Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4) Read online

  “I’ll call her when I get a chance and talk to her. But I’m not going to talk her out of it.”

  “Fine.”

  “I have a meeting with the boss. And, I am leading a meeting later. I really have to go.”

  “Call me later.”

  “If I get a chance, I will. Bye, mom.”

  “Bye.”

  She didn’t give her mother a chance to say anything else. She clicked off Del’s phone and made her way to his office. She knocked on the doorjamb and he looked up from his desk.

  “Sorry,” she said as she walked into his office and handed him his phone.

  “No worries. Moms are kind of a pain. Mine wants daily updates on the baby.”

  Del’s mom lived on the mainland, and didn’t get to see her granddaughter as much as she wanted. She knew it had to be hard to live that far away from family. Still, there was a part of her that would like to try it at least for a little while. It would be amazing not to be hounded by her mother every day. But, there was a good chance her mother wouldn’t let the Pacific Ocean slow her down.

  “Shut the door and sit down.”

  His jovial manner had disappeared, and now he was all business. One day into her investigation, this did not bode well for her. Her nerves immediately jumped. She did as he asked, wondering what this was all about.

  “I’m getting some pushback on the search warrant.”

  “For PC rolls? We don’t even want all of them. Just the names of the women who dated the four men.”

  “I know. And we’ll get them, but I’ve been thinking. What do you think is the best way to talk to these women who dated the victims?”

  “I planned on finding the same women they all dated and then eliminating from there.”

  “And how would do you do that?”

  “We would have to interview them. I was going to talk to you about how to do that. Pulling them in would make it more efficient, but it would also set their alarms off. It might be better to approach them at home or work, catch them off guard.”

  He nodded. “That was my thought too. There can’t be that many women who dated all four men.”

  “But?”

  “I think I might have a better plan. Or a plan that we could run outside of the main investigation.”

  “Yeah?”

  “If we go at them head on, we’ll spook them, but I thought if we could get someone undercover, that might work too.”

  “Undercover? I think that might be difficult. We would have to have a great backfill on the person.”

  “That was exactly what I was thinking. We need someone who fits the bill of the clientele and who already has a connection with TFH.”

  Something itched between her shoulder blades. Before he said the name, she knew who it was going to be.

  “Drew.”

  “Yeah. And let me tell you why.”

  Drew returned just in time for the meeting. He jogged up the stairs, and hurried into the conference room. He didn’t want everyone to think he was doing this to avoid Cat. He wasn’t. He had just needed a break. It was bad enough that he had to sit through an entire meeting where she was front and center, but the simple byplay this morning still had his body humming.

  It wasn’t that difficult to understand why. The moment she had collided with him, he had bit back his need to touch. He had a feeling he would be able to detect that herbal soap scent from her on his clothes, but he thought people would think him strange if he walked around smelling his shirt.

  Everyone was already seated at the table, but there was one seat left for him. He slipped into the chair beside Charity, who looked at his cup of coffee with a frown.

  “You didn’t get me one?”

  “Tell the FBI agent to get you one.”

  She chuckled as Del stood up. Cat stood off to his right in the background, and she didn’t look happy. He had been worried when he saw her earlier. She looked tired, almost worn out. Work was her focus, and with this case, he knew she would be stressed out. He hoped that nothing bad had happened since the day before, but sometimes that was the way their cases went. TFH got a lot of unsolved cases where the crimes either had national security implications, or they had a criminal who was ramping up the violence.

  “Before we get started, I wanted to introduce Autumn Bradford,” Del said. “She’s joining the team after a pretty damned spectacular career with the DEA. She’s originally from the islands, so she knows her way around.”

  Drew looked at the woman seated at the end of the table. Long auburn-colored hair, green eyes, and a sweet smile. It didn’t hide the mischievous expression. He had a feeling the woman used the smile to get what she wanted. Not in a bad way, but he was sure many people would look at her and think she was just a little sweet thing with no brain. Del wouldn’t have hired her if that were the case.

  “Aloha,” she said to the table in general, but her attention seemed to snag on him before moving on.

  “Ho, looks like the new girl is interested in you, Drew,” Charity whispered.

  He just shook his head and sipped his coffee, although, he did notice she glanced at him one more time before looking at Del again.

  “Oh, yeah, she’s interested in you, my man.”

  “Cut it out,” he whispered under his breath.

  “She’s going to get settled in; plus, she has all the paperwork that comes with working for the state to work on. But, I thought I would have her sit in today to get a feel of how we work. Cat, you’re up.”

  Del sat back down and Cat stepped up. He tried to prepare himself for the impact but, of course, he failed. She was wearing her signature camo pants, black t-shirt, and boots. She always left him on edge, but after touching her this morning, that edge was jagged. Now he had to sit through a meeting that would have his attention focused solely on her.

  She had worn her hair up in a ponytail, and he liked it that way. Every time she moved her head, it swayed behind her. But he liked it down too. He just loved it period.

  She started talking and, for a moment, he didn’t hear her words. He watched the way her mouth moved.

  He could almost remember the way she tasted when he’d kissed her.

  Charity nudged him with her elbow, causing him to spill some of his coffee.

  “Watch it,” he muttered.

  “Stop drooling.”

  He shook himself and gave his friend a dirty look, then turned around to listen to Cat.

  “We are going to end up having to get a court order for the women these men dated. We can see why the victims signed up, but the confidentiality clause still holds for linking them up to see who they dated.”

  “Great,” Del said. “I had a feeling, but I thought maybe Graeme would charm it out of the owner.”

  Elle snorted. “Fat chance there.”

  “Moving on, I think Adam has some updates he wants to give us.”

  She took her seat and Adam took over. Drew could finally breathe a sigh of relief—at least for the moment.

  “We went to talk to a friend of Sam Waters. His godfather, in fact. After that, we got on the phone to speak to some of the relatives of these other victims. We found out that they were all probably being stalked in the last few weeks leading up to their deaths.”

  He clicked on the control panel and a screen came up with all four men.

  “We don’t know about Anderson, but I’m sure Cat will be talking to his relatives again, right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I spoke to his sons over the phone. They are supposed to try to make it back today or tomorrow.”

  “We aren’t sure if they all received the same kinds of notes,” Adam continued. “It’s been months since the deaths of the other three, so that information is lost. But, one thing is that shortly before their murders, they all received flowers.”

  “Flowers? Like delivered to them?” Cat asked.

  “Yes. It would be one here and there, then leading up to the killing, it would become one delivery a day. And it didn’
t matter if they refused.”

  “Another thread HPD missed,” Charity murmured.

  “I checked on that. I put a call in to Rome Carino,” Del said. He looked at Autumn. “He’s our HPD liaison. At first, the three cases weren’t connected. Sure, three men were murdered, but the problem was that they were months apart. And worse, three different detectives were involved; so, until some lawmakers started making noise, they didn’t connect them.”

  “Still,” Charity said crossing her arms beneath her breasts, then eyeing Drew’s coffee.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he muttered under his breath.

  “You are a mean, stupid boy,” Charity whispered.

  “Our best bet is probably going to be talking to Anderson’s sons. Their recollection of what was going on right before their father died will be fresher. Plus, children are more involved in their parents’ lives than just friends. At least, that’s the feeling I got when I talked to them,” Cat said.

  “The first three murders were several months apart, and it has been six months since this last one,” Adam said. “Unless we can narrow down the suspect pool, we are going to be screwed. We’ll just have to sit around.”

  “We’ll get a search warrant, but I talked to Del before the meeting and we came up with an idea,” Cat said, pausing to let Del take over.

  “We need someone on the inside.”

  “At Premiere Connections?” Graeme asked. “Working for them?”

  “Not quite. That would be hard to do, especially with the time constraints. PC does extensive background checks on all their employees. They even do a financial records check,” Cat explained.

  “I think it has to do with their clients. Lots of money there, and people could take advantage of it,” Charity said. “When I worked for the C.I.A., they did that to make sure someone couldn’t be bought off. If you have a lot of debt, you are a security risk.”

  “So,” Del said, taking back control of the conversation, “we need someone who can be a client. If we go in there head on and interview them, they will clam up. Even if they aren’t guilty. While we handle our investigation on the outside, our insider will go on a few dates,” Del said. He shared a look with Cat, who did not look happy. “We need someone who is a local, someone with money. Someone who isn’t really a cop.”

  “It would also help if they are well-known and have deep roots in the community,” Cat said, her voice flat and almost unemotional. “Also helpful if he’d been in the news lately. That seems to be a theme as well.”

  There was a long moment of silence, and it seemed the entire table turned and looked at him. He added up all the criteria needed for the undercover client, and realized why they were all staring at him.

  “Damn.”

  6

  Drew stared out the window in Del’s office. The late afternoon traffic was starting to pick up. Tourists and locals, vying for the best lane to get them to their destinations. Everyone in such a hurry to get to their next stop. He watched them, attempting to get his emotions under control, and failing. He had worked for TFH since its inception, but he had never wanted to work in the field. He wasn’t cut out for undercover.

  “Drew?” Del asked.

  Drew waited for another second or two before he glanced over his shoulder. Del was leaning up against his desk, his arms crossed over his chest. Adam sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, and of course, there was Cat. She occupied the other chair. She hadn’t said anything since they had arrived in Del’s office.

  “What?”

  “What are your thoughts about going undercover?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know how to do it, if that’s what you mean. I work in the morgue with Elle for a reason. I’m not made for direct investigation. I’m not good at playing make believe.”

  “No. And you don’t need to know how. You’re just going to be used to trap the killer. Or, at least sniff out a lead or two. Just be yourself.”

  “Sure, that’s easy,” he said, not even trying to hide his sarcasm. “Because it’s easier when you’re deceiving people.”

  Adam and Del shared a look.

  “I know it won’t be easy,” Del said. “We’ll get the search warrant, but this will allow us to get ahead of the game. We’re behind right now. Sifting through all the evidence, not to mention tracking down some more statements from friends and family members, is going to take some time. If we can find out who they dated in common, we can cut down a lot of that time. We need someone to be there on the frontlines.”

  “So, you want to use me as bait?”

  Adam chuckled. “In a way, and it works with your background. You’re an island boy and, while you work with us, you aren’t listed as an agent or detective. Which means, you can go in as yourself. Your family connections help. You’ve been in the news too.”

  “That’s a connection?”

  Adam shrugged and looked over at Cat, waiting for her to answer. When she didn’t, he did.

  “All of the victims had some coverage for various things. Of course, all of them worked with charities, or public companies that made a lot of money. That tends to get you in the news a lot, so that might not even be news.” He smiled. “Like we said, you just have to be yourself.”

  He snorted. “Well, that will impress them.”

  “I want to express my objection to this again,” Cat said.

  Drew blinked at the venom in her voice. She didn’t look at him when she spoke. Instead, she was intently staring at Del. Her whole body vibrated with anger.

  “And, I said I understood, but I overruled that. I explained it before,” Del stated, with no hint of anger in his tone. “It’s your case, but I’m the boss.”

  “Yes. I just wanted to get it out there for Drew.”

  “Excuse me?” Damn, he hadn’t meant to sound so damned mean. He cleared his throat. “You didn’t want me to do this?”

  When she said nothing, he looked at Del. Their boss glanced between them. “Cat was worried you were inexperienced.”

  “Not to mention that we are dealing with a maniac hunting men and killing them,” she said.

  A year ago, he would have been thrilled with the worry he heard in her voice. Now, he knew that she felt he was weak. She assumed because he wasn’t some big bruiser who carried a gun and could kick down doors, that he couldn’t handle the job. That just pissed him off. When he was mad, he often made rash decisions, and now was no different.

  “I’ll do it,” he said without breaking eye contact with Cat.

  “Are you sure?” Del asked.

  He shrugged and glanced at his boss. “If I feel like I can’t help after the initial meeting, we can do something else. Right now, this might be the easiest way to work through the women.”

  “Okay. Well, I think we can set up a meeting tomorrow with Premiere Connections. Graeme said they were busy today, right, Cat?”

  Cat sighed. “Yeah, they were, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t be that tough to get at least an initial appointment.”

  “Sounds good,” Del said. “I really appreciate you doing this.”

  Drew nodded. “No worries. I have some things to finish up before I leave tonight, so if there isn’t anything else?”

  “No, go on.”

  He left them and headed to the morgue, but found himself turning in the direction of Charity’s lab. When he arrived, he found her watching security camera footage.

  “Hey, there, Drew,” she said with a smile. “How did it go?”

  He shrugged, but didn’t answer right away. His stomach was still tied in knots. Now that a few minutes had passed and he was no longer in Cat’s presence, he was starting to have second thoughts.

  “You look a little out of sorts. I take it you’re going to do the job?”

  He nodded. “It makes sense. I have the island connections. Plus, all the men involved had been in the news within the last eighteen months of their killings. I fit that bill.”

  The shooting that almost kille
d him had been front page news for weeks.

  “The news connection is a thing?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Not sure if it is, but they all were.”

  “Is that what has you upset?”

  “No.”

  She paused the footage and looked at him. “What then?”

  He sighed. “Cat didn’t want me to do it.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “She felt it was too dangerous for me.”

  Charity didn’t say anything at first, then she asked, “What did she say exactly?”

  “She raised an objection and mentioned a maniac killing men.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what she said privately to Del before the meeting, but apparently, they had words about it.”

  Charity shook her head. “I think you’re reading her wrong.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t think it has to do with that. I think she might have issues with you still.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t say more than that, but just know that her objection has more to do with her feelings for you than about you.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I can tell you what it means,” Emma said from behind them. She was standing there smiling, holding Evie in her arms.

  “Baby!” Charity said and hurried forward. “Hello, darlin’.”

  Drew shook his head. He still didn’t understand the way women went pule over babies

  “So, you want me to tell you?” Emma asked.

  Emma hadn’t been that good with relationships on a personal or professional level before meeting Del. Still, she was a keen observer so, more than likely, her insight would help.

  “Sure.”

  “Cat has feelings for you still. She doesn’t want you hurt, and she’s a bit protective over you. That’s what Charity meant. Plus, working with you might just drive her crazy.”

  He blinked, trying to gather all his thoughts together. These two women were making no sense.

  “We work together now.”

  “Yeah, but think about it. You’re going to be on dates with women and wearing a wire. That is not going to be fun for her.”