by Elle James
A couple Coast Guardsmen rushed toward them, carrying a stretcher basket.
It only took a few minutes for them to load Kalea into the chopper. Hawk insisted on going with them. Patterson and Swede assured him they would catch a ride back to Honolulu with the Navy SEALs.
Hawk stayed with Kalea, knowing his services wouldn’t be needed as soon as they cornered Clarise. His time with Kalea was nearing an end, which made him want to slow time and hang onto her as long as he could.
* * *
The Coast Guard medic had wanted Kalea to lie on the stretcher for the ride back to Oahu, but she’d insisted she was up to sitting in a seat for the trip back. She sat beside Hawk and let them buckle her safety harness around her.
As they lifted off the ground, Kalea squeezed Hawk’s hand. The USCG crew had given them headsets to wear on the ride to Honolulu. Kalea stared down at the water, tears slipping from her eyes. “I take it my plane wasn’t in the cove?”
Hawk’s hold tightened on hers. “Sorry, babe. Buckley cut the line and set it adrift.”
Kalea nodded. “I’ll need to notify my father. He’ll have someone out there looking for her as soon as possible.” She looked out at the blue sky. “At least the storm moved on. We have a chance of finding her before she’s torn apart by waves. He was so proud of his gift to me.”
Hawk shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “Your father won’t care about that plane, as long as you’re okay.”
She smiled. “I know. But I love that he got it for me. Even though he worried about me flying, he did it anyway. He knew how much flying meant to me.”
“Your dad sounds awesome,” one of the Coasties said. “I wish my dad would buy me a plane.”
“At least you knew your dad,” another Coast Guardsman said.
“What are you talking about?” the first Coastie asked. “I’ve met your dad. He’s awesome.”
The banter between the servicemen continued until they landed in Honolulu.
Kalea was transferred to a waiting ambulance. Hawk slipped in with her, and they arrived at the hospital a few minutes later. After two hours in the ER, Kalea was cleared by the doctor with a prescription for pain killers and instructions for taking it easy.
By the time she was released from the hospital, Hank Patterson and Swede arrived.
Kalea had contacted her father, urging him to stay on the Big Island when he’d wanted to fly in as soon as he’d heard she was there. Instead, he arranged for a charter flight service to pick up all four of them at the Honolulu airport and fly them to Waimea. He’d be waiting for them there.
The flight to the Big Island was a lot less traumatic than the aborted flight to Oahu. Kalea held her breath as they flew past Kaho’olawe, her gaze searching the ocean for her missing plane. Alas, she didn’t see it in the vast expanse of water.
“You’re alive,” Hawk reminded her. “That’s what matters.”
“I know.” She sucked in a breath and blew it out. “And we still have to deal with Clarise.”
“Did you warn your father?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want Clarise to know we knew. I told him not to tell anyone I was alive, including Maleko and Clarise. I want to devise a plan to get her to spill her guts.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Kalea squared her shoulders. “I want to confront her by myself.”
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t trust her.”
“I think she likes having other people do her dirty work.” Kalea had been rolling her thoughts over and over in her mind. “I don’t think she’ll have the nerve to try to kill me herself.”
“I’m not willing to take that chance.”
Kalea smiled. “You don’t have a say. Remember? You quit as my bodyguard.”
“Wait…what?” Patterson leaned over the back of Hawk’s seat. “What’s this about you quitting the Brotherhood?”
“I quit so I could be with Kalea without compromising the integrity of my mission.”
“That’s the biggest bunch of hooey I’ve ever heard,” Patterson said. “Besides, I don’t accept your resignation. You still work for me, and I haven’t released you from your assignment.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow and aimed his gaze at Kalea. “You heard the boss. I didn’t quit after all.”
“And I have a knack for getting my way.” She lifted her chin. “I’m going after Clarise. That lady is going down.” She snorted. “Try to kill my bodyguard, will she? I’ll show her who has a backbone, and then some.”
Hawk groaned. “I have a feeling we’re going into rough weather, again.”
Kalea stared out the window of the plane. “The sky is perfectly blue and clear. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It goes along with the saying, The only easy day was yesterday.”
The pilot came over the loudspeaker, announcing that they were landing and to buckle their seatbelts.
Kalea pulled hers tight and set her jaw. She’d get Clarise for trying to kill her and Hawk and make her pay by going to jail. A smile lifted the corners of Kalea’s lips. She wondered how Clarise would feel about wearing orange. Somehow, she expected the woman wouldn’t be too happy.
Chapter 15
Hawk wasn’t too happy about Kalea’s plan to out Clarise, but there was no stopping the woman when she got something in her head. At least he had the support of his new teammates to help protect Kalea should Clarise try her hand at murder.
Parkman had been ecstatic to see his daughter and almost blew their cover from the get-go.
Kalea had commandeered Patterson’s black leather jacket and a baseball cap the pilot carried in his flight bag. Jamming her hair up into the cap and hunching down into the oversized jacket, she looked like a man. A small man, but nothing like the pretty Hawaiian princess she was.
Hawk had to remind himself he couldn’t put his arm around her as they exited the chartered aircraft and crossed the tarmac to the waiting large SUV.
As they approached, Parkman got out of the back seat, smiling broadly. “Where is she? Where’s my daughter?”
“Mr. Parkman, can we talk to you inside the vehicle?” Patterson gripped the man’s elbow and ushered him to the back door.
Parkman shook loose of Patterson’s grip. “What’s wrong? What happened to my daughter?” He started to push past them to the airplane, but Kalea stepped in front of him.
“Dad,” she whispered. “It’s me. Get in the car. Now.”
Her father stared down at her, blinking in the glare of the sun. “Kalea?”
“Get in the car,” she repeated, gripped his arm and manhandled him into the back seat. Once he was in, she sat beside him and closed the door.
Patterson and Swede got in the other side and clambered into the third row of seats.
Hawk got in beside Mr. Parkman and closed the door. “Head for the Parkman Ranch,” he said to Maleko, who happened to be driving.
Maleko shifted into drive and pulled away from the Waimea airport.
Once they were outside of the little town and headed to her home, Kalea held her father’s hands in hers. “Dad, I don’t want anyone to know I’m alive and back at the ranch just yet.”
“Okay…” He stared down at where their hands joined. “I’m just thankful you were spared in that storm. I have people searching for your plane. I hope they’ll find it soon.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” She leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek. “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“If it makes you feel better,” Hawk said, “she did a superb job landing the plane in a cove off Kaho’olawe.” He hadn’t been nearly as calm as she’d been as she’d glided in to land on the water.
“I think I died a thousand deaths through the night,” her father said, squeezing her hands so hard they were going numb.
Kalea stared into her father’s eyes. “The good news is that we survived.”
“And as far as I’m concerned, that’s all the news I need,” her
father said, pulling her back into his arms for a tight hug. “Planes can be replaced. I can’t replace you.” He kissed the top of her head and set her away from him. “Continue. I want to know everything.”
“My plane was sabotaged, Dad. Whoever did it knew I was going to Oahu and got in the plane to monkey with my fuel and radio.” She filled him in on the rest of what had happened from the attacks in Hilo and Waimea to almost being choked to death by Jordan Buckley.
All the while she spoke, her father’s face grew paler and paler. He clutched her hand, his own shaking. When she finished, he swallowed hard. “This can’t continue. Do you know who might be behind Buckley’s attack?”
Kalea looked past him to Hawk then over her shoulder to Patterson and Swede.
Hawk spoke up. “We think we do. But we’ll need your help to get her to confess.”
Parkman frowned. “Her?”
Hawk nodded. “Her. Hank and Swede reviewed security camera footage from the hardware store in Hilo. Buckley took money from a blonde woman.”
Swede leaned across the back of the seat. “I downloaded a clip on my cell phone.” He hit the play button and showed them a woman with long, straight blond hair handing a slim packet to Buckley. She paused to flip her hair over her shoulder in the same manner Clarise did.
“That could be any blonde,” her father argued.
“Dad, what other blonde is there who would do this?” Kalea asked. “A woman with the most to gain.”
“What does Clarise have to gain by your death?” her father asked, his voice cracking on the last word.
Kalea shook her head with a gentle smile that made Hawk’s heart skip several beats. “Dad, you’re quite a catch. Can’t you see she’s been flirting with you, coming over often, making menu decisions without your consent. She’s vying for the position of Mrs. Parkman. Only one thing is standing in her way…”
Her father shook his head. “You’re not standing in the way of anyone.”
“I love you, Dad, and I want you to be happy. If you find a woman to love, and who loves you, I’m all for you remarrying.” She cupped her father’s cheek. “Mama wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone the rest of your life.”
“Then why would she think you were in the way and go to such extremes as to try to…,” he swallowed hard, “kill you?”
“She has 130,000 reasons,” Kalea said, her jaw hard, her lips pressing into a thin line.
Her father’s eyes widened. “You think she wants control of Parkman Ranch?”
Kalea stared at her father for a long moment before answering. “I’m your only child. When you die, I get the ranch…unless you remarry.”
“But I have it going into a trust. I had our attorney set it up that if I died, you’d get everything in the trust.”
“And if I’m not around to claim it, but you have a wife by then, your wife would get everything.”
“I’m not married.” His frown deepened. “I still think it’s a stretch. I find it hard to believe Clarise would go to such lengths to get control of Parkman Ranch.”
“We’d like to know for certain as well,” Hawk said. “Right now, it’s all conjecture and a blurry picture of a blonde handing something to Buckley.”
As they pulled through the gate to the ranch, Hawk, Kalea, Hank and Swede laid out their plan on the long winding drive through the property.
When they drove up to the ranch house, Hawk’s gut clenched, and he realized the plan would go into place sooner than they’d expected.
Clarise’s SUV was parked in the driveway.
Mr. Parkman squeezed his daughter’s hands. “I don’t know if I can pull this off. If Clarise truly is behind everything that happened, I’ll want to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze as hard as I can. How could she? I love you more than life itself.”
Kalea hugged him quickly and ducked low in the seat. “You can do this. We have to know for sure. If she’s behind Buckley and Nate’s actions, she can’t get away with what she’s done.” She waved toward the house. “Go. And remember, you’re heartbroken.”
“Be careful,” Hawk said. “I don’t like leaving you for even a few minutes.”
“Maleko will look out for me,” Kalea reassured him.
Hawk went along with the plan, counting the seconds until he could be with Kalea and know she was safe.
* * *
The men piled out while Kalea hunkered low on the floor.
When they were out, Maleko drove the SUV around to the garage and pulled inside. He got out, checked all around for anyone hiding inside before he opened the back door and helped Kalea out of the vehicle.
“Thank you, Maleko.” She hugged him and hurried to the back door of the garage.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “I thought you were staying here until they got the confession out of Miss Sanders.”
“I want to be there to hear it.” She shot a glance over her shoulder to Maleko. “I won’t let her see me.”
Maleko frowned. “It was not part of the plan.”
“I promise, I won’t do anything stupid.”
“You’re changing the plan. No one knows.” Maleko shook his head.
Kalea couldn’t wait. She had to hear for herself what Clarise would say to her father. “I’ll be okay.” When she left the garage, the sun had set beyond the horizon, and the gray dusk provided just enough light to get her around until the stars came out in full force.
Kalea sneaked up to the house and waited in the bushes below the deck outside her father’s study. The light inside the house made it easy for her to see who was there. The open window allowed her to listen to the conversation going on between her father and Clarise. The other men would have gone up the stairs to their rooms, giving Kalea’s father a chance to talk alone with Clarise. If she didn’t come out and tell him what they suspected was true, Hawk, Patterson and Swede would join them and show her the proof they had in the copy of the security camera video.
Clarise was talking. “John, I’m so very sorry about Kalea. I know how much she meant to you.”
Her father shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” He pounded his fist into his palm. “I won’t believe it.”
“You know how she loved flying. At least she went doing what she loved.”
“We don’t know for sure she’s gone. They haven’t found the plane.”
“Darling,” Clarise touched his arm, “that’s a big ocean out there. The chances of finding her are…well, not good.”
“She could have landed on one of the other islands.”
“I don’t see how,” Clarise said. “If she had any trouble with the engine, she would have had very few options of where to put down.”
“She would have sent out a radio call if she had trouble. She knows the drill. She would have sent out a mayday call.” Kalea’s father turned away from Clarise and stared out the window.
Kalea felt as if he was staring right at her.
Clarise went to him, slipping her arm around him. “She couldn’t send out a mayday call if her radio quit working.”
Her father turned toward Clarise, his eyes narrowing. “How would you know if her radio wasn’t working?”
Clarise frowned. “It only makes sense. If she had engine trouble, she would have sent a radio call out to the ATC. If the ATC didn’t receive such a call, obviously, her radio wasn’t working.” She shook her head, a slight smile curling the corners of her lips. “She would have called.”
“If her radio was working…” Her father nodded. “Unless someone sabotaged her radio.”
Clarise’s brow dipped. “Who would have sabotaged her radio?”
Her father stared down at Clarise. “The same person who would have sabotaged her engine.”
Clarise stepped backward, shaking her head. “Again, who would have done that? Everyone loved Kalea.”
“Is that right?” John Parkman faced Clarise. “Did you love my daughter?”
Clarise raised a hand to her throat
. “Why do you ask? You know I care about anything you care about. John,” she touched his arm again, “I don’t just work for you…I care about you. Losing your daughter has to be the worst thing that could happen to a father. I’m here for you. If you need to be angry, go ahead, take it out on me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m angry, all right. Someone has been trying to kill my daughter. That someone hired Nathaniel Bowman to give it a shot. He failed, so the person who hired him killed him to keep him quiet and hired someone else to do the job.” He took Clarise’s hand in his and held it tight. “Do you know anyone who might have hired Nate or the new guy, Jordan Buckley?”
Clarise pulled her hand free and stepped back. “John, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Clarise, only a very few people knew my daughter was flying out yesterday morning.”
“Are you accusing me of tampering with her plane?” Clarise shook her head. “I don’t know anything about planes, for one. And why would I hurt someone who means so much to you? I love you, John. I would never hurt you or anyone you care about.”
Her father’s jaw tightened. “Clarise, did you know there are security cameras throughout the parking lot of the hardware store in Hilo where Kalea was attacked the first time?”
Clarise shook her head, her cheeks draining of color. “No. Why do you ask? Why should I care?” Her voice shook. “John, you’re scaring me.”
“Clarise, you should be scared.” He gave a slight nod toward the door to his study.
Hawk entered, carrying what appeared to be an electronic tablet in his hand.
“Do you want to see what was on the video in the parking lot of that hardware store?”
Clarise shook her head. “John, I didn’t attack your daughter.”
“I know that,” Kalea’s father said. “But the man who did met with someone prior to attacking Kalea. Would you like to see the video of that person handing a packet to the man who tried to kill my daughter? The same man who tried to kill her this morning?” He waved toward Hawk. “You remember Jace Hawkins, don’t you?”