Hostile Desires

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Yes, but Drew and I have a date,” Cat said.

  Everyone switched their attention to her.

  “Yeah, now tell us how that happened,” Charity demanded.

  “Well, he came up to me in the parking lot and said, ‘I think we need to go together to the wedding.’”

  “Just like that?” Elle asked.

  “Yes. Not really asking. It was kind of rude, but it was kind of a turn on too. I mean, Drew is just so sweet, but he demanded we go together and, well...I had to say yes.”

  Charity giggled. “Yeah, when he sets his mind on something, watch out.”

  “I went along with him. I was on my way home before I realized I had just made a date with Drew. Although, he didn’t call it a date.”

  “He’s sneaky like that,” Charity said.

  “I have to agree with Charity,” Elle said. “He tends to think a long time about something, then he steps in and just makes it happen.”

  “Which shows you how wrong we are for each other. I like to live in the moment.”

  “Opposites do attract,” Charity said.

  Cat shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”

  “I have to disagree with you,” Elle stated.

  Everyone turned to look at her. “Why is that?” Emma asked.

  “My parents. They are definitely opposites.”

  “I thought they were both professors,” Emma said.

  “They are, but while my father is the quintessential English professor, my mother is a bit different. A lot. My father watches everything he says, and he only speaks when he thinks it is important. He’s a scientist. Mum is a literature professor and very outspoken. She’s Scottish and never lets anyone forget that they are still waiting for England to apologize.”

  “They sound wonderful,” Emma said.

  “They are,” she said reflectively. “They do tend to argue a bit, but in hindsight, I have a feeling it was foreplay for them.”

  They moved onto talking about the wedding and babies, and Elle’s mind started to drift. Had she chosen Gerald because he was more like her? If she had, she had miscalculated terribly.

  “Hey, Elle,” Charity said.

  She realized she had lost track of the conversation.

  “Sorry. Long week of work. What are we talking about?”

  * * *

  Soft blues music played over the speakers, as Graeme was shown to the table at Dupree’s.

  “We have some great Mahi today,” the hostess said. She had introduced herself as May, and had one of the sweetest smiles he’d seen in a while. That is, other than when he coaxed one out of Elle.

  When he arrived at the table, he noticed that Del was missing.

  “Thanks, May,” he said.

  “You’re welcome. Enjoy your night, gentlemen. Please, let me know if there is anything you need.”

  “I think I have to call foul on this bachelor party,” Drew said. “It’s my first bachelor party, and I have yet to see one stripper.”

  The comment earned Drew a nasty look from an uptight-looking tourist sitting at the next table. Del had requested dinner at Dupree’s. It was a little bit of New Orleans mixed with a lot of Hawaiian. Graeme had been there a couple of times, and found the food and staff first rate, but he would have never picked it as a place for a bachelor party.

  Considering some of the bachelor parties he had attended—including his brother-in-law’s—this was pretty tame. Still, you did what the groom wanted, and this was what he wanted.

  “And you’re not about to see one. Del said no to all of that.”

  Drew frowned.

  “Are you telling me you got to the age of twenty-eight and never went to a bachelor party?” Adam said.

  Drew shrugged. “A lot of my friends have moved to the mainland. Not a lot of PhD jobs here in their fields.”

  Graeme suspected that Drew had many friends, but most of them were women. Not that he saw anything wrong with that. In fact, Graeme thought it might have given Drew the edge with getting Cat to come with him to the wedding. All the women in the office really wanted Cat and Drew together. They had been conspiring with him from day one.

  Del came back to the table with a smile on his face. “I just got a call from my future brothers-in-law, who have said they are going to stop by. Jaime kicked them out of the house for the night.”

  “Ha, I have a feeling that sweet woman would only have to smile at them and they would do anything she wanted,” Adam said.

  “True,” Del said. “But since I have the same affliction, I can’t argue with their response.”

  Marcus chuckled. “This is my first time here. Can anyone give me a suggestion?”

  “I think Chris Dupree is in the back tonight, so any steak he can cook you is fantastic,” Adam said. “If you are in the mood for seafood, get the mac nut Mahi, or if you want to go with Cajun, the shrimp po’ boy is definitely authentic. He’s from New Orleans.”

  Del shook his head. “Don’t say the words red meat to me. With her worries over her anemia, Emma has insisted on lots of red meat. I never thought I would say this, but I’m sick of steak.”

  “Yeah, so how are you handling the idea of becoming a father?” Graeme asked.

  “I think I can answer that,” Sean said from behind Graeme. They turned around to face Emma’s brother and his lover, Randy. “From what Emma said, he almost passed out.”

  Del frowned. “I did not. And I will mention that you got a little teary eyed.”

  “She’s my little sister. You’re supposed to get that way. You know how that is, Graeme.”

  Graeme didn’t question that Emma’s brother would know his background. He had connections in the security business that would definitely make it easy to check Graeme’s background.

  “Yes, and I am going to be an uncle again.”

  The moment he made the announcement, his phone went off. When he saw Carino’s name, he answered it immediately. Rising from the table, he walked a little bit away for some privacy. Plus, Sean was kind of loud at times.

  “McGregor.”

  “Carino. We are going to have to go on without any help from Katsu. He died tonight.”

  The last connection they had was now gone. “Well, bloody hell.”

  “And it looks like he might have had help.”

  Chapter Eleven

  As Elle slid the drawer into the wall, Graeme walked into her lab. He had been there when she had shown up, and she knew he was waiting on her.

  “Well?” he asked.

  She pulled off her gloves and the over dress and threw them in the hazardous material receptacle.

  “I’m not sure if we could call it homicide, as he was brain dead.”

  “But?”

  She nodded and picked up the small glass canister. “It’s going to be hard to know for sure until we get the tox report back.”

  Graeme frowned. Dammit, he was starting to look sexy while he frowned. What was she thinking? The man could be passed out cold and he would be sexy.

  “Why? It seems like a waste. And an unneeded risk. He was dead for all intents and purposes. Wouldn’t just turning off the machines be easier?”

  She shrugged. “It’s odd. It had to be someone who knew a thing or two about drugs. I will not be surprised if it comes back with a high dosage of something in him.”

  “So, why risk it?”

  “Administering something that takes awhile to take effect would make for a better getaway.”

  “Ah, yes. Turning off the machines would draw attention to the bastard.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “What was the worry though?”

  “I understand that he was brain dead, but they always have those stories about people who come out of comas. Maybe he was worried about that.”

  “They were going to turn the machines off soon?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what the US statue is on that. Things here are determined by the amount of money they cost when it comes to healthcare. With no family around, I
am sure he wouldn’t have lasted long.”

  “They found no family at all?”

  “When I talked to the doctors, they said he had no family. He had a sister on the mainland, but they couldn’t find her. Mother is deceased, and the father was never listed. So, the worry might have been that he would linger for a long time, and they hadn’t revealed he was brain dead. The worry might have been that he would wake up and start revealing information, like where that bloody gun is and how he got it.”

  “And that means the bastard is still alive and somewhere here on the island.”

  “Probably.”

  “Damn.”

  She went over to wash her hands. “Once Charity runs the blood samples, we’ll be able to decide what to do. She’s coming in tomorrow morning to do it. It’s hard to tell if he did have drugs injected. He was on IV, so anyone with a knowledge of things like that would be able to administer it easily. Put on a set of scrubs, know the procedures—he would know, if he were a cop—and it would be easy to provide a lethal dose of something.”

  She took a step and the room revolved around her. “Oh, damn.”

  “Hey,” Graeme said, catching her by the forearm. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t get anything to eat before I came in.” She glanced at the clock. “Damn, it’s been about twelve hours since I ate. And it’s so late now, I won’t find anything here but fast food.”

  “You can’t drive home like this. I’ll drive you.”

  “Oh, no. I can’t make you go out of your way.”

  “I would rather take an extra twenty minutes to get you home than worry about you. Also, I can bring you back here to get your car when you need me to.”

  She wanted to argue, but she could barely keep her eyes open, so she nodded instead.

  So five minutes later, she was walking beside him to his truck, and Dumfries was with him.

  “I can’t believe you brought your dog to work.”

  “He’d been with Mrs. Williams all day. So after I called you, I went and grabbed him from her. We’ve been upstairs waiting on you.”

  “And it is so sweet to have such a handsome fellow to escort me home,” she said.

  “Aw, you do know how to make a man happy, lass.”

  She laughed. “I was talking to Dumfries.”

  “Cruel.”

  “I never said I wasn’t cruel.”

  He opened the back door to the cab of his pickup. “Up.”

  Dumfries jumped into the back seat, then Graeme helped her up and shut the door. He walked around the hood of the truck and she watched him. The man oozed sex. She knew he didn’t do it on purpose, but there was a way he strode around. Now that she thought about it, all the men on Task Force Hawaii were that way. There was just something so intriguing in that. A man who knew how to take command of a room by walking into it was definitely someone special.

  He sat in the driver’s seat and looked at her. “What?”

  She shook her head, as she pulled on her seatbelt. “Nothing. Just zoning out.”

  He nodded and put his seatbelt on. “Settle back and don’t worry. Dumfries and I will get you home.”

  As he started up the vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot, she thought there was no way she would fall asleep.

  * * *

  Graeme parked his truck in her driveway. She had been asleep for the last thirty minutes. An angel. Then she let out a little snore. He smiled. Okay, not a perfect angel, but an angel all the same.

  “Love, we’re at your house.”

  She said nothing really, but grumbled and turned away from him. He realized she was pretty worn out from the week.

  He took her purse and retrieved her keys. Hopping out of his truck, he hurried around to get her. He unlocked her front door, then returned to the truck. Dumfries was sitting in the driver’s seat. Graeme shook his head as he opened the door. Elle practically fell into his arms. He handled her easily, as she barely weighed anything.

  “Dumfries.”

  The wolfhound climbed over into the passenger seat and jumped down. Graeme kicked the door shut, walked up the path, and into her house. It wasn’t that hard to find her bedroom. The house was tiny. He laid her on her bed, removing her shoes. His fingers itched to remove the rest of her clothes, but even knowing her past told him that would be a line he could not cross without her permission.

  He walked out into the living room and found Dumfries had taken up residence on the couch.

  “We should go home.”

  Dumfries laid his head down.

  Yeah, he didn’t want to go home either. He knew there was another room; he opened that door and found a bed. It was twin-sized, compared to her queen, but he could handle it for one night. He didn’t want to leave her without the deadbolt.

  With a sigh, he decided to go ahead and spend the night. She could yell at him tomorrow. He went out to his truck and grabbed the overnight bag he kept there just in case work ran long. After locking the truck, he went back in. The couch was empty. He looked in her room, and found Dumfries on the bed with Elle.

  “Don’t wake her up, you idiot.”

  Dumfries gave Graeme a look of doggy disgust, huffed, then closed his eyes.

  Seeing that he had been dismissed, Graeme headed to the spare bedroom. The idea that his dog had gotten into Elle’s bed before he did was a bit much to take, but he was at least in her house for the night. That, he could handle for now.

  * * *

  Elle was hot. Burning up. And it felt as if she was up against a wall of fur. She opened her eyes and then closed them again. The sun was sneaking through the blinds. She turned away from the sun and ran into the furry heater again. She opened her eyes and found a big doggie face looking at her. It was Dumfries.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He gave her a long lick on her face.

  “Where is your master?”

  He said nothing, but wagged his tail as he smiled at her.

  She sat up and realized she was in her clothes from yesterday. She remembered that Graeme had brought her home, but she didn’t recall much after that.

  “Well, I should wash up and figure out what is going on.”

  She slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. After relieving her bladder, she washed her face. Peeling off her clothes, she grabbed a pair of PJ bottoms and a big shirt. As she started brushing her teeth, she heard Graeme’s voice.

  “I think she’s still sleeping. She had a late night last night, ma’am.”

  Then he was quiet.

  “Yes, she does a very good job.” More silence. “Yes, I’m from Scotland, like your mother. I hear a little Scots in your voice.”

  Bloody hell. Her mother.

  She ran out of her bedroom and into the living room to find Graeme in her kitchen making coffee and chatting to her mother on the phone. He was standing there in a pair of jeans and nothing else. Oh, lord. His back was to her. He had a huge Celtic cross tattoo on his back. She had heard them talk about it at work, but she had never seen it herself. He moved and she watched the ripple of muscle beneath the flesh and ink.

  “Yes, she is very smart.”

  “Graeme,” she whispered.

  He turned with a smile. In that instant, she lost her train of thought. If his back was gorgeous, then the front of him was amazing. Sculpted muscle encased in golden flesh. He had an honest to god six pack. A tiny trail of dark blond hair bisected his abs and disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.

  “Oh, there you are, love. Your mother called,” he said, handing her the mobile.

  She looked at the phone, then at him. She took it, drew in a deep breath, then released it before talking. “Mum, how are you doing?”

  “Doing fine, although not as well as you, love.”

  She snorted. “I’m sure Daddy really appreciates that.”

  “Just because I’ve been married for decades doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate an attractive man. Graeme sounds attractive.”
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  “How can someone sound attractive?”

  “Show me a Scotsman who doesn’t sound sexy, and he would have to be dead. Either way, Graeme sounds nice.”

  “He is.”

  “How long have you been dating?”

  She glanced at Graeme, who was smiling like he knew they were talking about him. With a huff, she went into her bedroom and closed the door. She sat down on the bed next to Dumfries.

  “We are not dating.”

  “Then what is he doing at your house answering your mobile at this time in the morning.”

  “We worked late; he brought me home. The rest of the night is fuzzy.”

  “I am happy you have a sex life again, love. Don’t get so huffy.”

  She started to pet the dog. “I am not huffy, and I don’t have a sex life. I slept with Dumfries, not Graeme last night.”

  “You slept with a whole city? My, that’s a little more of a sex life than I expected you to get.”

  She sighed. Her mother had a strange sense of humor. Then she heard her father’s voice asking what was going on.

  “She said she slept with all of Dumfries last night.”

  “Dumfries is a dog.”

  “Oh, okay. Never mind, dear. Not the whole city, and she’s still single.”

  “Seriously, mother, I have just gotten out of bed. I can’t deal with this right now.”

  “I apologize, dear. I was just so surprised when a Scotsman answered the phone.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “I called because Gerald called me.”

  “Oh, damn. I’m sorry.”

  “He’s been trying to get hold of you.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re avoiding him?” her mother asked.

  “For good reason.”

  “He got your father one day. I am afraid he yelled at him.”

  She winced. Her father had a particular hatred for her ex. In his mind, Gerald should have stood by her. She didn’t disagree with her father, but she also hadn’t liked the suggestion that her mild-mannered father offered her. Never before or since had she heard her father threaten to make a person disappear. Worse, she knew he had meant it.

  “And I know what he wants.”