Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “I'm sure Jess and Luke are happy.”

  She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and scowled. “Those damned traitor cats. First you, then him. They always go for the males.”

  He smiled, but said nothing else as he looked down the hall. He didn’t want to run into Cat. It was silly. All right, she would be handling the case. He would have to have a little face-to-face time, but not much else. That way, he could keep avoiding her.

  “Come on. You can sit by me.”

  He glanced at Charity, who offered him an understanding smile. “Stop.”

  “What?”

  “Stop pitying me.”

  “Please. Pity you?” She snorted. “Darlin', you come from a family who has more restaurants on the island than there are days of the week, and even though you don't act like it, you are loaded. You should pity me.”

  He just shook his head and said nothing else.

  “Let's go or I'll be late again.” She slipped her arm through his. “I’ll lose a bet if I'm the last one in there.”

  “Don't let Del hear you.”

  Their boss hated the idea that they all bet on so many things—even if he did bet on the day Elle's baby was to be born.

  “Okay.”

  They made their way down the hall, and found the conference room half filled. Emma was sitting at the table eating. Emma was always eating. Graeme walked in through the outside door. The man was a giant, and more than once he heard Charity call him a Scottish god. He was definitely tall, but he was just big all over. The long blond hair and icy blue eyes didn’t hurt the image.

  “Good afternoon, everyone. Where is my bride?”

  “She's on her way up. She had a phone call she had to take,” Drew said.

  “The woman works too hard.”

  “No, the woman does not,” said Elle from behind him.

  He turned to face her and his expression softened. “Love, you know I'm only looking out for you.”

  “I know and it’s the only thing that’s kept me from smacking you on the head, love.” She gave Graeme a kiss on the cheek, then looked around. “We’re waiting on Adam, Del, and Cat then?”

  “They're in his office,” Emma said.

  Drew looked over his shoulder and saw that, indeed, Cat was with Del and the second-in-command of TFH.

  “I heard they are reorganizing,” Charity said. “Does anyone know what that means?”

  Everyone turned to look at Emma. “What?”

  “Did the boss say anything to you?”

  “He was going on and on about something concerning work last night, but I was working on code.”

  Emma was Del's wife, who had a knack with computer programs. When she started to work on a code, she often lost track of time and tended to ignore everyone.

  “And just what are you all talking about?” Del asked.

  Drew turned around and found all three of them staring at them. “We wanted to know about the restructuring of our team but, apparently, Emma wasn't listening to you at all last night.”

  “That’s nothing new. I’ll go over that first and then Cat will go over our new case. Have a seat,” Del said.

  It took a few moments for everyone to get seated.

  “Okay, I have been talking to the governor and the mayor. Task Force Hawaii has done a lot of good in the last two years we’ve been operational, but they want to expand our unit. The islands are gaining more attention from many in the drug industry. You add in the issue of terrorism threats and a high priority former president who is from the islands, and the HPD are being taxed beyond what they can handle. And, truth is, they don’t want to expand right now. They just hired a ton of men and women from the mainland, but what they need are a few specialized folks. That’s where we come in.”

  “I don’t like it,” Emma said.

  “First, I didn’t ask permission, since you are working for us on contract. Secondly, you just don’t like change. You’ll get used to it.”

  Del’s wife had issues with people, and she worked better in small groups.

  “Still.”

  “Still. I’m looking more for people who will help us with certain issues, and some of them may work like you…as a contractor. I’ve talked with Marcus, who had to attend a meeting at Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam. He’s going to head up the terrorism aspect. But from that point on, I’m not sure. I just want people who know the islands and understand the issues we face. Therefore, we will be adding more people to the team.”

  Emma sighed and the boss ignored her.

  “I’ll be conducting interviews. We will continue to work the same way as we always have. We will take turns leading an investigation, but this way, we will have more people alongside us from specialized fields. The woman I’m interviewing this afternoon worked for the DEA, and grew up on the islands. She understands that side of law enforcement. Allowing us to keep most of our work in house without having to bother our liaison at HPD all the time.”

  “Thank God, because they are always stealing our food,” Emma said.

  “Emma.”

  She smiled.

  “Okay. Now, onto the investigation. Cat. Have at it.”

  Cat seemed to hesitate and then she walked up to the front of the room. Drew felt his heart start to race, as it always did when he concentrated on her. It had been a year since his injuries, but he hadn’t been able to get over this woman. And now he had to spend the next thirty minutes watching her give them her briefing.

  Damn, he was doomed.

  3

  Cat tried to swallow and found her mouth dry. It took every bit of her self control to resist the urge to dry her hands on the front of her cargo pants. She hadn’t been this nervous when she made the finals of the island-wide spelling bee, or when she had gone up for her qualification as a sharp shooter. These people mattered to her more than even her own family.

  “I guess we all know that we have four murders now that are probably linked. Each killed by asphyxiation, and all of them were male. They had recent dates with women from Premiere Connections.”

  “That's one of those dating services?” Emma asked.

  “Yes. But only for rich folks. It actually showed up on the radar when they first opened, because HPD wondered if it was an escort service.”

  She brought it up on the big screen. “They put in a full year working on it, but they found that the business was legit. In fact, there was more than one prominent one percenter involved. Some from the mainland, some from the islands. Charity, you said you were going to look into them?”

  “Yes.” Charity clicked on the touch screen and brought up the website, along with a picture of the owner. “Started just under two years ago, this is one of the fastest growing businesses on the islands. According to their books, they’ve been running in the black since they opened, which is very odd. We would probably need a forensics accountant to make sure those reports are not fraudulent, but I’d lean on the side that they aren’t. One owner, so there are no shareholders to impress with earnings.”

  “Why did HPD think it was an escort service?” Emma asked.

  “The male members seemed to have a lot of money, while the female members were either middle class or working class. There were some rich women in there too though. At that point, HPD started watching them. It was odd that they had such a discrepancy, but apparently, it’s legal. There have been a few marriages out of the entire thing,” Charity said. “And then there was the fact that the Attorney General's son was a member there as well. Met his current wife.”

  “Current?” Cat asked. “David got married again?”

  “You know the state's attorney general's son?” Del asked.

  She shrugged. “School, plus, we all know each other, right Drew?”

  Drew shook himself and then finally focused on her. It was that look, the one he had given her the night of Emma and Del's wedding, and she felt herself falling again. People always mistook him for a goofball, until he focused on something.

/>   It was one of the sexiest things she had ever seen.

  “Yeah. I know David, and I think that's wife number three.” He looked at Del. “He can't keep it in his pants.”

  “Ah,” he said. “Sorry, go on.”

  “Charity?”

  “Yes. As I said, they’re already operating in the black. That is almost unheard of, even for a site that does everything over the Internet.”

  “They have no offices?”

  “Yes, they do.” Charity brought up a pic. “But, as you can tell, it's not big. They do onsite interviews, but that's all. Everything else is done over the Internet. The client makes a video and uploads it. They only go live once the client pays the...get this...five-thousand-dollar fee. That's for the guys. The ladies have a smaller fee, but I can't seem to find the amount.”

  “Who is the owner?” Del asked.

  “Glad you asked,” Charity said. She punched a few more buttons and a picture popped up. “That’s her in the picture. Alice Collins is only thirty, and now has over two million dollars in net worth.

  Dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that produced a set of dimples, Cat thought Collins looked like a cheerleader.

  “Damn,” Adam said. “Net worth?”

  Charity nodded. “She has more money, and she is actually thinking of expanding to the mainland and Japan. She's careful with her money. A nice condo, a decent car, but she doesn't spend a lot of that money. She happens to be very good with investments from the looks of things.”

  “You got all of that already?” Cat asked.

  “The HPD had a good deal of info on her already, since they thought she was running an escort business.”

  “Are they sure it isn't one?” Adam asked. “Sounds like one.”

  “Yeah, well, PC seems to be on the up and up. Actually, one of the detectives said it was run more like a matchmaking service than a dating service,” Charity said.

  “That would make sense that the men would pay more then,” Adam said. “Reminds me of some of the matchmaking services you hear about. Is she from here?”

  “Nope. She’s a Cali girl, born and raised in Southern California. Both parents are now deceased, and she has no siblings. Unmarried too.”

  “Do you have anything else?” Cat asked.

  Charity shook her head. “Elle found a few fibers in the victim’s throat, but I don't think it will be anything more than from the bedding.”

  “Okay, Elle, what do you have for us?”

  She moved to stand up, but Cat waved her back down. “You don't have to stand.”

  “Fine by me. I haven't had a chance for all the lab results to be returned, of course, but unless I find something odd, I think it will be the same as the other three. Asphyxiation. Definite recent sex. He is a bit older than the other three.”

  “By how much?”

  “The others were all in their thirties. Anderson was in his late forties.”

  “Might not matter. There has to be something else that these men did that made them a target,” Cat said, working through the issue in her head. “And we don’t know for sure if the guys were all heterosexual.”

  “They handle gay dating too?” Del asked.

  “From what I found, yes,” Charity said. “The information from HPD wasn’t that extensive, but we need to check it out further. There is a possibility someone pissed off one of the guys.”

  “I can look that up,” Emma offered.

  “No hacking,” Del ordered.

  “Hacking has a negative connotation to it.”

  “Because it’s illegal,” Del shook his head.

  His wife snorted. “Too many bloody rules, if you ask me.”

  “Charity, you can dig around a little more in their site, right?” Cat asked.

  Charity nodded. “I’m going to test his blood, but there was little evidence for me to play with, but I can do some more digging around. Oh, and I did get his stomach contents tested. He had some kind of grilled fish and veggies from the looks of it. And less than an hour before he was killed. Nothing on the CCTV, but it’s early days.”

  “I can help,” Emma offered.

  “No hacking.”

  “Bloody hell, I just agreed to that. But it will help if two of us are looking. Different perspectives.”

  “Adam, can you talk to Rome and see if he’s heard anything else about these men, and about their cases? I know that the HPD sent over the files on three other murders, but there’s always something they leave out.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Anything else?”

  Everyone shook their heads. “Good. I’m going to get hold of this Alice Collins and see what she says about these men.”

  “Be subtle,” Del said.

  “I’m always subtle.”

  Cat noticed a woman who paused at the door to their conference room and then came in. She was tall, probably over five nine, and had auburn-colored hair. “Can I help you?”

  She smiled. “My name is Autumn Bradford. I’m looking for Martin Delano.”

  Del stood up. “Ah, yes. Sorry. We were just wrapping up a meeting.”

  “No worries. I’m a little early. I’m always early, in fact.”

  “Why don’t you follow me into my office?”

  No one said anything as they watched the pair of them go into his office. Del got a look at all of them staring at him, so after shutting the door, he shut the blinds as well.

  “That was rude,” Graeme said, as Marcus walked into the conference room.

  “Hey, sorry. I just got finished up with a meeting at Hickam/Pearl Harbor. Did I miss much?”

  “I’ll go over it with you when we go back out,” Adam said.

  “Cool. What are we looking at?”

  “Del is in the office with a DEA agent” Adam said.

  “Former,” Emma said.

  “I thought you said you didn’t remember what he talked about last night?” Adam asked.

  “I remember some of it, but I recognize the face.” Emma had a photographic memory. Once she saw something, she could not forget it. Ever.

  “Where from?” Drew asked.

  “She was part of a documentary I was watching about that Joyous Wave cult that was on Hawai’i in the nineties. She was in the background of one of the pictures.”

  Cat blinked. “Does the boss know that?”

  “Not sure, but knowing my husband, he does know. You know how he is. Plus, she was in the DEA. They had to have a file on her.”

  “Well, that’s…odd,” Elle said.

  “But think about it, love. A former cult member is what we were missing in this group.”

  Drew snorted.

  “When do you want to leave to go over to Premiere Connections?” Graeme asked.

  “Give me a second. I need to make a call or two and then we can head over.”

  “Are you going to let Ms. Collins know we’re coming?”

  “No. I think she’s expecting someone, but probably not us. Might give her a little shakeup, and we can get more info out of her.”

  “Good.”

  She started off, but Charity came running up behind her. Cat stopped and waited for her to catch up. She couldn’t walk that well in heels, but Charity could probably run a 5K.

  “Hey, I’m going to start on those security cameras, but I thought you might want to contact some of the folks around there. A lot of rich folks have security cameras around their houses.”

  “Gotcha. Hey, Adam, do you think you can ask some of those neighbors around Anderson’s house if they have cameras?”

  “Sure. I did notice there were two, but they were on rentals, so I have to get hold of the owners for release of the footage.”

  She nodded. “Let me know if we need to get a search warrant.”

  As she turned to head back to her office, she caught a glimpse of Drew, who seemed to be following her every move. She rolled her shoulders and continued walking. She couldn’t let her growing obsession with him get in her way. She h
ad to get this right. Drew was a distraction that just wouldn’t be good for her, and definitely not for him.

  She left the files on her desk and grabbed her keys. Time to meet the very rich Alice Collins and get this investigation going.

  Del stared across the desk at the women he was sure would be the next TFH member. She was tall for woman, close to six feet. Green eyes sparkled with interest as she took in his office. It was easy to see that she was a local. She dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a blouse. A pair of boots completed the outfit. Her long auburn hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore scant makeup.

  “So, you worked for the DEA for ten years?”

  “Yes. Right out of college.”

  “And, since then?”

  She shrugged. “I just wanted to take a year off and travel.”

  He shifted in his seat as he tried to get a handle on the woman. “Just took off?”

  “Yeah. I saved up a little money, and I wanted to see more of the world. No ties, so I didn’t have to worry about that.”

  He couldn’t even imagine just picking up and leaving. Even when he had been in his twenties, duty to country always came first. Now, it was his job as the commander of TFH and as a husband and father that kept him tethered to reality.

  “The question I have for you is if you disappeared then, how can I be sure that you won’t disappear on me?”

  “I didn’t disappear. I finished up all my cases, gave six months’ notice, and flew back at my own expense to testify.”

  “Yeah, your bosses would hire you back in an instant.”

  She made a face. “Yeah, no. I wanted to move back to Hawaii. They wanted me on the mainland and saw me as D.C. material.”

  “And you didn’t?”

  “I could do the job, but I would hate it. I would rather stab myself in the eyelids with a thousand hot knives than deal with D.C. crap. Plus, they have winter there. I can stand it for a day or two. That’s it.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that. I think we need to address your past.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yes, ah. You were part of the Joyous Wave cult back in the nineties?”

  “It wasn’t like I started it. I was only a kid.”