Page 20 of Freeing Hawk
I shifted.
Angel walked over to him. They both grabbed the back of each other’s neck and rested their foreheads against each other. They then hugged, tightly.
I arched a brow.
“Detective Sasha Bracken.” The man asked turning to look at me.
I stood and offered a smile.
Angel stepped out of the way.
“Hawk.” I accepted his outstretched hand. “It’s nice to meet you in person.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Nikau lifted the back of my hand to bow over it.
I giggled. “I can see I need to watch you.”
“Fun times.” He winked at me.
We sat around, the bartender served us and then went back to his station. The conversation was friendly, and I kept wondering what their greeting meant. Were they together? Was Angel gay? If he was, together with Nikau they’d make a rather stunning couple.
Sad for me though.
I sighed and shook my head to focus on what was happening around me. Nikau was more than willing to help us. He offered us anything we wanted, and I wasn’t sure how to thank him.
“Do you speak Korean or Japanese?” I asked Nikau.
“No.” He scoffed. “English, Spanish and Maori.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to find another way to figure it out. Tell me about your VIP for the con.”
Nikau sipped from his drink. “The VIP list for Engine-O-Con is one everyone wants to get on to. It gives the holder access to the behind the scenes—some meet and greets, special networking chances. You said your partner had tickets.”
“It’s not a ticket really…” I showed him a picture on my phone. “I found this on his credit card statement.”
“This makes your job easier.” Nikau smiled. “He’s a VIP. Tomorrow, we can look through my archives.”
“I have a friend who can do that remotely. Would you mind?” I asked.
Nikau seemed hesitant as he glanced over at Angel who nodded.
“Sure.” Nikau agreed.
Chapter 4
Angel
Tiberius woke me up just after five in the morning. He wanted to go out. I opened the backdoor and he bolted by me and into the enclosed section of the backyard. Closing the door, I hurried back to get dressed then exited again and whistled for Tiberius. The Doberman came trotting over to me and we walked together down to the beach and I took off on my run. When he wasn’t trotting at my side, he dallied to splash about in the water.
The morning was overcast, pushing the sun behind some grey clouds that threatened some rain. I sniffed the air, but all I could smell was the ocean.
My mother could predict rain with one sniff. I wasn’t sure how she did it. Then again, my mother had always been supernatural to me in beauty, brains, strength.
Thinking of her made me smile. I could still hear her hummingAmazing Gracewhile moving about the kitchen or tended to the laundry. I could still hear her laughter as she danced around the kitchen to some obscure song from the nineteen sixties.
Her favorite song wasUnchained Melody.She knew all the words to it and soon Leta and I knew them as well. On one of her birthdays, Leta forced me to learn how to play it on the piano and we’d practiced for hours. One the morning of her birthday, we snuck downstairs, made her breakfast then pretended to get into a big fight to attract her to the living room for our first and only performance.
As I grew older, I missed her more and more—I’d give anything to have her pull me into a waltz around the living room. I used to complain but deep down I enjoyed the moments with her.
