, hiding from the light. The boy wore a filthy tee shirt and board shorts. He was covered with scratches and bruises, most of which were minor. His leg was, indeed, trapped beneath not one but several boulders. Setting the flashlight aside, Alika pressed his shoulder against one of the rocks, checking its weight, and just that slight movement made Nakai scream again.
He moved back and squatted beside the child. “We have to wait for the first responders to get you out. You’ll need to be carried, and it’s going to hurt. I have some supplies in my backpack. You are going to need your strength.” Alika opened the pack, extracting the first aid kit, some more glow sticks, protein bars, and a couple of water bottles. “I have to go back and meet the rescue team to show them your location.”
Sophie’s eyes were large and haunted as she glanced up at him. She was clearly affected by the boy’s suffering. “I agree we shouldn’t try to move him ourselves. I’ll stay with him.”
“Good.” Alika unwrapped a protein bar and handed it to the boy. “Nakai, don’t eat too fast. Your body isn’t used to it. But a few bites, chewed up well, might help you get a little energy for what’s ahead. It’s not going to be easy to get you out of here and back to get medical attention. We’ll have to take a helicopter ride.”
The boy spoke for the first time. “A helicopter ride!” His trauma seemed momentarily forgotten. “I’ve never been on one!”
“And you’re going to love it. But it might be a little rough with that leg, so anything you can do to get stronger before the rescue team gets here will help the transport. Is there anything I can do for you, first aid-wise?”
“I’m okay, except for my leg,” Nakai said. He took a bite of the bar and chewed, closing his eyes in bliss. “This tastes so good compared to worms.”
Alika felt his eyes widen as the holes dug along the water’s edge suddenly made sense. “You’re a brave kid, Nakai. Someday this will be a good story to tell your buddies around the campfire.”
Nakai frowned. “I’m never going back to that campfire in the cave. And I want my friends to get out, too. The Shepherd does bad things to them.”
Alika met Sophie’s gaze over the boy’s prone body. “We will make sure nothing bad happens to you. Or them,” Alika promised, his blood heating up at the thought of some pedophile messing with this tough kid and his friends. “Be sure to say something about this to the first responders when they get here.” He handed Sophie a few glow sticks. “I need the flashlight to get back, but this ought to keep you going until I get the rescue team to this location.”
Sophie cracked the glow sticks, and Nakai cringed even from their soft green glow. “It’s just as well you have time to get used to this level of light,” she told the boy softly, stroking his greasy, filthy hair. Alika felt a twinge in his chest at the sight of her tenderness toward this brave, broken kid.
He squelched it by standing and pointing the flashlight down the tunnel. “I’ll be right back with help. I’ll see you two shortly.”
Sophie stood as well, and he stiffened with surprise when she hugged him.
She felt as good as he remembered, springy and strong in his arms. He relaxed, letting his guard down, absorbing the moment, then released her with an effort. “See you soon.”
Alika walked as rapidly as he darted back the way he had come. Looking ahead, the column of light that marked the hole they’d come in through burned his eyes. He tried not to imagine what Nakai had been through in the days since he fell down here into utter blackness.
Reaching the opening, Alika took a moment to let his eyes adjust, grasping the knotted rope, and then hauled himself rapidly out of the hole. He grasped the crumbling earthen edge and lifted himself up and out into light that seemed way too bright, even though evening streaked the sky.
Alika blinked, looking around in surprise.
A ring of armed teenagers, radiating hostility, faced him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sophie moved the three glow sticks Alika had left them off to the side where their light would not cause Nakai more distress. “How are you doing with that protein bar?”
Nakai burped in answer. “I feel a little sick.”
Sophie’s stomach was a little queasy as well, thinking of the boy eating live worms. She held a water bottle out to Nakai. “Would you like a sip? Maybe it will help.”
“No, thanks.” The boy’s eyes had closed, and even in the greenish light of the glow stick, Sophie could see how pale he was.
He was in shock. She wondered if he was losing blood through the leg that was buried under the boulders. She leaned back stealthily with a glowing stick in her hand to check for any seepage; there was none.
Hopefully the leg was just broken. What a thing to have to think!
Sophie stroked the boy’s hair and felt him relax after her touch. He actually seemed like he might be falling asleep. Anything that took him away from the current suffering seemed like a good thing.
Her thoughts wandered back to that moment when she had spotted Alika, striding toward them as rapidly as the rough terrain would allow, flashlight swinging. The surge of happiness and endorphins had been too much to ignore, an addicting jolt of well-being that flushed her whole body.
Sophie shook her head, briskly, shooing the thoughts away like irritating flies. She’d just been feeling relief that help was on its way.
Alika’s flashlight disappeared, masked by that bend in the tunnel where she’d almost gotten lost, leaving nothing to see but the dim green glow of the light sticks. She tightened her hands into fists, momentarily giving in to tension and fear as her tired eyes strained to see him—but he was gone, leaving her again. The sense of abandonment was illogical and acute.
Giving in and wallowing in stupid emotion would not help the situation. She knew that more than most. There was nothing to do but endure what must be endured.
Sophie lowered herself to lie beside Nakai, warming him with her body.
A few minutes later, Sophie heard something from the direction in which Alika had gone—a flurry of voices.
Shouting.
The cave walls amplified and bounced sound so that she could not tell the source, but she knew it was coming from the entrance to the lava tube. She picked up one of the glow sticks and rose to her feet.
“I’ll be right back, Nakai.” She strode forward as fast as she could, holding the light out so that its pale, greenish beam could illuminate the ground immediately in front of her. Whatever was going on ahead didn’t sound good.
She rounded the bend in the tunnel, and saw the vivid co
lumn of light that marked the overhead opening. She heard a scream, and a thud, and the roar of a waterfall of soil and dirt. And then, the light went out.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The tallest kid, armed with a good-sized buck knife, stepped forward to poke Alika in the chest—but it was the jiggling crossbow in another kid’s shaky hands that worried him.
“Hey guys. What’s this about?” Alika kept his voice confident and casual.
“You have our friend Nakai down there, and we want him back.” The leader of the gang had unusual gray-green eyes. Dreadlocks framed a highly tanned, angular face.
“Yes, my friend and I found Nakai. He’s badly injured, and a fire and rescue team are on the way. I’d think you’d want to help us get him out.” Alika raised his brows questioningly, even as he bent his knees and cocked his arms, readying for action. These kids seemed about as stable as a barrel of nitroglycerin.
The boy glanced at his friends and yelled, “Put him in the hole!” The boy rushed Alika, swiping at him with the knife. “We can’t let them get out and talk about the Shepherd!”
The boys swarmed Alika, slamming him with their bodies and trying to push him backward into the lava tube’s opening.
Alika burst into motion, taking down the leader with a quick uppercut to the jaw, kicking back another kid, and slamming a third, knocking him backward into the hole. Alika felt a sting of fire on the back of his arm, and spotted the crossbow’s bolt quivering in a nearby tree. He grabbed the shooter by the back of the neck and shoved, sending him sprawling ass over teakettle to fetch up against one of the boulders.
One kid remained. The boy stared at Alika, eyes wide and terrified, and raised his hands. Alika flipped the boy’s shirt off over his head and in several quick twists had the kid’s arms secured behind his back. He pushed the teen up against one of the boulders and settled him there.