I sincerely hope you're all enjoying this story! -abby

Juliet sped down the highway, angrily replaying Rick's words over and over in her mind as she drove. Hunting. They're being hunted. The whole thing is just some sort of twisted game.

Rick had given the information to HPD as well and they were investigating the lead provided by Kawika's guys, but Juliet was not interested in waiting for cops to go by the book. Once she had an idea of what to search for she'd unapologetically hacked into the HPD system, looking for her own lead. And as soon as she discovered details of the two murdered John Does that had been found in the forest preserve, that was good enough.

She had called Rick and TC immediately to tell them what she'd found. "It's not much to go on, but based on what Kawika said and the locations where those two bodies were located, I was able to come up with an approximate area to start looking for Thomas and Gordon." Magnum's brothers had readily agreed, and were waiting for Juliet when she pulled around the side of Island Hoppers.

"Talked to my buddy and HPD is putting together a search too. They're gonna get the dogs out to the forest," Rick said by way of greeting.

Juliet nodded approvingly as she grabbed her gear from the back of the Range Rover. "Good, but it'll probably be a bit longer before that happens. An hour at least."

"Yep. We need to get out there and find TM and Gordie before they end up like those John Does," TC said as he started the chopper and began his preflight check. "The cops will catch up."

"Absolutely. Let's go," Rick climbed into the backseat of the helicopter and pulled on a headset, leaving the front for Juliet. Within minutes they were in the air and headed for the forest where they hoped to find their missing friends.

They were being chased again. The hunters had picked up their trail within the last few minutes, clearly able to take advantage of their slower pace and clumsy, easily tracked movements, and Gordon found himself teetering on the brink of panic as they stumbled along. "Hang in there, Magnum," he urged softly.

"Mmmkay," Thomas mumbled.

Katsumoto couldn't tell if the slurred response was intended as agreement or some sort of reassurance. Either way, it didn't make him feel better. Although Magnum was still on his feet - barely - the private investigator was steadily growing weaker and more disoriented, and the icy chill of his skin told Katsumoto they were swiftly running out of time. Thomas had lost far too much blood already.

"We need to find a place to hide," Gordon muttered under his breath, adjusting his hold as he hitched the injured man higher against his side. The detective looked around, hoping to find a cave or hollowed out tree or fallen log or anything that could serve as a temporary shelter. If we could just rest for a few minutes, he thought desperately, knowing it wouldn't be enough.

They'd been hiking through the forest for almost an hour since Thomas had tried to convince Gordon to leave him behind, and the detective wasn't remotely surprised that Magnum's energy was flagging. Given the massive blood loss he was more surprised that the other man was still upright, although he supposed he shouldn't be. The former SEAL was nothing if not stubborn.

But for the moment, none of that mattered. The excited yells of their pursuers followed them, drawing ever closer. There was nowhere to hide and no option but to keep moving. Magnum's head lolled forward just as bullets started flying, and Katsumoto tightened his grip on the semi-conscious man and tried again to pick up the pace.

But instead he abruptly crumpled to the ground, taking Thomas down with him.

The private investigator was painfully jolted back into full awareness when he landed hard on his wounded thigh. He gasped, shaking off the last of the confusion as he struggled out from under Katsumoto's unmoving form. "Gordie. Gordie!" he insisted urgently, dragging his useless leg beneath him with his hands so he could try and stand. "We need to go."

That was when Thomas noticed the blood pooling beside Katsumoto's head.

For an instant his heart stopped, and he pushed his own pain aside to fumble for a pulse. "Gordon!" He went lightheaded with relief when he felt the reassuring throb under his trembling fingertips. "Oh thank god." The bullet had just grazed and though it was bleeding heavily and would undoubtedly cause a hell of a headache, upon closer inspection it didn't look too severe.

Suddenly he realized that he could hear shouting. The hunters were almost on top of them and Thomas could only afford himself the luxury of one deep, steadying breath. Digging deep to find the strength, he hauled Katsumoto over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and then shoved to his feet.

Within seconds he slipped fully into survival mode, no longer aware of his own injury or the lingering nausea that had plagued him all day. He shut everything else out as he forced one foot in front of the other in a desperate attempt to get them to safety. Left, right, left, right, he chanted inwardly, oblivious to the flames that spiked throughout his leg each time his right foot hit the ground. The fall had reopened his wound so that it was once again bleeding freely, but he didn't notice. He ignored the trembling of the muscles in his thigh, the intermittent painful spasms as they protested the damage the arrow had caused, the way he could barely lift that foot at all and how his entire body threatened to give out with every step.

Thomas staggered along, limping heavily, barely even cognizant of Gordon's dead weight across his shoulders. Left, right, left, right, left rightleftright. He couldn't hear anything over the pounding of his own heart and the thunder of blood roaring in his ears. He could barely remember what was going on. But instinct told him that he needed to get away. He needed to get Katsumoto away. So he did the only thing he had left to him.

He ran.