Hostile Desires (5 page)

“Doc, your booth is open,” Will said.

She nodded and grabbed her wine glass and motioned with her head. As they walked further back into the pub, he realized that many of the people who knew him, also knew Elle. She smiled at a few, waved at more than one, and stopped to chat with one of the cops he knew worked Vice.

She slid into the booth just as he got there. It was one of the cozy ones in the back with the round back where you could sit right next to each other.

Elle slid in and stopped. Of course. He sat down opposite her, wondering why his palms were suddenly damp. The urge to slide around the table and sit right next to her almost overwhelmed him. Instead, he took another quick drink of Guinness.

“So, did the ME have any info for us?” he asked.

She smiled at him, one of those amazing smiles she rarely bestowed on anyone, and definitely not him. It lit up her eyes and displayed the cute little dimples at the sides of her mouth.

“Yes. Thanks to my relationship with him—”

“Your relationship?” he asked, a little more sharply than he meant to.

She said nothing, but stared at him.

He cleared his throat, as his face started to heat. “I just thought the man to be older than Methuselah.”

She chuckled. “He would challenge you to an arm wrestling match if he heard you say that. But my relationship goes back to my childhood. He lectured at Oxford with my father. He’s actually the reason I go by Elle.”

Greedy for any information about her background, he was temporarily sidetracked from the issue at hand. “He is?”

She hesitated, then her shoulders relaxed as she sipped at her wine. “My real name is Eleanora.”

Graeme blinked. “Eleanora?”

“I know. It doesn’t fit me, does it? When Mum introduced me to him, Doc said it was too big a name for such a little girl. He called me Elle, and it stuck.”

He could just imagine a tiny version of Elle, and couldn’t fight the smile. “Ah.”

“He’s one of the reasons I went into this work, so when I came here a few years ago, I stayed with him. Of course, not a bad choice seeing that he lives over on Portlock Road.”

“Nice location,” he said, knowing it was an understatement.

“Indeed. So, I went out to his house, and he not only remembered the case, he had a copy of the case files.” She pulled out a dilapidated file folder filled with paper, and secured with several thick rubber bands. “And he gave them to me.”

E
lle sipped her wine
, enjoying the sweetness of mango. She had been married to a wine snob, and many of her old friends were as well. Still, when Elle had discovered some of the fruit wines of Hawaii, she stopped caring what other people thought and just enjoyed.

She turned the page and found the report from Doc. He had a very detailed report—as much as he could back then—and he included many notes. It wasn’t odd that he would do that, but it seemed some of them were more recent, and there were a lot of sticky notes in the report. Still, when Elle had talked to him, he had seemed frustrated by the lack of closure. It seemed to be the one case that bothered him.

“Why did he take the files?” McGregor asked, pulling her out of the report.

Elle looked up from the files. “He made a copy of them, so he didn’t technically take them.”

McGregor rolled his eyes, and she had to bite back an apology. Gerald had always said she was too particular about the wording. He never understood what it was like to grow up as a single child of two brilliant professors. Even after her mother stopped teaching, she wrote articles and books, one on linguistics.

“Why did he make copies?”

She thought about the way Doc acted during the discussion. “I’m not sure why, but Doc seemed to think someone was dragging their feet in the investigation. More than once he mentioned to me, and here in the report, that it was taking them forever to get information about the evidence from HPD. He also alluded to the fact that there were some in the police department too interested in the Honolulu Strangler to worry about some poor little
keiki
from the islands.”

“But I read those files. They were all locals, right? For the Strangler case?”

She nodded. “But this little girl wasn’t going to get any notice on the news. Not national at least. And, they had next to nothing to go on. Remember, this was right after Bundy had been executed in Florida. The first ever serial killer arrives in Hawaii, so you know the press was going to be all over that.”

“And that hasn’t changed.”

The whole task force knew exactly how the press reacted to serial killers.

“Unfortunately, all I have is Dr. Keahi’s report to go by, and the fact that the bullet had been entered into the system; there was no way to make that disappear. If that hadn’t happened, we would have never connected the two.”

Before he could ask another question, Will showed up at the table with a plate of hot wings for her, along with the extra carrots.

“There you go, lass. You want anything, McGregor?”

“Burger, rare, with cheese and some chili fries.”

“Of course, you McGregors always like things bloody.” Will turned and winked at her. “Why is a good Campbell girl like you hanging around a scoundrel like this?”

She smiled. “We’re going to catch us a killer. Then, I’ll stop talking to him to make you happy.”

“Good.”

He walked away, and she looked at McGregor. He was staring at her as if she had grown another head.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re Scottish.” He spat out the words as if he were accusing her of eating babies.

She nodded. “Well, half. My mother’s side. I’m actually named for my Granny Eleanora, from Inverness. And I grew up at Oxford, because that was where my father taught. He actually got his doctorate at Edinburgh.”

“You never corrected me when I called you a Sassenach.”

She shrugged. “Because I am. My father is English, although from York.”

His eyes narrowed as he watched her eat. She had seen him do this in interrogation. McGregor seemed like a happy fellow, until you put him in the box with a suspect. While he had come to the job later than everyone else, he seemed to be particularly skilled at making a suspect pour out any secrets. There was a tickle at the back of her throat that was making it difficult for her to swallow her food. Finally, she’d had enough. She dropped her chicken wing and glared at him.

“What?” she asked.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you allow me to be antagonistic to you? And why were you such a...”

“Bitch?”

His lips thinned. “Not my choice of words, but okay.”

Elle sighed, not wanting to address the issue. Guilt had gotten the best of her more than once in the last few months. It hadn’t been McGregor’s fault. She had been the one with the chip on her shoulder, not him. He had been reacting to her behavior toward him, and then she had tried to punish him for it.

“When I found out you were from the UK—”

“I’m Scottish.”

She rolled her eyes. “Still. You know when big news hits, especially scandal, Scotland hears it too. It didn’t make the reports here in the US, but it was all over the UK. I had not realized you had been deployed with the Marines during my tenure with the Met.”

“And?”

Of course, he wasn’t going to let her off so easily. He wasn’t a man who was easy to handle, and that was one of the reasons she had avoided him. He would pick and prod into her business, or worse, ask around about her. If that started, it could end badly.

“There was a case, a big one, that I worked on with my husband.”

“The police officer.”

So, he knew about that. Now she wondered how much he did know. She nodded.

“It made the news, then it made the rags. In the end, our marriage fell apart and I left. I just...I have sort of a chip on my shoulder. It almost ruined my career. And, many of the police blamed me. They sided with my husband, of course. It was just horrible.”

“And you thought I would too.”

She shrugged. The memory of those days came rushing back to her, and she suddenly didn’t feel so hungry.

“People I thought of as close personal friends refused to acknowledge my presence. Not only was I being vilified in the press, but my support system had dissolved almost overnight. When I found out where you were from, I had a knee jerk reaction. I didn’t understand it at first, but now I do. I am very sorry for it.”

He studied her again for a long moment, as if weighing her words for their truthfulness. “And you don’t want to talk about the case?”

She would rather walk naked into her mother’s funeral. “I would rather not.”

He nodded. “Okay. So, on to the other case.”

She blinked. “Just like that?”

His lips curved, sending a flash of heat through her blood. “I’m easy, lass.”

“So I’ve heard, McGregor,” Will said, as he returned with the burger. He looked down at her plate. “Eat, Campbell.”

“I will, don’t worry. It’s been over a month since I’ve had these.”

“Just make sure you do, or I’ll be talking to the Doc Keahi.”

“I was just there today, and he filled me up with tea and biscuits, so everything is fine.”

“That’s good.” He looked at McGregor. “Don’t let her forget about her food.” Then he left them alone.

“So, what did the good doctor tell you?”

“Not much. I got the autopsy and the description of the scene, which might help us more these days with profiling.”

She sifted through the papers, then handed one to him. He set his burger down, wiped his mouth, and took the paper.

“He covered her face,” he said. His piercing gaze rose to hers. “The killer probably knew her.”

“Could be a she. And there is an indication of that. Or just felt badly about it. It tells me there’s a good chance this wasn’t premeditated.”

She noticed something on the TV, and then Rome’s face. He was talking about Sam Katsu when the reporter opened up with a question about a linked case. Her heart started to sink. This was just what Del had wanted to avoid.

“Oh, bollocks.”

Graeme’s gaze rose from the paper, and his eyes narrowed. “What?”

“I think they’ve heard about the cold case. The media, that is. Bastards will get in our way.”

He turned around and looked at the TV. As he did, she could study him without him knowing. Despite her behavior the last few months, she had been intrigued by the giant Scotsman since they had been introduced. He topped six-four at least and was built like a Greek god. He’d cut his hair short, although, she wasn’t sure how much she liked that. She’d had some pretty naughty fantasies about all that long blond hair. When he turned back around, she felt heat rise in her cheeks and concentrated on her food.

“How do you think they found out? Do you think your friend told them?”

She shook her head. “No way. He goes over it constantly, because I saw notes that looked to be less than a year old. While I’m not sure he believed me, I did use the story of researching for a paper.”

“Okay.”

“You believe me.”

He frowned. “I don’t know him, but I know you. You’re a good judge of character.”

“How do you know that?”

“You slapped me down enough. I know.”

She snorted. “There is that.”

They ate in companionable silence, as they both read through the reports. The noise level started to rise, and she winced as a particularly loud heavy metal song came on.

“What’s wrong?”

She looked up with a frown, and wiped her mouth. “What do you mean?”

“You’re wincing.”

“I didn’t realize I was. Loud noise...I’m afraid I’m starting to get a migraine. I have an issue with noise when they start to hit.”

“How long have you been up today?”

“Since just after three. But I am going home after this.” She took a sip of wine, then set it down. “Katsu wouldn’t tell you where he got the gun?”

“I didn’t interview him. That was Carino, because we were trying to keep it under wraps. A lot of bloody good that did. Either way, the kid has been through the system a few times, so he asked for his lawyer right off, then he passed out and was rushed to the hospital.”

“
Damn
.”

Before she could say anything else, Will was at their table. “So, they say your team is looking over the Jenny Kalani killing.”

She nodded and opened her mouth, but McGregor shook his head.

“Looks that way,” McGregor said. “But we can’t talk about it.”

A twitch formed above Will’s eye, and for the first time ever, Elle witnessed irritation in his expression.

“Just tread carefully, McGregor. A lot of people will see this as an attack on HPD.”

“Why would they think that?” Elle asked.

Will looked at her. “Because you might question their integrity.”

“That’s just nonsense. We have greater chances of solving the crime now because technology has moved forward. It isn’t judging anyone’s work from the original case.”

She felt something brush over her foot, and realized it was McGregor’s boot. She glanced at him, and he shook his head slightly.

“Just be careful where you tread,” Will said, before leaving them alone.

“That was a bit ominous,” she said.

“Aye. I have a feeling a lot of the older cops are going to be bugging us for details, so we need to be careful. We already have a leak. Second of all, while I like Will, he was a cop here in Honolulu at the time. If there was a real cock up of the investigation, he might know the cop involved.”

The ramifications of what they were doing hit her. She sighed and nodded. “
Bloody hell
, this is going to get difficult. I’ve met a few of them here over the last few years.”

“We both need to remember to be very careful about who we talk to. This could get ugly really fast.”

G
raeme walked
her to her car. His mother had raised him to be a gentleman and it was getting dark. Add in that they were just a few streets from one of the worst parts of town, and he couldn’t let the doc go off on her own.

“You really didn’t have to walk me to my car.”

“My mother and my four older sisters would disagree with you.”

She stopped walking and stared at him. “Four? And older?”

He nodded. “And they were mean to me.”

She chuckled, the sound of it dancing over the wind to him. He rarely heard her laugh, so even a chuckle enticed him.

“I doubt that. I bet you were the baby boy, the golden son.”

He made a face. “They dressed me up in their clothes and used me as a mannequin.”

Now a bubble of laughter floated up out of her throat, and he stood transfixed. It was so light...so teasing, that he felt something shift through him. She was an attractive woman who had always fascinated him, but a happy Elle Middleton was a bit too much to resist. Soon, her smile faded, and Graeme realized he was staring at her.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head and looked down the street. His fingers itched to brush back the single curl of hair that was dancing in the wind.

“No. Just I don’t hear you laugh that often.”

“Yes, well, if you deal with death as much as we do, it’s hard to find those light times.”

He cocked his head. “But don’t you think we should find those times? It makes the days easier to bear.”

She said nothing for a long moment. “Yes. Yes, you are definitely right about that.”

She started walking again, and he stepped quicker to keep up with her. She wasn’t a small woman. Small boned, but she topped five-ten at least. Long, lean, with curves in the perfect places. He shouldn’t be thinking of her that way, but it was hard not to. When she had been dismissive of him, it was easier to ignore. Sure, he still had the thoughts, but he thought there was no chance of a romance. Now, though, she was smiling at him and being nice. It made it hard not to fantasize.

The night air carried her scent to him. It wasn’t a perfume, but more of a rose soap against soft skin kind of smell. They reached her car, and he found himself trying to figure out a way to extend their night together. It was crazy, but this had been the first time since they’d met that she’d been nice to him, and he wanted it to last.

“Well, I’ll go over Doc’s notes some more then get them to you. You will probably be able to get more done on the profile of the person. I can help with that because I am certified in forensic psychology.”

“Yes.”

She looked up at him, and he couldn’t seem to think of anything other than kissing her. It was insane, but just these few moments that she had been nice to him, and those walls had come tumbling down.