Seductive Reasoning (TASK FORCE HAWAII Book 1) Read online

  “I always thought it an odd choice,” Adam said.

  “What? Where she lives?”

  He nodded. “She survived a tsunami. Why would she live right there in Ala Moana, with the ocean just out her window?”

  “I don’t know.”

  But now, he wanted to know. He wanted to know why she would choose a condo right next to the ocean. Was she crazy, or did she have the need to prove something?

  Dammit. His infatuation with her was getting stupid. It was definitely making him stupid. When he got stupid, people got hurt. Del had promised Sean he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. Obsessing about her, or just how she would sound when she moaned his name…

  Fuck.

  “You just need to go by and check on her. She’s bound to have found something by now.”

  He hesitated, not wanting Adam to think he was going because he told him to go. But Adam smiled.

  “If anything, just get out of here for awhile. You need a break.”

  “That’s definitely true. I can’t think in here.”

  Adam remained silent as Del picked up his gun and shoulder holster. After slipping it on, he grabbed his cell.

  “Call if anything breaks.”

  “Always, Boss.”

  He didn’t pay attention to the looks he got as he strode to the back of the building. He would walk it out, get his mind back into the game and return.

  He was not going to show up at Emma’s condo.

  * * *

  “Where’s he going?” Marcus asked as they watched Del walk down the hall to the back door.

  Adam smiled. “Beautiful Mind.”

  “Okay, who has today’s date?” Cat asked as she and McGregor joined them. “I know I have Tuesday next week.”

  Adam knew that if Del had any idea they were all betting on when he and Emma would end up in bed, there was a good chance they would all get written up, or shot. Probably shot. But it was their way, and there had been running bets since she had first joined the team. Hell, what could he say? They were detectives, and it didn’t take much to detect the heat between those two. Emma and Del both were attracted, and they were completely oblivious about it. That made it even more fun for the team.

  “Not sure, and we agreed we needed verification,” Floyd said.

  “How the bloody hell are we going to get that?” McGregor bellowed. The damned Scot was loud, and that was saying a lot considering Adam’s family. All the women in his family were damned loud. But the man always seemed to shout every comment or question.

  “I don’t know, but we all agreed to it,” Adam said just as Elle joined them.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Beautiful Mind,” Cat said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Oh.” She said nothing for the moment. “I have today.”

  McGregor looked at her. “You bet on it?”

  She shrugged, but said nothing as her cheeks burned. Adam blinked. It was hard to remember that Elle was often times shy around all of them if she wasn’t talking a case.

  “There is no verification. Who has the sheet?” Cat asked.

  “I think Drew is keeping it,” Elle said. She pulled out her phone to text him.

  “And I didn’t say it was going to happen, but he’s on his way over there now,” Adam said.

  As usual, they ignored him. If there was a chance someone was going to cash in, they paid attention to nothing else.

  “Yes, Drew has it,” Elle said.

  “Hey, who has tomorrow?” Cat asked, as they crowded around Elle to find out what days they had picked for the month.

  Adam sighed. It was a really good thing the boss wasn’t there. Worse, he was worried what the team would do to verify the bedding. One thing they took almost as seriously as their job, and that was the contests that involved money. Some offices had fantasy football, they had bets on each other’s sex lives.

  They were strange, but they were ’ohana.

  * * *

  Emma tugged her T-shirt over her head, then grabbed her panties. After she pulled them on, her stomach rumbled. Her appetite was roaring to life now that she’d stepped back from work.

  She felt better now after a shower, but her head was still fuzzy. Too many thoughts crowding her mind. She knew she was in a bad place, obsessing about the assignment, but she couldn’t figure a way out of it.

  Her brother had always told her to step back, look at the issue from another angle. If that failed, he told her to take a shower. It hadn’t helped, although she didn’t smell that bad anymore.

  When her stomach grumbled again, she realized she needed to get something to eat. She went to her kitchen, but before she could open the fridge, there was a knock at her door. She frowned. Usually, the doorman told her if someone was coming up.

  Another knock.

  “Open up, Taylor. I know you’re in there.”

  Del. Her heart skipped with delight, as she tried to fend off the inevitable dizziness she had around him. What was it about this man that just the sound of his voice made her want to giggle? It was one of the reasons she had done her best to stay away from him for most of the last two days.

  She walked to the door but did not open it.

  “I heard you walking to the door.”

  He was as bad as Sean and Randy. They could track a person’s movements. It was probably from their training. All three of them had worked Special Ops in the military.

  She knew he wouldn’t go away, so with a sigh, she unlocked the door and opened it.

  He had his mouth open to say something, but snapped it shut. He was probably going to yell at her. The man was always yelling at her one way or another. In emails, in texts, and the worst, in person. And dammit, a girl could only take so much. When he got all mouthy with her, she just wanted to kiss him.

  She needed a therapist and maybe medication. Definitely medication.

  When he continued to stare at her, she gave in. “What?”

  His gaze slipped down her body, and she felt it as if he were touching her. When he met her gaze, he swallowed.

  “Do you always answer the door dressed like that?” he asked, his voice sounding strangely strained.

  She looked down and realized she wore only her massive shirt. Sure, she had on a pair of tiny little panties, but that was it. The man was making her lose her head.

  “Come in.”

  She turned around, fighting the heat that was flaming her face. Seriously, she might have a one sixty IQ, but she just did not seem to be able to use any of her intelligence when he was around.

  “I just got out of the shower. Give me a second.”

  She didn’t look to see if he followed. He always did, for some odd reason. From the moment she hit him with that board, he always appeared and watched out for her. It was odd enough that Sean, and to an extent Randy and Jaime, kept an eye on her. She had been on her own so much in the last eleven years that she was accustomed to handling her life without intervention.

  Emma grabbed a pair of board shorts and then rejoined Del in her living room. Jaime had been correct. He was a luscious piece of man meat. She had never seen him dressed up, but she liked him like this. A casual shirt, dark blue that brought out the gold in his brown eyes. He looked tired. They all were probably pretty tired, but she knew he wasn’t sleeping well. It was there in his edgy expression and the dark circles under his eyes. She hadn’t seen him ever look this way. But then, they had never dealt with a case like this.

  He was looking over her notes and white board.

  “You think you can find something this way? Some connection?”

  She nodded. “There is something there I am missing, but with only one murder and nothing else to go on, it has been slow going. And where were his other kills? Most of them had to be international.”

  He glanced sharply at her. “You think this isn’t his first?”

  She nodded. “This was too planned. Seriously, if someone wanted to come up with a plan to get away
with murder, this would be one of the cases I would hold up as an example.”

  “Are you saying we can’t catch him?”

  She shook her head. “No, you can catch him. But it is going to take some kind of connection. That is what I have been looking for. The problem is there is not a good database worldwide of these things. They have them, and they are definitely hackable—” she broke off when he rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell, I didn’t mean to tell you about that.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “Go on.”

  “Alright, well, I definitely think the tattoo has something to do with it, but I have yet to find any connection to it. And it could be a new element.”

  He nodded. “True.”

  He went back to studying the board. Her stomach rumbled loudly again.

  “Get something to eat,” he said. “I want to look some more of this over.”

  She hesitated, because she didn’t like people looking over her work. It was usually a hodgepodge of things that made no sense to anyone. But she knew from experience that Del could make sense of her scribbles. Fighting the urge to explain the details, she walked into her kitchen.

  The flat wasn’t small by Honolulu standards, but most people from the mainland would find it tiny. Her kitchen overlooked his living room with a three person breakfast bar separating the two rooms. She grabbed a piece of pumpernickel bread and slathered some peanut butter on it.

  “Do you want anything?”

  “No thanks.”

  She poured herself a glass of milk and rejoined him in the living room. As she waited for the inevitable questions, she munched on her snack.

  “You believe all this stuff?”

  “Bloody hell, no.”

  His mouth curved and she tried not to react, but her hormones were an independent lot. Her hands grew so damp, she thought she might drop the glass. She set it down on the coffee table.

  “Then why do you have it listed?”

  “I am trying to work in his mind. I don’t believe that much in analysis, but I do think that he does. He has a reason behind what he is doing. That, I cannot deny. No one orchestrates a murder like this, one that has all this symbolism. Especially where he left her.”

  “What about it?”

  “She was in view of Diamond Head, which is considered sacred to the Hawaiians. It could be nothing, but with the goddess tattoo on her back, I would venture to guess wherever he leaves them is important. I also find it odd that he picked a goddess and killed her.”

  “Why?”

  “In mythology throughout the world, women were often more powerful than men, or at least held the same level of power. Like here in Hawaii, you have Pele, a goddess who held her own and ruled the Earth while her lover ruled the seas. Or some similar sort of story.”

  “But she did not have Pele’s face on her back.”

  “Well, no, but then Grace Singh was a science teacher.”

  He nodded again, and then looked at her. The moment stretched, and she tried not to fidget. Fidgeting was a sign of weakness according to Jaime.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Why do you live here?”

  Okay, the conversation was turning weird. And when she noticed that, it was really, really odd. “Here? In Hawaii?”

  “No. Here where the ocean is out your window every day.”

  She glanced out the massive windows that showed her a view of the Pacific. The light waves rolled in from beyond the islands, and she sighed. Sean had asked her the same question when she bought the condo. She finished off her snack and rubbed her hands together.

  “I know it’s odd.”

  He shook his head without taking his gaze from hers. “No. Not odd. Interesting.”

  There was something else in his voice, but she didn’t really understand it.

  “First of all, Sean picked the apartment. Secondly, I don’t blame the ocean for my parents’ death. That would be illogical.”

  “And you’re not very illogical, are you?”

  She shook her head, not taking her gaze from him as he approached her.

  “See, that’s where we differ.”

  “Oh?” It was the only thing she could say. He kept looking at her like…well, like he wanted to take a huge bite out of her.

  “I have all kinds of illogical thoughts. All the time.”

  His voice had deepened. It set off alarm bells in her head. “Indeed?”

  “Like right now, when you get that snippy tone in your voice. It makes me want to kiss you.”

  “I don’t get a…” then her voice trailed off as she realized what he had just said. “Kiss me?”

  He nodded as he stopped in front of her. “Yeah, I do. All the time. Have you noticed that I don’t run the meetings anymore? I can’t. All I can think is that I really, really want to kiss you.”

  Her brain went numb as heat spiraled through her.

  “You don’t want to kiss me.”

  He nodded again, his mouth kicking up on the right side. Damn him, and damn that crooked little smile. Every time she saw it, her bones seemed to liquify. He cupped her face and bent down to brush his mouth over hers. And just like that, her world exploded around her. He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, as she slipped her hands up over his shoulders and around his neck. Pressing against her, she could feel the long length of his erection, and her body lit up like the Aloha Friday fireworks.

  Yes, she wanted this. Now. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. Lust flashed through her as he sat her on the kitchen bar. She let her head fall back, and he attacked her neck. His lips, his mouth, his tongue. Lord. Every bit of her body ached, needed, begged for relief.

  She slipped her fingers through all that dark brown hair of his, as he kissed his way up to her earlobe. He growled as he took it between his teeth. The vibration of the noise danced over her nerve endings and sent another wave of lust rushing through her body. Hell, she was still vibrating from the simple little bite on her ear. Then, it vibrated again, against her inner thigh.

  Damn. It was his phone.

  With much reluctance, she pulled away. He growled, the sound thrilling her, and tugged her back.

  “Del, your phone.”

  It took him a long moment to open his eyes. When he did, she saw the barely suppressed hunger that made him look almost feral. Bloody hell, she had done that to him. Or with him, or something.

  He didn’t take his gaze from hers as he pulled out his phone and answered it.

  “Delano.”

  Even if the person on the other end of the line didn’t know, she heard it there in his voice. Anger filled with sensual heat.

  Then, in one moment, all the heat dissolved. Right there, she knew it was something bad.

  “Okay. On my way down.”

  “What?” she asked as soon as he hung up.

  He sighed, regret filling his gaze.

  “Del?”

  He shook his head. “We have another missing woman.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Even with taking a detour to try to avoid any reporters out front, it only took Del and Emma a few minutes to make it to TFH headquarters. Del glanced at his companion. The woman had a stubborn streak worse than his. After he dropped the bomb and ruined the mood, he had tried to convince her not to come with him. She had—of course—overruled him. Del really should have seen that coming. She’d been ignoring his orders since the moment they met.

  They went in through a back entrance. Since it was already on the news, the media was probably already clamoring for information. Worst part of it was, if it wasn’t for Grace Singh, some of them would not have paid a bit of attention.

  Arriving in the squad room, they found his team seated at the table. Everyone turned at once as they walked in. There was a long beat of silence, and he realized they all knew he had been over at Emma’s.

  “So, we have a missing woman?” he asked.

  “Yes, a Susan Tanaka” Adam said. There was no teasing or jok
ing around. A missing woman, no matter if she was connected to their case or not, was important.

  “When did she go missing?” Emma asked.

  “They aren’t sure.” Adam punched a few buttons. The picture of a vivacious young Hawaiian woman, dressed in the costume of a dancer from one of the luau outfits, came into focus.

  “Why aren’t they sure? Her friends and family didn’t know she was missing?” Del asked.

  “She lives just off UH campus with a couple of girls, but they all have different schedules. Her family had no idea that she was missing, but they live in Washington State at the moment. So, they just thought she was fine.”

  “And no one noticed she’d gone missing?” Cat asked. “Not even her friends?”

  “That’s what they are saying,” Adam said. “She took off this weekend from work, and skipped a couple of classes.”

  “She missed class and no one noticed?” Emma asked.

  “Didn’t you ever skip a class, Emma?” McGregor asked.

  She shrugged. “I’ve never really been in school. It just seems odd to miss classes she’s paying for.”

  Adam continued. “Her attendance is spotty at best. But, when she didn’t show up for work today, her boss called one of her friends.”

  “Why is this on the news? Why didn’t we get a report?”

  “When one of the girls reported her missing to the campus police, and filed a report with HPD, she didn’t get much notice. So she called Jin Phillips, thinking she might be able to help. With her reports on Grace Singh, her roommates hoped to at least get some leads. I think they were hoping that she was just off on her own, and the report would bring her forward.”

  “Fuck,” Del said.

  “Exactly. Instead of contacting us, she went on the air with it.”

  Del settled his hands on his hips, as he contemplated the coming shit storm. “It is going to be a madhouse.”

  A phone started ringing again. Adam shook his head. “Already is, Boss.”

  “Okay, Cat and I will go talk to the friends. You call the parents to see if they heard anything. McGregor, Floyd, I need you to go talk to the employees out at Luau Paradise. Maybe one of them knew something about her. Adam, you hunt down the original officer who took the report. Maybe he or she can help give us a little background, especially on the state of her roommates’ minds.”