by Reina Torres
Failing miserably that time.
Jackson held her still and pressed a slow, gentle kiss on her lips.
She grinned up at him when he pulled back.
“I think we should go back to my apartment,” she told him and kept her eyes on his even as she felt her cheeks flame with heat. “We need some time to just talk.”
“I’d like that.” Jackson held out his hand and she took it in hers. “I’d like that a lot.”
She knew something was wrong before they’d even turned down the street. Tourists standing at the corner waiting to cross the street weren’t looking down at the beach, they were looking up toward the Ala Wai Canal.
Nothing interesting to see up there.
So maybe it was just a feeling inside that said it had to be her.
Fatalistic? Sure! Why not?
Jackson stopped his car at the Police barricade and both of them stepped out of the car. Hi`ilani felt his arm around her and she was grateful for the support as they walked up to the officer manning the barricade.
A quick check of her license and the officer called over the officer in charge to get permission for them to move beyond the barrier.
Stepping down off the curb, his hands momentarily resting on his duty belt, Kyle Ballard made his way to the barricade and after a long look at Jackson, he waved them through.
“Kyle, what’s going on?”
He turned to look at her and shook his head. “Someone broke into your apartment.”
She could feel the color draining from her face. “When?”
“From what we can piece together from a few people in the area, they broke in sometime in the last two hours.” He looked over at the apartment next door to her. “Mrs. Pacheco said it was one man. She saw him leave less than an hour ago.”
“Is she okay? She didn’t try to stop him, did she?” She turned to Jackson. “Mrs. Pacheco is the sweetest lady, tiny, and at least sixty. If he saw her,” her breath seized in her chest and she pressed her hand over her heart and found it pounding in her chest, “is she okay?”
Kyle’s face showed some concern as he looked at her. “She’s okay. She was just coming back from the laundry machines in the back of the building and saw him through a break in the hedge. When he left, she started to follow him and see if he had a car at the curb, but her laundry basket caught on the hedge and she fell in the gravel.” He reached out a steadying hand before she could ask her question. “We sent her to the hospital. She had a few scratches on her arms but her knees took the brunt of her fall.”
Hi`ilani shook her head. “I should go and see her.”
“No,” Kyle reached out and grabbed her arm, “you’re not going to go and see her.”
“Kyle,” she tried to pull away but he held on, “she was injured because of me.”
“It’s not safe. If they’ve found you here, they’re smart enough to think you’d go and see her. You,” he slanted a glance at Jackson, “where have you been since I left you two alone.”
Irritation swelled in her throat. “He’s been with me, we just came back from talking to Detective Wong. You can’t think Jackson would do something like this.”
“Well, I’m going to call Detective Wong and check your story.”
She narrowed her eyes at Kyle. “Don’t you trust me at least?”
“This guy has your head turned so far around, I don’t think you can see straight. He shows up out of nowhere and suddenly Mackie’s dead and it’s likely you were a target too?”
Hi`ilani had a sick feeling in her middle, twisting into her gut. “Jackson isn’t involved in this.”
Kyle wasn’t listening. He’d taken a step to the side and stared straight into Jackson’s face. “Well? What do you have to say about it?”
When Jackson didn’t immediately answer him, Kyle continued on.
“From what the report says you were there with two other men from the military who apparently ran off to chase the shooters.” Kyle leaned closer and lowered his voice to a cold whisper. “They came back empty handed. Two military men couldn’t catch a couple of local thugs?”
“Kyle, stop!” She wasn’t just tired, she was getting angry. “They were trying to help. You know Chinatown. There’s alleys and recessed doorways. Then you’ve got the abandoned storefronts. The shooters could have ducked in anywhere to get away. And the two men,” she looked at Jackson, “they’re visiting from Texas, right?”
He nodded.
“So they wouldn’t know what a maze Chinatown can be. At night? With a head start? What you’re suggesting is just… it’s just-”
“What do you want me to think, Lani?” He almost spit out his words. “I was okay when you broke up with me. I got it. You needed to concentrate on your career. Then less than a month goes by and you’re almost killed, and he’s around you again?” Kyle’s finger jabbed at the air in Jackson’s direction. “You can’t expect me to ignore it.”
“Lower your voice,” she pleaded with him, “people are looking at us.” She pulled into herself, stepping back from the barrier, her gaze lowering down toward the ground.
“This isn’t about us. It isn’t even about Jack. When I went out after Mackie, I heard them talking about-”
She stopped short.
Shook her head.
Ground her back teeth together.
“I need to go.”
She gasped in a harsh breath.
“I need to get away from-”
She stopped because she didn’t know how to finish the statement. Here? Him? The curious eyes of the people on the street? The people looking down from their apartment buildings? Balconies?
Her breaths were short.
Heartbeats erratic.
She was aware that she was starting to sweat.
And yet she felt cold.
Chilly.
Was she shivering?
Turning on her heel she rushed off toward Jackson’s Jeep and heard the click unlocking the door. Yanking it open she climbed in and slammed the door shut behind her.
Jackson was only a moment behind her, climbing in behind the driver’s seat and closing the door.
She wasn’t in the mood for talking and he didn’t press. Hi`ilani sat there watching as the crime scene investigators moved in and out of her apartment.
Two men in CRIME SCENE jackets carried out boxes filled with plastic bags, closed up with red tape.
“What do you think would have happened if I’d been there?”
Jackson turned to look at her. She didn’t turn to look at him. She was barely holding herself together.
“Don’t think about that. Don’t think about ‘what if.’ None of that is going to help.”
The men carried out a plastic bag the size of a kitchen garbage bag and she could see that it was filled with her clothes. As the man turned to step down off the curb the bag swung around and she saw that what was in the bag was torn. Or maybe cut.
“They know I saw one of the men.”
“Probably.” Jackson’s tone was guarded.
“But now they’re coming after me.”
Almost as if on cue, Kyle turned to look at them sitting in the car. His expression was… less than friendly.
“They’re not going to let me into my apartment today.” Picking up her purse she pulled out her phone and then a browser.
“Are you going to call your dad? I’m sure he’ll let you stay there until this is sorted out.”
“No.” She was surprised at the edge in her own voice. “No. I’m not going to stay there and put them in danger.” Leaning up against the passenger side door she looked at him. My tutu lives there with him and my sisters. I can’t go there.”
“So what are you looking up?”
“A lot of hotels have kama’aina rates.”
She was still looking through the search results when the engine turned over and Jackson shifted into reverse. Looking over at him she tried to read his expression. “Where are you going?”
“We,�
�� he corrected her, “are going to my house.”
Chapter 7
The guard waved them through the Macomb Gate and he saw Hi`ilani turn to look out the window at the art deco style eagles that adorned the posts on either side.
“I’ve never gone through this gate before.” She leaned forward to look through the windshield. “So this gate is the closest to where you live now?”
“Yeah. I only go through Lyman gate if I need to head in that direction for something.” Smiling, he put on his turn signal and leaned forward to look at traffic on the cross street.
He could tell that she was curious, looking around as they drove on. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this part of the base before.”
He cleared his throat. “Probably not. When we were seeing each other I’d take you straight to my apartment and we’d-”
Somehow, she managed to smack her hand over his mouth without actually looking in his direction.
“I don’t think you actually need to say it,” she told him, her voice a little tight, “no one here to impress.”
“You always impressed me.” He knew it would sound like a line, but it was true. “You always do.”
She lowered her hand and leaned back in her seat. “Well, I’m a little less impressive when I’m on the run.”
“Hey,” he tried to catch her attention, “you’re not on the run. You’re being protected.”
“On a military base, by a member of Delta Force.” She laughed a little. “I guess that’s about as good as it gets.”
“I’m hoping to make it even better. The guys are on leave along with everyone else in my unit, so it’ll just be the two of us.”
“Just the two of us?”
He thought he heard a smile in her tone but he had to keep his eyes on the road ahead of them. “That’s what I’m looking forward to. I want to make sure that you know I meant what I said.”
“Well, a little time together. I have to get back to work on Monday. My keiki hula class that I run for the mall.”
Jackson smiled. “That’s a few days just you and me.”
“As long as you don’t get tired of me.”
Her last few words were muffled and he chanced a glance at her. She had her gaze turned studiously out the side window at the passing scenery.
“I’m not going to get tired of you, Hi`ilani. That was never the problem.”
“You’d be surprised what I came up with. All of the reasons I thought up. Mackie added a few of his own. Kaleo and a few of the others added to the list. All of it came down to that you just didn’t want me anymore.”
Jackson laid his hand down on the console between them, palm up. “That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I know I can’t expect you just to take my explanation and then it’s all good between us. I’m just hoping to give you a good enough reason to try.”
He saw her turn and look down between them. Driving, he couldn’t study her expression, but he could feel it when she set her hand over his.
“I’d like to try, Jack. I really do. I’m just not sure what we can do while this whole crazy thing is going on.”
Closing his hand around hers he gave it a squeeze and continued to drive, turning onto a residential street in one of the older parts of the base. “We’re going to get you through this. And when we do, then I’m really going to do my best to romance you.”
She laughed. “Keeping me alive is pretty romantic.”
He smiled and let out a relieved sigh. “Good to know.”
Turning down into a cul-de-sac he nodded down at the end. “Home sweet home.”
It took less than a minute to pull into the driveway and park the car. Lifting their joined hands, he pressed a kiss to the backs of her fingers. “Come on, let me get you inside and we’ll figure out what to do from here.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He let go of her hand and opened his door, jogging around to the passenger side. When he opened the door, he stood there and offered his hand. She took it, smiling, but watching him carefully as if she wasn’t sure what he was about.
To be honest, he didn’t either.
So far, everything that had happened between them since he’d met Truck and Ghost had been improvisation and so far, it was working.
Hi`ilani stepped out on the runner and she looked at him with a question in her eyes. “Umm… you’re in the way.”
“I am?” He couldn’t help but smile at her bewildered expression.
“I thought you wanted me to go inside and see your house.”
“I do,” he grinned at her, “but there’s something I need to do first.”
Now she was really confused. “Are we going somewhere? We just got here.”
“Oh, we’re going somewhere.” He gave her hand a tug and she leaned forward with a soft yelp. He let go of her hand near his shoulder and reached down with both hands to grasp her hips and pull her up against him.
She wrapped one arm around his back, the other lifting until she slid her fingers around the back of his neck. The kiss she slanted over his lips was perfect.
And the sound she made when his lips plucked at her bottom lip made him groan deep in his throat.
He turned his head slightly, rubbing his cheek along hers. “We really need to get inside.”
She laughed, a full-throated sound that he hadn’t heard in quite a while. “Fine. You started this, remember that.”
“Oh, I’m trying to remember everything about our time together.”
“Why?” Her smile tightened at the corners. “Just in case these guys-”
He closed his mouth over hers, leaning her against the frame of the car as he kissed the idea right out of her. When he pulled back, he liked the dreamy look on her face. “You really need to have a little more faith in me.”
Her eyes were misty when she looked back at him. “I’m trying, Jack. I really am.”
“All right,” he grinned and helped her hop down from the runner. “I want to get you inside so we can relax a little before deciding what to do for dinner. I think you’ll enjoy seeing where I live now.”
She didn’t get the full effect of what she was seeing until she stood on the front walkway of the house. The walls were painted a mossy green with white wooden trim all over. It looked like it came out of one of those cozy cabin TV shows on cable and she shook her head in disbelief. “When you said house you weren’t joking.”
He chuckled a little beside her. “It’s pretty great. When we came back from our first mission the three of us were still living in individual apartments and it was killing us.” Jackson touched her back and the two of them walked up toward the front door.
“Some of our neighbors were the new guys on base, enjoying Hawaii for all it was worth. Late nights. Loud music. I almost had to hold Baron back from a fight when some guy started hanging pictures after midnight.” He shook his head. “Someone in the housing office called me and said they had an available house. Before I even finished telling Baron the news he was packing his stuff in boxes. Train didn’t have much of anything to move so he put half of Baron’s stuff in his car and we were moved in in less than a day after we got the keys.”
As they stood just outside the door he held up his key ring. “Ready?”
She gave him a thoughtful look. “I’m not so sure now. Three single guys in one house? Are you sure you don’t have to run inside and toss out the Sports Illustrated centerfolds you’ve taped up to the refrigerator or maybe air out the stale beer and pizza smell?”
“Seriously? I think I should be insulted!” He gave her a mock look of indignant shock. “First, we know how to use air fresheners. And second,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “no one is going to make us get rid of the centerfold on the fridge. No one. Got it?”
“Hurry up and get us inside,” she nudged him with her elbow, “so I can kick your butt in private.”
“Big talk,” he laughed and unlocked the front door. Twisting the knob, he pushed it open and gestured for he
r to go first.
Toeing off her shoes, she left them just outside the door and stepped into the entry. She hadn’t gone more than a few steps when she stopped dead in the middle of the space.
It pretty much looked like heaven. The furniture looked like it had come from three different apartments but contrary to her prediction there were no bottles or pizza boxes to be found on any surface.
“What do you think?”
She heard his smug tone. And she heard the satisfying “Oof” when she elbowed him in the stomach. “Okay, fine. I’m impressed.”
“It does have one drawback.”
She turned to look at him, more curious than ever. “What’s that?”
Gesturing toward the other side of room, they walked past the small kitchen and paused in what was a hallway, the only difference from the living room and kitchen area was the wide runner carpet down the length of the house. Straight ahead was a bathroom with a square shower in the corner along with the other usual fixtures.
“Small bathroom?” she shrugged.
“More like only bathroom.” He nodded toward the right. “My room.” Looking down to the left. “Train and then Baron.”
Hi`ilani looked up at him. “I bet Train doesn’t hang pictures after midnight.”
Jackson laughed. “Not if he wants to live.” They stood together for a moment until he gestured to the back of the house. “Want to see the backyard?”
She looked up at him with a mildly suspicious glare. “You have a backyard? Now this I have to see.”
Dinner, it turned out, came to them.
They’d had plenty of warning.
The two couples had spent the day on the Ewa side of the island and were enjoying the afternoon at the Dole Plantation Maze and discovering the joy of pineapples in every possible way.
When the knock came at the door, Hi`ilani was still feeling a bit of nerves. Jackson smoothed his hand up and down her arm and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he went to answer it.
He wasn’t too surprised when she moved across the floor with him. Whether it was to stand beside him or just use him as a comfort, he was fine. Either way kept her close to him.
