Aloha Honeybun

CHAPTER TWO-1

CHAPTER TWO

A RECENT SPATE OF RAIN had made the path muddy. At points along the way, Alf noted the deep tracks and spatter that spoke of the bike bogging down in the muck. At one point there was evidence something heavy had been offloaded, smashing the vegetation and leaving drops of blood in the battered muck.

Pleasance leaned against an enormous tree with gray bark and twisted limbs, munching a power bar and swigging water from a bottle. Alf was proud of the way she was holding up in the rugged race through the intimidating rainforest. His love for her grew another notch along with his respect. The woman he intended to marry in a couple of days was amazing and strong beyond even his expectations.

“How do you know that was them?” she asked reasonably.

Alf dipped a cotton swab into the blood in the dirt, poured some water over the tip and slipped it into a zippered baggie. It would degrade quickly in the plastic bag...not ideal...but he hadn’t been expecting to have to collect evidence when they’d set off for a hike through the rainforest that morning. “I don’t for sure, but the tire tracks we’ve been following run right through this and there’s blood over here. It looks like he might have offloaded the victim to help him clear this soft area.”

She nodded, crushing the wrapper of her power bar and stuffing it into her backpack. Pleasance took a final drink from her water bottle and slipped it into the backpack too. Pushing away from the tree, she gave him a smile. “Ready?”

Alf pulled her into his arms and kissed her soft lips. “You are an amazing woman. Have I told you that lately?”

She took his bottom lip between her teeth, tugging it playfully. “Hold that thought. I hear a waterfall in the distance. As soon as we wrap this thing up, I intend to let you show me how much you appreciate me in the pool at the bottom of that fall.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Deal. Let’s...”

The shot was nearly silent. Like a whoosh of air...a soft cough on the moisture dense forest air. The bullet carved a slice of bark off the tree Pleasance had been standing in front of, but not before ripping through her flesh.

She yelped in pain as Alf dove in front of her, bringing her to the ground beneath him. Three more bullets tore chunks out of the tree over their heads. “Come on,” Alf tugged her with him, heading for a jagged ridge of rocks at the base of the mountain. Vegetation danced around them as bullets flew, peppering them with bits of leaves as they ran. The dirt just behind them spit upward and Alf shoved Pleasance, diving after her into a dip in the earth behind a rust-colored hunk of lava rock.

Rock dust flew into the air. Alf felt the sting of dozens of tiny projectiles as they bit into his skin. Beneath him, Pleasance yelped in pain.

Scanning the area, Alf came up with a quick escape plan that should be mostly protected. The problem was, judging by the shifting of rifle fire as they ran, the shooter was either on the run or there were multiple gunmen.

He quickly checked Pleasance’s arm. “Just grazed. We were lucky.” He dropped his backpack on the ground in front of him and pulled out a towel. Ripping it in half, he tied it around her arm, pulling it tight, before tying it off. “That should stop the bleeding. Are you all right? We should get moving.”

She nodded, allowing him to pull her to her feet. “That was unexpected.”

“Yeah. Obviously there’s more going on here than a simple abduction.”

An engine fired in the distance and Alf half stood, peering toward the sound. “They’re on the move again.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on. We’ll stay off the path for a bit, run parallel to it. Until we see where they’re going.”

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