Love or Justice (6 page)

“I can’t believe I don’t have to work. It feels so strange not having to go anywhere.”

Laurie and Dante left the room to head downstairs.

“Don’t get too used it. Once you’re relocated, we’ll help you find a job so you can support yourself. But if you wanna clean rooms in the meantime, there are a lot of rooms here.”

Laurie laughed.

“No, that’s okay. I think I’ll survive the idleness.”

“I hope so; otherwise, I’m out of a job.”

They both laughed again as they went downstairs. Laurie enjoyed his company far more than she anticipated. She didn’t really want to be here. She didn’t want to be facing her last few days in Hawaii. Yet, Dante had the power to make her forget about that for a few minutes at a time.

Dante set down a stack of paperwork in front of Laurie and they worked through most of it. Laurie signed so many forms, her fingertips ached. At midday, Dante rewarded her with a long break while he made her lunch. He urged her to rummage through the cookbooks for meals she wanted to try. They finished late in the afternoon, adjourning to the living room.

Dante did his own paperwork on a laptop, while Laurie watched TV. David kept his post by the window. Laurie could see him out of the corner of her eye.

David was very quiet, a bit shy. He blossomed when he talked about his wife. They had met in high school. Now she was pregnant with their first child. They moved from Alabama so David could pursue his dream to be a U.S. Marshal, and they moved again when the agency promoted him to Witness Security Inspector. His wife hated him being away on protective details now. She worried about him constantly.

Laurie could understand why, after her own brush with criminals last night.

Max, on the other hand, was David’s opposite. He roved in and out of the living room. Every time he got near Laurie, Dante sent him on an errand, a perimeter check, a grocery run, anything to get him out of the living room. Max finally gave up, sitting at the back of the living room in one of the armchairs, reading a sports magazine.

Laurie was curious about where he was from, but she knew if she talked to him, Dante would frown at her now and lecture her later. Max was a little too eager to get to know her. She’d rather leave it alone.

Laurie enjoyed Cheyn’s company the most.

When he woke up, he wandered down stairs. He kept Laurie entertained with stories about working with Dante. Dante gave up on the computer at that point. Cheyn was too distracting.

Then Dante told his own stories. Cooking disasters between assignments. Water balloon fights with some protected kids that ended up in hospital runs. One elderly bookkeeper that was a witness even insisted on bringing all five of her cats into custody with her. Dante swore he was still cleaning cat hair off his clothes.

They talked until they all got hungry, then Laurie made them all spaghetti for dinner. Looking around at the four men with her, Laurie felt more comfortable eating with all of them than eating breakfast by herself that morning. After they watched a movie together in the living room, Laurie went to bed feeling more content than she had in a long time—almost since before her parents died.

CHAPTER FOUR

Laurie was lost. She was in the middle of the forest, with the ominous feeling that someone was following her. How could she figure out which way to go? Which way was safe? She continued down the path she was on, hoping maybe she would recognize something. However, trees just gave way to more trees and underbrush.

She could hear footsteps now. Someone was following her, but she couldn’t see them. She could hear them behind her. She started to run. She needed to get away, to get back to the safe house. Where were the men? Where had they gone?

She was running now. She slid down an embankment. She knew the footsteps were right behind her. She cried out as she fell. The underbrush tore at her skin and clothes. Bleeding, she picked herself up and continued to run. She was limping now. Each step was painful.

In the distance, she could hear Dante calling for her. She yelled back. She needed to find him. She had to get to him. She would have never been in this trouble if she had stayed by his side.

“Dante! Dante!” She looked around her, but the trees were too thick. She couldn’t see anything but the shadow following her.

She prayed Dante would find her. That he could stop the person chasing her. She ran in the direction of his voice, climbing a steep hill. She could see the person behind her now. It was Kaimi.

“Dante, please! Help me!” She cried as loud as she could.

“Wake up, Laurie. Wake, up!” Dante’s voice boomed in her ear.

Laurie awoke immediately. She launched into a sitting position, nearly hitting Dante straight on as he grasped her by both shoulders. Laurie gasped for air as tears stung her eyes.

“Oh God.” She was embarrassed, still half-terrified.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Dante rubbed her shoulders. “You had a nightmare.”

Laurie trembled, as if her body could no longer contain the fear. The dream had been so real, and it scared her. The weight of her situation crashed down on her.

“It’s okay. I’m right here…” Dante smoothed the hair away from her face.

“I’m so sorry. I was being chased and—”

“Shhhh. It was just a nightmare. You’re okay. I’m here.”

Dante cradled her against his chest, rubbing her back. He ran his fingers over her hair.

Laurie wrestled with her emotions, choking back the sobs that stuck in her throat. When she calmed, he pulled back and held her hands.

“You scared me. You called out to me in your nightmare. I thought someone was in here with you.”

“I’m sorry. Someone was chasing me through the woods. I couldn’t find you. I ran toward your voice, but Kaimi was behind me.” She sniffled and looked away.

He nodded, brushing his warm palm against her cheek.

“Try to go to back to sleep.”

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Don’t be sorry. Go back to sleep, now.”

Laurie lay back on her bed, looking up at Dante. She felt foolish, but she didn’t want him to leave.

“Can you stay with me for a little while?”

He stared at her for a moment.

“Of course I can.”

He grabbed the chair, pulling it up beside her bed. He held her hand, running his fingers over her knuckles.

“Thank you.” She began to drift off.

“You’re welcome, Laurie. You’re welcome.”

***

Dante

Dante stared down at her tiny hand in his. Her delicate wrists and slim fingers. Her palms were still sweaty. He watched as her face relaxed into a peaceful sleep. He reached down with his free hand and brushed away the hair around her face.

She had scared him half to death. He had woken up out of a dead sleep to hear her yelling for him. He’d vaulted out of bed and entered her room with gun drawn only to find her wrestling with her sheets, whimpering and asking for him to help her.

He held her hand for a long time. He didn’t want to let it go. Not after seeing her face contorted with terror while she slept. She seemed so content for most of the day, laughing and teasing him. She had to be scared, and her fear was playing out in her nightmares. But that was one place he couldn’t protect her. So, he held her hand, keeping watch over her as she slept.

She didn’t move.

He hardly breathed for fear of waking her. After more than an hour, sleepiness stole over him. He released her hand, and returned to his bed, feeling powerless.

CHAPTER FIVE

The next morning, Laurie wandered downstairs. Dante was killing time waiting for her in the living room on his laptop. David stood in his favorite spot, watching the sweeping landscape. The sun streamed through the windows.

“Good morning.” She smiled, but the lines around her mouth were tight. “Did you both have breakfast yet?”

“Yes, ma’am.” David folded his hands together.

“Not yet.” Dante closed the laptop and got up from the couch. He stretched, following Laurie into the kitchen. “What would you like?” Dante walked over the fridge.

“I can make it.” She got out the eggs.

“You made dinner. Besides, breakfast is the only thing I cook that’s any good.” He took the eggs from her hands.

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess I should bow to your strengths.”

Dante chuckled as he set the eggs on the counter.

“So what should we do today?”

Dante turned toward her as he got out the bread.

“Well, it’s beautiful out. I thought we could go on that hike.”

Laurie winced, and he felt terrible instantly. He was trying to cheer her up, but he had forgotten the exact contents of her nightmare.

“Oh, um, sure.” She flushed and stared at the counter in front of her.

His mind raced, searching for something to fix what he’d just done.

“I’d like to show you something near Mauna Kea. I think you’ll like it.”

“What is it?”

She looked up at him again, a small smile formed across her lips.

Jackpot.

“Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise when we got there.”

He flashed her a winning smile.

She returned it with one of her own. Her eyes danced as she gazed at him.

His heart squeezed in his chest and he almost dropped the egg he held.

“You have a surprise for me?” She glowed in the morning sunlight now, and he felt light headed.

“Yeah. I have a surprise for you.”

“Well, let’s go hiking then.”

“Good. It’s about a four-hour hike up, another four hours back. Can you handle that?”

“Are you insulting me?”

Dante looked over his shoulder. She was still smiling. He was still good. He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“I’m not insulting you. I just want to make sure you can handle it.”

“I prefer full day hikes.”

“Well, then all you had to do was say ‘yes.’ ”

His gaze lingered on her a moment or two longer than it should have. He turned back to the business at hand. He fixed them both scrambled eggs, with cinnamon toast. Then he poured her a cup of coffee. Dante poured himself a cup and sat down with her.

“Thank you, master chef.”

Dante nearly choked on the bite of toast in his mouth.

“If my mother ever heard someone call me that, she’d die laughing.”

“Did you grow up here?”

Dante felt himself stiffen. He tried to relax. She asked everyone that question.

“No. I grew up all over. I think I hit most of the continental states by the time I went to college.”

“Why did you move so much?”

“Dad worked for the government, so we had to move a lot.”

“The military?”

“Something like that…”

Dante shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and was about to change the subject when Cheyn strolled in the room.

“Good morning, good morning. It is beautiful out today!” Cheyn went straight for the cabinets.

“Yes, it is. Dante’s taking me hiking. It’s perfect weather for it.”

Cheyn dropped the coffee cup he grabbed from the cupboard, and fumbled to save it.

Dante winced. He hadn’t relayed those plans to his team.

“Hiking, huh?” Cheyn looked at Dante.

“Yeah, are you coming?” Laurie turned to Cheyn, and thankfully missed Dante’s grimace.

“I didn’t know there was going to be a hike, so I don’t think I’m invited.” Cheyn smirked as he poured his coffee.

Dante frowned at him.

“I thought it was a nice day, and Laurie asked me about it yesterday, so I suggested it to her a moment ago.” Dante opened up his newspaper and realized it was yesterday’s newspaper.

“Uh, huh. What does the prosecutor have to say about that, boss?” Cheyn asked.

Dante’s frown turned into a scowl.

“Evan James and the DA don’t dictate what protected citizens can and cannot do.” He refolded the newspaper and dropped it on the table.

“Is hiking going to get you in trouble?” Laurie looked up at him, her eyes filled with concern.

“I’ll clear it with my boss.” Dante got up from the table.

He wished Cheyn had kept his mouth shut. It would have been fine. He left his breakfast half-finished. He took his cell phone out onto the back patio. He hit the speed dial, and the head of the Witness Security field office picked up the phone.

“Dante!” he exclaimed. “How’s my best deputy? How’s the girl?”

“She seems all right, Rick. She goes back and forth between being all right and being pretty terrified.”

“Understandable. I saw your report on the resort incident. Did she really knock out the guy with a lamp?” Rick asked.

“Yes, sir. I’ve informed her such actions could harm both herself and someone else. She understands she should never take that course of action again.”

“Good. She’s still amenable to testifying, right? We can’t afford for this one to get spooked.”

“Well, she’s pretty scared, being away from her friends and all. She lived at the resort for the last decade.”

“But do you think she’ll testify?”

Rick’s voice was half an octave higher now then when they started the conversation. The corners of Dante’s mouth curved up. He looked up at Mauna Kea. He almost felt the fallen leaves and twigs crunching beneath his hiking boots.

“If we can keep her comfortable here, sir, I think she’ll testify.”

There was a hesitant pause.

“Is there anything we can do to make her more comfortable?”

Target achieved. Dante paused for a few minutes, pretending to think.

“Well, she is an avid hiker. We do have some excellent, safe trails near the house. If you thought it was wise, I could take her hiking. She does love to hike, and I think it would take her mind off everything. She needs a diversion.”

There was a longer pause.

“You’ve hiked the area a lot?”

“Between almost every assignment. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t.” Dante paced, making a mental checklist of everything they needed for the hike.

“I don’t see why not, if you know the area. Take another man with you. If it keeps her comfortable and gives her the lay of the land, that should be fine.”

“Oh, great. She’ll be very excited.” Dante smiled into the phone.

“But Dante, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how critical her safety is. If anything happens to her on this hike, or at all, there’ll be hell to pay for both of us.”

Rick’s stern warning gave Dante pause. He heard Rick say the exact same thing before he drove out to get Laurie to begin with.

“Rick, I’ve never let you down. I won’t start now.”

“No, you haven’t. That’s why I assigned you to this protection detail. You’re the best I have, Dante.”

“Thank you.”

“Keep her safe and see that’s she comfortable.”

“I will. Any news on Kaimi or Katherine and Easton?”

There was the sound of shuffling papers, and the beeping of Rick’s cell phone.

“No, nothing substantial. They think he may be skipping islands with them. Possibly a small speedboat involved. They’re not quite sure, but Evan James is raising hell over at the FBI field office.”

“Thank you, Rick. I’ll let you know if anything changes here.”

“Take care of her and your team.”

“I will.”

Dante hung up the phone, and walked back into the house. When he got to the kitchen, Laurie was laughing so hard at something Cheyn said, she looked almost purple. Dante bristled. Why was Cheyn still sitting here anyway?

“So what did the big boss say?” Cheyn smirked at him over his cereal.

“Said it was fine. Just need to take another man with me. I’ll need you to take David’s watch.” Dante smiled and shrugged.

“I thought I was going with you.” Cheyn’s brow furrowed as he studied Dante.

“David needs the experience, and you’re already up. We need at least one man on watch while Max sleeps.”

David poked his head into the kitchen.

“Boss, I’m okay with staying here if Cheyn wants to go. I’m not much of a hiker.”

Dante’s irritation magnified. Yet, it made sense to take Cheyn with him. He had wilderness training. David knew how to handle the watch. He took a breath. He didn’t know what he was getting so worked up about anyway.

“All right, David. You can stay, but I do want to get you out and exploring around the house at some point. Cheyn, get the wilderness gear ready. I’m going to finish breakfast. Then we can get going.”

“How can I help get ready?” Laurie turned her dazzling blue eyes on him.

“Just get yourself ready. Cheyn can handle the rest.” Dante sat down at the kitchen table.

He finished his cold breakfast, while Laurie went upstairs to change.

Cheyn got the backpacks together, and they left the house an hour later.

Dante followed an invisible path from the house up into the tree line. As they approached, he found the entrance to the narrow pathway that cut through the dense foliage. Ferns and low hanging palm trees almost blocked the mouth of the dirt path.

It felt so good to be outside, in the lush greenery. The sounds of the jungle enveloped him—calling birds, angry insects buzzing away from them, the leaves blowing in a light breeze. The rainforest got hot and sticky. They all began to sweat. Even the dense branches of the immense trees couldn’t keep them cool.

For the most part, they remained silent as they climbed, content to listen to the surrounding noise. Dante stopped every so often to point out the tracks of a dog, or cat. He even spotted wild boar tracks, as they headed higher toward the volcano. He showed Laurie how to tell if an animal had been through there recently or hours ago. He could identify several animals just by sound. He enjoyed teaching her.

All at once, the forest stopped at the base of the volcano. There was a short field of grass before even that disappeared into a swath of gravel, ash, and rock. They stopped for a little while to take a break and eat some of the snacks Cheyn had packed, lounging in the shade. The path curved around the base of the volcano to the right and left. As they stood up to continue, Cheyn started to the left.

“Cheyn!” Dante nodded to the right. “We’re going this way today.”

“That way? We’ve never gone that way.”

“I’ve gone this way before. Come on.” Dante led the way down the trail.

The path dove back into the forest. The decline was steep, much steeper than the climb they’d just made. As the slope deepened, Laurie took a step and the log she was balancing on faltered. She would have tumbled down, but Dante turned and caught her by the waist. She grabbed onto his shoulders, trying to steady herself.

“Easy, easy.” He shifted to give her all of his strength.

He held her up until she could regain her footing again. Her t-shirt rode up an inch or two, and his thumb grazed the cool, smooth skin of her stomach. He felt his temperature rise ten degrees.

“Sorry.” She turned almost crimson. “The log rolled on me.”

“That’s all right, just take it real slow.” Dante felt her muscles flex beneath his fingers and he sucked in a breath.

Laurie regained her balance. She looked up into Dante’s eyes.

His stomach lurched. Her eyes were luminous, vulnerable. Yet, something dark and hungry was there too. Dante barely glimpsed it before she blinked and it was gone. He released her waist.

Laurie released his shoulders.

“Thank you.”

“Boss, I think we should head back to the other path. It’s a lot easier than this one.” Cheyn came up beside them.

“Can’t do that. I promised Laurie I’d show her something, and this is the only path that will get us there.” Dante turned away from Laurie.

Cheyn threw him a quizzical look, but Dante ignored it.

Dante held out his hand to Laurie as they continued down the embankment.

Laurie tried not to take his help, but she almost slipped a second time. She gave up. She began balancing herself on his arm and shoulder.

He was all too happy to help. In the distance, a rushing sound grew steadily louder. They rounded a corner, and there was the waterfall he was looking for, cascading off the side of the volcano into a pool of blue-green water. All around the water’s edge orchids of all colors were in full bloom. The ground was covered in thick, green grass, with several rocks scattered about to sit on.