“You’re too eager to give us what we want. I don’t trust you.” Moe jerked his head toward the tree. “Get going, both of you.”
Leia closed her eyes briefly, then turned and began to climb the large monkeypod tree. She easily scrambled to the top. Logan grunted as he hauled his bulk from branch to branch. She glanced around and saw the chest. At least it was still here. She would have been in a lot of trouble if it had been missing. Logan clambered onto the wooden floor and lay gasping on his stomach. Leia heard a meow and looked up. Hina jumped to her shoulder. A rush of joy flooded her. At least she wasn’t alone anymore, even if it was just her cat.
Logan sat up. “Keep that thing away from me. I hate cats.”
It wasn’t just dislike she saw on his face, but pure terror. Maybe she could use it. He backed away, his gaze riveted on Hina. With a sudden movement, Leia scooped Hina up and tossed him at Logan. The man threw up his hands and stumbled back as the cat extended her claws. Logan shrieked like a woman and batted at the air, and the cat fastened on his shirt, then released her claws and dropped to the floor of the platform. Logan took another step back—this one into thin air. With a scream, he disappeared from view.
Leia winced when she heard him thump on the ground. “Mahalo, Lord,” she whispered. She rushed to the edge and peered over. Moe was kneeling over his unconscious partner. He glanced up at her and brandished the gun. “Get down here with those artifacts.”
She ducked back so he couldn’t see her and scooped Hina into her arms. Her pulse was pounding, and her mouth went dry. He could easily shoot up through the boards, and he just might hit her. She looked around for branches that would allow her to climb higher or would mingle with those from another tree so she could travel through the treetops, but the ones above her head looked too spindly to support her weight. Her gaze landed on an object at her feet. A cell phone. She picked it up with two fingers and looked at it. How did it work? She examined the tiny buttons. Praying for a signal, she flipped it open and looked at the display. It made a beep and dots appeared on the tiny screen. She dialed 911 and prayed. Gingerly holding it out from her head an inch or so, she listened. It was dialing! A miracle straight from God.
A dispatcher answered, and Leia cupped her hand over the phone. “Send help to Koma Hamai’s old cabin. Hurry.” A shot ricocheted off the underside of the floorboards. Another splintered the wood and erupted near her feet. She dropped the phone and moved as quietly as she could to another part of the tree stand. The dispatcher continued to talk, and Leia could hear the voice from here. Probably Moe could as well, because he continued to fire into the wood near the phone. A bullet connected with the phone, and it finally fell silent.
“Look, come on down. No hard feelings,” Moe called.
Leia could hear him circling below her, then his voice moved away. He went out far enough to look up into the tree stand. She clung to a twisted branch and tried to blend in with the leaves. The thick foliage must have been hard to see through, because he went back under the tree stand, and she heard him grunt as he began to climb the tree. She was trapped here. In spite of his comment about no hard feelings, she knew she was in for big trouble if he reached her. Looking around for a weapon, she went to the chest and opened it. In the bright light of day, she realized the bones inside were human. She hadn’t taken time to look closely before.
Had she accidentally been right? Was this box full of the stolen artifacts? She didn’t want to believe that her father would have taken something so valuable, but the real possibility was staring her in the face. She thought back on what had been taken. It would take something much larger than this small chest to hold it all. The thought comforted her. She didn’t know what this chest contained, but it couldn’t be the missing artifacts.