Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
George escorted Emi to the SUV parked out front. What he liked most about the cabin was that it was set back from the main road with enough trees shading the entrance that it couldn’t be seen by anyone passing by. The privacy and the dock where he could park the rented boat were what had sold him on the place.
Given the recent acquisition of one almost-drowned female, George was thankful for both.
He cupped Emi’s elbow lightly and helped her down the steps and across to the SUV, opening the door for her.
When she tried to pull herself up into the passenger seat, she fell back into his chest.
He caught her easily, helped her into her seat and buckled her seatbelt around her, careful not to touch her for too long.
After all she’d been through, he could imagine she’d hate any man touching her. Though he hadn’t known her long, he didn’t want her to hate him.
Since she’d showered, she looked less like a bedraggled homeless person. Dressed in his sweats and T-shirt, with the cap hiding her auburn hair, she looked more like a teenage boy than a young mother of a three-year-old.
She was more than kind of cute. Though he’d been in a hurry to get her out of the water and her skin covered, he hadn’t been able to help but notice that she had a beautiful body. A little on the thin side, nicely shaped, with full, perky breasts, not too big, but just the right size.
He pulled his mind away from that image seared into his memory and rounded the vehicle to slide into the driver’s seat.
Silence stretched between them for the first few minutes.
George glanced over at Emi. She couldn’t be much more than five feet tall. Sitting slumped low in the passenger seat, she looked even smaller, like a sad, lost child.
Something about this woman made him want to know everything about her. He struggled with what he could ask that wouldn’t be too prying or trigger the horror she’d suffered from being kidnapped and held hostage for so long. Finally, he settled on what might have come before. “Where did you grow up, Emi?”
She wrapped her arms around her middle and stared at the road head, keeping her ballcap tipped low over her forehead. “I grew up in Boerne, Texas, a small town northwest of San Antonio.”
“An only child?” he asked.
He glanced over in time to see a tear slide down her face.
“Sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“No. It’s okay.” She swiped at a tear. “I just haven’t let myself think about my family outside of Sara in a long time. My little brother would be the same age I was when...” Her voice caught and more tears followed the first.
“Don’t you want to let them know you’re alive and well?”
“No,” she said sharply. Then, in a gentler tone, she added. “Not yet.”
He nodded. “Not until we recover Sara.”
She gave him a brief nod. “Right. Only when Sara’s safe will I think about letting them know about us.”
George frowned. “What do you mean you’ll think about it?”
She shrugged and looked out the side window, turning her face away from him. “I’m not the same person I was when I left Texas eight years ago.”
“You’re still their daughter and your brother’s sister,” he said. “That hasn’t changed.”
“I’m not the same.”
George didn’t respond for a few minutes. “You can’t blame yourself for what that bastard did to you. It’s not like you asked for it.”
“I did nothing to stop him,” she said so quietly he barely heard.
“Did you want him to do all those things?” he asked.
“No,” she said, now staring down at her hands.
“Exactly.” George reached over, took her hand in his and squeezed it briefly. “You had no choice,” he said. “You did nothing wrong.”
She sighed. “Still...I don’t know how to face my family. How do I look them in the eyes?”
“Emi, you lift your chin and be proud you’re alive. You’re a badass survivor who has done everything in her power to protect her daughter.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” she said. “Right now, I can’t think of anyone else but Sara.”
“You’re right.” George gripped the steering wheel tighter, mentally kicking himself. The last thing Emi needed was a reminder of what she’d endured. “I didn’t mean to upset you. If you want me to shut up, just say so.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “What about you? Where did you grow up?”
He gave a twisted smile. “A lot of places. My father was in the Marine Corps. We moved a lot. North Carolina, California, Virginia and Japan. The longest we stayed in one place was Norfolk, Virginia. My mother became an expert at packing us up and getting us started in new schools wherever we were stationed.”
Emi faced him. “How many siblings do you have?”
George smiled. “Three brothers. With me, we were four hellions, giving our mother hell. But she could handle it, even when our father was gone for months at a time.”
“She must be a strong woman.”
He nodded. “She is.”
“Do you still have both parents?” she asked.
George nodded. “Alive and kicking. Since Dad retired from the corps, my mother has kept him busy. After all their world travel, they spend most of the summer months traveling in their RV all over North America. They belong to an RV travel club and are living their best lives.”
Emi smiled. “And your brothers? Did they join the military like you?”
“They did,” George said.
“All marines?” Emi prompted.
“All but one. My youngest brother chose the Navy. He wanted to be a SEAL.” George’s chest swelled. “And he did it. Made it through BUD/S and is now a part of DEVGRU.”
Emi’s brow puckered. “DEVGRU?”
“The short version of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group,” George clarified.
Emi’s frown deepened. “What’s happened in the world over the past eight years?”
George chuckled. “Too much to even start to explain. I’ll fill you in later.” He nodded toward the road he was turning onto. “We’re here.”
Emi sank deeper into her seat as George drove up to the small airport that wasn’t much more than a few buildings and a runway. He passed through a gate, drove onto the flightline and straight to an airplane sitting on the tarmac.
“I’m going to help you onto the plane and then go park the vehicle.”
Emi looked at him, her eyes wide and frightened.
George reached across and touched her hand, resting on her lap. “I’ll only be a minute.”
He slid out of his seat and rounded to her side of the vehicle to open her door.
She sat still, staring at the plane.
“Come on. It’ll be all right.” He held out his hand.
She stared from his hand to the plane and back to his hand. Finally, she laid her hand in his and let him help her to the ground.
He touched his fingers lightly to the small of her back and guided her to the plane.
When a man came down the steps, Emi stepped behind George.
George greeted his boss, Jace Hawkins, with a brief smile and a handshake.
“George, old man, fill me in,” Hawk said. “What’s the mystery?”
George’s eyes narrowed. “Can we get inside the aircraft first?”
“Absolutely.” Hawk stepped back and waved a hand toward the interior. “You’re lucky you caught us. We were just about to head home to the Big Island when we got your call.”
“I’m glad I got to you before you did. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” George left Emi beside the plane with Hawk. He parked the car near the hangar and ran back to help Emi up the steps, climbing aboard the aircraft after her.
Hawk followed, pulled the steps up behind them and locked the door in place. When he turned, he smiled at Emi. “Who’s your little buddy?”
George nodded toward Emi. “Emi, this is Jace Hawkins, regional director of the Brotherhood Protectors Hawaii.”
Emi slipped the cap from her head. Her auburn hair fell down her back in loose waves. She held out her hand, her gaze meeting Hawk’s. “I’m Emi Sands.”
Sands. George filed her last name away in the back of his mind. She’d told him her first name, but not until now had she shared her surname.
“Well, this is a surprise.” Hawk shook Emi’s hand and released it, his gaze going to George and back to Emi. “Swede tells me he’s researching a man named Fallon Vance. Does he have anything to do with you?”
Emi’s face paled. She looked to George.
“You want me to fill him in on everything?”
She hesitated a moment, then nodded.
At that moment, Kalea, Hawk’s fiancée, climbed out of the cockpit and joined them.
Hawk smiled at her and nodded toward Emi. “Emi Sands, my fiancée, Kalea Parkman. George was just about to tell us what’s going on.”
George inhaled and let it out slowly, searching for the right words. He needed to tell Hawk and Kalea about Emi but didn’t want to make her embarrassed about what had happened to her.
Emi touched his arm. “It’s okay. You can’t say anything that could hurt me any more than what he’s done. This is about Sara.”
He covered her hand on his arm, turned to Hawk and told him everything Emi had shared with him.
Kalea’s eyes widened and then narrowed as George finished. “That bastard.”
Hawk nodded and focused on Emi. “We’ll do everything in our power to find your daughter.”
“Vance can’t know I’m still alive,” Emi said. “As long as he thinks I’m dead, he might leave Sara alone.”
Hawk nodded. “We’ll keep it in the Brotherhood.”
“We’ve fueled up already, so let’s get this bird in the sky,” Kalea turned and climbed back into the cockpit.
Hawk waved to a couple of seats. “Buckle up and plug into the headsets. We’ll go until we have to refuel.”
“Thank you,” Emi said, her eyes brimming. “Sara’s everything to me.”
Hawk nodded. “We’ll do our best.” He joined Kalea in the cockpit and slipped his headset over his ears.
George helped Emi with the seatbelt and headset.
Once she was settled, he took his seat, buckled the belt and adjusted earphones over his ears. “Can you hear me?” he asked, looking over at Emi.
She nodded.
Kalea started the engine, the propeller spun and she taxied out to the runway.
Emi’s fingers gripped the armrests so tightly her knuckles turned white.
George reached out his hand.
Emi released one of the armrests and placed her hand in his.
He held it through the race down the runway as the aircraft gained speed and finally lifted off the ground.
Emi’s fingers tightened around his, holding on until the little plane gained altitude and seemed to float through the air.
Kalea turned the plane inland.
For the next few hours, they flew close to the hills, forming a grid in order to search as much of the island’s hills as possible.
Emi leaned toward her window her nose pressed to the glass as she stared down at the lush green mountains covered in trees and vegetation.
George marveled at the beauty. At the same time, he worried that the beautiful vegetation would keep them from making out the compound hidden beneath camouflage.
By the time the sun started its descent, Kalea’s voice came over the headset. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “We have to land to refuel and assess our next move.”
Emi bit her bottom lip, her gaze desperately scanning the ground below.
Kalea headed back to the small airport, bringing the plane down for a gentle landing.
While Kalea arranged for aviation fuel, Hawk removed his headset and turned to face George and Emi, his face grim. “If, as Ms. Sands has indicated, they have the compound heavily camouflaged, I’m not sure we’ll find it via aerial surveillance.”
“We can’t give up,” Emi said. “He has Sara.”
Hawk held up a hand. “We’re not giving up. However, we need to rethink our search techniques.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “One option is to have our computer guy, Swede, search older satellite images of the island for a time before the camouflage was added.”
Emi leaned forward. “Won’t that take too long?”
“Without Vance’s real name, we don’t have much to go on.” Hawk’s brow dipped, and his eyes narrowed. “I know a guy who does drone photography and cartography for engineering firms. I’ll check with him and see if he has some ideas. Maybe he has heatseeking drones that can look past the camouflage.”
“The compound has concrete walls,” Emi said. “Will it see inside the concrete?”
Hawk shook his head. “Probably not.”
“But you said the place had men guarding the exterior,” George said. “If they’re outside, they’ll be detected.”
Emi nodded, her hands clutched tightly in her lap. “What can we do now?”
Kalea turned in her seat to look back at Emi. “I’d like to get you to the Big Island, have our family doctor check you over and fit you with some clothes and shoes.”
Emi shook her head. “If Sara’s here on Kauai, I want to be as close as I can.” She looked to George.
“She might not even be on this island,” George said. “Let us take you to the Big Island and get you squared away while we look at the other options. Either way, we can’t continue our search through the night.”
“You can trust our doctor,” Kalea said. “If we tell him your visit must be held in the strictest confidence, he will do that. He provides medical services for all of Parkman Ranch.”
Emi bit her bottom lip, the shadows under her eyes even darker than before.
“You need rest,” George said softly. “We’ll stay vigilant. Swede works miracles. If there’s some piece of information out there, he’ll find it.”
“And I’ll get in touch with the drone guy and get that ball rolling.”
Emi looked around at the people looking back at her. “She’s only three.”
“We’ll find her,” Hawk said.
“Okay,” Emi sagged in her seat and slid the headset over her ears.
Hawk and Kalea took their positions in the cockpit as the guys fueling the aircraft finished and moved away.
Once again, the plane taxied out to the runway.
When George held out his hand, Emi took it and held on tightly through the take-off.
Once in the air, her grip loosened.
George glanced her way.
Her eyes were closed, and her head lolled to the side.
His heart hurt for the young mother so intent on finding her little girl. She was physically drained by what had happened to her.
He was glad she’d consented to go to the Big Island, especially since a doctor could look her over and make sure she didn’t have any lasting effects from her time in captivity.
George would have an opportunity to get on the computer there and do his own searching while he waited. Though he wasn’t the expert Swede had become, surely, the more people searching for answers, the better.
Time could be running out for the three-year-old.