Luckily, I found some time to update! Yay!
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Previously
Shawn's kidnapper had had enough. George pulled out a gun.
"Don't test my patience," George growled, pointing the gun at Shawn.
Oh, no. I obviously have a death wish, Shawn thought as he said, "Oh, I don't need to test your patience. My smart, genius tongue tells me that your patience would fail the test, so…"
Boom.
Shawn's world went dark as the bullet ripped through his skin.
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Lassiter stood beside his partner, wrinkling his nose. "This is the boat we are taking? Wouldn't that be better fit for some crusty old fisherman?"
"Lassiter!" Juliet scolded. "It's the best we can get with the short notice. You should be grateful!"
Lassiter shrugged, but changed the subject anyway. "So, the Chief said the murderer could be anywhere from here to Hawaii. We just have to go out and find him…"
Juliet nodded as she dropped her backpack into the small boat. "I've brought some provisions, just in case. It should keep us going for around three days."
"And beyond that, it's too late."
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Shawn woke up feeling worse than he ever had. His head throbbed and so did his body, but his shoulder—well, his shoulder was on fire.
He looked around to find that he was in the same jungle, tied to the same chair. George was gone. "Probably to go get more bullets," Shawn muttered grimly.
Henry's voice found his way into Shawn's mind. "How many hats?...Kick out the taillight…Calm your breathing…Use your nails…" Wait. The last one briefly registered in Shawn's delirious mind. It was one of the harder lessons his father had taught—how to get out of rope bindings.
Using the skill Shawn never thought he'd need, Shawn began picking at the rope holding his wrists together. Soon his fingers were raw and bloody, but the rope actually fell off!
I need to get out of here so I can warn Jules and Lassie. Huh. Shawn chuckled. Never thought I'd be excited to see Lassie again.
Reaching down, Shawn spent what seemed like an hour getting his ankles free.
Soon enough, the rope snapped.
Shawn stood up quickly, but everything seemed to be spinning, and the ground came up to meet his face.
Groaning, Shawn tried again. Going slower this time, he managed to get himself upright, using a nearby tree to balance himself.
Trying to ignore the throbbing in his shoulder from getting shot, Shawn began to stumble away from his chair.
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"We're not making any progress."
Juliet looked over at her partner with tired eyes. "I know. I don't think we'll find anyone."
Lassiter looked down at his compass and GPS device. "We're getting kind of close to Hawaii by now. Soon there will be nowhere left to search. Then we'll have to head back and give Chief the bad news…"
But he never had a chance to finish his sentence. All of a sudden, a great gust of wind churned the seas, and the tiny boat rocked from side to side. Lassiter was thrown into the water, and it was all Julliet could do to keep from joining him.
Luckily, the winds soon calmed. Lassiter, spluttering, was hauled into the boat by Juliet. "Lost the GPS and compass," he managed to get out. Looking around the boat, Juliet assessed the rest of the materials that had stayed aboard.
"Bad news. Only the food and water weren't flung out!" Juliet's voice was raised in fear.
"Maybe we could fish stuff out?" But Lassiter knew that the wind had blown them too far from where the items were dropped.
Trying to quell his panic, Lassiter looked around the boat for anything that would contact others or give him a hint of where he and Juliet were.
But there was nothing.
There would be no escaping the inevitable.
Juliet and Lassiter were sunk.
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Shawn stumbled on through the jungle, sweat dripping down his face and stinging his bullet wound. Every step (especially of his sprained ankle, which was now swollen and inflamed) seemed to be harder than the last, and having to fight his way past vines and over fallen trees pushed Shawn's stamina to the limit.
Maybe I'll stop here for a rest.
But Shawn knew that he couldn't, not with an angry kidnapper after him. I have to find out where I am. I have to get to Santa Barbara.
Finally, just as night had fallen, Shawn reached the edge of the jungle. He saw lights, but everyone seemed to be at home in their beds.
The thought comforted him, and Shawn dropped to the base of a palm tree.
Amidst the sting of his bullet wound, pangs of hunger, throb of his lesser injuries, and cicadas chirping, Shawn fell into a deep sleep.
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The sun was going down. "We'll never make it back to Santa Barbara!" Juliet called out, even though Lassiter was sitting next to her on the floor of the small boat.
"We just have to wait out the night," Lassiter reasoned. "We can't find anything in the dark."
Juliet took in a deep breath. "Alright. Here's what we have left: my backpack, the clothes we're wearing, three sandwiches, some grapes, and four bottles of water."
"Let's ration it," Lassiter reasoned. "We don't know how long it will be before we're found or we find land."
Seeing his partner shiver, Lassiter shrugged off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. Juliet's shivers subsided. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
And with that, Juliet and Lassiter each curled up on the floor of their boat.
Juliet let the soft rocking of waves lull her to sleep.
Lassiter stayed awake.
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Shawn knew he needed a hospital. And fast.
With the morning came a whole host of problems.
Shawn couldn't seem to think clearly with all of his injuries, and he was starving and dehydrated.
"I need to turn George in. I need to get to Lassiter." Those words were the only thing that kept him going. Shawn stumbled out of the jungle and looked out at all the houses. He didn't trust a single one.
George may have eyes everywhere.
Instead, Shawn stumbled back into the jungle, where he found a small stream. Bathing away all the blood and drinking took longer than it should have, but Shawn came out feeling refreshed slightly.
To make himself unrecognizable, Shawn stripped down to his undershirt and shorts. The day was hot enough already, so he would blend in better in those clothes. Also, there was all kinds of mud and blood on his shirt and pants from the previous day's hike.
Shawn walked back to the edge of the jungle and looked over his options.
A priority would be getting to Lassie and Juliet. He'd probably need to know where he was first.
Shawn walked past the houses and found that the road gradually turned into sand. He heard a rushing noise—he was on a beach! Walking along parallel to the ocean, Shawn soon came upon a surf shop.
Entering the shop, Shawn smiled at a perky woman behind the cash register.
He couldn't let her know about his situation.
Pretending to look around, Shawn saw a stack of postcards. Perfect!
The top one said Greetings from Hawaii.
Hawaii.
He'd have to get across the ocean!
Shawn surreptitiously picked up a raft that could be blown up at the pull of a cord. He didn't have any money. It didn't matter. Shawn hid the raft under his shirt and casually strolled out of the store. The clerk noticed nothing.
Stumbling over to the ocean seemed to take forever on his injured ankle.
Finally, Shawn made it. Pulling the cord on the raft, he climbed onto it and quickly pushed himself into deeper water.
A strong current pulled him out to sea, and Shawn drifted farther and farther away from the shore. Soon, Hawaii was out of sight.
Shawn fell asleep.
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Thanks for reading!
Please review—the more reviews, the faster I'll update! :p
Poor Shawn! He'll probably meet up with Lassie and Jules next chapter…
Stay tuned! :)
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED :D