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As they exited and ran for a taxi out front, Hays pulled up, leaped from his Jeep, and shot Belinda’s shirt.
“Jagger and Hays win the day,” her shirt proclaimed.
Hays grinned and started chatting with Paul and Belinda.
Belinda glanced back at him. Jagger held her gaze, hoping for some sign of softening.
She tilted her chin with all the sass of a too-appealing spitfire, turned around, and ignored him.
Jagger was done. If he stayed close to her for one more second, he’d storm up to her, kiss her, and demand she listen to reason. He could only imagine Bee’s stinging reaction to any of that.
He raised a hand to Hays. His friend waved him over. He shook his head and pivoted, heading back into the Sheraton. All he’d wanted the past fourteen years was to know why Belinda had cheated and to somehow have another chance with her.
He still didn’t know why she’d cheated besides giving Mike a chance and appeasing her parents. She was putting all the blame for their separation on Jagger, claiming he was some liar. It was infuriating and honestly terrifying. Jagger didn’t know how to fight through this one. He didn’t know that she would listen to reason and believe him over her dad. Ever.
The rest of the afternoon and evening, he walked the beach, picked up some Thai food at the truck in the Ace parking lot, and did the Sleeping Giant hike by himself, amazed to find a couple of roosters at the very top. He watched two young ladies do yoga on the edge of the cliff, winking at him and obviously showing off.
What was going on in some people’s minds?
Jagger grunted to himself. He couldn’t even figure out the mind of the woman he loved. How could he figure out why these girls would risk their lives either thinking it was attractive to him or for video footage for social media?
“Please get away from the edge,” he said to the girls, cracking his knuckles.
“Come over and make me,” one of them taunted, winking and licking her lips.
“Think about how your parents will feel when they come identify your broken body,” he said.
Their eyes widened.
Hurrying back down the trail, Jagger hoped they stopped being stupid. He had no problem risking his life for his country or to rescue someone in need, but to risk your life for stupidity was another matter entirely.
After a few more hours of driving around, he finally returned to the house, ignored the group in the living room who all turned and watched him walk past, and went up to his suite. He could feel the heat of Belinda’s glare and was proud of himself for not rising to her bait and yelling some more or forcing her to talk to him.
He slept a little better, only because he hadn’t slept the night before. The next morning, he lifted weights and swam in the ocean for hours again.
A little before nine, he was ready to go. Hays walked into the main room and stared at him. “I’ve never seen you this low, man. What can I do?”
Jagger shook his head. “You’re a good friend, Hays. If I had any clue how to make this better, I’d beg you for help.” He wanted to ask what Belinda had said about him last night, but he could only imagine. She was his feisty stinging Bee, but sadly she’d never be his. So he forced a smile. “Let’s go hunt them down.”
Hays nodded, and they walked into the garage together. Clapping him on the shoulder, Hays said, “I don’t know if it will make you feel any better, but she looks as miserable as you do, and she hasn’t said one word to me about what happened.”
Jagger stared at his friend. He didn’t know if it made him feel any better. It almost scared him. It had been fourteen years since he’d been close to Belinda, but he’d never known her to not speak her mind, or to look miserable. She was always sparkle, spice, and shine.
They headed out into a cloudy day that turned to a drizzle. It only added to the misery in Jagger’s soul. He couldn’t possibly get any lower.
He and Hays each had a few leads on Paul and Belinda’s location, but nothing turned out. It was almost eleven thirty in the morning when Hays called. “I just talked to a woman at the base of the Na Pali Coastline Trail. She and her friend had permits and planned to camp in Kalalau Valley tonight and tomorrow night, but they were getting discouraged by the rain and the wind, afraid the trail would be too dangerous, and they turned around at mile four. She claims Paul and Belinda bought their backpacks and permits off of them maybe a mile past Hanakapi’ai Beach.”
“Seriously?” Jagger was by Hanalei Bay heading east. He immediately pulled to the side of the road, waiting for an opening. Hanakapi’ai Beach was the two-mile mark of the famous Na Pali Coastline Trail.
“It’s a crazy move, but I think he’s going to try to do the eleven-mile hike into Kalalau and camp there tonight. With the timing the girls shared, Paul and Belinda should be at least to mile five. If we can’t reach them by six, they’ve won.”
“Not such a crazy move, then.” Jagger flipped around and drove toward Ha’ena State Park, the start of the trail. “How long did that hike take us?”
“About eight hours each way.”
“That’s a slow eleven miles.” Jagger and Hays had been stationed in Oahu for eighteen months and traveled to each of the islands to have different adventures. They’d been at a decent pace the entire time they did the famed hike. It was a hard eleven miles with a lot of elevation gain and loss and treacherous sections. The rain would make it more difficult and dangerous.
Jagger’s heart sped up in anticipation of the challenge. He wanted to catch them and win. He only had a little over six hours. “You think it’s really them? Why wouldn’t they have told the girls not to rat them out?”
