“Settle down, Rory. Carino’s the guy I called.”
Rory nodded and stepped back. Carino’s lips twitched. “I take it you don’t need protection for Maura.”
“Maura can speak for herself, thank you very much,” Maura said from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to find her glaring at all of them. She probably would have crossed her arms but the doctor put her right arm in a sling.
“Of course,” Carino murmured as he stepped forward. “You want to tell me what happened?”
She gave the detective a narrowed look. Zeke could almost hear her mind working.
“The HPD sent a highly decorated detective to investigate a simple assault?”
“I recognized the name.” There was a beat of silence. “So, tell me what happened.”
Maura told her story again, her voice no longer wavering when she went over the details. As long as he lived, Zeke knew he wouldn’t forget the sight of her rushing towards them, her glasses askew and terror in her eyes. He had never felt so hopeless before in his life.
She told the story in the same calm tone she had been using since she’d seen the doctor.
When she was finished, Carino studied her. “It seems quite brutal for someone you don’t know.”
His accusatory tone ruffled Zeke’s feathers and he knew for sure Carino was pissing Maura off. Of course, she didn’t rise to the bait.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Rome. The truth is I don’t know the man. He wasn’t even familiar to me by scent.”
That brought Carino up short. “Explain.”
Rory shifted his feet and Zeke gave him a warning glance. A Dom like Rory wasn’t going to take a man questioning Maura that way.
“I have a very good sense of smell. I can sometimes tell who a person is if I know what cologne he or she wears, and a basic human scent. It’s freaky, but I have always been that way. This guy, I did not know, at least not well. He smelled off, like he had been living on the streets. His breath, well I don’t even want to go there, if you get my drift.”
“How tall was he?” She opened her mouth but Carino stopped her. “Think back to when he was behind you. Did he seem shorter than you as he stood behind you? Taller?”
She nodded, sighed and closed her eyes. “I was wearing flip-flops so I was practically barefoot. I think he was probably close to my height, maybe a half an inch taller. So, five ten possibly. No taller.” She opened her eyes.
“Bastard broke my glasses. It’s a good thing I have another pair with me.”
“And he said nothing else?”
“No. But his accent was Irish, I am pretty sure of it. More like Rory’s, who is from Belfast, so it was definitely from Northern Ireland.”
“You said you didn’t hear it at first.”
She had already been arguing with both Rory and Zeke about it since they had pulled her out of the mall. Zeke thought maybe she had confused the accent because she had been traumatized. She was hiding it, keeping herself together, but he knew it had sent her over the edge.
“Okay.”
“Any luck on the security cameras at the mall?” Rory asked. It was the first words he had spoken in more than half an hour.
Carino turned back to both of them. “The security cameras were tampered with. Nothing.”
“Fuck,” Rory said.
“Exactly,” Carino said. “It can only mean that he had been stalking her.”
“Excuse me. ‘Her’ would like to speak right now.”
Carino’s lips twitched again and he turned to face Maura. “What does that mean?”
“It means there is a good chance he was stalking you.”
“Me?” she shook her head. “I don’t think so. He mentioned both of you.”
“Is there anyone who would like to cause you harm?”
“No. Other than Susan Vincent from college.”
“What?”
“Susan Vincent from college. She was mean to me so I replaced her shampoo with Nair.”
For a second there was stunned silence in the hospital room.
“Jesus, Joseph and Mary, I don’t think Susan Vincent is after you in a mall in Hawaii.”
She shrugged. “She was one mean bitch. She was Miss Georgia and you know how those types are.”
“This has to do with the Peterson case. Damn, I hate to admit Conner might be right,” Zeke said.
Rory nodded and Carino asked, “Peterson case?”
“We helped nab someone who was in tight with the Mexican Mafia and my brother and these two goofballs actually think we are a mark for them. First, it doesn’t make sense because my name isn’t in any of the information. And, if so, it would be the company and Conner or Zeke at risk.”