Chief Distraction (15 page)

“You’re too late. Everyone heard that gunshot
and they’ll come runnin’,” the thug said woozily.

Blythe stood motionless for a moment, letting it
all sink. Mak turned the thug over slightly so they faced each other.

“Then I might as well kill you, right?” Mak
hissed. “Who’s in charge?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Mak tightened his hold and shoved a knee swiftly
into the man’s side, making him groan in pain.

“Okay, easy,” the guy stalled.
 
“A guy named Blunt. But knowing his
name doesn’t matter. He won’t stop until you’re both dead. Heard him say it
myself.”

Blythe and Mak locked eyes. She was about to
lose it.

“He’s got it in his mind to tie up any loose
ends,” the thug turned his eyes on Blythe, smiling smugly. “That would be you,
sweetheart, a loose end to be eliminated.”

                 
<><><>

A
possessive flood of heat washed over Mak as he grabbed the thugs jaw and
twisted it until their eyes met. His vision blazed over in red anger as his
hand squeezed with force.

“Don’t look at her. Look at me. Don’t you ever
look at her! Now, tell us their plan.”

The thug slumped back as Mak let go of his firm
grip and backed away, fixing the gun on him from a safe distance and releasing
the safety.

“You’re the plan, for now,” he said and ran a
casual hand over his bristled jaw, massaging the spot Mak had squeezed. “Since
our shipment’s running late, hunting you down gives us something to do. Face
it…you’ll never get off this island. Alive anyways.”

“Shut your mouth,” Mak warned.

The thug scowled. “What you gonna do if I don’t?”

Everyone froze at the sound of a distant shout.

“I’m not alone. You’d better start a runnin’.
But I’ll find you, mark my words, I’ll…” The sentence dropped into thin air.
The thug’s mouth suddenly went slack and he slumped to the side, his head
lolling weakly.

“That should shut him up,” Blythe said, winded.

“Wow,” Mak looked down at the man sprawled on
the floor. “You really clocked him.”

“Thanks.” Blythe clutched the heavy binoculars.
“I guess third time’s a charm.”

Mak grabbed the first-aid kit and a small glass
jar of water he’d managed to fill at the rainwater cistern. His body hummed
with adrenaline. He took Blythe’s elbow and guided her out of the bunkhouse,
the door slamming on its hinge and resonating into the night air. Mak let his
instincts take over, like a wild man in a fight for his life – their lives.
“We’ve gotta move. I’d say they definitely know we exist now.”

Chapter
Fourteen

Running from the bunkhouse at full speed, they
made it to the high brush that surrounded the military encampment. Mak swiveled
to face Blythe. He signaled for her to stay low and silent. Crouching, Blythe
reoriented herself in the darkness.

“Sanders?” Came a low bellow from a nearby
building. “Hey Sanders, that you?” Like a ghostly spirit, a second thug
appeared from around a corner. He walked toward the bunkhouse, completely
oblivious to what had just gone down. The darkness was their ally, shrouding
their presence. The man had no idea he was being watched.

Mak brought his finger to his lips and she
nodded.

“Stay close behind me,” Mak instructed. “We’ve
got to get away from the camp without being seen so I’m going to run fast.”

“I’ll keep up,” Blythe whispered.
 

Mak seemed to hum with impatience, as if every
cylinder wanted to fire. Taking her elbow, he guided her out of the brush
toward the moonlit path. Once there, they ran as fast as they could away from
the military encampment. As soon as she was on the move again, Blythe’s
confidence grew with the knowledge that they’d taken down one of the four
thugs. She felt a glimmer of hope that they may just escape with their lives
tonight.

They ran endlessly through the night toward yet
another destination, yet another means of escaping the men. The murky darkness
played tricks on her vision. At times she truly believed there was a person up
ahead, only to realize it was a lone boulder protruding from the grass as they
got closer. Every movement the wind caused made her heart stop, ever sound
convinced her that someone was right on her heels.

She tripped and almost fell as she stumbled
through the thick brush, but Mak’s firm grip kept her upright and she quickly
fell into step with him. Each stride sent a ripple of pain down her arm. She
placed a hand on the wound to add pressure. This seemed to ease the chronic
ache but slowed her down somewhat.

Physically fatigued and dizzy, Mak slowed their
pace but kept them moving in the opposite direction – opposite the men at
base camp. Blythe followed, never questioning his intentions.

“Was that the same guy we saw at the docks
earlier or are there more men?”

“That’s him, the guy who killed Lou.”

“He said he saw me on the video.”

Mak kept walking for a bit before answering. “So
they did look at Lou’s camera. And now we’ve seen your attacker. If he gets
back to the others, they’ll want to eliminate us for sure.”

“We should have killed him then, right?” Blythe
shuddered at the thought of taking another person’s life, but that apprehension
dissipated the second she thought of how he’d attacked her in the bunkhouse.
After having his way with her, he would have killed her without hesitation.
“Yep, we definitely should have killed him. We have his gun now, maybe we
should go back and do it.”

“Do you think you could do something like that?”
Mak asked.

“If I had to, yes. I never thought I’d hear
myself say that, but yes.”

Mak kept walking without saying a word.

“Hold on,” she stopped and shortened the
binocular strap around her neck. “That’s better.”

“Are those heavy? Want me to carry them for
you?” Mak swiveled.

“I can manage. That guy’s skull was so thick I
think I broke them when I hit him the first time. I’ve never been so scared in
all my life. Thank you, Mak, again.”

“My pleasure. Seems to be my lot in life. We
might as well accept it – I’m meant to save you on an ongoing basis. Are
you sure you’re not the one who’s cursed?”

“Ha, that’s a good one. You could be right.
We’re officially cursed together.”

“At least we have each other, then.”

She followed his brisk pace, feeling much better
in her now bare feet. She wondered why she hadn’t ditched her shoes long ago.
“Don’t those men have a conscience?”

“Money, Blythe. It makes you forget you ever had
a conscience to begin with.”

“True.”

“What about you? Reporting seems pretty
cutthroat. I’m sure you’ve had to report on something that made your skin
crawl, but you did it anyway for the money.”

If he only knew
. “You have a point. I did what I had to do to
pay the rent. To be honest, I regret some of the article’s I’ve written over
the years. Problem is, once you write them it’s impossible to take it back. As
you said, it’s in print.”

“Hmm. I wonder if that Angela Dyson regrets
writing the article about me. Probably not.”

“Don’t be so sure. I bet she’s full of regrets.
Where are we heading now?”

Mak pointed to the distance. “The Lua Makika
research lookout. We’re going up.”

The
climb to the research lookout was physically grueling but they kept going
without a break. The night air had cooled right down without cloud cover to
trap the hot day’s humidity.

Blythe shuddered again, not from fear but from
the chill that now found her bones. She fantasized about a deep hot bathtub
with bubbles and candles and a glass of wine. And then, as if in
self-preservation mode, her mind drifted to images of Mak joining her in that
tub, all naked and tanned. She envisioned him lying back against her breasts as
she cradled him between her open legs. Reaching around, she would soap up his
broad chest, his arms, and leaning him forward, his muscular back. When he
leaned against her again, she would kiss her way up his neck to his ear. And
then he would turn his head and find her mouth, giving her a deep passionate
kiss as her hand slid down his firm chest, his ripped stomach and down to his
glorious…

“Blythe? Did you hear me?”

Blythe shook the image from her head, a little
annoyed that it had to end so abruptly. It was just getting good. “Pardon?”

“I asked if your feet are sore.” He sounded
slightly agitated.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Then we’ll keep moving.”

Mak had morphed from an easy-going local Fire
Chief to a tightly coiled island warrior ready to charge. His tanned skin and
athletic build reminded her just how otherworldly he was, like an island God.
He was in a league of his own. Lust as hot as wildfire traced through her.
Resolved to the fact that Mak was off-limits, she swallowed hard and practiced
self-control. A difficult task, but she could always resort to the tub fantasy
and take it from there.

Blythe glued herself to his side, matching his
steps as the path widened. The attack had shaken her more than she let on, her
blind fury and hatred for her predator spurring her onward. She noticed Mak had
slowed a bit, his steps a little more cautious and haphazard. He leaned into
her a couple of times too, like he was punch drunk and unstable on his feet.
Each time he would apologize. And each time she grew more concerned for his
wellbeing.

                 
<><><>

Touching
his swollen eyebrow with his fingertips, Mak realized the split was bigger than
he’d initially realized. That guy had done a number on him and the wound wasn’t
clotting like it should. The sweat and blood mixed as it trickled down the left
side of his face. He wiped it away with his strong forearm, but the metallic
taste of blood indicated it was gushing with each pump of his pounding heart,
with each footstep. When he turned to offer Blythe more water from the small
glass jar, she gasped at the sight of him.

“Mak! You’re covered in blood.” Her hand reached
out as if to touch his face before she brought it down quickly, keeping
distant. Instead she took the glass jar and swigged. “You’d better put pressure
on that or you’ll bleed to death.”

“That’s the least of my worries,” he half
mumbled, but clasped a firm palm to his eyebrow none the less. “We have to keep
moving. The research lookout is probably another two miles ahead, but it’s a
drastic incline, Blythe, it’s going to be a difficult walk from here. I won’t
lie.”

“We’ll get there. If they follow us, we have the
gun. If we’re elevated, we’ll see them coming, right?”

“That’s the plan. Those men know help will be on
the way for us if we don’t return to Maui eventually. We just have to hide and
wait them out.”

“But you said it yourself, who’s going to notice
we’re gone?”

“I’m hoping my colleague Pono will notice the
missing rescue boat. He’s bound to investigate, but that won’t happen until
morning.”

“Maybe the men will give up and leave once their
shipment arrives.”

“Or maybe they’ll finish us off first, erase any
trace like that guy said.” Mak took the glass jar and swigged. “Sorry. I’m not
feeling so well. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, I appreciate your honesty.” She pointed to
the glass jar. “We’d better drink that water sparsely. Haven’t got much. Is
there another cistern near this research lookout we’re going to?”

“No, that was it. We’ll have to be smart about
it.”

Walking on, Mak’s pace slowed right down and his
head spun out of control. He stopped suddenly in front of her. With skewed
depth perception from the darkness, Blythe careened right into him.

“What is it? Is someone there?” she asked in a
hushed whisper. Mak groaned, holding his forehead. He swayed a little as he
locked eyes with Blythe. Her face showed her alarm.

“Mak, what’s wrong?”

“I think I’m losing a lot of blood. Feeling
light-headed.”

“We have to take care of that cut. Here,” she reached
out and guided him toward a large boulder. “Sit for a second.”

Mak groaned, his eyebrow throbbing in white-hot
pain. Every facial expression was agony. Every movement of his head now
torture. He pulled the small first aid kit from one of his many cargo pockets
and flipped it open. He knew he needed stitches, but a butterfly bandage would
have to do. “I know it may be difficult in the dark, but do you mind?” he held
out the bandage.

Blythe came closer, taking it. Blood had
congealed along his dark eyebrow. “If only we had clean water to spare, I could
cleanse the wound properly before dressing it.”