Page 76 of Mail Order Sunset (Hawthorne Billionaire 4)

“Why don’t we have a little bit of fun and see what this thing can do?” Robert laughed a sinister laugh.

“Robert, you’re scary too, but I’m guessing you know that already.” I put my seatbelt on. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Yeah, you said we’re just going right over there.” He pointed to Cloud Nine. “I was paying attention. Let’s fly around the island and take a bird’s eye of it.”

“Don’t the others need to look too?” I tried to look back for the other plane.

“They’ll be on us any second. Lou has a better engine in his than this one. “

“What? There’s better engines?” I groaned. “I knew I should have asked for advice from someone.”

“Nah, this is fine for pond-jumping. Lou’s an overachiever.” He barked out a laugh. “He’s crazy too, but ya gotta love him for it.”

“Where was all of this crazy before we took off?” I mumbled to myself. “I’m gonna die at the hands of a maniac.”

“I’m not a maniac. I said Lou was.” Robert lowered the plane, passing over the island. “Nice house, but no path to those huts on the other side.”

“That’s what you guys are here to figure out.” I pointed down to the shallow water off to one side of the island. “You can kayak, or even walk, through the shallows at certain times of the day.”

“Good to know, but you need a land path. Don’t worry, kid, we’ll figure it out.” Robert smiled over at me. “You ready to land or you wanna fly more?”

“Let’s land and chat with the group. Then we can fly over again,” I said. “Unless you need to see more?”

“I’m sure Gunner has seen what’s needed. He doesn’t miss anything.” Robert landed the plane smoothly. “You made it safely. Relax.”

Asher was waiting for us at the bar when we got there. “Welcome gentlemen, what would you like to drink?”

“You have Johnny Walker Blue?” Charlie asked. “If not, a shot of Jack is fine.”

“Coming right up,” Josh said from behind the bar. “What about the rest of you?”

“Water will be great for all of us. We still need to fly today,” Gunner called out. “Yo, Charlie, save the alcohol for later.”

“I’m having a shot, Dad.” Charlie called back. “Maybe you should have one too and relax.”

“Don’t start with me. You know I can take you.” Gunner sat down at the table and pulled out a notepad. “Mr. Hawthorne, let’s talk about what I saw from above and what you’re trying to accomplish.”

“You want me to tell you what I want to do first?” I looked from Charlie to Gunner.

Are they playing around or is someone getting hurt?

“I’d like to hear your ideas.” Gunner tapped his pen on the table. “You with me, over there?”

“Sorry, okay. I was thinking it would be fun to have some kind of a treasure hunt or survival race across the island. All participants would go in pairs and, at the end, we’d all be at the huts for an overnight bonfire, BBQ, and sleep in the huts.”

“Sounds good. How were you planning on getting across the island, by land or by water?” Gunner made some notes. “I saw the kayaks in the shallows when we passed over. Wasn’t sure what those were for.”

“Asher and I just like to be adventurous, but I want this race to be multiple modes of transportation, mostly on land.”

“Then the land has to be cleared and probably some bridges put in.” Gunner flipped the paper over and started to draw. “You see, over here you have a swampy-looking area and the water could be too much to walk through.”

“Is that where you think we’d need bridges?” I tried following his drawing. “What else?”

“Can’t be to sure just yet. Why don’t we go back up in the plane and take a closer look?” Gunner stood, as if to say “we’re done talking, lets go”. “We’ll go in your new plane, then I can show you a few things.”

“Gentlemen, my house manager’s name is Josh. He can and will get you anything your heart desires.” I smiled and followed Gunner out.

“You never answered, by the way, which name I should call you,” I said to Gunner, buckling into the plane. “Do you have a preference?”

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