It’s Hotter in Hawaii

by HelenKay Dimon

  “People were wrong about Dan then and they’re wrong now.”

  “Cassie, I only told you this because it could come out if we continue digging around.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Eventually someone will get the information. If there is an illegal operation going on and we prove that, a lot of people are going to be pointing a finger at Dan as an accomplice.”

  The story got worse and worse. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “People could jump to conclusions. Decide that once a screw-up, always a screw-up.”

  The prospect of dragging Dan’s solid reputation as a Hawaii businessman through the mud made her stomach flip inside out. Rumors started flying right after the accident. Questions about his competence. Crude smirks and side jokes whispered along with the public condolences. Now it would be worse. The rumors would crescendo into a deafening thunder.

  “You think Ted will grab on to this to justify his accident finding.”

  Cal looked thoughtful. “Despite your theory on the police, my sense is that Greene knows his job. I also think he liked Dan.”

  “He had a strange way of showing it. I’m not sure I trust him.”

  She didn’t know whom to trust at the moment. But she did know that whatever romantic notion she had about Cal was gone. They weren’t on the same side. Dan trusted Cal enough to call him for help. She would listen and stay close, but the days of being naïve and borderline lovesick were over.

  “So, what now?” she asked.

  Some of the tension left Cal’s face. “Well, boss, you have any suggestions?”

  “When I do, you’ll know it.”

  “Then let me suggest that we take a road trip.”

  She should have taken control of the conversation when she had the chance. “I am absolutely not getting into another plane with you.”

  Right now being on land together held uncertainty, let alone sailing through the air in a grown-up version of a paper plane.

  “We did okay last time.” He managed to look innocent when he said it.

  “Not going to happen. My feet stay on the ground.”

  “How about a car?”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the building referenced in some of these papers.”

  “Aren’t we supposed to check in with the police today?”

  “We can do it later.” Cal’s stare was so intense it burned through her. The force of it made her want to squirm.

  “Why do I think you’re hiding something again?”

  He smacked his lips together. “Did I mention that we have to drive straight up the only road leading to the top of the canyon?”

  “I’m impressed there’s even a road,” she said dryly. “That’ll be a nice change.”

  “Yeah, and some parts are even paved.”

  “The others?”

  “Dirt. Rocks. Maybe a trench or two.”

  “Fabulous. I’m driving.” She walked toward the bathroom.

  “Cassie?”

  She stopped at the sound of his voice but didn’t turn back to him. Not this time.

  “I’m sorry about Dan.”

  A rush of emotion clogged her dry throat. Cal could reduce her to a puddle of tears with only a few words.

  “Oh, and Cassie? You sure I can’t drive?”

  “Why?”

  “I drive like I fly.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Cal glanced out the car window and down over the steep cliff just outside the car. “You do know that I could hop on one leg and still beat this car up the canyon.”

  “You’re welcome to get out and jump around. Don’t let me stop you.” Cassie’s slender hands never released their death grip on the wheel.

  “I’m pretty sure my ninety-year-old grandmother could beat this pace.” Cal prayed for a stiff wind to help push them up the mountain.

  “Aren’t we funny?”

  “Bored might be closer to the truth.” The scene outside the car resembled something out of an old movie. A slow-motion movie.

  Cassie drove like a scared kid on the first day of Drivers’ Ed. She hugged the shoulder even when one didn’t exist. Her idea of a leisure drive lulled him into a coma. She drove at least twenty miles under the speed limit, which was quite a feat since the posted speed was only thirty. Several times he expected the car to lose traction and slide backward.

  “You just drive faster than I do.”

  He wondered when she moved into the land of self-delusion. “There are trained bears that can drive faster than you.”

  “I meant that you drive too fast. You raced me all over the island.”

  “At no time was your life in danger from rioting drivers desperate to pass us.” He reached over and tapped her knee. “Try hitting the gas pedal.”

  She slapped at his hand. “Don’t touch me or the wheel while I’m driving. Ever.”

  “I have to do something to stay awake.”

  “Get out the map.”

  “I thought you were from here.”

  “Wrong island.” She shot him a quick glance before returning her full focus to the road ahead. “Besides, do you know every road and part of Miami?”

  “Panama City.”

  “Same thing.”

  “Not really.” He pointed up to the left. “The building is after the next tourist lookout, behind trees and a huge fence.”

  “Or maybe we don’t need a map.”

  “It’s all up here.” He tapped his temple.

  “It’s good to know something is.”

  “It wouldn’t kill you to appreciate my survival and recon skills.”

  “Actually, this tendency you have to skulk about is fascinating.”

  “I don’t skulk.”

  “Was that part of the military training or were you a petty thief in a former life?”

  His head throbbed from a combination of this conversation and bad driving. “Is it too late to leave you at the hotel?”

  “Tell me what you know about this building.”

  A great deal. While Cassie slept, he did a little research. Insomnia came in handy sometimes. “It’s served many purposes over the years. First for the military, then for NASA. For a few years, the National Guard used it. Hell, even the U.S. Geological Service set up camp here for a bit.”

  She frowned at him before tugging the wheel too hard in a moment of panic. “Did you read an encyclopedia or something?”

  “Please, try not to kill us.” He glanced at the speedometer and saw that the car inched up on twenty. Six or seven months from now they’d get to their destination. “The building is supposed to be empty now. Its official status is United States government property not in use.”

  “What did Dan’s papers say about the building exactly?”

  “I only saw the address.”

  She hunched over the wheel even more. “That’s it?”

  “What, did you expect a big X with a note that this is where the bad things happened?”

  “Well, yeah. Is that too much to ask?”

  “Apparently.”

  She curled her fingers tighter around the steering wheel. “With all of those agencies using it, this place doesn’t sound too abandoned.”

  He watched her fingers, mesmerized by their sleekness. With a jolt, he remembered what it felt like to have those eager hands curl around him. He leaned his forehead against the window and let the cool glass ease the heat on his lap.

  “So, what’s the plan?” she asked.

  “What makes you think I have one?” He did, but he wanted her to admit she depended on him to come up with what happened next. It would be a small victory.

  “You seem to have an affinity for breaking into other people’s property with guns blazing.” She put her turn signal on regardless of the fact there was not a turn for another mile. “I need mine back, by the way.”

  “It’s daylight.”

  “And?”

  “Burglary happens at night.”

  �
��Good to know you have boundaries.”

  “Let’s just say I prefer not to broadcast the fact I’m sneaking into a place.”

  “Yeah, I was there the last time, remember? You entered the window and fell on your ass.”

  “You can sweet-talk all you want, but the gun stays with me.” The idea of her holding a loaded weapon made his neck itch. Hell, he didn’t even like her looking at one.

  “It is mine, you know.”

  “The last thing I need is you shooting my leg off.”

  “I’d aim a bit higher.” That big smile suggested she was a bit too excited by the prospect.

  “I think you just proved my point.” He nodded in the direction of the small clearing. “Pull over here.”

  “But there’s no parking space over there.”

  “There’s a shoulder.”

  Cassie glanced over at him and started laughing. “I guess it’s good we made time for that trip to the hotel gift shop.”

  The woman definitely had a nasty side. “Yeah, thanks again for the snappy T-shirt.”

  “I really liked the way they put the little red heart between the words ‘I’ and ‘Kauai.’ It seemed so you.”

  “I look like an idiot tourist,” he muttered.

  “If it’s any consolation, you fit in better now with the crowds than you did in that black commando outfit.”

  Of course, she looked adorable in her slim blue jeans and no-sleeve white polo shirt. Her skin glowed and her hair curled around her apple-shaped cheeks. She blended into their tropical surroundings.

  He, on the other hand, looked like he should be wearing black socks and slippers, with a camera tied around his neck. That would teach him to send Cassie on an errand when she was pissed. The way he figured it, he was lucky he wasn’t wearing a pink jumpsuit.

  Women…

  Chapter Twenty-five

  They walked across the grassy area until they ran into a ten-foot fence. The three-story steel-gray structure sat down a long driveway, the view partially covered by trees. A battered NASA sign hung from the gate protecting the entrance. Overgrown grass surrounding the place and boards covered the massive front doors.

  “Nice digs,” Cal said.

  “The place is deserted.” Cassie knew she stated the obvious, but the silence was killing her. “Of course, I’m not quite sure why NASA would have a facility up here anyway. As far as I know, the shuttle doesn’t land in Hawaii.”

  “NASA uses sites all across the United States to track satellites and gather information, as well as for emergency landings.”

  Was there anything he didn’t know? “Have you been memorizing the newspaper again?”

  “It’s all that expensive military training.”

  She picked up on his mumbling as he paced back and forth outside the gate. The dumb shirt and his serious expression didn’t match. Despite the outfit, he managed the situation with an imposing control.

  “Care to share your thoughts?” she asked.

  “Hmmm.”

  An annoying noncommittal male grunt. Yeah, she just couldn’t get enough of that noise. “Did you have something to offer that’s actually a word?”

  “Not yet.”

  Then she picked up on the focus of his staring. The shiny, new lock on the old gate. She stepped forward to investigate.

  His arm shot out, catching her across the middle. “Watch out.”

  She traced her foot in the dirt. “I’m not really a wait-and-see kind of gal. Just tell me what I’m supposed to be seeing, flyboy.”

  “Look around you.”

  Rocks. Shrubs. “Uh, okay.”

  “There are tire tracks and footprints.”

  He definitely won the eyesight contest because she saw only dirt.

  “There’s been a lot of activity around here for a place where no one is supposed to be.” He crouched down and balanced his elbows on his knees.

  “Nosy tourists?”

  “I doubt it. The tire tracks are on both sides of the gate.”

  Now that she concentrated, kind of squinted and crossed her eyes a bit, she saw the signs. The entire abandoned building scene looked contrived. “The paved driveway looks new.”

  Cal stood up and flicked her chin with a finger. “Good catch. Not bad for a gravy artist.”

  “Graphic.”

  “Whatever the term, you’re quite an investigating partner.”

  Her heart rate jumped. “I believe boss is the word you’re looking for.”

  “Come on.” His smile was warm and inviting. He took off in a brisk walk, following the line of the fence around the outside of the building.

  She raced after him. “More hiking? ’Cause, you know, a little desk work would be a welcome change.”

  He flashed that killer smile over his shoulder. “Getting soft?”

  “You are so lucky I don’t have a gun on me now.”

  They stumbled over rocks and skidded to a halt at the far side of the building. Good thing, because the back sloped down the sheer cliff leading to the ocean below. A few more steps and they would have been rolling downhill and ending in a splash.

  She scanned the area. “Are those garage doors?”

  “Three of them.” Cal shook his head in disgust. “Looks like the bolted front door isn’t the only way into this shack. Nothing like a back door to hide the comings and goings.”

  “Except if someone is watching by air.”

  “Care to explain that?”

  “Dan would have seen what was happening here as he flew over.” She held on to the idea. It supported her theory about Dan seeing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

  She wanted to ask Cal his opinion but feared he would dash her hopes. Better to nurture the positive thought inside then let him squash it.

  “Dan wasn’t the only pilot to fly past this spot. We should see what Ed knows,” Cal said.

  “I notice you didn’t suggest asking Ted or anyone associated with the police department to tag along.”

  Cal gently tugged on her elbow. “Funny thing, isn’t it?”

  “If I didn’t know better, flyboy, I’d say you’re starting to believe my side of this story.”

  “Let’s just say that getting shot at the second I landed on Kauai made you more believable as an innocent victim.”

  What the hell kind of comment was that? “How charming.”

  “Yeah, well, I know how to make the ladies crazy.”

  “You do.”

  He smiled. “Interesting you admit that.”

  “Oh, that’s not a compliment.”

  “You ever notice that these two are always exactly where they’re not supposed to be?” Josh downed the remainder of his coffee and set the empty cup on Ted’s dashboard.

  “The car isn’t a trash can.” Ted’s gaze never left the NASA building. Their lookout area sat a good hundred feet away down the hill, but his binoculars gave him a perfect view.

  Josh snatched the plastic cup. “You want me to get out of the car and find a trash can. Better yet, I could walk right up and let them know we’re following them.”

  “Yeah, and take your smartass attitude with you.”

  “It’s all I have.”

  Ted’s lips thinned into a grim line. “You never did tell me what happened in Nohea’s office. The boss called you in for a chat. You came out fuming.”

  “He’s an idiot bureaucrat.”

  “That’s not news.”

  “I can’t get his help on this.”

  “You mean investigating the crash?”

  “Sort of.”

  Actually, not at all. Josh meant in getting Nohea to tell the NTSB the truth about Dan’s involvement with the DEA. Forget about clearing the guy’s name, though that was an issue. The bigger point was in catching the bastards who were running drugs and killing innocent citizens.

  “Just end this operation. I don’t like any part of this and don’t like risking my office on your scheme.”

  Josh couldn’t blame Ted for wanting t
o get this done. He only had half of the information and was taking a huge risk, both personally and professionally.

  “You’ve made your position clear on how much patience you have left for this.”

  “We both have a lot at stake here. Cal is not going to let this go until he finds something.” Ted’s deep voice echoed through the car.

  “He has the bag.”

  Ted shook his head. “That was a triumph, by the way. How did you let Cal grab it?”

  “I planted it for Bobby to find. The guy’s been all over the crash site. I put the word on the street about items being found and knew he would wander up there.”

  “You didn’t count on Cassie and Cal getting there first.”

  “Apparently not.” Josh took out his pen and tapped it against his teeth. The move helped him think.

  “Not the best timing.”

  “Bobby knows. He and the girlfriend have been tailing Cal all over the island since seeing him with the bag. It’s only a matter of time before they get to Cal.”

  “Sounds like everyone wants the damn bag.” Ted started the car. “Also sounds like we’ve created a pretty dangerous situation for Cassie and Cal.”

  “For the plan to work, I need Bobby to have the bag.”

  Ted shifted into reverse and edged his car onto the road. “Then make it happen before someone else gets hurt.”

  “I haven’t exactly been spending my days checking e-mail, you know.”

  “Doing your nails?”

  “You might want to remember that you’re not the only one in this car who carries a gun.”

  Ted smiled. “Just figure out the answer. I can only hold this together for so long. Cal doesn’t trust me. Cassie even less so.”

  “Sounds like these two are smarter than we thought.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Ed leaned back, balancing his considerable weight on the thin back legs of his metal desk chair. “I have no idea.”

  “I was hoping for something a little more helpful.” Cal roamed around Ed’s messy office, picking up papers and putting them back down without reading them.

  For once, Cassie thought Cal was being pretty reasonable in his frustration. “Come on, Ed. You know what’s going on around the island. People talk. Someone must have said something.”