Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Took you long enough, Kalakau,” he whispered.

  “Stuff it, Franklin, or I’ll leave you with that crazy bitch,” she said as she set her gun down beside him and started to work on his restraints.

  “God, I love you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Now shut up or she’ll come back and catch us.”

  “Oh, I think it’s too late,” Collins said from behind her.

  Cat turned, ready to strike and found Collins with a gun.

  “Oh, there you are. Well, seeing how I’m the bitch you were talking about earlier, I thought maybe I had a right to him.”

  “No. He’s mine. The only sad thing I didn’t get to do was sleep with him. I have an idea that he is quite the stallion.”

  “So, this isn’t the same as the others?”

  She shook her head. “For so long, no one noticed here. Of course, I had to be a bit more selective. I had to watch them longer, make sure they had no friends nearby, no one who would see me come and go. Took forever for Branson’s kids to leave the island, and he was easy. Really easy. But then, along came Drew. He made me believe, you know. He was so sweet…so real.”

  “He still is,” she said inching her way over to fully shield him from Collins.

  “No. He went out on a date with Lana and just gave her a kiss goodnight. And I thought that proved it. But no, it was because of you. But then, all men cheat.”

  “They don’t. Drew doesn’t.”

  Collins snorted and the barrel of the gun wavered. She was so ready to crack, she was shaking. Cat didn’t know if it were anger or fear. Then, before she knew what was happening, Drew came up out of the chair. Collins freaked and shot the gun, but the bullet went over their heads. Cat knew that she had to get to the other woman before she had a chance to fire again. Rushing forward, she tackled her. The gun went off again right before they both hit the floor. They rolled over the floor, and Cat hit her head on the desk before she gained control. Stars appeared before her eyes, and she blinked them away the best she could.

  She wrapped her hand around Collins’ wrist, and beat her hand against the floor until she dropped the gun. Then Cat straddled the other woman. Collins reached up and tried to scratch Cat’s face, but she easily batted her hands away. When she tried to hit Cat, it was the last straw. She punched Collins with a good right hook, completely knocking her out.

  Cat stood up just as TFH and HPD came pouring into the room. As she turned around, the room began to spin a little, but she ignored it. She saw Drew then, who still had one hand tied to the chair. He was furiously trying to undo the restraint so she hurried forward to help

  “Here,” she said, as she slipped her fingers beneath the rope and undid the knot. When he was free, he grabbed her and pulled her against him.

  “Damn, I thought we were both goners,” he said.

  She should’ve said something, but she was trying to keep from throwing up on him.

  “Cat?” he asked as he pulled her back. “Damn, you look pale.”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry. You’re the one bleeding.”

  Adam came up behind her, and she heard Del barking orders.

  “How are you doing?” Adam asked.

  “Fine, just a little woozy from the hit on the head,” she said. She would not faint. She had never fainted before, and she most definitely wasn’t going to start now. “We need to get Drew to the hospital to be checked out.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re freaking bleeding,” she said, then had to press her lips together.

  “And so are you,” Adam pointed out.

  “What?”

  She raised her hand to the back of her head and found blood. “Well, shit.”

  “Not just there,” Adam said. Looks like she nicked you with a bullet.”

  “Positively going to the hospital,” Drew said.

  She glared at him. “Right back at ya.”

  “It’s a date,” he said with a smile, then it faded. “Cat, are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she said as the room started to spin. “I just need to sit down.”

  She moved toward the chair Drew had been sitting in, but she never reached it. She felt herself pitching forward, and she heard Drew call her name.

  Then she heard nothing at all.

  22

  It took hours to get through all the mess at the hospital. Drew was examined and questioned. They determined right away that he didn’t have a concussion. All the while, he couldn’t get an answer about Cat’s condition. They said he would only be told after he had been examined.

  The nurse came in just moments later.

  “Mr. Franklin, I hear you want to know about Officer Kalakau.”

  “Agent.”

  “Okay, agent. She’s fine. They cleaned her wound. Just a flesh wound. No stitches. She’s getting an MRI right now, then we can update you again.”

  “Thank you. I don’t have to stay in here, do I?”

  “No. Here are your discharge papers. If you go out to the waiting room, we’ll come and give you another update.”

  He thanked the nurse and made his way out to the waiting room. After he called his mother—because he knew that someone would have told her— he called Charity

  “Hey, what are you doing calling here?” Charity said. “Shouldn’t you be getting your brain checked?”

  “They checked me out, and I’m fine. What’s going on there?”

  “Adam has been interrogating Collins. She’s been linked to at least three other murders. I’m sure there will be more. She keeps spouting off about the demon men who have ruined her life.”

  “Damn. Did you find anything else out about her?”

  “Her real name is Francine Dumont. Comes from money, or did, until her father lost it. He was running some kind of Ponzi scheme when it all imploded about twenty years ago. Then, she disappeared off the map. She was sixteen at the time, but there is no record of her going to school or going to the university. They are still trying to piece it together, but apparently, Francine didn’t handle going from Greenwich, Connecticut to Boston.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Worse, her father didn’t suffer the same fate as she and her mother. He ran off with funds he embezzled, with his mistress, to Moldova. So, I kind of understand her hatred of men.”

  “Damn.”

  “How’s Cat?”

  He sighed and rubbed his temple. He might not have a concussion, but he had one hell of a headache brewing. “I’m waiting for them to come get me. She just had a flesh wound, but they need to get it cleaned and check out her head.”

  “But she’s okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, because I am getting damned sick of all of us going to the hospital. We need a break”

  “I agree wholeheartedly.”

  “Oh, wait, here’s Adam.”

  The phone jostled around as Charity handed it over to the second-in-command. “Drew, howzit?”

  “Doing okay. I don’t have a concussion, and I’m waiting to hear about Cat.”

  “The boss should be there soon. He wanted to make sure everything here was taken care of, and he had to call Mrs. Kalakau.”

  As if on cue, Cat’s mother came bursting into the ER. “And…she’s here. Let me let you go. I need to talk with her and make sure she knows what’s going on.”

  “Gotcha.”

  After hanging up, he made a beeline for Cat’s mother, who was hassling one of the clerks.

  “Ms. Kalakau,” he said, and she turned toward him. She had been loud and rude, but the moment he saw her face, he knew it was out of fear.

  “Andrew.” She rushed over to him. “Is Catherine safe?”

  “Yes. They are just cleaning her wound and making sure she doesn’t have a concussion.”

  She let out a sigh of relief, then she studied him. “You were hurt too?”

  He nodded, as he guided her over to a seat. “Before Cat got there.”

  She sat down w
ith a grunt. “This is the reason she should not do this work. She needs to be safe.”

  “I can’t agree with that.”

  “You don’t think she needs to be safe?”

  “No, I can’t agree that she shouldn’t do this work. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be alive.”

  She studied him for a long moment. “That is one good thing. Still, she must quit. This isn’t the profession for her.”

  “Mrs. Kalakau, I have to humbly disagree, and if you can’t see this is what she was born to do, then you’re not looking close enough.”

  When she said nothing, he continued.

  “She’s excellent at her job and, thanks to her, there’s a serial killer behind bars. As I said, this is what she was born to do, and if you truly loved her, you would accept it. And you need to learn to accept her for who she is. She hates that you don’t get along. She hasn’t said anything to me, but I know it hurts her that you aren’t close anymore.”

  Again, she quietly studied him, her face void of expression. “You think you know her better than I do?”

  “I know her, and I love her for who she is. I can’t see her doing anything else and being happy. You need to accept that, or your relationship will never be right. She’s an amazing agent, and you need to support her.”

  Before her mother could respond, a nurse approached them. “Mrs. Kalakau? You can see your daughter now.”

  He stood up to follow, but the nurse asked him, “Are you related?”

  He shook his head.

  “I can only let family back, but they will have her up in her room soon enough.”

  His heart almost stopped. They had told him it was nothing serious. “She’s being admitted?”

  “Just for observation as a precaution.”

  He nodded as he released a long breath. “Thanks.”

  Cat’s mother looked at him one last time, then turned away to follow the nurse. He sat back down and tried to order himself not to worry. Being kept overnight wasn’t necessarily a sign that something was wrong. And he would get to see her soon enough.

  Five minutes later, Del and Emma arrived, and they made a beeline for him.

  “Drew,” Emma said as she reached down to hug him. “Are you okay?”

  He was so astounded by the unusually friendly gesture from Emma, it took him a second to answer. She wasn’t a woman who made big displays of emotion, especially in public.

  “I’m fine.”

  She gave him another squeeze, then straightened.

  “How is she?” Del asked.

  “Looks like everything is fine, but they are keeping her overnight.”

  “Why aren’t you back there?” Emma asked.

  “I’m not family. They said she was going up to her room in a while.”

  Emma looked at Del.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Go fix it,” she ordered, as she gestured to the on-duty nurse.

  And he knew Del would do it. Even if Del didn’t head up an elite law enforcement team, he could have gotten Drew back there. Del had the ultimate ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude, and it scared most people who didn’t know him.

  “No,” Drew said. “Her mother is back there right now.”

  “Are you sure?” Emma asked. “I think you should be back there.”

  He smiled, even as his headache seemed to get worse with each minute he sat there.

  “Yes. I think they have some things to discuss.”

  She sat down beside him and touched the bandage on his forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay. This is getting really old.”

  Del smiled. “I agree with that.”

  “Me three,” he said.

  “Want some coffee or a drink?” Del asked.

  Drew opened his mouth to say no, but Emma interrupted him.

  “Some water. Get him some water,” Emma said.

  He frowned as he watched his boss weave through all the milling people in the ER waiting room.

  “Why did you do that?”

  She sighed. “He has to have something to do or he’ll go crazy. Adam is already handling the interrogation. He also wants to hit something because this happened. It’s the Alpha in him. He wants to punish someone for you and Cat being hurt. Giving him a chore distracts him.”

  He smiled. “You sure do know your husband.”

  “Damned right I do. Now, about this wager on you and Cat.”

  “No comment.”

  “You suck. But I still like you.”

  Cat was lying in bed, still in the ER, when her mother was shown in. Damn, she wasn’t in the mood for this. Her head still throbbed since they wanted to keep her pain meds at a minimum until after they had the results of the MRI.

  “Catherine,” her mother said as she approached the bed.

  She studied her mother. Cat had expected her to be angry, but instead, she saw tears in her mother’s eyes.

  “Mom.” It was all she could say around the lump in her throat.

  Her mother cleared her throat. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I hit my head and got shot.”

  Her mother laughed, but it ended with a sob. She wasn’t sure just what to do. Her mother had never been one to cry, ever. Even when their father had died, her mother did not cry. At least not in front of her girls.

  “Don’t cry.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said pulling a tissue out of her purse. “I didn’t mean to cry. Not here.”

  “It’s okay. I understand.”

  She wiped away the tears and blew her nose. “I thought my world had ended today when I got the call from Commander Delano.”

  Tears burned the backs of Cat’s eyes, and she tried to blink them away, but it did no good. They spilled down her cheeks.

  “You know how much I need you to be safe.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “No,” her mother said as she stepped closer, then sat down on the bed. “You don’t. You think it is because I expect so much out of you, but it’s because if you’re there, I know I can make it. You’re tough, and you make me believe I can handle anything.”

  “Mom, you can handle anything. You raised four girls by yourself.”

  “Yes, but you know I couldn’t have done it without you. My rock. Ever since you were little, you were always there to help, and now I see what it caused.”

  “What?”

  Her mother sighed. “You need your own life. You need to be happy.”

  “I am happy. I love my work.”

  Her mother took another tissue from her purse and wiped Cat’s tears. She hadn’t done that since the day Cat’s father had died.

  “I didn’t understand before,” she said.

  “Before today?”

  Her mother shook her head. “Before your young man told me. He explained it all to me. He loves you very much.”

  Cat nodded. “Good, because I love him.”

  Her mother smiled, then took her hand. “I am not happy about this career of yours, and I will never understand it, but I will learn to accept it.”

  “Well, gee, that’s a great gesture.”

  “Watch it,” she said.

  Cat chuckled. “Sure thing.”

  “He’s a very special man, your Andrew.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. He’s pretty damned special.”

  “So, tell me about this crazy woman who shot you.”

  She laughed and started to tell her mother what she knew about the case. And, for the first time in a long time, she could share laughter with her mother with none of the pain.

  When she woke up the next morning, the only thing Cat could think of was that she freaking hurt. Damn. And it had nothing to do with the gunshot wound, although that did sting. No, her head was pounding.

  She blinked and tried to open her eyes. It took her a few tries, but her eyes finally focused. Carefully, she looked around the room and found Drew sitting beside her bed. She turned her head and white hot pain flashed through her brain, and then through h
er entire body.

  “Fuck.”

  Her utterance jolted Drew awake. He blinked a few times, then focused on her.

  “Hey, there,” he said, getting up and walking to the bed. “Good to see you awake.”

  “Have you been here all night?”

  He nodded. “Del sweet talked the nurses into letting me stay.”

  She licked her lips. They were dry and hurt like hell.

  “Do you need some water?”

  She nodded, then watched him as he poured some water into a cup with a straw. He walked over to her, sat on her bed, and helped her drink. The cool liquid slipped down her throat and gave her some relief. When she was finished, he set the cup on the bedside table.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Like crap.”

  He chuckled.

  “Well, I’m glad you have found amusement in my plight. What’s going on with Collins?”

  “Adam is working the issue. She’s been tied to several other murders, and they are trying to track down all her aliases.”

  “How did I miss that?”

  “How did we all miss that? Everyone had the same information.”

  “She was the one woman they each had in common. We didn’t even pick up on that.”

  He nodded. “Looks like Lena is turning state’s evidence. Going to testify about the whole operation.”

  “I don’t know how we missed that either. I didn’t find anything big that would tell me she was hooking.”

  “She had student debt from college apparently. She’d paid it off and planned on working for just a few more months to save some money up.”

  “Well, damn. Again, another screw up.”

  He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “We all did, but we knew it had to do with that dating service. Remember, HPD did a very involved investigation and couldn’t find anything. Collins apparently has a world class mind when it comes to hiding money.”

  “I take it Alice Collins isn’t her real name?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Francine Dumont. Came from a lot of money before he father lost it all. Charity is working on piecing her life together. She’s been using aliases for probably close to twenty years.”