Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4)

by Melissa Schroeder

  That was an odd turn of phrase, but she mentally shrugged it away. “Oh. Okay.”

  “So, you are the one on point. Of course, all the media are going to try and talk to you, and you know what to do.”

  “No comment for now.”

  “Yes. As soon as they realize we’re heading up this murder, we’ll get calls. They know if we are on the case, it is bigger than just one murder.”

  In the past two years, the press had learned when the governor assigned TFH a case, that meant it was huge. The moment media heard TFH were working a particular crime, they would go bonkers. They understood that it was the kind of case that could make their careers, if they got the inside scoop.

  “Cool.”

  “So, Marcus and Adam have been doing a canvas, and they’ll report to you what they find. Make sure you give people tasks. Delegate, or it will become too much work and overwhelm you.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Also, I’m sure you will probably get some questions about why you were assigned to the job. Not from the team, as both Adam and I think you can handle it, and I’m sure the rest of the team does too. But being one of our younger members and least experienced, you will get hit with that question. They will insinuate that you were picked because you were a woman and our only active investigator who is a woman.”

  She opened her mouth but he continued.

  “And partially they would be right, but it has nothing to do with quotas, it has to do with the suspect.”

  “We have a suspect?”

  “No. But there is a higher chance this is a woman, and we need a woman who will think like one to catch her if that is true. We can do it, but I think it would be best to have you steering this case. Your perspective might help. Plus, you are a damned fine investigator. You’re ready for this, and this case is tailor-made for you, I think.”

  “Thanks, boss.”

  “I have a meeting with the mayor and the governor, so I need to go. We will do a rundown of the case at two this afternoon. Sound good?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. See you then. Later, Elle, Drew.”

  They waved him off and Elle walked over to her. “Your first case to lead up. You must be so excited.”

  Excited…yeah. And scared out of her mind, not to mention sick to her stomach.

  “I am. I just hope I can do it.”

  Elle shook her head. “You will, plus this team is brilliant, so you have good support.”

  She nodded. “Okay, can you tell me what you found?”

  “More than likely he was asphyxiated. Manually.”

  “Like the others.”

  “Yes. I’ll run the normal tests and, more than likely, just like the others, he had sex not too long before he was killed.”

  “This is going to be all over the news with it being Anderson.”

  “Yeah, I told Elle that,” Drew said, rising to his feet. “Anderson was local grown like the others, but more entrenched. Add in being former NFL, and that’s going to get a lot of attention.”

  “He did a lot for the community.”

  Drew nodded. “So, first big case?”

  “Yep. Elle, do you think a woman could do this?”

  She nodded. “It was with a ligature of some sort. Looks like a rope, like the others. If it was hands, it would be a dead giveaway whether it was a woman. This way, we aren’t too sure.”

  “Oh, hey, it could be like Sea of Love with Al Pacino,” Drew said.

  “That was the ex in that one, wasn’t it? The man she had dated before?”

  “Yeah, so it could be something like that.”

  “True. Okay, I’m going to go talk to the guys and see if they need me, then I’m going to head back to the office.”

  “Good luck,” Drew said.

  “Thanks. I’m definitely going to need it.”

  He shook his head and offered her the first smile he’d given her in months. “You got this.”

  Then he turned back to his work. Why that comment meant more to her than Del’s vote of confidence, she didn’t know. With that, she turned on her heel and went in search of Marcus and Adam. She had more than enough work cut out for her and a lot to prove.

  She just hoped that she didn’t let everyone down.

  2

  By the time Cat got back to TFH Headquarters, she needed another cup of coffee. More like a vat, really. She was usually a morning person. In fact, she liked the idea of being the first into the office. She had even beat the boss in a couple of times. But today was different. Starting off late and trying to play catch up on a minimal amount of caffeine was not productive.

  The initial excitement from getting the lead in a case had worn off. The gravity of what lay ahead of her, along with the worry that she had to make a good impression, had settled in. This was her opportunity to prove that she deserved Del’s respect. She would not let anything get in her way.

  She grabbed her phone and stepped out of her car. The cool, comfortable morning temps were long gone. Now, the winds had died down, and she knew it was going to be a hot and sticky day. The humidity was already off the charts and without the winds, she was staring to sweat.

  She didn’t make it three steps before there was a reporter running toward her. Crap. She hated reporters, and she especially hated this one, Kakona Loni. They had been in school together, from kindergarten on up, and he had been a total ass then. Still was. He had dyed his hair blond, slicked it back, and thought no one knew he wore blue contacts.

  She kept her head down and strode purposefully toward the door. “Detective Kalakau—”

  “Agent.”

  “What?”

  She sighed and stopped to look over at him. It made her want to punch him even more. He had been a nasty bully in high school.

  “I’m an agent, not a detective, and you aren’t supposed to be in this area.” Until last week, they had officially been called detectives. It had changed at the request of HPD.

  Kakona didn’t like that. He had been pushy all those years ago, and he was pushy now. It was his job as a reporter, but it was the way he went about it that grated on her. He accused the HPD and TFH of insane cover ups. He was a conspiracy theorist, who was convinced that every cop was dirty.

  “But, I wanted a quote on the Anderson case.”

  “No comment.”

  “But you don’t know what I’m going to ask.”

  “First, you asked for a quote. Second, it doesn’t matter. No comment. It is always no comment during an active investigation.”

  “The public has a right to know.”

  “Yeah, maybe, but right now, you are on state property, and without permission, I might add.”

  “But—”

  She keyed in her code, then pulled the door open. “No more buts, just leave.”

  Then she had the pleasure of watching the door shut in his face.

  “That is always a nice feeling,” Adam said from behind her.

  She turned to face the second-in-command for TFH, and gave him a smile. Adam was an island boy like her. He was truly one of the very few bald men she knew who could pull off sexy. He was huge, muscles and tats; plus, he towered over her by more than a foot. Most people would be intimidated by him, but Cat had always thought of him as comforting. There was something about having a big, bad biker as your backup.

  He was about ten years her senior, but they had attended the same high school, and were probably related in some way. Where Del was always wired and ready to pop, Adam was cool and laid back. It was one of the best things about Task Force Hawaii. The yin yang of the two men in charge always kept everything running smooth.

  “Especially Loni. He’s an ass. Always has been one. He was annoying even in high school.”

  “Ah.”

  “Do you need something?”

  He smiled. “I’m here for you. Neither Marcus nor I could find anyone who heard anything in Anderson’s neighborhood.”

  She snorted as she punched the button
for the elevator. “With those houses out there, I can see that.”

  “Yeah. Lots of land around there, and a lot of the people are vacation renters. Plus, you know those rich types. They would rather not talk to other folks. So, they don’t pay attention to the comings and goings.”

  “And, they wouldn’t know if something or someone was out of place.”

  “Also, we don’t even know when the murder occurred. It could have happened last night, or the night of his date. Strangling someone doesn’t always cause a lot of noise; yet, people could have been right outside and not heard a thing.”

  “Yeah. If it was in my neighborhood, Auntie Koko would know who spent the night.”

  Older women were always aunties in Hawaii, whether they were related by blood or not. It was a sign of respect, and drove home the idea of Ohana, or family.

  He laughed. “You know it. Auntie Sarah was my parent’s neighborhood watch commander.”

  She smiled, but it faded quickly. “I need to have Charity start going through the CCTV cameras, see if she can find something.”

  “Yeah, that's a good idea. I also want to do another roundup about the neighborhood, as soon as we get a time of death from Elle. That might give us a little more to push with by going around again.”

  “Elle didn't give us a time of death at the scene?”

  “She said probably more than twenty-four hours.”

  “Well, that narrows it down.”

  The doors to the elevator opened and she stepped onto the lift.

  “Yeah, it is kind of crappy, but we might be able to get more info to narrow that down from Elle.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll go talk to Elle, see what insights she can give me on time of death.”

  “Thanks, Adam.”

  He was smiling at her when the doors shut. The moment she was alone, she felt the weight of responsibility. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be lead investigator. She had dreamed of it for so long, Cat couldn’t remember when she didn’t want to take on more responsibility. But, it also meant it was her one time to prove her worth, to assure Del that he hadn’t made a mistake by putting her in that position…or even hiring her in the first place. She hadn’t had much experience, and he had taken a chance on her. Now, she could make sure he knew that she would not screw up.

  The doors opened to reveal Charity Edwards, TFH forensics tech. The Georgia transplant was one of a kind. Her love of superheroes and vintage clothes often had her looking like a steampunk scientist one day, and Marilyn Monroe the next. She was an expert shot with a six millimeter, and made the best sweet cornbread this side of the Pacific.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling at Cat.

  It had been a long few months to get back on common ground with Charity. She was very friendly with Drew, and had helped him recover from his injuries last year. For a long time, Cat wasn’t sure if they could ever be friendly again.

  “I just got in, and I am going to run tests on some of the stuff Elle sent down.”

  “Great. Also, I need you to do a scan of the CCTV around that neighborhood, and the roads leading in there.”

  “Looking for anything in particular?” Charity asked as she stepped onto the now empty elevator.

  “Just anything out of the normal. We think it could be his date from this week, but it could also be someone else. An ex-lover of one of these women. So, anyone heading out of there driving erratically, anything like that.”

  “You got it.”

  The doors closed and Cat was off and running again. The need to get ahead of this pushed her on. They were already playing catch up. With three murders before this one spanning over the last eighteen months. She needed to make sure that they got up and going fast, so that they could make headway before someone else got hurt.

  Adam found Elle sitting at her desk, already looking exhausted. He watched her, noting the dark circles beneath her eyes and she looked, well, uncomfortable. She took one look at his expression and scowled.

  “Don’t say it.”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “If one more male tells me I need to rest, I might just start punching people in the throat.”

  “She’s out for blood,” Drew said. “I’m gonna grab a bite to eat now that we’re done. Do you need anything?” he asked Elle.

  She shook her head. “I’ve got a snack here.”

  “Be right back,” he said as he hurried out the door.

  “I worry about that boy,” Elle said.

  “Maybe all of you women here need to stop calling him a boy. He’s not. He’s a man.”

  She glanced at him, understanding lighting her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s changed so much in the last year since the shooting.”

  “Damned right he has. I know the whole lot of you like to coddle him, but he needs you to see him as a man, not a boy who needs help.”

  She blinked and he realized that he’d raged on about it for a while. “So, I guess you’re here for the report?”

  He nodded. “I take it nothing has changed?”

  “No. Asphyxiation brought on by strangulation. Looks like it was another red scarf. Charity will confirm it though.”

  “Good. And time of death? Still no less than twenty-four hours?”

  “Yeah. I’m leaning toward last night due to the lividity and body temp. Charity also has some stomach contents to study. They might help narrow down where he was and what he was doing.”

  “And if we can do that, who he might have been with.”

  “Yes,” she said shifting a little.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, resting her hand on her stomach. “This one is just sitting on my sciatic nerve, and it isn’t at all comfortable.”

  “You should…” he trailed off at her dirty look. “What? I was going to suggest finding a massage therapist who knows how to handle prenatal massage. My cousin used one during her last pregnancy when she had the same issue.”

  “That is a good idea. I’ll consider looking in to that.”

  “Cool. I can get a name for you if you want.”

  “I would like that. Thank you.”

  Then, he said nothing as he tried to come up with a way to broach the other reason he had come down.

  “Was there something else?”

  He sighed. “Yeah. Have you spoken to Jin?”

  Jin Phillips had been through hell and back, and almost didn’t make it. Now she was on the road to recovery, he just wanted to make sure she was okay.

  “Haven’t you talked to her?”

  “We text every now and then. She…right now she says she has things to do. Mainly…herself. She said she needed to work on herself.”

  “Yes, but she also needs her friends.”

  “I take it you’ve talked to her?”

  Elle nodded. “I’m still considered her counselor.”

  A year earlier, a serial killer had abducted Jin. While he had kept her hidden, the sadistic bastard had raped and tortured her. Elle had been through something similar years ago, and now counseled women.

  “I just wanted to know that she’s doing all right. That’s all.”

  “She’s actually getting stronger. Clean and sober now. She’s talking about writing again, but I don’t think she wants to do current news. You should call her.”

  He shook his head. “I want her to have her space. It isn’t like we have a relationship anymore, but I just wanted to be sure she was still recovering.”

  Elle grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. “She’s doing well. You should ask her if she wants to get together. She’s even put on weight, which is a good thing.”

  “Good. Thanks.” He pushed those worries aside and got his mind back on the case at hand. “So, TOD within twenty-four hours, and red scarf.”

  His phone buzzed.

  Got the reports. Ready to get to work? -Marcus

  “Well, that’s my cue. Marcus was picking up the info from HPD, talked to a few of t
he detectives about the other cases too. We’re going to start reading over the reports.”

  “I thought we had the reports already?”

  He shook his head. “We had some, but Marcus wanted to get the detectives’ input. Their observances might help, and calling makes it too easy for them to brush us off. We might be able to hunt up some of their witnesses to see if we can find a common thread.”

  “HPD hadn’t found one yet?”

  “I know, it’s odd. Three different detectives apparently handled the cases. The first few were so far apart time wise, so they weren’t linked. Forensics will probably connect them, but there is always a chance that friends and family members might have information that links them too. Something outside of being a client of Premier Connections.”

  She nodded. “Cool. I’m waiting on the other autopsy reports. I had a copy, but I have requested the entire files.”

  “See ya,” he said, as he turned away.

  “Oh, and Adam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Make sure you call Jin. I know she would like to hear from you.”

  He nodded and started on his way again. He knew Elle was right, but needed to make sure that he did it the right way this time. Jin had already been through too much.

  Drew had waited until the last moment to make his way up to the conference room. He knew that it was a bit on the cowardly side, but it would be best if he had as little contact with Cat during this as possible.

  The truth was, he knew this day was coming. Cat was beyond capable to handle the job. And he knew Del believed in helping the folks who worked for him.

  Now he would be taking orders from Cat. The woman he had been in love with for years.

  Was in love with. He had to keep remembering that. He had loved her for so long, that every now and then, he forgot about falling out of love with her. That had ended the day he had been shot.

  “Hey, Drew,” Charity said as she met him in the hall that lead to the conference room. “How are you doing today?”

  “Doing well, and yourself?”

  She smiled. “Very well, now that TJ is back on the island.”

  Charity's boyfriend was an FBI agent from the mainland. He'd been back visiting family for the last week.