Chapter Twenty-two
Sloan left Jack’s office and slumped against the wall. Jack’s secretary had left and he grabbed this moment of privacy to gnaw on the inside of his mouth while he let his screaming nerves settle to a dull roar.
Every instinct in his body said he should search for Tadeo Kealoha and beat the truth outta him. Find out for sure if his dad had been messed with, if he needed to arrest his killer.
Unfortunately, training had a way of messing with a guy’s intentions. Plus his respect for Jack held him from acting crazy and following his instincts to get to the bottom of the mystery.
He’d always taken his career seriously, respected the badge and played by the rules, like he’d been taught by the three men he loved. But, he wouldn’t let this go. Even after eight months, the grief of missing his father ate at him.
Unlike the cliché, the pain hadn’t lessened with time. It was as raw today as the day he’d returned from his undercover case and found out he’d missed the funeral. That horrible, gut-wrenching despair of not being there when he should have been fueled this need for revenge.
Breathing deeply, he unclenched his hands. Through the glass walls, he scanned the main office and noticed Alia Hawkins at her desk, head down, light-brown hair gathered on top of her head.
As if she sensed being watched, she looked up and found him instantly. They made eye contact and a question appeared in her expression. She started to rise. Then others in a roomful of workers walked between them and he lost her. The following irritation loomed way out of proportion. Damned if his crazy-assed heart had kicked into overdrive and that left him reeling.Jesus! Why would his body react just from seeing the woman at a distance?
He rubbed his hands over his face.
“You looking for me?”
Straightening, he tried to grin but it fell short. “Now why would you automatically think I came here to see you?”
“Maybe because you were staring at me and I had the feeling you wanted to talk. My bad.” She turned to walk away, her back stiff and her attitude kinda sour.
Sloan had seen her expression, wariness mixed with concern and knew his stupid remark had bothered her, and that bothered him.Shit! Women!Who knew what would turn them off?
He made sure he softened his tone and added the appropriate amount of remorse. “Well, thanks for checking.” Roy had told him years ago that women liked to be appreciated for any little thing they did, and he’d earned many favors, including sexual, applying this rule.
She stopped. When she looked at him, questions loomed in her stunning blue eyes and she hesitated.
He’d noticed before that she wore a lot of makeup; false eyelashes and intense colors applied generously. Her face appeared satin smooth, her skin covered with creams and powders that made him think of a magazine model rather than an ordinary working girl. To him, she didn’t seem fake as one might think, just untouchable… a poor, sad soul hiding behind a mask.Now where in the hell had that thought come from? You’re losing it, bud.
“Did you want to talk? I can grab a coffee.” She leaned on the wall next to him, her hands tucked in the pockets of her short black skirt. Worn with a white shirt-blouse, open at the top and tantalizingly revealing, she looked efficient and sexy as hell. It was probably her black shoes with three-inch heels at the end of those gorgeous legs that changed her outfit from mouth-watering to fantasy-creating.
He cleared his voice and straightened. “Thanks. That’s nice of you.”
“Just so you know, I’m not nice. In fact, I thinkniceis truly overrated. But we’ll be working together for a while and I make one hell of a good partner.”
He searched her gaze, holding it until she finally looked down.She’s also a liar. Hmm!!
“Then we make a good pair.” He smiled his winning grin that had gotten him a lot of tail over the years. “Rain check on the coffee. I have to get back to the garage. I’m winding up as much of the work there as I can so I’ll be free to assist you in the stakeout. Jack just promised he’d send over a mechanic to take on most of my smaller jobs.”
As if she didn’t want to let him go, she added. “We talked earlier and Jack mentioned he was going to contact you. They’re really concerned about the Amans’ visitors. I think the bombings on the mainland aren’t helping to calm worried politicians. Those bigshot power-mongers are applying a lot of pressure to the various agencies to get on top of the threats.”
“Well, we’ll do our best. But you’ve never met these people, so I’ll wait to see your thoughts about them after tomorrow.”
She studied him more intently. “I can tell by the tone of your voice, you don’t believe them capable of terrorism.”
“I don’t.”
“Right! It’s funny how the neighbors of extremists always tell the reporters, they were so normal… sonice.” Her grin invited his.
He picked up on her taunt and liked her way of mocking him. He chuckled. “True. I get what you’re saying. These people are all that, but they’re also honest and caring. You’ll see what I mean.”
“I guess I will. Later…”
He watched her saunter away, as if she hadn’t a care in the world, and every male hormone in his body stood to attention, including the mister down below that should have known better at his age.For fuck’s sake.