“Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand, and they ran across the hardened lava again. The air was beginning to get hotter, and now he could taste the sulfur in the air, feel it burn his nose and throat.
They jogged for what seemed forever. The illuminated dial on his watch said they’d been traipsing over the lava field for nearly two hours. “It’s just over that hill.” She pointed, and he saw the glow.
“Come on.” He tugged on her hand, but she pulled out of his grasp.
“I can’t.” Her voice sounded strangled. “I can’t go up there.”
Before he could answer, the ground shook under their feet and tossed them to the ground. The jagged lava rock cut his palms, and his cheek stung. He swiped at it and touched moisture. Blood. “Are you okay?”
She struggled to a seated position. “Just go. I can’t go up there.”
He didn’t have time to argue. “Go back to where you can get a cell phone signal. Call Sam and tell him to get up here.” She nodded, and he took off toward the glow over the hill. He hated to leave her behind, but they had only minutes before midnight. He reached the crest of the hill and moved into the valley. The stench was stronger, and he could feel the instability of the ground under his feet. He hurried toward a large black rock, then peered around it.
A heiau had been erected near the edge of a giant skylight. Several figures were crowded around the slab altar. A white-robed figure lay there. She wasn’t moving. At first Mano feared he was too late, then he saw Leilani’s head move in a dreamy motion. He realized that she’d been drugged.
The nearest figure held a long, curved knife aloft. He was going to have to move fast. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he reached for his gun. There was nothing there. He checked the other pocket and came up empty again. It must have fallen out when he fell. He’d have to fake it. Glancing around, he saw a rock that had the right shape and grabbed it.
“Stay right where you are!” he shouted. He advanced toward the group.
The figure with the knife turned around, and he inhaled sharply at the sight of Gina, her hair perfectly coiffed as always.
Twenty-six
Stupid and cowardly. Annie paced with Wilson in her arms. She’d gotten through on the cell phone after moving only a few yards and called Sam. Though he’d been skeptical that someone like Gina could be behind Leilani’s disappearance, he promised to come out as soon as he wrapped up an attempted robbery investigation.
What if Mano needed help now? Annie turned and looked back out over the lava field. She used to hop along that rugged landscape like a feral sheep. Now she was as timid and awkward as the nene, the Hawaiian goose that roamed this area. She wanted to throw off the fear that held her rooted to the spot, but she wasn’t sure how. What was it that Fawn had told her? Something about fear and God. She thought a moment, then the verse came to mind.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
She’d always been proud of her mind. Her intellect was one area in which she excelled. God had given her the ability to think. She needed to use it now. This fear that paralyzed her was not from God.
Praying the whole way, she put one foot in front of the other and started back down the trail to where she’d left Mano. Fawn had called it stepping out in faith. She had promised that if Annie would do it, God would be faithful to help her. And to Annie’s surprise, her faltering courage grew stronger, and her fear lessened. She picked up the pace and began to move as quickly as she could.
She stumbled across something, and it clinked. It didn’t sound like a rock. She flipped on her flashlight and swept the ground with the beam. A glint of metal caught her eye. A pistol. She picked it up and looked it over. It looked like Mano’s. That meant he was without protection. She started off again, running as fast as she dared. Mano needed her help.
She reached the top of the hill and paused. The fear began to creep back when the stench of sulfur grew strong and the fumes burned her eyes and throat. Her foot began to throb. Across this area of instability, the ground could give way with no warning and plunge her into the molten lava. She didn’t think she could go through that again.