Danny sighed silently as he watched Jack's nimble figure disappear into the dense forest.
The last time he'd seen this "nephew," he'd been a sickly teenager. In just a few short years, he'd become completely unrecognizable.
"I'm going back to the courthouse," Kono said, her barefoot face still blushing. Jack had taken her outdoor boots and packed them away, because he'd said Julie was wearing high heels when she escaped, and he didn't want to have to carry her all the way back home after finding her. Despite her
Asian features, Kono, who grew up on the Hawaiian coast, wasn't one to blush over such a small matter, even if, after removing her boots, she were seen wearing the cartoon socks with holes sticking out of them, she still couldn't bear to throw them away.
Well, if it had been Danny, an old man, or Chenghao, her cousin, who was more than a generation older than her, it wouldn't have been a big deal. After all, in their eyes, she was just a wild girl who was good at fighting.
But it would be really embarrassing if a guy around his age, who was also very handsome, stared at his two exposed toes with a half-smile on his face.
It made Kono feel like the little boy being bullied in a TV show, whose pants were pulled down in front of the girl he liked, revealing the Dumbo cartoon underwear underneath.
"I remember you said Jack is your brother's son, right?" Cheng Hao asked with a smirk.
Danny didn't understand why he suddenly asked this and nodded subconsciously.
"So, should Jack call Kono auntie? After all, you and I are brothers, and Kono is my cousin?"
Danny was confused by what Cheng Hao said and nodded subconsciously, but he didn't understand what he meant until he saw Kono's middle finger raised high as he turned and left.
-
Jack was naturally unaware of the little episode here. At this moment, he was completely letting go of his senses, trying hard to find clues in the jungle.
The distinctive footprints left by high heels, the accidentally snapped branches, the subtle sounds of distant noises, even the faint scent of perfume and blood in the air.
As mentioned earlier, Oahu, as the most developed of the Hawaiian Islands, lacks pristine rainforests that have never been explored by humans.
Compared to the mangroves along the Mexican coast where he once walked all night, or the small islands of Southeast Asia, the isolated Hawaiian Islands offer a remarkably pleasant environment.
Aside from annoying mosquitoes, there are no pesky snakes or any large animals.
The only animals larger than humans on Oahu are the horses and cattle at Kualoa Ranch, so the paths through the jungle are all trodden by locals and tourists.
Jack is currently on the northern tip of Oahu, where even hiking backpackers are rare. Adventurous tourists typically opt for the less developed Big Island of Hawaii or Kauai, brimming with indigenous culture.
So, he simply needs to let his senses wander; finding traces of someone passing through the forest two or three hours ago isn't too difficult.
After nearly an hour of walking through the jungle, Jack's high-heeled footprints had vanished half an hour earlier, and the trails of outdoor boots had already branched off to the other side.
Following loose rocks and obscure, water-seeping puddles, Jack's pace grew faster and faster until he came to a halt at a massive banyan tree. After circling the tree, Jack's nose quivered slightly, catching a faint scent of blood. A smile crossed his face, "What a clever girl."
Julie, fleeing into the jungle, had long since removed her high heels and carefully treaded over small stones, attempting to conceal her movements. The killers following her lost track of her.
The loose rocks and the subtle, seeping holes in the dead branches and leaves were Julie's true footprints, and now they were gone, indicating she was hiding nearby.
Jack circled the banyan tree, which was so large that seven or eight people couldn't hug it, scanning the trunk for signs of climbing. The
bark was covered in slippery moss and fungus, making it difficult even for him to climb without tools. So Jack parted the numerous aerial roots dangling from the banyan tree, leaning against the trunk and looking down. The sound of dripping water reached his ears.
Tropical jungles also have rivers, which, like those in the desert, appear and disappear, rivers when it rains and streams or even vanish when it doesn't.
The difference is that some rivers in the desert may only appear once a year, disappearing after a month or even a few days, leaving behind a dry riverbed or becoming an underground river.
In the jungle, however, these rivers appear much more frequently, perhaps even daily. This is especially true on tropical islands like Hawaii, where rain falls year-round, though some months experience less rain and others experience heavy rainfall.
Beneath the large banyan tree lies a small river. It hasn't rained yet, and the faint gurgling of water can be heard.
The water has carved a large hole in the banyan tree's roots, but countless dangling aerial roots have sealed it off, making it a perfect hiding place.
Jack jumped in, his feet landing with a soft thud. The deep jungle was far from silent, with the chirping of insects and birds a cacophony. But this quiet sound, distinct from the ambient noise, still caught the occupant's attention.
The heavy breathing betrayed the intense tension of its owner. Jack coughed softly. "Julie Master?"
His breathing suddenly grew heavier and more rapid. Jack could only add, "Come out, you're safe. I'm a police officer."
He was met with the same rapid breathing. A moment later, a woman's nervous voice echoed, "So were those two before."
Speechless, Jack flicked his flashlight inside. A girl in a pale yellow shirt was clutching a piece of broken glass, staring out with a wary gaze.
She was drenched in sweat, her arms and shirt sleeves stained with blood, and her right hand, gripping the broken glass, was dripping with blood.
"If I were a villain, I'd shoot right now. After all, those assassins' mission is to silence witnesses, not kidnap."
Jack tried to reason with the facts. When encountering a rational woman, he was more willing to spend some time talking.
He pushed aside the vines, bent down, and slowly walked into the cave. He found a clean rock to put down his backpack and took out Kono's outdoor boots. "I think you need these now, right?
Although there are no venomous snakes in the Hawaiian jungle, there are still centipedes and the like. So I suggest you put on the boots first, and then I'll treat your wound."
(End of this chapter)