Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “You know, if you keep things like that up, I might just lose my job. And you could lose yours,” Cat said, as he held the door open for her.

  He couldn’t fight the smile that curved his lips and, why should he? He’d had the most amazing night, followed by a mind-blowing morning. That alone was enough to make him smile. But the fact he could do it all over again, that was what had him grinning. She had put her hair up in a sassy ponytail and was wearing the same basic uniform as always. Cargo pants, TFH shirt, and boots.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  He nodded his head. “Yeah, but you might want to keep your voice down.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought you wanted to keep this only between us?”

  She frowned at him as she pushed open the door to the conference room. She stepped inside and then turned to face him. “Like that matters. They all know anyway.”

  He glanced over her head and saw that everyone was either seated or standing around the conference table. Well, everyone but Charity, who was habitually late.

  “Something’s up,” he murmured.

  Cat turned around, then started in the direction of the crowd. “What’s up?”

  Del stood in front of the table blocking their view. His expression varied between anger and worry. That was enough to have Drew freaking out a little. Del rarely showed his emotions. “We had a delivery this morning. Early. Adam got here before six, and it was waiting for him.”

  Cat placed a hand on each of her hips and looked up at their boss. “What is it? A body part?”

  A feeling of dread started to fill him. There had been one thing that had been delivered to each of the murder victims; and if he was right, Cat was going to have a fit.

  “No. Seems Drew has picked up an admirer,” Del said. He stepped aside and, there on the table, was a glass vase filled with red roses.

  “It’s addressed to you,” Adam said.

  Drew nodded and walked closer.

  “Don’t touch it,” Charity yelled out as she came running across the conference room floor toward the crowd. She had her lab coat on and was putting on a pair of blue latex gloves.

  “I wasn’t going to.” He saw his name on the outside of the card. He looked up at Adam. “The name of the person who sent it?”

  “No, and from what we can tell, there is no sign of where it came from either.”

  “I have the security recording, if you want to pull it up,” Charity said.

  Drew nodded and hit the buttons. They all watched as a person walked down the street, then turned up the pathway that lead to TFH headquarters. Whoever it was wore a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. Because the person had pulled the hood up over her head, there was no telling who it was. Hell, there was no telling if it was a woman. It could have been a small guy. One who was smart enough to hide their face from the camera.

  Charity took hold of the card, opening it and reading it. She turned the card over.

  You are mine. Now and forever.

  19

  Drew tried to find comfort from being in Charity’s lab. It had always been a place to come for comradery and laughter. It was also a place to come for support.

  “So, you want to tell me why you and Cat came in to work together?” Charity asked, as she punched the buttons and started running the fingerprint she’d found. He knew that was the main reason she had invited him down to her lab to help.

  “No. Not really.”

  They stared at each for a very long minute. Charity had always claimed to be able to crack any man and, for the most part, he believed her. There was one thing more important than that though. It was the promise he’d made to Cat. She didn’t want the whole office to know about them just yet, and he wouldn’t be the one who blurted it out.

  Finally, she let out a “Dammit. Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

  He smiled.

  “Oh, I’m going to make you pay for this. Even though TJ said I needed to leave you alone.”

  “Smart man, TJ.”

  “Oh, you all stick together. And that sucks.”

  It was always best to distract Charity. If she started to rant about something, there was a good chance she would never shut up about it. The one thing that could pull her focus away was work.

  “That’s a good print you have there.”

  She glanced at the screen. “Almost a full fingerprint, so they weren’t that smart.”

  “And since none of the previous ones were recovered, maybe she thought it would end up in the trash. Maybe she just didn’t worry about it.”

  “You think it is this woman you had the date with?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure. She didn’t seem that scary when we had the date. Although, she did make a joke about being a serial killer.”

  “She did?”

  “Yeah, it was in reference to her parents, how they acted like moving to Oahu was horrible.”

  “Huh. That’s interesting.”

  “Yeah. I remember it because it seemed so natural to throw out there. Truthfully, she could have just been joking. I guess we need to find out before my date tonight.”

  “How does Cat feel about you dating this woman?”

  “What do you mean? She told me to make another date. I was just following orders. Plus, it isn’t a real date. This is a work date.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re being mean.”

  “You have to be sneakier than that to get me to screw up.”

  She shook her head. “I guess I’ll let it go…for now. Although, that sentence pretty much proves my hypothesis.”

  He decided to ignore that comment. “All you have is the fingerprint?”

  “Yes, and if the fingerprints aren’t in the system, we can’t find anything, but there is always a chance.”

  As soon as she said that, her computer pinged. The woman was kind of eerie with her timing.

  “We have a match,” she said, and he hurried over with her to look. When they saw the name, they both stood there for a moment taking it all in.

  “Holy moly,” she muttered.

  “You said a mouthful.”

  “I want him off the case,” Cat said.

  She was in Del’s office, alone with him. After the meeting, Del had said they needed to talk. Adam had left to track down the information to see if Lana Cho was somehow connected to the flower delivery. Everyone else had scattered.

  They had been going round and round for fifteen minutes. She had tried to come up with all kinds of reasons for Drew not to go on the date that night. She knew it was unprofessional, but she really didn’t care. She didn’t want Drew anywhere near this.

  Del studied her as she paced back and forth. He had said very little, just countering her arguments with sound answers. It was annoying.

  “There’s no reason for that.”

  He said it calmly, as if he had just told her about the weather. It was frustrating.

  She stopped and looked out over the deserted conference room. She couldn’t seem to draw her gaze away from where the flowers had been sitting on the conference table. Charity had taken them downstairs for analyzing, and to determine if there were any fingerprints on the vase or card. Rage and fear tangled together in her gut. She should have never allowed him to be involved with the case. This was all her fault. Drew wasn’t built for this. He was a geek, a man who shouldn’t be out in the field.

  “No reason? He could get killed.”

  “No, there is no reason to pull him. You’re letting your emotions take over. I need to you to stay focused.”

  His voice was a bit sterner than usual, and she knew she had disappointed her boss. She didn’t care, Drew was too important to her. She couldn’t risk losing him just now after she had gotten him back.

  She turned to face him. “I am focused.”

  After a long study, he shook his head. “No, you aren’t. I know exactly what you’re feeling.”

  “I don’t think you do.”

  “Don’
t you remember when Emma wanted to go taunt a sadistic serial killer? Yeah, I see that you do. I understand what you are thinking, but the truth is, you don’t have to worry. We can keep him safe, and besides, maybe Charity will find something.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Of course, you don’t. You’re in love with him.”

  Even just hearing the words sent anxiety racing through her. “I do not.”

  Del chuckled. “Face it, Kalakau. You’re hooked. You wouldn’t have done anything so inappropriate as have a relationship with a fellow employee otherwise.”

  “There are no rules against it.”

  “No, but during an investigation like this, you know it’s a little sketchy.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but he held up his hand.

  “I don’t want to have an argument about this. Like I said, I don’t have much room to talk. But I need you to understand what’s at stake here. He has a serial killer who has killed at least four other people zeroed in on him. Taking him off the case isn’t going to make her change her mind. You just leave him exposed.”

  Just hearing her thoughts expressed out loud left her feeling a little queasy. She knew it was true, but she desperately wanted him away from the danger. He had already been shot once. She couldn’t handle him being hurt a second time.

  Before she could answer the boss, Del’s phone rang. He picked it up.

  “Yeah.” He listened for a while. “Are you sure?”

  There was a lot of loud talking on the other end of the line, and even as stressed as she was, Cat couldn’t help but smile. Charity didn’t like when you questioned her results.

  “Fine. Yeah. Cat’s here. I’ll tell her.” He hung up. “You have a suspect to pull in.”

  “Who?”

  “Lana Cho.”

  20

  Drew stood outside of the interview room, staring through the one-sided mirror. Lana looked much like she had the night they went out together. Neat, kind of cute. She was dressed in scrubs, since they had pulled her out of work for the interview. He just couldn’t see her as a killer. At the moment, her eyes kept moving around the room, as if looking, hoping for some kind of intervention. Maybe she was wondering if it was all a bad dream.

  He couldn’t blame her. He had watched Cat interrogate her for thirty minutes before Lana had asked for her attorney. Now the young woman sat there with an expression of loathing on her face. He didn’t know if it was because she got caught, or if she was innocent. Even knowing that looks could be deceiving, he just couldn’t picture her strangling a man to death.

  “Hey,” Marcus called out as he walked down the hall. “You have a visitor in the waiting area.”

  “A visitor?”

  “Yeah, I think Elle said it was your mom. She’s talking to her right now, but I know the woman wanted to talk with you.”

  Great. This was all he needed today. There was a good chance his mother was there only to try and gather up gossip.

  “Okay. Nothing’s going on here anyway.”

  “Still hasn’t cracked?” Marcus asked as he stood beside Drew and took in the scene.

  Drew shook his head. “Asked for her lawyer, so Cat is just doing a stare down with her.”

  “Cho doesn’t look all that much like a serial killer.”

  “What do you mean? Because she’s a woman?”

  “No. Believe me, I understand women can be lethal, so it isn’t that. It is her demeanor. All the ones I’ve seen after their arrest are usually cold, and act as if they are annoyed. The other kind are the true crazies who are ranting and raving about everything. They want to profess their manifesto or whatever.”

  “Yeah, that is what has gotten me confused. She seems more frightened than anything else. Which might just be an act. If she is a true sociopath, there is a chance she’s playing another part.”

  “True,” Marcus said nodding. “This could be awhile.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go talk to my mom. Otherwise, she might corner someone else.”

  As he turned to leave, Marcus asked, “So, no helping me with the pool we have going about you and Cat?”

  “No help,” he said with a chuckle.

  He walked down the hall thinking about what Marcus had said. From the beginning, he had doubts about Lana. She seemed to be exactly what she presented to the world. Hard working and sweet. But then, some of the most vicious serial killers were considered nice and quiet. That is, until something set the killer off. An explosion of violence would follow. This crime fit that type. Months went by without any murders, then one would pop up. Lana could be one of those types.

  He found his mother sitting with Elle in the waiting area.

  “Mom, what are you doing here? Is there anything wrong?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Just wanted to stop by and see you. And see Elle, of course.”

  His mother was approaching sixty, but didn’t look a day over forty. She had recently cut her hair shorter, and she was sporting a Hawaiian Warriors T-shirt today. His mother was an avid supporter of the women’s volleyball team at the university.

  She stood so he could give her a kiss on the cheek. Then, as usual, she rubbed away the lipstick mark.

  “I’m headed back down,” Elle said. “I really enjoyed talking to you. You should stop by more often.”

  “I should, but someone doesn’t like when I do that,” his mother said, gesturing her head in his direction. “Just remember what I said.”

  “I will, Mrs. Franklin.”

  Once they were alone, he smiled at his mother. “What did you tell her?”

  “She’s going to have a boy. Easy to see with the way she is carrying. I hope you aren’t too busy.”

  “No, I was just watching Cat interrogate a suspect.”

  “Oh, is this the woman who has been murdering her dates?”

  “How did you hear about that?”

  “It’s all over the news. And, I might have talked to Mrs. Kalakau about it.”

  Damn. Cat wasn’t going to be happy about that.

  “That’s why you stopped by?”

  “What?” she asked, widening her eyes and trying to look innocent. He wasn’t fooled. “I just came by to see you. It’s been so long.”

  “I was at your house on Sunday.” He shook his head. “Admit it. You came here to ask about me and Cat.”

  “I…okay, yes. She came in and said she saw you two at Cat’s house early in the morning.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to tell me anything?”

  “No.”

  “Andrew Franklin.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “Mom, listen, I know you want to meddle, but this isn’t the time. We are about to wrap up this case. I‘ll talk to you this weekend about Cat and me, but right now, it isn’t a good idea. It is kind of crazy today around here.”

  She studied him for a long minute. He wondered now what she and Mrs. Kalakau had talked about. Both of them were domineering in their own ways. Together, they could screw up the entire thing.

  “Okay. But know that I want a full accounting. Can you tell me about this case?”

  “A little bit. I went undercover.”

  She frowned. “I don’t like that.”

  He shook his head. “I only pretended to date women. Well, a woman, there was only the one.”

  “You dated a woman under false pretenses? I raised you better than that.”

  “It was for a case.”

  “Still.”

  “She’s a serial killer, mom. Or, she could be. They are figuring that out right now.”

  “And this service you used?”

  “Premiere Connections.”

  Then his phone went off. As if on cue, it was Premiere Connections.

  “Let me get this.” He clicked his phone on. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Franklin, this is Alice, you remember, the owner of PC.”

  He frowned at the familiarity. “Yes, of course.”

  “I
was wondering if you could come by. We’ve had a problem with your account.”

  “My account?”

  “Yes, we’ve had a hiccup, and I need to get all your paperwork redone. I don’t want to suspend your service, but we will have to if I can’t get this cleared up.”

  It seemed like an odd request, but the case still wasn’t closed. He needed to continue to play the part. “Let me check with my boss, but I should be able to swing by there.”

  “Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you,” she said, her voice softening over the words. Very odd.

  When he hung up, he looked at his mother, who was studying him.

  “The case.”

  “What about it?” she asked.

  “The woman who runs the dating service called and said I needed to fill out more paperwork.”

  “Are you going to go?”

  “Don’t really have to.”

  “Why not?” she persisted. “The case is almost over, so there is no reason to pretend.”

  Del walked by and noticed he was talking to his mother. His boss opened the door and stuck his head in. “Howzit, Mrs. Franklin?”

  “Come in, Captain Delano,” she said, acting as if she owned the place and Del was a visitor. His mother had autocratic leanings that would make Mussolini blush.

  “How are you doing today?” Del asked.

  “Fine. That is until my son decided to ignore my request.”

  Del looked at him, then back at his mother. “He did something bad?”

  “He made dates for this investigation.”

  “One date,” Drew said, but his mother ignored him.

  “And now he is going to ignore a call from the owner to come and work on some paperwork.

  Again, Del looked at him. “She called you?”

  “Yeah, said there was a glitch in the system, and I needed to redo some paperwork.”

  Del sighed. “I hate to say it, but you need to go then, even though it looks like the woman in interrogation is going to plea out.”