Hostile Desires Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing he had done, after trying to run away, was ask for a lawyer, then piss himself while in the squad car.
    Since that moment, he had been silent. Part of it was self-preservation. The other part of it was the little bastard was crashing hard. Graeme could see it in his eyes. When he did talk, it made no sense whatsoever. Graeme studied him through the two-way mirror. He didn’t look as if he could withstand a strong trade wind. His leg hadn’t stopped moving since the moment Graeme laid eyes on him, and the wild look in his eyes, along with the dirty clothes and tangled hair, told him the kid had definitely been living on the streets—or close to it.
    Rome stepped into the room and nodded at the officer who had brought Graeme in.
    “Hey, Graeme. Is there a reason you’re here?”
    “Just wanted to see him. This is the bloke who killed Joe?” Graeme asked, not moving his gaze from the suspect.
    Rome sighed. “Yeah. And more than likely, high as a kite at the time. Or, he was hurting for a fix so bad he would have killed his own grandmother to get enough money to buy.”
    “What is he? Sixteen?”
    “Twenty-five.”
    He looked at Rome to see if the detective was joking. His grim expression told Graeme that he wasn’t.
    “You’re telling me he’s almost a decade older than he looks?”
    Rome nodded. “With a long rap sheet. I’m pretty sure he used his size to fool people too. Petty theft, muggings, and felony drug possession. You name it, he did it to get his next fix. He’s definitely an ICE head. He didn’t care who he hurt as long as he got a fix.”
    ICE was what locals called meth. It was just as bad on the islands as it was on the mainland.
    “People liked Joe,” Graeme murmured.
    Carino’s gaze sharpened. “You knew him?”
    Graeme nodded. “Yeah. I live in Laie. I stopped by every now and then. Joe was one of the first locals to welcome me to the islands. Always smiling.”
    “Yeah. He’s going to be missed.”
    Graeme glanced back at the young man. “He looks feart of something.”
    “I am going to assume that means afraid, and he should. We have to protect him.”
    “Who from?”
    “You name it. If he is in the general pop at Halawa, he’s going to have just about everyone in there after him. All the gangs, no matter their affiliation, are going to go after him.”
    “Yeah, that’s true. The Wiki Mart was one place on the island anyone could shop at and be safe. And they had been until today.”
    “It is odd that he escalated the violence. Before today, he would normally grab the occasional tourist’s purse, or do a smash and grab at a store. He’d never used a weapon of any kind.”
    “Might have dried up a money source.”
    Carino nodded. “But we won’t find out until his lawyer gets here.”
    “Does he have a lawyer?”
    “Public defender.”
    Graeme watched as the young man slowed his movements. His leg was no longer banging against the table Suddenly, his eyes rolled back and he slid to the floor.
    “Fuck,” Carino said, as he started running toward the door.
    McGregor followed him, but stayed out of the way, waiting to see if they needed his help. Foam was bubbling up from the man’s mouth as he started to convulse.
    Carino took hold of his head and tried to keep it still as Katsu shuddered against the floor. Nothing came out of his mouth but gurgling noises, and his eyes were still rolled back in his head.
    “Stay with me, Sam. Come on,” Carino yelled.
    No response. The choking sounds grew louder just as the EMTs came rushing in. As they started to work on Katsu, Carino backed off and walked over to Graeme.
    “There are going to be a lot of people very happy this happened,” Carino said. “If he doesn’t survive, it’s going to save the DA a lot of headaches.”
    “True,” Graeme said, as he watched what he thought would be fruitless efforts. And it would be better for almost everyone, except Katsu and Graeme. If he died, it was going to be damned hard to