“Dropped off the map? You mean he disappeared? No one can disappear.”
“He did, but I made a few calls. He was working for the Tactical Assault Group for the Aussie military.”
“But there should be some kind of record, something.”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m trying to find out. But he has pretty much been on the Big Island for all the other assaults, so he isn’t your guy.”
She sighed as she massaged her temple. She could feel the telltale tension that heralded one of her bad headaches. In all the time she’d been in Hawaii, she hadn’t had the familiar pain. Now it seemed to be back.
“Thanks for tracking that down. I appreciate it. He probably used his connections to get my number.”
“What do you mean?” Rome asked, now completely awake.
“Who’s that?” Masters asked, amusement threading his voice. Maria was pretty sure he knew who was in bed with her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if we have any more suspects. Are you a daddy, yet?”
“No. They plan to induce tomorrow if she doesn’t go into labor by then.”
“Text me and let me know how it goes.”
“Will do. Behave yourself, Maria.”
“I always do.”
She hung up, and before she could put her phone down, she found herself on her back, Rome looming over her. She should be pissed, but of course, it aroused her. It was hard not to be turned on by Rome when he went into predatory male mode.
“Who had your number? Who called you?”
“I told you when you came home. Elias St John.”
“Eli St John, that bastard. When did you meet him?”
“The night you got called away from Rough ‘n Ready. He approached me after you left, but he isn’t a suspect.”
“Why not?”
He sounded pissed that he couldn’t take St John in for questioning. If Rome wasn’t a by-the-book kind of cop, he might just have done it.
“Because he was on the Big Island for all the attacks.”
He growled, literally growled, as he pulled the rest of his body over hers. “So what was St John trying to do with you?”
Maria normally didn’t like when men tried to exert their dominance over her. In the bedroom, while making love, that didn’t bother her. But she didn’t like being questioned like a suspect. But again, Rome in any kind of mood seemed to turn her on.
“Nothing much, he wanted to see if we were exclusive.”
His expression darkened. “I’ll kill him. Do you know where he’s staying?”
He slid off the bed as he was talking and grabbed a pair of jeans. She watched with a strange mixture of frustration and amusement. It was definitely a novel experience to have a man want to do battle over her.
“No. I have no idea where he’s at right now. Did you hear me say that he’s not on the list of suspects?”
He gave her a dark look as he stood there. He looked so, well, lost. Maria was pretty sure he didn’t realize how adorable he appeared. The idea that she could cause this was insane, but apparently she had. She rolled over to his side of the bed and rose to her knees in front of him.
“He just wanted to make sure that we were exclusive.”
He grumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
She slipped her arms over his shoulders and inched closer to him.
“He was looking for a sub. I was alone.”
“I had just left. Bastard.”
She smiled, but she didn’t laugh. “And I very politely said no.”
Another grumble.
He wasn’t looking at her, and he was still frowning. She pressed her body against his, enjoying the way his heart ticked up a beat.
“Rome.”
He still didn’t look at her. She kissed his jaw. “Rome.”
Now he did look at her, and she smiled.
“I said no. Part of the reason was because I am an FBI agent, raised by one of the smartest FBI agents to ever wear the badge. There’s a serial killer running around killing subs. I’m not an idiot.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“And the other reason, the bigger reason, is because I’m involved with you. Even if there was nothing to worry about, no serial killer in the picture, I would have said no. Why would I want a man like St John when I have you?”
His shoulders relaxed. “I was being an ass.”
She kissed his chin. “Yeah, a little bit. Not that I didn’t find it incredibly sexy.”
One side of his mouth curved. “Yeah?”
“No one has ever gotten jealous over me before.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Before you, there wasn’t much of a reason.”
He shook his head and kissed her. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”