It’s Hotter in Hawaii

by HelenKay Dimon

  He winked at her. “One lock conquered.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re enjoying this.”

  “It’s fun unless I have to use the gun.” He nodded in the direction of the building. “Ready?”

  “I’m not here for the scenery, flyboy.”

  “You’re my kind of woman.”

  His throwaway comment shot straight to her heart. “That’s what all the boys say. Let’s hit it.”

  All three garage doors proved impossible to open.

  “What now?” she asked, figuring he had a backup plan.

  “We walk in through the front.” After checking the area, Cal went to work on prying the boards barring the door.

  “You’re not being very quiet.”

  Cassie was right but Cal could not figure out how to remove nails without making a noise. The old wood creaked as he ripped it from the wall. Once he freed the lower portion of the door from obstruction, Cal poked his head through.

  “For heaven’s sake, be careful,” Cassie choked out.

  The little woman needed to lighten up. “It’s clear.”

  He shimmied through the opening. He’d crawled through more tight spaces in the past few days on Kauai than in his entire life. Amazing how all of it traced back to Cassie.

  “There is no light in here at all.” She stumbled over some object but quickly regained her balance.

  The oppressive darkness in the front room covered them like a blanket. Unable to find any lights in the room, Cal forged a slow path through the chairs and desks, careful not to trip or knock anything over. When he realized that wasn’t working, he tried tracing a hand along the wall. If they couldn’t see a door, they could still feel one.

  “Feel anything?” she asked.

  “Nothing I want to think about. Wait.” His fingers scraped against a loose piece of metal. “A hinge.”

  “That means there’s a door here somewhere.”

  He tested the door. “It’s locked.”

  “Of course it is.” Sarcasm rang out in the quiet darkness.

  He dropped to his knees and used one of his prized tools to fiddle with the lock.

  “You’re pretty good with those things,” she said from just inches behind him.

  The barrier clicked open in a few seconds. Through a crack the next room came into view. A steady buzz from the fluorescent lights cut through the silent night. Racks gathered in the center of the football field–sized room, and the shelves overflowed with expensive-looking furnishings. Boxes and additional items littered the floor.

  “I’ll be damned,” he whispered.

  The opposite wall was solid except for two small doors. Cal assumed the garages were on the other side of those doors.

  “Probably, but let me see.” She pulled on his forearm until he stepped back. Then her eyes widened in shock. “This looks like a storage room for a high-end antiques shop.”

  “Something tells me NASA didn’t leave those behind.”

  He conducted a visual tour of the room, looking for any signs of life. “My guess is that the rooms on either side of the warehouse walls are meant to throw people off. You know, fake rooms to give the appearance of a legitimate operation. The real action is in here.”

  “That makes sense, but what is this place?”

  “I need to take a closer look. Stay here.”

  “Not on your life.” She grabbed on to his arm with both hands and would not let go. “There are all kinds of beams and scaffolding above us. Someone could be hiding up there.”

  The woman had a point. “I’ll be careful.”

  “Look, I’m all for heroics, but not for walking into certain death. Use your head, flyboy.”

  Tough talk could not hide the fear lingering behind those beautiful eyes. The pleading voice got through to him. She cared.

  The realization filled him with an odd sense of comfort. For once in his life, the idea of having someone care didn’t send him running for the door. He waited for the sensation, the need to bolt, to eventually overtake him. It didn’t.

  “I don’t have a death wish,” he said.

  “Could have fooled me.” Her mood flashed from concern to anger before he could blink.

  “What’s your plan, boss? We stand here and wait for the criminals to stop by and say hello?”

  Cassie tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Since he liked her hair mussed and sexy, he debated pulling it out again but decided against an action that would surely lead to broken fingers.

  “We could tell the police,” she said.

  Telling him to grow another head would have been less surprising. “Since when do you trust the police?”

  “When I don’t have another choice. We’ve proven our point. Something illegal is going on. Now we need to turn this over to the professionals.”

  He went for the one button he didn’t want to push. “And what if Dan was involved? What if we hand them the evidence that condemns Dan?”

  Her shoulders shrank a little but her gaze did not waver. “According to you, Dan messed up before and got kicked out of the Air Force. His memory survived that. It can survive this.”

  The words died, leaving behind a charged silence.

  “He didn’t exactly get kicked out, Cassie.”

  She shot him a confused look. “But, I thought—”

  A sharp clanging noise on the other side of the warehouse cut her off. He squatted and dragged her down beside him. Cal looked around the cavernous room, trying to find the source of the sound.

  “See anything?” she asked in a low, clear voice.

  “Shhh.” A series of thuds preceded the sound of banging. “Someone’s over there.”

  “We need to leave.”

  She was right, but…“We need to see who else is here.”

  She tugged on his sleeve. “Cal, this is too dangerous. Someone tried to kill us at least twice. We need help.”

  “If I knew who to trust, we could try that.”

  “We can’t stay here.” The tone was practically begging.

  A deep male voice broke into their conversation. “The woman’s right.”

  A hand snaked out and covered Cassie’s mouth, smothering her stunned scream and pulling her out of the doorway. “Stay quiet.”

  The door closed with a click, plunging them back into the darkness of the front room. Cal cracked open the light stick in his pocket as he reached for his weapon. He stopped when he saw the identity of their unwanted company.

  Josh stood with one hand over Cassie’s mouth and a finger from the other crossed over his lips. Hard to miss the gun in that hand. “Not a sound.”

  A killing rage burned through Cal. Seeing Josh touch her, watching her face pale with terror, made him murderous. Josh could fire his weapon for all he cared. Cal doubted a bullet could stop him. “Let her go. Now.”

  “I need you both quiet.” Gone was Josh’s happy-go-lucky demeanor. The cadence of his rough voice ran fast.

  Cal glanced at Cassie’s face. Her eyes filled with uncertainty. “You are scaring the hell out of her.”

  Josh slowly lifted his hand. “Nobody do anything stupid.”

  Cal wasn’t listening. He was beyond reason. His wrath detonated. Without any thought to the noise, he slammed Josh against the wall and knocked his head against the hard cement. Josh’s gun clattered to the floor.

  “Stop! Cal!”

  “Listen to her,” Josh hissed out.

  Cassie grabbed Cal around the waist and whispered against his neck. “Cal, please. We don’t know who else is here.”

  The pleading voice broke through the haze of anger encircling him. Josh owed her his life. Cal still wasn’t convinced that the agent should get out of there without the help of a stretcher.

  Instead of shoving the man back against the wall, Cal reached down to pick up the discarded gun. “Start talking or I use this to blow out your tiny brain.”

  “You’re not going to shoot me and we both know it.”

  T
hat comment proved Josh had no idea how close to the edge Cal was. “Don’t be so sure. I’m pretty sick of you appearing wherever we go.”

  Cassie turned to Josh. “What are you doing here?”

  “Trying to save your butts. We need to get out of here.”

  Cal’s temper still hadn’t cooled. He stuck Josh’s gun in the back waistband of his jeans so he wouldn’t be tempted to use it. “We aren’t moving one inch until you explain what’s going on. This isn’t routine surveillance. You’re on some kind of off-the-books job.”

  “What gave me away?”

  Cassie wasn’t buying the charming act, either. Josh miscalculated on that one. “As far as I’m concerned, Cal should take a shot at you.”

  She was the only woman Cal knew who could face down a gun one minute and morph back into a sexy warrior the next.

  Josh didn’t even blink. “I followed you two to protect you.”

  “We heard you in the warehouse,” Cassie explained.

  “Not me.”

  The carefully crafted puzzle began falling apart in Cal’s mind. “Wait a minute. We heard the sound coming from the other side of the wall. Josh was on you seconds later.”

  “And that means?” she asked.

  Cal did not sugarcoat it. “There is someone else out there right now.”

  “Didn’t I already say that?” she asked.

  “Move over.” Josh pushed them both to the side and opened the door a crack. “We need to get out of here.”

  Cal wanted to believe the agent’s desperation was an act, but he knew it wasn’t. They were in danger. “Tell me who’s out there.”

  “My guess? Bobby Polk.” Josh held out his hand. “Give me my gun.”

  Cal did not argue. None of this was a coincidence. All of the pieces fit together somehow. He just couldn’t figure it out.

  “I don’t see anyone,” Cassie continued.

  Josh and Cal looked at each other over Cassie’s head. Josh took the lead in filling her in. “Just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

  “What do we do?” Cassie asked.

  Cal jumped in. “We leave the way we came, and we take Mr. DEA with us.”

  Josh nodded. “No arguments here.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Cassie felt as useful as a potted plant listening as Josh and Cal lobbed insults at each other. All three had arrived at the hotel room a few minutes earlier and she had not heard a civil word since.

  “Gentlemen, as enjoyable as this is, could we get down to business?”

  Cal leaned back on the couch. “I’m waiting for him to say something worth listening to.”

  “I’m waiting for you two to tell me why you look as if you fell into the canyon.” Josh surveyed their wounds as he talked.

  “Car accident,” Cal said.

  “Ted told me.”

  “Of course he did,” Cassie mumbled.

  “You both okay?”

  Cal smacked his lips together. “Like you give a shit.”

  “Maybe we should step outside and work off a bit of this excess energy,” Josh suggested.

  Cal moved his arm in a sweeping gesture toward the door.

  “After you, Suzy.”

  Cassie’s temper exploded. “Enough! I’m tired of playing the role of room monitor.”

  “Yes, dear,” Cal grumbled.

  “Sorry,” Josh grunted in agreement.

  Time for reason to trump male stupidity. “You say you were at the warehouse to protect us.”

  “I’m thinking you don’t trust me.”

  “Correct.” She fell into the only empty chair in the room and massaged her pounding temples. The blinding pain behind her eyes undoubtedly came from the overdose of testosterone pumping through the small room. At least she hoped that was the cause.

  “I followed you because you were about to stumble into the middle of an ongoing investigation. Months of planning shot to hell because you’re nosy.”

  Cal folded his arms across his broad chest. “Describe the operation.”

  “No deal.” Josh shook his head. “My only goal was to make sure you didn’t inadvertently attract the attention of some very nasty folks. The information train stops there.”

  “Let me tell you what I think is going on.” Cal traded lounging for straight-backed alertness. “Someone is running stolen goods through Kauai using that building. Those goods are either being used to finance drug transactions or the drugs are hidden inside.”

  Josh nodded. “Good story so far.”

  “Dan saw the operation on a fly-over and reported it to someone, maybe you. Now he’s dead.”

  Josh whistled. “Nice addition.”

  Cassie noticed the agent didn’t exactly deny the scenario. “We deserve an explanation.”

  “Cassie’s right. We’ve been shot at and nearly run off the road—”

  Josh sat up. “Tell me about that.”

  “Two days ago. Someone tried to make us part of the canyon wall. We escaped because Cal has the skills of a racecar driver and the brain of a two-year-old.”

  “Thanks.” Cal’s brow furrowed. “I think.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Josh reached out to touch her knee with obvious concern.

  “Move your fingers before I break them off,” Cal ordered.

  She ignored the bellowing. “We’re fine. The jury still is out on whether Cal sustained a brain injury, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “You love my driving,” Cal mumbled.

  She was not about to get pulled off track after what had happened. Her nerves were at the snapping point and she needed answers. “The point is that someone wants to keep us from looking into Dan’s death and I want to know why.”

  “There have been some rumors,” Josh said.

  Nuh-uh. “Be specific.”

  The bright light went out in Josh’s blue eyes. Suddenly he hesitated. The change of mood put Cassie on alert. She steeled herself against the bad news she sensed was about to come.

  Josh took her hand in his, a move that earned him a growl from Cal. “Look, I have a job to do here. You should go back home where it’s safe.”

  Cassie refused to budge. “I’m not leaving.”

  Josh turned his scowl on Cal. “If it’s true someone is trying to hurt you, then you have even more reason to get Cassie somewhere safe.”

  “Maybe if you would do your job, she’d be safe here and we wouldn’t have to go somewhere else.” Cal’s voice softened as the deadly punch waited to land.

  “Understand this, Mr. DEA agent. I am not going anywhere until I know what happened to Dan. If someone thinks Dan was doing something illegal, they can bring me the evidence. Got it?” Cassie stood firm.

  Josh looked back and forth between Cal and Cassie. “Is there anything I can do, short of arresting you two, to change your mind?”

  “You could stop being an ass and tell us what’s going on,” Cal said.

  Josh folded his hands behind his head. “You know everything there is to know.”

  “Then I guess we’re done here.”

  “Are you telling me to go?” Josh asked with more than a little humor in his voice.

  “It’s late and Cassie and I have had a rough evening.”

  Cal had a plan. Cassie could sense it and played along. “A shower and a few hours of sleep will help.”

  Josh got up. Almost reached the door when he turned around. “If whatever Dan was involved in got him killed, these are dangerous people we’re talking about. Don’t take chances.”

  “If I wanted safe, I would have stayed in Florida.”

  Josh opened the door. “And when are you heading back there?”

  Cal did not hesitate with his answer. “As soon as I can.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Less than an hour later, Cal and Cassie pulled into the airport and headed for Dan’s office to get the letter.

  “Are you going to talk or are we done communicating for the da
y?” she asked.

  Cal glanced over at Cassie. Her walk was brisk, her strides long. Seeing her struggle to keep up with his punishing pace, he slowed down. “Eventually.”

  Even in the middle of the night, after another series of terrorizing events, she managed to look cute. Tired and a bit sad around the eyes, but damn good. The parking lot lights highlighted the sunny streaks in her hair, as if begging him to run his fingers through the silken mass.

  “Let’s get that list and figure out what’s going on,” Cassie said.

  Her tone put him on alert. “Okay.”

  “Then you can catch the first plane back to your precious Florida.”

  That explained it. His casual words to Josh had hurt her in some way. He never would have guessed he had that kind of power over her. “Cassie, it’s not like that.”

  She ripped the door to Dan’s office open with such force Cal marveled it didn’t fly right off its hinges. “Doesn’t matter.”

  Clearly it did. “You misunderstood me.”

  “I heard you loud and clear, Cal.”

  Cassie was not particularly good at hiding her emotions. Especially when she was pissed, which she tended to be around him. Often.

  Yeah, he acted like a complete ass. Threw away a line for effect without thinking about the woman who had been sharing his bed. If Cassie’s locked jaw were any indication, now was not the time to apologize. He wasn’t sure that when the right time came he would recognize it.

  He held the door to keep it from slamming back into her. “After you.”

  “Right.” She slapped her hand against the light switch and bathed the utilitarian office in a harsh yellow light.

  Someone or something had wrecked the place. Drawers stood open. Papers scattered around the floor. The few items of furniture in the room were either knocked over or broken in pieces.

  He had walked into this picture before, just a few days ago in Dan’s house. “What the hell happened?”

  “Ohmigod no!” Cassie flew around Ed’s desk and slid to her knees.

  Cal’s heart stopped beating. “Cassie?”

  “Cal, help me.” Her voice shook as hands tugged on the leg of his jeans, trying to drag him down beside her.