Last Night (26 page)

"Is there something I should know?
"
Garth asked, dead certain she was withholding important information. He reached over and covered one hand with his, lacing his fingers through hers and gently lifting. Beneath her hand were half-moon indentations made by her nails. He took her hand and held it in both of his.
"
Tell me everything. I have to know the truth or I can't help you.
"

She studied him for a moment, seeming to judge whether or not she could trust him. "I think there
'
s a way to fight the Coltranes and keep custody of Jason.
"
She cast a swift glance at the lanai where Puni and Jason were playing. "Eric Coltrane wouldn't have any claim on Jason if he isn
'
t his father, would he?
"

Vanessa was grasping at straws, he thought. Jason had her beautiful blue eyes and platinum hair, but he had the Coltranes
'
square jaw and cleft chin.

"It won
'
t work. The Coltranes
'
attorney will insist on a paternity test.
"

"Are those tests reliable?
"

"If they're done properly in a good lab, paternity tests are accurate. I
'
ve had them done on occasion.
"

She smiled—grinned, actually—sending his heart into one long free-fall. What was going on here?

"That
'
s what I was hoping, Garth. A paternity test will prove Eric isn
'
t Jason
'
s father.
"

23

R
ob hung up the telephone, having just told Garth about the
mokes
and Big Daddy's visit. Across the room Dana was huddled on the sofa, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms locked around her knees. Poor kid. With the tapes gone, she thought she
'
d let Vanessa down.

She hadn
'
t been responsible. He
'
d gotten them into this mess. Shit! He should have anticipated the
mokes
coming after them. He
'
d been cocky, arrogant. Stupid. The shr
ill ringing of the telephone in
terrupted his thoughts and he watched Dana gracefully stride across the room to answer it.

"
Hi, Gwen,
"
she said, then paused to listen. "I came back ea
rly…
Ah, well, my sister is divorcing Eric Coltrane."

Rob wondered why she
'
d volunteered this information. How close was Dana to Gwen? He didn
'
t really like Gwen.

Dana listened for a minute, twisting the telephone cord between her fingers.
"
Really? Where
'
d you
hear that?
"
The anxious note in her voice alerted him.
"
Rob Tagett was there…
I did see a little of him.
"

He sank into a chair, his body still aching from the fight. So word had gotten back to Honolulu that he
'
d been with Dana at the Coltrane ranch. He wasn't surprised Gwen had gotten wind of it. The consummate politician, she would wonder what this meant for Dana
'
s career.

"
I suppose you
'
re right," Dana said wearily, and Rob could just imagine the lecture she was getting from Gwen on how Dana
'
s reputation would suffer if she spent time with him.

"
You
'
re kidding,
"
Dana said, her eyes widening at whatever Gwen had just said.
"
Clements was only what? Forty-five?
"
She paused to listen.
"
Really? Just forty-one. That
'
s too young to die of a heart attack, isn
'
t it?…
His poor wife and that darling little boy.
"

So Todd Clements was dead. Son of a bitch! Just went to prove you never knew. When your number was up, it was up. A damn shame, but this meant there
'
d be another opening on the superior court. Dana would get a second chance much sooner than anyone expected.

Rob wondered how
G
wen really felt about Dana
'
s name being on the
list for superior court. Her fa
ther, Boss Sihida, was a force in political circles. He might try to get Gwen into Todd Clements
'
spot. Hell, Rob hoped not. The last thing Dana needed was to be pitted against a friend. In the islands it
was hard enough to get women onto the bench. They didn't need to compete with each other.

Dana hung up, shaking her head.
"
Todd Clements died of a heart attack.
"

"That
'
s too bad. He was a nice guy and a good judge.
"

"Gwen says I
'
m up for the vacancy. Big Daddy will do whatever he can to ruin it for me.
"
She dropped onto the sofa beside him.

"Coltrane has power, but the governor
'
s a tough cookie. He—
"

"What if the blackmailer goes to the governor?
"

"Without proof, it
'
s just gossip.
"
He studied her for a moment, the sunlight playing softly across her face.
"
How important is being a judge?
"

She hesitated, then responded, "Careerwise, I want it more than anything. I always have—even when I was in law school. The day I was appointed to the municipal court was the happiest day of my life.
"

He nodded, remembering that was the night he
'
d met her. The DA had thrown a party to celebrate Dana
'
s appointment. She
'
d been radiant. Her vitality, her energy ha
d drawn him to her. Her intelli
gence had captivated him. From that night on, no other woman could compare.

He
'
d blown it with the tapes, but maybe he could make it up to Dana. "Your career
'
s in jeopardy as long as the blackmailer is around. It can
'
t be Big Daddy or he would have threatened you with it.
Let
'
s talk about your other enemies again. I'm still suspicious of Judge Binkley.
"

"
Davis Binkley hates me,
"
she admitted.
"
You know he deliberately assigned me the Tenaka case the first week I was on the court.
"

Rob kept his mouth shut; the Tenaka case would always be a sore point between them. The superior court should have heard the child molester's case, but they dodged it, claiming their schedules were overloaded. It was too controversial for the muni court
'
s presiding judge to handle, so Binkley passed it off to the rookie, Dana.

"
He assigns me the worst cases, hoping I
'
ll goof.
"

"
So far, you
'
ve outsmarted him. Your decisions haven
'
t been appealed. That
'
s why you're up for the superior court.
"

"
Judge Binkley has made no secret of how much he dislikes me. He even persuaded a friend
'
s son to run for my seat on the municipal bench next year.
"
She shook her head thoughtfully.
"
I keep remem
bering the blackmailer
'
s message:
Get out of Hawaii.
There
'
s nothing Binkley would like better. But how could he possibly know about my past?
"

Rob didn't have an answer.

"There are several deputy DAs who can
'
t stand me.
"

"
Professional jealousy,
"
Rob said. Dana
'
s star had risen rapidly, eclipsing others who
'
d been around longer. He remembered the feeling from his days on the force when he
'
d shot ahead of many veteran officers. Meteoric rises made for spectacular crashes back to earth. Aw, hell, that wasn
'
t going to happen to Dana, was it?

"
This is a long shot, but I inherited my secretary, Anita, along with the office. She
'
d been Judge Gim
ble's secretary for years, and she adored him, probably because he put up with her sloppy work. I
'
ve written her up twice.
"

Rob knew the type. Protected by the civil-service system, they were just plain lazy. You could write them up a dozen times and still pay hell getting rid of them.
"
Has she done anything serious?
"

"When she put my sentencing list into the computer, she somehow—after thirteen years on the job —
'
confused
'
the codes. So the jail received the information and released the wrong prisoners and kept those I'd wanted released.
"

"Petty things. Just what a secretary might do for revenge. Blackmail seems out of character. Anyway, how would she know about your past? It all comes back to that, you know.
"

"You
'
re right. That
'
s why I keep wondering if Vanessa
'
s old boyfriend, Slade Carter, or one of his friends has come to Hawaii. Slade was right behind us that night. He probably found Hank
'
s body and put two and two together."

"Makes sense,
"
Rob admitted, "but why would he want you out of Hawaii?
"

Dana threw up both hands. "I
'
m clueless.
"

"Well, I have an idea. Where did you say all this happened? Texas?
"

He knew she'd deliberately not told him where
this had happened. With a desperation that came from a deep, secret corner of his soul, he wanted her to trust him. When had his feeling for her become an all-consuming passion? Startled by his own emotions, he looked away. He needed her to come to him, to want him so much that the past no longer mattered.

Last night he
'
d gotten his wish. She
'
d come to him and made love to him like no woman ever had. But with the light of day, Dana
'
s fears had obviously returned.

The silence in the room thickened as she regarded him wordlessly, weighing her options. Finally she spoke. "Missouri. It happened in Gomper
'
s Bend, Missouri. It
'
s nothing more than a crook in the road near the Arkansas border.
"

Despite the pain from his split lip, he managed a smile. Knowing she trusted him triggered all his protective instincts. And something more. The divorce had sucked him dry emotionally, leaving him bitter and wary of relationships. Now he was ready to risk it all again.

"You know I
'
m crazy about you, don
'
t you?
"
he asked and she nodded solemnly. "I
'
ll do anything I can to help you. I want to go back there and nose around, but I need to know the whole truth about that night.
"

"
Hank Rawlins was a no-good who was too lazy to work,
"
Dana said. "He spent his time hunting and brewing rotgut whiskey, which they sold at the Road Kill Bar where Vanessa worked. We were trying to save money to go to California, so when Hank offered me five dollars to help him skin rabbits, I said yes.
"
The pitch of her voice had gone up an octave, though her expression was calm.
"He got me in the shed and…
and
…
"

Rob gathered her in his arms and pressed his lips to the top of her head, cursing the bastard.

Dana drew back, staying in the circle of his arm.
"
Vanessa heard me crying hours after it was all over, and I was still crouched in that shed. She came to find me and Hank pounced on Vanessa.
"
The threat of tears was in her voice now. "I huddled in the corner like
…
like some beaten dog. I couldn
'
t move. All I could do was watch.
"

She shrugged out of his protective embrace. He wasn't surprised. When emotionally threatened, Dana retreated, carefully maintaining the distance she kept between herself and the world.

"
Do you know how that makes me feel?
"
The words, quite loud now, exploded out of her with such vehemence that Rob almost flinched.
"
I could I
have spared my sister
the agony of that brute raping
her—but I was a coward.
"

Coward. Coward. Coward.
The word echoed through the room, tri
ggering a suffocating memory
that he'd rather forget. With it came empathy so powerful, he couldn
'
t utter a word. Finally he managed to say,
"
You were young, and you
'
d been
through a traumatic experience. It
'
s understandable that fear paralyzed you.
"

"
Well, I can
'
t forgive myself. If I
'
d acted sooner
…
"

The psychological burden of this incident still weighed her down. Rob understood. Often forgiving your own weaknesses was more difficult than forgiving another person.

"
Dana, let it go. Sometimes we have a second in which to act. If we don't the opportunity is gone— never to come again. Believe me, I know.
"