Freefall (14 page)

She’d been in the pool so long she had shriveled and her body chilled. Her head ached, and she battled fatigue and muscle cramps, but that was nothing compared to what her delirious companion suffered. He must have hit the rocks beneath the falls—rocks that she’d miraculously missed. What strange quirk of fate had sent her one way and him the other?

But she knew it wasn’t fate, and she guessed this person did too. She sensed rather than knew that somehow he was part of her believing.
Oh, Lord, why can’t I remember?
It wasn’t right. He deserved recognition.

She wanted to encourage him, to give him something to hold on to as they prepared to take him out, but she couldn’t even say his name.
You know him, Lord
. She prayed automatically, no idea how or when she’d come to believe, only that she did. Cameron didn’t expect God to fix things—but she did. Otherwise the helplessness would smother her.

They slid the stretcher into the water. Cameron stayed back with her as the others swam to the far side in preparation for their plunge into the lava tube. The bearers were also equipped with air, so they could go as slowly and carefully as needed. She hoped her companion didn’t panic when they submerged. How much had he understood?

They had described their intentions, saying, “We’ll be underwater some time,” but had her delirious companion grasped it? Would he panic underwater? She remembered fighting for the surface, for breath and freedom. How helpless he must feel.

After a moment ’s consultation, the rescuers dove with the stretcher between them into the dark water of the cave. The pool swallowed them whole. She was alone with Cameron, who’d been a silent shadow since emerging again with the others behind him. Now she noticed his grim and accusatory expression.

She swallowed the painful lump in her throat. “What’s bothering you?”

He hooked his elbow on the ledge. “A lot.”

“Like?”

“What you’re really up to.”

She expelled her breath. “Up to?”

“You don’t know the guy; he’s old enough to be your father; and he’s wearing a wedding ring.”

Her mouth dropped open. She hadn’t even noticed. But Cameron’s implication was clear. “You think I’m involved with a married man? Maybe he
is
my father.”

“Then why don’t you remember?”

“I don’t know.” Jaw clenched, she fought a fresh spate of tears. “Do you think I haven’t asked myself that a thousand times? That I haven’t tried?” Whatever friendship they’d found evaporated, filaments of trust and respect swept aside like spider thread in a flood.

She pushed off the side, gulped air, and dove under the water, down to the opening of the lava tunnel. The men with the stretcher were just rising from the far end. The water tugged as she crawled and kicked through, forcing her lungs to hold on to the angry breath she’d taken. Past the pummeling falls, she pulled to the surface and broke free, gasping.

The rescue team had reached the side with the stretcher. She swam over and climbed out to them. One of the men spoke over a handheld radio. Minutes later she heard the thumping of helicopter blades before it emerged through the clouds. Their motion beat the water around her as the copter hovered overhead and lowered a line.

One of the rescuers turned to her. “We’ve only got a short window here. There’s more weather moving in.” As he spoke, the other two affixed the stretcher to the line.

Fear and hope mingled as the injured man was drawn into the sky. That was what she’d come for. “Just take him and go.” She’d done what she had to, and she would stay another night out if it came to that.

Cameron climbed, dripping, out of the water as the stretcher approached the belly of the helicopter. A voice came over the rescuer’s radio. “Roger,” he communicated back as they hauled the stretcher into the hovering body. After a while, the cable was lowered again with a harness this time. The paramedic Jason went next, then the other EMT. They would continue medical assistance on the flight.

Another spate came over the radio. The ground man responded and turned to her. “There’s time for one more.” He explained how she’d be strapped into the harness as the cable was lowered once again. Then he turned to Cameron. “They’ve marked the location. Once the injured party’s transferred to the ambulance, the pilot will attempt a return. Weather’s chancy.”

Cameron nodded. “I’m prepared to stay the night.”

A thin guilt accompanied her relief that he wouldn’t share the helicopter. She wouldn’t mind if they went back for him, though. Jade followed directions as the man strapped her into the apparatus and gave the hand signal to the team member above. Just as she felt the tug lifting her from the ground he said, “There you go, Ms. Fox. Hold on.”

Swung into the air, her thoughts latched on to one thing.
Ms. Fox?

TWELVE

Cameron watched until she was inside the
helicopter and it had sunk back into the clouds. Flying the islands, pilots encountered clouds and rain and the prevalent winds, but it gave him a twinge to see her swallowed up after being responsible for her safety. They’d penetrated substantially inland, and helicopters had crashed into the high, steep mountains for lack of visibility.

“So.” Maxwell turned with a smile. “What’s she like?”

Cameron raised his brows. “Jade?”

“Gentry Fox.”

He stared for a full beat before looking back up to where she’d disappeared. “Come on.”

“Guess you didn’t hear.”

He shook his head. “No way.”

“Since Kanakanui put out her story, the island’s been flooded with press.”

The scene she’d described flashed in his mind. Cameras, reporters, microphones. He’d called it gross exaggeration, but he realized now she’d been right on. And she was flying into that scene unawares. “Can you radio up and tell them not to let her ride with the ambulance?”

“Why not?”

“She hasn’t remembered who she is. They’ll eat her up.”

Maxwell caught his point and radioed the helicopter. “Uh, any indication our gal doesn’t know who she is?”

The response was audible to them both. “Yeah, we’re getting that impression. Name didn’t seem to strike a chord. Not like you’d expect.”

Then she really didn’t know. A twinge of guilt passed through him. “I need to climb up and make a call. Where is the ambulance waiting?”

“Princeville.”

The man didn’t try to stop him. It would be a while before the chopper could return—if it could. Cameron climbed the wet and stormy mountainside but remained within earshot of the falls. As soon as he could get a signal, he called Nica.

“Cameron, where are you?”

“Stuck on a mountain. But listen. Jade’s on the rescue copter, and they’re putting down at the Princeville heliport. I need you to meet her there.”

“I’m with TJ at the hospital. It’s a madhouse. Cameron, Jade is—”

“I know. Gentry Fox.”

“She remembered?”

“She’s been told. But she doesn’t know what that means. She’s completely blocked.”

He could hear Nica’s dismay, a short side conversation, then TJ came on. “Got one mess here, brah.”

“TJ, Gentry’s coming in blind. She’s been told her name, but it doesn’t mean anything to her.”

TJ made a sound of comprehension.

“I need you to intercept her at the Princeville heliport and get her back to Nica’s.”

“No can. Press all over dere.”

At Nica’s? They must have learned where Gentry was staying. He thought hard. “Okelani’s, then. Get her to Okelani’s and keep her there until I get back.” He waited while TJ processed the idea.
Come on
.

“Kay den.”

Cameron expelled his relief.

“Dis some kine mess.”

“You know it, brah.” And they’d all contributed, one way or another. He, worst of all.

Gentry Fox,
she thought.
Gentry
. Seated up front beside the pilot, she couldn’t see past the back of the EMT as they worked to stabilize the accident victim. Robert Fox. Same last name. They must be related. But even learning his name triggered nothing.

What was it going to take? Why wouldn’t her mind work? She pressed her fingertips between her brows.
Gentry, Gentry, Gentry. Remember something!
But as the helicopter lowered to the ground, she was no closer than she’d been.

The EMT turned. “Don’t worry about your uncle. We’ll be taking the best care of him that we can.”

Her uncle.

She hadn’t assumed the SAR team knew. But she wouldn’t have revealed his ignorance. Not after Cameron’s reaction. Why was she so afraid of what people thought; what they might say?

They removed the stretcher, one man holding the IV drip they’d started to stabilize him. Her uncle, Robert Fox. As he disappeared through the side door, it seemed that his color was better, and maybe he was resting. Probably pain control. The thought of him lying there all that time on the ledge in that thunderous cave, waiting, hoping for someone who couldn’t even remember his name …

Waves of sorrow swamped her. She had to stop blaming herself. She couldn’t help amnesia. Nor could she cure it, apparently. But it hurt to think how badly she’d let him down. With a SAR member’s hand upstretched to help her, she climbed out of the helicopter and was half blinded by a camera’s flash in the twilight.

The rescue would have made the news, but the flash seemed to open a door into her mind that quickly filled with fear and aversion. Before she could react, Officer TJ Kanakanui pushed between her and the journalist. The crowd wasn’t large. Only a few voices shouted, “Gentry, is it true you’ve lost your memory?” “Is it a permanent injury?”

And one nasty voice, “How convenient, Ms. Fox.”

Convenient? She stared into a hateful pair of pale blue eyes in a weasel-sharp face. A flicker of recall teased before another flash blinded her.

TJ pushed her through to a battered white pickup and pulled open the door. She was relieved when Nica slid in beside and closed the door. TJ cranked the engine and screeched out of the lot with the cherry top on his roof flashing circles across the trees along the road.

She clutched the seat as his momentum thrust her against Nica. “Are we going to the hospital?”

“Not yet.” Nica gripped the armrest. “The crowd is worse there. Much.”

Jade’s knuckles whitened as she held on around a curve and tried to make sense of it. Cameron had thought her scenario overblown, but obviously he’d been wrong. She pictured the ambulance team whisking Robert Fox inside. Why did she matter? Wouldn’t the press get the rescue information from the emergency personnel? “Is it such a big story? My uncle’s rescue?”

TJ increased his speed, whizzed past a string of cars that had pulled over when his light flashed them.

“You’re the story,” Nica said.

“Me?” The reporters hadn’t been asking about the man on the stretcher. Only about her memory, her injury. And there’d been the snide comment about its convenience. A bad feeling rose up like déja` vu, only she couldn’t recall the source.

TJ swung the wheel and she landed up against him. Why was he driving like a maniac? Jostled from side to side, she held on until, at last, he veered into a dirt track and slammed the brakes. Before she could ask what had happened, Nica grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door. TJ peeled out in reverse, throwing dirt and pebbles that stung her hands and face. The moment his tires hit pavement, he screeched off.

Jade stared. He was one crazy cop.

“Come on.” Nica pulled her arm. “Before they see you.”

Before they—Had the whole world gone crazy? They came to a ramshackle cottage patched together to look homey. A delicious aroma engulfed her as they reached the door. Nica slipped off her sandals, so Jade did the same with her soaked and muddy hikers. The door opened, and a woman stood there like someone from a storybook.

Her black-streaked gray hair hung loose past her waist to the back of her thighs. Her blue dress draped her softly, ending at her brown calves. Her teeth required repair, yet there was something in her smile that cancelled out that thought. And it was her eyes that ended all other inspection. Ghostly white, they could not possibly see. Yet the woman swung wide the door and said, “Bring her inside.” She must have been told to expect them.

As they stepped inside, Nica said, “Gentry, this is Okelani.”

Nica had mentioned her before, this woman who led them into a shabby kitchen the size of a closet. Something bubbling on the miniature range gave off the delicious aroma and caught hold of her stomach with a growl. But before she could think of food, she had to understand what was happening.

Nica had called her Gentry not Jade. Someone must have identified her, and TJ could have told Nica. But how did everyone else know? This must be a big story for the island of Kauai. Or else … what?

Swallowing back tears of exhaustion, worry and confusion, she turned to Nica. “Will you please tell me what’s going on?”

Okelani slid a folding chair out from the card table on the cracked linoleum floor. “Sit,
mea aloha
.”

Jade collapsed into the chair, feeling all her muscles. Her trek had been long and grueling, her time in the water exhausting. She hadn’t realized how much so until this moment. Yet something told her it wasn’t over. She groaned softly.