Seductive Reasoning

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Her ankles are in the same condition.”

  “And the different shades of the bruising?”

  “Repeated injuries. And with different ropes from the burns. So, he kept her like this for some time. Probably the entire time she was there. I’m pretty sure of sexual assault, but I will verify that in the lab. There are also burns on her body.”

  He squatted down beside her and looked over the body. There were small cylindrical burns over her flesh. Scabs had formed over some of them, while others were fresh.

  Jesus.

  “Looks like a cigarette lighter from a car.”

  “Yes. Bastard really hurt her. This isn’t just about power. This is more about pain, and getting off on it. He should not be allowed in public.”

  Her voice wavered at the end, and he knew what it cost her.

  “We’ll get him, Elle.”

  She nodded, but said nothing else as he stood and looked over the crowd. It was early, but there was always some kind of hum in the early morning there—especially on a Monday. Hell, that’s probably why the sick fuck had left her there on that particular day. More coverage, with a frenzy that would last for the entire week.

  He saw one of the detectives taking pictures, and he wandered over to him.

  “Did you get the crowd?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “But I was going to take a few more because it is really gaining attention.”

  He pulled out his card and gave it to him. “Could you make sure you get those to me as soon as possible?”

  “With pleasure,” he said, grim determination filling his voice.

  Del paused, then the detective said, “I knew her. We went to the same school, a few years apart. A real sweetheart. Always had a smile for everyone.”

  Del nodded. That was the thing about Hawaii. Everyone had about six degrees of separation, or fewer. Either they knew Grace, or they knew someone who knew her. Her disappearance had been the focal point of the Hawaiian news shows since she had disappeared. And now, their focus would be on a killer.

  The crowd was growing by the second, and he knew it would only be minutes before the news crews showed up. As if on queue, they appeared, screaming to a halt. He saw Jin Phillips, one very irritating newswoman, jump out of the van. Damn, the woman got on his nerves. She stood by, waiting for her crew before she attacked. And it would be an attack. The woman didn’t know how to deal with news any other way.

  Del looked away from her and up the canal toward Diamond Head. The scent of plumeria hit him, and he realized he was standing by a bush filled with them. It was usually something he liked to smell, but now, he knew he would always associate it with Grace Singh and her last night on earth.

  The sun was just starting to peek over the crater. The brilliant streaks of orange and yellow lightened the sky. Even after a year, the beauty of it still stunned him. Del didn’t think he would ever get used to the sight.

  He looked back at the scene as Drew helped Elle put Grace Singh in a body bag, then lift her up onto the gurney. The buzz of the crowd was growing, and he could already hear Jin asking annoying questions.

  Just another day in paradise.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Charity Edwards rushed into her lab, irritation pulsing through her. She wasn’t late if it had been a normal day, but they had a killing dropped in their laps. Since no one had called her, she had to rush to get in. The team was still getting accustomed to working with their own forensics tech, but it was starting to make her feel unwanted. Before she had been hired three months earlier, they had to wait in line with everyone else. The governor had scraped up the funds to give her a position just for the team. She’d hit the ground running, taking on a case even before she’d unpacked her household goods when they’d arrived from Atlanta.

  She was hot, sweaty, and frazzled. She had a bare amount of makeup on and, because she hadn’t had time to do anything with her hair, she had to pull it up into a knot on top of her head. A cursory glance down her body told her that she should never be in a hurry when she dressed for work. The hot pink shirt and black Capri pants with pink strips were cute together, but not with her red shoes. What the hell had she been thinking? Oh, that’s right. She hadn’t had time to think. She’d heard the news and had to rush into work, because she was the red-headed stepchild of the team.

  On top of it, she’d forgotten to finish up her laundry, and she was going commando at the moment—which she did not like to do without a reason. Not the way she wanted to start out the week. On top of it, she had forgone coffee to rush to the office. Definitely not the way to handle a Monday. People ended up bloody when she was low on her favorite drug.

  “Hey,” Drew said, walking into her lab. “Got some samples for you.”

  She nodded but didn’t look around. She had so much to do and little time to get it accomplished. “Thanks.”

  “Brought you a coffee too.”

  She stopped and turned. Sure enough, he had a cup of Kona for her. He truly was the sweetest man.

  “You are a god.”

  He chuckled. “No problem, my ebony queen.”

  The first time he had called her that, she had thought he was hitting on her. She soon found out that was just Drew’s way, and that another team member had his interest. Tall and lanky, he looked much younger than his thirty years. Dorky, but in a sweet way, he had been a good confidant, and helped her as the haole who needed help navigating Honolulu.

  Being the smart man he was, he handed her the coffee first. She grabbed it and smelled the aroma of it. Charity had a love affair with Kona coffee. If it was legal, she would marry it in a ceremony on the beach.

  “So, tell me about this one,” she said, as she took another big whiff of her coffee.

  His smile faded. “Grace Singh.”

  “Oh, damn. I was hoping she had just run away.”

  “I think everyone was. But then, we have a body, so someone was going to be dead.”

  She chugged the coffee, ignoring the burn as it slid down her throat. All she cared about was the caffeine.

  “I know, but it felt like I knew Grace. We kept seeing her picture. I went out weekend before last to help with a search. I even met a few of her students. They are going to be devastated.”

  Drew nodded. “Yeah. And, it is one of the things you will learn about this island. We’re close knit and always have someone we can call on. But, that usually means if someone is hurt, you know them.”

  She grew up in a tiny town in Southern Georgia, so she understood.

  “They found her at McCully?” she asked, as she set down her coffee and took the evidence bags. “How did they miss her all this time?”

  “They didn’t. She was posed, and from her liver temps, dead less than a day.”

  She looked up from her work. The implications sunk in. Two weeks. “Oh, damn.”

  “Yeah. So, Dr. Middleton took swabs. I also sent you some pictures of the markings around her wrists and ankles and her throat.”

  “Damn,” she said again. The thought of being kept for two weeks, tied up...the implications were bad. Really bad. She pushed through that, and moved on. She had to for now. It was her job, and Grace deserved the best.

  “She was left at McCully, so there might be video of the bastard. I’ll start looking through the feeds, see if I can find something. Of course, at night, it isn’t the best resolution, but I might find something. Anything.”

  He nodded. “I’ll let Del know.”

  She smiled. Charity knew the real reason he was going up to the squad room. “Just ask her out already. Quit coming up with excuses to go see her.”

  They really didn’t have to say Cat’s name. He’d been mooning over the woman for months.

  He shook his head. “Not time yet.”

  “You can’t keep waiting. I did that once and ended up regretting it.”

  “It’s all about the timing, Charity. I need to take my time and do it right.”

  “Just don’t wait too long.” />
  He smiled and left her alone. With a sigh she looked over her evidence before grabbing her lab coat. There wasn’t much for her to work with, but she hoped to find something for Grace Singh. After taking another healthy sip of her coffee, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

  By the time Del started on his fourth cup of coffee, he was ready to head home and go back to sleep. There was a lead hammer banging against his brain, and his eyes were burning. It wasn’t even past ten in the morning, and things had gone completely to shit. Thanks to someone leaking the possibility that Grace Singh had been found, the press had become relentless. Add in the mayor and governor calling him for updates almost every twenty minutes, and Del just wanted to pretend today had never started.

  Adam Lee, his second-in-command, popped his head into Del’s office. He was dressed in his customary Hawaiian shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. The Hawaiian had been regular HPD when he had applied for the job working for Del. He had deep roots in the community, and that went a long way in Hawaii. He was always damned good at his job, and had a more refined sense of diplomacy—which meant he had one. Del was much better at barking orders.

  “Hey, Dr. Middleton just called. She’s got some info for us. You wanna go down there, or do you want to have her come up here?”

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, grabbing his cell phone and slipping it into his pocket. “I can’t deal with the damned office phone.”

  As if the gods had aligned against him, it rang again. He read the number and shook his head. He was not talking to Jin Phillips. The woman was too eager to make a name for herself. She had been calling him on the half hour since he’d arrived. If they didn’t get a handle on this situation, she was going to make his life a living hell until they did.

  Adam shook his head. “You know better, Boss. Or, you should by now. This island is just one big town. By the time I came in, I had four texts from friends, two of them who have nothing to do with law enforcement.”

  Adam was born and raised on Oahu, a former star quarterback of Kamehameha schools and the University of Hawaii. The little bit of Polynesian in his blood had give him his massive build. His bald head gleamed beneath the office lights, as he smiled at Del. Del was convinced Adam polished it to a high shine before coming in, even though his second-in-command always denied it.

  They walked out into the squad room. The governor had spared no expense for the team—and he was glad of it. With more and more people coming to Hawaii each year, not to mention, the arrival of a president every now and then so he could visit family, the number of high profile cases had risen. HPD was good, but they were being overwhelmed with press issues. TFH filled that role better, allowing HPD to keep up with the regular crime.

  The room had various screens hanging on the walls, covering current events on TV, one showing the many alerts around the island, a weather advisory screen that also sent alerts for hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes, and one they used for their meetings. The first few months he had worked there, Del had to fight the feeling of vertigo. A long table was situated in the center where they all sat during the team meetings.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Graeme McGregor asked as they passed his office. He popped up out of his chair and came to the doorway. Three inches taller than both he and Adam, McGregor was another transplant in his office, but from Scotland. He always reminded Del of an invading Highlander, from thick Scottish accent to the long blond hair. He was only missing a broadsword, although he had one tattooed on his back.

  “We’re going to see your favorite person,” Adam said.

  “Have fun with her,” he said, his irritation easy to see.

  He turned back into his office. Graeme had taken an instant dislike to Elle the moment she’d been hired. The feeling was reciprocated from the good doctor. Their bickering was getting to the point that Del might have to stage an intervention. McGregor did not accompany them, of course.

  “Why do you think he hates Elle?” Adam asked as he punched the elevator button.

  “I don’t know. Not like I have a lot of time to think about my team’s love lives.”

  Hell, Del barely had one right now himself. With his long hours, it had been hard to find the time, but there was another aspect to it too. At the ripe age of thirty-five, he didn’t really like the club scene.

  “You think there’s something there?” Adam asked, bringing him out of his morbid thoughts. It took Del a second to remember what they had been talking about. The man was worse than any woman he had ever dealt with. He seemed to think it was his duty to always meddle in people’s lives.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing Elle and Drew. She stepped out, her head down, and ran right into them.

  “Oh, pardon,” she said, then realized who she had just run into. Her eyes widened. “Are you going somewhere?”

  “Coming to see you,” he said.

  “And I was coming to see you. I thought you might want me to go over this with everyone,” she said as Drew stepped up behind her. “I have some preliminary findings. I thought it would be easier to do this up here.”

  He nodded, and they headed back into the squad room of the Task Force offices.

  “From what I understand, there was little to go on, evidence-wise,” Del said.

  “Indeed, but I did get a few things, especially one alarming one that I think we need to have researched.”

  Dammit, when she said that, he knew who she meant, and he didn’t want to deal with her. He had kept his distance for the sake of his sanity. His attraction to Emma was still causing him issues, even though he had not seen her in about a month.

  “McGregor,” he yelled out, then looked around. “Where are Floyd and Cat?”

  McGregor stepped out of his office. “They are on their way in with Grace Singh’s parents.” When he saw who was with them, he frowned. “I see the Queen of the Dead is here.”

  She sniffed in his direction, but did not comment. Del rolled his eyes. He was not a principal of a high school, but there were times his team made him think he was—especially these two. There was a part of him, the one who hated to deal with their behavior, that really wished they would just give in and sleep together. Unfortunately, it would lead to more problems for him to deal with. He was screwed either way.

  “Come on, she has some findings,” Del said.

  Graeme grumbled, but he did as Del ordered. Once a Marine—even if it was a Royal Marine—always a Marine.

  “So,” she said slipping her flash drive into the computer, “I am still waiting on the DNA results. Charity said it will take a little while. I’m pretty sure this is Grace Singh.” She sighed. “And she did not have a pleasant time when she was missing.”

  Del nodded. “Did you get anything off the body?”

  Elle shook her head. “No.”

  “Nothing?” Adam asked.

  “Let me start at the beginning of my findings. When her body was found, she had only been dead for three hours. Maybe less. She was definitely alive yesterday.”

  Damn, he knew she had said it before, but hearing it again left his blood cold. The idea that she had lived for two weeks in the hands of a sadistic bastard had his stomach roiling.

  “Then where the bloody hell was she?” Graeme asked.

  “I wish I could tell you that. What I do know is that this woman was tortured, raped repeatedly. I took swabs from beneath her fingernails. If she didn’t nick the bastard, I thought there might be some fibers. I found next to nothing, but Charity is still running those. If we can find anything, including pollen, something, we might be able to pinpoint where on the island she was kept.”

  “And he kept her somewhere for two weeks,” Adam said.

  Elle nodded. “If we go by when she first disappeared, it was fifteen days. I have a feeling he spent his last hours cleaning her off. He wanted to remove any trace of him, or where he had kept her.”

  �
��And to keep a person hidden on this island would be hard, Boss,” Adam said. “Everyone was looking for her. Her face was plastered in the newspaper, on TV, and all of social media. I don’t know how many times her picture was shared on Facebook. Last count I saw was over one million.”

  “Indeed,” Elle said. “And to do what he did to her…you are right. He needed something secluded, or at least soundproof.”

  The explanation sent a chill through the room. The woman had been through hell, and her pain...well, that would have been loud. The bastard needed to be hurt...and a lot.

  “Could be that she was kept at one of those fancy new condos. Some of them have been specially built according to the individual’s requests,” Drew said.

  Del shook his head. “No. Most of those buildings have a good security system. That would risk being caught on tape. They might be soundproof, but the chance he would be caught on tape, or run into someone...that is just too much. He wouldn’t even want to be associated with Grace, seeing that the search for her killer exploded the way it did.”

  “And, Charity is looking at the traffic cameras to see if she can find anything,” Elle said. “If we can catch someone on tape, especially that time of morning, we might be able to follow him back to whatever rock he crawled out from under.”

  “No other reports here on the island for something like this?” Del asked.

  Adam shook his head. “I haven’t found anything. Even went on to search the mainland. Nothing.”

  He sighed. “So, this is his first, and that means there will be more. Make sure to expand the search internationally. We need to cover all our bases here. There is no way he is going to stop at just one. Although, make sure there are no suicides in the next twenty-four hours.”

  “You think he would kill himself after this?’ Graeme asked.

  Del shrugged. “You never know. Sometimes, they just pop off, you know? They know the woman, they do this thing they have been dreaming about for months…years. Then, they accomplish it, and just lose it. Most of the time, they go on to kill again, but we just need to make sure that we check out each suspected suicide.”