Paradise Crime Thrillers Box Set

by Toby Neal

  Sophie blinked stinging eyes until she could make out Akane, flat on his back, his arms sprawled. Red pulp filled the gas mask where his face had been. Yes, Pim Wat had got him.

  When she looked up, Pim Wat had vanished, shutting the office door behind her.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Day Eighteen

  Jake woke at the blaring ringtone he used for the Security Solutions big boss, Sheldon Hamilton. Outside the sliding glass windows of his apartment’s deck, the barest hint of dawn pinkened the sky as his boss yelled that Sophie had been attacked by Akane Chang in their office downtown. “Where the hell were you, Jake? Where was your security detail?” Hamilton ranted. “And what the hell are you doing in your bed while your pregnant girlfriend is at work downtown, dealing with a serial killer?”

  Jake’s heart jackhammered. He rolled over and reached for his pants, catching Felicia’s sleepy, alarmed gaze as she blinked at him. Jake had never heard Hamilton raise his voice before, let alone yell. “Slow down, Hamilton. I’m getting dressed and I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  “Thank God she was able to deal with Chang herself, no thanks to you. That bastard threw a tear gas grenade through the window and came in from the outside.” Hamilton was breathing heavily. “The police are crawling all over the office. They’ve taken Sophie in for questioning, since she shot him execution style—two to the chest, one in the head. Get your ass down to the South Hilo PD station. I’ve already called Security Solutions’ lawyer. I’m almost there myself.” Hamilton hung up abruptly.

  Jake struggled to get his pants up over his booted foot. He stood, tripping as he tried to get his shirt on. “Shit!”

  “I’m sorry,” Felicia said. “I should have woken you up when Sophie came by.”

  Jake got his head through the neck of the shirt at last. “Sophie came by?”

  “Yeah. Around two a.m. She was looking for you.” Felicia flushed. “I told her you were sleeping and she said she’d see you later. I should’ve just woken you up, but you were finally asleep, and she said it was okay.”

  “She must have thought… Oh my God, no wonder she went down to the office in the middle of the night.” Fury darkened Jake’s vision. “Get out, Felicia. Damn it to hell!”

  “Hey! No call to take that tone, old man,” Felicia said, but hurried to grab her purse and exit.

  Jake raked a hand through his hair and cursed. He grabbed his crutch, weapon, wallet, and keys, and headed for the Security Solutions SUV.

  Guilt gnawed at Jake’s gut as he navigated the early morning streets of Hilo.

  If only he’d just gone in and woken Sophie up… If only he hadn’t dismissed the security team! He’d sent them home after work, planning to spend the night with Sophie and not wanting an audience for their reunion. But when he’d unlocked Sophie’s door after work and seen her sleeping, the dogs curled up on the bed with her, he’d changed his mind.

  He’d wanted to join her. Had curled his hands into fists to keep from touching her.

  But she was pregnant, and she needed her rest.

  And he needed a little more time to figure out where to go from the stalemate they were stuck in, waiting on news about the baby’s parentage.

  Jake had taken the coward’s way out, and left.

  He’d gone back to his apartment, figuring he’d see her in the morning. He’d eaten pizza with Felicia when she showed up with a big meat lover’s special. He’d taken his pain meds and fallen asleep while Felicia was still watching TV.

  All of that was true, and innocent, but damning nonetheless, because it added up to not being there for Sophie. If they’d been together, if she hadn’t been upset, she’d never have gone to the office alone. There was no denying, even to himself, that he’d made choices—and they’d almost cost her life.

  But she’d made choices too!

  “Damn fool thing to do, going in there alone,” he muttered, pulling up and parking at the South Hilo police station’s strip mall parking lot. “Damn it, Sophie, you have another life to watch out for, now!”

  The baby had begun to feel real to him, someone to be protected and cared for. He worried about the baby—because even if it wasn’t his…it was hers.

  Jake waited in his car outside the police station, knowing there was nowhere but the tiny doorway reception area to sit inside. He went through his isometric seat workout, discharging tension through exercise as he always had. Then he paced back and forth in the deserted parking lot on his crutch, watching dawn bleed up and listening to the waking mynahs and doves, and the last of the coqui frog chorus.

  He whirled around as the door of the police station opened.

  Hamilton had his arm around Sophie as the pair exited. Sophie looked gray with exhaustion, and Hamilton’s sharp dark eyes, behind those hipster glasses, flicked over Jake with contempt.

  “Sophie.” Jake ignored Hamilton and hobbled forward, tossing his crutch aside, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  She stood stiffly in his arms, her hands at her sides. She smelled of the tear gas bomb, and the sweat of fear and exertion. With his cheek close to her hair, he spotted an oozing patch of bare scalp that had to hurt. Little bits of glass were still caught in her hair, sparkling like snowflakes. “It’s over now. He’s dead,” she whispered.

  “You have to tell me what happened.” Jake moved back, holding Sophie’s arms, trying to get eye contact. She stared down at the boot on his leg.

  “I’m really tired. I just want to get a shower and go to bed.”

  “I need to know…” He couldn’t seem to let go of her.

  “What you need doesn’t matter, Dunn. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow to go over everything. Chang’s killing looks enough like self-defense for the cops to let her go for now. I’m having a medical team meet us at the jet to check Sophie out and make sure she’s okay. Bix will contact you with the time and location for our meeting, since the office is a crime scene.” Hamilton rewrapped his arm around Sophie’s shoulder and tugged her against his side possessively. Was Hamilton making a move on Sophie? Had something developed between them while they spent all that time together on Kaua`i?

  Jake’s brows drew together as Sophie went unresisting with their boss toward a Security Solutions SUV driven by Thom Tang. Sophie looked back over her shoulder. “Please don’t forget to take care of the dogs,” she said.

  Jake’s fists clenched but he made himself smile reassuringly. “Don’t worry about a thing. They’ll be waiting for you. And so will I.”

  Jake had to watch as their boss helped her tenderly into the back of the SUV and got in beside her, and Thom drove them away.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Day Nineteen

  Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheek. The ridged line of the skin graft that ran up over her artificial cheekbone felt numb, yet tingly under her fingers, as it always did. She looked around Dr. Wilson’s office, her gaze tracking over the familiar surroundings. The leather couch she sat on. The psychologist in her comfortable-looking lounger. The plain wood coffee table with its round ceramic sand tray, little rake, and bowl of clay figures. Amateurish paintings on the walls, seascapes mostly. Probably done by a client.

  “My son did those paintings.” Dr. Wilson must have been tracking Sophie’s gaze—and reading her mind, too, as she often seemed able to.

  Dr. Wilson wore a turquoise-colored wrap dress and a small, sparkly gem on a chain at her throat. Her blonde hair was tousled perfection brushing her shoulders, and her blue eyes were filled with worried compassion. “It’s been too long, Sophie. I understand from Connor, who called to get this emergency appointment, that you shot Akane Chang yesterday.”

  “Pim Wat shot him.” Sophie hadn’t meant to say it so immediately and baldly, but relief followed the confession. Dr. Wilson knew everything already; Dr. Wilson and Connor were the only people she had no secrets from. “Mother broke into the office during the attack and shot him. I’m not sure what would have happened if
she hadn’t.”

  Dr. Wilson blinked. “Why did you lie and say that you did it? To the cops, to Hamilton?”

  “Pim Wat dropped the gun into my lap. Said she’d see me later, and that she had never been there.” Sophie blew out a breath. “It never occurred to me to tell them she’d done it.”

  “We need to talk about why you automatically covered for Pim Wat, and if that’s the best thing for you,” Dr. Wilson said. “But first, let’s go back in time a bit. I’m glad we were able to have a phone session while you were on Kaua`i, but I feel way behind the eight ball, as usual. Catch me up to what prompted you to go into the office late at night, alone.” The psychologist’s brows drew together in a frown. “That doesn’t seem to have been the best idea.”

  “I know. But I was upset. Jake was with Felicia instead of with me.” Sophie described the series of events. “I believe her, that they didn’t…do anything. But clearly, while I was gone on Kaua`i and Jake was injured, they developed some kind of relationship. She is infatuated with him.”

  “Oh dear. And he chose to let you sleep instead of joining you, and then hung out with his gal pal or whatever she’s become.” Dr. Wilson pointed her pen at Sophie. “Kind of like what Connor is to you.”

  “Connor is no gal pal with movies and pizza. He is…” Sophie twisted her fingers together, unable to come up with words to describe Connor’s unwavering commitment. “Connor is the only one who is unequivocally supporting me. He’s been there for me, no matter who I’ve slept with. Last night—or I should say, yesterday morning—when the police let me out of the station, I was totally dead on my feet. Jake tried to talk to me after the attack, but I just didn’t have the strength to get through the discussions I know we need to have. Connor knew that, too. He fended Jake off and took me to the jet. Had a doctor come and assess me there.” Sophie smiled. “The doctor even brought a portable sonogram machine. I saw my baby for the first time.”

  “Oh, my dear. How was that?”

  “Just…magic.” Sophie shut her eyes a moment, remembering her first sight of the tiny, curled, shrimplike shape of the child in her womb as the cool, gel-covered sonogram wand slid over her abdomen. She’d been gripping Connor’s hand, and he’d squeezed hers back, so hard it hurt. “The baby is healthy. The heartbeat was normal. We even saw it move.”

  “Could you tell what sex it was?”

  “Perhaps the doctor could, but I told him I didn’t want to know.” Sophie sighed. “Connor kissed me as we were watching the baby on the monitor. I let him; it felt right. We were sharing such an important moment.”

  “Connor’s participating with you when neither of the possible fathers have stepped up to get involved,” Dr. Wilson said. “He seems to genuinely care about the baby, from what you’ve described, both on Kaua`i and in this situation. Be careful, though, that you don’t mistake his motivations. He’s in love with you and is using this vulnerable time in your life to get closer to you. Become indispensable.”

  “I know.” Sophie looked down at her hands. “And I’m not going to lie and say it hasn’t been working.” She shook her head. “I mean, I still don’t have any sexual feelings for him. But I trust him again, after all he’s done to make up for that other thing.”

  “Can you forgive and forget what he did in faking his death?” Dr. Wilson’s brows shot up. “Don’t you think he showed his priorities through that situation?”

  “I think priorities can change. Perhaps the Ghost isn’t as important to him as it once was.” Sophie sighed again. “I don’t know. But I do know Alika was definitely different toward me on Kaua`i, and I can’t blame him. The adjustments he’s going through with the loss of his arm are huge. Whatever we had before seems gone. On both sides. I only feel a kind of…brotherly friendship for him. The possibility of the baby being his just seemed like a complication to him, I could tell. He had me over for a family dinner, but showed no interest in spending time with me otherwise while I was on Kaua`i. I loved meeting all of his Hawaiian relatives, though.”

  “And Jake? Jake is the most likely candidate as the baby’s father, condoms or no condoms.” Dr. Wilson smiled. “Just in terms of sheer frequency of opportunity, as it were.”

  A blush heated Sophie’s neck. “That much is true. I missed Jake terribly. I wanted to see him the minute I got back. Experiencing what I did with Felicia’s involvement with Jake, whatever is going on with them, has made me understand jealousy so much more. I wanted to rip her hair out by the roots when she answered his door.” Sophie shook her head. “Jake is obviously conflicted. He has always been jealous. Being a father to Alika’s child, if it goes that way, might well be too much for him.” She described the issues Jake had told her about with his own father’s lying, cheating, and ultimate abandonment. “He has a sensitivity beyond the norm about secrets. Betrayal. It’s always been an issue for us, because there’s so much I can’t tell him.”

  “And there always will be.”

  “And there always will be,” Sophie agreed.

  “What an interesting conundrum. I wonder how all of this will resolve.” Dr. Wilson’s gaze was calm and compassionate.

  “Interesting? Ha. Easy for you to describe it that way.” Sophie smiled. “But I know this: my baby and I will be okay no matter what happens. I’m going to be a mother. And I’m very happy about that.”

  “Good.” Dr. Wilson smiled back. “Let’s circle back around to Pim Wat. Why did you lie about who shot Akane? Why didn’t you tell the police that a woman broke into the office and killed him?”

  “How could I possibly explain that? Pim Wat had used lock picks or her own key on the door; there were no signs of forced entry. Why would some unknown woman show up just in time and kill my attacker? It would just seem like I was lying, because of course, she was also wearing gloves.” Sophie rubbed her cheek again, closing her eyes. “Believe me. I considered my options as I was sitting there, looking at Akane’s body, with that hot pistol in my lap. I came up with an explanation for her weapon: it was a backup I’d hidden, taped under Felicia’s desk after he disarmed me in the computer lab.”

  Dr. Wilson digested this. “I worry that, now that you’ve lied for Pim Wat, she has leverage on you.” Dr. Wilson’s blue eyes were intent. “How did Pim Wat know Akane was going to attack you? Why did she do what she did? There are so many unanswered questions about your mother’s role.”

  “She has killed to protect me before. She shot the assassin who was hired to kill me by the Changs.” Sophie reiterated Pim Wat’s story about shooting the assassin she called the Lizard. “She is a strange sort of guardian angel, watching over me.”

  “Perhaps her way of showing love is eliminating those who threaten you.”

  “She does not love me in any normal sense,” Sophie stated definitely. “She is territorial. I belong to her, and no one gets to mess with what belongs to her. She complained of the challenge of the Lizard, of taking a bullet in the vest for me when he tried to kill her—so I know what she does is not always easy. Perhaps that’s why I covered for her. To honor that.”

  Dr. Wilson snorted. “She may not love you in any normal sense, but you are her daughter. You do love her, and a part of you was both loyal and grateful for what she’d done in saving your life and shooting Akane.”

  Sophie said nothing.

  “Well, let’s hope your story of having a backup gun stashed under Felicia’s desk holds up, and covering for her doesn’t bite you on the butt.”

  “That’s not the only worry I have about my mother.” Sophie told Dr. Wilson about the strange and wonderful visit from her childhood nanny. “Armita was just the same—and seeing her, I felt just the same about her. She was my mother for the first seven years of my life, in everything but name. I asked her to join me, to help me care for my baby—but even though she seemed thrilled with the idea, she also seemed afraid of my mother. Too afraid to try to leave, or even for me to let Pim Wat know that I’d seen her.”

  “Armita obviously came
to you at great personal risk, if Pim Wat has prevented her from seeing you all of these years.” Dr. Wilson shook her head. “And she took that risk solely to warn you.”

  “Yes. I hope I did the right thing, telling her I was pregnant. I hope she won’t tell Pim Wat. I do not trust my mother.” Sophie wrapped her arms over her abdomen. “She has plans for me. And a child may not be part of them.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ve seen the last of your mother, nor do we know what her real agenda is.” Dr. Wilson made a note on her tablet. “Now, what are you going to do about Jake?”

  Sophie shook her head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Aunty Grace poured Terence a cup of fragrant green tea with only a little tremor in her hands. “Mahalo, Aunty.” Once his great-aunt’s tea was poured and she’d sipped, Terence lifted the simple clay cup to his lips as well. “Appreciate you meeting with me.”

  Grace Kapuniokalani Chang Manuka Rivera was the oldest surviving Chang, and Terence’s deceased namesake grandfather’s aunt. Aunty Grace had outlived two husbands and a couple of wars, and she was still a power player, owning a majority of shares in Chang Enterprises, Inc., the family’s umbrella company. Grace had just successfully blocked his renaming of that company with her share vote.

  “What a surprise you turned out to be, Terence Chang.” Morning sunlight came through the window of her living room to light Grace’s white hair like a halo. “What am I to do about you?”

  Terence hadn’t visited Grace until after Akane’s death because he wasn’t sure whose side she was on. Though he’d heard through the “coconut wireless” that Grace was in favor of the kind of progressive change toward legitimate business that Terence wanted to foster, Akane was one of her grandsons, and Terence had just eliminated an entire branch of her family tree.