Touch of Betrayal, A (15 page)

We did the credit card deal, and then I pushed through the door into the blazing sun, and immediately slammed my eyelids shut. Damn, it was bright. I had to replace my broken sunglasses soon, or I’d be walking around with a perpetual glare headache. Still, it was better than hanging around the restaurant. Be-knifed guy was beyond odd.

I was back on the two-lane highway in minutes, the heady fragrance of Chinese food mixing with the salty odor of ocean. I turned the visor down to block the brunt of the sunlight. It should have been paradise.

Adam strolled out of Annie’s house to meet me before I got the Jeep parked. “Nice job stirring up trouble, El.”

I shoved the shopping bag at him and reached into the back seat to retrieve my handbag. “Make yourself useful instead of giving me a hard time, huh? It’s been a long day, and we’re barely passed the midpoint.”

Brothers, even surrogate ones, could be a pain in the butt. Not that Adam wasn’t worth it, but some time in the next few minutes I was going to piss him off, so I had to get my licks in early or lose my status as annoying little sister. I’d collected a few fingertip images of the dark-haired guy Adam had been hanging out with, and stored them for future emergencies, but I didn’t want to waste my arsenal without a darn good reason.

Everyone except Madigan was hunkered down around Annie’s kitchen table—places set, drinks poured, and take-out cartons filling the kitchen with mouth-watering smells. It was easy to find my spot, the obviously empty chair between Annie and Adam. The one facing Pierce. I dropped the straps of my bag over the back of the chair and sat.

Maddie chortled a greeting from her playpen, and I answered her with a finger wave. “Hey, Maddie. Looks like you and Merlin have a good thing going with that ball.”

I reached for the carton of beef and broccoli and pinned Pierce with my best stare. “How did you beat me here? You had cleanup to do. Lots of it.”

“Didn’t stop to pick up food. Got some questions for you.” A hint of warning lay under his words.

I sat, elbows on the table, facing him. “I don’t suppose they could wait until after we eat?”

“No. What’d you see when you pocketed that .9 millimeter?’

Adam choked on a bite of General Tso’s chicken. “You did what?” His voice rose with every word.

Maddie stared at him, her lips pinched.

I held my palm up. “Don’t yell. You’re scaring Maddie. And let’s limit this inquisition to one question at a time, preferably after I’ve had a chance to get at least one bite of food down.”

Pierce’s glare turned into a twinkle for a second, but before I swallowed my bite of broccoli, it went back to dark and threatening.

I sucked down a mouthful of Diet Coke. “First thing, the dead guy didn’t kill my parents. The gun was well used, but I didn’t pick up any images of actual kills, although he managed to wound a bunch of guys and a couple of women. He really liked to use his weapon, but was a terrible shot.”

Adam eyed me around carefully balanced chopsticks. “Where is the gun?”

“Pocket.” I ignored his groan, and went for a bite of cashew chicken.

Pierce pointed his chopsticks at me. “Talk.”

It was time to get to the hard stuff. “You were right on about me being his target, Pierce. Harlan just happened to be in a wrong place-wrong time situation.”

Everyone had stopped eating and gave me a collective stare. My insides shriveled. Damn, but I hated the collective stare.

“Here’s the kicker. His boss? A woman with delicate hands, and nails done in a gorgeous shade of cherry red. I only got the one image of her. It was irritating, because I wanted to see her face, but I got the impression the dead guy didn’t see her either, only her arm. How she managed that, I haven’t a clue. Curtain, maybe?”

Annie had been unusually quiet, so I slipped a sideways glance at her. Her normally pale skin had gone parchment. I touched her hand with the side of mine, chopsticks balanced between my fingers. It was my way of offering an overt token of respect for her privacy.

Worried moss eyes focused on me. “Could be she was on my kill roster back in the day. Chinese.”

Pierce squinted at Annie. “Xifeng. Fuck. You should have disobeyed your orders and taken her out. I was right all along. Didn’t think it was possible, ’cause the leads had dried up, but
damn
it all.” He shot out of his chair, his anger palpable, chilling.

I pushed back from the table and shifted my gaze between Annie and Adam, searching for some clue as to who Xifeng was.

Pierce paced, muttering. I picked up a few words that sounded like government, protection, and daughter of military dude, but no way was I tempted to ask any questions. Not until he stopped with the muttering and pacing.

Annie aligned her chopsticks in the center of her plate. “Xifeng was severely burned as a child, and it left her face disfigured. She’s never allowed anyone to see her.”

I sat back in my chair, all thoughts of eating evaporated. “What does that have to do with us? With Millie and Harlan?”

Annie shook her head. “I think she’s behind your parents’ murder.”

She was hedging. I switched my focus to Pierce. His gaze held steady on Annie.

My cell buzzed, so I reached behind me and blind-searched for it in my handbag. Found it, and caught a glimpse of the bright letters on the screen before it went black.

Arrival 8am. Love you.

FIFTEEN

I held up my cell and
turned the blank face toward the center of Annie’s round kitchen table. The text from Mitch had done the automatic disappearing thing, but I wanted them to see I wasn’t hiding anything. “Mitch arrives in the morning at eight.”

I should have been swamped with emotions, all kinds of them. Devastation that my marriage was in trouble. Fear about what I would say to my husband. Panic that it would be the wrong thing. But, nothing. I was as blank inside as the pasty shade of Annie’s face since I’d shared my vision of the woman with the red fingernails. Xifeng. We had a name.

Maybe I was in shock.

Pierce had glanced at my phone, and then turned to Adam. “I’ve got this covered. The plan is to trace the body back to our Chinese connection.” He dropped back in his chair and tipped his head toward Annie. “Need to find out how close they are to using the toxin.”

Annie chugged a swallow of Diet Coke. “Maybe I’m wrong, Pierce. Chinese food, red nails, and Mitch. Could be the situation stirred up unrelated memories from my past life.”

Adam rocked back in his chair. “I’m going to have to pretend I’m not here. You all are breaking so many laws—”

“I’ll clear it with the HPD. Keep you out of it,” Pierce said, attitude serious.

A slow-burning anger swelled in my gut. I washed down a bite of cashew chicken then leaned over my plate. “How exactly will you do that, Pierce? You’ve left whatever job protected you from real life, and now you’re promising to shield Adam from the fallout of not reporting this murder? Even though the dead guy was a psychopath, his death has to be recorded. Especially if it’s connected to my parents’ murder.”

I paused, scooting back in my chair. “And how could Mitch possibly be related to some esoteric Chinese woman? Y’all are talking in circles that have no connection.”

Pierce held steady under my stare. “Hard to record a death no one knows about. And about leaving my job—it was my choice, not theirs. No one’s going to question me about anything I do that’s related to your family or the toxin. I’m cleared to work on it.”

I crossed my arms and attempted a fierce expression. Knew I failed. No one appeared to be in the least bit intimidated. Guess I’d have to practice
fierce
in front of a mirror, and right now settle for sounding like a bitch. “That reasoning is so full of holes, I can’t even
begin
to… never mind. How come you wouldn’t let me take Harlan to the hospital? How and why would it have been dangerous?” I shot questions out randomly, hoping to rattle him enough to get some truthful answers. I’d already filled in most of the blanks, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to gather new bits of evidence from whatever skewy answers Pierce offered.

I had a name now.

I could go after the woman who killed my family.

Adrenaline shot through my veins, making it difficult to sit still.

Pierce sighed. “Hospital situations are tough to control. Too many innocent bystanders. And I had to finish cleanup at Aukele’s, so couldn’t go with you. From this point on, your safety is my priority.”

My heart fluttered. I knew my life was hanging out there, flapping in the Hawaiian breeze, but hearing Pierce say the words brought the danger into sharp focus. “I don’t want to get killed.” Oh, damn. My voice wobbled and my knees were keeping time. I had to find this Xifeng woman before her minions found me. No way could I take a chance on being killed before I faced her and demanded to hear everything she knew about my family.

Adam curled his hand around mine, comforting. “No question, Pierce is a pain in the ass, but he’s damn good at guarding your back. And so am I. You might try trusting us.”

I wrapped my hand around Adam’s (minus the fingertips), hoping my touch told him that I did trust him. Sort of. I wanted to, but I had a name now, and could probably find her on my own if I had to. Tamping down my rampant plans for revenge, I kept my questions to our immediate situation. “I’m working on my trust issues. Do you know where Millie is, Pierce? Did Harlan and my grandfather make it to wherever she is?”

Pierce shook his head. “Not something Aukele would share with me.” And then he pointed his chopsticks at me again. “And you accuse me of not communicating. Your grandfather is—”

“Yeah.” I cut him off because I didn’t want to hear anything bad about Aukele. “I can’t argue with you on that one.” I scanned their faces, focusing on each of them individually. Tension had drained the life from all of us, and it was probably time to call it a day. Besides, my plans for revenge percolated under the surface, and I needed to change the subject before I gave myself away. “When I pick Mitch up tomorrow morning, should I bring him back here, or do you want us to stay in a hotel?”

The room chilled. Pierce gave one of his patented grunts. Adam went for another helping of General Tso’s, and Annie sighed before she finally met my stare. “Are you sure he wants you to pick him up?”

Startled, I dropped my chopsticks. “Huh? Why wouldn’t he?”

Pierce motioned to Adam for the General Tso’s container. “What exactly did the text say?”

I let go of Adam’s hand, and grappled for my phone. “I’ll read it, just to be sure I get it right.” My hand closed over the plastic case, and I pressed the on button. “Arrival. Eight AM. That’s it.” No reason to mention that he said he loved me. None at all.

“He didn’t give you an airline, a flight number, nor did he request you pick him up,” Adam said.

“If he’s traveling on the down-low, he won’t be at the airport,” Pierce agreed, glancing at me. “In his position, I’d be off grid.”

Speechless. Damn, I hated when that happened to me. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to accept that my husband was a spy, much less that he’d been spying on me. And now, he wasn’t even traveling like a normal person. “What exactly does that mean, Pierce?”

“I wouldn’t be using traceable, commercial travel options. Hunt is smart. It’s a safe bet that he knows A.J. cracked the code on his files. No other reason he’d try and keep you away from Hawaii.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That’s silly. Annie and I talk all the time. She could have told me weeks ago, should have told me weeks ago.” There was an uncomfortable edge to my voice. I didn’t do bitchy gracefully, and it was embarrassing to keep treating my soul sister like the bad guy when I knew she’d only been trying to do the right thing.

Annie finally focused her attention on me, sadness shadowing her eyes. “No. Mitch would assume I wouldn’t tell you something so personal over the phone, that I’d want to share such devastating news in person. And what you were saying before about the information we have not being connected...”

She paused. I nodded.

“They are. Xifeng was on my kill roster because she believed there was a formula that could heal her burns. Her father is a high-ranking officer in the Chinese military, and he wanted the toxin for its poisonous properties.”

Taking a deep breath, I gathered my words. “My mother’s formula? And you’re just making this connection now?” My tone bordered on hysterical, a perfect match for the surge of anger feeding on my adrenaline rush.

“Yes. There’s a rumor running rampant through the Hawaiian underground that it can heal as well as kill. I only heard about it a few days ago, and I’ve been focused on telling you about Mitch, so I haven’t been on my game.” Annie laced her fingers together, a sure sign she was nervous. The only other time I saw her do that was when she went into labor with Madigan.

“That’s crazy. I saw what the poison did to you and Parker Steele. It about tore Jayne apart to see her husband suffering. And Mitch was just as worried about his sister as he was his brother-in-law. You were both so close to dying. I still can’t believe I was able to…”

“Heal us?” Annie smiled. “You’re going to have to accept what happened one of these days.”

I tugged on the hem of my t-shirt. “I do accept it. It’s just that it’s an awesome gift, and there are so many nuances connected to it that I don’t understand yet. I don’t want to mess up when I use it.”