Interlude VII — Call of Destiny

  The first bus that pulled up had maybe an inch of open space. The harried bus driver waved him away as he stepped forward. Only one person got off at his stop, and the half-dozen people in front of him jostled to be the replacement. The driver, looking like a deflated balloon in his sheer exhaustion, closed the doors and drove away, headed south.

  Headed to Olympia.

  "Is it always this busy on a Friday?" asked a curious voice behind him.

  Lani turned around, surprised at her apparent sincerity. "You don't know?"

  "Know what?"

  As the sunlight shifted, Lani got a better look at her — and his mouth clamped shut.

  She leaned up against the plastic bus stop, pale blue eyes locked on his own. Thin sunglasses hung on a chain around her neck, along with several other necklaces adorned with a compass, a feather, a camera, and a green metallic leaf. She wore a forest green camping vest, tight blue jeans, and a shirt with a beautiful flowery pattern. A brown ponytail snaked out from underneath her wide-brimmed hat, and a fair-sized rugged bag was roped over her shoulder crossways, along with an even larger luggage bag.

  She was beautiful.

  "Hello?" She waved in his face.

  "Sorry!" Lani spluttered. "I…" He trailed off, totally forgetting what she'd asked.

  She stared at him, the barest hint of a smile creasing her lips. "You were going to tell me what's weird about today."

  "Oh. Yeah." He blinked a few times, trying to get his mind back in order. The smile was really distracting, especially since it was so nice. "There's a lot of people trying to get out to Olympia, and the Olympic Forest. Tons of tourists."

  "Really?" She groaned. "That's gonna ruin my shot…"

  "Your what?"

  She tapped the camera hanging off her neck. "Photo shoot. I got commissioned to go out and take new shots of the forests near Rallsburg. They want to chart the recovery since the fires, and I guess I got lucky and got the draw."

  Lani raised an eyebrow. "I'm kind of surprised they even gave you clearance."

  She looked at him oddly for a second. "Oh! Right, yeah, it's locked down by the FBI or something. Nah, they gave me a pass." She shrugged. "Guess I finally made it, if the government's recognizing my work."

  "Well," Lani said, glancing at the crowd nearby, which was growing again. The next bus was already a few minutes late. "It's going to be crazy out here. Everyone wants to get out to Rallsburg right now. Because, you know…"

  "Know what?"

  He gaped at her. "Don't you watch the news?"

  She shrugged. "Not usually."

  "But like… social media? Anything?"

  Her laugh tickled his ears. "I pretty much stick to myself. Nothing better than a week out in the middle of the mountains, totally alone, just me and my camera."

  "Wow."

  She glanced around. "At this rate though… ugh. I hate taking the bus anyway." She pulled out her phone. "Know any good rental places around here that might have a jeep?"

  Lani would have offered his car on the spot — except that it wasn't really good for off-road, and it was currently out of the country. Damn it, Jeremy, right when I meet the girl of my dreams…

  Wait. What about the motor pool?

  "I can get you one, if you want. Totally free," he offered, before he could stop himself.

  "...You'd do that for someone you just met?" she asked, surprised.

  Be confident. That's what Jeremy's secret is.

  "Only if you take me with you."

  She laughed. "I don't even know your name. You don't even know mine!"

  "Well, that's what makes it an adventure, right?"

  Another laugh, just as amazing as the first one. "You got me. All right, I'm game. You're on."

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  They waited at a coffee shop just around the block. She insisted on buying for him, and they got to talking. As an unspoken rule, neither of them brought up anything about current events, or identifying information, or even their names. It was exhilarating for Lani, who'd always felt a little awkward around mainlanders. It was way better than having to explain for the millionth time how boring Hawaii actually was, and why he had to get away when he got the chance.

  "Totally black? You're crazy."

  She grinned. "What, you can't handle a little bitter in your wake-me-up?"

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  Lani shook his head. "It sounds awful."

  "Oh, you're missing out." Without warning, she handed her cup over. "Go on."

  On any other day, with any other person, Lani would've politely declined, or quickly changed the subject. Today, without a moment's hesitation, he took a sip.

  It didn't make the coffee taste any better.

  "Ugh," he grimaced, swallowing it down painfully. "Nope. Nope nope nope."

  "More for me, then," she winked, taking it back and drinking deep.

  "So you take photos of nature?"

  "Yup." She leaned back in her chair. "Mostly big landscape shots. Waterfalls and cliffs are my thing. I spent a year in Norway just finding every single fjord I could, and shooting them all day and night. There's nothing like a fjord under a full moon," she said dreamily, and for a second Lani could see it reflected in her eyes.

  "It sounds incredible. I'd love to go someday."

  "Not everyone gets that, you know?" she went on. "Lots of people think 'oh yeah, I can just look at the picture on the internet later'. But it's not the same at all. You gotta feel the air, the mist coming off the waterfalls. Not to mention even the best cameras aren't gonna pick up the same kind of view you get with your eyeballs standing there under the stars."

  "You have to see it yourself, right?"

  "Exactly!" She smiled. "I take photos for a living, but I'd be just as happy going out there without a camera. It's always worth it."

  "It's an adventure."

  "Mmhmm." She leaned over to the trash can near their table and tossed her empty cup. "Speaking of adventure, what are you doing going out to Rallsburg if it's so crazy?"

  "I'm looking for something."

  "What's that?"

  It's not public knowledge yet… But I want to tell her. She's not going to tell anyone else.

  She waved her hands just as his mouth opened. "Hang on, hang on, if it's a big deal you keep it secret. Just like we said."

  "...Okay."

  "Any idea where it is, though? I'd help you out if I can."

  He shook his head. "Could be anywhere."

  She laughed. "A real adventure then. Well, as long as it gets me some good shots, I'm in."

  He nodded. "I've been out there before a couple times. You'll get some great stuff."

  "Glad to hear it."

  A car honked at the curb just outside. Lani glanced over. One of the office staff got out of the car, waving at him through the window. He came straight into the shop and handed the keys right to Lani.

  "Need anything else?"

  Lani shook his head. "Nah. Thanks, Ben."

  "You got it, sir."

  "Wow," she commented as Ben walked away and started down the street on foot. "That's some service. Nice jeep, too." It was one of the best in the pool — huge tires, convertible canvas top and built for serious off-road work. "You must be loaded."

  He shook his head. "Not even a little. I bet you make more than me."

  "Well, let's quit wasting daylight, huh?" She stood up, offering a hand to Lani.

  He reached up to take it, but winced as a burst of pain rolled through his shoulder. His arm fell limp.

  "...You okay?" she asked, voice softening.

  "Yeah, I'm good." Lani got to his feet and took her hand, shaking it firmly. "But you should probably drive."

  She grinned. "Oh man, I thought I was gonna have to fight you for it. Thanks."

----------------------------------------

  Between her ponytail and Lani's braids, the wind made a stream of wildly fluttering dark brown hair as they picked up speed on the highway.

  "You want it closed?" she shouted.

  "I'm good!" he called back — though he did tuck his hair down behind the seat to reduce some of the strain.

  "I've never been to Seattle!" She merged them into the fast lane and picked up speed. They were already over the speed limit, but she kept gunning it. Lani laughed aloud at the sheer speed. "I gotta say, it's way too crowded!"

  "Yeah!" The rest of the highway was packed, but they were in an express carpool lane, passing hundreds of cars every minute. "It gets better as soon as you get off I-5."

  "That's gonna be hard," she said as they slowed down. They'd finally caught up to the traffic in their own lane, and it wasn't moving that much faster than the rest of the highway. "Ugh."

  "We got way further than I expected," he pointed out. "We're already in Tacoma."

  "Really?" She glanced around. "I wasn't really looking at the signs."

  "Yeah. Don't worry, we're staying on the highway all the way til Olympia."

  "Cool." She tapped the center console idly with one hand. "All right, pick some tunes. Whatever you want."

  "My phone doesn't have any music on it," he said uncomfortably.

  "What about streaming?"

  "It's a work phone, they're really touchy about installing stuff on it." Aderholt would probably kill me if I tried to bypass it, too…

  She laughed. "Well, here's where my career pays off again. I always keep my phone stacked up." She dug it out of her bag and unlocked it. "Pick anything you like."

  Lani fiddled with the console until he got the phone connected. He scrolled through her music—and to his delight, she shared a lot of bands with his own collection. He picked out an indie band that seemed perfect for the occasion.

  "Oh, shit, tell me you didn't just pick that at random."

  Lani laughed. "Nope. I love this."

  "I didn't think anyone had even heard of them!"

  "They're actually from Seattle. I saw them play back in April."

  She shot a playful glare at him. "No way."

  "Yeah. The bar was packed tight. They're gonna get big, I can feel it."

  They cruised like that for an hour, bobbing along to the music together. At one point, she started singing along. She didn't really have the voice for it, but she was plenty enthusiastic. After a couple songs, Lani couldn't help but join in.

  She elbowed him as he got way too into one of the songs, laughing maniacally. "Okay, calm down Freddy." She leaned over to turn the music down.

  Lani laughed. "I can't help it. It's just too perfect. A song about going into the woods on a crazy adventure with someone you just met, it's practically about us."

  "Yeah, but she's supposed to be beautiful. And he's supposed to be a great singer," she added, smirking.

  "Well, at least they got you right."

  She hesitated. Her face got a little red, and she focused on the highway.

  "I uhh…" Lani started. He'd felt so in the moment, the words had just tumbled out of his mouth.

  She shook her head, her ponytail waving about as she did. "It's cool. I'm really not used to getting compliments. I mostly hang out with trees and birds, remember?" She laughed, and it eased the thick tension in the jeep down to an easy, lighthearted air again. "Thanks."

  "Let's just hope we don't end up like the song," he joked.

  "I dunno. I think it's super romantic."

  "You want to die together jumping off a cliff?"

  "As long as it's a good-looking cliff," she grinned. "Better that than dying in some smelly, crowded city, right?"

  "Yeah." Lani reached over to turn the music back up a bit. His shoulder spiked with pain again, and she noticed it in the mirror.

  "You good?"

  "I'll be okay. I just can't use it much. Still healing."

  "Mind if I ask what happened?"

  "...I got shot."

  She jerked the wheel so hard that they drifted into the shoulder for a second before she corrected. "You what?"

  Crap. "Just an occupational hazard," he said, trying to play it off as a joke, but it didn't really come out right.

  "...Okay." She nodded to herself. "I hear ya."

  "Huh?"

  "If you need any help out there, you tell me right away, all right?" She glanced over at him, quite serious. "That forest isn't the easiest hike around, and I'm already in better shape than you are even without a bullet in my shoulder."

  "They took it out," he pointed out.

  "Either way. Don't try to play the hero. We're gonna have to switch up the roles in that song. I'll carry you if I have to."

  He smiled. "That works for me. You aren't really a good singer either."

  She elbowed him again, and they both laughed.