The Greatest of These by Greg Wendleton (booksvooks txt) 📕

on due to his own stupid actions. Instead of alcohol, he should have been drinking water and you sure don’t eat meat or seafood that has been sitting in eighty degree heat for parts of two days.

We were met at the emergency helipad by the local police chief who introduced himself as Chief Chun. “Welcome to Hana gentlemen. I’m going to drive you wherever you need to go.”

We climbed into his Jeep Cherokee with Jeff and I in the backseat. Jeff fired up his tracking device and excitedly exclaimed, “I have a location! One mile west of town, just off the Hana Highway.” Jeff tweaked a few arrows and zoomed in further on the location. “It’s several hundred yards off the highway. It will be a left turn. There isn’t a marked road though.”

Chief Chun said, “I know the trail that runs off the highway. There’s an old abandoned shack that has been sitting there empty for three or four years. I’ll call another patrol car to join us there.”

“No sirens!”, cautioned Special Agent Presley, “and have them meet us at the turn on the highway. Get another car there too. I want to block traffic in both directions.”

Chief Chun ordered a second patrol car to meet at the turn off and to wait along the side of the highway. Within two minutes we were at the turnoff and Chief Chun parked his Jeep Cherokee. We quietly exited the Jeep and left the doors open. Special Agent Presley ordered the Enterprise representative, Jeff to remain in the Jeep. He then instructed the other two patrol vehicles to park perpendicular to the highway blocking traffic in both directions. He further instructed them to not shut their doors and to be as quiet as possible.

Special Agent Presley, Chief Chun and I walked down the dirt path for about three or four hundred yards until we came to a small opening in the brush line. We could see an SUV parked in front of a barely standing, tiny shack and a man lying in the grass in front of a partially open door. The man wasn’t moving, but we cautiously approached the vehicle.

Special Agent Presley went around the back of the SUV, while the Chief went around the front end.

To me, Presley said, “stay by the driver’s door until I say otherwise.” I simply nodded and did as instructed.

As the two law men circled the vehicle and emerged on the passenger side, they could see that the man on the ground wasn’t moving. He smelled of vomit and shit and didn’t appear to be breathing. Cautiously they both approached the supine man and discovered a very weak pulse. The Chief removed a zip tie and secured his hands behind his back.

Special Agent Presley advanced toward the door and saw two people, a man and a woman, restrained in wooden chairs. “He was the only one still here” the man said enthusiastically.

The agent entered the shack and quickly looked into the four corners seeing that there were no other captors inside. “Clear!”, he shouted.

At that, I ran around the SUV and stepped into the shack seeing Chad and Jamie restrained by ropes and zip ties. “Oh my God!”, I cried out and began weeping as I moved toward their position.

“Garret, thank God. How did you find us?” asked Chad.

“I’ll explain later. Let’s get you free from these bindings and get you medical help.”

Presley took a close look at Chad and Jamie and declared, “They are going to need a hospital. They are dehydrated and I’m guessing they haven’t eaten in quite some time.”

Somehow, Jamie smiled weakly and whispered, “We’ve been fasting.”

I removed the card that Captain Pang had given me five hours ago and called his number. He answered on the first ring. “Captain Pang, Kula Station.”

“Captain, it’s Garret Cooper from this morning. We found Chad and Jamie. They’re going to be okay, but we need a medivac in Hana.”

“Spin up the chopper!” he shouted. Then he said, “We will be there in twenty minutes.” Before I could say anything else, he hung up the phone.

The Chief ordered one of the patrol Jeeps to come into the clearing so they could place Jamie and Chad into the vehicle for transport to the helipad. Special Agent Presley ordered the helicopter we had brought over from Kahului to lift off in fifteen minutes to clear space for the Medivac chopper to land.

The Wilhites were very weak, but were taking in some water and were firmly holding each other’s hand. They were going to be okay. That thought washed over me and I broke down in tears once again.

Special Agent Presley came over and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Go ahead and let it out. There will be time to talk about all of this later.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Chad and Jamie were gently placed inside the patrol vehicle and driven to the helipad to await the arrival of the Kula Station 13 Medivac chopper. They were whispering to each other, thanking God for their good fortune and their survival.

Jones, was dumped into the other patrol vehicle and driven to the emergency care center in Hana. Still restrained with the zip tie, the escorting officer pulled up to the emergency entrance and notified the staff that he had a criminal who was suspected of food and alcohol poisoning along with dehydration. Regardless of their personal feelings the medical staff shifted into their professional mode and went to work retrieving the patient.

They cut the zip tie holding his hands behind his back and rolled him over. They pulled him, by his shoulders, out of the cargo area of the Jeep and placed him on a gurney. As they wheeled him into the emergency treatment area, they began checking vitals and found a very weak pulse. This man was in serious condition. They cut away his clothes and were thankful they were wearing masks. His clothes were thrown into a plastic trash bag and set aside