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Jagger stopped for a drink of water and forced himself to eat a few bites of a protein bar and wash it down. He carefully traversed a particularly washed-out part of the trail with some game-ending drops to the ocean hundreds of feet below.
His phone rang.
Right now was not the time to get his phone out.
Anything could be happening, though. Hays might have found Belinda and Paul somewhere else on the island. Hays might have information about the rain and wind increasing, maybe a tropical storm coming through. Mercedes might have passed. His heart seized at that thought. He was still upset that Mercedes would blindside him and push him and Belinda together this week.
Two nights ago, with his Bee in his arms, he had a brief moment where he would’ve been singing her praises. It wasn’t Mercedes’s fault that Belinda wouldn’t believe him. None of them were ready to let their angelic friend go, and he’d been so obsessed with Belinda he hadn’t even called to check on Mercedes, Shawn, Franz, or Julie.
He’d lost both of his parents and several friends throughout the years in the military. He’d heard too many times that God was in charge and would take people when He wanted to. That stirred anger in his chest. He was sick of heaven messing with his life. Pastor Ralphs had thought Jagger coming at the right time to see Belinda kissing Mike was ‘heavenly intervention.’ The hypocritical pastor had lied to his daughter for fourteen years. The Ralphs must truly loathe Jagger and think he was the most awful man on earth to keep the truth from Belinda.
Was he bad for Belinda? He’d told her what her dad had said about him making her angry or making her cry, and she hadn’t said anything to dispute those claims.
Finally, he made it to a level part of the trail. Though it was mud-slick, it was fine and he wouldn’t die with a misstep. He pulled out the satellite phone from the backpack just as it rang again.
“What’s up?” he answered Hays.
“Jag, where are you?”
He glanced at his watch. “Almost to mile five.”
“Have you seen Paul and Belinda?”
“No. I haven’t seen another soul since I left Hanakapi’ai Beach.”
Hays cursed.
Jagger’s eyebrows lifted. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve had no sightings of them anywhere on the rest of the island. About half an hour ago everybody I talked to was buzzing about rumors of a boat of convicts from Oahu headed straight for the Na Pali Coast. I got in touch with the police. When I explained who I was and where I think Paul and Belinda are headed to win the reality show, they admitted that the convicts landed on Kalalau Beach a few minutes ago.”
“Didn’t you call Paul to turn around?”
“He isn’t answering. I don’t know if it’s the weather and his remote location, or maybe …” Hays didn’t finish.
Jagger quickened his pace. Was Belinda walking right into a nightmare? Were they already in trouble, or was Paul not answering so he wouldn’t give away his location to Hays?
“The police have boats offshore, but the convicts are shooting at them. With the stormy seas, it would be a death sentence to navigate into that beach right now, even if nobody was taking potshots at you. The storm is supposed to get worse, so their helicopters are grounded.”
Now it was Jagger’s turn to curse. He had a pocketknife and his Sig P226. “How many convicts?”
“Five.”
“Any idea how heavily they’re armed?” He skirted down a slick portion of the trail. He had to move faster. No wonder he’d felt so uneasy.
Bee! His heart thudded out of control. No matter what, he had to keep her safe.
“No one knows, but the questioning they’ve done so far at the prison has led them to believe they’ve been planning this for a while and had a weapons, clothing, and equipment cache ready.”
“Paul was armed?”
“Yeah. A pocketknife and a 1911 were in his backpack. Hopefully he transferred them when he bought the larger camping backpacks off the girls.”
“He would have.” Jagger upped his pace, clinging to the phone. “Hays. I don’t how to ask this.”
“You don’t have to. I’m already headed up the first mile of the trail.”
Relief rushed through him. Hays would never let him down. His buddy might not get there in time, but he would get there. If the convicts didn’t find Paul’s weapons—and if Jagger could reach them before the convicts tried to touch Belinda—he, Paul, and Hays could keep Belinda, and whoever else was camping at Kalalau, safe.
