Holding Out For A Hero. HelenKay Dimon

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СКАЧАТЬ Three

      Two days later, Josh officially retired from the DEA. Sure, he hadn’t actually told anyone that little fact yet, but leaving today’s administrative hearing during the middle of testimony probably sent a message of sorts. He figured someone would get the idea when he failed to show up for the afternoon session.

      “You know you’re welcome here anytime.” Derek Travers walked out onto the porch of his one-story fixer-upper wearing swim trunks and holding a beer in each hand.

      Josh reached for a bottle without taking his eyes off the ocean in front of him. Settling back into the lounge chair, he surveyed the rocky coastline of Waimanalo. The few newer houses right on the water came with huge price tags, but the rest of this part of Oahu consisted mostly of hardworking locals who had lived there forever. Solid folks without fancy jobs, living tucked away in a quiet piece of paradise.

      Most families bought long before the prices bounced past reasonable or they’d be forced to live in shacks. The downside for many was that the area lacked the tourist trade, hotels, and shopping that made Honolulu and the other side of Oahu so popular. That also qualified as Waimanalo’s greatest asset in Josh’s eyes.

      The open land and vast quiet reminded him more of Kauai, the Hawaiian island where he lived in a condo a couple miles away from Kane Travers, Derek’s uncle and Josh’s best friend. Kane also happened to be the chief of police on Kauai and a character witness of sorts at Josh’s hearing today. That meant Kane would pop up sooner or later, likely pissed off about the early departure from the rigged hearing.

      “So”—Derek took a long drink—“why are you here again?”

      “Now that I’m out of that suit my goal is to steal your liquor.”

      “As long as you replenish the supply, that’s fine.”

      “Understood.”

      “My real question had to do with you being here instead of downtown.” Derek put his bare feet up on a white paint-chipped railing in front of him and rocked back on two chair legs.

      “You trying to ruin my beer?” Josh took another swig, letting the ice-cold liquid rush down the back of his throat.

      “You’re at my house in the middle of the day, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Since you actually live and work elsewhere, and generally wear a suit Monday through Friday, which makes the reality of you being a government agent pretty obvious, by the way—”

      “Is this a geography lesson or a fashion critique?”

      Derek leaned his head back against the chair. “My only point—”

      “You have one?”

      “—is that you’re supposed to be somewhere else right now.”

      “You’re not making me feel welcome.”

      Now there was a lie. Derek was twenty-three and a graduate-school research assistant working at a place called the Oceanic Institute, which was right down the road. Josh didn’t understand the finer points of this kid’s job, but he knew that despite Derek’s outward calm he possessed a genius-level IQ.

      They’d known each other for years. Kane raised Derek. Since Josh spent most of his free time with Kane, or did until Kane got married, that meant spending a lot of time getting to know the kid.

      Josh glanced over at Derek. Some time over the past nine years the kid had grown up. He stood over six feet. Athletic and part-Hawaiian with dark hair and a deep tan. Women of all ages swarmed around him. With buying the house, Derek now had an impressive place to take those young ladies.

      Kane chipped in the money for the place and now they were all renovating it. That meant Josh spent a lot of time there. Oahu and Kauai were a quick commuter flight apart, and he appreciated the relatively safe work of banging nails with a hammer compared with fighting off the drug problem all over Hawaii.

      “I have a deal for you,” Derek said.

      “The last time I bet you I had to rip down the crap metal garage on the back of your property.” It was almost two months ago and Josh still had the blisters on his palms to prove it.

      “Thanks for that.” Derek laughed. “But be warned because this wager could turn out even better for me.”

      “Do tell.”

      “If you give me the number of that redhead I saw walking around your condo last weekend wearing nothing but a bikini you can move in here for all I care. No questions asked about this afternoon.”

      Josh didn’t even remember the woman’s name. “She’s all yours.”

      Derek nodded his head. Even delivered one of those know-it-all grins as he picked the label off the bottle. “Hmmm.”

      “What?”

      “Nothing.”

      “I’m thinking you’ve got something to say.”

      Derek shrugged. “I just think it’s interesting, that’s all.”

      “What is?” Josh swallowed a groan as he watched Kane’s green pickup pull into the driveway.

      “You.”

      “Don’t do that,” Josh said.

      “Breathe?”

      “Psychoanalyze. I get enough of that from the agency-ordered shrink provided post-shooting.”

      “How’s that going?”

      “Let’s just say I prefer alcohol to therapists. But the head shrinking is over, so I’m not complaining.” Josh drank back his beer, relishing the fact that quitting meant no more conversations with the idiot who wanted to talk about his childhood.

      “Kane looks pissed.”

      Josh followed Derek’s gaze. Watched Kane slam the door to his truck and stalk toward the house.

      “Nothing new there,” Josh mumbled.

      Derek made a tsk-tsk sound. “I’ll try again. Is there anything I should know about the hearing?”

      “I testified and left.” More like told them to go to hell and walked out early.

      Kane took the three stairs to the porch in one step and stood before them in his official police-chief blues. The uniform made him look important. Despite the fancy clothes, Josh still thought of Kane as the guy who beat his ass in basketball on Sunday mornings.

      “Nice outfit,” Josh said with a smirk.

      “Glad you think so, since I’ve decided to kill you while wearing it.” Kane leaned against the railing facing them. “Seems fitting somehow.”

      “I’m not sure that wood is steady enough to hold you,” Derek said.

      “It’s fine.” Kane’s attention never wavered from Josh.

      With his dark eyes СКАЧАТЬ