Liaising Kai

Chapter 6

Davis was duly spookedafter they left poor Mrs. Cordero’s townhouse, the beautiful surroundings hiding a dark and deadly threat. She and her dog had been murdered to either keep her away from their questions or to find Eduardo or both. The fact that they had tortured the woman gave him hope that Eduardo was still breathing. He thought about all the people who had died directly from the investigation of this case, his gut clenching again in grief at the loss of Carter. Their need to find Eduardo was even more imperative.

But his main concern was their safety. He and Kai were in a foreign country, away from their own turf, at the mercy of the Guayaquil cops. Other than each other, they had no idea who they could trust.

Having no choice in the matter, they had to leave the collection of evidence and the autopsy up to the local authority. It would be a while before they would receive any information about all that evidence, so they made the decision to go to Eduardo”s residence. He lived in Guayas, a small fishing village, a quick drive from Guayaquil.

Kai’s body pressed to his as if she wanted to keep him close. She looked like she desperately needed to talk to him, but not in front of the police officers. He wondered what she was thinking, and why she’d wanted him to distract Cesar so she could talk to Dario. He wasn’t one to denigrate any law enforcement official’s gut instinct, and Kai had a good gut on her, among other attributes. His mind jumped back to the elevator and her blatant statement about how each of them wanted sex from the other. That had jacked him up from the get-go, and it was also the kind of distraction that could get them both killed.

He couldn’t deny her statement. He did want sex from her, his body craved to be inside her, but possessing her wasn’t all he wanted. He wanted her secrets and the trust that went along with those secrets. He wanted her to know that he would be there for her come what may.

She had gotten it right this morning. There were so many complications, and he still wasn’t sure she was turning to him for the right reasons just yet. That’s what stopped him from claiming her last night. He didn’t want them jumping into bed because it was physical. He wanted more than that from her.

But now with Mrs. Cordero’s murder, they were facing nothing but a dry hole in Ecuador. He had to wonder if that was by design, and whose design.

When they pulled up to an apartment building, the two police officers exited, but Kai didn’t open her door right away. She grasped his arm, and said, her voice low and urgent, “Be careful, Davis.”

He nodded, and before the two cops noticed, he opened the door and stepped out. The complex had six apartment blocks, the one in the middle with a distinctive white roof in the shape of a pyramid.

“Mosquera’s on the sixth floor, number 601,” the colonel said, looking up. “The building manager will meet us there.” They headed to the lobby of the middle building and rode the elevator to the right apartment. A balding, middle-aged man was waiting outside of Eduardo’s apartment. He opened the door, and they went inside.

Davis could tell by the musty smell of the place that Eduardo hadn’t been there for some time. The furniture was minimal, his bed an unmade mattress in the corner of the room. There were no signs that he’d been there recently.

Kai turned to the building manager. “Is Mr. Mosquera current on his rent?”

The man nodded, and they left the apartment no closer to Eduardo then they had been before. Next, it was to the marina where they had some hope of tracking down someone who had information on Eduardo, his vessel, or his crew.

They walked down the dock heading for the office. Davis looked out to where the fishermen would have moored their boats, one or two were still out there. The rest were gone, fishing, he presumed. None of them were Mayta’s Gift.

A man was sitting on a stack of crates looking to be mending a fishing net. He glanced up at them, then did a double take, his eyes widening.

They opened the door, a bell chiming as they walked into the neat office. The man took one look at the police officers and stiffened. His gaze then went to him and Kai, and his eyes narrowed. “Can I help you?” he asked just as stiffly. Not a fan of the law, Davis thought. In those instances when people were less than cooperative, it meant they had something to hide.

He and Kai flipped their badges. Davis said, “Good morning. We’re looking for Eduardo Mosquera. It’s our understanding he moors his boat Mayta’s Gift here at your marina.”

“Yes, he has a standing contract with me. But he’s not here.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

The man looked up, thinking, then said, “About four days ago. I saw him and several men head out to his boat.”

“His crew?”

“No, they weren’t part of his crew.”

“Have you seen any of his crew around the docks?”

The man looked out the window and Davis followed his line of vision to the stack of crates that had been occupied by the man fixing the net. He was gone. Davis scanned the area, and he could see him hurrying down the dock.

“That’s his first mate, Roberto Jimenez.”

Davis headed for the door and pulled it open. “Mr. Jimenez. We’d like a word with you.” The man looked over his shoulder, terror in his eyes, and he took off at a run. Davis shot after him, gaining speed as he pounded down the dock. When he caught up to Roberto, he shouted, “Stop!” But the man kept moving, heading for the exit. Davis had no choice, he tackled the guy, hitting him hard as they both tumbled from the dock into the ocean. The water closed over his head as the guy elbowed him in the face, momentarily stunning him.

He saw kicking feet and grabbed his ankle, then headed for the surface, pulling the man with him. When they broke free, the man punched him, then ducked him down. The man curled his body, and Davis caught the silver flicker before the guy swiped a knife, catching his clothing and across his arm. Blood colored the water. The man kicked free and swam.

Davis crested the surface behind him and caught him around the neck. He thrashed, but Kai’s hard voice made him settle. “Stop resisting.” She pointed her Glock at him, and Davis felt his muscles go slack.

He swam with him to the ladder on the side of the dock, forcing Roberto to climb up ahead of him.

When they got onto the dock, Kai holstered her weapon as Dario cuffed his hands behind his back. Water trailed off him and Roberto, leaving a puddle where they stood.

“You’re bleeding,” Kai said, grabbing his wrist and pulling at the material of his blood-tinged shirtsleeve. The wind was as warm as the water. Davis ran his hands through his wet hair, slicking it back as rivulets of water slipped down his temples and into his neck.

He covered her hand and squeezed, noting the concern in her eyes. He liked that a lot. She’d been worried about him. “It’s shallow,” Davis said, turning to Roberto. “Why did you run? We just have questions.”

The man’s expression was full of petulance, anger, and fear. “I don’t want to answer your questions,” he spat.

“Where’s Eduardo?”

Roberto gritted his teeth. “I don’t know.”

“I think you do know, Roberto. He could be in danger.”

Roberto scoffed and turned his head away, clenching his jaw.

“You’re under arrest for obstruction of justice and assault with a deadly weapon,” Dario said, then hauled him toward the cruiser.

“We’ll take him down to the precinct, and you can join us after you’ve, ah, gotten some dry clothes.” He smiled. “Nice takedown, though.”

“Don’t question him until we arrive,” Davis said with a return smile and a steely gaze. “Thanks.”

After taking a cab to the hotel, the cabbie giving him perplexed looks, they went up to his room. His clothes were still dripping wet, and he left a trail through the lobby and a pool in the elevator. Inside the room, he removed his badge, gun, and holster, setting the damp items on the desk.

“Davis—” Kai said, her voice sounding strangled. He turned around in confusion. What the heck was—his thoughts ceased. Her face was flushed with warmth, and she met his gaze with a small smile that was so incredibly sweet and guileless.

A slow, seductive awareness took hold as her eyes caressed his chest.

“What’s going on? I thought you wanted to talk.”

“No talk now,” she said, stumbling over her words, holding him in place with a sultry, disarming gaze.

“No talk now?” he repeated, his brows lifting. He felt the beginnings of an answering grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Kai was discombobulated…over him.”

She shook her head in wonder, the soft waves of her hair caressed her flushed cheeks. “I’m kind of having a Mr. Darcy moment right now. You have no idea how sexy you look in that transparent, clinging T-shirt with your hair messed up. I have to say. Your back is a work of delicious, muscled art.”

He turned around to look in the mirror, and all he saw was himself. He guessed beauty was in the eye of the beholder. He shrugged. He really only cared that he turned her on. That’s what was important here.

She crossed to him, and he responded to the desire darkening her eyes. His dick was suddenly throbbing and aching, his damp jeans too tight and confining against his stiff shaft.

“Daivs…” she whispered, his name infused with a wealth of emotion that struck a chord deep within him, too. Eyes closing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her mouth was soft and yielding, a heavenly temptation he couldn’t resist, so why even try? Her lips parted, and he accepted the invitation to deepen the connection, to slide his tongue inside and curl around hers, dragging her into a hunger so dark and hot he burned with the intensity of it.

He kissed her with a fierce urgency borne of knowing that she wanted him. Kissed her with an abundance of need and something far more profound that echoed in the furthest recesses of his soul—an emotional, intimate bond that rocked the foundation he’d tried to build without her in it. Now that she was here…he was shaking with the enormity of getting what he had desired for so long.

She was the one who broke the kiss, her eyes dazed, her pupils dilated, almost lost to her own desire, but then she saw the thin scape along his upper arm, and she took a hard breath. She leaned in, ran the pad of her finger under the knife slash, then pressed a soft kiss to the wound. There was no pain except for the way his heart squeezed at her tender kiss, and at the concern still clear in her eyes.

“You better get in the shower before things get even more heated. My lapse is inexcusable.”

“Sometimes the way we feel is beyond our control, and I won’t fault you for that. But you’re right. We need to get to the precinct.”

She stepped back and with a teasing look on his face, he toed off his shoes, pulled off his sodden socks, then grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head. Reaching for his jeans, he turned his back to her and stripped them off, giving her a brief glimpse of his backside as he closed the door.

“Damn you, Davis,” she said, banging her hand flat against the door. He chuckled to himself and proceeded to take a cold shower.

With a towel around his waist, he entered the room and Kai was cross-legged on the bed cleaning his weapon. While he reached into his suitcase for a clean, dry shirt, she expertly reassembled the weapon, then racked the slide, checking the barrel. All his ammunition had been dried and put back in the magazine. She shoved in the clip and set the weapon down.

“Hey, thanks for doing that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want the salt water to work on it, and for it to malfunction when you need it most. I think we’re going to need all the firepower we can get.” She shrugged. “I also needed to keep my mind and hands occupied.” Her gaze roved down his body. “Could you do me a favor and get dressed?”

He was holding the shirt he’d picked up. “Sorry, I got caught up in how sexy you looked handling my weapon.”

“You jerk,” she growled as he grabbed a pair of soft gray cotton sweatpants that came to his calf. He ducked the pillow she lobbed at him, and slipped back into the bathroom, chuckling, then realized he’d forgotten underwear.

“Could you grab me a pair of briefs?” he asked, poking his head around the door. She gave him a narrowed gaze filled with retribution but got off the bed and picked through his case. She came up with a pair and tossed them to him.

“Payback is a bitch, Davis.”

“Mmhum,” he said. “I’m shaking in my towel.” Dropping the towel out of her sight, he donned his clothes. He used the terry to get most of the moisture out of his hair, then finger-combed it off his face.

He walked out of the bathroom, tying the drawstring to his pants. “Now that I’m fully dressed and not tempting you, can we talk?”

She did smile at that, despite the concern still clear in her eyes. “Who says that does anything for my distraction? It’s you, Davis, that’s the distraction, no matter what you’re doing or saying or not saying, wearing or not…uh…wearing.”

His smile faded as he went back to professional mode, and it wasn’t an easy shift. “I don’t think dealing with that part of our relationship during this trip is such a good idea right now.”

“I agree. I’m just stating facts,” she said, still sitting on the bed with her legs crossed like a teenager.

He took the wing-back chair in the corner after grabbing some socks and sneakers. “Tell me your concerns.”

“First off, the person we want to question, a person who might shed some light on our case, Mrs. Cordero, is murdered within hours of our arrival. Secondly, we’re hitting dead ends with no information to show for it.”

“We have a lead right now at the precinct.”

She gave him a quelling look.

“What?” he asked, lifting his hands. “I’m stating a fact. Roberto Jimenez knows more than he’s been willing to share. I can get it out of him.”

“I wish I had your confidence, but my gut says he won’t stay alive long enough to answer any of our questions.”

“Okay, so maybe my gut agrees. What do you suspect?”

“That someone at the police department is dirty and leaking our intel to what I’m beginning to think is a drug-related situation. How it’s related, I don’t know yet, but until we find Eduardo, and I’m thinking he’s already dead, we don’t have jack. Since this started with Mayta yesterday, we’ve got nine more bodies on this case. The task force was blown up for a reason, and we both know that their mission was to root out organized crime related to drug enforcement.”

“Los Esmeraldas?” he said gravely.

“Yes, look how heated Cesar got when Dario suggested it was them who had killed Mrs. Cordero.”

“What did Dario say to you when you indicated that I should keep Cesar distracted?”

“He said, ‘A word of caution, Kai. If the Los Esmeraldas are involved in these murders, walk carefully in this city and outside it. They are the largest and most feared gang, the savage watchdogs of their cartel. They will not rest until everyone who stands in their way, including you and your partner, are dead.’” He stood and she slipped off the bed. “His warning does beg the question. What cartel? Nevertheless, I think we should heed his warning.”

He nodded. “We need to make sure not to assume, and to keep an open mind.”

“What happened to all that gut instinct talk?”

He grinned. “Well, my instincts told me not to get too tangled up with you, and you can see how effective that was.” He watched the color steal into her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. “So, selective gut instinct?”

“Or until someone has a Mr. Darcy moment?”

“Ooh, you’re a dirty fighter.” The blush that flushed her skin charmed him even more this time around.

“Payback’s a bitch?” Her grin was as bold as his was.

She laughed.

And his heart teetered dangerously inside his chest. At least that was what he attributed that sudden wobbly sensation to. “You’re going to get us both in trouble, you know that?”

“I thought I already had. You seem to be the level-headed one, focused on our mission at hand. I need to rely on that.”

He snorted. “You’re holding your own, babe.”

“Thanks for that,” she said. Then, in a more serious tone added, “Most of the time I’m so laser-focused on a mission, it’s scary. But with you?—”

“Yeah, same,” he said dryly, hoping to bring back that easy smile.

Her lips curved ever-so-slightly. “I have to admit that while I’m not ready to turn tail or accept defeat in any way, the situation here is enough to rattle anyone.” She held his gaze steadily. “I’m thankful you’re here.”

“You can handle anything, Kai.”

“Sure, but where’s the fun in that?”

She was such a paradox. Here she was, admitting she needed him, that she was grateful for his help, the same woman who’d just about undone him several times in hours since he’d walked up to her in that bar…and yet there was still a wariness about her that had him wondering what it was going to take to win her over completely.

Which was insanity. Because winning her over was not the objective here. Solving this case was the problem and the only goal that needed achieving, and when that was accomplished, they would go home and sort out what they had here between them. He knew he was putting his heart on the line here, as well as his life. And yet he couldn’t manage to find any regret for what had happened between them. Being with her gave him something he’d dreamed about from the moment he’d met her.

“We’ll keep our eyes and ears open and be on guard. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“We have no idea who we can trust here, Davis.”

“You can trust me, Kai,” he said automatically. “Always.”

She nodded right away, and it was almost ridiculous how good that made him feel. “I know that, in ways that aren’t necessarily rational or even proven.” She held his gaze, and her hand went to his chest right over his heart. “But I do know that.”

“Good,” he said, trying like hell to keep it professional. Which was hard to do when his heart was jumping up and down as if they’d just hurdled something significant. He covered her hand and squeezed.

“Let’s get back to the precinct and see what Roberto has to say.”

At the precinct Roberto Jimenez hunched over the small table in the interrogation room, his features just as sullen the last time Davis saw him.

Cesar stood next to him, watching the man through the two-way glass. Dario and Kai were behind them. She released a sigh of relief when she saw that Roberto was still alive. He hoped she wasn’t doubting herself, because he was on board with her assessment of the whole situation. Roberto stared down at the plain gold wedding band on his left hand, unable to look away from it, unable to stop from twisting it around and around on his finger.

So, he wasn’t just in fear for his own life. He had a wife. Davis wondered if there were kids and his gut clenched. This investigation had racked up too many deaths already, but they weren’t his fault, nor Kai’s. The people who had committed murder were responsible, and he was determined they weren’t going to get away with it.

“Give me a shot at him,” Davis said.

Cesar nodded and he left the viewing room. When he entered, Roberto looked up, then away. Davis had grabbed a bottle of water before he’d gone inside. He set it on the table, but Roberto didn’t move.

Davis sat down and set his hands on the table. “We have simple questions, Roberto. You answer them, you’re free to go. I’m not pressing charges. I see that you were scared, and you didn’t know who I was. So, I can be forgiving for the way you acted.” He was subtly giving Roberto a gift, hoping the man would have enough of a conscience to reciprocate with what information he had.

Roberto blinked as if he couldn’t believe that Davis was letting him off the hook. He mumbled, “I don’t have any information of value.”

“I think you do, Roberto, and you’re too worried about your wife and children to answer truthfully.”

Roberto hung his head and rubbed weakly at the back of his neck, telling Davis that he had gotten to the heart of the man’s reluctance to respond. According to Cesar, Roberto had worked for Eduardo for ten years, ever since he’d been a teenager. That was loyalty, and deep down he wrestled with his fear for his family, his life, and that of a boss he revered. It couldn’t be an easy decision, and Roberto and his family’s plight drew on every one of Davis’s heartstrings.

“You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll take care of the problem. You and your family can go into hiding until we sort this out.”

Roberto finally looked at him, trying to read every nuance of his expression and movement for the truth, his brows pulling low over his eyes. “If I risk this, will you protect us?”

“We will.”

He took a shuddering breath and sighed. “Eduardo has been going out alone more than he’s been taking his crew, clocking a lot of miles with no fish to show for his efforts. I don’t know what he’s doing, I swear that. But I’m not blind. He was stressed and worried most of the time.” He leaned in closer, shooting a glance toward the two-way glass, lowering his voice. “Fishing isn’t as profitable as it used to be,” he said. “And there’s so many impediments—piracy, illegal fishing, corruption of the laws, and fish scarcity.” He shifted, his eyes widening, the fear settling there like ice. He lowered his voice even more. “Then there’s drug trafficking. They tell you to bring your boat somewhere, and if you don’t, they hurt you or your family. Many fishermen are forced to do things. I have friends who are in prison because of it.” He closed his eyes, his hands trembling, worrying the ring some more. “Most fishermen do what they have to do out there. Out there on the sea.”

“The last time you saw him?” Davis asked.

“Three days ago. He said he would be back yesterday, but he hasn’t come back. I think something bad has happened to him.”