AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My new deep, dark secret is that I’m terrified of coconut crabs,” I mutter.
“You really want to know my secret?” Aolani says abruptly. “My most terrible thought that keeps me awake at night?”
“Yes!”
“This is a career-making project.”
“Yes?”
“A luxury eco-lodge, funded by a world-renowned billionaire in one of the places I love most. This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Challenging, inspiring, and if I get it right, game changing. The advances in environmentally friendly, sustainable development practices alone…”
“I’m not getting the terrible part.”
“And I don’t want to do it anymore,” Aolani states flatly. “I don’t care if Ronin or the naturalists discover something that kills this project. I hope they do.”
“Because you don’t like working for MacManus?”
“No. He is merely an arrogant haole. You can’t work on the islands without encountering his type. At a certain point, it doesn’t matter if one is ten times or even a hundred times wealthier than another. An asshole is an asshole.”
I can’t fault that logic.
“It’s Pomaikai itself.”
“You don’t think it should be developed? It’s too ecologically fragile.”
“I think it doesn’t want to be developed. When I first arrived, I could feel the beauty, the purity of such untouched land. It spoke to me, and I promised I would do right by it. But there have been too many frightening accidents, more than seem probable. Lately, when I hear the trees rustling in the breeze, see the shadows collecting along the shore… I can feel a shift in the energy here. Ronin has, too. Pomaikai might have welcomed us once, but now, there’s a change in its intent, a dark turn of its own heart. Pomaikai doesn’t want us here anymore. And you can’t fight with nature. One way or another, it’ll have its way.”
CHAPTER 20
WE’VE JUST SPRAYED OUR WAY through another enormous puddle when the missing UTV comes into view. Aolani slams on the brakes. Our vehicle has barely come to a full stop, and we’re both out, flashlights bobbing through the rain. No sign of Charlie. I radio in the news, get a staticky confirmation from Vaughn, while Aolani grabs the walking sticks and medical kit. She doesn’t have to tell me to hurry up. The discovery of an abandoned vehicle on a dark and stormy night is enough to kick my sense of urgency into high gear.
It takes me a few seconds before I discover the trail of trampled grass Ronin and I followed earlier in the day. I catch the bright reflection of a glistening ruby-red shell, hear more scuttling from over there. I don’t want to enter the underbrush at this time of night and in these conditions, but I don’t have a choice. Clearly, Charlie came to check out the grave site on his own. Why? And what happened to cause him to be gone this long? Surely he was thinking he’d be in and out before anyone discovered that he was missing.
The downpour batters against my Gore-Tex hood, reducing my world to a single thunderous sound, while my flashlight carves out a narrow beam of light. I take a deep breath, then, as the designated guide, plunge forward. I immediately start slipping and sliding. If I thought the trail was challenging the first time around, the conditions have only made it trickier. I can feel Aolani pressing impatiently behind me. We need to find Charlie and we need to find him now.
I use the walking stick to sweep the underbrush before me as more eyes appear in the dark. Then, a resounding thwack as I connect with something solid and send it reeling.
Please don’t let coconut crabs be the vengeful type.
I careen down a small dip, tripping over roots, sloshing into mud. I right myself just in time to catch movement at the base of one of the Pisonia trees. A ruckus as two bodies collide. I frantically flick my flashlight to the right in time to catch a giant coconut crab dragging a smaller, still flailing orange ghost crab away.
Don’t think about it. Forward momentum. Eyes straight ahead.
I slip over another root, go down on one knee, Aolani nearly falling over me. For a second, my foot is caught. I kick frantically, rip free from the tangle of plants, then surge to standing. I spy more evidence of trampled underbrush and power forward.
Rain, mud, muck. Giant crabs, vicious predators, hydraulic claws.
Just move.
I can tell the moment we’re close. The rain now tastes of salt as we stagger up the small knoll overlooking the ocean. No sign of the angel terns or sound of raucous seabirds as I head to the right, scooching under the umbrella of two trees.
And then…
I wave my arm frantically to grab Aolani’s attention.
“I’ve found him, I’ve found him, I’ve found him.”
I twist around.
