Page 6

CHAPTER 6

At the gate to the Parkman Ranch, a camera in the arched gate pointed down at them where they waited in the SUV.

Teller pressed a button to notify the ranch’s security personnel of their arrival.

Sachie had visited the ranch before to see Kalea. She knew it had a first-class security system. Still, she didn’t want to be there any longer than was necessary to come up with a plan to out her stalker.

The gate opened, and Teller drove the winding road over a small hill and through a stand of trees, finally climbing a rise to a sprawling ranch house.

As soon as they pulled to a stop, Kalea and Hawk came out on the porch. Kalea wore a maternity dress covered in a bright pink and green hibiscus pattern. She’d secured her long, wavy hair in a loose bun at the crown of her head.

Her heart full of love for her friend, Sachie climbed down from the SUV and hurried up the steps to hug her. “You look amazing.”

Kalea laughed. “Amazingly big?”

“Not at all,” Sachie said and then smiled. “Well, maybe a little. You are, after all, eight months pregnant. What I meant was you absolutely glow. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Kalea said. “But I should be asking you that. What the hell is going on?”

Teller climbed the steps of the porch, carrying her suitcase and his gym bag.

Hawk reached for the suitcase with one hand and held out the other to shake Teller’s. “Thanks for responding to my call in the middle of the night.”

“I’m glad I did.” Teller nodded toward Sachie. “We don’t want to be here more than a night, but we could use some help coming up with a plan. I was hoping we could put our heads together with you, Hank Patterson and his computer guy, Swede.”

Hawk nodded and held open the front door. “Let’s take it inside and get you two settled. I gave Patterson and Swede a heads-up that we’d be calling them after lunch. They’re on standby to help us in way they can.”

“I had our chef prepare soup and sandwiches,” Kalea said. “We can eat in the dining room or take it all to the war room.”

“Though we haven’t had breakfast or lunch, I’d like to get Hank and Swede briefed as soon as possible,” Teller said.

Sachie nodded. “Me, too.”

“Then we’ll serve lunch in the war room,” Kalea said.

“Let me take your bags up to your rooms.” Hawk took the gym bag from Teller. “I’ll show you where they are when you’re ready to go up. You both know the way to the offices and the war room. I’ll join you in a minute.”

Kalea moved ahead of them. “I’ll let Ule know to move the meal to the Brotherhood Protectors outbuilding.”

“If it’s going to be that much trouble, we can wait to eat when we’re done in the war room,” Sachie insisted.

“Ule won’t mind.” Kalea smiled. “And I’ll make sure he has help.”

Sachie’s eyes widened. “As long as that help isn’t you.”

Kalea’s smile twisted. “I’ve been strictly forbidden to lift and carry anything heavier than a cup of tea and banned from riding and flying until after the baby is born.” She patted her belly. “I’m bored out of my mind.”

Sachie laughed. “Not for much longer.”

Kalea sighed. “I know, and I can’t wait for him or her to arrive.”

“You still don’t know what you’re having?” Sachie asked.

“Hawk and I decided to wait.” Kalea frowned. “Which makes choosing a paint color for the nursery impossible. But more on that after your meeting and lunch. Go. I’ll be out there soon.”

Teller and Sachie passed through the house and out the back door.

One of the outbuildings had been remodeled and equipped with state-of-the-art computers, satellite systems, offices, a war room and an armory.

“You’ve been here before?” Teller asked.

Sachie nodded. “Once.”

“Have you met Hank Patterson or Axel Svenson, aka Swede?”

“No, but Kalea talks about them all the time. She and Hawk have a lot of confidence in them and the rest of the Brotherhood Protectors around the world.”

When they arrived at the building, Teller pressed his thumb to a biometric reader. A moment later, a lock clicked. Teller opened the door and stood back to let Sachie enter first .

She led the way into the war room, where a long conference table took up the center of the room with a huge screen at one end.

Teller crossed to the array of monitors on one side of the room and touched a mouse. The monitors blinked awake from their sleep mode and brought up images from security cameras.

“Can you tell if anyone followed us?” Sachie asked.

Teller shook his head. “No, but they have a security team monitoring the access road at all times. They would alert Hawk, Kalea and Mr. Parkman if there was a breach or suspicious behavior around the property.”

Footsteps sounded from the hallway.

Sachie turned in time to find Ule, Mr. Parkman’s chef, carrying a large tray filled with sandwiches, utensils, bowls and crackers. Behind him came Hawk carrying a soup tureen, which he carefully set on the conference table.

Kalea brought up the rear with a roll of paper towels. “See?” She held up the roll with a grimace. “They wouldn’t let me carry anything heavier than a cup of tea or a roll of paper towels. Way to make a girl feel useless.”

“We’re headed into the last couple of weeks of your pregnancy.” Hawk slipped an arm around his wife’s waist. “We only want what’s best for the health of you and the baby.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

Kalea snorted. “What about my mental health? I’m a doer. I need to be doing.”

“When that baby comes, we’ll all be doing,” Hawk reminded her. “You can help Ule lay out the food for everyone while I bring Hank and Swede online.” He stepped away from Kalea and joined Teller at the computer.

Sachie helped Ule and Kalea arrange plates on the table, ladle soup into bowls and uncover the selection of different types of sandwiches. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since the night before.

Her gaze went to Teller.

He turned in time to capture her glance with his.

A surge of awareness rippled through Sachie. The man really was good-looking in a quiet, brooding way. She wanted to know more about him and his statement that he’d never had a permanent home. What was his background? She knew so little about him. That didn’t seem to matter. She trusted him to keep her safe. Hell, he’d saved her life once already.

The large screen at the end of the monitor flickered to life with the matching desktop image of what was on the computer monitor in front of Hawk and Teller. The display flickered, and the faces of two men appeared who seemed to be talking, though no sound accompanied the movement of their lips.

A moment later, their voices came through loud and clear.

“Can you hear me now?” the dark-haired man asked.

Sachie nodded.

Teller and Hawk joined Sachie and Kalea at the table.

Hawk pulled out a chair for Kalea. She sank gratefully into the seat and reached for one of the sandwiches. “You’ll have to forgive us for eating in front of you,” she said to the men, joining them virtually. “If you were here, I’d offer you a plate.”

“Thank you, Kalea,” the dark-haired one said. “Not much longer, is it?”

“Three to four weeks,” she said. “How are Sadie and the little ones?”

“Sadie’s doing great. She’s on hiatus until the end of the year,” the man said. “Emma’s going to preschool this fall, and McClain is walking.”

“That’s great.” Kalea smiled and turned toward Sachie. “Sachie, the dark-haired man on the left is Hank Patterson. The one on the right is everyone’s favorite computer guru, Axel Svenson aka Swede.”

Sachie dipped her head. “Nice to finally meet you both. I’ve heard so many good things about you and the Brotherhood Protectors since Hawk arrived in the islands.”

“Glad to hear it,” Patterson said. “We try to provide the help people need.”

Sachie gave the man a weak smile. “Like me?”

Hank nodded. “Yes, ma’am. How’s Osgood working out for you?”

Sachie glanced across the conference table to Teller. “Good,” she said. “He saved my life in his first five minutes on duty.”

“I’m glad he was able to get to you in time,” Hank said. “Perhaps you could fill us in on what’s happened thus far. Start with why you moved from Oahu to the Big Island. Hawk tells us you had issues there.”

Sachie gave Hank a brief description of what she’d experienced on Oahu and her move to the Big Island to escape the threats and start over. “I thought I was past it when I woke up from a bad dream, saw a face in the window, discovered my car windshield smashed and someone trying to break into my cottage.”

Teller picked up from there, relating how he’d come into the house, chased the assailant out the back door and then came back to look for Sachie.

“That’s when I made first contact with your Brotherhood Protector,” Sachie’s lips twisted, “and tried to kill him. ”

Hank chuckled. “I’m glad you didn’t succeed.”

“As am I,” Sachie said. “He took a bullet for me a minute later.” She nodded toward Teller.

“Just a flesh wound,” Teller said and continued with the message on Sachie’s cell phone, their arrival on the street where Sachie’s office was burning to the ground, their conversations with the police and fire chief, the message scratched into the side of his SUV and their search on the security camera footage. “And that’s how we came to be at the Parkman Ranch,” he finished.

Hank’s brow furrowed. “Tell me again what the messages said.”

“You failed me,” Sachie said. “On the cell phone and on the car.”

“With the added note of Now you will pay on the voicemail message,” Teller said.

“You’re a counselor who works with troubled teens?”

Sachie nodded. “I’ve worked with teens to help them with PTSD from abusive environments or who have addiction issues. I’ve worked with the police to remove children from unsafe home environments.”

“Could your stalker be one of your patients?” Hank asked.

I wasn’t sure when I was in Honolulu, because there was never a message, just actions. I was working through some issues of my own.”

“Hawk told us,” Hank said softly. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“I’m sorry it happened to my patient,” Sachie said, her eyes filling with tears. “The messages I’ve received only reinforce how I feel about that situation.” She drew in a breath and let it out. “I failed him.”

“Your patient died that day,” Hank stated. “Did he have any relatives who might blame you?”

Sachie shook her head. “He entered the foster care system when his father murdered his mother in a fit of rage. For seven years, he was passed around from home to home and ended up getting in with the wrong crowd at school and caught with illegal drugs. That’s when I started seeing him. Based on everything he told us, the psychiatrist I worked with diagnosed him as bipolar. He was on medication to help him control it. He seemed to be doing better for a while; he had a girlfriend, was working after school at the Boys’ Club and his grades had improved. Then he became more sullen at our weekly meetings. I thought he might be back into drugs. When he came in that last day, he was distraught, claiming he’d put his girlfriend in the hospital. He didn’t want to be like his father. Didn’t want to kill the person he was supposed to love. ”

“Did she die?” Hank asked. “The girlfriend?”

Sachie shook her head. “No. She recovered from a concussion.”

“Did you talk with her?” Swede asked.

“No,” Sachie said. “Her parents were keeping her on suicide watch and didn’t want anyone to remind her Luke had killed himself.”

“Are there any other patients or parents of patients who might feel you failed them?” Swede asked.

Sachie’s eyes narrowed. “I worked with the Honolulu PD on cases where children needed to be removed from abusive homes. The parents were never happy about it.”

“Do any of them stand out more in your mind than others?” Teller asked.

“I was in court the week before Luke...” She stopped, drew in a breath and continued. “I had to testify against a woman who let her boyfriend use her little girl as a punching bag. She yelled obscenities in the courtroom.”

“Did she threaten you specifically?” Swede asked.

Sachie nodded. “She blamed me for her boyfriend being taken to jail and her daughter being removed from her custody. She said I’d regret the day I ruined her life.”

“Do you have the name of that woman?” Swede persisted .

Sachie shook her head. “My memory since Luke’s death hasn’t been the best. I need to access the files back at my old office in Honolulu.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m not much help.”

“Is it possible to access the data from your patient files online?” Swede asked.

“Maybe…?” she answered. “I’d have to get permission from the owner of the practice, since I’m not an employee anymore.”

“We could start there,” Teller said softly. “Maybe going through the files will trigger a memory of another patient who might have shown violent tendencies recently.”

“I’ll call the office and see what I can do to get access,” Sachie said. “Although I really feel like I’d be closer to answers if I returned to Honolulu.”

Kalea laid a hand on Sachie’s arm. “Oh, Sachie, you can’t go back there. We need you on the Big Island.”

“Not if I don’t have an office.” Sachie patted Kalea’s hand on her arm. “I can’t stay here. No matter how robust your security system might be, I couldn’t live with myself if whoever is after me hurts you while trying to get to me.”

“At least stay a few days,” Kalea begged. “I could use some female companionship while I wait out the last month of this pregnancy.”

“As much as I’d love to spend time with you, I can’t risk it,” Sachie said. “I’ve told you all I know for now. I’ll make the call to my former boss and ask for access to the online files. We can take it from there. Though I must warn you that patient records are confidential. I couldn’t share much.”

“We’ll work with you on that.” Hank gave her a gentle smile. “I know it’s a lot to take in after all you’ve been through, but we need to know enough about the people you came into contact with who might blame you for whatever happened to them or their kid.”

Teller cleared his throat. “Someone might want revenge against the well-meaning counselor who put her boyfriend in jail, or a patient you might’ve blown the whistle on for getting back into drugs.”

“If you get that permission to access your patient files online or think of anything else that might give us a starting point, let us know immediately,” Swede said. “I’ll answer day or night.”

Sachie gave the computer guru a tired smile. “I will—and thank you for helping me.”

“That’s what we do,” Hank said softly. “In the meantime, Osgood will be with you until the situation is resolved. Hawk...Osgood, do you have anything to add?”

The two men shook their heads.

“Then we’re out here,” Hank said .

“Out here,” Hawk echoed.

Hank and Swede’s faces disappeared, replaced by a blue screen.

Sachie placed the call to her former boss and got his voicemail. She left a message asking him to call her back as soon as he received her message. When she finished her message, she slipped her cell phone into her pocket and looked around at the expectant faces.

“Now we wait for his response. In the meantime, I can’t just sit around and wait for my phone to ring,” she said and turned to Kalea. “Show me the nursery and the color swatches.”

Sachie followed Kalea back to the house, her mind on all the patients or family members of patients she’d worked with recently who might want her dead.