Chapter 6

"Wanna tell me what's up your ass before we get to Brewer's house?" Graeme asked Adam.

It was a fair question. He had been pissed off from the moment Jin had mentioned that Sam character. He didn't know why he was so angry that another man was in her life.

"No."

"Oh, this has Jin written all over it. Why did you get so pissy with her?"

"I didn't."

He chuckled as he took the next right, leading them into the Potlock area. It was an affluent area, with many homes on the beach. It figured Brewer would live there.

"You were. So, tell me what is going on with you."

He glanced at the man. Of all the team members, Graeme was the last one Adam would have thought would fall in love, especially with Elle. Hell, for the first six months, they worked together, Graeme went all highlander on her and called her Sassenach. So, maybe he knew more about love than Adam did.

"Have you met her research assistant?"

"Ah, that Sam person?"

"Yes."

"No. But she lives on the mainland."

"She?"

There was a beat of silence as Graeme parked the car. Then he looked at Adam. "You're jealous."

"No."

He laughed in Adam's face. "Yes. Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"This puts a whole new spin on everything, and yes, it is a woman. I've heard her refer to her as she when she's been talking to Elle. So, I would think that is a good bet."

Relief coursed through him and left him feeling slightly more than lightheaded.

Before Adam could ask any more questions, there was a tap on the window. A burly-looking guy stood there. He was dressed all in black. Adam wanted to roll his eyes. These security guys, the rich mainland people hired, would never blend in. They stood out, and maybe that was what they were hired to do, but it also made it easier for anyone after their employer.

He stepped out of Graeme's SUV. "We're here to see Brewer."

"Fuck off."

Graeme chuckled before Adam held up his badge. "How about you fuck off and lead the way?"

They followed him up the drive and into a spacious foyer. Adam itched to take his shoes off, but the guard gave him no time to get them off. Walking through someone's house with his shoes on was always weird. They stepped into a living area. Off to the left was a massive kitchen filled with the latest in kitchen amenities, including a gas stove. Since there was no natural gas on any of the islands, most homes had electric stoves. The air was cold—freezing, actually. He sighed. Haoles. They move to Hawai'i to enjoy the Hawaiian weather but close up their houses and freeze with their AC on.

It took him a second to find Brewer. He was sitting on an oversized white leather couch facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. And when he said floor to ceiling, they went up to the second floor. The view was stunning, but Adam would rather stand outside with the warm sun and cool breeze on his skin.

Brewer didn't turn, didn't acknowledge they were there.

"Mr. Brewer?"

It took a second, and he shook himself from whatever stupor he was in and turned around. His eyes narrowed as he studied him and McGregor. Adam knew they were probably a little intimidating. Both of them packed a lot of muscle in their six-foot-plus frames.

He didn't answer Adam directly. Instead, he looked at his security. "I said I didn't want to be bothered today."

He remembered what an asshole Brewer was. He was in high school when the murder happened, but Brewer had been interviewed by major news outlets—never the locals—and he had always come off as a jerk.

"We're here because of Dylan, Mr. Brewer." He kept his voice even, not giving anything away. The older man tossed him a look of disgust.

"I have said all I'm going to say in the matter to the police. You have my statements, not that you ever did anything to find my boy."

He bit back on his anger. The man had his points. HPD had wanted Dylan Brewer to be the bad man. He was an outsider. A rich, elite jerk who came to the islands, racking up charges for drunk and disorderly more than a couple times. So, Adam understood the man had a point. But it didn't mean he had to put up with him being disrespectful.

One of the security guards moved toward Adam. He rested his hand on the butt of his gun.

"We're not from HPD. We're from TFH."

Brewer glanced over his shoulder at them. "What do you want?"

"We regret to inform you that your son's remains have been found."

For a long moment, Adam wasn't sure that Brewer had heard him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"A hiker found the remains up near Waimea on the other side of the island."

"I know where the fuck Waimea is." Disdain dripped from every word.

Adam heard a rumble and realized it was Graeme growling.

"I want to see my boy."

Maybe if he had been less of his boy and more of a man, this wouldn't have happened. But he kept his mouth shut. Saying something like that to a man who had just found out his son was dead would make him the asshole.

"It would have to be cleared through our ME."

"I don't care what some dumbass local ME thinks."

Oh, damn, wrong thing to say.

"Watch your tongue," Graeme said.

The look of condescension on Brewer's face almost had Adam laughing, as did the way it seemed to disappear the moment he made eye contact with the giant Scotsman.

"Sir, it's just bones, so there won't be anything to see," Adam said in a neutral tone. He wanted to make sure that he could diffuse the situation before Graeme made Brewer cry.

The billionaire said nothing, but in that moment, Adam saw the pain. Brewer might be an asshole, but there was no doubt he loved his son.

"We will have someone contact you in a day or two to talk about the transfer of the bones."

Brewer said nothing, but he nodded. He looked about twenty years older than he had when Adam and Graeme walked into the house. Adam knew what it was like to lose someone, but he assumed losing a child was something different than losing a parent.

He stepped forward and pulled out one of his cards. "Please, give me a call if you have any questions."

Brewer took the card, staring at it for a moment before glancing up. "D-did he suffer?"

"No. Not that we can tell. I wanted to ask if there was anything that stuck out in your head about those last few weeks? Something that you might have forgotten about until now?"

"No. He'd spent the last month on the islands."

That caught Adam's attention. "Islands?"

"Yes. I told the other officers that he'd been on the Big Island the week before disappearing."

"Do you know if he had any contact with the cult Joyous Wave?"

"Unless that's a drug outfit, then no." Adam's surprise must have shown on his face. "I loved my son, but I knew he had addictions, mainly to women and drugs. So, unless they were selling drugs, then my son wouldn't have been interested."

"If you think of anything else, let us know."

"Is this because of the podcast? I've been trying to figure out who the person in charge of it is but haven't been able to."

"No. It just happened to be a hiker who is here on vacation from the mainland."

"Don't worry. I will find out who the woman is behind that travesty of a podcast."

Adam's blood turned to ice as he studied the older man. "Did you listen to it?"

He shook his head. "I learned a long time ago not to pay attention to the press. They sensationalize everything."

"You should listen to it. Beyond Murder is much different than other podcasts."

Then, without another word, he headed out the door, Graeme and the security guard on his tail. Once they were back in Graeme's truck, Graeme whistled. "So, you and Jin are a thing again."

He wanted to roll his eyes, but just hearing her name had him twitching.

"We are not a thing."

Were they ever a thing? He wasn't sure if he wasn't just a story to her or at least a source. When she couldn't use him in that capacity, she had moved on.

Graeme started up the truck, threw it in gear, and was already out on the highway before he spoke again.

"Are you still interested in her?"

Adam didn't say anything for a few seconds. He had spent the last few years pushing all those feelings aside. It wouldn't do Jin any good during her recovery to know that he lusted after her on a regular basis. He would listen to her podcast on repeat, unable to help himself.

"Not going to answer? That in and of itself is an answer."

He sighed. "Why wouldn't I be interested?"

Graeme shrugged. "What she went through, a lot of men wouldn't want to have anything to do with her. You said you were hesitant."

"Those guys are assholes. I'm just not that sure she's ready for something like a relationship or if she ever will be."

Graeme nodded. "True, but I know a lot of people think something like Jin went through changes a person too much."

"Of course, it changed her. Anything like that is going to do that, but it doesn't mean that I don't want her."

Graeme sighed. "Don't wait too long. She might find someone else."

If Graeme had punched him in the gut, it would have hurt less than that one sentence. The idea that she might move on, that she would find someone else, sent a chill racing through him. He couldn't deal with another man getting a chance with Jin. The truth was, she was strong before the abduction, but he thought she was even stronger now. She'd worked through the trauma, and while he knew it would always be there, she held herself with a new confidence. She had survived and was now thriving.

"How did you deal with it?"

Graeme turned into the TFH parking lot before answering.

"It will sound corny, but one day at a time. Elle still has her moments, things that set her off. Patience is the key."

"I'm not sure Jin thinks of me as a romantic partner anymore."

Graeme snorted. "Oh, she does."

He glanced at his teammate as Graeme parked his SUV. "What?"

"She checks you out as much as you check her out. You two are dancing around each other. Ask her out, or better yet, take her something for dinner. Elle worries about Jin when she gets entrenched in her research—which she's probably doing thanks to the new evidence."

In truth, that was a good idea. He could give her a call and see if she had any plans, but at the mention of McGregor's wife, Adam asked, "Is Elle doing okay? She's seemed off the last few days."

"Yeah." He sighed. "We've been fighting a little bit."

"No, it's something different."

Graeme flipped him off. "I want her to take a little time off before this next baby comes, but she refused."

"Why?"

"I have no idea why she refused."

"No, why do you want her to take time off?"

He tossed a snarl in Adam's direction. "She's over forty, having my baby, and we have one still in diapers at home. With her caseload and now handling some for the HPD, I worry about her."

"Please tell me you said it better than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that maybe telling her she's old isn't the best way to go."

"I dinna say that."

Graeme was getting angry. His accent deepened when he was pissed off about something.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

Graeme sighed. "No. As irritated as she is with me right now, she'll be even angrier if she knew I talked to you about it."

Adam made a mental note to check in with her tomorrow to see how she was doing. But that could wait. He pulled out his phone and texted Jin.

Adam: Hey, are you busy tonight?

Three dots appeared, then disappeared. Twice. Finally, a message came through.

Jin: Sure. What time?

Adam: If I can swing it, how about sixish? I'll bring dinner.

This time, there was no hesitation. Instead, she answered with a winky face emoji.

* * *

Jin was nervous. Was this a date? Or was he coming over just to go over the case? She had wanted to ask when he texted earlier. But she had chickened out and just agreed. If he was coming over just for the case, she was okay with that. Okay, not really. But she would be. Getting his help on the case was really going to help with the episodes. And she did want to know how it went with Brewer.

There was a tiny part of her, one that hadn't been killed off by her trauma, that was hoping he was coming over to see her just because…or rather for romantic reasons. The doorbell rang. Glancing at the mirror one last time, she headed for the front door. She double-checked her security doorbell app and saw that it was indeed Adam.

She opened the door with a smile on her face, trying her best to look cool with the idea of him bringing dinner over. They had been on a few regular dates before, but with both of their work schedules being so out of whack back in the day, they hadn't done a lot of romantic kind of things. Other than sex. Lots and lots of sex.

Her entire body seemed to heat at the same time as her nipples tightened against the cotton fabric of her bra. She hadn't had much of a libido these last few years, but her body seemed to be ready for more than a friendship with Adam.

It was about time it caught up with her heart.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she tried to move away from that thought. She wasn't in love with Adam and never had been. Right?

Not noticing her distress—thank God—he held up two plastic bags with the Zippy's logo on them. The local fast food was one of her favorite guilty pleasures and the fact that he remembered it wasn't helping with the whole nipple situation.

"You remembered."

He smiled. Oh, life was not fair. She wanted this man more than she had wanted any other in her entire life, but he would never see past her scars. And not in a way that would irritate her. Okay, that was a lie. It was irritating. But she knew he didn't do it out of disgust. He did it as the man who helped rescue her and saw her as a fragile, broken bird who could no longer fly.

"I got two of your favorites. I'll take whatever you don't want."

That meant he had Korean chicken and fried chicken. "Be still my heart."

She stepped aside and let him come into her house. He toed off his shoes, then waited for her to lock up so she could lead the way.

They talked over regular things, avoiding the case.

"I've been worried about Elle, actually," he said as they settled at the small table she had on her lanai.

"You are?" she asked, frowning.

"Yeah, she's been spacey and a little out of sorts the last couple of weeks."

"Hmm."

He looked up from his plate to study her. "You know something."

Not a question, a statement. "I cannot reveal anything my source has told me."

There was a beat of silence, and she wondered if he was mad at her. In their past, he had made the mistake of accusing her of using him for information. But in the next instance, he smiled.

"Can you promise me that she's okay?"

Of course, that would be the first thing he worried about. "She's fine."

"Good." After that, they didn't talk about work for the rest of dinner. Instead, he went into great detail about some fight his sisters had over a skirt. By the time they were cleaning up their meal, her cheeks hurt from smiling.

"How did things go with Brewer?"

He sighed, and she almost opened her mouth to apologize, but he held up his hand. "No, I want to tell you. I was enjoying the conversation, even if it was about my pupule sisters." Crazy. Yeah, they sounded crazy, but she wouldn't know, being an only child.

"I was too." Her admission pulled a smile from Adam. That one look, heat simmering in the depths of his dark eyes, had her heart beating so hard she was sure he heard it.

"As for Brewer, he's still an asshole, but he's definitely grieving."

She nodded her head to the back outside, and he followed her. "Yeah, I understand he handed things over to his CFO—his brother—and moved here. I think he still deals with board business, but losing Dylan devastated him."

"Yeah, the one thing I worry about is he is trying to find you."

"Me? Why?" Then it hit her. "The podcast?"

Adam nodded. "He thinks you're going to accuse his son of murder."

She snorted. "Yeah, right? How can I do that? He died at the same time as Alana."

"We don't have the results back on the date of death. But…and you can't tell anyone this, we found his clothes. They look like the same outfit he was wearing in that grainy picture, but I could be wrong."

She rubbed her temples. Everything seemed to be adding up to a big fat nothing, but then she remembered their newest lead.

"Did he know anything about Joyous Wave?"

Adam shook his head. "Dylan did go to the island, Brewer knew that much, but he had no idea what his son was doing there at the time."

"So, another dead end." It was hard to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"No. We don't know where it will lead. You know that sometimes things take a little time to link up. We are pursuing the idea that he did go there. I mean, Joseph was in the pic. Can you tell me where you got the picture?"

"Hmm, let me think. I can't remember, but let's go to the office and look. I'm sure I noted where I got it. I keep good records in case there is a question of what is going on inside an investigation."

Once they were in her office, it only took her a few moments to find the annotation.

"A Google search? Am I reading that right?"

She shrugged. "No one was looking for Joseph Waters. They were looking at Dylan Brewer. I never know where I'll find information when we start digging."

"You and this Sam."

"Why do you have a thing about Sam?"

He frowned. "I don't. I thought he was a guy."

It took a second to hit her. "Sam is short for Samantha."

He rolled his shoulders and nodded. It was then that she realized how close they were to each other. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Why does that matter?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but he hesitated for just a moment.

"Adam?"

He sighed and muttered something. Even as close as they were, she couldn't make it out.

She turned to face him. "What?"

He didn't look at her, which was very unlike the Adam she knew.

"I was jealous, okay?"

She blinked, trying to follow his comment. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat it." He smoothed his hand over his head. "I just…I got jealous when I thought about you working with a guy, that's all."

"You were jealous? Of Sam?"

She didn't know why she felt like laughing, but suddenly, she felt lighter, as if all her worries were gone.

"Are you going to make me repeat it? It's embarrassing."

"So, you're jealous of us working together, or was it the idea that I was close to a man?"

He looked away from her, settling his hands on his hips. His nostrils flared in irritation. That's when she knew she got to him on some level.

She touched his elbow, and everything in him seemed to still. They were alone in her quiet house, but if they had been in a crowd of thousands, she wouldn't have noticed. Hell, a bomb could go off five feet from her, and she wouldn't have paid attention to it.

"Adam?"

He looked up, his gaze capturing hers. His dark eyes were filled with need, the same need she felt bubbling inside of her.

"I was jealous because I thought you were involved."

"With Sam?"

He nodded once. It was as if it took all his effort to control himself.

"Why would you be jealous?"

His mouth twisted. "Why? Because I will always want you, Jin."

She shook her head. "But the way you act…"

"What?"

"I thought you saw me as broken. Untouchable."

He reached out, dragging the backs of his fingers across her cheek before he cupped her face. She had always loved his hands. They were callused, and the rough edges felt amazing against her skin.

"You're not broken."

Her soul shimmered with happiness, but she knew better. She knew that he barely paid attention to her on that level.

"Adam, you don't have to say that. I get…" her voice trailed off as he watched her. It took all her courage to finish that sentence. "I get that before my abduction, I had hurt you."

He nodded. "But I always thought that maybe we would work it out someday."

Hope filled her heart as he stepped closer. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." His gaze dropped to her mouth, waiting. Need vibrated between them. He was waiting for her to take the next step. To kiss him, surrender to him. She moved closer, their bodies brushing together, and then she lifted her face to his. He met her halfway, teasing her with butterfly kisses. Soft, tempting, and definitely not enough.

"Adam?"

"Hmm?"

"Kiss me like you mean it."

"Anything to please the lady."

He took her mouth then, no longer tender kisses as before. This kiss was passionate and possessive, and for the first time in a long time, Jin surrendered.