Hello everyone! It's hard to believe but exactly a year ago I started writing this story. Of course at that time I had no idea how long it would take me to write it and how many chapters it would have. At least this time I knew it wouldn't be a one-shot (as I thought with my Lucifer story which ended up with sixty of them). It was great to write it and I hope you'll like reading this chapter so have a nice time now. We'll meet again at the bottom of this page.

Chapter 26

Kumu, Rick and TC were really lucky the girl was at home because she was just about to fly to the mainland to visit her relatives. They made it just in time and were so glad that they may finally get closer to finding Thomas and Juliet but very soon their hopes faded when they realized that she didn't have much else to add. However, just when they were leaving the place, something came to the girl's mind – she remembered that the man told her that he would be close to Eddy's bar – a place where they had great food.

So once again luck smiled on them. They knew that they shouldn't waste a single second and had to act quickly. TC used his phone to look at the map of Oahu and all three of them tried to predict the places where Magnum and Higgins were likely to be held. After doing that, they hopped in the car and TC drove them as fast as he could, trying to get there in one piece.

They found the bar easily, it turned out it was really on the other side of the island near the rainforest. Kumu had a feeling they were on to something, they just had to be. They were driving in the bar's nearest neighborhood, scanning the area in silence, each of them focused on spotting anything that would give them a clue when TC hit the brakes and the car stopped suddenly, making them fall forward. Luckily, they were all securely buckled into their seats.

"Hey! Watch out, man!" Rick exclaimed and when TC didn't react, he took a look at him and noticed that his friend was observing something on the left side of the road.

"What is it, brother?" He asked.

"I'm…not…sure." TC replied, squinting his eyes and not taking them off the thing that had caught his attention. "Do you see that road?" He asked.

Both Rick and Kumu leaned sideway, trying to see what their friend was now pointing to.

"That narrow one between those trees." TC clarified.

It was really hard to spot it but after a few seconds they finally noticed it as it was covered almost completely with wild shrubs and trees.

"What do you think about it? Could it be the one?" TC asked and turned to his friends.

"Well, if I were someone who wanted to disappear for a while, I'd surely choose something like that." Rick said.

"Yeah, it's quite well hidden. I wonder where it leads to." Kumu added.

"Just a sec. We're going to find that out really soon." Rick replied as he was already checking the map on his phone. "Hmm, that's strange."

"What is it?" Kumu asked.

"It seems that it goes for a couple of miles in the west direction and then ends abruptly where it becomes a closed road. Nothing's there, no houses or other buildings, nothing that the kidnappers may use to hold TM and Higgy."

"Nothing on the map. You know, it's possible that there is something out there that wasn't put on the map on purpose." Kumu stated.

"Because it wasn't supposed to be widely known to the general public." TC continued her thought.

The woman nodded in agreement.

"What are you both talking about?" Rick asked.

"The WWII bunkers." TC replied.

"And they're hidden deep in the rainforest." Kumu added.

All three of them shared a knowing look. Now they finally had a lead, the chance to find their friends and free them from whoever had taken them.

"What are we waiting for? Let's check it out." Rick told them with full confidence.

TC nodded and maneuvered the car so that he could turn into that road. They drove for a couple of miles and indeed they didn't see any buildings or even sheds. The road became narrower and winding with the plants on its both sides getting increasingly dense. Finally, they noticed two big signs saying 'Road closed' and 'Road can be used only for the reserve employees'. There was also a closed gate blocking the passage.

TC stopped the car.

"Now what?" Kumu asked from the backseat. "I hope that this gate won't make you drop our plan."

Rick and TC looked at each other with determination and grinned broadly.

"Of course, not. We're sticking to the plan and checking this road." TC stated.

"I'll open the gate." Rick offered and got out of the car immediately so that they wouldn't lose much needed time.

They waited for him to push the gate open but when he reached it, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and looked down, studying the ground very intently.

Both TC and Kumu were puzzled by his strange behavior. TC slid the window down and stuck out his head.

"Hey, man. You got something there?"

"You'd better come here and see for yourselves." Rick replied, not even taking his eyes off the mysterious thing on the ground.

TC and Kumu left the car immediately and went to find out what was so important that their friend wanted them to see.

"Tire tracks." The woman said on the spot.

"They're fresh and it seems they go back and forth." TC added.

"Do you think it's the kidnappers?" Kumu asked.

"They may be." Rick replied.

"Or they may belong to the reserve's employees." Kumu said, pointing at the sign they were standing next to.

"Yeah but what if we're on to something? What if it's them and we don't pursue this? I wouldn't forgive myself if I found out that we were so close and we didn't try it. Although it's quite painful, you both know it that with each passing day the possibility of Thomas and Juliet coming out of it alive is drastically dropping. We have to do something while we still can." Rick said, putting all his heart in it.

TC and Kumu didn't say anything, just nodded their heads in agreement.

"All right, let's go." Rick said and opened the gate.

They drove through and delved into the rainforest. Soon it was getting denser by the minute, however they could still see the tracks. The road climbed up a steep hill and just after they had taken a sharp curve right, they were surprised that suddenly it became wider and the road was in a much better condition.

TC pulled over abruptly, parking behind an enormous bush which would make their car less visible in case someone was coming from the opposite direction.

"Why are we stopping?" Kumu asked as she didn't have the military training her friends had and thus was wondering what could have happened.

"Do you see those trees over there?" TC asked, pointing to the tall and wide-trunk trees.

"Yes."

"There's something behind them, probably a building. This is as far as our car goes. We need to get out and check this out now."

"Okay." Kumu said and unbuckled her seatbelt, all ready to go.

Rick and TC exchanged glances. "Er, Kumu. We think that you should stay in the car." TC told her.

Kumu felt a sudden pang of sadness. "What?! You two must be joking now, right?" She asked but when she noticed their solemn faces, she realized they were serious.

"You can't do this to me. First Gordon and now you. Why don't you want to let me take part in the search?

"Kumu, you're a significant part of our Ohana. We all love you and we care about your safety, that's why we want to protect you." Rick stated.

"But I…" Kumu began to say but was interrupted by TC.

"We really feel your need to help TM and Higgy but your well-being is as important as theirs. Besides, I'm sure they would never forgive themselves if something happened to you while looking for them."

The woman thought through all those things she had just heard and didn't reply at once. She needed a minute or two to consider what her reaction in this situation should be. Finally, she spoke but her face evidently showed that she wasn't very glad about that.

"Fine, if you want me to stay in the car, I'll stay here."

"Great. Oh and one more thing – can we ask a favor from you?" TC said.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Can you be our back-up? If we don't come back in ten minutes, call Gordie and tell him everything." TC told her.

"Okay." Was her instant reply. "Just be careful both of you."

"Will do." Rick stated and with one last look, both men got out of the car and quickly went away.

Sitting obediently in the car, Kumu watched them creep along the narrow road before they delved into the rainforest and disappeared behind the trees. She glanced at her watch to check the time. Ten minutes wasn't much long, was it? It passed so quickly when you talked to your long-time-no-see friend or when you watched your favorite TV show but when you had to just sit in the car and do nothing, it was dragging off mercilessly. Kumu kept checking the time but the hands of the clock almost didn't move a bit, it was like they did that on purpose just to make her even more nervous.

The woman looked around through the car window, trying to see if her friends were coming back with the news but unfortunately she was still alone and there was no sign of them. She really started to worry. She wondered what could have happened to them. Finally, she noticed with relief that those ten minutes had passed and if Rick and TC didn't come back, she would have to take some action.

With none of her friends in sight, she took out her phone and dialed Gordon right away but strangely there was no signal so she looked at the screen and noticed with absolute terror that there were no bars. How could this happen at the moment it was so desperately needed?

Since there was no other way, Kumu opened the car door and climbed out. Looking around and trying to be careful, she went around the car and kept checking the phone, waiting for at least one bar to appear. Luckily, she found phone reception a few yards away. When she heard Gordon's voice, she could finally breathe out with relief.

"Hi, Kumu. What's up? I don't have much time, I'm still quite busy with the feds." He said and his whole body froze because of what he heard next.

"Gordon, you need to come here. We're in Kaipapau Forest Reserve. Bring SWAT with you."

"What?! What happened?" He asked, his level of anxiety instantly rising.

"We may have found something…" Kumu replied with great fear in her voice and that was all Katsumoto heard because at this time the phone call abruptly ended.

Gordon tried to reach his friend but every time he was redirected straight to her voice mail. He cursed loudly and slapped his fist on the top of his desk. He didn't even notice the pain this action have caused. Everyone in the room froze instantly, they weren't used to Katsumoto acting this way. He sighed deeply, he knew he had to take action real fast now. Although Kumu managed to tell him the name of the place, it wouldn't be that easy to find them. He contacted the police technicians and asked them to help him with the location of his friends by tracing Kumu's call. In order not to waste the precious time, he stood up and started gathering the rescue team.

At the same time, Kumu got surprised when instead of Gordon's reply to her short description of how all three of them had ended up here, she heard pure silence. Why wasn't he saying anything? Was he that shocked? When she glanced at the screen, she froze. Oh no, how could that happen? Apparently, her battery was out. She looked around to check whether the boys were coming but there was still no sight of them. Now she got really worried. Ten long minutes had passed before Rick and TC finally emerged from the dense trees.

"Are you boys okay?" Kumu asked as soon as they approached her.

"Yeah, we're fine." Rick replied.

"Have you found anything?" The woman asked, her voice full of hope.

TC answered her question. "Just as we'd thought, there's a bunker hidden partly in the ground and there are lots of fresh traces everywhere. We haven't seen anyone but they may be staying inside. We agreed that bursting in there would be too risky in case TM and Higgy were kept in this place so we need to call for back up."

"Oh, I've already done that." Kumu told them with a sheepish grin on her face.

"What?"

"You should have been here fifteen minutes ago. I couldn't wait any longer, I was afraid something may have happened to you." The woman explained.

"That's okay, Kumu. You did good."

"Well, I had to overcome some problems with the phone reception and the phone's battery ran down but I managed to tell Gordon where we are. I hope he'll get here soon." She said and after about twenty minutes they noticed a long line of cars with Katsumoto's car leading the way, followed by a SWAT team and a couple of other police vehicles.

When the detective parked his car, he came straight to his friends to check on them. They gave him all the information Jin had given them and what they had managed to uncover so far. Then Gordon told TC, Rick and Kumu to stay put while he, together with the SWAT team and the rest of the HPD officers, cautiously approached the bunker and went inside, hoping Magnum and Higgins would be somewhere there.

How was it? I have to tell you that lately it's taking me longer to write and I have less time for that, and I just hope it won't be necessary to have longer breaks between the uploads. I can promise you though that I'll do my best to give you the next chapter on Christmas Eve. See you then.