Constant Craving (Task Force Hawaii #3)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Come on, Callahan. I’ll show you all our offices.”

  “Mine’s locked,” Charity said. “I haven’t had time to get down there.”

  “We’ll save you for last.”

  “Of course you will. I am the best.” She waited until they were gone.

  “Be still my little Georgia heart. That is one big hunk of man meat.”

  “And from Texas,” Floyd said.

  “Yeah?”

  He nodded. “I remember he’s’s a big Dallas Cowboy fan.”

  “Hmm, I do like Texan men.”

  “He’s a Fed,” Floyd said, the tone of his voice telling her exactly how he felt about feds. Most of the team had a bad view of the feds for some reason or another, but since Charity had been one, they didn’t really bother her.

  “And?”

  He shrugged his massive shoulders. Another big guy, former Capitol Police from DC. He was a quiet hulk of a man, who knew his way around a firearm and was considered an expert on terrorism. “I had to work with them when I was in DC, and it wasn’t always fun.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s a by the book kind of guy, and he doesn’t always play well with others.”

  She looked at Marcus. “A dark side?”

  He shook his head. “No. He’s a little like Emma. Quiet, kind of keeps to himself. I think it is a computer nerd thing.

  “Hey, I’m a computer nerd.”

  “You are not your average nerd. You are very unique.”

  She smiled. “You definitely know how to talk pretty. I would assume you were from the South if I didn’t know better.”

  He shook his head. “Just know that Hammer doesn’t always want to work with other people, and he has no problem letting them know.”

  “I’m not planning on working with him.”

  On him, yeah, but with him, probably not. There were all kinds of things she wanted to do to him, and it started with getting him naked as soon as possible.

  Before Floyd could respond, Del stepped out into the conference area. The frown he was sporting told Charity that the phone call hadn’t been fun. He glanced around the conference room. “Where did Emma go?”

  “She wanted some cocoa puffs,” Charity said.

  Del rolled his eyes. “I should buy stock in the bakery. They are going to bankrupt me by the time that baby gets here. I’m heading over to HPD. The mayor wants me to talk shop about security for an upcoming conference. I should be back in time for the meeting.”

  With that, he headed out the door, and she sat down at the table.

  “Aren’t you supposed to go downstairs and get ready?” Marcus asked.

  She shrugged. “You know how longwinded Adam can be. It’ll take him over an hour to make it to my lab.”

  Marcus smiled. “That’s true. How’s Drew?”

  She shrugged. “Some days are good. He did a little better when I dragged him to my place, but now I can’t seem to get him off my couch. I did get him out this weekend to see his family. He spends more time with Luke and Jess than anyone else.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not good. No man should spend most of his days with cats.”

  “I agree, but other than dragging him to see his family, I can’t get him out of there. I thought being in Honolulu would get him to the beach. You know that boy likes to surf.”

  “I take it Cat hasn’t been by?”

  She shook her head. “I just want to slap her, but then, there is a good chance she would break my face.”

  “Or shoot you.”

  “There is that, although, I’m an expert shot. I’m not that good with the hand-to-hand combat.”

  “That’s because you grew up an only child. You learn plenty of combat if you come from a big family.”

  She chuckled. Marcus came from a family with five kids, all boys.

  “Tell you what. Why don’t I get Adam and Graeme—and the boss if we can spring him for a night—and take Drew out? We need a guy’s night.”

  “So, no luck with Tamilya, huh?”

  Tamilya Lowe was former FBI, and now worked in Hawaii for a private security firm. It was well known that Marcus had been hung up on her forever.

  “The woman is playing hard to get.”

  “And this is something new?”

  “Yes. When we dated in DC, she definitely didn’t play hard to get.”

  That bit of information caught her attention. “So, you dated when she was at the FBI?”

  For a second, he said nothing. Marcus was like that. He was quiet and often took in everything before making a comment. It was hard to relate to him sometimes because Charity rarely thought before she spoke. But, the fact that he’d let out the detail that he’d dated Tamilya in the past meant that he was really messed up about her.

  “Did you say you wanted help with Drew?”

  Her need for gossip warred with her need to help one of her best friends. Drew didn’t need to spend all his days hanging around an apartment like a sad version of a brooding loner. Charity understood that if she didn’t help him move on from the incident, that there was a good chance he’d quit his job at TFH—he didn’t need it anyway—and slip away. It was something that all of them were worried about on some level.

  She smiled. “Tamilya who?”

  “See that you keep it that way.”

  She rose from her seat, grabbing her purse. “I better get down to my lab before the hunk from Texas shows up.”

  Chapter Three

  TJ watched the elevator door close and almost sighed with relief. He had done his time in other departments, and his undercover assignment had been dicey-especially the last one. He still got an uneasy stomach in the morgue, especially when people were eating. Elle was competent and very sweet, and she ate cocoa puffs while surrounded by bins of dead people. It was enough to make him want to hurl. It was a little unmanning.

  “I never get used to it,” Adam said, leaning forward to hit the button.

  TJ glanced at him. “Yeah.”

  “I mean, eating with all those dead people in there.”

  Adam shuddered dramatically. TJ liked the former HPD officer, and found him to be a straight shooter. At the moment, he was finding it hard to believe anyone in the organization would do something illegal. In the process of an investigation, TJ was pretty sure the team might step over the line. For personal gain…he just wasn’t seeing it.

  “It’s definitely weird. There was an ME in DC who would eat a pastrami sandwich while cutting open a body.”

  “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.”

  TJ smiled. “Where to next?”

  “The forensics lab.”

  “And that’s Charity’s domain?”

  Adam gave him a strange look. “Yeah, that’s what she calls it. And believe me, you don’t want to mess with her domain. Floyd got caught playing around on one of her computers once. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “Yeah, most techs are territorial. And the one person you’re missing?”

  Adam’s humor faded, and a shadow moved over his expression. “That would be Drew. If you were here a few months ago, you heard about the shooting.”

  Of course he had, as well as having all the internal memos to help him get a feel of the team. But it was always better to let people talk.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Adam nodded. “Drew was clinically dead at least once after they got him to Tripler, but he pulled through.”

  And the team still hadn’t recovered from the looks of it. Of course, if Franklin hadn’t moved on, they might have issues. “When is he expected back at work?”

  “Soon, hopefully. Charity’s working on him.”

  That caught TJ’s attention. “Charity?”

  “Yeah. He’s staying with her while he recuperates.”

  That information had not been included in the report, so there is a good chance it had just happened. It brought about another whole list of concerns.

  “Are they an item?”

 
“Naw, just friends. She’s trying to help him recuperate, and being with family is comforting, and sometimes overbearing. So, Charity asked him to move in with her for awhile.”

  TJ had no time to respond, as the doors opened and they were thrown into chaos. Tim McGraw’s voice blared, as bright light from a bank of windows to the right illuminated every possible spot. TJ blinked trying to get his eyes to focus.

  “Good God, Charity,” Adam said. “Turn that crap down.”

  She turned with a gasp, but it blossomed into a grin. Damn, the woman had a great smile. It wasn’t one of those cool professional smiles. Happiness filled her expression and her eyes lit up. It was the kind of smile every man wanted to see when he arrived home.

  Whoa, dial it back, Callahan.

  “You come to my lab, you deal with Tim.”

  Adam scrubbed a hand over his bald head. “Last week it was Adam Levine.”

  “Come on, Adam. Every week is Adam Levine week.”

  Adam shook his head. “You met Agent Callahan earlier.”

  “Of course,” she said, directing that smile in his direction.

  Again, the slow beat of arousal thrummed through his blood. He had expected some attraction, as she was a beautiful woman. He didn’t know a heterosexual man who wouldn’t be attracted to her. Average height, definitely on the curvy side, she dressed as if she were a movie queen from the fifties. It added to the attraction a bit. There was something about a woman in three inch heels and a swing to her step that mesmerized him. His fingers itched to touch to see just out warm her light brown flesh was. This was not good. She was his assignment, and being attracted to her was not going to help in the investigation.

  “Nice set up.”

  Great. That was cool, Callahan. Way to sound like a genius.

  She nodded. “The best on the island. HPD is so jealous of my lab. I’m sure the feds would be too, if they ever got a gander at it. You’re the first one I’ve had in here.”

  It was odd that no feds had been in to see the lab. He had a feeling TFH liked being left on their own. Then, he really looked around and discovered that she definitely had a top quality lab. He knew most of the equipment by sight. Computer forensics was more his forte, but it was easy to see that most of it was less than a year old. It made sense because TFH hadn’t been around that long, but it was still damned remarkable.

  “Impressive, although, I’m wondering how you got the money from state. It’s hard to get money out of the federal government, but I know state governments have been strapped the last few years.”

  Charity shrugged. “Del took care of it. I believe it was through some grants.”

  “Resourceful.”

  “It helps he had time dealing with the federal government when he was in the Army. Plus, Adam knows a few people, doncha?”

  Adam smiled. “I know too many people. It’s a hazard of being born and raised on Oahu. Everyone knows everyone else.”

  “Del says that’s the only reason he’s keeping you around.”

  Adam shook his head, but before he could respond, his phone when off. He read the text message and his humor dissolved. “Hey, I have an issue I have to take care of. Can you handle TJ?”

  For a moment, the question hung in the air between them. Charity’s mouth twitched, and there was a glint in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

  Oblivious to the tension, Adam said, “Charity?”

  She tore her gaze from TJ to look at Adam. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Catch you later, Hammer. I’m sure the boss would like to talk to you again if he’s back.”

  Before TJ could say anything, Adam hurried out leaving them alone.

  “That call was not work related,” Charity said with a shake of her head.

  “Oh?”

  Charity dismissed him with another shake of her head. “Just an old case that’s very personal for him.”

  “But you just said that it wasn’t work related.”

  “She isn’t.”

  He saw the look on her face and knew not to push. He wouldn’t be able to gain her trust if he pushed too hard.

  “What is it you need to know about my lab? About my role at TFH?”

  And right then and there, he couldn’t think of anything. His mind was blank as he watched her saunter into her office. God, the woman knew how to walk. Damn, he knew when he saw her pic, it was going to be tough. Throw in that megawatt smile and Southern twang, and there was a good chance he would walk around without most of his blood in his brain.

  She turned back to look at him. “Are you coming?”

  Someone was playing a huge joke on him. That was all he could think of. It had to be a sadistic fuck too. To pick out a woman who fit his idea of an ideal woman. She was curvy, with a sassy little walk that he was sure drew a lot of attention. On top of that, she was smart. There was no way she could have worked at the CIA or TFH and been stupid.

  “Sure,” he said, finally following her into the office. Like the rest of the area, it seemed to be jam-packed with junk, but he knew better. He could see the patterns of organization. Pictures of what he expected was her family filled the credenza behind the desk. Her geekiness was on display here. Bobble heads of the Avengers, a few Pokémon figurines, but front and center was the Flash. A poster and a rather large figurine sat in the middle of the credenza.

  “Wow.”

  She sat down behind her desk. “You like?”

  “What’s not to like? My parents would kill for some of this.”

  “Oh?”

  He nodded. “Dad’s a retired Texas Ranger, but they now own and operate the biggest comic book store in South Texas.”

  “Cool.”

  “The Flash figurine?”

  She smiled. “Custom made. Nothing too good for my man Barry.”

  “So you consider yourself a DC kind of woman?”

  “No, I’m more of a fan of Marvel; although, I love all things superhero. But Flash, well, he has my job. So, I know he’s a badass.”

  He hadn’t really thought about it that way. “True.”

  “So, what is your job?”

  “I handle computer crimes.”

  Her eyes lit up with interest. “Cyber crimes? Oh, I miss that. I do a little of that here, but only if it pertains to one of our cases.”

  He heard it—that hacker excitement. TJ had always said that most people working cyber crimes were just hackers who had the right to invade privacy. They did it behind a badge, but they shared the same need to pry into the dark places of the Internet. “So you handle all the forensics?”

  “Yes. We have most everything we need here. Del was worried that we would be on the bottom of the pile for HPD. They have enough to worry about anyway. If they can’t do it, we have to send it to the mainland, and with the cases we take, that isn’t really feasible. They usually have high visibility, meaning that the press is usually breathing down Del’s neck.”

  “Sounds great, but still, impressive that he got all of that equipment here.”

  She nodded. “That’s Del, though. He’s a good guy. And he knows how to work things. And, like I said, if he doesn’t, Adam does.”

  He looked around and said nothing else. He was done with the tour, and he should just go back upstairs and see if Delano was back, but he didn’t want to leave. It had nothing to do with the job, although it should have. He should want to spend a little more time with unfettered access in her lab and office.

  “Anything else?”

  He shook his head. “Not really.” He glanced at his watch. “Do you have time to grab a coffee?”

  She blinked, and he felt something shift beneath him. Why the hell had he asked her out for coffee? He shouldn’t have done that. This was work, and, yes, he needed to investigate her, but he had planned on asking the team out so he could get the feel of the dynamics.

  “Not really. I have to go over testimony with the DA today for a case that is coming up next week.”

  He nodded, relieved and dis
appointed at the same time.

  She hesitated, then asked, “How about dinner?”

  He should say no. This was too personal and exactly what had happened the last time, but he couldn’t find the nerve. “Sure. When?”

  “Tonight.”

  It was there, on the tip of his tongue to say no. He needed to call Remington and give him his first impressions and do a little more research on the team, especially Charity. But he couldn’t. For the first time in a long time, he was definitely interested in spending more time with a woman.

  “Tonight is fine.”

  “Great. How does seven sound?”

  “Seven is fantastic.”

  “If you give me your number, I can send you my deets.”

  He rattled off the number, and she entered it in her cell.

  “Well, I guess I should go upstairs.”

  “Del should be back by now. He hates meetings in general, and especially things like this with the mayor.”

  “I’ll see you tonight.”

  She gave him that smile and his heart did a little dance. Damn.

  “Sounds good.”

  As he walked to the elevator, he chastised himself. He needed to keep it impersonal, and he should cancel the date, right then. Or even by text later, but he knew better. He had to keep relations good between him and the team during the investigation.

  Adam stepped off the elevator on the floor where the holding cells for HPD were. He had been making too many trips here lately, he thought.

  He approached the desk as Jason Kalua shook his head. The older officer had trained Adam years ago. Kalua had been thirty pounds lighter and had a lot more hair in those days, but he was a solid cop.

  “We’re not going to be able to keep calling you, Lee. At some point, she’s going to have to face the music.”

  Adam sighed and scrubbed a hand over his scalp. “I understand. I’m trying.”

  Kalua nodded. “I know, and that’s why we’ve been giving her a break, but this time, we caught her in her car.”

  “Her car?”

  “Not driving, but just sitting there. Dozing actually. But the keys were in the ignition.”

  “Okay.”

  He turned to walk away, but Kalua stopped him. “Get her in a program, bra. I know she has issues, and that’s why we let her off all the time, but if she’s driving next time, she could kill herself or someone else.”