Chapter One
Rome cursed when the rain started to pound the top of his car. It figured he would get a call for a dead girl and it would rain like this. That’s the way his luck had been going the last few months. Only with hurricanes did they get this wet in Honolulu. What little forensic evidence they could have found was probably being washed away right now. He hoped that CID got there early enough to collect samples. He turned down Kuhio Street and headed to the scene. He had an itch at the base of his neck that told him this fourth girl in three months was connected to the other three. In all his life, he had never believed in coincidences, and he wasn’t about to start. What that meant for Rough ‘n Ready was not something he wanted to contemplate right now. He would deal with that later.
He parked his car and sighed. There was very little media on the islands, but they all seemed to show up at his crime scenes lately. A small group had gathered at the front of the alley. Lord only knew how they discovered the scene, but on Oahu, it was like one big family. Everyone knew everyone else, and there was just no way to stop people from finding out.
He stepped out of the vehicle, grabbing a hat before shutting the door. He turned up his jacket collar against the rain. Lord, it was cold. Rome had gone soft. For a kid who grew up in Seattle, this would be nothing. Now, after just a few years, seventy degree weather had him shivering.
He shook those thoughts away and made his way to the scene. Several reporters tried to get a comment from him, but he ignored them as he pushed his way through the crowd. He was thankful to see the CID officers already working the scene.
He glanced down and saw the girl. And, like the others before, he knew her.
A rookie cop ran up, excitement and fear in his voice when he spoke. “Her name is Lisa Fender. Here’s her wallet.”
Rome accepted it and was thankful the young officer seemed to be holding it together. “Who called it in?”
“Tourist. He’s over there,” he motioned with his head. “Name’s Matt Young.”
Rome followed the direction of the officer’s nod and found a young man standing, his face expressionless as he watched the scene in front of him. Truthfully, from what Rome could tell, the witness wasn’t really watching anything. He was staring into nothing, as if in a daze. Shock probably.
After thanking the kid, he headed over to the witness. “Mr. Young?”
For a moment, Young didn’t say anything. Rome started worrying the kid had gone over the edge and might need medical care. But, in that next moment, Young shook himself and seemed to focus on Rome. “Huh?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m Detective Carino. I was wondering if you could tell me what you saw.”
Mr. Young swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he nodded. Damn, he was young. In that instant, Rome felt ten years older than his thirty-five years. There was a good chance Young wasn’t even old enough to drink.
The kid wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. “I was walking down here. Got left at a club by my buddy.”
“He left you at a bar? Why?”
He sighed. “He hooked up.”
Rome nodded, understanding the timeless ritual of young men. Being left behind at a bar for a hot woman wasn’t that bad of a thing. As he studied the man, Rome recognized the buzz cut.
Fuck. Rome wasn’t in the mood to deal with the military. “What service?”
The kid’s eyes widened. “I have n-no idea—“
“Cut the shit. You’re military.”
He swallowed again, then his shoulders sagged. “Yeah. Army.”
“And let me guess, too young to be in the club you were in? Not to mention, it’s off limits to military.”
He swallowed again. “Yeah.”
“I don’t give a shit about that. What I care about is that woman lying dead on the ground.”
The kid started breathing through his mouth, and Rome should have seen it coming. As it was, he barely missed getting the kid’s vomit on him. Rome jumped back with a curse as the private emptied his stomach contents on the street.
“Fuck.”
“You said a mouthful, Carino.”
Rome turned and found his partner of just over a year walking up behind him. Jackson Daniels—who everyone called Jack Daniels just to piss him off—was officially his partner for the next three days. The paperwork was already filed, and Jack would be gone before the month was out.
“What are you doing here?” Rome asked.
He shrugged. “I got the call, too. Thought I would stop by.”
His knowing look told Rome that his partner thought the same thing he did. “You can’t finish out the investigation.”