LITMIR.BIZ

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make a plan.” Cassie stepped up to the building’s entrance.

      “How much do you know about your brother’s business?”

      Her hand hesitated over the doorknob. “Almost nothing.”

      “Then we’ll need to talk with someone who does.”

      She turned and stared at Cal. “You think complete strangers will just open up to you, flyboy?”

      “Why not?”

      He had never met anyone with less faith in him. He was accustomed to having people trust him, follow him, and listen to him. This exact opposite reaction sort of pissed him off.

      Actually, not sort of. Totally pissed him off.

      “You’re not Hawaii homegrown,” she explained. “Folks around here don’t take strongly to outsiders poking around.”

      “They’ll talk to me.” He reached around her and pushed open the door to the business office and marched inside.

      “This should be good,” she mumbled under her breath.

      Cal was prepared to drag out the information he wanted. What Cassie didn’t know was that he had an edge. The pilot community was a small one where people tended to respect the flying credentials of others even before deciding on the quality of the person.

      The deeply tanned man lounging behind the desk did not disappoint. He was in his late fifties, his dark hair streaked with gray and his flower print shirt loose and open, revealing a white, ribbed tank top.

      “Ed.”

      Cal could hear the smile in Cassie’s voice as she walked around the desk to the grizzled older man.

      “Cassie darling. What brings you back here?” Beefy arms wrapped her in a firm bear hug.

      When she squealed with delight, raw fury shot through Cal. The other man was old enough to be her father, but the sight of his hands on Cassie’s slim body filled him with a fighting rage. He refused to analyze why or examine his motives except to say her brother was gone. Someone had to look out for her. That job fell to him.

      Yeah, that was all this was. A case of unwanted brotherly-like protectiveness.

      “Are you going to introduce us?” Cal asked over their whispering and laughing.

      “What’s this?” The man’s head popped up from Cassie’s shoulder. “Who’s the young man, Cassie darling?”

      Young? He was thirty-eight. Not old but hardly young.

      Cassie snuggled into the other man’s arms as if she had no inkling of the tension pumping through the room. “Ed Golden, this is Caleb Wilson, an old friend of Dan’s.”

      “Cal?” The man’s smile wiped out the confusion playing around his eyes. “Why, of course.”

      “Do we know each other?” Cal asked, knowing he absolutely did not know this guy.

      “Sure. You and Dan served together. He told me all about your stunts.” Ed managed to keep his protective hold on Cassie and step forward to shake hands at the same time.

      Cal hoped to hell that wasn’t true. He stayed quiet but gripped the older man’s hand in a strong handshake.

      “Yep.” Ed squeezed Cassie even tighter. “Dan told me about you.”

      The idea that he couldn’t reciprocate with some personal information on this guy made Cal edgy. There were certain things he wanted to keep private. There were things about him, about Dan, that even Cassie did not know. Somehow he sensed that Ed might have an idea.

      “Then tell me,” she said. “He’s barely shared any information so far.”

      “Cassie darling, Cal and I understand each other.”

      “How?”

      “We both sailed the skies for our country with a chunk of metal strapped to our backs. Those of us who fly for a living know.”

      Cassie twisted her lips in an appalled frown. “What?”

      Cal had to smile. He could tell she was not impressed with their show of silent male bonding. He took pity on her. “We know what it’s like to be up there when everyone else is down here.”

      “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Cassie stepped out of Ed’s embrace and propped her thigh on the edge of Ed’s desk.

      Ed barked out a laugh. “Everything, darling.”

      If the pounding headache behind his eyes was any indication, Cal figured his brain might explode if Ed called Cassie “darling” one more time. The other man’s age didn’t matter. For some dumbass reason, he didn’t want any man touching Cassie unless that man was him.

      So much for the idea of brotherly protection.

      Ed fell back into his big chair and looped his arms behind his neck. “So, what brings you two out here?”

      “I just found out about the accident,” Cal explained.

      Cassie started shaking her head before he even finished his thought. “It wasn’t an accident.”

      Saying Dan was dead over and over was not an option Cal wanted to consider. “It’s just a word, Cassie.”

      “The wrong one.”

      His headache was not getting better. The loud thumping drowned out most other sounds around him. “Can I just answer the man’s question?”

      Cassie glanced at Ed. “He broke into Dan’s house.”

      Ed raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

      Cal exhaled, letting his exasperation show. “For the last time, I did not break in.”

      “Because I stopped you.”

      This small woman could not actually believe she had the physical strength to best him. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

      “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you.”

      Ed lowered his arms an inch at a time. “What are you doing with a gun?”

      Cal pointed to the older man. “He asks a good question.”

      “He wasn’t there. He didn’t see you come through that window. I should have hit you over the head with a chair right then.” Her foot bounced around even faster.

      “Give me a break,” Cal said.

      “I seem to remember you hitting the floor when the bullets started flying.” Cassie smiled in smug satisfaction at the reminder.

      “I was trying to keep you from getting shot. Some women would call that chivalrous.” His shouting was less so, but Cal thought he needed to make the point.

      “Whoa.” Ed held up his hands again. “You shot at him?”

      Cassie’s face fell. “Of course not.”

      “Then what bullets?” Ed practically yelled his question. The grandfatherly bear was gone. In its place was a ticked-off man who wasn’t getting his questions answered.

      Cal sympathized.

      Cassie had a more basic reaction. Her cheeks flushed as if she had just been scolded. “Someone shot at us.”

      “Again?” Ed’s voice shot up an octave.

      The woman was making him crazy. Cal started to wonder if he would survive this little island vacation. “You really need to explain why people keep shooting at you.”

      “If I knew that…” Her voice faded away.

      Ed’s scowl hit with the force of a hammer. “Last time she was outside Dan’s house right after the funeral. A shot whizzed by her head. She heard the crack and fell to the ground.”

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