“What’d they say to that?”
“They said they were warned I’d say that, and that the price on my head is preemptively doubled from whatever I would offer. They knew about you, Rory. They had an argument about whether to grab you too. They decided they didn’t have time and that the delay wasn’t worth it.”
Mathilda smothered a snort. “I guess sometimes it pays to not be a billionaire.”
“Yeah, but even being billionaire-adjacent has its risks.” Rory shook his head at his narrow escape. No doubt those kidnappers would have been less “handle with care” when it came to the lowly pilot. If he hadn’t been with Mathilda that night, tucked away in her cozy little mosquito net, who knew what would have happened.
More hiking. More bugs. More water breaks. Dawn came, filling the jungle wth misty light. The sun warmed them quickly. And still they trekked.
During one of those rests, Lincoln leaned on Rory as he tipped the last of his water bottle into his mouth. Gasping, he said, “Rory, my man, if we get out of this alive, there’s a big bonus in it for you.”
“Seriously?” Mathilda shifted her backpack on her shoulders and rolled her eyes. “Does it always come down to money for you?”
“Well, what should I offer him?”
“How about…maybe the truth about why you’re in danger, which is the same reason why Rory’s in danger, and something he deserves to know.”
After a long, confounded moment, Lincoln said slowly, “That’s fair. I’ll think about it.”
Rory cocked his head at him. “Did that coma knock something loose in there?”
“Why? Do I seem different?”
“Maybe a little more…human.”
“I guess you can thank two brushes with death for that. And counting. This jungle gives me the creeps. Does anyone else feel like someone’s watching them?” Lincoln glanced around the jungle and shivered.
“Probably the menehune,” Rory said wisely, causing Mathilda to smother a laugh.
“What is that, a kind of snake? Insect? Are they poisonous?”
“I have no idea. The first thing I’m going to do when we find service is look them up.”
They were still chuckling about that when they emerged onto the black-sand beach in Waipi’o Valley.
“Shit,” growled Lincoln, who’d reached the beach first. Rory, a step behind him,
A cluster of armed commandos had just spotted them, and were running across the beach in their direction. A high-powered Zodiac waited at the shoreline and a hulking black super-yacht floated just beyond.
24
Far down the beach, Mathilda could see the trail that would take them through taro fields and tin-roofed shelters to the insanely steep one-lane road that wound its way to the Waipi’o overlook. If only she could fly there, like that brilliant white egret gliding over the trees.
There would be no other way to reach it, not with these guys blocking their way.
Rory pulled her close for a quick, desperate hug. “Get out of here,” he told her tightly. “You don’t need to be part of this, whatever it is.”
He let her go and took off the backpack filled with food and handed it to her. She slid it on, but instead of running, she shrank back behind the trunk of an ironwood tree. If she ran, she had a strong feeling they might shoot at her.
At a gesture from Lincoln, the two men, hands in the air, strode toward the commandos. “I assume you’re looking for me?” Lincoln said arrogantly. “I’m a popular guy these days.”
From her shelter, Mathilda stared at the yacht riding the slow rollers coming in off the ocean. She’d never seen a boat quite like that one—and she’d sailed on plenty of expensive crafts back home. This one looked…armored. It had minimal windows, all of them tinted. Were those guns peeking from discreet portholes? A helicopter perched on the upper rear deck like a menacing spider. She wondered if it was a replacement for the one that had crashed.
“We’re going to need all of you.” The guard in charge beckoned with his weapon. “The girl too.”
“No,” Rory said firmly. “She’s just a guide. She has nothing to do with any of this.”
“You!” The guard yelled at Mathilda as she tried to make herself as invisible as possible. The ironwoods weren’t great for that purpose—their trunks were narrow and their foliage lacy evergreen. What she wouldn’t give for a banyan tree right about now. “Get out here!”
