by Reina Torres
“Okay, gentlemen?”
They squinted, they scratched, and at least one of them reached down to adjust himself, but none of them actually looked at her.
Clapping her hands together loudly, she heard at least one of the men groan. “Good morning! I need everyone to look up here!” She pointed at her face and greeted them all with a smile. “I need information, gentlemen. And I need it now.”
“What.” The man closest to the front had missed a button somewhere down the front of his shirt.
“I need to know where James is. If you’re playing a joke on him… A prank of some kind? I get it. It’s all funny when you’re drunk, right?
“The problem is that we’re having the rehearsal this afternoon and the dinner after that, but none of it is going to happen if we don’t have James here.”
None of the men looked at all interested in helping her.
“First one with some actual information gets a whole pot of coffee for themselves… and pain pills.”
The man at the front let out a belch that had the construction guys applauding from the side of the room. “They went on a hike.”
“A hike?” She blinked at him like an owl. He couldn’t possibly mean an actual hike.
One of the men from the back of the group who would likely walk into a wall with the way he was squinting, had something to add to the information. “It was that flower thing.”
“The flower thing.” She wondered how much coffee this was going to take.
“Excuse me, Miss Ornellas?”
DEFCON 1
The bride had arrived.
She ran toward Ku‘uipo but drew up short as she got a whiff of the groomsmen. Skirting the group, she continued on and Ku‘uipo met her halfway.
“Miss Bismark,” Ku‘uipo tried to give her an encouraging smile, “what may I do for you?”
Hilarie held out a napkin. “I think James is lost.”
Well, at least the bride wasn’t going to freak out. That was something.
Right?
Taking the napkin from Hilarie’s hand, Ku‘uipo looked at the black pen markings on the napkin.
There was a strange scallop-like thing drawn in the corner of the napkin and words scrawled across the surface.
GONE TO THE MOUNTAIN
“Do you understand what he means?” Hilarie’s blue eyes were pinched with worry. “He’s not really big on heights.”
Oh good. A drunken mountain climber who didn’t like heights. What could go wrong?
Ku‘uipo turned on the men again. Someone had to know something. “What hike did he go on? Come on guys. Someone has to know something! This is your friend we’re talking about.”
The squint had it. Rubbing the back of his hand over his right eye he managed to mutter a few helpful words. “It was that legend thing you talked about yesterday. That flower. The giant.”
With that description, and it wasn’t all that much to go on, she had one idea that kind of fit the problem.
Turning back to the bride, Ku‘uipo gave her a hopeful smile. “I think I know where they went. Please go back to your suite and I’ll contact you as soon as we have any news.”
Hilarie balked at the idea. “I can come with you.”
Taking her hands in her own, Ku‘uipo gave them a squeeze. “I think you have an appointment at the spa for this morning and you should go. Let me take care of this. Please.”
Nodding, the bride stepped back and gave a withering look to the clutch of men huddled together. “You’re all on my list! I can’t believe you let him do something crazy. Today of all days!”
Squint gave her a lop-sided smile. “Actually, it was last night-”
“Parker!” Hilarie pointed a perfectly painted nail at his nose. “You need to shut up,” her gaze moved over the rest of the group, “and sober up. I’m sure you know more than this and if James means anything to you, you’ll figure out how to help us find him.”
She left the room in a huff and normally, Ku‘uipo would go after her and soothe her worries, but she had a job to do that superseded comfort. When they had a full working staff things would be so very different.
“Miles?” By the way she’d startled him she knew that he’d checked out of the conversation. That didn’t help her opinion of him at all. “You’re going to take the men to the kitchen and order them up enough coffee to make it flow through their veins. And then, you’re going to come back here and we,” she made sure to emphasize the word, “are going to go look for the groom and his best man.”
Thankfully, the men started to shuffle out on their own so they didn’t see the confused look on Miles’ face.
“Do you know where he went?”
Biting the inside of her cheek she gave him a weary look. “I know where to start, but we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Two
The shuttle company had done what they’d promised. The passenger van was waiting for them at the trailhead and the driver from the company handed the keys over to Commander Chastain. They would be on their way in minutes.
Efrain jumped in at that end and sat on the same bench-seat as Baron. “Onward, driver!”
The commander looked up into the rearview mirror. “You planning on walking back to town, Train?”
“No, sir.” Grinning back at him, Efrain couldn’t help but let his enthusiasm bubble over like a baking soda volcano. “Just excited about what comes next.”
The commander’s indulgent sigh elicited groans from a few of the men in the vehicle, but nothing was going to phase Train. Not then. Not with the excitement waiting for them back in Lihue. Tapping his boot on the floor of the van, Train began to listen to the music in his head, taking him to a happier place.
Until one of his housemates decided to push into his thoughts.
“Ajax?” Leaning his arm on the back of the seat, Baron looked back at Jackson. “You have reception on your phone?”
Ajax stretched his legs out and lifted his phone. “Almost. I’ll call when I know I can get a good signal. If she’s on set I don’t want to bother her.”
Train grinned. “She’ll have it off if she’s on set.”
“No one asked you,” Baron growled at him before he shifted in his seat and muttered under his breath. “Still, it can’t hurt to give it a try.”
Cullen turned a curious look in Baron’s direction. “Well aren’t you the cheerful Pollyanna? You in some kind of a rush?”
Baron lifted a hand and sent his friend a single-fingered salute.
“Maybe you don’t remember but Hi’ilani said she’d feed us when we were done. I’m hungry.”
Cullen sighed and leaned his blond head on the window, his eyes on the passing scenery. “When aren’t you hungry?”
Something left Baron’s hand and sailed through the air behind the Commander’s chair.
Shaking his head, Commander Chastain looked up into the rear-view mirror. “I would have thought that after five days on the trail and all of those teamwork exercises, you’d all be in a better mood than this.”
“Baron’s just grumpy because he didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Train laughed and leaned back into the chair, putting up his arm to block Baron’s elbow.
The other soldier blew out a frustrated breath. “There was a rock under my bedroll.”
Shado reached over the seat and gave Baron a pat on his head. “There’s a lump in your head, man. Seriously, if there was a rock under it, why not move the rock?”
Baron shook his head.
Train yawned and shifted in his seat. “That’s what I told him, but someone thought it would be a good idea to tell him about that superstition about taking rocks back to the continent.”
“If bad things happen for taking a rock off island, I don’t think I’m going to tempt fate by moving one.” Baron narrowed his eyes at his seatmate. “It’s not a superstition if it’s true.”
Ajax lifted his gaze away from his phone to look at Baron. “You walk under ladders.
You don’t care about broken mirrors-”
“And cats,” Train added in, “he never met a cat, black or otherwise, that he didn’t like.”
“Hey,” the other man protested. “I don’t like cats.” Slumping down against the side of the van, Baron stared out the window. “They like me.”
Cullen barely smothered his laugh, turning it into a snort. “Right.”
Baron grumbled at the lot of them. “Ajax, just make the call.”
Train smiled as he watched his leader swipe his phone open again and hit speed dial.
The call was picked up after a few rings.
“Jack?”
Train closed his eyes and listened. ‘Ajax’ or Jackson Guard if you looked at his Drivers License, had a commanding way about him. Even though they’d grown up all over the country, trained and served in many more locations, they all gravitated to Ajax from the very beginning. A calming presence in the group, he was a good leader and a loyal friend. Train couldn’t help but admire the easy way that Ajax had assumed leadership and especially the way he continued to hold them together even when he had his own life outside of the Delta group.
“Hey, honey.” The smile on Ajax’s face was good to see. “We’re off the trail and headed back to Lihue. Are you still filming?”
Ajax frowned and tilted his head closer to the phone.
“What did you say?”
Listening intently for a few seconds, he shook his head. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker.”
Train saw the commander reach out and push the button to turn off the radio.
The phone burst to life with sound and the Deltas heard Hi’ilani’s voice in the confines of the van.
“We were filming earlier but the helicopter was called away.”
Shado, up in front with the commander, leaned forward toward the dash, narrowing his eyes to focus through the bright sunlight. “I see a helicopter.” Closer still. “Two.”
Ajax relayed the information and they all heard her burst of laughter.
“Yeah, we see them too. In a minute one is going to land near here so I have to get off the phone. They pulled the helicopter because there’s a lost hiker up on Nounou-”
From his place beside Ajax, Mace mouthed the word but no one had any clue what it meant.
“-they needed it for the search. Filming is on hold until tomorrow. Meanwhile, Camera B’s going to take ground to air footage of the flights and see if they can use it later.”
Train saw Ajax shrug. “Uh, okay.”
They all heard her customary laugh, as beautiful as she was, and just as warm. “I’ll explain more later, or you can get Train to explain it to you. I’m not sure we’ll even get to visit that hotel site that Train wants to see. Our guide is actually on the rescue right now.”
Trying to contain his disappointment, Train let his thoughts drift off. When they’d heard that Hi’ilani was going to be filming Honolulu P.I. on the island of Kaua‘i, Commander Chastain had worked out a training exercise involving the hiking trail along the Na Pali Coast. It meant that after the training finished and if the filming stayed on schedule, the couple could have a bit of a vacation, and after their last mission, they all needed one.
Baron kicked Train’s boot and pulled him out of his thoughts.
‘What?’ Train mouthed the word to his housemate who jerked a thumb back toward Ajax’s corner.
“Yeah, I can ask the guys. Hold on, babe.”
Lowering the phone to his lap, Ajax looked around the interior of the van. “The regular search and rescue is on the other side of the island. Right now, as it stands, they’re short a few trained personnel. If anyone wants to volunteer for the search-”
Hands went up all around the van and the commander nodded from the driver’s seat.
Lifting the phone, Ajax smiled at his team with his eyes bright with pride. “We’re on our way.”
Ku‘uipo stuck her head under the hose held by one of the film crew. Humidity was fine unless you were moving around like a chicken scared out of the brush, and there were plenty of those around the parking lot. Actually, there were more than their share of chickens everywhere on the island.
Most of the time they were scared of humans but some of them loved to chase people and those were the ones she was constantly chasing down at the hotel.
It was one thing to watch the colorful birds flitting in and out of the bushes, but having a ticked off rooster chasing guests? That wasn’t going to work if they wanted to move forward with their plans.
Lifting a hand, the water stream turned off and Ku‘uipo reached for the towel she’d set aside. The branch was empty.
“Hey, who-”
A towel dropped over her head and a girlish squeal reached her ears. “Ha! Got you!”
With a knowing smirk, Ku‘uipo dropped her towel down around her shoulders and reached up for her ponytail holder.
She knew when Hi‘ilani realized that the tables had turned. She saw the wide-eyed saucer-stare and the way her lips parted before her old friend started to move away.
The problem was that the ground was more than a little wet and the famous red dirt of Kaua‘i had become a kind of red sludge.
Ku‘uipo took another step and one foot slipped out from underneath her friend and Hi‘ilani did what she’d done a hundred or more times since they’d become friends in elementary school, she reached out for help.
And Ku‘uipo caught her hand.
But this time… this time was different. Ku‘uipo used her hold on her friend’s hand to keep her there and with a look, bright with playful revenge, she tipped her chin down toward her chest and shook her head, sending droplets of water in a shower over Hi‘ilani’s head.
“Stop! Stop!” Hi‘ilani’s laughter was loud enough to dampen the ambient noise. “That’s so cruel!”
Ku‘uipo pulled her friend into her embrace and the two laughed until they could barely breathe.
When she could drag in a breath she stepped back and bent over rubbing at her thighs. “My legs are killing me.”
“How many times have you gone up?”
Looking over at Hi‘ilani, she answered, almost angry at herself. “Twice. At this point I just want to find some trace of where they went.”
The heavy sweep of helicopter blades punctuated the air overhead and Ku‘uipo could see a kick up in action over at the command post. “Something’s going on.”
Offering Hi‘ilani a hand to pull her completely free of the mud just outside of the parking lot, Ku‘uipo jogged beside her friend over to the officer who had been assigned to the search.
“Officer Kim?”
He held up a finger for a moment and then when he lowered the hand cupped over the earpiece he turned around to the women. “The helo has to refuel but it will be back within a half hour.”
Hi‘ilani gave her friend a worried look, Ku‘uipo wasn’t deterred. “There’s something else?”
The officer nodded. “One of the hikers in the area found a man.”
“One?” She asked to clarify the report.
Nodding, the officer’s smile was perfunctory at best.
The hiker is local and marked the spot, but they’re bringing him out. From what they had to say he looks to be in good shape but suffering from a monster headache.”
Ku‘uipo nodded at the news. “It seems like they did a lot of drinking last night.” Looking over at the EMT station set up at the edge of the parking lot, she shook her head. “I’m going to head up and see if I can meet them on their way back.”
The officer stepped in her way and did his best to stare her down. “You should wait.”
She was torn. If she went in and walked back with them, she could answer a number of questions, but the aches in her legs were proof that she needed to do more trails to keep up her strength.
Working to get the hotel up and running meant a lot of standing in one place and sitting down in meetings.
She was still turning over the options in her head when
Hi‘ilani left her side.
Turning her head, she saw her old friend rush toward a large passenger van marked with rental car stickers.
Hi‘ilani’s boyfriend and his friends had arrived.
A weight settled on her shoulders. She’d agreed to take them all on a tour of the hotel and talk about its history. Even though Hi‘ilani had told them she couldn’t do the tour for them that day, they would still be expecting it at some point and she was already a couple of hours behind an already crazy busy schedule.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for her management skills. Just great.
She only had a moment to mull over the thought before Hi‘ilani waved her over.
Officer Kim anticipated the question before she even turned to ask him.
“Go ahead. The paramedics are going to want to assess him before you grill the man. Go say hello to your friends.”
Her friends.
Not really, but there was no point in arguing with the officer. He’d been a friend of her uncle’s from their hanabattah days so he was like family in the worst of ways. Meaning that he thought he could order her around.
“Okay, thanks, but as soon as he’s been checked out-”
“I’ll let you know.”
She still hesitated before heading over to the van.
When she was almost there, she slowed her steps again. The men that were climbing out of the van weren’t necessarily giants, but they felt bigger than they had a right to be.
Maybe it was because she’d been working with mostly college students and an ongoing slew of older construction guys, but wow.
Six guys, fit as hell. A smile twisted at the corners of her mouth. None of them looked alike. Different heights, proportions, and coloring did nothing to take away from the muscles. So many and just… wow.
Yes, she was incredibly articulate at the moment, but since no one could hear the babbling of words in her head she didn’t worry too much.
The last man who had exited the vehicle went straight for Hi‘ilani. Jackson Guard. Leader of the Delta Force team. He was taller than her friend, but the way he wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her tightly to his chest she knew just why her friend was so head over heels in love with the man.