“The hell you are.”
“Donovan, you only got involved in this entire mess because I talked you into helping my best friend. Think how I’d feel if you were hurt.”
“Think how I’d feel if you were hurt,” he responded gruffly. The very idea sent ice water into his veins. He grabbed her arms. “Don’t you understand? I care about you, Lani. So damned much.”
His intense expression made her stomach flutter. It wasn’t the L word. But he was coming closer. “I care about you, too, Donovan. And I promise not to get in your way. But please let me come with you.”
As he looked down into her earnest face, Donovan felt as if he were drowning. “Dammit, this is crazy.”
“If you don’t let me come, you know I’ll follow you to wherever you’re going.”
He scrubbed his hand wearily over his face. What had ever made him think he could keep this woman from doing whatever she wanted to do? Donovan was well acquainted with Breslin stubbornness, since her brother possessed more than his share. While Donovan had always admired Nate’s tenacity, he was finding Lani’s frustrating.
He also, for the first time, understood how Nate had felt when Tess’s life had been in danger.
“When we get to the island, you’re staying on the plane,” he said in his toughest, I’m-the-big-bad-detective-and-you’ll-damn-well-do-what-I-say voice.
Sensing his acquiescence, Lani began to throw on her clothes. “What island?” she asked as she pulled a black T-shirt, the better to go unnoticed in the dark, over her head.
“The one where they’re holding Britton. Do we have a deal or don’t we?”
“Whatever you say, Donovan,” she returned sweetly. “Ford’s been here in the islands this entire time?”
“Apparently. When he sobered up and realized he’d mouthed off in the bar, he did a vanishing act and hop-skipped from island to island hoping to put everyone off his trail. It took the goons working for the syndicate who had hired the original hit on the Wainani this long to track him down. From what I could find out, they’re holding him until their boss arrives here tonight from the mainland.”
“If they’re holding him captive, then they don’t know where the Wainani is,” Lani said thoughtfully.
“Probably not. It’s obvious that they ransacked the shop looking for the sea chart. Britton must have done something right for a change and hidden it in a place none of us have thought of.”
“It appears so. What island is he on?”
“Tern,” he answered, naming one of the northwestern leeward islands.
“Tern Island? But that’s a wildlife refuge.”
“Then these guys should feel right at home,” he countered. “Are you ready?”
“Almost. Won’t it be difficult to hire a plane and pilot at this hour?” she asked.
“We won’t have to, because I’ve had one waiting at an old deserted airfield for the past eight hours.”
“What a lucky coincidence,” she murmured, “that you’d hire a plane this very evening. Even after your visit to The Blue Parrot supposedly didn’t turn up anything very valuable.”
“I found out Britton was probably being held on one of the uninhabited islands,” Donovan admitted. “But I didn’t know until that phone call exactly which one.”
“You lied to me, didn’t you, Donovan?” she asked calmly.
“It was more a lie of omission. One I thought was best.”
“Don’t you think that was rather presumptuous of you?”
The movement of his jaw suggested that Donovan was grinding his teeth. “If it’s presumptuous to want to keep you alive, then yeah, I guess I was being presumptuous.” He glanced pointedly at his watch. “We’re wasting time here, Lani.”
She gave him an acquiescent smile as she pulled up a pair of black pants. Okay, so, being yoga pants, they weren’t all that practical, but they were the only dark ones she owned. “I’m ready whenever you are, Donovan.”
His only response was a muffled oath, but as they walked out to the Jeep, Lani thought she detected a ghost of a smile on his tight lips.
When they reached the airfield that was little more than a patch of dirt, Donovan led her directly to a Piper Apache parked at the end of the runway. When the pilot—a grim-faced man in his mid-to-late thirties with a military haircut—saw Lani, he scowled.
“Don’t tell me that you’re bringing a woman.” His disapproving tone showed exactly how little he thought of the idea.
“She’ll be okay,” Donovan assured him. “She’ll be staying on the plane.”
“It’s your funeral,” the pilot muttered with a shrug as he turned his attention to preflight details.
“Nice crew you’ve hired,” Lani said to Donovan as they boarded the twin-engine plane. “If the pilot’s any example of the hospitality on this airline, I can’t wait to meet the flight attendants.”