by Liz Wolfe
“You didn’t voluntarily sign up for this, Connor, but I’m still the Team Leader. We go like I said.” Paige didn’t wait for his agreement or any further argument.
“Come on, Aleisha.”
“I could wait,” she said. “Maybe someone else should go first.”
“If you don’t get that skinny ass over here right now, I’m going to climb up there and leave you all to figure it out for yourselves,” Paige announced. “And don’t forget, once I’m up there, I have all the equipment.”
Aleisha grinned and bolted forward. “What do I do?”
“Just put your foot here,” Paige said, cupping her hands around Connor’s, giving Aleisha a solid footing. “We’ll boost you up, then put your other foot on one of our shoulders and push yourself out.”
Aleisha stumbled on her first try to get her foot in their hands, but she backed off, took a deep breath, and made another attempt. Her foot landed squarely in their cupped hands, and they boosted her up. Paige could hear her nails scraping at the sides of the rock as she grappled for purchase.
“Good, now lift your other foot to one of our shoulders. Don’t worry about it, just do it.”
Aleisha’s booted foot scraped the side of Paige’s face as she stumbled up, her foot finally landing firmly on Connor’s shoulder. She pulled herself up and out of the cave. The men cheered behind her.
“Oh. God! This is wonderful!” Her voice floated back down into the cave.
Then she screamed.
A blood curdling, scared-to-death scream.
“Get me up there. Now!” Paige demanded.
She shoved her foot into the handhold Connor had already formed. He lifted her with so much strength and energy that her foot barely touched his shoulder before she was standing on the jungle floor. Aleisha was two yards away from her, eyes wide, mouth open, unable to move. Her shorts had a dark stain at the crotch where she’d wet herself. Paige followed the direction of Aleisha’s horrified stare.
Twenty yards away stood a sleek black panther.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
PAIGE SPARED HALF A SECOND TO look for something she could use as a weapon. The recurve bow and arrows she had taken from the Hunters’ storage shed were lying at her feet. All she had to do was bend down, pick them up, nock an arrow, and shoot the cat. How long could that take? A few seconds. How fast could that cat move? Probably faster than she could shoot. The panther emitted a low, rumbling growl.
“What’s going on out there, Paige?” Connor called.
“Shhhh.” Paige slowly bent down, not taking her eyes off the panther. He had a notch in one ear and a long ugly wound on his left shoulder. Maybe that would slow him down. Her fingers grazed the recurve bow, and she felt around for the arrows, finally touching one. Her hand closed around them, and she slowly stood again. The cat hadn’t moved, but looked poised to leap at them. Paige transferred the wood of the bow into her left hand and nocked the arrow in the bowstring, taking a deep breath to steady herself.
The cat growled again and took a step forward. Paige heard Aleisha whimper and tried to ignore it as she lifted the bow and drew the bowstring back simultaneously. She aimed and released the bowstring just as the panther leapt into the air. Paige nocked a second arrow as the panther fell to the ground. The cat took a moment to gnaw at the arrow which had lodged in his wounded shoulder. Paige moved a few steps to the side until she had a clear shot at the panther’s chest and let the second arrow fly.
He growled and took a couple of stumbling paces before it caught up with him. With a high keening wail, he dropped to his knees, then rolled onto his side and lay there panting.
“Aleisha,” Paige said softly, touching her arm. “Come on, over here.”
“What the …”
Paige glanced over her shoulder to see Ty and Connor standing there. Nick’s head was sticking out of the opening. She could hear Alex complaining loudly about wanting to know what was going on outside.
“Get Alex out of there before he has a heart attack,” Paige said. Connor and Ty both turned to pull Nick the rest of the way out, then hauled Alex up with the rappel line.
“So, does this mean roast panther for dinner?” Ty asked.
Paige looked at the panther and felt sick. He was still heaving and in terrible pain. He wheezed and she could see blood foaming around the arrow. The big cat wasn’t giving up, tenaciously hanging onto life in spite of his agony, in spite of death being a slow, painful certainty. Stepping closer she could see that what had appeared to be sleek power was really an undernourished, desperate animal. Paige bit a trembling lip and turned to Connor.
“Take everyone off that way. Wait for me.”
Connor nodded and gathered everyone, handing out backpacks and equipment, herding them off into the jungle. The panther still gasped for breath. Paige pulled her knife from the sheath at her waist. He growled when she stooped beside him, but didn’t move. She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled his head up. With a quick movement, she drew the knife across his throat.
The cat sagged as his blood gushed from the severed artery. Paige stood and wiped the tears off her face. She pulled the two arrows from the panther’s shoulder and chest, cleaning the sharp points on palm leaves.
“You okay?”
Paige jerked around to see Connor standing behind her. Compassion filled his eyes.
“I’m fine.” She tossed the palm leaves down.
“You’re good with that bow,” Connor said.
“Dad collected weapons. He taught me to use them.”
“He collected bows?”
She shook her head. “Weapons. All kinds. Guns, spears, bows. You name it and Dad had one.” Paige looked around the jungle. “We need to find a new home.”
“That we do. You got any ideas?”
“Yeah. The last place the Hunters will think to look for us.”
“Where would that be?”
“Right under their damn noses.”
“Is that a good idea?” Connor asked.
“Best one I’ve had so far.”
They walked into the jungle where Connor had left the others, and Paige put her plan to them.
“We’ll camp right next to their house,” she explained. “I remember there’s a stand of thick bamboo on the south side of the house. About three hundred yards away.”
“I don’t like the idea of being that close to them,” Aleisha said hesitantly.
“I know. But we’ll be closer to the plane, and we can steal food from them so we don’t have to live on fish and berries.” They all brightened at that part of the plan.
“And it’ll give us a better opportunity to find the distributor cap, then we can get the plane running and get the hell off this island,” Paige finished.
“That part sounds good,” Ty agreed. But Alex, Nick and Aleisha still weren’t convinced.
“Look, they’ve been driving into the jungle to hunt us every day. That’s because the logical thing for us to do is to try to hide from them. Hiding is only going to work for a short time. Eventually, they’ll find us.”
“She’s right,” Connor said. “They will find us. Our only option is to get off the island.” The group looked at each other while they thought about what she had proposed.
“Yeah, okay, you’re right. We all want to get off the island. What do we need to do to make that happen?” Alex asked.
“First, we go set up camp and get some rest. We’re all exhausted from getting out of that cave.”
It was already late afternoon, and Paige knew they had at least a two-hour hike out of the jungle. Maybe longer considering everyone’s condition. Aleisha still looked shocked and frail after her encounter with the panther. They picked up their gear, and Paige took the lead, setting a pace that wouldn’t wear out Alex or Aleisha. After a while, Nick moved up to walk beside her.
“You used to be a cop, huh?”
“Portland PD,” she said.
“Were you, like a detective,
or did you work vice or something?”
“I worked homicide the last few years, but before that I paid my dues as a patrol officer.”
“I used to think about being a cop.” Nick grinned and shook his head. “But I don’t think I have the temperament for it.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m not that great at following the rules all the time.” He grinned and winked.
“Yeah, well that would be a detriment.” She should know. She’d gotten in trouble plenty of times for not following them.
“I guess I’m just a free spirit,” Nick said.
“Believe me, free spirit and cop are mutually exclusive.”
“Sounds like you’re talking from experience.” Nick grinned at her.
“Maybe. But I’m not going to admit it.”
“Did you always want to be a cop? I mean, since your dad was a cop. Doesn’t it run in families or something?”
Paige had to chuckle at him. “Well, it’s not like a genetic defect. I didn’t really think about becoming a cop until I was almost out of high school.”
“And now you’re a PI.” Nick shook his head and laughed. “Man, that’s got to be a really cool job.”
“Yeah, I like it.” And she hoped she’d be able to get back to it soon.
By the time they reached the bamboo stand, the sun was hovering on the horizon.
Paige found a place to enter the stand that was well hidden from the house and led them into the middle. The bamboo grew up to fifteen or twenty feet and was thick enough to provide plenty of cover. Ty used his machete to clear a small area for the central campsite, and Nick started digging a fire pit.
Paige dashed into the Hunter’s house and grabbed a bag of frozen chicken while Connor stood lookout. Right after they returned to the bamboo stand, they heard the Jeep pull up.
Although they were camped some distance from the house, and the bamboo provided protection from sound reaching the Hunters, Alex, Ty, and Nick were huddled together talking in whispers. Aleisha was asleep, and Paige thought that sounded like a good idea.
It would be dark soon, and she could see heavy clouds rolling across the sky to the north. Hopefully, they wouldn’t come south and dump another monsoon rain on them tonight. She dropped the bag of frozen chicken on the ground next to the fire pit.
“There’s dinner. But we’ll have to wait until they’ve gone to sleep before we can chance building a fire.”
“Let’s hope that’s early, because I’m starving,” Connor said.
“Yeah, let’s hope those rain clouds stay north of us, too.” Paige stretched and rolled her shoulders in an effort to release some tension. The ordeal of getting out of the cave had resulted in a deep fatigue that she felt in every muscle of her body.
“Ty, you take first watch. Then Nick.” Paige yawned. “Wake everyone an hour after all the lights in the house have been turned out. It should be safe to build a fire and cook the chicken by then.”
She moved into the stand of bamboo where Connor had made a reasonably soft sleeping surface by covering some of the cut bamboo with her nylon tarp. She was asleep in seconds and when Ty woke her several hours later, only hunger got her to rise and move to the fire pit.
They cooked the chicken and ate quickly, then returned to their makeshift beds. Everyone was exhausted, and she doubted there was any point in setting a watch. If the Hunters came after them right now, they’d likely have an easy enough time of it whether she knew they were coming or not.
Paige woke a few hours later and stared into the darkness. Her mind had been at work while her body rested, and she found herself returning to the problem of how they were going to get their hands on the damn distributor cap. She snuggled back against Connor to consider her options. Connor responded by throwing a heavy arm across her shoulders and snoring into her ear. Paige shifted a bit and tried to think about where the Hunters would have hidden the distributor cap. She and Connor had searched the house, and there hadn’t been any sign of it, which left the Jeep. Of course, it could have just been hidden somewhere they hadn’t thought to look in the house. But her bet was on the Jeep. She drifted back to sleep thinking of how she could get an opportunity to search the vehicle.
As soon as the sun came up, Paige and Connor woke and the others soon followed. The Hunters decided to get an early start as well, and Paige watched as they climbed into the Jeep less than an hour later.
“Connor, you and Ty go raid the kitchen for food and fill the water bladders. Nick, you stand guard for them. Aleisha, you and Alex start a fire.” Paige stood up and dusted off the seat of her shorts.
“What are you going to do?” Connor asked.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“That isn’t what I asked,” Connor said mildly.
“I’m going to follow the Hunters and search the Jeep while they’re looking for us. I’m hoping they’re keeping the distributor cap in the Jeep.”
“Good idea,” Connor agreed. “But not alone.”
“It doesn’t take two people.”
“I’ll stand guard for you while you search the Jeep. The others can take care of getting the food and water.”
Paige knew there was no point arguing with him, and they set off at a trot, following the tire tracks. The Hunters had taken the trail that would lead them the furthest into the jungle before they had to get out and continue on foot. Paige and Connor jogged along for over three miles before they finally saw the Jeep parked deep in the brush. The Hunters had been gone for about an hour when she and Connor reached the Jeep.
They listened carefully for a few minutes to make sure the Hunters were well away, then Paige started searching. The Jeep was a small, basic military model so there weren’t many places to search. She found the distributor cap shoved under the rear seat and covered with old rags. She leaned down to arrange the rags so they would look the same, and saw the barrel of a rifle.
Be still, her heart. An AK-47.
Paige opened the metal box at the rear of the jeep and found boxes and boxes of ammo. She pawed through them carefully until she found what she was looking for.
Slinging the rifle over her shoulder, she tucked the ammo boxes into her shorts pockets and waved the distributor cap at Connor. He bounded over, grinning at her success.
“Where’d you find that?” He pointed to the rifle.
“Cuddled up with the distributor cap. Let’s go. I want to be well away from here before they return.”
They jogged back to the bamboo stand and were rewarded with plates of food. The group was in an almost celebratory mood at the news that they now had the distributor cap. Finally there was an actual likelihood of getting off Hell Island. Paige shoveled scrambled eggs and sausage in her mouth, washed it down with a quart of water and moved over to sit on the makeshift bed she shared with Connor.
“What?” Connor dropped to the ground beside her.
“What?”
“I asked you first.”
Paige grinned at him. “Yeah, I know. I’m asking what you’re asking.”
“Oh, I’m asking what you’re thinking. I can tell by the look on your face that you’re up to something.”
“You can?” That was disturbing news. She didn’t like to think of herself as transparent.
“Well, that and the way you’re stroking that gun. Kinda makes me wish I were a gun.”
“That bad, huh?”
“That obvious,” Connor corrected. “Let me guess. You’re considering the incredible damage you can inflict on our gracious hosts with that thing.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Mind if I ask why?”
“Why?” Wasn’t that obvious? “I’ll tell you why. Because they killed my father. They killed Ty’s wife. The mother of his children. They killed Barry. They killed your friend, Josh. And they killed someone else before that. And after that, they planned to kill us. Because the Hunters think we know something.”
“Paige …”
&nbs
p; She held her hand up. “And now we do know something. We know that they’re heartless bastards that are willing to kill in order to keep whatever they’re doing a secret.”
Connor sighed.
“If I let them get off this island, how will I ever prove it? How will they ever pay for what they’ve done?”
“I don’t know.” Connor shook his head. “All I know is that this group is depending on you to get them to safety.”
“They don’t need me to fly them off the island.”
“Maybe. But they need you to be the leader. They need you in order to feel like anything at all is under control.”
Paige shook her head, reluctant to let go of the fantasy of confronting the Hunters behind an AK-47. “I’ll get them on the plane. You’ll fly them to Florida.”
“And then what? You really think I’m going to leave you here? You think I can just load them on the plane and fly off knowing that you’re staying here, marginally armed against four men?”
“An AK-47 isn’t exactly marginally armed.”
“It is when you run out of ammo.”
He had a point there.
“Besides, as soon as we’re gone, they’re going to get in that cabin cruiser and head out.”
“I can get them before they leave.”
“If you don’t get killed in the process, you’ll be left here with an assault weapon for company.”
“You’ve got a better idea?”
“Actually, I do. We leave. When we get to Florida, we talk to the police. They send someone out here to investigate.”
“They’ll be gone by then. The police won’t find them here.”
“We know these men are connected to Eastland Industries. The police can find them.”
“It’s just so hard, you know? I mean, these men killed my father.” She was sobbing. What the hell was up with that? She wasn’t the crying type. She certainly never sobbed. Ever.
“I know. I feel the same way. Josh was more than an employee. He was my friend.” Connor folded his arms around her. “Your dad was a cop. He’d be happier to see these men get what’s coming to them in a court of law than to see you kill them.”
Damn. If there was anything he could have said to change her mind, that was it. Her father had been a staunch believer in the law. Due process. Let the system work and it would. How many times had she listened to him rail against people who took the law into their own hands? How many times had she agreed with him? Didn’t she believe in due process? In justice through the system? That was a big part of the reason she had become a cop. And even though she’d left the police department, she still believed it.