Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
Jacob placed his hands on her shoulders. “What are you talking about? This is a crime scene. We’re not qualified to launch our own investigation. We need to get the police involved to run this license plate and locate the owners of that delivery van.”
“Those plates are probably from a rental or stolen plates from another vehicle. The police are going to run them and find a dead end..”
“They might get a hit and find out who rented the van. Swede might get the hit first.” As if on cue, a cell phone rang.
Casey glanced down at hers. “Not mine.”
Jacob pulled his cell phone from his right pocket and frowned. “Not mine.”
The hotel clerk shook his head. “Not mine.”
Another ring reminded Jacob of Hawk’s phone in his other pocket. As he dug it out, he muttered. “If it’s Kalea, what do I tell her?”
“Nothing,” Casey said. “We’re going to get Hawk back.”
Jacob glanced at the caller ID on Hawk’s phone and breathed a sigh. “It’s his boss, Hank Patterson.” He slid his finger across the screen. “Hank, Jacob Fowler.”
“Rooster? That you?” Hank asked.
“Yes, sir,” Jacob said.
“Where’s Hawk?” Hank asked. “Is he getting ready for the big event?”
“No, sir.” Jacob’s gaze met Casey’s. “We have an issue. You might be able to help us.”
“Okay. Sounds serious. Give me a sitrep,” Hank commanded, all business now.
“Hawk is missing. We think he’s been kidnapped.”
“Damn,” Hank said. “And here I was calling to get directions to the wedding venue.” Hank paused. “Tell me everything you know so far. Have you called the police?”
Jacob shook his head, though Hank couldn’t see him. “Not yet.”
“As soon as you hang up with me, call them,” Hank said.
“Will do.”
“Now, give it to me,” Hank said and let Jacob tell him about leaving Hawk in his room and the men coming at three in the morning to cart him away.
“We can’t be certain they took Hawk in the laundry cart, but there weren’t any more videos of anyone leaving the hotel between the time we left him in his room and this morning when we discovered he was missing.”
“He’s been on the Big Island for the past couple of months. I don’t recall him being sideways with anyone over there. Does he have any enemies on Oahu that you know of?”
Jacob couldn’t think of anyone. Sadly, he didn’t know much about Hawk’s new life. “Not that I’m aware of. I’ve only been in town for a couple of days. The bachelor party was last night. He had hoped you would make it.”
“I couldn’t get a flight out soon enough. I’m in Honolulu now. Where do you want to meet?”
“Come to the hotel.” Jacob gave him the address. “I have an image of the back of the van that took him. I sent the license plate to Swede to look up.”
“Shoot that my way in a text,” Hank said. “Knowing Swede, he’ll have the owner's name, the address and the year he was born before I reach the hotel.”
“That’s the Swede I remember,” Jacob said, recalling the tall blond SEAL from when they’d worked together on some of his first missions.
“He’s the backbone of this organization. Brotherhood Protectors would be nothing without him,” Hank said. “He’s amazing with the computer and has some contacts in places you don’t want to know about.”
“Good. I’d heard he was top-notch at data mining,” Jacob said. “I’ll get the Honolulu police on it as well.”
“We can use all the help we can get,” Hank said. “I’ll touch bases with Swede while you get the police working on what they can do. I’ll be there in less than twenty minutes.”
“Will do,” Jacob said. “Out here.”
“Out here,” Hank echoed.
Jacob ended the call. “Hank Patterson’s on his way.”
“Hawk’s boss?” Casey asked.
Jacob nodded. “Hopefully, he can help.”
The hotel clerk rose from his chair. “You ready for me to call 911?”
“Yes,” Jacob said.
The clerk left the back office for the front desk and his manager.
They could hear him as he placed the call to 911.
It wouldn’t take long for the police to arrive.
Casey paced in the small room behind the hotel’s front desk. “Who would have done this? Kalea didn’t say anything about old enemies. From what I got from her, he helped solve some problems she had in Hawaii. But they put that issue to bed.” She stopped in front of Jacob. “Did anything happen at the bachelor party before I arrived? Was there an argument? Did Hawk get into it with another patron?”
Jacob’s brow dipped. “He was there to celebrate his upcoming wedding. No one else was with us on the back patio.” His eyes widened. He looked up at Casey. “Camila.”
Casey’s eyes narrowed. “Camila?”
“His stalker.”
“Stalker?” Casey shook her head. “What stalker?”
“He had a one-night stand with her.”
“What?” Casey’s jaw tightened. “Last night?”
“No. No.” Jacob’s lips twisted. “Before he left San Diego to go to work for Hank. Before he met Kalea. He slept with this woman, Camila. They dated twice. She thought that was enough to make them an item.”
“Hawk dumped her?” Casey asked.
“Yes,” Jacob’s lips twisted. “Apparently, she didn’t take it well.”
“How so?”
“She didn’t consider it final. In Camila’s mind, she came to the Big Wave last night to rescue him from a wedding that shouldn’t happen.”
Casey pushed a hand through her hair. “Do you think she had something to do with Hawk’s kidnapping?”
“She’s a woman. Those guys who wheeled the cart out were big and burly. Definitely not Camila.”
“But she could have hired those men to take him.” Casey resumed her pacing. “What’s Camila’s full name? We need to tell the police about her.”
Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, Hawk only called her by her first name. He never told me a last name.”
“How the hell are we supposed to find her if we don’t have her full name? We’re in Honolulu, for Pete’s sake.” Casey flung her hands in the air. “There could be hundreds of Camilas.”
“Maybe Hank’s computer guy can help us narrow down the search.”
Casey glanced at her watch. “Thirty-five hours, forty-nine minutes and counting. We have to find Hawk.”
“You’re telling me? I promised I’d have him to the church on time.” Jacob scrubbed his hand down his face, feeling the bristles of a day’s beard growth. “Kalea will skin me alive.”
“And me.” Casey buried her face in her hands. “She’s my best friend. I talked her into having the wedding here. She wanted to have a simple ceremony in front of a Justice of the Peace at the ranch.” Casey leaned back her head. “If I’d gone along with her wishes, none of this would’ve happened. This is all my fault.”
Jacob gripped her arms. “Did you kidnap Hawk?”
She looked up into his eyes. “No.”
“Exactly.”
She looked up at him, her eyes rounding at the same time as her brows furrowed. “Yeah, but if I hadn’t been so preoccupied last night with making everything perfect, I might have seen what was happening with this Camila woman.”
Jacob frowned. “You weren’t even supposed to be there. For that matter, why were you the stripper in the cake?”
Casey’s lips pressed into a thin line. “My stripper called and canceled just as the delivery men unloaded the cake.” She shrugged. “When your help doesn’t show, you do what has to be done.”
His lips quirked upward. “That’s taking your business a little too seriously.”
She glared at him. “No one was supposed to know it was me.” She poked a finger into his chest. “And as far as everyone else goes, they better never know.”
Jacob held up a hand. “I’m not going to tell a soul.” His lips twitched and spread across his face. “It’ll be our secret.”
“Damn right, it will be.”
“Do you own the costume?” Jacob asked.
“Why do you want to know?”
“It’s not rented or anything, is it?”
“No. I bought it because I wanted the show to have a Navy theme.”
“Good. Keep it. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in it next time.”
Her brow dipped low as she lifted her chin. “Who said there would be a next time?”
Jacob cupped her cheek. “After we get Hawk back and married, I’d like to take you out on a real date.”
Casey shook her head. “I told you before we…before we…well… before , that one of the conditions was no strings.”
Jacob’s gut knotted. He liked Casey. She was feisty and sexy. “I’m not asking for strings. Just a date.”
“And I’m not interested in a long-term relationship. Especially with a Navy SEAL.”
“What do you mean, especially with a Navy SEAL.”
Her nostrils flared. “I lived in San Diego most of my life before I moved to Honolulu. Many of my friends have dated, married and divorced Navy SEALs. They have a reputation for having a woman in every port. At the very least, they’re not known for staying married for long.”
“Have you ever considered that the women who married them might have been the ones who couldn’t handle the relationship?” He stepped up close to her, standing toe to toe. “We don’t have easy jobs. We’re not accountants who can go to work and come home every night of the week and be there on the weekends. Women who marry a Navy SEAL should understand what they’re getting into before they marry. It’s not easy watching your husband leave for weeks or months at a time and not knowing when he’ll be back. It’s not easy raising children on your own because your spouse has a duty to his country. Is that the real reason you don’t want to get involved with a Navy SEAL? You don’t have the stamina to deal with the separation and worry?”
She stared up into his face, her eyes glassy as if holding back tears. “I know what it’s like to be the one left behind. My father was a Navy SEAL. I never want to be a woman like my mother, always waiting for her man to come home. Dreading a visit from a uniformed chaplain, coming to tell her that her husband was killed in action. I watched her cry for so many nights I lost count. So, no. I don’t want to get involved with a Navy SEAL.” She drew in a deep breath, her chest rising beneath her snug pink shirt.
He could picture her pert breasts naked, which didn’t help his cause. He wanted to go out with her again. But she had a point. They could never be more than just lovers. “I didn’t say I wanted a long-term relationship. What if all I want is someone to hang out with for a few dates?”
Her gaze held his for a long moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but before the words came out, the hotel clerk poked his head back into the office. “The police just arrived.”
Casey snapped her mouth shut. “We’d better go fill them in. Maybe there’s something they can do to help find Hawk.” She started for the door.
Jacob stopped her with a hand on her arm. “I’m not finished with this conversation.”
She stared at the hand until he dropped it. “I’m not sure there’s a point to it. And now isn’t the time.”
“Agreed. Hawk is our priority. Until we find him, we’re on hold.”
“We’re not—” Casey shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s do this.” She hurried out the door and met the police as they exited their patrol unit.
As Jacob, Casey and the hotel clerk gave the police an account of what had happened the night before, an SUV pulled into the parking lot.
A tall, muscular man dropped down from the driver’s seat and headed toward them. His hair was longer, and he wore a button-down shirt and dress slacks, but Jacob would’ve known the man anywhere. He held out his hand. “Hank, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Rooster.” He took his hand and pulled him into a hard hug. “Good to see you, man.”
“And you.” Jacob turned to Casey. “Hank Patterson, this is Casey Wesson, the wedding planner.”
Casey shook Hank’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Hawk’s fiancée. You did a lot to help Kalea out when she was in a tight spot.”
“We were just glad we could. Hawk was the one who pulled it off. Between him and Kalea, they make a great team. I hope to get her to come to work for me at the Brotherhood Protectors.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “I thought you only hired former military.”
“I do, for the most part. But I’d make an exception for someone as talented and determined as Kalea. She’s sharp.”
“She’s been too busy running her father’s ranch to work for anyone else,” Casey said. “But with Hawk missing, she might consider becoming a Brotherhood Protector just to find her man.”
Hank gave Casey a lopsided grin. “She wouldn’t have to join the Brotherhood to get us to help. He’s one of our own. We’ll find him with or without her assistance. And, if I know Hawk, he’ll be fighting his way back. The man’s been chomping at the bit to marry that woman before she gets away.” Hank chuckled. “I have my guy, Swede, working on the license plate. Have you learned anything else?”
“As a matter of fact,” Jacob started, “there is something that happened at the bachelor party that might bear looking into.”
“Yeah?” Hank raised his eyebrows.
A policeman entered the building with the hotel clerk.
“Let’s go with them. You might want to see the room.” Jacob waved Hank ahead of him as he entered the building. The police and hotel clerk took the elevator. “We can take the stairs.” As they climbed to the fifth floor, Jacob told him about Camila’s drama at the Big Wave.
“Does she have a last name?” Hank asked.
“I don’t have it. Hawk only told us her first name,” Jacob said.
“I’ll get Swede on it,” Hank said. “Maybe he can access some criminal databases. She might have a record.”
“It might be worth calling McP’s in San Diego to see if the bartender remembers her,” Jacob said. “She might have been a regular back when Hawk met her there.”
“How is Kalea taking it?” Hank asked Casey.
Casey’s cheeks reddened. “I haven’t told her. I’d hoped we could find him and get him to the church on time without informing her. She called this morning freaked out when he didn’t answer his cell phone. I can’t imagine how she’ll react when she learns he’s missing.”
“She needs to know,” Hank said.
Casey inhaled and let go of the breath in a long sigh. “I know, but could we hold off a little longer? He might turn up.” She gave Hank a weak grin. “It could happen.”
Hank nodded. “Okay. I won’t tell her. If we don’t find him in the next couple of hours, you need to be the one to break it to her.” They emerged onto the fifth floor and hurried toward Hawk’s room, where the police were investigating.
Hank stood outside the room, looking in at the mess, a frown denting his brow. “He didn’t leave of his own volition.”
“That was our guess,” Jacob said. “The two guys in the video were pretty big.”
“Still can’t imagine them getting the drop on Hawkins.”
Jacob exchanged a glance with Casey. “He was pretty drunk when we left him in bed. And why would they take his tuxedo?”
Casey crossed her arms over her chest. “Camila. Maybe she has some half-baked idea that he’ll marry her if she gets him away from Kalea.”
“The woman is out of her mind,” Hank said. “Hawk’s crazy about Kalea.”
“And she’s crazy about him,” Casey said. “We have to find him.”
The police officers dusted for prints. The one in charge asked Casey and Jacob to drop by the station to give them their prints so they could rule theirs out when they were comparing with those they’d found.
“I’d better get there and then move on to the Big Wave,” Jacob said. “They don’t open until eleven, but Ray gets there early to prep for lunch. Camila might have introduced herself to him, using her full name. It’s a stretch, but one we need to check out.”
Hank frowned. “You say he met her in San Diego?”
“That’s right,” Jacob acknowledged.
“And she didn’t show up until last night?” Hank continued.
“As far as I know, Hawk hadn’t seen her since he left San Diego,” Jacob said. “She mentioned that she’d had a helluva time finding him.”
Hank gave a single nod. “I’ll have Swede crosscheck aircraft flight manifests for any passengers with the first name of Camila arriving within the past couple of days. In the meantime, I need to find a place to set up a command center.”
“You can use my place,” Casey dug her keys out of her purse and slipped one off the ring, handing it to Hank. “My apartment isn’t big, but I have a large whiteboard and high-speed internet. I’ll have Jacob text the address to you.”
“Great.” Hank took the key. “If Swede or I come up with any leads, I’ll check them out. Plus, I’ll gather my contacts for a possible extraction team.”
Jacob had forgotten just how good Hank was. He was glad the man was on their team and working to get Hawk back. “Good. We might need a full team to make it happen.”
“Are you headed over to see Kalea?” Hank asked Casey.
She shook her head. “I’m going with Jacob. If Ray knows anything, I want to be on it immediately. I feel responsible for losing the groom.”
Hank’s brow furrowed. “Why? You couldn’t have known those men would show up to kidnap him.”
Casey’s cheeks flushed a bright red. “I’m the wedding planner…I should know where the wedding party is at all times.” She turned to Jacob. “Are we going? Your vehicle is parked at the Big Wave. We’ll have to take mine.”
Hank’s gaze went from Casey to Jacob and back to Casey, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Jacob almost laughed, but he held his humor in check. Casey would not be amused to know Hank had figured out there might be something between the two of them. Why else would she still be at the hotel with Jacob’s vehicle parked at the bar?
“Let us know if you find anything,” Jacob said.
Hank nodded. “You do the same.”
Jacob followed Casey out of the hotel and climbed into the passenger seat of her SUV.
Casey gave him her address.
Jacob keyed it into his smartphone and texted it to Hank. A moment later, he looked up. “He got it.”
For a moment, Casey sat still with her hands on the steering wheel, her lips pressed into a tight line. “How could we not hear someone abducting Hawk right across the hallway from us last night?” She smacked her palm on the steering wheel. “How?”
“Uh, sweetheart, we were making our own noise most of the night. By the time we fell asleep, we were pretty wiped out.”
She closed her eyes, started the engine and opened her eyes again. “We shouldn’t have.”
Jacob reached across and covered her hand with his. “I can’t regret it. Even if I’d been alone, I doubt I would’ve heard the commotion. Those rooms and doors are fairly well insulated. They had to have used a key since the door wasn’t damaged. Hawk was out before we dropped him in his bed. He never saw them coming.”
“Still…we shouldn’t have.” She shifted into reverse, backed out of the parking space, shifted into drive and pulled out of the lot onto the main road.
“Well, I, for one, am glad we did. And I’m all for doing it again.” He grinned and stared at the road ahead. “I know. The focus is on Hawk. I’m all about getting him back to his bride before the wedding march plays. So, step on it. We have a wedding to save.”
Casey hit the accelerator hard, sending the SUV leaping forward. The drive that should have taken twenty minutes only took fifteen. They arrived at the Big Wave and drove around to the rear since it wasn’t eleven yet.
An older man wearing a white apron came out of the back of the building carrying a trash bag.
“That’s Ray,” Jacob said.
Casey parked the vehicle and jumped down at the same time as Jacob.
“Ray,” Jacob called out.
The bartender looked around but continued moving toward the large trash bin, tossed the bag inside and then turned. “Can I help you?”
“We were here last night with the bachelor party.”
“Hawk’s party.” Ray nodded. “Did you lose something?” He came to a stop in front of Jacob.
“Actually, we did,” Jacob said. “The groom.”
The old Navy man’s brows rose. “You sure he didn’t decide to skip out on the wedding? You know…cold feet?”
“No,” Casey said. “We think he might have been kidnapped.”
Ray’s brow dipped. “From the Big Wave?”
“No,” Jacob said. “From the hotel he was staying at.”
Ray crossed his arms over his chest. “What does that have to do with the Big Wave?”
“The woman the off-duty policeman escorted out last night,” Jacob said. “Do you remember her?”
“Camila?” Ray asked.
“That’s her,” Casey said.
“It’s a long shot, but we think she might be involved.” Jacob waited for Ray to respond.
The man’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at the corner of the building. “She introduced herself as Camila. No last name.”
Jacob hid his disappointment. “Did she arrive alone?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “I was busy at the bar when she appeared in front of me.” His eyes narrowed. “Seems there were a couple of big dudes lurking on either side of the entrance. Didn’t think much of it at the time. I thought they might be waiting for someone else to show up. Then you gave me the signal to get the cops, and it was a blur of motion getting the cop-for-hire to escort her out.”
“Do you remember what the two guys looked like?” Jacob urged. “It’s important that we find them.”
“The sooner, the better,” Casey added. “Or a bride will be left standing at the altar while her groom could be in real trouble.”
Ray pinched the bridge of his nose. “They wore short-sleeved shirts and had tattoos on their arms.” He dropped his hand and stared at it. “A black hand.” Ray looked up. “They both had black hands tattooed on their upper arms. And some letters. E.M.E, I think.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember more than that. I assume since they both had the same type of tattoos, they could be gang members. I can’t say with certainty that they were with Camila. They left before the cop escorted her out.”
Jacob stuck out his hand. “Thanks, Ray. We appreciate your help.”
Ray held up his hands. “I’ll spare you the shake. My hands are pretty dirty. But if I remember anything, leave a number for me to call.”
Casey pulled a business card out of her purse and tucked it into the pocket of his white apron. “Call the number on the card. It’s my cell phone.”
“Will do.” Ray gave a mock salute. “Good luck finding your guy. I hope he makes it to his wedding on time.”
“So do we,” Casey murmured. “So do we.”
If gang members had taken Hawk, there was no telling where they were holding him. Jacob and Casey would be hard-pressed to get him back in time for the wedding. It would take an act of God or mission-ready SEALs to pull it off.
Jacob prayed Hank was more successful gathering a team and the necessary equipment they’d need if a raid into gang territory became necessary.