Page 44 of Maliea's Hero
“Someone knows you’re here,” Logan said.
Reid wanted to pace, but the room was too small and full of people.
Maliea stood beside the bed, her gaze going from her daughter to Reid. A worried frown dented her forehead. “If we knew for certain they wanted the book, I’d give it to them, so they’d leave us alone,” she said.
Logan, Rex and Jones turned to Reid.
“I thought you said Professor Hasegawa’s journal went down with the plane he was in,” Logan said.
Maliea lifted her father’s book from the nightstand and held it up. “My father made my daughter a storybook using his research. It chronicles a young Hawaiian girl’s search for Redbeard’s pirate ship and the treasure he stole from Honolulu in 1884.”
“Did she find it?” Rex asked.
Maliea shook her head. “The book was a work-in-progress. My father left empty pages at the end. He wrote more as he came up with new adventures and clues. He was on his way to Niihau based on what he’d learned on Kauai. It takes time to get permission to visit the island. The residents aren’t very welcoming to outsiders. They never wanted to join the United States and prefer to be left alone.”
“Do you think the people harassing you are after the clues that will lead them to the lost treasure of Red Beard?” Logan asked.
Maliea shrugged. “I can’t think of any other reason my daughter and I have been targeted.”
His three teammates fixed their gazes on Reid.
“You need to bug out,” Rex said.
“And go where?” Maliea wrapped her arms around her middle. “I don’t have money for a hotel or food. I have to work. If I can’t leave my daughter and know she’s safe, I can’t work. If I can’t work, I can’t feed my daughter.” She raised her hands in the air. “Trying to stay a step ahead isn’t working.” She brushed her hand over her daughter’s head. “I’m worried for Nani.”
Rex met Reid’s gaze. “Take her to Hawk.”
Reid’s brow dipped. “Take who?”
“The child will be safer on the Parkman Ranch, surrounded by their security system, Hawk and other members of the Brotherhood.” Rex nodded toward Maliea. “Both of you could stay at the ranch until the people following you are caught. I forwarded the license plate of the car to Hawk. I expect to hear back from him soon.”
Rex’s cell phone pinged. He glanced down at the screen. “It’s Swede.” He received the call and held the phone up to his ear. “What did you find?”
Maliea moved to stand close to Reid. “Who’s Swede?”
Reid rested a hand on the small of Maliea’s back and leaned close to answer briefly, “The technical guru for all of the Brotherhood Protectors. If it can be found on the internet, he’s our guy.” His attention immediately shifted back to Rex. Hopefully, Swede had something on the guy who’d been stalking them with his listening device.
The warmth of Reid’s hand at the small of her back gave Maliea a comforting sense of security. But that wasn’t all it was doing to her.
She liked how large and strong his hand felt through her thin T-shirt. It made her wonder how it would feel to have that hand pressed against her naked skin. A shiver of awareness rippled through her.
“Are you cold?” Reid asked.
Far from it. Heat rose up her neck into her cheeks. “No. I’m fine.” Like hell she was. She’d lost her husband in a plane crash not too long ago, and she was having lusty thoughts about a man she’d just met.
Did that make her a bad person?
Never mind, her husband had been sleeping with his Teacher’s Assistant for the past year, and they hadn’t had sex in all that time.
Maliea had thought that she’d lost all desire for making love since having Nani. She’d been too tired to even try after dancing at the luaus and events. Not that Taylor had initiated anything. She’d told herself their lack of a love life was because they were working so hard to make a living that they didn’t have time for each other.
Any spare time Maliea had, she spent nurturing her precious daughter. Her own needs always came second or third if Taylor wanted her to run an errand for him.
Reid’s hand remained on her back. Maliea didn’t move away or ask him to remove it. Her blood was smoking through her veins for the first time in a long time. And it felt good.
Thankfully, the man couldn’t read minds. How embarrassing would it be if he could?
Rex didn’t say much but listened for a couple of minutes before nodding. “Roger. Let us know what you find.” He ended the call and met Reid’s gaze. “Swede ran the license plate. It traced back to a rental car company at the airport. He tapped into their database and got the name of Mark Laster.”