by Toby Neal
And then, the signal was lost. The phone went black, and the map disappeared.
Jake snarled in anguish as he jumped into the SUV behind the detectives. “We lost her!”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sophie kept her gaze on the man’s face as the van drove, projecting all the hatred she felt for him. She cursed in Thai, a low monotone aimed to intimidate. “Slimy bloated stench of demons! Chief among the underworld’s soulless slaves!”
She hoped Jake could hear what was happening. Maybe he could find some way to track her; she had to hope. She moved her hand away from the phone. “I will enjoy throttling you slowly, so you know what’s happening and fully experience your death, dog killer. I’m going to make you sorry you ever grabbed me from that park.”
The cruel mouth revealed by a slash in her attacker’s ski mask gave a slow smile. “You talk too much, bitch.”
Sophie stared at Ski Mask, focusing on shutting out the throb of the stab wound in her back. She was good at compartmentalizing, at separating herself from her body, at relegating pain to a mere sensation that didn’t deserve her attention. She had Assan Ang and his tortures to thank for that ability. She needed to conserve her strength and be ready for whatever came next.
And that came sooner than she’d hoped for as the van swung a hard left onto a rough road, bouncing her and the masked man around inside the van. She couldn’t see anything about where they were except a glimpse of green trees through the windshield and the small back window.
Ski Mask grinned as they bumped down the road. “I bet you think we’re going to the jungle by the ditch. Nah, done with that. We’re going somewhere new. The great thing about missing persons is, there’s no murder without a body. But we know how wrong that is on the Big Island, don’t we?”
“May you die screaming in agony and your pain never be extinguished.”
“Whatever you just said, worse is coming to you, bitch.”
Sophie half-closed her eyes and looked away from the despicable maggot. Conserve strength. Don’t waste energy on emotion.
The van drove a little further and then pulled to a stop with a lurch.
“We’re here.” The driver scowled through his mask at the man seated on the van’s floor. “Dump her out so we can get going.”
The silenced weapon came up so quickly Sophie was hardly sure she had seen it. The silencer spoke twice with a sound like a melon seed being spat with force. The driver collapsed against his door, a red spray marking the window behind him. “Thanks for driving us here. Now no one will ever know this location.”
Sophie palmed the phone into her pocket and scrambled backwards, reaching for the handle of the back door. She pulled it down, but it refused to budge.
“Locked. A basic precaution.” Her assailant peeled his ski mask up. He had a surprisingly handsome face with the buttery-brown skin of Asian and Hawaiian heritage. “Akane Chang. Going to enjoy killing you.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
The detectives’ SUV pulled up on the sidewalk at Hilo Bay Park next to a loudly barking yellow Labrador. Jake recognized Ginger, and saw a knot of concerned-looking people clustered around a fallen dog on the sidewalk. Even prepared by the things he’d heard Sophie say on the phone, Jake’s heart was still hammering as he jumped out of the back of the SUV and scattered the onlookers. “That’s my dog!”
Tank was still alive, whimpering and trying to rise. The big pit bull was held down at his collar by a sturdy man in a fisherman’s hat. “We called an emergency vet,” the man told Jake as he squatted to inspect the fallen pit bull. “The guy is on the way.”
“Mahalo,” Jake murmured, stroking Tank’s sleek black-and-white head. He had to force his gaze to focus on the wound in the dog’s side, a puncture hole between his ribs that bubbled ominously. “He’d better get here soon. Looks like the shooter hit a lung.” Jake looked around at the crowd. “The man who shot my dog took my partner. Did anyone see what kind of vehicle it was?”
“White van,” an older man said. “Ford Econoline. We didn’t see what happened, but the Lab was barking and the other dog was down, so we noticed the van speeding away.”
“I got part of the plate,” a kid on a bike said. He held up his phone. “I took a video when I saw the van come up on the sidewalk.”
Freitan stepped in, holding up her badge. “Detective Freitan. I need that footage.” She took the kid’s phone and she and Wong clustered close, watching it.
Jake looked around. “Anyone got a rag, a towel, something I can put over Tank’s wound?”
The helpful kid peeled off his tee shirt, and Jake blinked back a tear in his eye as he took it, still warm from the boy’s body, and pressed it down over the bullet hole in Tank’s side. The dog groaned and coughed, and Jake’s breathing got tight too, as the suffering animal wheezed.
“Who would do a thing like that?” a watching woman said. “What kind of monster shoots a dog and kidnaps a woman in a park in broad daylight?”
Jake focused on soothing Tank, trying not to think about what might be happening to Sophie right now.
A moment later, a blue-and-white van with Animal Hospital emblazoned on the side and a flashing red light on the dash pulled up. The vet and his assistant got out. “Thank God you’re here,” Jake said. “This is a rescue dog my partner and I picked up from some folks who are now in jail. He’s in a bad way.”
“I can see that. We’ll likely need to intubate him,” the vet directed his assistant. “Everyone, clear the area so we can stabilize this animal and get him to our facility.”
Wong and Freitan pushed the crowd back and Jake held Ginger’s leash tight as the vet and his assistant worked on Tank.
Freitan touched Jake’s arm, and her sharp brown eyes were compassionate. “We have a BOLO out on the white van, but as you heard, only got a partial plate. We’re going out to pick up Terence Chang and interview him—he supposedly knows this guy. Want to come?”
Jake was tempted, but shook his head. “I need to stay with the dogs right now. I’ll get in touch with you as soon as the situation is under control. Call me the minute you have a lead on Sophie.”
The detectives nodded and the two ran to their SUV.
Jake squatted to pet Ginger. She shivered and whined in distress. It would be best to take her back to the motel room so he could follow the ambulance to the animal hospital and rendezvous with the detectives unimpeded.
His phone rang, vibrating with Unidentified Number. Jake never picked up for anonymous callers, but this time his thumb punched the button and he put the phone to his ear. “This is Jake Dunn.”
“Jake, you don’t know me, but I’m a friend of Sophie’s. I’ve been tracking her phone, and she’s in danger.” The caller had a silky, urbane voice, and the hairs on Jake’s neck rose.
The voice wasn’t Alika’s. Who was this man? “I know all of Sophie’s friends. Who are you, and why the hell are you tracking her?”
“That’s not important right now. She’s in danger. Do you want to know where she is, or shall I call someone else?” The caller’s voice was impatient.
Jake breathed through a wave of jealous, terrified rage, his mind flashing on the men with money and connections he’d sensed were in her life. So many shitty feelings! He hated them. “Tell me now.”
“She’s in a wilderness area just outside the National Park. I have a satellite phone photo I can send you—there’s a dirt track leading to where the van holding her stopped.”
“How the hell do you have a satellite photo? Never mind. Send it.” Jake scanned the area for the Jeep—Sophie had likely driven here from the motel. He spotted the boxy black vehicle, spattered with mud, in the parking lot nearby.
“Sending it now,” Sophie’s secret stalker-friend replied.
Jake pressed the phone to his chest to muffle the audio and turned to the vet. “My name’s Jake Dunn. I have a lead on my partner’s whereabouts and I need to follow up. Call me at this number the minute you know anythi
ng about how Tank is doing.” He rattled off the number, and the assistant wrote it down.
The vet nodded. “Good luck.”
“Good luck to you, too. Save my dog.” Jake turned and sprinted toward the Jeep, holding Ginger’s leash tightly. His phone vibrated with the incoming photo, and he glanced at it.
An aerial shot, grainy with distance. A thread of a road. A white spot that was the van’s roof, almost obscured by foliage. He’d have to zoom in to see where the turnoff was.
He put the phone to his ear and spoke to the caller. “Who are you?”
“It’s better that you don’t know. Just find her. I’ll be watching.” The caller hung up.
“Fucking James Bond shit.” Jake dug in his pocket for the spare key, beeped the Jeep open, and got in with Ginger riding shotgun.
Chapter Fifty
Sophie stared into Akane Chang’s brutal brown eyes.
The man had brought her out to this remote location to kill her and dispose of her and the driver’s body. He had already shown his willingness and ability to ruthlessly end any life, even that of an innocent animal. She might as well give it all she had, and get it over with.
Sophie drew herself up into a squat, ignoring the wound in her back, and launched herself at Chang as he opened the van’s side door.
The man was ready and scrambled out of the van ahead of her, spinning to press the silencer to the tender skin of her forehead.
Sophie stopped. Breathed. She was seconds from death. She shut her eyes and waited for it.
Chang stepped back, and gestured with the weapon. “Get out. Up against the van. Put your hands on the vehicle.”
“I fail to see why I should follow your directions,” Sophie said. “You’re just going to kill me.”
“Our fates are never written in stone,” Chang said conversationally. “Which is what makes all of this entertaining. Like your little friend Julie Weathersby. She got away, and you’re a hell of a lot tougher than she is. So, what’s it going to be? Die now, or maybe die later?”
Sophie weighed her options, looking into the black eye of the pistol’s silencer.
To live a little longer was always better. If she went for him now, she was a dead woman. “Where there’s life, there’s hope,” Marcella’s voice said in her head.
Sophie raised her hands slowly and climbed out of the van. She turned to face the vehicle.
She felt Chang approach, and kicked back viciously with her left leg, glad that she was wearing sturdy running shoes.
Chang yelped as his leg buckled. He hit her with the pistol on the back of the head. Stars exploded in Sophie’s vision, and she staggered forward, falling against the side of the van.
Chang grabbed her and flung her to the ground, dropping to put a knee in her back. He cackled like a demented television villain as he wrenched her arms up and zip tied them behind her back.
Her chances of a slow death versus a fast one had just increased exponentially.
Chapter Fifty-One
Jake sat in the driver’s seat of the Jeep and took a moment to zoom in and study the satellite photo. The white dot of the van stood out in an ocean of green at the end of a thread of dirt track, but an inserted photo close-up showed the name of the turnoff from the main highway leading out of Hilo.
“I’m half an hour away, tops,” he muttered. He turned the key. The Jeep roared into life. He threw it in gear and pulled out, realizing for the first time that his shirt and hands were covered with Tank’s blood. Wiping his hands clumsily on a paper napkin as he drove one-handed, he voice-dialed Freitan. She didn’t pick up, but he left a message detailing the new info and took a moment to forward the satellite photo to her and Wong’s phone. “I need backup. Meet me at the location ASAP.”
Once on the highway, breaking speed limits to get out of town, Jake let himself wonder. “Who was that, Ginger? Who’s tracking Sophie’s phone? I’m going to find out no matter what happens today.”
The dog cocked her head and gave a woof, clearly as confused as he was.
Jake hit his horn, dodging through a red light at an intersection, weaving among other vehicles. Ginger gave an excited yap beside him, her front legs braced, her tongue hanging out like they were going on a Sunday drive. “I should put a seatbelt on you, girl.” He reached across and buckled the dog in place. On another day, the sight would have been amusing.
Jake voice-dialed Bix, and was relieved when his boss didn’t pick up. He left a brief message on the latest developments. A few minutes later, he spotted the small, bent road sign marked PRIVATE and naming the dirt turnoff outside of Hilo.
The Jeep took the turn too fast, tipping dangerously, as they barreled down a potholed road. They hit a bump, and Ginger yelped, scrambling out of the seatbelt to end up in the foot well. “Should have left you at the park, girl.”
His phone toned and he managed to pick up. “Jake Dunn.”
“What the hell, Jake? Who sent you this satellite photo?” Freitan’s voice was tight with tension. “We just got Terence Chang in the vehicle. He denies knowing where Akane takes his victims.”
“Bring him or cut him loose. I need backup. Now. There were at least two in that van, and they have a major head start.” Jake hit another bump and the Jeep levitated, out of control. He wrestled the bucking steering wheel and banged his head on the soft top. “Shit! Call an ambulance too. If anyone’s alive out here, they’re going to need medical attention.” He could feel Freitan’s indecision over the hissing phone line, and he snarled. “Get your butts out here, Detective Freitan, or you’re going to have so many bodies you’ll be buried in them!”
“All right, Soldier Boy. On our way. Wong’s radioing for backup and ambulance.” The detective ended the call, and the calm decisiveness of her reply centered him.
He wasn’t alone with the odds stacked against him . . . at least not entirely. He slowed the Jeep, trying to tamp down his fear for Sophie.
Whoever had taken her must know her value to the case, and other cases—it had to be Chang! And if he eliminated Sophie, Holly Rayme would be the only witness connecting him to his “side hustle” and his work for the Chang family. Guaranteed there was a contract out on the woman already. They had to get her into Witness Protection, but what about the leak in that program?
The white van appeared so unexpectedly that Jake almost slammed into it. The Jeep fishtailed, never the most stable vehicle with its rear wheel drive, and he pulled up against a dirt berm marking the end of the crude road.
Jake turned off the vehicle, palming his weapon and swiveling to check for anyone nearby. Nothing moved. “Stay, Ginger.”
The dog whined, but settled back in the foot well, clearly overwhelmed by all the stimulation of the last hour.
Jake opened his door cautiously.
If there was someone in the van, they’d already had plenty of time to draw a bead on him. He stuck his leg out, and, using the door for cover, looked the van over.
The side door was closed. The passenger door was closed. He was a little ahead of the vehicle, enough to peer through the windshield—and what he saw chilled him.
The driver was slumped against the door in the front seat, and a red spray of blood and brains decorated the window.
Not a good sign, but one less perp to deal with.
“Sophie?” Jake called.
A strange stillness lay over the jungle. Not even a bird call disturbed the silence.
Jake crouched, weapon in ready position, wishing he’d taken the extra few minutes to put on his tactical vest. He moved out from the cover of the Jeep’s door, closing it carefully to keep Ginger inside, and approached the van.
He moved around the vehicle and checked the interior through the back window.
Empty.
He opened the side door.
The stench of blood hit his nostrils with a coppery tang. His gaze fell on Sophie’s phone, lying crushed on the metal floor of the van beside her billed running hat.
“Sonof
abitch.” Jake spun, searching around the vehicle. Which way had they gone? The jungle was thick, pressing in around the vehicles where they’d parked against the berm of bulldozed soil left over from the rough track’s construction.
Jake spotted a broken fern, a spot where someone had stepped—it would take him forever to track Sophie and her assailant through this jungle without a trail!
But he wasn’t the only one who wanted to find Sophie.
Jake reached into the van and grabbed Sophie’s hat off the floor. He ran back to wrench open the door of the Jeep. “Ginger! Find your mama, girl!” He held the hat out for the dog to sniff.
Ginger swarmed up off of the floor of the front seat with an excited bark. Jake was barely able to grab the dog’s leash as she leapt to the ground, sniffing around the side of the van and then taking off into the area of the broken ferns with a happy snort.
Jake clung to the leash like a lifeline as the dog plowed into the jungle.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Sophie stumbled over the large root of a huge ohia lehua tree. The tall, white-barked tree with its silvery-gray oval leaves and red blossoms, familiar from going out run-hiking with Lei Texeira a few times. Sophie’s friend Lei had learned to identify all the native plants, fruits, flowers, and birds from her Aunty Rosario, a lovely woman recently lost to cancer.
Sophie wished she’d been able to meet Rosario. Another regret in a sea of them. Maybe this was her bad luck for plucking that lehua flower on a day that seemed like forever ago…
Odd, the thoughts one had when close to death.
Sophie had noticed before the tendency of the mind to hyper-focus on details that were likely irrelevant, as it tried to escape an extreme situation.