Chapter 32 Nighttime Fires in the Volcanoes of Hawaii
When we got back to the ship Marc updated me that all the adults caught in the shooting were in the Spa, getting massages, facials and relaxing in the sauna. All the kids ten and under were in the kid rooms with their parents, the teens had massages and were now playing in the teen room.
I didn't know it for a fact, but my gut was telling me that with Sergio and Santiago dead, the threat was over and the women were now safe.
Tuesday May 25, cont.
I thanked Marc for taking care of everything while I was gone and sent a text to all my men that I was now back and all updates should start coming to me as well. I went to the teen room where Julie, Becky, and Maggie were playing games and talked to them, making sure they were doing okay after this morning's shooting.
I waited outside the spa with my men, desperately wanting to see that the family was alright and doing better after the attack. Finally my mama, papa and Abuelas Sanja and Rosa appeared and said they were going back to their rooms to change. Then Leyla and Rachel appeared followed by Oshanna, Stephanie and Julio.
I took Stephanie in my arms and held her to me. She was still warm and wet from the Sauna and still in her bathing suit, wrapped in a towel and carrying her clothes.
"How are you doing Babe?" I asked as I walked with her.
"Much better. They have great masseuses here and the aromatherapy sauna was relaxing. But I am hungry now, we haven't eaten since breakfast."
I followed her back to the room and after looking at the dining choices and texting with everyone we headed to a buffet on the fifth deck level. I was surprised to find the whole group from the spa there eating. They were discussing what there was to do for the rest of the afternoon. I got up to address the crowd.
"I understand that what happened this morning was a little shocking and scary." I started.
"Being shot at was more than scary." Oshanna demanded.
"It may have been traumatizing and I am very sorry for that. But the gunman is dead and he was working alone. Sergio is no longer a threat. As of right now there is no one else to come after you. As bad as it was this morning from now on you should be safe."
"Does that mean you are removing your guards?" Mama asked.
"We are going to keep using the guards for the rest of this trip. Just as a safety precaution and to make sure there are not any surprises but once we get back the guards will be gone." I explained.
"Are you sure that is wise?" Rachel asked.
"I'm sure that it will be okay. If it makes you feel better I will keep guards on you as long as you want. It won't matter to me but I feel that the threat has been removed and as of now you are all safe."
"So we can go do what we want?" Oshanna asked.
"Yes and Oshanna I hope it was explained to you that after his heroic feat this morning, being shot and then locked up, I gave Lester the rest of today off. You only have Sport for the rest of the day."
"I'd rather have no one at all." She told me.
"That can be arranged. Sport you are on call the rest of the day, you do not need to keep following my sister around while she is on the ship."
"Yes Sir." He responded.
"Anyone else want to get rid of their guards while on the cruise?" I asked. No one else spoke up. "If you leave the ship I would still ask that you take guards with you for the next couple of days. Again, just as a precaution." I encouraged.
"If you are tired of doing things on the ship I asked Skylar to send me a list of things to do in the area." I pulled out my phone and read from a list. "Locally we can tour the Mehana Brewing Company, there is the Imiloa Astronomy Center, the Lyman's Museum and Mission Home, the Pan'ewa Rainforest Zoo, the only one like it in North America and shopping. You never did get to do any shopping this morning. Outdoors there are waterfalls – lots of waterfalls, a scenic drive up the coast, the Hawaii Volcano National Park, botanical gardens, biking, ATV tours, hot ponds, snorkeling, and helicopter rides. There are some overnight trips to see the waterfalls and stay in Volcano Village. Or you can pay to see them by helicopter."
"We could pay?" Oshanna asked.
I nearly rolled my eyes. "You all should still have money on your cards."
"I love waterfalls." said Rachel.
"I think the kids would like the zoo." Leyla added.
"I've never seen an active Volcano. The National Park is supposed to be pretty close to here." Mama said.
"You have been on the ship for three days I figured you all would like to get off if you felt safe enough." I told them. I texted Skylar that the women were shot at this morning and I wanted to set up some fun activities for the afternoon.
"Do you really think we are safe now?" Rachel questioned.
"Yes Rachel I really think it is safe now." I told her.
"But you still want us to travel with guards." Mama clarified.
"When you leave the ship I want you to still have guards. There is no one left to hire men to come after you. The man from this morning is the person who has been hiring the men to attack and with him dead there shouldn't be anyone else, but off the ship I'm not taking any chances when I already have enough guards here for everyone." I explained.
"I would just like to go ashore and spend time seeing what Hawai'i looks like." Oshanna said.
"This is a radical idea, and we would have to get it approved by the ship's captain, but we could pack an overnight bag, rent vehicles on the island and go do activities today. Then we can spend the night in Volcano Village. I've heard the lava at night is spectacular. Then drive to Kona tomorrow and rejoin the cruise there." I offered.
"I'd love to see the lava at night." Mama said.
"It would be nice to get off the ship for a little while." Papa stated.
"This may surprise you Carlos, because you have Skylar that always finds fun things to do, but we spent two days in Maui and barely got off the ship." Oshanna said.
"Then we all deserve an excursion into town. She has already sent me a list of things to do in Kona and there are several fun activities, like a sea-horse tour and the Kona Palace, that look like they could be really fascinating. This is the biggest island. Driving to the volcanos is less than an hour drive, but it is a two hour scenic tour along the edge of the island to get to Kona, if you are up to being in cars that long." I explained to them.
I finished eating my food while the group discussed options and most people wanted to try a night off the ship. My parents and Abuelas wanted to see the lava at night. Stephanie was open but she mostly just wanted to spend time with me. Oshanna and Julio wanted to go out and party but they weren't sure about the long drive. Rachel and Leyla were less certain about going overnight off the ship but were interested in taking their kids to the zoo and possibly Volcano National Park.
I went and talked to the steward about the possibilities and he said that some people do it all the time. That some couples got off the ship overnight in Maui and have already left the ship today. He told me that he has to warn anyone that gets off that in Kona the ship does not dock at the port. It is too small. Instead the ship's tenders are used to shuttle everyone back and forth and if the weather is bad the tenders won't be running and I would have to pay for the family to fly to the next location to get back on the ship. That was fine with me.
I texted everyone as I walked back to our room the possible plans and Oshanna, Julio, my parents, my abuelas, and Stephanie wanted to go on the overnight trip. The families with kids wanted to only do local things and come back to the ship. I called Skylar as I got to our room and laid out on the bed waiting for Stephanie to come out of the bathroom.
"Skylar my lovely, I have several requests."
"Of course you do, Ranger. You wouldn't be you if you didn't have several different things you wanted me to do at the same time." She was saucy with me.
"Is it getting to be too much Princess?" I asked her worried that after these two weeks of constantly calling her she was getting tired of it.
"Never. I live to fulfill your requests. Really you are the only one that brings any challenge to my boring days."
"I hope I'm not overworking you, my dearest lady." I honestly told her.
"Not at all. I just can't wait to see what you need next. I am living vicariously through your family on this vacation."
"Ok so my family is split on this one. Everyone with kids wants to stay with the ship, and do some local sightseeing. Like the zoo and Volcano National Park."
"That's great that you talked them into getting back off the ship after what happened this morning."
"They are being brave but I feel strongly that the danger is over and there is nothing more to worry about. I want to make sure they don't get stuck in being afraid and refuse to get back off the ship so the sooner I can get them off the ship the better."
"What is the plan?"
"We are splitting up but each family needs vehicles. I already have one SUV. Nineteen people staying, with ten guards. Rachel's, Leyla's, Isabella's and Angelia's family want to go to the zoo and Volcano National park this afternoon if you think they can work it in. They have to be back to the ship by 18:00. Eight people and sixteen guards to drive up the coast look at waterfalls and spend the night in Volcano Village if there are rooms. My parents, grandmothers, Julio, Oshanna, Stephanie and me. Twelve dayshift guys, four night shift guys. I will try to get people to make decisions about tomorrow so you have a day to make reservations, my wonderous woman who works so hard and does fabulous things for my family."
"Anything for you Ranger you know that. You are going to have to return your SUV and rent from American Car Rentals. They are the only company you can pick up from in Hilo and return in Kona. Okay, I have reserved fourteen vehicles at the airport but there are only three SUV's I recommend them for the largest families, I rented four minivans because they seat more. But some of your guys are going to have to share a sedan because the number of cars here is limited and smaller."
"Thank you my lovely lady."
"Zoo reservations are done but Volcano National Park is a problem. Everyone should pack a bag and spend the night there because by the time they are done they will have to race back to make it to the ship by 18:00."
"Give me a minute." I told her as I texted all of the adults that wanted to stay encouraging them to come with the family and see the volcano's at night. The next thing I knew they all agreed to come overnight and see the lava glow in the darkness.
"Ok plan for the whole group to go to the zoo and then the volcano and all my men need vehicles."
"Okay the vehicles are taken care of, you just need to get your men to the airport to pick them up."
I immediately started texting my men that they could wait for the next shuttles that run every thirty minutes or take Ubers and go get vehicles at the airport with the plan for the rest of today. Stephanie was out of the bathroom and ready to go, her hair and make-up redone and she was rearranging the contents of her bags so she only needed to bring the smallest one.
"Reservations for the Hotel at Volcano Village and dinner reservations at The Rim are done but I can't buy entrance tickets online you'll have to buy them when you get to the park."
"Fabulous work as always my most hardworking woman."
"Call me if you need anything else Ranger."
"Of course, Goodbye."
I was forwarding the email with all the reservations to my sisters and letting my whole family and all my men know the plans for the afternoon. I texted all of my nightshift to prepare to exit the ship for the night.
"Stephanie do you want to ride with me to the airport to get the cars?"
"Sure." She smiled at me.
I was walking the gangplank into the hot afternoon sun holding onto Stephanie's hand without any additional guards and it felt good, freeing even, to not have a group of men surrounding us. We got into the SUV I had already rented. I had noticed the smaller cars that were popular on this island and hoped our rental cars were bigger. I turned my SUV back in to Enterprise and we had to walk through several parking lots to the other car rental.
We arrived at American Car Rental, a company I had never used before. Several of my men were already in line and I cut in front of Hal.
"Excuse you." He said acting affronted.
"If I'm paying I have to go first." I explained.
"I can go first and you can still pay." He held up his RangeMan credit card and gave me a smirk. A smirk on Hal's boyish face that looked more relaxed than I had seen it since we left Trenton. I was astonished.
"Reservations are in my name. But if you stick close you will get your choice of vehicles because they only have a few SUVs otherwise you'll be driving a minivan." I told him and he looked horrified.
I got the keys to three Suburbans, two Tahoes, four Caravans, two Cadillac XTS sedans because they seat five, and three Mustang convertibles, just for fun. I had planned to take a Tahoe but kept a Mustang for myself and Stephanie. My men were happy to drive everything but the Caravans and after recalculating my family's numbers, turned the four Caravans back in and got three more hard top Mustangs and a Chrysler 300. Stephanie and I drove with the top down, letting the Hawaiian sun seep into us, warming us and relaxing us and I made a note to bring her a hat.
I came back to the ship and hollered for everyone to come out into the hallway. Of course all my men immediately responded but only Rachel, Ron and Leyla poked their heads out of their doors. I asked them if they felt comfortable driving themselves and when they said 'yes' I gave them each a Suburban and told them we were leaving in about thirty minutes. I saved the other Suburban for Isabella and Diego, a Cadillac for my parents and planned to asked my abuelas if they would ride with my parents. Gave Sport a Tahoe and passed out three cars to the nightshift crew so they could drive straight there and maybe sleep a little more before tonight's shift. I passed the other two convertibles to Marc and Lester. I called all my dayshift men for a meeting as my family disappeared back into their rooms.
"To bring everyone up to speed. This morning Santiago Martinez that was hired by Sergio to take the women out pinned the women down with machine gun fire while they were walking down the street. Lester and Ram crossed the street under heavy fire and took him out. Lester shot him three times and he died of shock or a heart attack, they are still determining which. The weekend trip was successful and Sergio won't be putting any more hits out on anyone. For all intents and purposes the protection detail is over. But there is the slight outside chance that Santiago hired some other killers before being killed. If he had I think he would have had them attacking the women this morning but since it was just him I think that was his last ditch effort to kill some of the women."
"Still to be prudent," I continued, "we will keep one men on each target during the day when they leave the boat. You no longer need to follow them on the boat. Rotating eight men on at a time. You no longer need to drive with them, I'm letting the families drive themselves except for Oshanna and Julio. But follow behind and be close in case there is any trouble. After a very tense discussion with the Chief of Police here on Hawai'i we are going to be allowed to carry while on the island when out in the open. Carry a full gun belt, stun gun, and live ammo. Today we are going to the zoo, only bring stun guns into the park and then up to the Volcano National Park. We will be stopping along the way to look at waterfalls or whatever is along the drive. We will be looking at the volcano in the dark tonight. Then we are driving to Kailua-Kona tomorrow and rejoining the ship."
"I have not yet offered but I am going to offer for the family to stay here in Oahu till Sunday afternoon or morning if they want to get an early start." I explained. "Then we will head back to Trenton where the protection detail officially ends. I have offered to extend protection for anyone that doesn't feel secure going back to their lives. Assignments for today: Tiger – Stephanie, Gavin – both grandmothers, Francis – Maria, Tony – Leyla, Bobby – Angelia, Red – Isabella, Sport – Oshanna, Scott – Julie and Rachel. If my grandmothers split up they are probably going with another target. Gavin, stay with Grandma Sanja and let the other man take over Grandma Rosa. Pack up, we are leaving in thirty."
My men all nodded their assent and disappeared back to their rooms. I pulled Lester aside and told him if he wanted a break he could stay on the ship and we would catch up to him tomorrow. He dangled a set of Mustang keys in front of me and said no way was he going to miss driving up the coast in a convertible or seeing the volcano at night.
While I was talking to my men my parents, and my abuelas; Richard,Isabella and Diego showed up with Angelia and all their kids. I called the rest my family out into the hallway for a meeting.
"How is everyone doing now?" I asked.
"Better." Came from Mama.
"Excited." Came from some of the boys.
"Anxious." Came from Oshanna.
"Ready to go." Came from Isabella.
I was aware that those caught in the firefight this morning were mostly quiet.
"Let me start by saying to everyone that you handled the incident this morning admirably and that the problem is over. We got all the bad guys and there shouldn't be anyone else coming after you. So to celebrate and to have some fun and see Hawai'i we are going to get off this ship. After today you can drive yourselves and only have one guard when out and about during the day, no guards while you are on the ship. If anyone is still worried about their safety and doesn't feel that this is enough protection let me know but the threats have been eliminated and the sources shut down so we shouldn't have any more problems."
"Today the plan is to go to the Zoo and then travel onto Volcano National Park and spend the night there. The drive is supposed to be very scenic and I've heard there are waterfalls, so you are welcome to stop along the way and take pictures and just enjoy the scenery. I think we should plan on leaving the National Park by 10:00 tomorrow if that sounds good to the group. There are two main activities in Kona that I think everyone would enjoy, the Seahorse tour and the Kona Palace. Text me back by dinner anything else you are interested in so we can find out if we can fit it in during the time we have available. If we need to leave earlier to fit something in we can do that too. If you want to stay at the volcanos longer, it is about a two and a half hour drive back so you want to be leaving by 1:00pm to have plenty of time to return to the ship and can stop for lunch. We have to return the rental cars to the airport by about 4:00pm tomorrow. Catch taxis or Ubers to the Port and then get tenders to go to the boat. The boat leaves at 5:30pm."
"I have car keys for everyone. They didn't have a bunch of SUVs here so some people have cars. Isabella and Diego, I have the last SUV for your family. Mama and Papa I have a Cadillac for you and the abuelas. Oshanna you are not twenty-five so you have to ride with Sport, but you can ride in the front passenger seat. Julio you are a single male under the age of thirty so you also have to ride but you can pick any car to ride in." Just not mine. "Angelia, I saved a car for you, but you can have one of my men drive so you can relax and enjoy the scenic views and take care of your kids." I handed her the key to the other Cadillac. "I want to make you aware that the ship docks back in Oahu at 7:00 Saturday morning. As far as I know nobody has to get back to Jersey before Monday." I looked around the group for confirmation. "So if you want, I was thinking we could sightsee on Saturday and fly home on Sunday. Is that acceptable with everyone?"
There were a lot of head nods and yesses.
"It is still about six hours of flying back to New Jersey and eight and a half back to Miami so I think we should leave early enough to get home and turned around before you have to go back to work and school on Monday, I'm thinking about leaving at 10 am. Right now we are leaving the boat in twenty minutes. Pack only an overnight bag. Several of your kids can probably share a bag. Leave anything you don't need for the next twenty-four hours on the ship. Everyone relax and have a good rest of your day."
Returning to our room, I emptied everything out of my bag that was not needed for this overnight trip and put my bag out in the hall then helped Stephanie repack her little shoulder bag for the night. I have always been thankful to be a man but when I looked at all the extra clothes (different shoes for every outfit, bras, underwear etc.) that women are required to wear and all the bathroom products they need for hair and face it makes me doubly glad to not be a woman. I carefully helped her pack and went out in the hallway to find most of my family ready to go.
Angelia of course was still busy repacking bags for the three of them. Really she only needed one bag: three sets of nightclothes, three outfits for tomorrow, they could wear the same shoes and her toiletries, but she had four bags laid out that she was struggling with so I went in her room to help her pack. I conceded two extra outfits for Ricky since he is still potty training and allowed a whole separate bag for her (but only one) and we got her ready to go. When I went out in the hallway again most of my family was ready and waiting. I took Stephanie's hand and our bags and led her off the ship with my family and men trailing behind us.
I felt so light and free. It had been two weeks since receiving that video in the middle of the night and I had Stephanie by my side and she was safe. My whole family was safe. Sergio was gone spectacularly, and Santiago was dead. We had four more days in this tropical paradise. If it was just me and Stephanie I would take her off the cruise permanently, but with my whole family it was better to have just this one night excursion on the island.
It didn't take long till we were all loaded up and heading for the Pan'ewa Rainforest Zoo. Less than twenty minutes later we were all piling out of our vehicles and filing towards the entrance. Once inside there was a big Aloha sign welcoming us to the zoo. I hadn't taken a park map but followed the group around holding onto Stephanie's hand. As we walked the sky became cloudier like it was going to rain but it seemed to hold off.
We passed an endless slew of different kinds of birds chirping and crying out. Three year old Ricky saw a wild peacock that roamed loose around the park and chased it a short ways till it spun around to face him, opened its feathers and began to shake them. It was a beautiful display and the feathers were taller than Ricky which seemed to stop him in his tracks. Everyone was in awe of the peacock and quickly pulled out cell phones and cameras to capture the moment.
Big cats always impress me with their beauty and raw power and the orange Bengal tiger was no different, as it paced impatiently in front of a door where I expected food awaited her. There was a white Bengal tiger playing in the pool of water and he suddenly hopped out, shook slightly and charged the orange tiger, tackling her and getting her wet while they wrestled for a few minutes, giving the family a great show.
This zoo highlighted animals that thrive in different rainforests. So they had alligators, snakes, and different lizards including a kimono dragon that lay out basking in the sun. There was a butterfly garden and play area for all the kids. Several of the kids, and Stephanie of course, begged so huge cones of shaved ice in every flavor were bought and passed around. There was also a coy pond with a tunnel that they kids took turns crawling through that came up in the middle of the pond, where they could stand and be surrounded by the large colorful fish.
We were notified by a zoo worker that the zoo was getting ready to close and the families began herding their little ones towards the front gate. Then we were back in our cars again and I led the caravan less than fifteen minutes to beautiful Rainbow Falls.
Much of my family was very excited about seeing the waterfalls as there are many in Hawai'i but we hadn't seen any yet. After walking down a trail and going up a bunch of stairs we got to the lookout point where the falls are eighty feet tall. The falls are part of the Wailuku river and were named for the rainbows formed in the spray that shoots up out of the bottom and reflects in the morning sunlight. Because it was so late in the afternoon there was no reflecting light but my family loved seeing the falls just the same.
These falls cascade over a lava cave that legend says is the home to the ancient Hawaiian goddess Hina, their goddess of the moon. As we walked up the path there were some huge Bayan trees that were very entwined. These trees were five to six feet wide and more than ten feet around. They looked very intricately woven but are said to be hundreds of years old.
When we got down to the bottom I asked the adults if they wanted to stop at another waterfall or head on up the coast and another waterfall was the unanimous reply. The Wai'ale Falls trail was a little over a half mile and it led us up to the top of the falls. The Wai'ale falls were a two part waterfall that seemed to have a heavier flow than Rainbow falls even though it was the same river.
The upper part of the falls was broken up into several sections and fell about thirty feet. The lower part of the falls was wider but fell only about twenty to twenty five feet. The family enjoyed the hike but my mother stopped us as we were headed back and crossed the bridge where you could see both falls together and arranged the whole family into one photo. She got her photo and everyone broke off taking their own photos of family and waterfalls.
When we were done there, I led the family driving up the coast. I put the top down on the Mustang and gave Stephanie a hat to hold down her hair. The whole drive was covered in lush foliage and Steph alternated between holding my hand and playing with the radio. She eventually found a station that was playing Hawaiian music and left it there for the remainder of the trip. The hot sun beat down on us, but the cooler wind blowing through the car made the temperatures more tolerable.
Fortunately the trip didn't take too long because Stephanie's stomach had started making noises. We had passed several restaurants when I realized we were at the Volcano National Park and paid the entrance fee for all the cars. A little way inside the park was our hotel, The Volcano House, and there was a big sign for The Rim restaurant as well. I led my family into the hotel and sent them to get seated in the restaurant while Stephanie and I checked everybody into their rooms.
Once Stephanie and I got seated and had ordered I walked around to every table and handed out room keys. I told each family what I had found out about the volcanos and had several maps I had gotten from the front desk clerk. Apparently there were three must sees in the park. First, steam vents where you could see and feel the steam escaping from below ground. Second, the Jaggar Museum which has the active lava of the Kilauea caldera. Third was the lava tube. I told my family about each and went to sit with Stephanie as the sun went down.
The whole north wall of the restaurant was all floor to ceiling windows for easy viewing of the smoking volcano and the tropical outdoors. We witnessed a beautiful sunset as our food was served, followed by watching the glow from the Kilauea caldera. The atmosphere was perfect and the sunset romantic as Stephanie and I held hands and talked quietly. I had the Kona Kamachi – a farm raised yellow fish with poached lobster, seaweed salad and jasmine rice. I requested my lobster boiled or grilled with no butter. Stephanie had the New York strip with lobster tail, mashed potatoes and macadamia nut green beans.
I took her hand and kissed the back of it.
"So Babe, we are back in Hawaii together, and you have a ring on your finger again." I smiled at her. "Is there anything special you would like to do? Maybe when we get back to Honolulu?"
"Carlos, I missed you these past several days. I just want to spend time with you."
"Well you know last time we were in Oahu we were getting ready to go see the Arizona and do a half day trip up the mountain."
"Yes, I wanted to see the memorial. The half day trip was your idea." She clarified. I smirked to myself. It had been my idea but I had talked her into coming.
"So on Saturday we'll be in Honolulu again. Is there anything specific you want to do?"
"Carlos, Hawaii was special because you were there, and we were hanging out, relaxing. Having a lot of 'personal, private time'. In fact the first three days we did nothing but hang on the beach for a while, supposedly watching for the Rug and having 'personal, private time' everywhere and on every surface imaginable. I just want to spend these last few days relaxing and having fun with you and your family."
"Good choice Babe."
I texted Skylar: 'My family loved the zoo and the waterfalls. We are currently having dinner at The Rim and watching the glowing crater and having a great time. They enjoyed the drive it was beautiful. My dearest Skylar on Thursday and Friday the cruise ship will be in Nawiliwili and if you could please, see what activities might be available for the family to do there. Only half my men will be working if you want to throw in a couple of activities for them too. Saturday we will be in Oahu for the day if you can put together a list of activities for everyone. We are planning on leaving Sunday between 10 and noon if you can have the plane stocked and ready. We will fly back to NJ and then onto Miami. Thanks so much, my perfection!
'In a meeting and can't call me?'
'Having a romantic dinner with Stephanie and I don't want to be rude.'
'Have a great dinner and treat that woman special. I'll have something for you tonight.'
After dinner the family wandered down to see the Kilauea caldera's glowing crater up close. Skylar texted me back.
'Nawiliwili: Kilohana Plantation; train ride, dining, history and retail therapy. Outfitter Kauai River Kayak ½ day excursion to see Secret Falls, Blue Hawaii Helicopter tour, Wailua Falls, Kalapaki Beach, Surfing lessons, Lydgate Beach Park, Menehune Fish Pond, Kauai Museum, Smith Family luau in the sacred Wailua River valley, Snorkel and Sail with the turtles, Back country tubing, Luau Kalamaku – fire knife dancers and the history of the islands, Fern Grotto Tour, Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens, Koloa Ziplines, Sunshine Farmer's Market, Hilo Hattie Shopping tourist and formal wear.'
'I'm reserving vehicles for the day how many do you think you'll need?'
'Reserve fifteen. Only a third of my men are working and the rest will be getting off the ship for sure.'
'Done. Let me know what the family wants to do and I'll make reservations where I can.'
I forwarded her text to everyone including my men.
'Oahu: Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor Arizona memorial, WW II memorial, Diamond Head State Park, Diamond Head Crater Hike, surfing lessons, paddle boarding, ocean kayaking, Banana boat canoeing, Lanikai Beach, Sunset Paddleboard Yoga, Manoa Falls, Snorkel at Hanauma Bay, Luumahu Fall's, Makapu'u Point Light House Trail, Rock n Roll luau, Traditional fire luau, Historic Art Museum, Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Aquarium, Dole Pinapple farm, Lankai Pillbox Hike, North Shore drive and beach, Ziplining, Shark fishing, Chinatown Markets traditional Chinese markets, Ala Moana Shopping Center 4-story shopping, Aloha's Stadium Swap Meet (open air market with over 400 venders), Kuliouou ridge trail, muddy ATV rides through Jurassic Park, Submarine tour, Scuba dive to a shipwreck, Jet pack over Maunalua Bay, Skydive Hawaii 20,000 ft special.'
Again I forwarded her text to everyone. Then I texted her back.
'Set up a full skydiving trip for Steph and me. Reserve all the slots for any of my family or men that want to go.'
'Ready to be set up, times available 8:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30 12, 1:30 2, 4:30.'
Our Hotel and the rental cars were near the airport. Once again shuttles from the hotel were going to pick us up from the cruise ship at 07:00 and bring us to the hotel. I google mapped it, it was a thirty minute drive to the airstrip.
'9:30' I texted back.
I texted Rachel and Ron and asked if Julie could come with me to skydive on Saturday, promising to keep her safe and inviting anyone else from their family that wanted to go.
Ron texted back that they would discuss it.
It was deep into the evening when we finally went back to the parking lot and drug our bags to our room. I met with the nightshift crew and gave them their new orders. I filled them in on the earlier day activities. Since most of them hadn't gotten much sleep today, and the threat level was low I put them on duty three at a time, for four-hour shifts, just hourly walking around and checking all the rooms.
I told them if they hadn't already, to see the glow of the crater during the night and to try to get some sleep because it would be a long day tomorrow. I explained that I was going to keep someone on duty all night until we got back home just as a precaution, but that they no longer had to stand at attention. They could get chairs and sit, play games on their phones or play card games with each other, just to do the hourly checks.
Once our stuff was settled in our room we drove to the official Kilauea lookout and watched the glow from a closer vantage point. As we stood there watching I pulled Stephanie close and fully relaxed as I felt her body melt into mine. This whole nightmare was over and I was going to make sure it never happened again.
Back in our room, Stephanie put on the pink baby doll outfit and twirled showing it off for me. I took Stephanie to bed that night slowly, carefully, deliberately, lovingly. Showing her with all that I am that I love her and would do anything for her. As she lay spent in my arms the image of her round with my child popped into my head again and I thought if it happened I would love it. But I wasn't ready for that to happen yet and of course she would have to be onboard, I wouldn't go poking holes in the condoms. This made me laugh to myself that most women knowing how much I am now worth would probably happily have my baby if I wanted. But Stephanie is her own woman and I can't see her having a baby for anyone. Maybe though if I show her we could hire as much help and protection as she needed and that she could still work she might go along with it.
Wednesday May 26
The next morning, I slept in until 07:00. I texted everyone to enjoy the breakfast buffet at The Rim. That if they needed to, today would be a good day to contact their bosses and assure them they would be back to work next Monday. I let them know they were now free to contact anyone they wanted. I encouraged them to take their luggage with them and explore the park this morning. That I would be checking everyone out at 8:00 but that they could stay in the park till 10:00 when we would head to Kona. I texted nightshift that they could head back to the ship whenever they wanted or stay and enjoy the park.
All throughout the morning people texted me with what they wanted to do the rest of the week in Nawiliwili and Oahu and I forwarded the texts to Skylar.
Breakfast was wonderful as they had more than I had hoped for. They had fresh made smoothies with low fat yogurt and almond milk. An egg station where they would make any kind of egg you wanted and I got an egg white omelet with spinach, zucchini, tomatoes and red and yellow peppers. Stephanie filled her plate with pastries, bacon, sausage, and went to have fresh waffles made with the special jams they offered. I had an omelet made for her with cheese, bacon, zucchini and tomatoes and hoped she didn't get too picky about it. I had them put extra cheese on top.
They had a special turkey hash with red and yellow peppers, roasted potatoes, macadamia nuts and green onions. I got myself some and then added some to Stephanie's plate. I was waiting at our table when she returned. The plate I made for her to the side but obviously next to her drink.
"What are you drinking?" She asked.
"Milkshake" I told her.
"There are milkshakes?" She sounded excited. "Do they have chocolate?"
"I think they are only making fruit milkshakes, mango, strawberry and banana, separately or combined. Do you want me to go get you one?"
She looked at my drink dubiously and hesitated. "What kind did you get?"
"Strawberry banana."
"Let me try yours and we will see." I passed her my glass and she took a sip and made a face.
"For a milkshake that is not very cold or sweet. Like it's not made with ice cream."
"It's made with frozen strawberries and bananas." I offered.
"Maybe I'll get one when we leave." she suggested. I knew from her plate she would be too full but nodded in assent.
She ate her waffles aggressively and noisily like she hadn't eaten in a week and then started on the omelet. Several bites in she paused.
"You know it can still be an omelet without vegetables in it." She complained as she picked out a zucchini.
"But the vegetables are grilled and add flavor." I protested.
"Green stuff doesn't go with my omelets."
I pointed to the remainder of my omelet and she said "Yeah I rest my case. If it's not yellow and it doesn't have cheese or meat it is more of a salad than a breakfast food." She insisted.
"Babe I'm not trying to take away your sweets. I'm just adding a little bit of healthy protein and good carbs into your diet. Don't knock them on principle. Those zucchini are grilled and rather good." I said as I forked two pieces from the small pile she had made and ate them.
She gave me a weak smile, and with a huge serving of cheesy egg forked one zucchini into her mouth.
My phone beeped with a text from Skylar.
'Seahorse farm is booked. Owner offered special deal $150 a person and she would do the tour personally.'
I did the quick calculation in my head and realized with my dayshift men it was $7650. With everyone it was $9000 but I didn't expect my nightshift men to come.
'Agree to whatever she requests and then double it.' I texted back. I had read the little blurb Skylar had sent me on the seahorse farm and it seemed like they did good ecological work that I wanted to support.
After breakfast I paid for all the rooms and meals but asked that the keycards stay active till the 11:00 normal check-out time.
We walked out into the bright morning sun and saw the Kilauea steaming away, but didn't stay long.
"The night glow is more interesting." Stephanie declared and I had to agree.
We saw two steam vents that were barred off and had steam that you could feel the heat from pouring up into the sky. Then we went to see the Thurston Lava Tube. It was a 500 year old lava tube that was formed when the lava cooled around the edges but is still flowing hot in the middle. We walked down a well marked path, that was surrounded by dense foliage and trees that rose well above our heads and was filled with birds we could hear calling to each other. A short bridge led to the opening of the tube. This tube was fifteen to twenty feet around. The sides looked like smooth rock, but were hardened lava. It was lit every twenty five to thirty feet with lights bored into the sides of the tube. The tube was about six hundred feet deep.
Once we got across the bridge I held Stephanie's hand and I wondered if I would ever tire of being near her. We walked along feeling the sides, avoiding the parts of the bottom that were covered in puddles and getting dripped on from the porous roof. Stephanie squealed as she slipped in her sandals on the slick ground and I grabbed her to keep her from going down. Her cute white sandals, white shorts and light blue t-shirt were very touristy and tropical while I was still in all black. Black cargo shorts, black tank top, black boots with a full gun belt. I didn't look like I was on vacation and it justified the strange looks we got as we walked around together.
As we left the tube I gave her the map and asked her where she wanted to go. She looked at me. "You need to look like you are on vacation. No one is going to bother us here in the park. Why don't you lose the gun belt and try smiling at a few people. I mean people see you and they trip over themselves to get out of our way. You look like you are ready to take down an armed terrorist and some people are wondering if you are one." She huffed at me.
I did feel a little over dressed with all the tourists running around, so I slipped my gun belt off and tucked my Glock into the back of my pants, untucked my shirt and pulled it down over the shorts.
"Better?" I asked.
"Better." She said and lifted up the map.
"So we have about half an hour, what do you want to do?" I asked her. She looked at the map.
"Why don't we drive this route down the Chain of Craters road and stop at some of the craters then drive down and look at the ocean."
"Sure." So we drove around and looked at wide craters, some that were smooth and had cooled, some that were still smoking. The ocean was a beautiful azure blue and there was a nice breeze blowing onto the island as we found a parking lot to stop and walk down to the cliffs. There we could see the Holei Sea Arch. An arch formed by the sea as it cut away part of the cliff wall. I held her close as the breeze blew our clothes and her hair around with the hot Hawaiian sun beating down on us.
"You know," I told her, "when I brought that ring I didn't know we were going to end up in Hawai'i but it was one of the choices and I thought a real possibility. I thought I would find the right spot on the island and propose to you here. I hadn't planned on proposing to you so soon."
"Are you sorry I rushed it? That I forced the issue?"
"Not at all. I was thrilled to propose to you in Florida. I honestly didn't think you would want me to. I figured we would start dating and I would propose further down the line, or like I said here in Hawai'i."
"I never knew you were such a romantic." She teased.
"Not a romantic, a planner. In any operation you want the plan with the highest probability of success and I figured if I asked you in a romantic spot, especially with a bunch of people around, you would have to say yes. The crowd of people staring would guarantee it." I smirked at her.
"You would use crowd pressure to get your way."
"I would use every kind of pressure I could think of. After I got you down off that building I didn't want to let you out of my arms ever again. Now that's not realistic, because life has to go on. But I would have proposed to you right then if I thought you would have said yes."
"That would have been awkward in front of the police who know me and knew I was kidnapped out of Joe's bed."
"Yes the crowd pressure there would have leaned in the wrong direction. I'm just letting you know that from that moment, that second on, I wanted you forever and I knew I just had to bide my time until you and Joe broke up again and then I was going to have you as mine." I turned her to face me. "I was thinking of flowers and heart shaped donuts, and I would get Lula and Connie on board. I would take you out to dinner every night and take you to New York for a weekend of shopping and eating. Then after a few months have you move in with me and have you finally come and meet my family."
"Meet your family? I thought you planned this trip to have me alone and meet your family."
"I hadn't thought it that far through. I only decided after talking to my mother and her refusing to go to a safe house that I was going to have to get creative and take my family away somewhere safe. It wasn't till we were discussing it as a family and they all agreed to go away that I wanted you and Julie to come too. Poor Julie hadn't seen my family since she was a baby. I knew it would be a shock to her and I knew my parents would be glad to see her but I didn't know how the rest of my family would react to Rachel and Julie and their whole family."
Stephanie laughed at me and said "But it turned out pretty well. Having everyone meet at the pool and start playing together was a good plan. We were all more relaxed with each other. I started out scared of them all. Oshanna and Angelia sat down in the loungers next to me and started talking about shoes and shopping and I joined in. Then they were bitching about you and this trip and I told them I was stuck in a room with you and needed my own room and Oshanna invited me to bunk with her." She smiled at me. "I think she did it to get back at you as much as to help me out."
I smiled back at her. That would be just like Oshanna to help Stephanie to get back at me.
"Yeah but it backfired. I showed up in the middle of the night and when I tried to get out of bed in the morning you were wrapped around me like a vine clutching to the side of a building. I couldn't even get up," I laughed to myself.
"I'll never know what it is about you. Your warmth or your sexy smell, but something draws me close when I sleep and I wake up sleeping on top of you." She admitted.
"You'll never hear me complain. I don't know what it is about you either but sleeping near you, where I can hear you breathing and smell you calms me and lets me sleep deeper and more relaxed."
"It's the hot sex. It wears you out."
"The sex is amazing but just being near you, like in Miami, with no sex helps me sleep better."
We fell silent as we looked out over the ocean holding each other close. After watching the waves bash relentlessly into the cliffs I kissed the side of her neck and led her back to the car. On our way through the park we stopped at several more marked features.
The Kealakomo Overlook was a path leading to a railed platform that overlooked a huge drop. Where an earthquake caused the land to split and shift downward fifteen feet and forward twenty feet. We had to be more than a mile from the ocean here but the land under us was so much lower we could easily see the cliffs and the white capping waves further out to sea. Kealakomo translated to "the entrance path". It is the name of an ancient village that sat below the lookout and over the cliffs below.
Our next stop was the Mau Loa O Mauna Ulu or "forever growing mountain". It was a vast sea of hardened lava that crisscrossed the Chain of Craters road. It was left over from the last time Mauna Ulu erupted. Here some of the hardened lava looks shiny and the information sign says it is from the pahoehoe lava flow, created from the outer layer of silica that looks somewhat like surface glass.
The Pauahi Crater means "destroyed by fire". It was a massive crater about 500 feet deep.
"It must be a mile long." Stephanie remarked.
"Actually it is about 2000 feet, less than half a mile." I explained.
"How do you know how long a mile is?"
"A mile is 5280 feet, or six furlongs." I told her.
"What is a furlong?"
"I don't remember where the term originated from but a furlong is 660 feet."
"Know it all." She exclaimed and began reading the sign that was planted in front of the crater. "In November 1973 there was an eruption that lasted 31 days, creating the present crater floor. This eruption also opened a fissure east of the crater towards Pu'uhululu. This fissure eruption became a phase of the 1969-1974 Mauna Ulu eruptions. The Pauahi Crater is approximately 1800 to 2000 feet long, 300 to 500 feet deep and 300 feet wide. The Pauahi Crater is culturally significant and religious to many of the Hawaiian people. At times you may view a, how do you say that?" She pointed to the sign.
"Ho'okupu"
"Ho'okupu offering wrapped in ti leaf, which should not be touched or disturbed." Then she looked down.
"Oh look, Carlos, over by that bush there are three ho'okupu."
I just wrapped my arm around her and pulled her to me and imagined scaling down the side of this crater. Figuring out where I would anchor my ropes and which side I would want to rappel down, the steeper side that was clear or the less steep side that was littered with trees. Three hundred feet is approximately a twenty five story building. Five hundred feet is about forty-two stories. It is early in the morning but the heat is up to the mid-eighties already. I don't know enough about the lava to know how hot it gets and if it absorbs the suns heat or reflects it back turning the great big crater into an easy man bake oven.
Definitely a climb I would rather make in the early morning, or if we wanted to get really fun, the middle of the night. It's too bad we are leaving the island today. I know that Marc and Santos and probably Tiger would love a good climb. I can only imagine the look on the park ranger's face who finds us playing in their crater. Not like they are going to come over the side and come after us but they could stand around the edges and yell at us. Definitely a middle of the night climb. Hell it would be worth the trip back just to do it. Not that there aren't other places to rappel down, it's just this looks like fun.
Stephanie is pulling at my arms to get free and she is now taking my hand and leading me up the path breaking my intriguing trance.
"Babe."
Our last stop was the Lua Manu Crater. It was a crater but it was different from all the other formations we had seen because the lava just poured full strength till it ran up to green trees and forest. Some trees were half burnt by the lava but still alive and growing back. This lava was not smooth but rough and stood up in places.
Stephanie read the sign again and I really enjoyed listening to her tell me about each site more than I could put into words. "Lau Manu meaning "bird crater" was formed during the eruption of Keanakako'i in 1974. A fissure opened east of what is now the Lua Manu Crater and lava flowed into the crater filling it with about 50 feet of lava. However about two-thirds of the lava drained back into a fissure that cut its east crater wall. This lava flow also crossed the Chain of Craters Road. Lua Manu Crater is generally considered to be the uppermost crater along the Chain of Craters in the upper east rift zone. Lua Manu Crater was formed with lava drained from the lava chamber beneath the surface, creating a void. This void caused the surface to collapse. The crater rim has no tephra (cinder, ash) deposits on the rim, thus indicating that there was no eruption or explosive event in its forming."
When she was done reading she looked around at the crater and back up at me giving me a big smile. "I know that the lava just burnt down everything in its path and those trees are alive because it stopped short of them, but it just looks like they stood up to the lava and said "ye shall not pass" and the lava left them alone."
"Babe" I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head.
"Well this was the last crater on this road. We are back at Jaggar Museum and Kilauea caldera where we started and it is 9:48. I think we need to figure out where we are meeting the family."
Damn my plans. I had gotten so caught up in the threat being over I named the time but not the place to meet and my family was bound to be all over the park.
I texted my family to find out their locations and as it turned out most of them had finished up and were also back at Kilauea caldera. I texted everyone to come to the Kilauea caldera and followed Stephanie inside the Jaggar Museum so she could go to the gift shop and buy a t-shirt. After looking around she got a pretty black one that had the orange glowing Kilauea caldera at night with the stars and it read Volcano National Park, Hawai'i. I had to laugh because as much as we had looked at this steaming vault we had never actually gone over and read the signs.
We held hands as we walked along waiting our turn. Stephanie read each sign as we got to them. Turned out the whole open area is called Kilauea caldera, the mountain we were on is Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes and one of the five volcanoes that makes up the island of Hawai'i. The crater down in the caldera, spewing gases during the day and glowing orange lava at night is actually called the Halema'uma'u crater. Prior to March 2008 eruption, this erupting vent was about 125 feet in diameter. Now it is approximately 525 feet across.
The Jaggar Museum is named after Thomas Jaggar, who in 1912 set up the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory here on the rim of Kilauea caldera. He was principal in getting the 1916 bill forming the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. The park has become a World Heritage Site attracting 2.6 million tourists annually.
Kilauea's names means "spewing" or "much spreading." It is a shield volcano and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawai'i. Kilauea's current eruption dates back to January 3, 1983. This is its longest historical period of activity, as well as one of the longest duration eruptions in the world. As of January 2011 this eruption has produced 1 cubic mile of lava and resurfaced 123.2 km, 48 square miles of land.
At 600,000 years old, Kilauea is still quite young for a Hawaiian volcano, only having emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. The oldest volcano on the island, Kohala is more than a million years old. Kilauea is the second youngest volcano in the Hawaiian-Emoeror seamount chain, a chain of shield volcanoes and seamounts extending from Hawaii to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench in Russia.
Historically, the five volcanoes on the island were considered sacred by the Hawaiian people, and in Hawaiian mythology Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater served as the body and home of Pele, goddess of fire, lightning, wind and volcanoes.
"Oh my god. This is where Brody Logan stole the tiki from."
"Brody Logan?"
"The guy with the wooden tiki that showed up when Orin was there. He rammed Orin with it and Orin shot it." She said on a rush. I remembered some kid in flowered board shorts holding a big round wooden statue but at the time I was more worried about Orin and Stephanie.
"Wasn't he one of your skips?'
"Yeah but he saved my life and he was a good kid so I bought him tickets to bring the tiki back to Hawai'i."
I spun her around and held her in my arms. "You're such a good person." I told her as I kissed her and she was, too good for the likes of me who can get off torturing and killing my enemies. But it didn't matter anymore. She was permanently in danger from knowing me and I would spend my life and my considerable wealth protecting her.
"Come on Babe, my family is over there." The viewing area around the caldera was large but most of my family and men were gathered about thirty feet away from us where the crowds were smaller.
We gathered with everyone and five minutes later the rest of the group was there and we headed out. It was a beautiful and relaxing two hour and fifteen minute drive up the west coast of Hawai'i. We drove with the radio on, playing relaxing Hawaiian music and holding hands.
To be continued….
A/N: Did you enjoy the volcano's and the island of Hawai'i with the family? I learned that officially the big island of Hawai'i is spelled with an apostrophe in the name but the state of Hawaii is not. I shared a lot of the facts I learned about the big island as Ranger and Stephanie explored it. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about it as much as I did.
Thank you all for your reviews I love them all! Thank you my guest reviews you made me think, laugh and write harder. There are several new reviewers and all the old ones I want to thank. As always thank you Vulcan Rider for your thoughtful reviews. Thank you Buddy'sBabe, Ybanormlmom, loved your name and your review. Shellbell78, Angela Muller, aruvqan, First Generation Scot, daxandpat, trhodes09, annalynn88, Elenimou, bb2020, baileygirl12, Candie Marie, Mermaid's Fluke, Emerald Seas 45, Dragon Fruitte, and Garbonzobeans. All your reviews make me smile and I eat them all up like a big slice of chocolate cake! Yum!
This is my last twice a week posting, I will continue my regular postings on Friday mornings.
As always big THANK YOU to my beta Sassysaint for all your help and encouragement!
Second Big THANK YOU to my sister, Jonelle. Thank you for fixing all my many little mistakes.