Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy

by HelenKay Dimon

  “Watch me do what?”

  “Are you kidding, she could probably take all three of them with one knee tied behind her back,” Josh said.

  Kane ignored both of them. “Ted, come with me. I may need someone with an active badge to clear the way.”

  “Sure.”

  They started down the steps, marching as if the next stop were war. A few more minutes and they’d be able to stage a scene out of the Old West.

  “Hey,” she called out to the two boneheads, who obliged by looking back at her. “The macho crap is cute and all, but make this quick. I’m tired, and I’ve had about all I can take of Dietz.”

  Kane winked at her, then bounded down the last two steps. In a few strides, Kane bridged the gap between the two groups. How they could stand there without tripping over all that testosterone, she’d never know.

  “We’re not actually going to stand up here and miss the action, are we?” she asked her bodyguard.

  “You know, Annie. I’m starting to like you.”

  “I grow on people.”

  Josh cracked a smile. “A little like mold.”

  “Only without the helpful medicinal qualities.” Just then the clenched-fist guy took a threatening step toward Kane. “Uh-oh. Looks like a rumble.”

  “Hank Watson isn’t known for his level head.”

  Sounded as if Kane had been dipping into her bad luck pool. “Any relation to Sam?”

  “How do you…never mind.” Josh nodded. “Yeah, his dad.”

  Of course it was. “Could this day get any worse?”

  “Probably. It’s only eight in the morning.”

  Chapter 16

  The parking lot looked like a pep rally for the we-hate-Kane club. Dietz. Hank Watson. Former friend Mike Furtado. If the kid he crushed into third base in seventh grade and a few of the guys he arrested over the years showed up, Kane figured they could hold a parade.

  “Nice morning for a meeting. Raining, but that might be appropriate for this get-together,” Kane said to the angry crowd.

  “Gentlemen, let’s break this up.” Ted delivered the order from behind the darkest sunglasses Kane had ever seen.

  Hank stepped forward, but Dietz grabbed his arm and pulled him back. In a flash Kane felt Annie press against his back and Josh hover off to his left side. Flanked on all sides by people ready to defend him. Yeah, no doubt about it—the Cavalry had arrived.

  Kane appreciated the gesture, but the show of force wasn’t necessary. He could handle Dietz. Been doing it for years. Mike’s change stumped him, but Kane refused to dissect that right now.

  “How many guys did you call, Dietz?” Kane didn’t know when Dietz managed to gather reinforcements. They’d been together ever since they left the marina, except for a minute or two when Dietz let him use the john.

  “He doesn’t have to call me. I make it my business to know where you are at all times.” Hank practically spit when he spoke.

  Nothing new there. Hank funneled most of his anger at Kane. He figured he should be used to it by now. He wasn’t.

  “And you?” Kane asked Mike. Kane would have stared him down if Mike had the balls to look him in the eye. That hadn’t happened since Mike set Dietz on his ass and washed his hands of their friendship.

  “Ted called. I came to make sure everything was under control,” Mike explained.

  “Bit late for that, don’t you think?” Josh asked.

  “Hours too late,” Annie said, making no attempt to lower her voice.

  Nope, not his Annie. She saw a fight and jumped right in, arms swinging and mouth motoring. Kane found the characteristic pretty damn sexy.

  Dietz stepped forward this time. Chest out and chin held high, he walked right into Kane’s personal space. Anyone else would have noticed the breach. Dietz just blundered through.

  “You always have someone around to fight your battles. First the broad. Now Mr. DEA.”

  “Did you just call me a broad?”

  Dietz talked right over her. “This time I got you. Caught you coming right out of the crime scene with blood on your pants and no alibi.”

  Kane looked down. Saw the streaks of red on his oldest pair of jeans. “Well, damn.”

  “Killing my son was only the start.” Hank’s voice trembled.

  “That’s just about enough drama for one morning.” Annie didn’t try to hide the disgust in her voice.

  “And you!” Hank’s anger found a new target. “You’re sleeping with this animal.”

  Annie looked at the men on her side of the fight. “Does everyone on the island know about our sleeping arrangements?”

  “I didn’t, if that makes you feel any better,” Ted said.

  “Are you blind?” Josh asked.

  Kane almost laughed at the open-mouthed, appalled look on Annie’s face.

  Hank whipped around and went after Mike. “Do your fucking job. Get this murdering bastard off the force and in prison where he belongs.”

  “He killed his wife and my sister. Now Manning.” Dietz joined in the pile-on. “How many dead bodies do you need?”

  Kane refused to go down this road again. Not with Annie standing right there listening. She’d jump on this information and not let go until he told her everything.

  “For the last time, I didn’t kill any of them. Your sister died years ago. Let this go.”

  “Unlike you, I can’t just walk away. My sister is dead.”

  Kane gave in to a shout. “From a car accident!”

  “Stop.” Mike’s low, even voice cut through all the arguing. “Dietz, you’re done here.”

  “Well, well, well. Look who grew a pair,” Josh muttered.

  Kane thought the same thing. About time Mike stood up and acted like the decent man he was.

  “You assigned me to do a job,” Dietz pointed out. “Let me do it.”

  “The Commission appointed you to investigate Mr. Watson’s charges regarding his son. Not to shadow Kane’s every step. Not to team up with the complainant, and certainly not to settle old scores. You’ve over-stepped your bounds and your mandate.”

  “One paid official protecting another. I knew you wouldn’t do your job.” Hank started grumbling and shaking his head.

  Kane knew Hank needed to find an outlet for all that grief. Kane once tried to have a rational conversation, talk man-to-man and explain what happened with Sam. Kane took responsibility for his actions and wanted to give Hank closure.

  Hank decked him. Kane didn’t defend the punch. Seemed only fair the guy should land one free one in the name of his dead son. The problem was Hank wanted a lifetime of revenge, not one punch or one fight. Kane took it, but when the anger spread to innocents like Annie and Josh, well, that was when Kane had to step in. Tolerance was a fine line, and Hank kept crossing it.

  Dietz pointed to the center of Kane’s chest. “He is the one in trouble here, not me. Him and his girlfriend.”

  “I guess that’s better than broad,” Annie said.

  Free shots didn’t include Annie as a target. “Step back, Dietz. This is your last warning.”

  “Or what, you’ll kill him, too?” Hank shouted out his question, unraveling and losing more control by the minute.

  “You deserve everything that’s coming to you. People think death follows you, but the truth is that you cause it.” Dietz scowled over Kane’s shoulder at Annie. “That’s what you’re tying yourself to. A guy with a history of death. Is that what you want? Is the raunchy sex worth it?”

  “One more word and I knock you on your ass,” Kane warned.

  “I said stop.” Mike repeated his command, louder this time.

  Josh crowded in closer, pushing Annie behind him. “Good choice on the neutral investigator, Mike. No fairness issues here.”

  “Shut up.” Mike answered Josh, but his gaze stayed on Dietz. “You, go.”

  Dietz didn’t move. He didn’t talk either. A silent war waged between Mike and Dietz. One Kane had no interest in joining. Mike was more
of a business guy than a fists guy, but he held the power position in the relationship. He could fire Dietz at any time.

  Dietz caved. “Fine, but I’ll be back.”

  “Call first,” Ted said to Dietz’s retreating back.

  Dietz stomped off to his sedan. Hank stayed put.

  “You, too, Hank.” Ted edged forward. “We’ve had enough excitement for one day. Go home to your wife.”

  “You won’t get away with this one, Travers. I’ll go to the press.”

  “Nothing new there. You ran to the newspaper with your story about me last time.”

  “His false story,” Josh added.

  “Hank. Now,” Ted ordered.

  Hank held his ground for a few more seconds, then gave in. “You won this time, but you won’t the next. Your days here are numbered.”

  “You threatening me, Hank?”

  Over the months, Hank had fallen apart, changed until only a shell of a man remained. Kane could see the hard days take their toll and age Hank before his eyes. Every time they met, Hank deteriorated a bit more. Unkempt. Dirty clothes. The rumor was that the board of directors at his company had voted him out. When Sam died, so had the best part of Hank.

  When the fury welled up inside of Kane, he tried to remember Hank’s loss.

  “You’re a dead man.” Hank lunged.

  Kane deflected. He didn’t want to hurt the guy, just slow him down. Ted and Josh had other ideas. Josh knocked Hank to the ground and held him there with a knee to his back. Ted slapped on the cuffs.

  When Kane stepped forward to help, Annie grabbed his T-shirt and started pulling. If he tried to move forward, she’d accidentally strangle him. At least he thought it would be an accident. Maybe not.

  “Annie, let go,” he said. “They have him.”

  “Damn it,” Mike hissed under his breath. “None of this was supposed to happen.”

  Josh looked up, easily handling Hank with one knee and a hand. “What the hell did you think would be the result of this witch hunt?”

  Kane decided the time had come to lessen the tension and go home. “Josh, it’s okay.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Josh stood up and handed Hank off to Ted. One shove later, Mike landed on his ass on the pavement.

  “How many people am I going to have to arrest today?” Ted asked.

  “You can count me out,” Annie said.

  “No one is getting arrested.” Kane held a hand out to Mike to help him up, then tried to hide his surprise when he took it. “Ted, take the cuffs off Hank and get him home.”

  “Chief, he threatened you.”

  “I know.” The adrenaline rush cooled down, leaving only fatigue behind. “We’re done here. Let him go.”

  The older man grumbled about not wanting to owe Kane anything. Somehow Ted wrestled him into the back of his squad car and drove off.

  “Letting him go was a mistake,” Josh said.

  “Yeah, well, what’s one more.” Kane glanced over at Annie. “You okay?”

  “Suffering from a bit of testosterone overload, but otherwise okay.”

  “I’ll be going, too,” Mike said.

  “Good idea,” Josh shot back, but Mike had already broken from the group and started for his car.

  Kane called out to him. “Mike?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for putting the leash on Dietz.”

  “Just be careful.” With his head down, Mike climbed into his Mercedes.

  “I don’t get that guy,” Josh said.

  “Me either.”

  “I think you’re all a bit strange,” Annie said.

  “It’s the heat.” Kane tucked a silky strand of hair back behind her ear. Truth is, her hair looked fine. He just wanted to touch her. “Scrambles the brain.”

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Unless you need me to pay more bail, I’m out of here.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Yeah, you owe me.”

  Kane watched Josh amble to his car, all cocky and superior. A gruff demeanor on the outside, but a different guy underneath.

  “I got a question for you, island boy.” Annie clutched her journal to her chest.

  “Hit me.”

  “Does anyone on this island like you?”

  That one was easy. “Not as far as I can tell.”

  “Maybe I need to find another island tour guide.”

  “You act as if anyone else would be able to stand you.”

  Chapter 17

  “We really appreciate the lift back to the marina,” Annie said from the backseat of Roy’s patrol car a half hour later.

  Kane had wanted to get home immediately. Then he remembered he didn’t have his truck. Dietz had been too busy playing super cop and throwing his weight around to let them drive to the police station on their own. Where Dietz thought he’d run to, Kane had no idea.

  Roy peeked at her in the rearview mirror, then ducked his head again. “My pleasure.”

  Kane gazed out the window to keep from laughing in his sergeant’s face. The poor bastard had a crush on Annie. Roy barely combed his hair most days. This morning he’d arrived hours before his scheduled shift with his hair slicked back and his navy pants pressed to perfection.

  Yeah, poor bastard.

  Kane could sympathize. Annie tormented him, too. From her shiny hair to the sexy way her green eyes sparkled when she joked, to the trim body that moved with a catlike grace. He couldn’t breathe without wanting to plunge deep inside her.

  Even after hours locked in a cell, she retained her spunk. She didn’t back down from Dietz. No, she defended Kane’s integrity despite all the talk of him being a murderer.

  If only he could trust her.

  Kane turned in his seat and watched her stare at the passing scenery. The surprise shower didn’t dampen her spirits, which was good since the rainy season had descended. Some moisture ranging from sprinkles to a downpour arrived every afternoon, even if only for a half hour.

  “You’ve spent a lot of time behind bars today,” he said.

  She frowned at him. “I notice you didn’t offer to sit back here.”

  “People will have enough to talk about without seeing me in Roy’s backseat. No need to add to the rumors.”

  “You okay back there, Annie?” Roy asked.

  A sweet smile returned to her lips. A smile meant for Roy alone. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

  “Roy?” Kane hated to break up this love fest, but the sergeant was so busy staring at Annie in the mirror that the cruiser was inches away from missing the turn and, instead, plowing into an embankment.

  “Yeah, Chief?”

  “Watch what you’re doing.”

  “Huh? Oh!” They almost missed the parking lot. The tires squealed as they rounded the corner and edged in. “That was close.”

  “Kane?” Annie stared past him through the front window. “What happened to your car?”

  “My…” Kane spun back around and stared out the window at what used to be his truck. Now it looked more like a smoking pile of junk. “What the hell?”

  “It didn’t look like that a few hours ago,” she said.

  “Did Chester Manning get killed in your vehicle or something? It looks like shit…Oh, excuse me, Annie.”

  “No need to apologize. We have bigger problems at the moment.”

  Kane blocked them both out. He wished he could block out the scene in front of him, but his vision worked just fine.

  “It’s destroyed.” That was it. Kane couldn’t say anything else because no words stuck in his brain long enough to translate into a comprehensible sentence. Pressure built in his chest and a mixture of rage and frustration balled up inside of him.

  “What should we do?” Roy stumbled over his words but managed to force out the question.

  “Other than try to keep Kane from killing someone?” Annie talked slow and soft, as if she feared he would blow at any minute. “I’m thinking that will be a full-time job.”

  Kane jumped out before the police
car came to a stop. He ran to the smoldering truck but stopped about five feet away. If there were flames, and there must have been at some point, they were gone now. All that was left was a burnt-out shell where his prized truck used to be.

  “Engine failure, sir?”

  For a second Kane debated taking out his anger on Roy for asking such a dumb-ass question. Somehow Kane controlled the impulse. Barely. “Trucks don’t implode without some help.”

  “Then, what’s the explanation?” Annie asked.

  These two were having some trouble grasping the obvious. “Someone set it on fire.”

  Roy whistled. “That sucks.”

  “What?” Annie pushed her way between the two men and stared at the blackened metal. “In broad daylight? In a public space?”

  “This probably happened hours ago. Before daylight. We moved the car after the chief’s arrest since this lot is overflow and out of the way of the crime scene. And, it’s raining, so no one is around,” Roy explained as he circled the former vehicle.

  Kane still couldn’t find his voice. If he tried to talk, he knew he’d yell. Probably tear the marina apart with his bare hands until he found the idiot who did this.

  “Shouldn’t you cops be around here somewhere making sure this kind of stuff doesn’t happen?”

  Roy shrugged at Annie’s question. “We don’t have officers assigned here. Most are out at the crime scene or on rounds. I would have passed by, but not for another few hours.”

  “The police were too busy arresting us to watch over my truck.” Kane added this to the list of reasons he wanted to forget last night ever happened.

  “Dietz at work again,” she said.

  Kane gave Roy a stiff nod. “Call it in.”

  “What now?” She whispered the question, but Kane heard her just fine.

  “We go home and regroup.” He’d probably punch in a wall while he was at it.

  For some reason, having Annie with him was a comfort. Women usually meant trouble. He’d lost a mother and sister at young ages to breast cancer. A wife in a drunken car accident. Dietz got it right when he said the women in his life lacked longevity.

  Kane found if you didn’t let them hang around long, death didn’t become an issue. That thought led him back to Annie. What in the hell was he going to do with her? She was in the missing yacht scandal up to her beautiful eyeballs. She had an agenda that could land her in jail or worse. But letting her go was not an option.