“We’re still checking, but it looks like the same thing. You need to get your ass to LA.”
“But, sir, until we know for sure, shouldn’t I stay here?”
Desperation was clawing at her insides, her pulse kicking up a notch. She couldn’t leave. She glanced at Rome and noticed he’d stopped working on his tie.
“No, it’s a short enough flight that you can get there and go back if it isn’t. Masters can’t make it because his wife is in labor right now.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll call about a flight, leave tomorrow.”
“You leave tonight, ten o’clock. I’ll email everything to you.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up before she finished her agreement. She clicked off her phone and felt Rome shift closer.
“I have to go to LA. They found a woman there, same MO. He wants me on a flight tonight.”
The silence lengthened. She glanced at Rome and found him staring at her with the weirdest look on his face.
“Rome?”
He sighed. “I guess we knew you would have to go back.”
She blinked back the tears. Why did it feel like this was the worst thing in the world? She had realized last night, even after they made love, that there was nothing here for her. Rome apparently didn’t want long term, and while he liked to have her in his bed, he wasn’t looking for something permanent. The connection they had made the night before had made her heart tremble, her knees go weak, but she knew that in part, it was leading up to the end. They both knew this was going to happen even before it started.
“Well, I guess I should go pack.”
She brushed past him, but he circled his fingers around her wrist and pulled her closer. “I gotta go into the office, but I’ll meet you back here this afternoon. We can do an early dinner before you fly.”
She smiled, although it felt brittle. “Okay. Sounds good.”
He brushed his mouth over hers and let her go. “I’ve got a meeting with the captain, or I would just call in. He’ll definitely want to know about this. Give me a call if anything else happens.”
She nodded and watched until the front door shut. The sound of it echoed through the house, and it hurt. Dammit, it hurt so much. The tears she had kept at bay now filled her eyes, and for once in a very long time, she let them flow. A woman who was losing the best man she’d ever known had a right to cry like a baby.
· · · · ·
Rome was finishing up some work after his meeting with the captain when he felt someone standing next to his desk. He glanced up and found Jack standing there. Shit, he wasn’t in the mood for another confrontation.
“Hey, Rome.”
“Whatya want, Jack?”
He sighed and sunk down into the chair Rome kept for visitors. “I wanted to apologize for being a jackass the other day.”
Rome glanced at him, surprised. In the year he had worked with Jack, he never once apologized for anything. “Why?”
Jack shrugged. “I know I was out of line. The divorce has left me raw. I need to put a muzzle on it.”
“Then apology accepted.”
Jack smiled. “Great. I’m on my way off the island since I just got word I landed a job at LAPD, but I wanted to make sure that you weren’t pissed at me. I just wanted to make sure you know I’m not after your lady friend. I was just ticked because my life is going to crap.”
Knowing that the killer was gone, that the ruse was up, Rome leaned back in his chair. “Not that my life is better.”
“With a woman like that Maria, can’t be too bad.”
“She’s on her way back to the mainland. She has a job to do.”
“I thought maybe you were thinking about making it permanent.”
His heart jolted at the idea. Keep Maria forever? Or rather, he could go to DC. Sure, he loved Hawaii, but there was part of him that would die if he let her go. His heart already felt like it had been beaten and bruised, and she hadn’t even left yet.
“Not sure I could live in DC.”
Jack frowned. “She lives in DC?”
“Yeah. Truth is, she’s FBI working on the The Dom case. We were working undercover together, but it didn’t seem to work out.”
A strange expression moved over Jack’s face and then it vanished. “That sucks for you.”
He nodded. “When you leaving?”
“Tonight. I have a ten o’clock flight.”
“Into LA? Maria might be on your flight.”
“Imagine that.” He rose to stand. “I have some more papers to sign, and then I gotta check out of the hotel I stayed in last night.”
Rome offered his hand. “Good luck.”