Chapter 3
After confirming the woman’s identity with the EMT inside the ambulance, Rex Johnson carried Kimo into the Emergency Room. The EMT hurried ahead of him, clearing the path, opening “Authorized Personnel Only” doors and finding an empty gurney for Rex to deposit his charge onto.
Nurses and orderlies scurried around, securing an examination room for the patient and setting her up for an IV.
When they tried to shoo Rex out of the examination room, he refused to budge. “No way. I’m her bodyguard. I go where she goes.”
A slim nurse sporting a tight ponytail stood toe to toe with him, her hands fisted on her hips.
She was close enough that Rex could see her name on her badge.
Nurse Bowman. “Bodyguard or not,” she said, “at the very least have the decency to turn your back while we get her out of her wetsuit and under warm blankets to bring her body temperature up.”
Rex stared down at the determined woman, his eyes narrowing. “I stay in the room.”
“Fine,” Nurse Bowman said in that way women did when they really didn’t mean “fine.” “About-face, soldier.”
Rex reluctantly performed the maneuver, turning his back on the nurse and the woman he’d been sent to protect.
He didn’t bother to inform the nurse that he could monitor her every move reflected off the dark computer monitor perched beside him on a rolling cart.
Though the image was a silhouette, he could see enough to tell whether they were helping or hurting his charge.
Nurse Bowman was joined by another carrying two pairs of trauma shears.
Quickly and efficiently, they cut the wetsuit from the woman’s body.
They didn’t stop at the wetsuit, continuing to remove the bright red bikini beneath.
They dressed her in a hospital gown, without lifting her to tie it in the back.
Another nurse appeared, carrying an armful of warm blankets, covering the woman’s body and tucking them around her.
He felt a stab of guilt for watching them strip and dress the woman, but having been awakened from a dead sleep, he was operating on limited information given in a quick briefing from his boss, Jace Hawkins.
Hawk had ordered him to the Maui hospital to protect Kimo Kekoa, who had been en route and would arrive minutes after him.
Hawk had said she’d been attacked. He wasn’t sure by whom, or whether another attack was imminent. To do his job right, Rex couldn’t take his eye off her until he had more data.
As it was, she’d practically flung herself out of the ambulance as if trying to escape. If he hadn’t been there to catch her, she’d have crashed to the ground, compounding any injuries she’d already sustained.
He felt responsible for her, even above and beyond the fact he’d been assigned as her protector.
After they’d covered her, Nurse Bowman attached EKG patches, while another nurse set up an IV. They moved the monitor to a position beside the bed and connected the EKG leads.
The nurses whispered behind him.
He couldn’t hear what they were saying and no longer had the monitor’s reflection to see what they were doing. Rex turned to face them.
“Okay, we’re done,” the nurse with the dark ponytail said. “The doctor will be in momentarily.”
The nurse who’d delivered the blankets scurried out of the room. The other two nurses didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave.
“Do you have any form of identification that would prove you’re in fact this woman’s bodyguard?” Nurse Bowman asked.
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and removed one of the business cards Hawk had provided for each of the men working for the Hawaii branch of the Brotherhood Protectors.
Along with the business card, he handed over his driver’s license.
“You can call my boss to verify and the Maui PD. They’re aware of our work. They know we’re legit.”
A hospital security guard appeared in the doorway, his eyes narrowing on Rex. “Sir, if you’re not a relative of this patient, you’ll have to leave.”
Rex straightened. “I’m Miss Kekoa’s bodyguard. I’ve been assigned to protect her. I can’t do that from the lobby.”
“Until she regains consciousness and corroborates your claim, you’ll have to leave.” The security guard moved closer. “Hospital rules are in place to protect the patient.”
Rex planted his feet slightly apart, prepared to defend his position. “I stay with my client.”
“We can make this easy or do it the hard way,” the guard said.
“He stays,” a weak voice said from the hospital bed.
Rex turned to find Kimo Kekoa’s dark hair fanned out across the white pillowcase, framing her pale face and dark, brown-black eyes, open to the drama happening in the examination room.
“You heard the lady,” another voice said behind the security guard. A man wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope tucked into a pocket entered the room. “Her bodyguard stays. Thank you, Officer Haoa. You were doing the right thing. Fortunately, our patient is able to speak for herself.”
Officer Haoa nodded and left the room.
“Miss Kekoa, I’m Doctor Stanford. I understand you’ve had a rough night.” The doctor pulled his stethoscope from his pocket and held it loosely in his hand. “Do you want your bodyguard to remain in the room while I conduct my examination, or would you prefer he step outside?”
Kimo’s gaze met Rex’s and held for a long moment. Finally, she sighed. “He can stay as long as he turns away during the exam.”
The doctor cocked an eyebrow.
Rex turned away again, focusing on the sounds in the room while respecting his client’s right to privacy. He took a moment to text Hawk.
Rex: With client. Doc with her now
Hawk: Good. Let me know if you need anything. Keep me in the loop
Rex: Roger
“She has a wound on her right calf,” Nurse Bowman was saying.
“Ms. Kekoa, how did you acquire this wound?” the doctor asked.
“Someone shot me,” she said, her voice soft, matter-of-fact.
“Gunshot wound. We’ll clean it up and get you a prescription for antibiotics. You don’t want that site to get infected.”
“Can we hurry this up?” she said, her tone tired but exasperated. “I’m not the one who needs medical attention.”
“No?” the doctor queried.
“My friend,” her voice caught. “She was with me. Now...who knows where they took her.”
Rex turned to find tears in Kimo’s eyes, her forearm resting on her forehead. “I need to get out of here and find her.”
“That’s why I’m here,” a deep voice sounded from the doorway.
Rex stepped in front of the man attempting to enter. “Who the hell are you?”
The man held up an official-looking badge. “Detective Sykes,” the man said. “I’m here to question Ms. Kekoa.”
“Ms. Kekoa is being examined by the doctor,” Rex said. “You can wait in the lobby until he completes his examination.”
“And you are?” the detective demanded.
“Her bodyguard,” Rex responded.
Detective Sykes snorted. “I understand Ms. Kekoa’s dive partner is missing. The sooner I have answers to my questions, the sooner we can locate the missing woman.”
“Let him in,” Kimo said.
Rex’s eyes narrowed at the detective. He held his position a moment longer, then allowed the man to pass into the room.
Rex stayed close to the man. He might be a member of the Maui police force, but that didn’t mean anything. In his experience, there were good cops and bad cops. Some people, no matter what their profession, could be bought. Rex wasn’t going to trust anyone until he had all the information.
“Ms. Kekoa,” the detective said, “where were you when your dive partner disappeared?”
“In Maalaea Bay on a night dive,” she said.
“Had either of you been drinking?”
Kimo frowned. “Of course not.”
“Were you under the influence of any drugs, prescription or otherwise?” the detective asked.
Kimo’s frown deepened. “No. Absolutely not. I’m a professional diver. Drugs and alcohol have no place in the diving world.”
“Not even for recreational use?”
“I said no. I don’t drink and dive or do any manner of drugs.” She shook her head from side to side. “My friend isn’t missing because we were out partying in the bay. She was attacked. Run over and taken away by men in a boat.”
“Are you sure your dive partner wasn’t attacked by a shark? I understand that when you were brought into the ER, you were unconscious. Could you have had a lapse in memory?”
“No.” Kimo tried to push up onto her elbows. Her arms shook so much she collapsed back against the mattress. “I didn’t have a lapse of memory. A boat ran her over. She was hit and hauled aboard the boat by men. They took her. She wasn’t attacked by a shark. She was attacked by men.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t an accident. Maybe you two had an argument, didn’t agree about something and she fell overboard?
When she didn’t come up, you got scared and manufactured this story about men in a boat attacking her and you.
I mean, why would anyone attack a couple of divers in the middle of the night? It seems a bit far-fetched.”
Anger that had been simmering inside Rex from the moment the detective had begun his interrogation flamed and grew. “Look, Detective, Ms. Kekoa told you what happened. Clearly, you’re upsetting her with different scenarios that have nothing to do with what happened to her and her friend.”
The detective held up a hand. “It’s my responsibility to get to the truth. I’m simply doing my job.”
“By badgering Ms. Kekoa with irrelevant questions?” Rex shook his head. “Try again.”
“I suggest you back off, or I’ll hit you with obstruction of justice.”
“It’s okay,” Kimo said. “I’ll answer his questions. Anything to get someone looking for Alana.”
The detective met and held Rex’s glare, then turned back to Kimo. “Were there any other witnesses to this attack?”
“The men who attacked us.”
“No other people on the dive with you and your partner?”
“No.” Kimo closed her eyes.
“So, it’s only your word as to what happened out there?”
Her eyes opened to a slit as her brow descended. “Yes.”
“Why did you wait so long to alert anyone about your missing partner?”