The Scam by Janet Evanovich

text.”
    “How did you figure it out?”
    “I Googled
Bludd’s Money,
saw that it was a movie, and watched it on Netflix on my flight out here. When I landed, I bought this locations map.”
    “You should have been a detective instead of a crook.”
    “It’s not as much fun or as lucrative.”
    Kate folded up the map and stuck it in her own pocket. “I’ve got to go. I need to reach him before nightfall.”
    “If you don’t come out of that forest within twenty-four hours, I’m coming to get you.”
    Kate squelched a grimace. It was nice to know he cared enough to risk his own safety, but it was frightening to think of Nick bumbling through the forest. Especially since her dad probably had it booby-trapped.
    —
    Virgil Cleet ran a helicopter tour business out of Honolulu, about an hour’s drive from Waialee. And Virgil owed Kate a favor from back in the day when they were both Special Forces. So Virgil was happy to give Kate a lift to the
Bludd’s Money
location, which was deep in the forest along the slopes of the Koolau Range.
    Before hooking up with Virgil, Kate had stopped at an Army surplus store in downtown Honolulu and bought insect repellant, a dozen protein bars, a slim-profile backpack, cowhide-leather rappelling gloves, night vision goggles, a compass, two canteens, a combat knife, a rifle lanyard, four tubes of camouflage face paint, and 120 feet of 44 mm–thick braided polyester fast rope with an aircraft connection ring on one end.
    “What are you planning on doing with all of this?” the clerk asked, packing everything in a box for her.
    “Survive the zombie apocalypse.”
    The clerk smiled and nodded as if they shared a secret understanding.
    Kate took the box to her Jeep, and stuffed everything but the rope, the knife, and the gloves into the daypack, and then drove around until she found a gas station.
    She locked herself inside the gas station restroom with the duffel bag that she’d brought from L.A., sprayed her entire body with the insect repellant, and then put on a long-sleeved brown T-shirt, camouflage cargo pants, and low-quarter hiking shoes. She holstered her Glock on her hip, put the gloves and the knife in her pockets, and got back in her Jeep.
    The heliport was on the west bank of the Ke’ehi Lagoon, just south of the Honolulu International Airport. Kate walked in wearing the backpack with the shotgun over her shoulder and carrying seventy-five pounds of coiled fast rope in her hands.
    She was met at the door by Virgil, an African American in his forties who was tall enough to play professional basketball and muscular enough to be a linebacker. His hair was cut so short it looked like a shadow on his head.
    Virgil gave her a quick once-over. “Looks like you’re ready to party. Do you need help?”
    “Thanks,” she said. “But I can handle this on my own.”
    “I’ll give you a radio. If you change your mind, all you have to do is call and I’ll be there, guns blazing.” He took the coil of rope from her. “When do you want to go?”
    “Now. I’m racing the sun.”
    Virgil nodded and led her out to the helipad, where a retired MH-6 Little Bird light utility military gunship was waiting, minus the guns. “This isn’t what I use for the tourists. It’s my personal ride.”
    Kate loved it. It was the helicopter equivalent of a Crown Vic.
    Kate climbed in, and Virgil powered up the chopper. A few minutes later, they were in the air over Honolulu and heading toward the North Shore. Kate applied green, brown, and black camouflage paint to her face and neck in diagonal streaks. This was the only kind of makeup she really knew how to use and was truly comfortable wearing.
    The Koolau mountains were steep, craggy, and lush, with dense jungle along the slopes. There was no place to land close to the remains of the
Bludd’s Money
set. She’d have to drop in by rope.
    Kate couldn’t see Alika’s men in the jungle, but she did see their off-road vehicles strategically