“Officially, I’m on loan to the police, to you, on this one. I answer to you, not Nohea, as part of this operation,” Josh said.
“Since when?”
“Since right this second.”
“So, we’re pretending you’re working on some kind of special drug case?”
“Yep.”
Ted managed to roll his eyes and let out a loud exhale at the same time. “The same case that doesn’t actually exist?”
“Something like that.”
“Sounds like a lot of unnecessary paperwork to me.”
Josh shrugged. “Kane used to do it for me.”
“Shame we can’t wait until Kane gets back and let his butt be the one that gets in trouble.” Ted grabbed a piece of paper from under the counter and wrote down a few notes.
“Is that a no?”
“You see me writing, don’t you?” Ted shook his head while he did. “So, what are you going to do to bring this to a close?”
“Whatever it takes.”
“Getting Cassie and Cal to back off will be tough.”
Josh flashed his cockiest smile. “I’m up to the task.”
“Sounds like I should start looking for another job, because chances are you’re going to get me fired with this stunt.”
“I’d say that’s likely. Yes.”
Chapter Eight
Cal kept trying to pull Cassie back to the car, but she dragged her feet and slowed him down. His dark burglar outfit had helped him blend into the night, but it would soon be a hindrance. In a few hours the warm Hawaii sunshine would roast him like a pork chop.
Cassie smiled at the thought.
Then she focused on Cal’s broad back. His muscular arms moved in a controlled rhythm. Every line in sync, every movement calculated. A silent strength radiated off him in waves. How a man could look this good and be this insufferable at the same time was a mystery.
If she didn’t have such a desperate need for help to clear Dan’s name, she would have run screaming in the opposite direction from this guy. She had been around enough military men to know that Cal Wilson was one of those you stared at, maybe even worked into your nightly fantasies, but then ran from like hell when he started looking back in your direction.
He never came home with Dan for a visit. Dan gave cryptic excuses about Cal not being a home-and-hearth type of guy. About how he didn’t understand or enjoy family time. Something about a newspaper headline–making divorce years ago that put Cal and his sister in the middle of a horrible fight.
The bottom line: when it came to women, Cal was dangerous.
And obnoxious.
“For a military man, you’re not very good at obeying the chain of command,” she said to his back.
Cal scowled at Cassie over his shoulder. “You pulling rank?”
That sounded good, so she decided to try that. “Absolutely.”
He reached out and opened the car door. “Let’s go.”
So much for being in charge. “Do we have an actual destination in mind or is the idea to drive around in circles until I vomit?”
He ignored her and walked around to the driver’s side of the car without answering.
Not so fast. “Ummm, hello?”
Cal stopped, then marched back to her. Judging from the harsh lines etched on his handsome face, he was ticked off.
Well, join the freaking club. She wrestled with her emotions on a nearly hourly basis, rocking back and forth between wanting to cry over Dan and wanting to scream in rage. The horrible events of the past few weeks twisted her nerves, making her less tolerant of his Neanderthal act than she might otherwise have been.
“You don’t scare me.” She said it and actually meant it.
“Oh really?”
“Not even close.”
The tension on his face eased a bit. “The plane is in the hangar.”
Cassie wondered how she had lost the thread of the conversation. And it was happening almost every time she talked with Cal. “When exactly did we decide to visit a plane?”
“Cassie.” The tone was a warning.
“Don’t pull that macho crap. What’s going on?”
He held up his hands. “Oh, I forgot. You’re in charge.”
She wasn’t about to back down now. With her knees locked and her legs braced apart, she stared him down. Unfortunately, she had to look up to do it. “That’s right.”
“Okay, boss lady, what’s your suggestion?” He dropped his hands along with the mocking tone.
“First, lose the attitude.”
A smile flickered at the corner of his hard mouth. “Fair enough. After that?”
She would have kicked him in the shins if he weren’t a wall of pure muscle. There was no reason to injure her foot or scuff a perfectly good pair of sneakers. “You clearly have a plan in mind.”
“Yeah, I do.” That intriguing dimple appeared in the corner of his cheek again.
“Never let it be said that I can’t delegate. Let me hear it.”
He crossed his arms across his broad chest. “You sure? I wouldn’t want to disrespect the chain of command or make you think I’m planning a coup.”
He threw out that suggestion a tad too easily for her liking. “You have ten seconds to talk or I call a taxi.”
“Are you always this difficult?”
“Yes.”
Cal chuckled. “At least you’re honest. Okay, my plan is simple. We visit the crash site and look into whatever investigation has been done and get access to Dan’s offices, files, and records.”
Crash site. The words flipped her heart inside out. The shocking smell of torched trees and burning fuel was seared in her memory. She could still taste the horrible mixture.
“The police took his computer and most of his records. You’re not going to find much at his office,” she said rather than deal with the worst of his suggestion.
“And the plane?”
She shook her head. “The parts, everything that’s left, are here somewhere, with the police or the NTSB.”
“Yeah, well, something tells me that Deputy Ted and Agent Blondie aren’t going to be too helpful on that score.”
Angry tears pushed against the back of her eyes. “Nothing new there.”
Something in Cal’s dark eyes cleared. He stepped forward and rubbed his calloused palm up and down her arm. His movements were awkward and stilted, but Cassie found the gesture oddly comforting.
She leaned into his touch, seeking his warmth. “I’m being stupid.”
“Give yourself a break. This is rough.”
“I still can’t believe Dan’s gone.”
“If you’d rather—”
She peeked up. “You’re not going there without me, so don’t even ask.”
The edge of Cal’s mouth kicked up. “Yes, ma’am.”
“As far as I’m concerned your loyalty track record isn’t great.”
That half smile of his disappeared again. “I came to Hawaii, didn’t I?”
“And I’m still not sure why.”
Cal opened his mouth, but then closed it again. After a few seconds of silence he started talking. “Let’s get back to the subject.”
He was hiding something. Something that went very wrong in his friendship with Dan. Whatever it was, she would find out. No way would she let that subject go away.
But for now she moved on to another subject.
“I was there. After the police told me, I hiked into the canyon and saw the wreckage.” She swallowed hard to get the words out over whatever had lodged in her throat. “The forensic crew was working, so I couldn’t get too close, but I could see the rock slide where the plane hit.”
“You’re not so tough, you know.” He gave her upper arm a gentle squeeze.
“I’m tough enough to be your leader.”
His mouth broke into a wide grin. “True enough. Lead on.”
Now he had her. “To where?”
“The hangar.”
She dreaded the idea. Since lear
ning about the plane crash, she could not ride in or even think about one. To get to Kauai from Oahu she took a boat, preferring to keep her feet as close to the ground as possible. If the worst happened, she could swim. She’d have a chance. If something awful happened in the air, she’d die just like Dan.
“Cassie? You up for this?”
It looked as if the time had come to conquer that fear. “I don’t have a choice.”
Chapter Nine
About a half hour later, after a round of badge flashing by Cassie to prove they belonged in this area of Lihue Airport, they stood about fifty feet from the hangar where Dan ran his charter business. Cal conducted a visual tour of the area. Even though it was early in the day, the establishment served a steady stream of vacation travelers who wanted to explore the wonders of the garden isle by air.
According to Cassie’s nonstop explanation in the car ride over, Dan had subsidized the tourist side of his operation with private rides between the islands for locals. Businessmen depended on him for basic transportation, and a few of them wandered around now.
“Tell me why you have a security badge for this area again,” he said.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“You’re saying I should just be happy you have it?”
“That and that you should walk faster.” She picked up her pace as if to prove her point.
Cal compromised and took longer strides. He’d gawk at the planes later.
Helicopter blades thrummed in the distance as small groups of travelers bustled back and forth across the tarmac in their wild print shirts. Cal felt at home in the heated atmosphere, with planes lined up ready for flight.
He stole a quick glance at Cassie as they walked in silence toward the hangar. She was classy, tough, and beautiful. Dan rarely spoke about her. The eight-year age difference and not sharing the same father put their lives on different paths. Still, Cal couldn’t help but wonder if Cassie was as close to Dan as she professed or if this was a case of hero worship mixed with guilt.
The guilt part he understood. He had a heaping share of that where Dan was concerned. Cal knew he could not fix what he had done, but he could do something. He could solve the mystery surrounding Dan’s death. Later, in private, he would mourn the man lost. Right now, he had other priorities.
“What are you hoping to learn here?” she asked.
The sadness that clouded her stunning amber eyes had begun to clear. Cal was grateful for that. Weepy women were not his strong suit. They cried. He ran for the bar…where he stayed until the waterworks stopped.
Seeing Cassie upset, knowing Dan’s loss was the cause, made walking away impossible. Cal tried to block out the reality of Dan’s death so he could focus on figuring out what really happened. Still, seeing Cassie’s anguish tore through him.
“I need to talk with the people at the airport who knew him,” he said.
“Dan was more or less a one-man operation, but he depended on mechanics, bookkeepers, and so forth to handle the non-flying duties.” Cassie yelled the last part to be heard over an incoming helicopter.
“We’ll start with them.”
They slowed down to watch the flight land. Saw a tourist family pour out of their sightseeing venture with cameras around their necks and matching faux Hawaiian shirts. The kids talked and ran around, and the parents were just as animated.
Cassie stopped and reached out for Cal’s arm, forcing him to join her. “What exactly did my brother tell you when he contacted you?”
“Not much.”
She dropped her hand. “Try again.”
“Are you tapping your foot?” he asked as he watched her sneaker bounce up and down.
“I can stand here all day and wait for an answer.”
“That makes one of us.” He inhaled the jet fuel. “I came to Hawaii for fresh air, not this.”
“You came here to help my brother.” She scraped the toe of her shoe against the tarmac. “Or was that a lie?”
“You can be a pretty unpleasant chick.”
“Chick?” She sounded appalled at the term.
He didn’t blame her. He’d used the term on purpose to take her off task. And it worked. “Do you prefer ‘lady’?”
“Whatever nickname will get you talking is fine with me.”
She deserved that much. She might be mouthy, but mouthy for the right reason. Whatever the reason for the loyalty, it existed. In his experience, finding allegiance in the civilian community was tough. It thrived in the military but very little elsewhere.
Cal knew most people searched a lifetime for that type of devotion on a romantic scale. Not him. His pull-up-stakes-every-few-years lifestyle did not lend itself to long-term commitment. Knowing his job did not suit a forever world, and knowing that forever usually only meant for now, he never longed for it.
“Dan said he’d seen a lot of truck movement in and out of an abandoned government site on the main road leading up to tourist look-out sites around the rim of Waimea Canyon,” Cal said.
“So?”
“He thought it looked suspicious.” And since Dan was dead, Cal figured Dan was right to be skeptical.
“Let me guess. Your brilliant plan includes storming up the mountain and into the building.”
Uh, yeah. “I thought we could drive, but if you tell me what’s involved in ‘storming’ we’ll give that a shot.”
She started walking again. Didn’t even look back to see if he was following.
“You need to spend a little more time coming up with these ideas of yours,” she said over her shoulder.
He caught up in two steps. “You have no faith in my sense of subtlety?”
“Absolutely none.”
He chose to ignore that. “How’s this for a plan? We’ll figure out as much as we can about Dan’s operation and his last days.”
“Unexpectedly rational.”
“We’ll get to the building eventually, but we need background first.”
“And here I thought you didn’t know how to make a plan.” Cassie stepped up to the building’s entrance.
“How much do you know about your brother’s business?”
Her hand hesitated over the doorknob. “Almost nothing.”
“Then we’ll need to talk with someone who does.”
She turned and stared at Cal. “You think complete strangers will just open up to you, flyboy?”
“Why not?”
He had never met anyone with less faith in him. He was accustomed to having people trust him, follow him, and listen to him. This exact opposite reaction sort of pissed him off.
Actually, not sort of. Totally pissed him off.
“You’re not Hawaii homegrown,” she explained. “Folks around here don’t take strongly to outsiders poking around.”
“They’ll talk to me.” He reached around her and pushed open the door to the business office and marched inside.
“This should be good,” she mumbled under her breath.
Cal was prepared to drag out the information he wanted. What Cassie didn’t know was that he had an edge. The pilot community was a small one where people tended to respect the flying credentials of others even before deciding on the quality of the person.
The deeply tanned man lounging behind the desk did not disappoint. He was in his late fifties, his dark hair streaked with gray and his flower print shirt loose and open, revealing a white, ribbed tank top.
“Ed.”
Cal could hear the smile in Cassie’s voice as she walked around the desk to the grizzled older man.
“Cassie darling. What brings you back here?” Beefy arms wrapped her in a firm bear hug.
When she squealed with delight, raw fury shot through Cal. The other man was old enough to be her father, but the sight of his hands on Cassie’s slim body filled him with a fighting rage. He refused to analyze why or examine his motives except to say her brother was gone. Someone had to look out for her. That job fell to him.
Yeah, that was all this
was. A case of unwanted brotherly-like protectiveness.
“Are you going to introduce us?” Cal asked over their whispering and laughing.
“What’s this?” The man’s head popped up from Cassie’s shoulder. “Who’s the young man, Cassie darling?”
Young? He was thirty-eight. Not old but hardly young.
Cassie snuggled into the other man’s arms as if she had no inkling of the tension pumping through the room. “Ed Golden, this is Caleb Wilson, an old friend of Dan’s.”
“Cal?” The man’s smile wiped out the confusion playing around his eyes. “Why, of course.”
“Do we know each other?” Cal asked, knowing he absolutely did not know this guy.
“Sure. You and Dan served together. He told me all about your stunts.” Ed managed to keep his protective hold on Cassie and step forward to shake hands at the same time.
Cal hoped to hell that wasn’t true. He stayed quiet but gripped the older man’s hand in a strong handshake.
“Yep.” Ed squeezed Cassie even tighter. “Dan told me about you.”
The idea that he couldn’t reciprocate with some personal information on this guy made Cal edgy. There were certain things he wanted to keep private. There were things about him, about Dan, that even Cassie did not know. Somehow he sensed that Ed might have an idea.
“Then tell me,” she said. “He’s barely shared any information so far.”
“Cassie darling, Cal and I understand each other.”
“How?”
“We both sailed the skies for our country with a chunk of metal strapped to our backs. Those of us who fly for a living know.”
Cassie twisted her lips in an appalled frown. “What?”
Cal had to smile. He could tell she was not impressed with their show of silent male bonding. He took pity on her. “We know what it’s like to be up there when everyone else is down here.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Cassie stepped out of Ed’s embrace and propped her thigh on the edge of Ed’s desk.
Ed barked out a laugh. “Everything, darling.”
If the pounding headache behind his eyes was any indication, Cal figured his brain might explode if Ed called Cassie “darling” one more time. The other man’s age didn’t matter. For some dumbass reason, he didn’t want any man touching Cassie unless that man was him.
It’s Hotter in Hawaii Page 5