"So, who's requested the audience?" she asked.

"Shut up. You'll find out soon."

Mal knew their voices already, and this was the one she wanted most, the a.s.shole who drew down on Luka. He was going to be the first one she took out.

"Uh, you're the one escorting me." She was being a smart-a.s.s, and she didn't care. Luka was out of danger and that was all that mattered now. "I think I've got a right to know."

"I just want to smash her mouth."

That was the other guy, the one who'd gotten the drop on her.

"Shut the f.u.c.k up. He doesn't want her hurt."

Hmmm, that was interesting. Whatever s.h.i.t-face they were taking her to didn't want her hurt? Why? Who the h.e.l.l could it be?

The floor b.u.mped and stopped and she heard the doors swish open. Looks like she was going to find out soon.

Mal felt a hand firmly on her back, pushing her forward until it disappeared to yank the blindfold from her eyes.

On alert immediately, she scanned the one-eighty in front of her. A big room, large windows, but blacked out with paint so she couldn't see out of them. An ancient desk made of metal so badly scarred she couldn't tell what color it was.

A hand pulled her backwards and she fell into a chair so hard that it nearly tipped over.

"Nice. You practicing for nice-guy-of-the-year?" she snapped.

The a.s.shole came around to the front of the chair, squatted down, and got right in front of Mal's face. It was Jinx. Oh, f.u.c.k!

He grinned at her. "You better hope he doesn't decide you're too much trouble and ask me to get rid of you. Oh, I'd really enjoy that. I'd ride you before I put you down, cop."

Mal felt a shiver crawl up her neck, but she wouldn't let him know that she believed every word and it scared the s.h.i.t out of her.

Her response was flippant and quick. "Fine. You think you can get it up for a cop?"

"I got a hard-on for you already, doll. You've been a pain in my a.s.s, but you are f.u.c.king hot."

"Ah, you say the nicest things."

She knew he wanted to hit her. Badly. She knew that whoever stopped him must have some power for him to be that worried about him. Mal heard the elevator door swish open again. Looks like she was about to meet the boss.

His footsteps were heavy, with a slight lag on one step. It was apparent to Mal, he had a limp.

Then he came into view. She did not know him, but he seemed to know her, since his smile widened and he actually looked delighted. Like a kid might when you hand him a big candy bar.

"Hey, there's my little darling," the man said, his voice gravelly, as if he'd been a heavy smoker all of his life.

Mal looked him over, a cop thing, taking details into memory. Tall, stocky, a full face with a scruffy beard, might have been handsome twenty years and fifty pounds ago. He wore a business suit that definitely cost some serious money, shoes she couldn't have afforded with ten years of wages. Receding hairline, but it bothered him, since he'd tried to comb the rest forward.

"How they treat you, Mahalo?"

s.h.i.t! That wasn't good. This wasn't random, the guy knew her given name, and no one did. Her mom's fascination with the Hawaiian greeting had culminated in Mal's first name, but she'd never used it. Even as a little girl, Mal and her father had laughed about the weird name, and always defaulted to the shortened version. Mom still called her Mahalo until the day she died, but that was fifteen years ago. So this man had investigated her and this abduction had a purpose.

"They did okay, but I didn't quite feel like a treasured guest," she answered, well aware she needed to play along until she could figure out what the f.u.c.k was really going on.

"Well..." he said, his hands spread out, as he perched on the edge of the desk. "I guess that's going to be up to you from now on, my pretty policewoman."

The entire time she was speaking with him, Mal was scanning the room, the position of the other men, every nuance of detail she could, before she looked right into the newly arrived man's eyes.

"Why am I here? What do you want with me? Obviously, you know me, but I don't know you, so, clue me in, all right?"

"In good time. Right now, let me see about removing those handcuffs," he said. And then he started laughing, so much, that he slipped off the desk, wiping his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, between gulps of air as he finished his laughs.

Mal just sat there, shocked, an expression of complete confusion on her face.

Moments later, the man wiped his eyes and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to blow his nose. "I'm sorry, but that was just... Well, there isn't a chance in h.e.l.l I'd let your hands free. You're too good, you'd beat the s.h.i.t out of all three of us and grind us into the floor before you left. I just couldn't resist yanking at you." He sat back down on the desk and his expression changed.

"You're digging in my sandbox, detective. No, you don't know me, and believe me, it would be a mistake if you did. I don't want to kill you, but you mess with my business, I don't give a f.u.c.k how cute you are, it doesn't matter to me that you're a cop. You understand?"

She did. This man was one of the two men connected to Berenstein. The dock shipments she had been aggressively investigating and watching, she'd already guessed, they must be his.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember the names of those two men. Could be that since she was in serious danger of dying in a few minutes, her memory might be a little scrambled. All Mal thought was that, if this a.s.shole thought he was going to force her to do what he wanted her to do, he might as well kill her now. She would never be in anybody's back pocket.

"I believe every word you've said," Mal answered carefully. It wasn't like she wanted to be brutally murdered, and with a guy like this, you had to be very, very cautious and very, very lucky if you wanted to keep breathing.

"I believe you're as smart as you look. Here's the Cliff notes. I know everything about you. I know your background, that you're from Hawaii, that your mother died when you were fifteen, your dad's a retired detective squeaking through on a detective's meager retirement pay on the Big Island. I know you're crazy about your partner, Luka." He paused and stared at the floor for a moment, then back into her eyes. She returned his gaze unflinchingly.

"Here's what you need to know. I'll take it all away. Pop won't get to boogie board and fish until his final days. Luka won't have the special opportunity of f.u.c.king random girls until he dies too early of liver disease. And then there's you." He paused again and slid off the desk. "I will take you again, chain you up somewhere no one will ever find you, and I'll let these guys f.u.c.k you raw anytime they want to. That clear things up?"

Mal's eyes, hard on his, expressionless, stayed right on his face as he walked closer and squatted down, then ran a finger from her throat to her neckline.

"Crystal," She finally said.

He stood and backed up.

"Good. These negotiations should be straightforward. We both get what we want. One last thing. Right now you're wondering how you're gonna get me. You can't. I have tentacles where you can't imagine. You'll never see me coming. One day, your partner will just be dead. I don't believe we need to have any further conversation." He looked behind her.

"Jinx, get her out of here. Safely. Don't f.u.c.k with her. She and I, we have an understanding now." He dropped his gaze back to hers. "We're friends now, right, Mahalo?"

After only a brief hesitation, Mal smiled. "Sure, bosom buddies."

"Yeah. Like I said, you're a smart girl. Let's hope we don't see each other again too soon."

He walked past her, out of her sight, and when she heard the elevator door close, she knew he was gone.

Jinx came from behind her.

"Don't think about talking to n.o.body about this conversation. The only way you and your friends get through this, is you forget we exist, you forget this happened. You get that, right?"

"Like the man said, I ain't stupid."

"Yeah, I know that. But you're a dog with a bone, every time. I've seen it. You don't mess with this, okay? There's already one casualty in this, don't need to be more."'

Mal sat up and wiggled her bound hands. "What? Who?"

The other man behind Mal yanked her out of the chair and began to pull her towards the elevator.

"Who?" She yelled back.

He shoved a needle into her arm and pushed her onto the floor. Her vision fuzzed out and moments later, she was unconscious.

Chapter 4.

She woke up easily, yawned, and rolled over. Her face was warm, and she opened her eyes to slam them shut. The sun pierced her lids, even with them closed.

Rolling up, she stood, and slowly looked around. Mal startled, scanning the landscape quickly now, as memory returned.

It was morning, and they'd dumped her on the beach. A gentle tide swished nearby as she paused to appreciate the fact that at least she was still alive.

But that didn't solve the ma.s.sive problem. With a terrible threat hanging over her head, and the fear that he'd already killed someone she cared about, the future looked bleak.

The man was right, Mal was smart, so she trusted her instincts that this man would absolutely act on the threat. If she and Luka didn't back down, her father and Luka wouldn't live very long.

First, she had to get home, back to the station, and make sure that Luka was okay. Call her father. Check herself over. She let her hand slide below her belly. Everything felt all right, but she'd been unconscious for some period of time and at the mercy of merciless men. G.o.d knows what they might have done to her. None of that was her main concern right now, but making sure everyone else was okay, was.

Mal began to walk away from the beach, searching her surroundings again, this time looking for someone that could tell her where she was, or help her to contact Luka.

It was early enough, there wasn't anyone around, but as she arrived at the two lane road, a pa.s.sing Jeep stopped when she waved at it.

A pretty young woman leaned out. "Hi. Uh, did you need help or something?" she asked.

"I do. I'm an L.A. detective, and I need transportation and access to a phone. Do you have your cell with you?"

"Sure. Yeah, sure, here." The girl reached into her bag that was laying on the pa.s.senger side seat, and then dropped the bag on the floor behind it. She handed the phone to Mal.

"You look rough. Are you okay?"

Mal smiled as she dialed Luka and lifted her eyes to the girl's face. "Yeah, thanks. I appreciate this. Can you wait for me a minute?"

"I can," the girl answered. Mal walked a few feet back towards the beach as the cell clicked.

"h.e.l.lo?" Luka said, a question in his voice, because he didn't recognize the number.

"Lazy f.u.c.k. Why aren't you at work looking for my kidnapped a.s.s?"

The silence seemed minutes long, even if it was probably only seconds. A deep sigh preceded Luka's answer. "Because I knew you'd show up eventually and rag my a.s.s." He paused, and Mal knew he was gaining control because she was also trying not to cry. Big girls don't cry, right?

"Mal. Are you all right? What happened, Mal? Did anyone hurt you?"

"Let a girl get a word in, cop." But her voice softened. "No, Luka, I'm okay. I don't know where I am, but I'm okay. They dropped me at the beach somewhere. It's pretty, but I don't recognize it."

"I'm coming to get you," he said, and she could hear rustling and knew he was getting dressed.

"Nah, Luk. I've got a ride."

"Who took you?" When she didn't answer immediately, he repeated himself with urgency. "Mal, who took you?"

"I'll tell you, but when I get back, okay? Luka, I'm fine, really, don't worry. Will you meet me at Scruff's?"

Luka was nodding at her. She knew it, she didn't need to see it, he did that a lot.

"Don't tell anyone you've spoken to me yet, okay?"

Silence again. Now, Luka knew something was really wrong. "Okay," was his simple response.

"I'll call you and let you know when. See ya, Luk."

Mal rang off and got into the Jeep, and looked at the girl waiting behind the steering wheel.

"Thanks. Where are we?" she asked.

Luka was waiting with two hot coffees in Scruff's, the little diner around the corner from his apartment where he and Mal usually had breakfast if they were working early, or so late it was time for breakfast. He watched a beat-up army-green Jeep pull up outside and Mal got out, turned to say something to a cute blonde and slammed the tinny door.

When she came from behind him and slid into her usual seat, she looked like h.e.l.l. And like an angel. His eyes moved quickly over her to a.s.sure himself she wasn't hurt. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her hair, which was usually pulled straight back into a low ponytail, looked like birds had raised their broods in it. But she was here and she was alive.

A slow smile eased across his face. "So, I like the new look. Kind of takes some getting used to." Then the smile slipped. "What happened, Mal. Who took you? Are you really okay?"

Mal slid a hand forward and curved her fingers over his. "Yeah, I'm really okay. I just don't know what to do about what happened."

She slid her hand back to join the other one wrapped around the coffee cup. "Luka, I don't know the a.s.shole's name, but I think it was one of the two men on Berenstein's list. You know, the one that my C.I. gave us. While we've been watching his shipments, he's been watching us. He knew things about me that no one around here knows other than you and Bev. h.e.l.l, more than you guys know."

She closed her eyes, shook her head, then looked Luka in the eyes, all humor gone. "And I think he's killed somebody to make his point. I think it was Cynthia."

"f.u.c.k," Luka said softly. "I'll call in and check, Mal. We got to go after this man, right now, then, today. We'll get him."

"That's not all, Luk. He's promised to destroy everyone I love if I don't stop. He's promised that, no matter how careful I am, he'll kill you first. I can't risk that. Then he'll kill my father, and anyone else he thinks I care about. Luka, he can do it, I know it. My gut tells me that this one, he's everything he's presenting himself to be. Brutal and willing, capable, of everything he told me. I can't...what the h.e.l.l am I going to do? I can't let him get away with murder, and G.o.d knows what else! How the h.e.l.l do we neutralize someone this big?"

"First, you don't worry about me. I'm a big boy, Mal."

She snorted. "So the girls tell you."

He grinned. "You want proof? Anyway, yeah, it's f.u.c.ked that he's threatened you, but together, we got this. It's going to be all right."