Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
George fired up the engine and drove the ATV out of the building.
Emi closed the door and climbed on the back, wrapping her arms around his waist.
For a moment, George closed his eyes, memorizing the feel of Emi’s arms around him, so warm and trusting. He liked it. Liked being close to her. He wished she wasn’t holding him just so she didn’t fall off. He’d like her to wrap her arms around him because she felt something for him and wanted to be close.
Opening his eyes, he focused on taking one step at a time with Emi. He’d settle for her hanging on to keep from falling off the back of the vehicle. It proved she trusted him enough to get that close to him. He could enjoy the warmth of her body pressed against his for as long as the ride lasted.
He drove to the gate leading out into a pasture that would take them to one of the creeks running across the property. He’d found the spot while horseback riding with Hawk and Kalea when he’d first arrived in Hawaii. It was a perfect place to take Emi to relax after her session with the hypnotherapist.
With the sun still high in the sky, George drove slowly and carefully across the pasture, not wanting to frighten his passenger.
Emi leaned close to his ear and called out over the roar of the engine, “Does this thing go faster?”
He glanced back at her. “Yes, why?”
She grinned. “Go faster!”
His heart leaped at the excitement shining from her eyes. He twisted the throttle, sending the ATV shooting forward.
Emi’s arms tightened around his waist, and she laughed out loud as they flew across the pasture, hitting bumps, dodging holes and finally arriving at the creek much sooner than George would have liked. He could drive the four-wheeler all day just to have her arms around him.
George slowed the vehicle, bringing it to a stop short of the running water.
Emi leaned close, her breath warm on his cheek. “Why are we stopping?”
“We’re here,” he said.
“Where?” she asked.
“I thought you might like this place,” he said.
Emi unwrapped her arms from around his waist and slid off the back of the vehicle.
George dismounted and stood beside her as she stretched her arms in the air. She leaned back to stare up at the sky first, then back at the rambling stream in front of her.
A smile spread across her face. “This place reminds me of the Guadalupe River near my home back in Texas. For most of the year, it’s nothing more than a trickling creek, barely deep enough to get our ankles wet. The water is clear, cypress trees grow along the banks and it’s a great place to get your feet wet on a hot summer day.”
“I sense a but .”
She nodded. “But, when it rains, the water rises, creating a river sometimes thirty feet deep, sweeping away everything in its path. I’ve seen that little creek swell to a raging torrent, carrying giant trees in its current. One flood deposited a cypress tree on top of a bridge that had been thirty feet above that little creek a few hours earlier.”
“Is there a moral to this story?” he asked.
“No,” she said, then tilted her head. “Well, maybe.” She sat on the bank of the creek and slipped the sandals from her feet. “What appears to be a placid creek lures you into its docile enchantment one minute and sweeps you away the next. Is the lesson that you shouldn’t trust your judgment? Or is it that you should go with the flow?”
“Perhaps the creek is a place where you start out by carefully dipping your toes in the water.” George started his theory without thinking through it carefully and struggled to finish. “When the water rises, you might find that being swept away might not be all that bad. You could land in a better place than where you began.”
Emi chuckled. “We should stick to riding ATVs. Our life lesson theories need work.”
“Agreed.” He toed off his shoes and held out his hand. “Care to dip your toes in the water?”
Her eyebrows rose, and her lips twitched. “Is that your way of telling me you’re going to sweep me off my feet?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
She placed her hand in his. “Sweep away.”
They waded into the stream up to their ankles.
The water was cool against his feet
Emi kicked her foot, splashing George with water.
“Not fair,” he said. “A gentleman wouldn’t splash a lady.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’re not a gentleman,” she said and splashed him again.
He bent and scooped water up in his hands, flinging it toward her.
She laughed and kicked more at him.
George charged toward her, scooped her up in his arms, laughing along with her.
He hadn’t felt this joyous since he’d passed BUD/S training. Drenched, and with water dripping off his face, he stared down at the woman he held effortlessly in his arms and realized he would love to laugh and play with her for more than just one afternoon.
Her face was wet, and her hat had fallen off when he’d lifted her. Auburn hair fell around her shoulders and framed her pale face, reddened by sunburn. Green eyes danced. “No fair,” she whispered. “I can’t sweep you off your feet.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, mesmerized by those green eyes. “I’m completely swept off my feet by a beautiful redhead who has a big drop of water balancing on the tip of her nose.” He bent to kiss the offending drop.
Her eyes widened, and her breath caught on a soft gasp. “Auburn,” she whispered. “It’s auburn.”
George barely heard her, his gaze locked on her chapped lips as they moved to form words. Even chapped, they were full and beautiful like her, begging to be kissed.
At least in his mind.
He had to remind himself that she needed time to recover from the trauma she’d endured over the past eight years. Kissing her now after knowing her for only a couple of days would be purely selfish.
God, but he wanted to.
Her brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’ve only known you for such a short time.”
He tipped his head. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Maybe.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “It’s just... I want...” Her gaze locked with his, her stare intense.
With her damp body still pressed close to his, George’s groin tightened. “What do you want, Emi?” he asked, knowing exactly what he wanted and was fighting like hell to maintain control over his desire.
“I want...” Emi drew in a deep breath, let it out and then curled her hand behind his neck and pulled his head down until her lips were a breath away from his. “This.”
Emi kissed him, her lips pressing into his, her fingers at the back of his neck urging him to come closer.
She was kissing him. George struggled to maintain control when it was held there by a very thin thread.
Emi leaned her head back, her eyes wide, her brow twisting. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I got carried away. You obviously don’t feel the same... Don’t want the same...”
“Are you kidding me?” George lowered her legs until she stood in the water. Then he gathered her close, cupped the back of her head and bent to brush his lips against her temple. “Do you know how hard it is to keep from kissing you right now?” He pressed a kiss to her eyelid and then to the other. “It’s taking every ounce of control to keep from crushing you in my arms and kissing you until neither one of us can breathe.”
Her frown deepened. “But I just kissed you, and you didn’t...respond.”
“I can’t,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead. “You see, if I start kissing you, I’m not sure I could stop. You’ve been through so much. I don’t want to be insensitive and take advantage of you at your most vulnerable.”
He'd kissed every inch of her face but her mouth. Now, he stared down into Emi’s eyes to keep from fixating on her lips, andhis hands slid down to the small of her back. “You deserve time to recover. You need it.”
“What if I don’t want to wait? Can’t I choose when I’m ready for you to kiss me? Or is it that you’re not ready, and you’re using my circumstances as a shield?” She cupped his cheek. “What if I need to be kissed?”
The thread snapped.
George cradled the back of her neck and bent to crush her lips with his. He couldn’t hold back. Wouldn’t.
Emi’s hands circled the back of his head, her fingers weaving into his hair. She pressed her breasts against his chest and moaned into his mouth.
When her teeth parted, his tongue slipped between and caressed hers in a long, languid glide, exploring, tasting and tempting.
Emi’s fingers dug into his scalp, urging him closer to take more.
His hands slid beneath her shirt, skimming up her back. Her skin was warm beneath his fingertips. He wanted to feel her naked body against his skin.
In the back of his mind, he knew it was too soon for more. Logic warred with desire and eventually won.
George ended the kiss, slowly drawing away until he stared down at her flushed face.
“Why did you stop?” she asked breathlessly.
“I had to.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Before I went too far.”
She breathed in and out several times before squaring her shoulders and stepping out of his arms. “It’s a beautiful day, and the sun is shining. Let’s enjoy it.” Emi plucked at her damp blouse and grimaced. “Or at least let’s lay out long enough for our clothes to dry. I promise not to coerce you into another kiss.”
George snorted. “My arm didn’t need twisting.” He held out his hand. “But we’ll take it slower. You might only be attracted to me because I pulled you out of the ocean. It could be some kind of hero complex.”
Emi laughed. “Not a bit modest, are you?”
He tipped his chin up. “Not a bit.”
They found a spot on the lush green grass and sat beside each other.
Emi leaned into George’s shoulder. “In case I haven’t told you, thanks for saving me from drowning.”
“No thanks necessary. I’m just glad I found you.” Had he chosen a different location that day or decided not to go out fishing... His chest tightened. “I’ve never been the kind of guy who believes in horoscopes or kismet, although my gut instinct has been right on more than a few occasions. That said, I truly believe I was meant to be exactly where I was when I found you.”
“Our ships didn’t pass in the night,” Emi said.
“They collided,” George agreed.
Emi stared at the creek, her cheek resting on his shoulder. “I hope you don’t regret finding me. I mean, you’ve taken on a huge amount of responsibility with me and Sara.”
He turned to press a kiss to her temple. “No regrets, Emi. I only hope we find Sara soon.”
“Me, too.” Emi sighed. “I feel guilty sitting out here in the open, the sun shining down on me, smiling and laughing when my baby is still locked up in that hell hole.”
“We’re doing what we can with the information we have. It would do you no good to search Kauai on your own. That could take days—if not weeks. And we don’t know for certain the compound is on that island.”
“I’d forgotten how good it feels to lay out in the sun.” Emi laid back on the grass and closed her eyes to the sunshine on her face. “Sara would love to be out here with us. She’s never played in the grass or watched a sunrise or sunset. There will be so many firsts for her when she’s free. She’s missed so much.”
George lay on the grass beside Emi. Propping himself up on one elbow, he studied Emi’s face. “You have freckles across your nose.”
Emi grimaced. “Always have. Comes with the red hair.”
“Ha!” He grinned. “It is red.”
She frowned. “Auburn.”
“Go to sleep, Red. I’ll wake you before you burn even more.”
Her lips turned up on the corners as she whispered, “Auburn.”
Emi drifted off, trusting him to keep his word. Trusting him to keep her safe and trusting him to rescue her daughter.
George worried that they weren’t making enough progress fast enough to guarantee her child’s safe return.
He could picture a little girl with red hair and green eyes like her mother, crying in the dark because her mother had gone and hadn’t come back.
His fists clenched in frustration. Like Emi, he felt his hands were tied until they had more information. He wanted to go back to Kauai and start searching one road at a time until he found the one leading up into the hills to a remote bunker.
The sun was well on its way toward the horizon when George slipped his feet into his shoes and woke Emi. “Ule will have dinner ready by the time we reach the ranch house and wash up.”
She yawned, stretched and reached for her sandals. “Is Ule that bad?” she asked as she slid her feet into the borrowed sandals.
George laughed. “No. He’s that good. All his years as a Navy chef, feeding hundreds of sailors on board the ship, helped him hone his skills.” He rose to his feet and offered his hand.
Emi took it and let him pull her upright and into his arms.
She rested her hands on his chest. “I thought we were going to take it slow?”
“This is slow,” he said, brushed his lips across hers very slowly and then raised his head.
Her brow dipped. “That’s just a tease.”
“Yup.” George grinned, spun her around and sent her toward the ATV.
“Not fair,” she muttered loud enough for him to hear.
George chuckled as he reached the ATV. “Want to drive?”
Her face lit up. “Can I?”
“It’s easy.” He waved a hand toward the machine. “Climb on.”
She slung her leg over the seat and gripped the handles.
George mounted behind her and wrapped his arms around hers, his fingers pointing at the different levers. “These silver levers are the brakes. The right handle is the throttle. Twist it, and it gives it gas. The shift is by your left knee. Hold the brake while I start the engine.” He turned the key in the ignition, and the engine roared to life. “Okay, let go of the brake and give it a little gas by twisting the handle.”
She twisted the handle and sent the ATV leaping forward.
George almost fell off the back before he caught Emi around her waist and held on.
After a few jerky movements, she settled into a slow, steady pace.
George relaxed on the back, loving that he could hold her all the way back to the barn.
Kalea emerged from the Brotherhood Protectors’ office and ran toward them. “Where have you two been? Hawk wants to see you ASAP.” She waved her hand at the ATV. “Leave it. I’ll put it up.”
George hopped off the back and helped Emi dismount. Together, they hurried to the outbuilding where they’d find Hawk.
After quickly navigating the biometric reader and opening the secret tack room panel, George grabbed Emi’s hand and ran down the corridor to the war room.
Hawk was at the conference table with Swede and Kyla on the big screen. He turned when they entered. “Oh, good. I’m glad you two are here. You need to hear this straight from the horse’s mouth.” Hawk looked back at the screen. “Go ahead, Swede.”
“We ran a scan through the boat owner registration databases to find who owns yacht class boats made by Reva Manufacturing here in Hawaii,” Swede said. “They must have had a big sale. There were hundreds.”
“We also ran a search on the Blue Eye security systems’ customer database and identified the most recent purchases of their system from customers in Hawaii. Again, they must have had a sale.”
“We cross-checked the lists from the two different databases and narrowed the search down to four people or businesses,” Swede said. “All of them are based on Oahu.”
Kalea entered the room with her father, Mr. Parkman. “I thought you might want my father in on this discussion in case he recognizes some of the names.”
Hawk nodded. “Yes. That would be helpful.”
“The first name on the list is Randall Matheson,” Swede said. “He owns a shipping business responsible for moving cargo to and from the mainland to the Hawaiian Islands. He owns property on Oahu, Maui and Kauai, as well as a number of places scattered throughout the contiguous forty-eight states.”
“We found this photo from a news article about Randall Matheson,” Kyla said.
A picture popped up on the screen of a barrel-chested manwearing an orange-sherbet polo shirt and khaki trousers. His graying hair was slicked back from his forehead.
Emi shook her head. “That’s not Fallon.”
“The second man on the list is Bentley Ellis, a man who made his money in the tech world in his twenties, invested wisely, and now owns six hundred acres of prime real estate on Kauai.”
“There were lots of photos of Bentley. He’s apparently a playboy and loves seeing his face in the news,” Kyla said.
Several photos popped up on the big screen of a handsome man with an athletic body wearing swim trunks. In another photo, he wore a golf shirt and trousers, with a club over one shoulder and a beautiful, half-clad woman leaning into him.
George looked toward Emi.
She was shaking her head. “Not him.”
“Option number three is Montgomery Lang, a successful values investor known for buying ailing companies, turning them around, and selling them for profit. He has dozens of properties throughout the Hawaiian Islands, both residential and commercial. Most on Oahu, but five on Kauai that we could find.”
The image of an older gentleman wearing a suit and tie appeared on the screen.
Emi shook her head, her shoulders sagging. “Not him.”
“Our final option, for now, is Edgar Hollingsworth, a pillar of the Hawaiian community, philanthropist, and multi-billionaire. He owns properties throughout the island under his corporation, Hollingsworth International. He also has several commercial and residential properties on Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Molokai.”
“This is Edgar Hollingsworth,” Kyla said.
Several photos appeared on the big screen of a tall man with gray hair and a closely trimmed beard.
George watched Emi as she seemed to deflate like a balloon with a slow leak.
“Not him.”
“We still have a couple of corporations we’re looking into that have purchased security systems,” Swede said. “They could have yachts attached to one of their subsidiaries. As soon as we find them, we’ll bring them to you.”
Emi was still looking at the photos of Hollingsworth. “I feel like we’re back to square one,” she whispered.
“No, we aren’t,” Kyla insisted. “We just have to dig deeper. The connection is there. We’ll find it.”
Still, Emi stared at the images of Hollingsworth. Her eyes narrowed.
At that moment, the photos disappeared. Swede and Kyla’s faces took up the whole monitor.
“Wait,” Emi said. “Put up the photos of Hollingsworth again.”
“Why? Did you see something?” Hawk asked. “Put it up, Kyla.”
“On it,” she said. A moment later, the collage of photos featuring Edgar Hollingsworth reappeared.
Emi stood and walked closer to the monitor.
George followed.
Emi’s eyes focused on an image on the right side of the display. “Could you enlarge the one with Hollingsworth in a tux, shaking hands with a Hawaiian man in traditional clothing?”
Kyla used the cursor to point at the photo. “This one?”
“Yes.”
The monitor blinked, and the photo took up the entire screen.
Emi gasped and staggered backward, her hand pressed to her chest.
George caught her before she tripped over the chair behind her.
She collapsed into him, her face white, her gaze glued to the photo.
“That’s him.”