Hostile Desires (8 page)

“Love you, Graeme.”

After he hung up, he lay in bed smiling. He had spent most of his adult life out of his home country. He loved his family, loved the closeness he had with them, but he had been called to do other things. First, to serve his country, and now...he felt as if he belonged in Hawaii. From the moment he’d stepped off the plane, he had felt as if he had arrived home.

He sat up and stretched. He needed to get a run in, and then get into work. Carino was coming by TFH at ten, so he had plenty of time. Standing, he looked out the window, then grabbed a pair of boxer shorts. When he’d moved to Oahu, he had made sure that he had a view of the ocean. His cottage sat on Naupaka Street, which lead to Laie Point. He didn’t live right on the beach, as there were rocks along the shoreline, but he always fell asleep to the sound of waves. The beach was just a short walk away.

Dumfries was scratching at the back door, so Graeme let him out then went to relieve himself. He hit the coffee machine button and sat at the tiny kitchen table. He’d been up most of the night, and when he had fallen asleep, there had been weird dreams of that sweet kiss with Elle going a lot further than just being sweet.

Dumfries barked at the back door, and he opened it to let him in.

“You’re going to have to be on your own again today,” he said, as he pulled out the dry dog food, filling up Dumfries’ bowl. “Although, Mrs. Williams might let you come over if you promise not to dig up her garden again.”

Dumfries gave him a look of disgust before he applied himself to his breakfast. He’d found the wolfhound mix roaming the streets of Bagdad. He’d barked out a warning in time for Graeme and his platoon to avoid an ambush. He became their mascot, then he’d come home with Graeme. It’d cost a fortune, but he had gotten him home. All of them knew you didn’t leave one of your men behind, and they did everything they could to get him back to Scotland.

Graeme poured himself a cup of coffee then leaned against the counter. Dumfries was already licking the bottom of his bowl before he had more than one sip. Dumfries ran toward him, rising to his hind legs and planting a massive paw on each of his shoulders.

“Bloody hell, Dumfries, watch it,” Graeme said with a laugh. After one long lick, Dumfries pushed himself off Graeme. His coffee sloshed over the side of his mug.

“Dammit, you big lug,” he said, but Dumfries was too happy prancing around the kitchen.

“Dumfries, how about a good run this morning?”

He barked in happiness. A nice run on the beach, and then he would get into work. He had more than just a little work to do today.

A
fter dropping
Dumfries with his neighbor, Graeme made it into work earlier than expected. There had been no use going back to bed after the run and shower, so he thought he might get some work done reading up on the background of the other murders. When he turned into the office, he saw Carino sitting with Del and Adam.

“Hey, I thought the meeting was at ten.”

Carino turned to face him, his irritation etched in his expression. This did not bode well since the detective was usually pretty good at hiding his emotions. Graeme glanced at his boss and the second-in-command. They did not look any happier. In fact, they looked like they’d been sucking on a lemon for the last hour.

“We have an issue,” Carino said.

“What’s up?”

Del stood up. “The ME report is not the only report that’s missing.”

“What?”

Carino rubbed the back of his neck. “It seems like most of the evidence is missing, along with the detective’s report.”

“You mean all the information we need to work on the case, to find the owner of the gun, all that, it’s missing?”

“That sums it up,” Carino said.

“Well,
bloody hell
. This case gets worse by the hour.”

A
dam and Graeme
walked up the front path to the Kalani house. From what Graeme knew about the island, this was what they called plantation style. Dark green with white shutters, the modest house boasted a gorgeous garden.

“I vaguely remember the Kalanis being interviewed,” Adam said.

“You were a babe back then.”

Adam shook his head. “I looked up the case. That and the Honolulu Strangler are cases I went over and over when I was younger. Both of them had little evidence, and a lot of that is lost. But her parents have a webpage where they post things. Their interviews are posted there.”

Graeme nodded. He had watched them himself that morning. Before they reached the door, it opened. A tiny Asian woman stood on the stoop. Thirty years had been kind to Mrs. Kalani, but he could see the shadows beneath her eyes. With the case back out in the public, it would definitely cause some strain.

“Aloha,” she said. “I’m so happy you could make the trip out here.”

“No worries,” Adam said. He pulled out his badge and showed it to her. “I’m Lt. Adam Lee, and this is Graeme McGregor. He’s handling your daughter’s case.”

She nodded. “Nice to meet both of you. Call me Ana. Frederick is on the phone right now. Come on back in, and we can sit on the lanai.”

They followed her through the modest house filled with pictures of Jenny. It wasn’t in a morbid way, but it felt more like a celebration of a life cut short too soon.

“We’ve been getting hit with lots of phone calls today.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Graeme said.

“No worries. I’m just happy we have this house registered in my sister-in-law’s name. It was one way to avoid people hunting us up.”

She showed them out to the lanai. They took their seats just as her husband joined them.

“Fred Kalani,” he said, shaking both their hands. He sat down in the chair next to his wife.

“You want to talk about Jenny. So ask,” Ana said.

Adam nodded, allowing Graeme to take the lead. “I’m sure you heard the reports.”

“Yes, but are they correct?” Ana asked. “So many times they just throw junk out there that isn’t real. No research. We’ve learned not to get too excited when something hits the news.”

Graeme could not imagine what it was like. Having a family member die young was bad enough, but to have it played out in the press had to be even worse. Some news people were vultures, doing anything they could so they could get a reaction for a story.

“Yes, well, some of them.” Graeme wasn’t sure what the press was saying because he had steered clear of it. “Ballistics are a match. The bullet that killed Joe Alana came from the same gun that killed Jenny.”

“But you don’t have the gun,” Fred said.

“No. But thanks to you registering Jenney’s DNA, we found some of it on the bullets from this morning. We’re trying to follow the trail from this incident back to Jenny’s murder. If we can trace who had the gun and when, we might be able to follow it back to her killer.”

Fred nodded. “Can’t be easy. It’s not like it was back then. Not a lot of forensics.”

“Is there anything you can remember from that time that you can tell us?” Adam asked. “Even the smallest bit of information.”

“Hm, not much more than would have been in the reports,” Ana said.

Neither of them said anything, and Ana stared. “You have the original case file, don’t you?”

“We haven’t been able to locate it,” Graeme said.

“Dammit,” Fred said.

“Watch your language,” Ana said.

“It was better than the words I used when I found out,” Graeme said.

Ana smiled.

“It is difficult to deal with,” Fred said. “We fought so hard to get air time for Jenny, but all they wanted to talk about was the Honolulu Strangler. The press covered her murder one day. One day!”

“Now, Fred, it wasn’t that bad.” Ana looked at them. “They were just overrun with people, and this was long before there were so many twenty-four-hour news stations. Sergeant Alan Smith was the main detective handling our case, but almost everyone was working on the Strangler case here and there.”

“Have you had any contact with him?” Graeme asked.

Fred nodded. “Every year on the anniversary of Jenny’s death, we would get a phone call from him. That is, until he died three years ago. Cancer.”

“I always thought he felt guilty that more wasn’t done for Jenny,” Ana said. “After he passed, another detective came by. Wanted to work on this on the side, said he had a lead. Do you remember his name?” she asked her husband.

“Jeffery Abbott. I did not like him. He was shifty.”

“Shifty?” Graeme asked.

“He asked for all our files, and was not happy when we refused. I did make him copies though,” Fred said, as he picked up the manila folder. “And I have a copy for you. I’m not sure how much it will help, but there were things we kept track of, things her friends told us that might help.”

Graeme took the envelope. “Any little bit will help.”

Ana set her hand on top of his and looked him in the eye. He saw the pain there, but he also saw determination. “Just do your best to find the monster who did this.”

“I will do everything in my power.”

I
t was
close to noon by the time Elle made it to Del and Emma’s condo in Hawaii Kai. The door flung open.

“What took you so bloody long?”

Elle laughed. “I had to drive over from Haleiwa. Plus, I got home after two in the morning. I took everyone’s advice and slept late. Then I stopped by the drugstore to pick something up.”

“You left me here worrying that I have cancer?”

Elle shook her head. Emma was definitely in high gear today. The melodramatic behavior wasn’t like her at all.

“Emma, you have a genius IQ. You know you don’t have cancer, or you would have faced it head on.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You survived on your own after the tsunami, you fought off a serial killer, and you’re marrying Del. If that doesn’t take some guts, I don’t know what does.”

She smiled, then it faded. “I just want to make sure.”

“Why didn’t you just go to your regular doctor?” Elle asked.

Emma made a face. “I did. She said there was nothing wrong with me. Stress. And then, I made the mistake of saying something in front of Sean, who then blamed Del.” She rolled her eyes. “Being surrounded by a bunch of alpha males is not fun. I did not think I would end up in this position, since I have avoided them most of my adult life. Now, I feel as if I can’t look sideways without them worrying. All this stress is causing my insomnia to get worse; then, at times, I can’t stay awake. And, I’ve missed my period for two months.”

Elle smiled. “It’s nice to know you’re loved though.”

“Doesn’t mean they’re any less annoying,” she said. “Give it to me straight. What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t done anything but look at you.” She cocked her head to the side and studied the younger woman. This was completely out of character for Emma. She was hyper, and she did have ADD, but there was a desperate edge to her comments today. “I really think you’re worrying too much about it.”

“So, you’re thinking stress too?”

“It could be that. I can understand that kind of thing. But, just in case, I picked something up on my way over.”

“Yeah?”

She pulled out the over-the-counter pregnancy test and handed it to Emma. “Go tinkle on the stick.”

“I’m not pregnant.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you told me just a few minutes ago you skipped your last two periods.”

“Nothing that uncommon for me though, and we use condoms.”

“Which are effective ninety-eight percent of the time. And, do you use one every time?”

Emma opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

“I didn’t think so.”

“How did you know?”

“You’re both healthy, young, and engaged to be married. Neither of you strike me as the cheating kind; and remember, I was there once myself.” She handed Emma the box. “Go pee.”

Three minutes later, Elle had to catch Emma before she fainted dead out. When she recovered, she said, “I can’t be pregnant.”

“Love, you
are
pregnant.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“You’ll have to make time. You can do it, Emma. Del is going to be thrilled.”

“Oh, lord, I have to tell Del? He is going to freak out.”

“Believe me, a man like Del will be happy.”

Emma glanced at her sharply. “You think?”

She nodded as she sat down across from Emma at the table. “I was pregnant once. I didn’t find out until about a month after the wedding, but, I will tell you, Gerald was thrilled.”

“You lost the baby?”

She nodded. “A month after that, I lost the baby...and then things went completely to crap afterwards. But, you’re healthy and at least two months pregnant. Go see your doc, and get a recommendation for a good OB/GYN. I am wondering why she didn’t have you take a pregnancy test.”

Emma offered her a sheepish smile. “I might have left out the whole missed my period.”

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“I have issues with the idea of being a mother, so I like to pretend that is way off in the future.”

That was one way they were similar. They both thought they could control things that were uncontrollable.

“It’s not. It is probably about 7 months down the line. Promise me you will tell Del, and you will make an appointment with the OB/GYN. Prenatal care is very important.”

Emma nodded. “Now, tell me about you and Graeme.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“There was something there.”

She didn’t really want to tell her, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Okay, he kissed me last night.”

Emma pumped her fist in the air. “Ha, I knew it. I win.”

She stared at the younger woman. “Please tell me there wasn’t a bet on us.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you that.”

“
Bloody hell
. You can’t claim it.”

Emma frowned. “I won. I have to.”

“How did you win?”

“I bet that you would let him kiss you on a date.”

“Well, you didn’t win, then. We were not on a date, we were working.”

“Same difference for people like us.”

She did not want the entire team to know about her personal life. She had to think of something to keep Emma from spilling the beans.

“You tell the team and I’ll tell Del you’re betting.”

Emma frowned and sat back in the chair. Everyone knew that Del didn’t like the betting going on in the office. In fact, he had forbidden them from wagering on anything. They all still ignored him, but he did not know that Emma was still betting. It wouldn’t go over well.

“Besides, you have more important things to talk over with Del, right?”

“I might not be a good mother.”

“You will be a wonderful mother, and you have a great
ohana
to help you. You know we will all help.”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment, but then, slowly, her mouth curved; then she was grinning.

“Yeah. I have an
ohana
who will help.”

“Why don’t we get something to eat, and then you can figure out how to tell Del he’s going to be a daddy?”

A
fter grabbing
a couple of lunch plates and eating outside watching the windsurfers, Elle dropped Emma at the condo and headed to the office. She wanted to stop in and see if anything was happening with the case.

Her mobile rang just as she started walking up the stairs. She pulled it out and noticed it was McGregor.

“Hey, did you need something?”

There was a pause. “I wanted to know if you heard the latest crap that just hit.”

“No. I was out this morning, stopped by to have lunch with Emma. Now I’m at the office.”

She had just reached the door to the office and pushed it open. Then he saw her. In that instant, she felt a heat wave roll through her body. It was a stupid reaction, but something changed in his gaze when it locked with hers. There was something to be said about the way it felt to have all of Graeme’s attention. It made every bit of her body tingle.

Bloody hell.

She clicked off her mobile.

“What’s going on?”

His expression turned dark. “We have no case files. None. As in nothing.”

“What?”

“Carino went over to check them out, and they just weren’t there. And, there was no information on who checked them out last.”

“
Bloody hell
.”

“I was thinking we could go talk to McPherson. Since the information hit the press, we can now ask people about it. He was a cop here at the time, so he might remember more about the case.”

“Brilliant,” she said. She looked at her phone. “He opens for lunch soon, so he should be there already.”

He nodded just as Del walked into the office.

“Hey, I heard you went to lunch with Emma.”

She nodded. “We got a couple of shrimp plates and enjoyed the nice trades that blew in today.

He looked at Graeme. “Carino called over and said he’s having a hard time finding out who had the case last. After Abbot, the trail goes cold. Without the case files, it’s going to be near impossible.”

“Isn’t it in the computer?” Elle asked.

“You forget that they were still filling out reports with typewriters at the time,” Graeme said. “We have the name of the detective. Alan Smith, but he’s gone. We do have a little bit from from the Kalanis. They kept everything in the file, and we are making copies of it so all of us can use the information.”

“I thought they had inputted all the cold cases?” she asked.

“Nope. Most of them have been, but this one was not.”

She looked at Graeme. “I am starting to understand why Doc thought there might have been some tampering on the case. This is an unsolved case. I would think it would have been one of the first input.”

“Doc Keahi?”

She nodded. “He didn’t come right out and say it, but the fact that he made copies of the report, things like that. That makes me think he thought there might have been something going on.”

Del sighed. “It could have been a cop trying to cover up a bad case.”