Constant Craving (Task Force Hawaii #3)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “No, but I would say you might want to find out who else would have access to the computers at TFH. Or, who could make it look like it was the computers at TFH. For some reason, someone wants us to think they are in league with Foley.”

  “That is if the Edwards woman is innocent. Right at the moment, I have my doubts.”

  He didn’t like Remington’s tone. As wonderful of a mentor as he was, he had his faults, and one of them was having tunnel vision. It helped him work a case to completion. But there were times where it could go badly for everyone involved.

  “We could ask her. Just straight out. She strikes me as the kind of woman who would tell it like it is.”

  There was a long pause. “No. You know the drill. If you tell the woman, she might tell Foley and then he could disappear.”

  TJ leaned back in his chair and thought. Yes, his personal feelings were involved. It was hard to separate that. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this attracted to a woman. He had never been a man for forbidden fruit, so he knew it wasn’t that aspect that appealed to him. Charity just wasn’t the type, not really. Every one of his marks had been needy. That was not a word he would apply to Charity Edwards.

  Even though he had major doubts, he knew if he insisted on her innocence that Remington would pick up on it.

  “Sure. I’ll keep up my surveillance.”

  “You do that. I’m going to have some folks run down the information on her trip. I’m sure the airports have security footage. If she was there, she should show up.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Remington hung up once again without saying goodbye. TJ had grown accustomed to Remington’s personality while he had been working for him. In the year he had been away from DC, TJ apparently had gotten out of practice. In the Hawaii Field Office, they did their jobs, but things were not as insane as in DC. It was one of the reasons he’d requested the position. After the craziness of the Foley investigation, he had needed a break.

  Thinking of Foley brought him back to Charity. The sooner he cleared Charity, the sooner he could get serious about dating her. He felt guilty enough as it was going out last night with her. Another symptom of being away from DC. He didn’t think twice about things like being untruthful with one of the most fascinating women he had ever met. So, maybe he could see if she was interested in a lunch date. He shook his head. Too soon. Maybe see if she wanted to go out on Friday night? That would be best.

  He picked up the phone to call her, but someone else knocked on the door. Santos looked in. “We got a meeting in five.”

  “Tsu’s not here.”

  “This is for that task force they are setting up for online predators.”

  Damn. “Okay. Forgot about that.”

  Yeah, because he was preoccupied with Charity. He gathered up his stuff he needed for the meeting. He’d call her after lunch.

  Charity got through the morning with coffee and malasadas thanks to Adam. He had shown up without explanation with a box and a large cup of her favorite Kona.

  “So, I take it you were called away because of Jin.”

  He nodded. “She’s not getting better.”

  “What was it this time?”

  “She’d been out drinking. Passed out in her car.”

  About a year ago, Jin had been abducted by a pair of sadistic bastards who had been raping, torturing, and killing women. She had been their only survivor. Charity would never dream of passing judgment on the way Jin had handled it. Truth was, Charity wasn’t sure she could ever fathom the nightmare existence Jin had experienced for a week. To live with the memories, and know that everyone you’re acquainted with knows, would be unbearable. Charity just wished there was something she could do to help Adam.

  “Damn. Do you know if Elle has talked to her?”

  “She’s going to stop by today to check on her.”

  She nodded, and the door to her lab opened up. Marcus strode in, a look of irritation marring his usually pretty face. A slim, attractive black woman followed him. She was tall, at least four inches taller than Charity, and wore her hair slicked back in a French twist at the base of her neck. A heavy fringe of bangs covered her forehead. Dark brown eyes took in every aspect of the lab. Charity was pretty sure she was committing it to memory.

  “I heard what happened,” Marcus said.

  Charity glanced past him to the woman.

  “I’m Tamilya, since Marcus decided to ignore me.”

  “Woman, I’m not ignoring you.”

  Charity fought a smile. In all the time she had known Marcus, she had never seen him act this way toward anyone. “Nice to meet you. And this comment has nothing to do with you, but,” she said directing her attention to Marcus, “I don’t think we should talk about this in front of outsiders.”

  “I can wait in the hall, but Marcus wanted me to tell you about the Hammer.”

  “You know him from your time with the FBI?”

  She nodded. “We went to Quantico at the same time.”

  Charity smiled. “Adam, give this woman a malasada.”

  “Oh, no,” she said glancing at the box. Her eyes stayed on the box for a second longer than a regular glance, then she looked back at Charity. “I really shouldn’t. But thanks.”

  “So, the Hammer?” she asked.

  Tamilya nodded. “Yeah, well, he’s kind of intense. Always has been.”

  “I get that.”

  “It was hard to be friendly at first. I’d been valedictorian at my high school and then third in my graduating class at the University of Alabama.” Then she glanced around the office. “Ugh, you’re a bulldog.”

  Charity laughed. “I didn’t graduate. I got picked up by the CIA my sophomore year.”

  “Still,” she said with an exaggerated sniff, then she smiled. “We are both very competitive, but he’s a pretty good guy. One of those salt of the Earth types as my Mom says.”

  “That sounds about right.”

  “And, after the big mess a year ago, he has gotten even worse they say.”

  “Mess?”

  “You mean you didn’t hack...”

  “I did no such thing.” She hadn’t. Emma had, but there was no reason to let her know that.

  “Well, he was involved in some kind of undercover operation. I had just left the FBI, but I heard about it. He was on the task force to bring down Foley.”

  The pieces were all starting to fall into place. “I remember something about that operation. A woman was killed.”

  “Yes, and Hammer ended up in the hospital. He took it hard because Foley got away and a civilian was killed. Being a perfectionist can be hard when you work in law enforcement. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose—and sometimes people die.”

  There was no need for Charity to ask, but Tamilya had experienced something similar to TJ. She knew she had left the FBI for a reason, but now she was getting an idea that it might have been a case gone wrong.

  Charity sighed. “And now, all of a sudden, Foley has popped up here. This is all very weird.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think he was involved with Foley?” Marcus asked.

  Tamilya snorted. “No.”

  “Why?” Adam asked.

  “He’s Captain Freaking America. Seriously. You know his family background?” Charity nodded. “They are the quintessential crime fighting family. He believes deeply in doing the right thing and telling the truth. That’s why I was so surprised that he was put undercover. He is a kickass agent, but I never saw him being good at deception.”

  “Apparently he learned.”

  Just as she said it, her phone rang. Damn. Even now, her palms went sweaty and her pulse scrambled. It had to be anger…right? She couldn’t still be attracted to a man who had deceived her.

  “It’s him.”

  “Are you going to answer?” Adam asked.

  She drew in a breath and released it before picking up her phone. “Hey, there.”

  “How is your day goin
g?”

  “Not too bad,” she said, adding a little sugar to her voice. Marcus’ eyebrows shot up at it, but Charity ignored him.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to go out again.”

  She didn’t say anything at first. She let the invitation hang in the air.

  “Sure. That sounds good.”

  “Are you free Friday night?”

  “I am. In fact, Drew is supposed to have a night out with the boys.”

  “Sounds great. Seven good?”

  “Seven is excellent.”

  “See you then.”

  She clicked off the phone.

  “What the hell are you up to, Charity?” Adam asked.

  “Del said to make him think I don’t know. If I avoid contact with him, he might think I’m guilty. Besides, by Friday, I will have enough information.”

  Adam shook his head. “Men always think women are the weaker sex.”

  Tamilya crossed her arms. “And we have to prove you wrong every generation. You want to be careful with him, Charity.”

  “With Adam?”

  “No. With Callahan. He is even-tempered and a hard worker, but I will tell you, the reason he is good at cyber is because he is good at zeroing in on the subject and not letting go. He can detect any little mistake, any hint of deception. Those types always have a trigger of some sort, and you might just flip it.”

  “I bet. But he never met the likes of me.”

  “You’re not trained for undercover work,” Marcus said.

  Charity smiled. “Yeah, but I was raised by a smart woman. I know just how to give a man enough rope to hang himself. And this one is going to be worth every moment I get to watch him dangle.”

  Chapter Seven

  The week seemed to fly by for Charity. She had so much going on with preparing for the trial that she should have had very little time to think about TJ. She wished it had worked that way. Each time she had a moment to catch her breath, TJ popped up in her head. Even when she should be paying attention to something, she found her thoughts straying to the agent. She dreaded the date.

  “So, I hear we have a fed we need to beat up?” Cat said over the phone. She’d been gone visiting some family on Maui all week and had just gotten back.

  “Not yet.”

  “Damn. I was aiming to let loose some demons.”

  “Bad trip?”

  She sighed. “One half of the family wants me to be something other than a cop, and the other half is asking why I don’t have a husband.”

  “You’re only twenty-six.”

  “Yeah, well, when I had that date with Drew, they had high hopes for me. My usual dates are not to their liking.”

  “Ah.”

  Charity could see that. Drew came from a very influential family on the island. Not only did they have several restaurants in Hawaii, they had recently expanded to California and Japan. Beyond that, he had one or two family members in state politics. Most locals would see him as an eligible bachelor. Drew would rather everyone just leave him alone. The date had been to Del and Emma’s wedding, and had ended with Drew being shot the next day. Since that point, Cat had avoided Drew and, at first, Charity had been pissed. But as time passed, she had realized something else was going on. She just wasn’t sure what yet, but she was sure she would figure it out soon.

  “I have a date tonight, and Drew is going out with the guys.”

  There was a beat of silence. “How’s he doing?”

  There. Right there. Charity heard it in Cat’s voice. She knew what happened shook the whole team, but Cat had been shattered. She cared about Drew, though. “Better. I think in time we’ll get the old Drew back.”

  Cat said nothing about that. “Tell you what. I’m in the office catching up on paperwork. I’ll hang out here until you text me and let me know everything is done for the night.”

  “I really don’t think you need to do that.”

  “I know you can handle yourself, but there is nothing wrong with a little backup.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know.”

  “Talk later.”

  Charity hung up just as Drew stepped into her doorway.

  “Hey, what time is the bastard picking you up?”

  He was dressed for his night out in his favorite Doctor Who shirt and shorts. He had even combed his hair—which was never a sure thing these days.

  “He’ll be here in an hour and you will be gone.”

  He frowned at her. “You planned it that way.”

  Not a question. The boy was smart.

  “Yes. You are not always that good at deception, and I know you’re thinking about punching him.”

  “I am going to punch him.”

  She shook her head and turned to face him. “I need to pretend just a little bit longer. As soon as we get some more info on him and exactly why they are looking at me, we will hit him.”

  She studied him and realized that for the first time in months, Drew was more animated. It was the first thing she had associated with him. Full of life and not afraid so show his adorable dorky side.

  “You look good.”

  “Thank you, my Ebony Queen.”

  She smiled at the use of his first nickname for her. He was showing her more and more of the old Drew. In the last few days, he seemed to be loosening up and wanting to get out of the apartment. She knew after the experience that he might not be exactly the same, but she wanted him to be happier.

  “I’m not sure what I’m going to get out of tonight.”

  “Being out with friends. That’s all you need. And, let’s face it. Hanging out with me and my cats is not doing anything for your image. You need some male bonding time.”

  He smiled and this one reached his eyes. “Yeah.”

  The doorbell rang. “And on cue, that must be whoever is picking you up.”

  “Marcus.”

  “Oh, speaking of which,” she said when she followed him out into the living area. “I met the very attractive Tamilya the other day.”

  He slanted her a look. “Yeah?”

  She nodded. “She gave us some background on our FBI agent.”

  “Vibes?”

  She knew what he was asking. Since they had seen the way Marcus Floyd reacted whenever there was a chance he would see the woman, they had known he had a thing for her. “There’s an office pool, and the pot increased after her visit.”

  “I’m going to have to get in on that,” he said.

  He opened the door. Marcus was dressed for the night. A designer Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. It still amazed her she was surrounded by so many beautiful men, but had never been interested in any of them outside of friendship. She had chalked it up to the fact they were in law enforcement. Cops had never been her thing. At least, until the very deceptive Agent Callahan had popped up into her life, the bastard.

  “Well, don’t you look handsome. With you and Drew, you’ll have to fight off the women.”

  Marcus rolled his eyes. “Guys night.”

  “Please tell me you aren’t going out to a strip joint.”

  Marcus chuckled. “No, just dinner and some drinking. Do you need backup tonight?”

  “I’m fine.” She thought back to her conversation with Cat, but decided not to mention the conversation in front of Drew. “I’ve got backup if I need it, but I don’t think I’ll have a problem.”

  “Good.”

  “Be careful with him, Charity,” Drew said.

  “I will. Don’t worry.”

  Once she ushered them out of the apartment, she decided to get ready. TJ had texted her earlier today and asked if she would be up for a ride in his Jeep. She had agreed and tried to fight the niggle of admiration. A lot of men would just expect you to go along with them. Not TJ. It was actually very considerate of him.

  With a sigh, she pushed the thought aside. He was the enemy, and he needed to be destroyed. But first, she would make sure she backed him to the edge of the cliff.

  TJ stepped into the the elev
ator and pressed the button for Charity’s floor. Tonight had taken on a different meaning after this week. He had researched her, the team, Foley, looked into all of their accounts, and he had yet to pick up on anything. Because of that, he had come a decision.

  She was innocent.

  He couldn’t prove it completely, but right at the moment, he had no idea why the FBI had been led to her. He was sure now that it had been a set up of some sort, some way to throw them off the path of the real culprit. That had bothered him more than anything. Knowing that someone was using the FBI that way should be a concern to all of them, but TJ hadn’t said a word to Remington. Without proof, there would be no way of swaying his old boss.

  He walked down her hall, bracing for another interaction with her roommate. Drew wasn’t a rival for her affections. He understood that. He wasn’t stupid, and not once did he get a vibe of attraction between Drew and Charity. Still, the man was living with Charity, and that was enough to put TJ off. He got the definite feeling that Drew did not like him, and TJ knew that his opinion would matter a lot to Charity.

  He raised his hand to knock on the door. It took her a few seconds to make it to the door. When it opened, he felt the air leave his lungs. The woman just took his breath away. Tonight she was wearing a red sleeveless blouse that she tied at her waist and a pair of jean shorts. He let his gaze travel down to her feet. Of course, her toe nails were painted. Red—a perfect match to her shirt.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  He tore his gaze away from her feet. She was smiling.

  “Sorry. No, nothing wrong.”

  Other than the fact that he was overly turned on by the fact that she had painted her toe nails. It was a bit embarrassing, especially since he had never been a foot man.

  Charity said nothing. She slipped on a pair of black sandals—or slippahs as the locals called them.

  “Where are Jess and Luke?”

  She rolled her eyes. “They’re mad. Drew is out with the guys and left them on their own. They are protesting by sleeping on his bed.” She grabbed her purse and stepped out into the hallway, locking the door.