Rescuing Hi`ilani (Special Forces: Operaton Alpha) (Delta Force Hawaii)

by Reina Torres

  He tilted his head toward the door. “I have a bag in my car with a change of clothes. “I’ll wait until you’re in bed before I go out and get it. Good night, Hi`ilani. Aloha ahiahi.”

  Her whole face changed, smoothing away the deep worry lines from the last few hours. Her smile softened and her eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Aloha ahiahi, Jack.”

  Chapter 5

  He came awake and sat up in bed, suddenly alert. It was a skill that he’d developed when he joined the army. You never knew when his superior officers would surprise them with an early wake up or spring something on them in the middle of the night.

  It was a skill that had saved his life a number of times during his deployment and on missions.

  They’d arrived at night, but after assuring himself that she was sleeping soundly, he’d gone back outside for his bag and to familiarize himself with the layout of her duplex.

  In the crush of apartment buildings and hotels in Waikiki, he was surprised that she’d found a room to rent in a two-story building surrounded by much taller buildings.

  The landscaping was good. The bushes weren’t overly thick or tall so the windows still received their share of light, but wouldn’t offer too much of a shield if someone were trying to look in through the windows.

  Still, the ground floor had its advantages and disadvantages, but what bothered him the most were the jalousie windows. It limited the ability to evacuate should the need arise.

  Lifting up a hand, he scratched at the back of his neck and looked over at Hi`ilani, asleep beside him.

  It wasn’t how they’d gone to bed.

  He’d been happy to sleep on the couch. He’d slept in worse places and it was a luxury to sleep on something with at least a little give.

  But that hadn’t lasted for more than an hour.

  That was when her nightmares started.

  The early morning sounds of traffic outside the windows had its own unique patterns, punctuated by single cars here and there dashing through the lanes at their own speed.

  But he heard one of those oddities rush past the bedroom window, but then the quick left turn had him swinging his legs down to the floor.

  It was a one-way street like so many others in Waikiki, but the car had turned and gone down against the flow of traffic.

  A few moments later a car door slammed on the street and Jackson was on his feet. Alert. On guard. He’d picked up his gun from the bedside table and slipped it into the back of his waistband.

  The gun’s weight made the pants hang low on his hips, but fashion wasn’t his concern. Never really had been.

  One last look at Hi`ilani where she lay resting peacefully for the first time in the last few hours, he moved into the front room.

  The louvered window covering gave him a good look at an HPD cruiser parked haphazardly along the curb. And the flash of dark blue uniform beside the door said that either they were getting an official visit, or someone was at least making the pretext of a cover.

  He wasn’t going to take any chances.

  More banging at the door. “Open the door, Lani. We’ve got to talk.”

  The man was careless. He didn’t even bother trying to look in through the windows. Jackson bent down just enough to look up through the tilted frosted-glass louvers and took a good look at the man’s face, memorizing it.

  “Damn it, Lani! You can’t hide from me!”

  That’s it.

  Jackson yanked open the heavy wooden door.

  Staring at the officer through the screen door, he shot a glance to the name tag.

  “Officer Ballard?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m the guy you just pissed off. You should turn around and head back to your cruiser. You have no business here.”

  The officer was apparently not in the mood to follow orders.

  Taking a step back, he looked back at Jackson through the screen.

  “I’m not leaving until I see Lani.”

  The way he said her name, or part of her name as the case may be, really crawled over Jackson’s nerves.

  “She’s asleep and dead tired. You’re going to leave and when she wants to call you, she’ll call you.”

  Jackson wondered what kind of a medal he should get for being as diplomatic as he’d been.

  And still, the officer stood there. With his dark blond hair and his athletic build, Jackson thought he was probably a surfer in his off hours.

  But it was the dark eyes that glared at him that got even further under his own skin.

  “You’re still here, Officer.”

  “I’m not leaving until I see Lani, so you can take your orders and shove them-”

  “I’m awake.”

  Jackson looked back over his shoulder and saw her standing in the arch of the open doorway. He muttered under his breath. “Sorry.”

  She shrugged and leaned against the door frame for a moment before she moved again, a yawn making her first step a stumble.

  “You should go back to bed. I can deal with him.”

  When she looked up through the screen Jackson did too and neither of them missed the angry glare on the officer’s face.

  “What is it, Kyle?”

  “Let me in, Lani.”

  She shook her head. “Not today. I can’t talk to you today.”

  Jackson heard the little catch in her voice, but Kyle seemed to be oblivious to it.

  “I heard about Mackie, babe. I wanted to be here for you.”

  Babe.

  It took everything in Jackson not to tell the man where to step off.

  Was he seeing Hi`ilani?

  He hadn’t asked her the night before if she was seeing anyone.

  “I just got back from the police station a few hours ago.” Her voice was soft and her eyes were still red-rimmed from her tears, but she stood tall and met the officer straight in the eyes. She never had been a shrinking violet. “I’m really tired.”

  “Then I’ll stay here with you. The captain said I could have the rest of the shift off if you need me.”

  Jackson’s back teeth ground against each other. He wanted to tell the man to shove his suggestion where the sun doesn’t shine but this wasn’t his apartment. And right now, he still wasn’t back in her life.

  Yet.

  Jackson focused on her face. “What would you like?”

  The question staggered her enough to make her tilt her head in his direction. “Wow. You want to know what I think?”

  “I always did. I just wanted to protect you more.”

  The huffing sound that came through the screen was a little less than civil. “What’s going on here?”

  Hi`ilani turned to the officer. “Jackson stayed with me after… after… I wasn’t in any condition to find my way home.”

  “Jackson,” the officer’s tone was barely a snarl, “the army grunt.”

  Taking a quick moment to look at the officer again, he nodded. “Jarhead?”

  There was a light in his eyes visible even through the screen. “Proud of it.” Leaning to the side he looked at the back of the room.

  Jackson followed his gaze and saw the blanket that he’d left half-on and half-off the couch and the pillow near the arm.

  Ballard gave him a smirk. “Why don’t you go find your shirt and let me talk to my girlfriend.”

  If he hadn’t seen the drawn look on her face, Jackson would have punched the officer through the screen door. Being an ass over a woman? He’d seen better men than Officer Ballard do the same, but when someone you were supposed to care about goes through something traumatic that’s when you stop showing your ass.

  “I’ll go get my shirt.” He said those words to Hi`ilani. “Where do you want me to wait?”

  “Wait?” The officer reached for the door and yanked at the handle. “Open the door.”

  Jackson would have moved at that moment, but Hi`ilani touched her hand to his arm. It was only a little momentary touch, but it was enough.

  Enough t
o stop Jackson in his tracks.

  Enough to have the officer seeing red.

  “Kyle, stop it!”

  Hi`ilani was shaking, her eyes tearing up again.

  “Fuck.” Jackson reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her gently. It was Hi`ilani that wrapped her arms tightly around him.

  “I can’t…” she shook and rubbed her face against him, making his skin wet, “I just can’t argue anymore.”

  Something rattled the screen door and she only pulled him tighter against her, turning to press her ear against his chest.

  Turning his head, Jackson glared at the officer. “Look, I’m not arguing with you here. Neither is she. She’s barely slept more than an hour.

  “Come back later if you want to talk to her, until then, she really needs some sleep.”

  He could tell the man wanted to throw him out, grab him by the collar and toss him out into the street. Well, if he had a collar.

  But there was something that came over his face that gave Jackson pause. Sure, the guy was an ass of the first kind, but the way Officer Ballard looked at Hi`ilani as she burrowed into Jackson’s arms, spoke volumes.

  He cared.

  And he must have finally decided to show it.

  “I’m sorry you lost your friend, Lani. Call me when you get up, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Her voice was barely a whisper and Jackson tried to ignore the way his heart tumbled as she held onto him as if the world would turn upside down if he wasn’t there for her.

  The officer gave Jackson a look that was basically a promise to take him apart piece by piece and then he left.

  With a nudge of his hand he swung the wooden door closed and set the lock. “Hey, why don’t you go back to bed.”

  She looked up at him and took his breath away.

  How had he walked away from this woman?

  How had he turned his back on what they had together?

  Commander Chastain’s words infiltrated his thoughts. “It’s up to you to protect the ones you love.”

  In a different context, he’d taken that message to heart and walked away from her.

  Now that he had her back in his arms the last thing he wanted to do was let her go.

  She swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away. Looking up at Jackson, seeing the look in his eyes, it melted her heart.

  Made her fight off her tears.

  Made her want to hold him tight and listen to his heart.

  When she’d gone to sleep, leaving him on the couch, it had been fine. She’d just taken a quick towel-bath and pulled on something to sleep in, pants… shirt.

  Pulling the blanket up and over her shoulder, grasping it just under her chin, she’d closed her eyes and managed to fall asleep from exhaustion.

  But there wasn’t going to be any sweet dreams.

  There wasn’t even going to be a real restful sleep.

  She heard the men shouting.

  Heard Mackie pleading.

  And then she’d stepped into the whole situation and messed it up.

  The yelling. The threats. And then the guns went off.

  Mackie stepped in between her and the bullets. He’d given his life to save her.

  And that’s when she’d started to scream.

  And Jackson had been there.

  He’d wrapped her up in his arms and let her hold him, let her pound her fists against him, let her cry until his shirt was wet with her tears.

  She barely noticed it when he’d pulled it off and used it to dry her face, wipe away the evidence of her tears.

  He hadn’t let go of her.

  Hadn’t made her let go of him.

  When she laid down and pulled him along with her, he’d laid down beside her and let her listen to his heart until she’d fallen asleep again.

  “I’m not ready.” She let go of the breath that she’d been holding. “I can’t be with you. I just can’t. Not right now. I’ve got… I mean, there’s so much-”

  “Hey.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.” Another kiss eased the tension in her shoulders. “And nothing needs to be decided now. I just want to be here for you if you need me.”

  She did.

  She really did.

  And she told herself it was just for the day. Just for that moment.

  “Can you hold me?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut to keep her tears from falling.

  “I’m not saying that I want-”

  “I know,” he gathered her closer in his arms and whispered into her ear. “I just want to hold you too. I could have lost you before I told you how much you meant to me. I can’t think about what could have happened if Mackie hadn’t saved you.”

  Her eyes opened wide, her gaze pierced the popcorn-painted ceiling above her head and the old frosted light-fixture. Everything looked like it was in sharp focus as if she was looking at the world around her like it was a backdrop instead of something three dimensional.

  And it was all because she felt his tears.

  Against her cheek.

  Against the edge of her ear.

  He shuddered against her.

  Pulled her tighter.

  Somehow she found her voice.

  “Come to bed, Jack. I need you.”

  The blankets were already pulled back and when Jackson settled his hand on her lower back she bit back a groan. Just the gentle touch of his fingers a hair above her waistband felt so good. A calming touch that she’d felt a hundred times before.

  “Go head,” he urged her, “lie down. I’ll get the blanket.”

  She lay down, braced up on an elbow at first, turning over her pillow. She’d cried into it enough before. She didn’t want to remember that. Not at that moment.

  Laying her head on her pillow she watched as Jackson picked up the blanket from the ground at the foot of the bed and lifted it up and over her feet.

  Climbing in beside her, he drew it up and over both of their bodies before letting it go.

  She watched his eyes grow darker as his gaze moved over her face.

  “I’ve dreamed of you so many times. Remembered what it was like to fall asleep with you in my arms.

  Nodding, she reached out her hand and touched her fingers to his chest. Felt the subtle shift of muscles beneath his skin. “I missed you too.”

  She sighed when he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers through her hair, trailing his fingertips down her arm, and then he started again.

  The gentle touch soothed her nerves.

  A clock on the nightstand ticked and changed over to the next hour.

  “What time is it?”

  Groaning, he looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed. Almost eight a.m. Do you have to be somewhere?”

  The question cut through the haze she’d been in and a soft laugh left her lips. “It’s amazing how much things can change in less than a day.” She lifted her hand and touched the side of his face. “Yesterday morning I was getting ready to teach my kids hula class at the Royal Shopping Center. I had no idea all of the things that would happen later in the day.”

  “I wish things had turned out differently, too.” His hand settled on her hip, his thumb smoothing over her tender flesh. “I wanted to introduce you to my new friends.”

  She couldn’t stop the yawn that filled her lungs and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Hi`ilani cuddled in closer to his side. “Are they leaving soon?”

  “They’re going to be here for another week or so on vacation.”

  “Maybe.” Another yawn and her eyes were barely open, her breathing slower, deeper. “Maybe I can meet them before they go home.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” He continued stroking his thumb over her hip, lulling her slowly to sleep. “Now get some rest. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  Hotel Street in downtown Honolulu was a dichotomy in culture. Bars that would have to stretch to be considered di
ves were interspersed with community bakeries, trade schools, art galleries, and tourist shops. To walk along the street one would find themselves mingling with every walk of life from the homeless panhandler sitting in the setback doorway of a closed acupuncturist’s office and the lawyers and lawmakers that made their way to hole in the wall eateries.

  Sato walked from his penthouse condo across the busier cross streets until he reached Bethel Street. A quick look to the right made him look like every other weekday gawker interested in the big news story.

  Conroy Mackie was a local celebrity. Anyone and everyone in the local performing arts community treated the man like the icon he was.

  News that he was gunned down outside of one of his showcases had shaken the downtown area like the San Andreas fault did to California.

  When he reached the tattoo parlor at the next corner he caught sight of his face in the glass.

  He wore his anger like a dark look, creasing the skin between his brows. He was going to have to stop that, at least until he reached his destination.

  Crossing at the light be nodded at one of the policeman on foot. The officer nodded and continued on without really meeting Sato’s eyes.

  The little mama-San who ran the noodle shop on the corner shrank back from the window when she saw him coming, but that didn’t upset him.

  A certain amount of fear was healthy, for both his business and the people of Chinatown. When he reached the first bar he pushed open the door and nodded to the bartender. She had green hair today, but he didn’t stop to ask her about it. If she wanted to ruin her looks it was fine by him.

  He stepped into the back hall and everyone outside, if they were looking in might assume that he was heading for the bathrooms.

  But he continued on past the two doors and pushed through another door that said EMPLOYEES ONLY.

  When the door swung open, the men inside all looked up. Two of them already had their hands on their guns.

  And they were smart enough not to raise them in his presence.

  Readiness was good. Being a little too eager was not.