To hell with it, I’d split the difference and take the middle one.
Happy to be driving again, I made my way down the path. The foliage was amazing. Huge palm fronds and ferns made it look like I was traveling through some prehistoric land. Like Jurassic Park before the body count. I slowed every time I spotted a cabin, but none of them looked like the one I’d seen before.
Still, I almost didn’t care. It was so much fun driving down the windy path. At least until I zoomed around a sharp curve and saw a man standing in the middle of the path, directly in front of me.
2
Kincade
The day was going really well until the cute and curvy brunette tried to kill my friend. Jessie and I had flown out to NYC yesterday to meet up with Brock, who’d been there for business. Then we took Brock’s jet to St. Martin. This morning, we’d chartered a boat to bring us here.
The poor guy who owned the boat thought he’d be the skipper, but he hadn’t counted on Brock. When Brock was around, Brock was in charge. That’s how it had always been, so Jessie and I were used to it, but it had taken the guy by surprise. But all three of us had been born and bred in California, and we’d been on boats our whole lives. Once he saw we knew what we were doing, he was content to take naps and help himself to the beer we’d brought.
After all that time in planes and boats, we’d needed a chance to stretch our legs. I would’ve preferred to hit the pool, or maybe even take my surfboard out for a spin, but Jessie had suggested a walk. He’d studied a map of the island on our way over, and I knew he was eager to explore the areas he’d read up on.
Seemed like a shame that he was going to be mowed over by a golf cart before he could do that.
“Look out,” I yelled, which only served to startle the golf cart’s driver. Her mouth was a wide, pink circle of surprise as she looked from Jessie to me and back again. Blinking rapidly, she swerved, but it wouldn’t have done much good if Jessie hadn’t jumped out of the way. Like me, he was a natural swimmer, and apparently, his diving ability worked on land, too. As he disappeared into the underbrush, Brock and I stepped swiftly to either side of the path.
“Stop!” Brock called sharply to the brunette, but she was trying to regain control of her undersized vehicle after the swerve. Her curly brown hair bounced around her shoulders as she pulled hard on the wheel. She managed to keep the cart on the path, but unfortunately, she showed no sign of slowing down.
That wasn’t good.
I waved my arms as she passed me, yelling at her to stop. When she didn’t, Brock and I sprang after her.
She rounded the next corner and cried out in surprise. I increased my speed, knowing what was back there because we’d just come from that way. Two large palms and an assortment of debris left over from the big storm completely blocked the path. There were no more cabins that way, so it was likely the ground crew hadn’t prioritized clearing it. The storm had caused a lot of damage.
The sound of squealing reached us as Brock and I rounded the corner. The brunette jerked the wheel around, and now the cart was skidding sideways toward the pile of branches. Increasing my speed, I closed the distance to the cart with Brock at my side. When the side of the cart hit the logs, the small vehicle went up on two wheels, threatening to send its cute driver sailing into a pile of tree limbs.
But then my buddy and I reached it at the same time. There were four posts that held up the roof of the cart. I grabbed the one in front of the steering wheel, and Brock snagged the one at the back of the cart.
The cart weighed more than I thought it did, and for a moment, I thought its momentum was going to pick me up off the ground with it. But we both held on, leaning back with all our strength, and the wheels on our side came crashing back to the ground.
Of course, that meant that now the cart had reversed directions and was in danger of falling the other way—toward us. I braced my feet on the concrete under me and pushed as hard as I could. Brock did the same on the other side, a grimace on his face as he used all his considerable strength.
With both of us thus occupied, neither of us were in a position to help the cute brunette as she tumbled out of the seat and fell toward the pavement.