Chapter 32
“What happened?” Zara was on her feet before she knew it. “Is it one of the kids? Dad? Did he burn the house down?”
“No, it’s Tanaka. His people are on their way to the Nahele jungle camp, looking for Rory. We have to warn him.” He rapidly tapped keys on his laptop.
“Are you calling him? I thought you said there’s no cell service.”
“There isn’t. I’m getting a helicopter sent over to pick us up.”
“Wait…what?” All of a sudden, Lincoln had turned into someone she didn’t quite recognize. That glint in his green eyes made him look almost ruthless.
“It’s the only way to beat Tanaka’s crew.
They’re taking a boat around to Waipi’o Beach, then they’ll be on foot through the jungle.
Maybe they don’t want to attract attention.
” He glanced up at her, the tense lines of his face softening.
“You might want to stay here instead. It could be dangerous, and for sure there will be mosquitoes.”
“How dangerous?”
He shrugged. “I can’t really say. I don’t plan to confront them. I just want to alert Rory and get him somewhere safe. I owe him. It’ll probably shock the hell out of him that I think that, but it’s true.”
“Couldn’t you send your own security people?”
“I could. But I also want to talk to him about the internet campaign he’s been running, and this Crystal Collective. If he’s learned anything else, he’ll probably tell me, especially if I save his ass from Tanaka’s guys.”
Zara sucked on the inside of her cheek, torn between her sense of adventure and her sense of duty. She ought to stay here and keep an eye on the kids, especially now that their father was back.
“I’ll make sure Eddie and Mia have full-time protection,” Lincoln said, as if reading her mind. “My most trusted guys.”
“Really?”
He clicked a few keys. “Done. Your dad too?” More key-tapping.
“You like him, don’t you?” She smiled at him, shaking her head.
“I wouldn’t take it that far. The man is pure chaos. I need to make sure he doesn’t do something off-the-wall.”
“I mean…that’s guaranteed. Just look at last night.”
“I would, but…” He smiled at her sheepishly. “It’s all a little foggy.”
His words from the shower came back to her. I love you. You bring all the light with you. Those sweet words probably fell into the foggy category.
She should walk away now. She’d acted on the sexual attraction between them, she’d spent some fun times in a bikini at a fancy resort.
She’d even had a major wardrobe upgrade thanks to “Zaharina Morgan.” Why not dump out of this wave before it hit the rocks?
Wasn’t that something she always emphasized to new surfers?
Knowing when to jump off will lessen your chances of getting hurt.
She opened her mouth, ready to agree that she should stay here, but instead the opposite came out. “I’ve come this far, why back out now?”
Could she take it back? Of course she could. But she didn’t.
A slow grin came over Lincoln’s face, then faded slightly. “I promise to keep you safe to the best of my ability. The last time I was in the jungle, I went through a few things. This time, I’ll be armed.”
“With firearms or bug spray?”
“You haven’t been to the jungle, have you? The bug spray is no match for those mosquitoes.”
The only one of the seven valleys that Zara had been to was Pololū, the farthest north.
The others stretched down the coastline toward Honokaa, a charming old sugar plantation town.
She’d been there once to see a show in the restored 1930s movie theater, but she hadn’t gone farther north to the famous Waipi’o Valley with its insanely steep mile-long access road—one of the steepest rural roads in the country.
She’d been told it was so dangerous that the tour vans drove with their back doors open in case the brakes failed and all the passengers had to dive out.
It was closed for repairs, but she and Lincoln wouldn’t have to worry about that, because they were going to being flown into the jungle on a helicopter that purred like a kitty-cat on the tarmac.
After they’d successfully buried the lip balm tin in the sand at Banyans, they’d made a few quick stops to get Eddie and Mia squared away, and to grab some jungle-friendly clothes. One of Lincoln’s security people had a backpack ready for him.
He also produced a pack for Zara, filled with protein snacks, bug spray, and water, but he didn’t respond to her words of appreciation.
“No need to thank the security team,” Lincoln told her as he helped her into the helicopter. “They’re just doing their jobs, and they’re extremely well paid.”
She settled into the seat the pilot indicated, fastened the seat belt, and accepted the earphones that would allow her to communicate.
Was it gauche to express gratitude to security guards?
Why had no one ever told her this? It was probably just scratching the surface of the things she didn’t know about being a billionaire.
How much was it costing Lincoln to provide twenty-four-hour security to her house, her father, her brother and her sister?
In the scheme of things, probably virtually nothing.
No wonder he’d been able to pay off her Urgent Care bill without blinking.
And book a last-minute suite at the Kona Queen.
And, and… Whatever else in the world he wanted to do.
Except change his past. No one could do that. Not even the wealthiest person in the world could go back in time and make his family treat him more kindly, or make his father be present in his life. Everyone on this planet had to play the cards they were dealt in that respect.
As they flew over the jungle, the deep ridges and valleys unfolded below them in a panorama of shades of green.
Occasionally a waterfall would appear as a long thread of white foam.
From this high, the water appeared to be still, but she could imagine how tumultuous it must be up close.
Living on the west side of the Big Island, she wasn’t used to seeing so much lush rainforest. So this is what over a hundred inches of rainfall a year could do. Incredible.
“That’s where my SyberJet crashed,” Lincoln said, sounding so close she jumped. These earphones were extremely high quality. It felt like he was whispering secrets in her ear.
Moving on, he pointed out another spot. “Crash number two. That one was a helicopter.”
Her mouth fell open as she gazed down at the flash of silver wreckage barely visible through the foliage. “You really went through a lot out here.”
“I did. There’s more, too, but those are some of the highlights.” He grinned over at her. “I’m glad I got to give you a tour.”
“I’m a little surprised you want to come back here. Are you having flashbacks?”
“No. I’m looking forward to this. I need to thank some people. I never had a chance the first time, and also, I was an asshole then.”
His rueful tone made her burst out laughing. “Nothing like a little radical honesty. Are you saying you’re no longer an asshole?”
“Mmmm…” He shrugged. “It’s not for me to say. I’m aware of the tendency. That’s progress, right?”
Should she tell him she’d never thought he was an asshole?
Somewhat arrogant, sure, maybe too single-minded, determined, occasionally clueless about things normal people understood without thinking about it.
But asshole? No. She’d always thought he was self-protective and somehow alone, and her heart had accepted him as such.
But if she told him all that, he’d probably get embarrassed.
“Baby steps,” she joked instead.