Dangerous Minds (Knight and Moon #2)(47)

Emerson nodded. “Pohakuloa is extremely remote. Access is restricted by the army. It also has a small military airstrip called Bradshaw Army Airfield. It would be a perfect place to hide an R&D facility.”

“I assume you have a plan for what to do if and when we find them,” Riley said.

Emerson checked the flight computer. “One hour until we land in Kona.”

“You don’t have a plan, do you?”

“Of course,” Emerson said. “Break into the army base. Steal the super-weapon. Save the world from destruction. Kiss the girl, and live happily ever after. As far as the details go, I thought we would just wu wei wing it.”

“Would you like to elaborate on the ‘kiss the girl’ part?”

“It’s traditional to get a kiss when you save the world,” Emerson said.

Riley smiled. “Tell you what. You save the world, and I’ll give you a kiss that will knock your socks off.”

“I get a blister if I don’t wear socks,” Emerson said.

Riley reclined her seat and closed her eyes. She was too tired to roll them. “Wu wei wake me up when we land.”





TWENTY




RILEY STEPPED OFF THE PLANE ONTO THE private runway at Kona International Airport. She’d pictured lush tropical rain forests set against a backdrop of white sandy beaches and blue ocean. The ocean was a brilliant, shimmering blue, but that’s where her mental image ended. The paved runway was set in the middle of a huge lava desert that looked a lot like a massive torn-up parking lot. The beach was composed mostly of jagged black rocks. In the distance, a dull haze of volcanic gasses hung over the mountains.

“It looks kind of desolate,” Riley said. “I didn’t expect to see so much lava.”

“This is the dry side of the island. Kona gets very little rain every year. The only green you’ll see is what the resorts irrigate. The other side of the island is beyond wet. Around 150 inches of rain per year and nothing but waterfalls and rain forests.”

“You know a lot about Hawaii,” Riley said. “Have you spent a lot of time here?”

“My father owned a three-hundred-acre ranch in North Kohala. Vernon and I spent a month there every summer when we were kids. Since I now own the ranch, and we can’t risk staying at a hotel without being recognized, I thought we’d stay on my property.”

Vernon stepped off the plane with Wayan Bagus and stretched. He looked at Emerson. “Did you say we’re going to the ranch?”

Riley thought she heard some hesitation in Vernon’s voice. “What’s wrong with the ranch?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Vernon said. “You’re going to love it. It’s real pretty. It’s only that some of the people in the community are a mite eccentric. By the way, you like cows, don’t you?”

“Let me get this straight,” Riley said. “Where we’re heading, you and Emerson are the normal ones?”

Wayan Bagus took a deep breath and smiled. “I am happy to be back in the Pacific. It has been my experience that the only normal people are those you don’t know very well. In any event, I am quite fond of cows. The ranch sounds very nice.”

A car was waiting for them on the tarmac. The keys were in the car, and four flower leis were on the dash.

It was an hour’s drive to the sleepy little town of Hawi in North Kohala. Riley headed out of the airport, turning left onto Route 19, the belt road that hugged the coastline and encircled the island. Twenty minutes of lava fields later, they passed the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, a man-made green oasis of golf courses, luxury homes, and bungalow-style thousand-dollar-per-night hotel rooms.

Vernon groaned as they passed. “I don’t suppose the ranch has a hot tub, all-day room service, and somebody to bring you ice cream sundaes while you sit by the pool?”

“I don’t suppose so, unless there have been some upgrades since we were there last. It does, however, have a tidal pool and a fruit orchard that’s open twenty-four hours a day,” Emerson said. “Riley will probably be particularly interested in the tidal pool. She’s a swimming enthusiast.”

Riley cut her eyes to Emerson. “Your time will come.”

“Are we almost there?” Wayan Bagus asked. “I would like to have some fruit and swim in the tidal pool and see the cows.”

“Not far now,” Emerson said.

Riley continued north on Route 19, passing a number of other four-and five-star resorts. As she drove, the lava fields were slowly replaced with scrubby brown grass, arid patches of dirt, and the occasional tree. She turned onto Akoni Pule Highway and passed through Kawaihae Harbor into North Kohala. As she rounded the northern tip of the island, the scrubby brown grass became progressively greener and more lush. Tall guinea grasses swayed in the trade winds.

“This is absolutely beautiful,” Riley said as she drove through the little town of Hawi, with its art galleries, restaurants, and little shops.

Emerson pointed at an unmarked dirt road to their left. “It’s about half a mile down this road.”

Riley bumped down the road, avoiding potholes as best she could. After a couple minutes, the woods and brush opened up into open pastureland. A herd of Black Angus cows looked up in a lazy greeting as their car passed under a sign reading MYSTERIOSO RANCH.