Page 7 of Wired Justice

Chapter Five

“Letme just tie Ginger up and get her out of the way,” Sophie told Jake and the detectives.

The three of them waited while Sophie secured Ginger’s leash to a handy little railing and provided her with a dish of water. They filed inside, weaving through a work area of tight cubicles to a section in the back. There was barely room for the four of them to wedge into Wong and Freitan’s office area.

Sophie’s arm brushed Jake’s and she felt a surprising zing! of sensation as her partner leaned forward, his elbows on his knees in the cramped cubicle. He was trying to peer at Detective Freitan’s computer to see the case file she had pulled up on Julie.

“Never underestimate the power of the rich parents of a white girl,” Freitan drawled, glancing back at them. “Wonder what would have happened if this haole girl had been local and poor. We’d still be trying to fit her in with all our other cases. It’s actually a good thing you showed up when you did.”

Sophie pulled her arm away from Jake’s. “Is there a problem with missing people on the Big Island?”

“Yes,” Wong printed the meager Weathersby file, and caught the pages spitting out of the printer, slipping them into a blank folder. “A lot of people go missing here. For a lot of reasons. This island is a big area to cover and being understaffed is one reason we have trouble closing cases.”

“But we seldom have anything like that body dump you found,” Freitan said. “Let me put it differently: never have we had something like that. A whole new level. I’ve got a call into WITSEC and it’s looking like there might be something to your mob hit idea, because a couple of Marshals are coming to meet with us in an hour. They wouldn’t discuss it further, but that they’re making the trip says a whole lot.”

“I’m sorry to hear that I might have been right,” Sophie said. “Doesn’t make sense for anyone to kill the whole family.”

“Maybe they all saw something. Who knows?” Freitan shrugged. “We’ll do the best we can, as usual. Now as to this missing Weathersby girl . . . we went to her last known camping spot the day we got the report. She was staying at Volcanoes Park. When we showed her picture around, no one had seen her. Her equipment was gone. She had a permit for two nights; she had arrived by unknown means. That’s as far as we got.”

“Any leads from different campsites? Her parents said she often found other travelers to group together with,” Jake said.

“We only had the case a few days. That’s as far as we got with it.”

Jake’s arm brushed Sophie’s again as he reached for the folder from Wong. She shoved her chair back and away to get space. Freitan turned a level stare on her. “You guys a thing?”

“A thing?” Sophie frowned. Some sort of vernacular. The woman’s pursed lips and raised brows implied it was sexual.

“Yeah, we are.” Jake put a big hand on Sophie’s knee and squeezed.

Sophie froze. Was he saying . . . they were a couple?

“Too bad,” Freitan smiled, a long slow smile. “I like a little white meat now and again.”

“By the sweat of Ramses!”Sophie swore, all of the innuendoes coming together in an excruciating moment of mortification that heated her face and chest. “There is no sexual relationship between me and my partner!” She took hold of Jake’s wrist, but it took both hands to pry his grip off her leg. “You may indulge your sexual interest in Jake if he is agreeable. He has frequent liaisons.”

“I don’t think he’s agreeable,” Freitan said regretfully. “But he might be if you joined us.”

“Hey. I’m right here, Freitan, and we’re on the clock,” Wong said. “Keep your pants zipped in our cubicle, please.”

Jake stood up. His face was expressionless. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I do believe I’ve just been sexually harassed, and I can’t say I like it overmuch, Detective Freitan. Is this all the information you’ve got?”

Sophie stood as well, her eyes down, fighting the urge to bolt. Why had Jake said that about them being a couple? Was he claiming a faux relationship with her to fend off Freitan’s advances? And why did it bother her that he did?

“That’s all. Hope you get somewhere with it, big boy.” Freitan was unfazed by Jake’s rebuke to judge by her insouciant tone. There might even have been another innuendo hidden in her parting words, but Sophie didn’t want to figure it out. She squeezed past Jake and did a very rapid walk, not technically a run, through the bull pen and out the front door of the station.

Outside, Sophie rushed over to Ginger and untied her. She tossed away the remaining water and stowed the foldable dish in her backpack. She felt more than heard Jake come up behind her.

“That was embarrassing.”

Sophie didn’t look up from fiddling with the dog’s leash. Her skin still felt hot and prickly.

“I think we should go look at Weathersby’s earlier camp sites.” Jake’s tone was nonchalant, as if being propositioned for a threesome was a normal event. Maybe, for him, it was. The thought made her stomach hurt. “It seems like these guys barely got started and didn’t really take the case seriously. I think there’s a lot of room to develop some leads.”

“Yes. The campsites seem like a good place to begin.” Sophie straightened and tugged the dog’s leash. “Perhaps I can camp tonight in whatever park we end up in.”

“I have no intention of anything but a hot shower and a soft bed tonight,” Jake said. “And you look like you could use one or both, too.”

“I’m sure Detective Freitan would be happy to share hers with you.” Sophie wished she could take the words back the second they were out of her mouth. She tweaked Ginger’s leash and headed for the Jeep.

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