Constant Craving

By Melissa Schroeder

She might trust him with her life but she's not too sure she can trust him with her heart.

Charity Edwards has never been a woman who liked to compromise--not at work and definitely not in her personal life. So, when TJ Callahan appears on the scene as their FBI liaison, she takes a chance on the slow talking Texan.

TJ doesn't like undercover work, but thanks to an old case, he has been tasked to do just that. He uses his position to infiltrate TFH to investigate Charity, a woman well-known for her hacking skills. His almost instant attraction he has to Charity makes it impossible not to blur the lines and he soon finds himself falling for the impossible woman.

When his assignment is revealed, Charity wants nothing to do with him, but she has no choice. Thanks to TJ's investigation, Charity's life is in jeopardy and he will do anything to protect her--even if it means sacrificing himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Jan 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9781094462158

Melissa Schroeder

From an early age, USA Today Bestselling author Melissa loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book. Since her first published book, Grace Under Pressure, Mel has had over 60 short stories, novellas, and novels published. She has written in genres ranging from historical to contemporary to futuristic and has worked with 8 publishers although she handles most of her publishing herself. She is best known for her Harmless and Santini series. After years of following her military husband around the country and world, Mel happily lives with her family in horse and wine country in Northern Virginia.

Book preview

1

Charity Edwards stretched her hands over her head and sighed. Taking Friday off had been a good idea. She had a lot of leave time, plus, her boss Del instituted a payback time policy. He believed they should take advantage of the slower times because there were periods that would have them working around the clock.

And this was definitely a slow time. It had been close to two full weeks since they’d had a case, and all of them were getting antsy. Task Force Hawaii handled high profile cases, and many ended up dragging on for weeks and involved several local, state, and federal departments. At the moment though, there was an eerie calm about their work. With each day that passed without a new case, the unnatural atmosphere worsened and all of them were on edge. None of them wanted to admit it, but it felt as if something was coming to get them.

She shook her head. Her mama always said she had an active imagination. Staying up late watching horror movies last night had been a bad idea.

Slipping out of bed, she decided to get some coffee and enjoy the morning views. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she made her way to the kitchen. She was a caffeine junkie and needed it to be able to function. And not kill people. That was something that it helped with. After brewing a single cup, she headed out to her lanai.

She sipped her coffee and watched the busy traffic below. Then, she looked out toward the direction of Diamond Head. The sun was just starting to peek over the buildings, casting light and shadows on a city she was starting to adore.

Georgia was a far cry from her sixteenth floor apartment in Capitol Center in downtown Honolulu, or even the townhouse she’d had in Georgetown when she’d lived in DC. She missed what she had always thought of as home, but now, in less than a year, she had come to fall in love with the Hawaiian Islands, their customs and people.

Just thinking about Georgia made her think of her parents. An only child of only children, they had a small meddlesome family. Her mother liked to say that they all just knew each other better than most, Charity thought with a smile. She would give anything for one of her mother’s cinnamon rolls. Celeste Edwards knew how to make the most amazing sweets, and Charity had the hips to prove it.

Morning, Drew Franklin mumbled as he stepped out on the lanai.

She glanced at him. It had been six months since the shooting that almost took his life. He looked better, but he wasn’t truly fine. She knew that better than anyone. About a month ago, she’d made him move into her spare room. She had planned on making it her walk-in closet—and yes, she did have that many clothes—but she knew that Drew needed to live with her for a while. Otherwise, he would have stayed at his folks’ place and hidden from everyone. At least this way, she could force him out every now and then.

Morning, champ.

He sat down in the other chair and looked out at the city. He had always been one of the most positive people she had known. She could always count on him to cheer her up with an absurd joke or his observations on life. That is, until the shooting. Now, he was grumpy most of the time. Part of it was the pain, the other part of it was their teammate Cat. Their romance had withered after the shooting, and Charity wasn’t sure if they had actually talked since he’d left the hospital. She knew he hadn’t been back to work, so there was a good chance they hadn’t had a conversation.

Luke and Jess, her two cats, slunk out onto the lanai. She had grown up with dogs. Lots of them, and she loved them—along with most animals. But with her hours, and the fact that she lived in an apartment, she thought it best to stay with cats for the moment. Of course, they hated every single person on the face of the earth except her. That is, until Drew had moved in. They had taken to sleeping with him.

Are you planning on heading out to your folks’ place today?

He shrugged, as Luke jumped into Drew’s lap. Luke was a Himalayan she had rescued from behind her first apartment in Hawaii. He stared at her across the table with the most irritated look. Not to be ignored, Jess jumped into her lap and purred. Charity knew that she had been Jess’ second pick. The American short-haired/tiger mix stared at Drew, coveting him as she allowed Charity to pet her.

I thought we could pop on by and see everyone. Get out. Get lunch somewhere since you won’t cook for me.

He grunted. She hated that sound. And, at one time she let it go. He’d died twice on the operating table, and they had all handled him with kid gloves. She was thinking now might be time to take them off.

Yes. We will go out.

I thought you said you took off to sleep in. You’re up earlier than you get up on a regular work day.

When I have to get up for work, I don’t want to get up. Don’t try to distract me. We’re going out today and having fun.

He slunk down further in his chair. That was his only response. She could give him space, even let him be a pain in the ass for a while. Acting like a sullen teenager was a little too much.

No way out of it, Andrew Franklin. We are going out and you will get some sun. It will be good for you.

Without waiting for his reply, she stood up and hurried off to get ready. The best thing her mama ever taught her was to just steamroll men. Don’t give them time to think. Men always created too many problems when they thought too much.

She grabbed another cup of coffee and headed off to her bedroom. Today was going to be a glorious day.

-

FBI Agent TJ Callahan was shutting down his computer as Freddy Santos came walking by his office. The California transplant had been TJ’s sponsor when he moved to Hawaii less than a year ago.

Hey, Hammer. Boss wants to see you.

Damn. This close to freedom. Why?

Freddy shrugged. I was in his office and your old supervisor called in. Said he needed you right now.

Fuck. He hated meetings. He especially hated to have anything to do with DC. He’d left a year ago, and he hadn’t regretted it one bit. But, overall, meetings sucked. They always took too long and were a lot of wasted time. They could accomplish what needed to be done in about half the time. TJ knew it was a bad thing to be called into the supervisor’s office on a Friday. They might be the FBI, but they were in Honolulu. Officially, they were still at work, but late on a Friday afternoon, the Aloha Friday spirit was alive and well—even in their office.

With regret, he watched many of his coworkers, including Santos, start to head to the elevators. Aloha Friday was definitely upon them, and the lucky bastards were getting a head start. TJ could almost taste the Longboard Ale he had chilling in his fridge at home. He closed his eyes and licked his lips.

Callahan, his boss bellowed from down the hall.

TJ opened his eyes and decided to pay the piper. The sooner he could get done with that, the sooner he could get to work at home. Since buying his house a few months ago, he had relished his weekends. No more eighty-hour work weeks for Agent Callahan. No way. Here, he left early on Fridays and spent his weekends surfing and refurbishing his house in Waimanalo.

Sighing, he stood and made his way to Agent Tsu’s office. Since TJ’s transfer, things had been easy. He did most of his work at his desk, where he was most comfortable. It was something he had insisted upon after the FUBAR in DC. His last assignment had gone south, and he’d been in the hospital for a week afterwards. He did not want to go through that again.

TJ stepped into Tsu’s office and saw his former boss on the big screen.

Hey, Hammer. How’s it going? Agent Remington said.

Remington was a hell of a guy, and had been a kick ass boss. He had been one of the first agents assigned to cyber terrorism back in the day. Working for him had been one of the highlights of TJ’s career so far. Unfortunately, it had brought about some very bad times as well.

Fifteen years older than TJ, Stan Remington showed his age in the fine wisps of gray littering his dark brown hair. But his face, hell, he looked like he had aged five years in the last year. Dark circles beneath his eyes accented the fine lines, and his skin now looked sallow. More than likely, he had slept in the office the night before…and the night before that.

Why don’t you have a seat? Agent Tsu, his present supervisor, said. We have a situation.

TJ got the itch on the back of his neck that told him trouble was just around the corner.

And that would be? he asked, as he took the other seat in front of the big screen.

Seems like someone at Task Force Hawaii has been naughty, Remington said. There have been some...breaches of security in the last few months. Leads all the way back to their people.

What kind of breaches?

"Nothing that big, until this past weekend. Seems someone was trying to access security codes to find operative names, Remington said. We caught it on time and we informed the operatives."

Location? he asked.

Far East.

That didn’t sound good. Not good at all. Remington was being evasive, and that always meant he wanted TJ to do something that might not be kosher with the bosses—or TJ for that matter.

So, you want me to question them? he asked.

No, Tsu said. We want you to be the liaison to TFH. They’ve been asking for one for months. This gives you the perfect cover.

TJ glanced at the screen, then back to Tsu.

One of the agreements of me taking this job was not to go undercover. Not after the last job.

It won’t be anything dangerous. In fact, we just want background. But, it is the first lead we’ve had on Foley in over a year.

Ice danced over his nerve endings. Then, anticipation surged before he could control it.

And you want me to put myself out there again.

He’d requested the job in Hawaii. After the mess of Remington’s investigation, TJ had pressed to escape the political minefield of DC. All of the FBI was political, but there it was insane. He wanted to work in his office again, no more undercover. He might carry a sidearm, but he didn’t want to use it on a daily basis. He’d had enough of that last year.

I wouldn’t ask if we didn’t need this. But we haven’t been able to get a hit on Foley until now. The fact that he appeared in your backyard is a good thing. Or, at least using someone in your backyard.

Foley liked to do that. He would find a woman with expertise, or a young man who was looking for a father figure. They would do all the work, break all the laws, and Foley would disappear. Their thank you for the job was usually a bullet to the back of the head—or a lifetime in prison.

You’re considered the expert on him, TJ said.

True, but it would be best if I don’t pop up there and cause a ruckus. You know if I do, he might disappear again, Remington said.

This way, you can at least get inside the building, Tsu said. They tend to keep to themselves unless it is required otherwise.

So we, as a federal agency, are going to play patty cake to try to find something out?

It sounded like a shit job all the way around. Sure, he might find a lead on Foley, but they wouldn’t let him follow it. He would be ordered to hand it off to Remington.

You know we have the authority to just question their people.

Yes, but if you do that, you might scare off Foley, Remington said.

TJ heard the unwavering tone and knew he was definitely screwed. If he didn’t go along, they would order him to do it. Then, he would either have to comply or get written up for insubordination and asked to hand in his badge.

Who’s the target? he asked.

Tsu handed him a file. He opened it and found a picture of a stunning woman. Brown skin, sea-green eyes, and a thousand-watt smile.

This is my target? he asked as he tore his attention away from the picture. She looks like a sorority girl.

Don’t be so fooled, Tsu said. I’ve been to a few of her lectures. She regularly gets asked to write articles and, on top of that, the University of Hawaii has been after her to teach a class. She’s sharp as a tack.

She also has a record, Remington said.

That definitely caught his attention. She has a record? How is she working at TFH? TJ asked.

She was a juvenile. Broke into the school to change grades.

Sure, every hacker thinks of doing that at one time or another, TJ said. In fact, TJ’s three brothers had bugged him often once they reached the age to understand their brother’s abilities.

Not hers. Woman had straight A’s through high school.

But she broke in to change her grades?

Yeah. Doesn’t say why since it was juvenile, and apparently her father’s family has a lot of pull in the town, so the charges were dropped. Then she went to University of Georgia. Dropped out her junior year.

Dropped out?

There was a beat of silence. Happens sometimes, you know that with computer geeks.

But this says she is a forensics tech.

Yes, and she is very good at her job. She can handle all of that and hack like a damned expert. She wrote a few papers, and they got noticed by several agencies. We tried to recruit her—as did the NSA—but the CIA snapped her up before we could. She worked there for a while before she headed off to a few other places before landing in Hawaii. Seems to be settling in since she bought an apartment.

The itch was getting worse. Damn, this was going to be beyond a shit assignment. Great. She’s going to smell this a mile away.

What I need you to do is just be the liaison, Tsu said. It will be a few days, tops.

And then I just disappear? That’s going to go over well.

They’ve been screaming for a liaison for months. It won’t raise any flags.

He studied Tsu. So, I’m the lamb to the slaughter, is that it?

He shrugged. In a way. I couldn’t get a designation for someone to work with them until now.

Until you think one of them broke several federal laws and is working with a criminal, who not only has been fucking us over for three years, but likes to profit off the deaths of our agents. Gotta love the FBI.

I’m using it the best I can, Tsu said. If nothing comes of the investigation, you can keep working with them. We’ve needed someone over there for more than a year, but the Bureau wasn’t happy when Hawaii decided to form a task force like this.

Of course they weren’t. The FBI thought they ran the entire country and everyone should bow to their power. It worked sometimes, but even in the few months TJ had been living in Hawaii, he’d learned you couldn’t force Hawaiians to do what they didn’t want to. It was one of the things he loved about living there. They were the epitome of dancing to the beat of their own drum.

So, instead of working with them, and taking some of the load off us, the Bureau decided to be assholes and not give them a liaison?

Until now. And, we can justify it now that you’ll have the job, Tsu said.

Doesn’t really matter in the end, Remington said.

Why not? TJ asked.

If their forensics tech is working for a cyber-criminal like Foley, then I doubt TFH will survive.

And TJ was going to be the lucky bastard who got to rip it apart.

2

Monday morning arrived too early for Charity. It started with her alarm not going off. Or, maybe she turned it off in her sleep. She didn’t remember. Rushing in the morning was never a good thing, and she did it more than she liked to admit. Later than usual, she didn’t even have time to jump in the shower.

She grabbed her favorite black skirt with white polka dots and stepped into it. Why did they have Monday mornings anyway? They all sucked. Sucked a lot. No one wanted to be there and if they got a case on a Monday it was an omen. It was going to be a crappy case that would give Del what she called his aneurism face.

Charity hurried into her bathroom and checked out her outfit. It was one of her favorites, and always left her feeling powerful. The knit white shirt hugged her curves and paired nicely with the skirt. As she applied her lipstick, she thought about the weekend. It had been fantastic. Still, spending time with Drew and his family always left her feeling a little homesick.

With a sigh, she capped the lipstick, and headed back into her bedroom. She grabbed a white scarf and walked out into the living room.

Drew was sitting on the couch watching TV. She knew that he hadn’t slept much the night before. While a lot of people in the midst of depression might sleep a lot, Drew did the opposite. She heard him walking the apartment at all hours of the night. They didn’t speak of it—not yet. She was easing into it. She knew he was restless and that was good. He needed another week or two, then she would push more. It was all a delicate process to get Drew back on his feet.

You’re going to be late, Drew said, without looking at her.

She glanced at him. He was still staring at the TV.

It’s only 8 o’clock, and remember, I live closer than I did before.

He rolled his eyes and picked up Luke, her male cat, as she walked into the kitchen. She knew he hadn’t eaten breakfast, and would avoid eating for awhile. Pushing those thoughts aside, she grabbed an energy bar. She snatched up her purse and tossed the bar at Drew, who caught it without looking.

Good reflexes, slick, she said. Just make sure you eat it.

Jess came sauntering in, unhappy with the situation. Both her cats had decided they owned Drew, and did not like when the other got attention.

Why don’t you come by for lunch? she asked, as she wrapped the scarf around her head and tied it at the base of her neck.

I’ll let you know.

She knew it was a lie. He wasn’t going to come into work, hadn’t since the shooting. Six months earlier, he’d almost died, and Drew still hadn’t worked through the issues. Of course, the fact that his brief romance with Cat Kalakau had hit the skids after the shooting did nothing to help things. Work and romance