felt the blood drain from his face as guilt for his role in the boy’s death overtook him, but he fought to stifle the feeling. If he didn’t send it to the back of his mind, he wouldn’t be able to think of anything else. He needed to concentrate on the next task, which was saving his brother and Mia.
“How is she?” Teresa asked.
“She’s holding up like a trouper, but she’s in pain. I managed to clear off the lighter pieces of rubble, but I couldn’t budge the girder. The ax didn’t serve as much of a lever.”
“Maybe the four of us can lift it.”
Kai was dubious about that prospect. “It’s wedged in pretty good.”
“We won’t know if we don’t try.”
Kai nodded. “You’re right. Let’s give it a go.”
“Me too,” Tom said. He didn’t look like he was in any condition to contribute much strength, but anything would help.
They lined themselves up along the more exposed part of the beam: Teresa and Lani on one side, Tom and Kai on the other.
“On three,” Kai said.
On cue, they heaved with all their strength, which had by now been sapped by the rowing, running, and general stress of the situation. The girder didn’t move. They tried again, but the effort was pointless. They weren’t going to get Brad and Mia out this way.
“It’s no use,” Kai said.
“We need something stronger to jack it up,” Teresa said.
When she mentioned the word “jack,” Kai and Teresa looked at each other and realized what the answer was.
“Car jack!” they said simultaneously.
They were going to have to make it quick. By this time the streets were empty of water. The large number of cars strewn everywhere outside meant that there would be plenty of places to look for a jack, but the search might be hampered by the debris. And they wouldn’t be able to get at a jack if a car was overturned, as many of them would be.
Kai glanced at his watch. Only seven minutes left. He did a quick calculation in his head. Assume one minute to get down to the street. Say three minutes to find a jack if they were lucky. Another two minutes to get back up. That only left one minute to jack up the girder, get down the building, run to another building, and run up the stairs. When Kai finished the mental arithmetic, he was stunned. They simply couldn’t do it in time. Brad and Mia were going to die. And unless they left and didn’t come back, the rest of them would too.
“There isn’t enough time,” Kai said.
“I’m not leaving without Mia,” Teresa said. “We are going to try, damn you!”
Kai looked at Teresa, Lani, and Tom. All of them looked ready to risk their lives to save Brad and Mia.
“All right. We can do this,” he said, trying to sound more positive than he felt. “But I need all of you. The search for the jack will go faster.”
Kai couldn’t help feeling that their efforts would be futile. But when they got to the open air of the stairwell, the glass windows long gone, he happened to glance past the now-destroyed building behind them and felt a surge of hope recharge him.
Along the base of another building still standing a hundred yards away, Kai saw a partially obliterated sign, some of the letters washed away.
The sign said, “Re f K ngs.” A red rectangle with a white diagonal line through it flapped to the side. He had seen the same thing on a truck as they were entering Waikiki.
The symbol was easily recognizable to divers. The store was a scuba shop.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Max had to take a few seconds’ rest after the first two trips carrying the disabled veterans up the stairs to the roof. Adrian looked just as tired as Max, who had finally taken off his jacket and tie. Three of the vets were grossly overweight, tipping the scales at three hundred pounds, and the exertion required was overwhelming. If they didn’t take a break, they might drop some of the people they were carrying. Only ten people were left downstairs: the veterans who couldn’t walk up on their own, plus the spouses or loved ones who wouldn’t come up without them. Those with cell phones had continued to try to call out, but without success.
While Adrian rested, Max went over to the edge of the roof and looked at the skybridge twenty stories below. Rachel was taking far too long. Through the gash in the roof of the walkway, he couldn’t see any movement. Maybe that meant she was on her way up. She had taken his walkie-talkie, so he didn’t have any way to contact her.
The noise of helicopters had been a constant but distant companion when they were on the roof. The sight of so many helicopters landing on crowded rooftops reminded him of photos he’d seen of the evacuation of Saigon just before it fell after the Vietnam War. This evacuation was no less haphazard, but with an even harsher deadline.
The sound of beating rotor blades seemed to be getting louder. Max looked up, shielding his eyes from the noon sun. The buildings and surrounding mountains could make the direction and distance of sound deceiving. He searched the sky and then saw some of the guests pointing in the direction of downtown Honolulu.
A small sightseeing helicopter with no more than six seats was headed in their direction. Along with the other guests, he waved his arms like a madman and yelled loudly, even though it would have been impossible for anyone in the helicopter to hear them.
When the chopper got within one hundred yards, Max could see the pilot’s face. He could also see that the helicopter was already carrying several passengers, although he couldn’t tell how many.
The pilot brought the helicopter lower until it hovered about thirty feet above the roof, where it held steady. He waved with his hands to back off. Max understood, but many of the hotel guests had thronged to where the pilot was trying to land. Everybody wanted to be the first on the helicopter.
“Adrian!” Max said. “Help me get these people back!”
They pushed the guests back toward the roof edge, despite some protests. When they were safely away from the landing zone, the pilot eased the helicopter down.
“Stay here!” Max yelled above the din of the rotors.
He ran over to the helicopter, and the pilot popped his door open.
“Are we glad to see
“How many you got?” the no-nonsense pilot said.
“Maybe sixty, sixty-five. I haven’t counted.”
“Jesus. All right. I’ll see if I can get some more choppers headed this way. A lot of the Marine helicopters got caught on the ground by the first wave. The radio waves are jammed. It may take a few minutes.”
Max looked around the cabin. Three passengers sat in the back. It looked like two seats were still available.
“Do you have room for more?”
“Yeah. Give me two, but no more; I don’t want to be mobbed. I’ve already seen that happen to one helicopter. Crashed when it tried to take off. It won’t be the last one, either, and I don’t want it to happen to me. If I see more than two people run over here, I’m taking off before they get here.”
“Gotcha.”
Max went back over to the guests.
“Okay. This helicopter can only take two people,” he announced. Groans and curse words erupted from the crowd. Max put up his hands to calm them.
“More helicopters are on the way. But we don’t have time for a lottery, so I’m just going to choose two people at random.” He pointed at a septuagenarian couple standing right in front of him. They were obviously
