CHAPTER One

Choosing to run into a burning building probably wasn’t the smartest decision he’d ever made. Then again, sadly, it wasn’t his dumbest either.

Kenton Lake choked in a deep breath of air—already tasted the smoke—then lifted his arm over his mouth. Some jobs just sucked.

He went into the wall of smoke. Ah, hell.

His nostrils burned. Heat scored his flesh, but he heard the voice calling, the same voice that had lured him to the building, lured him across the street and into this inferno.

“H-help! Dammit, h-help me!”

His informer. Upstairs. In the middle of the flames and fury.

He jerked off his jacket, covered his mouth, and tried to stay as low to the floor as he could.

His eyes burned, and the ash and fire singed his nostrils. How the hell had this happened? He was investigating arson, not supposed to get drawn into—

Part of the ceiling fell behind him.

Kenton glared up at the long row of stairs. Ten-to-one odds they’d fall away before he got to the top.

Ten to one.

“H-help…”

Weaker.

He took the stairs. One. Two. Three.

And, yep, they gave way just when he reached stair number four. Kenton went down, hard. The broken wood bit into his arms and legs, and the fire flew toward him.

A blast of water shot out, hard and fast, slamming into the flames.

Someone grabbed him, hauled him up, and a hand locked tight around his arm. Kenton found himself staring right at a firefighter.

He caught a smoky glimpse of narrowed eyes behind a clear eye shield. Kenton had a fast impression of a thick, black helmet and a brown uniform—

The firefighter shoved him forward, obviously trying to send him toward the front of the building.

Hell, no.

More firefighters swarmed around him, battling the fire. Some struck out with axes, some scrambled into the rooms.

Couldn’t they hear the voice calling for help?

He tried to break free and jump for those stairs. There was a gap, he could make it, he might—

The firefighter who’d grabbed him before dragged him right back and gave a hard negative shake of that black helmet.

Screw that, he wasn’t leaving a victim behind—

He wrenched away.

Then the firefighter slugged him. Hard. Right in his jaw. Damn, one hell of a hit.

Kenton went down.

The firefighter’s arms wrapped around him. Another grabbed him. Another.

Then they dragged his ass out of the flames.

“Idiot!” The snarl came at him the minute the oxygen mask was shoved onto his face. Kenton looked up, gaze narrowed against the smoke that still burned his eyes, and saw the firefighter—the asshole who’d slugged him—jerk off his helmet and mask—

Um, her helmet and mask. Not a man, there. No way.

He swallowed and choked a bit.

He could make out her eyes better now. Gorgeous, shimmering gold, so clear and deep and—

He threw the oxygen mask aside and leaped to his feet. “You left a man in there!”

Those golden eyes widened. Very slowly, she lifted her right hand, a fragile hand that had packed a whole lot of punch, and pointed to the left.

A fire truck ladder was lowering as it moved away from the building. And a man was on the ladder. Older, with stooped shoulders and a soot-stained face. A firefighter had him in a tight grip, and the guy appeared to be coughing up a lung.

“Got him,” she said sweetly, her voice a slow drawl of the South that reminded him of a teammate at the Bureau.

His gaze flew back to her. He looked now, really looked. Short blond hair, wet from sweat and the heat, was molded to her head. Her face was all strong angles, with a sharp, pointed chin. Wide, golden eyes. Cat eyes. Not conventionally pretty. Not really.

But with those full lips, those cheekbones and, damn, those eyes—sexy.

Definitely sexy.

Her hands were on her hips now. He couldn’t tell a thing about the shape of her body, not in that thick uniform, but she was tall, just a few inches shy of his own six foot three.

Probably long and lean, and he usually liked them a bit softer around the edges and—

“Wanna tell me why you’ve got a death wish, GQ?”

GQ? He glanced down at his ruined suit. Right. So she was funny. Or wanted to be. “I heard…” He coughed and had to pause to clear his throat and breathe. “I heard… him calling for help.” He wouldn’t tell her the guy was his informant, not yet. That was on a need-to-know basis. Bedroom eyes didn’t need to know that yet.

Those eyes. Impressive, really. They were so big that he was surprised she’d gotten them to go so mean and small, so fast. “Firefighters fight the flames.” Ice could have dripped from that drawl. Interesting. Ice in a fiery hell. “Not businessmen with a hero complex.”

He rubbed his jaw. It hurt. So did his ego. “You always punch out your victims? That part of your complex?”

She shook her head. “I only punch when the guys are dumb enough to fight help when it comes.”

Ah, now that was the second time she’d insulted his intelligence. He reached into his back pocket. Yanked out his wallet. The leather stuck a bit when he tried to open it, but he shoved his ID toward her. “FBI, sweetheart. I think I know how to handle a dangerous situation.”

She didn’t even glance down. “I think that’s debatable.”

A snicker came from behind him.

Great. An audience. He’d forgotten all about the EMTs.

His sexy savior—with the serious attitude—turned away. “Get him checked out, Harry,” she called out and marched away.

That was it?

His gaze dropped. Couldn’t help it. Even in that thick garb, she had a nice sway.

“You—you assaulted an officer!” It was all he could think of right then. She was heading for his informant, leaving him in her dust.

He didn’t want her to go. Not yet.

Her name was on the lower back of her uniform. Spelled out in big, reflective letters. L. SPADE.

She threw a vulgar gesture over her shoulder, but didn’t stop walking.

Well, well… He couldn’t fight the smile that lifted his lips.

“Dude, you better stop while you’re ahead.” From the EMT. What had she called him? Harvey? Harry?

Kenton tossed the oxygen mask at him. Spade was too close to his informant. No way was she getting first crack at him.

The guy was his. Once he stopped trying to cough up his lung, anyway.

“Hey—wait! You need to go to the ER. You can’t just—”

Kenton shoved his way through the crowd. There were gawkers lined up across the street, watching the fire begin to sputter. Smoke drifted lazily into the night air, the sirens wailed, and general chaos ensued.

Nice.

The informant reached the ground, and the paramedics immediately swarmed him.

“We need him taken to Langley General, stat!” Spade’s voice. “Sir, sir—you’re gonna be all right! You hear me? You’re safe!”

The guy coughed, shuddered, and seemed to pull in on himself. Then he broke free of the paramedics and ran right at L. Spade.

“Sir!”

Uh-oh, was she gonna punch him, too?

No, a coughing fit took him down.

Then it was a pile of bodies as the paramedics got to work. When the guy appeared again, he was strapped to a gurney, twitching, shouting, and spitting.

“You’re welcome.” Spade sighed, running a hand through her short hair. “Must be the night for assholes,” she muttered.

Kenton came up close beside her. “Guess it must.”

Her head turned toward him. Those amazing eyes narrowed. Huh. Kinda like golden fire staring right back at him.

“Who the hell are you?” someone snarled.

Kenton glanced away from Spade, and up. Damn. A big guy, both in height and width, with a grizzled gray beard and beady moss-green eyes.

“Chief, this here’s an FBI agent…” Her drawl thickened, deliberately, he was sure.

A grunt. “You the fool Lora had to pull out of the building?”

What was with these people? Weren’t firefighters supposed to be helpful and kind?

“What were you doing here?” the chief demanded, jabbing a thick finger toward him. “This is a known drug area, and it’s—”

“That’s why I was here.” Ah, bullshit. He could do it so well. “Investigation, you know. Classified—can’t discuss it with you.” His prey was getting away. An EMT shoved the screaming man into the back of the ambulance. Great. He already knew the guy was a runner. If the fellow made it to the hospital, he’d vanish long before emergency personnel got hold of him.

The chief turned away. “Long, Suvalis—get those hoses over here! We still got flames…”

“You are so full of crap.” Ah, this from the sweet-tongued Lora Spade.

He blinked at her. “Sorry, I’m suddenly feeling… a little woozy.” He rubbed his jaw. “Could be from the blow I took. I think, I–I think I need to get to the hospital.”

Kenton took a step away, his eyes already on that ambulance.

She touched his arm. He felt the heat of that touch right through the sleeve of his dress shirt. “What’s your name, GQ?”

“Kenton. Special Agent Kenton Lake.” So she felt the connection, too, that hot zip of attraction.

“Thanks. I needed your name since I’ll be reporting your actions to your boss at the Bureau.”

What? She was reporting him? She was the one who should be—

A siren screamed on. No, no, it can’t get away. “Talk to you later, sweetheart.” He broke into a run. No, don’t shut that door—“Wait!” The EMT glanced back. “I’m coming with you.” He dug out his mangled ID, waved it at the guy, then jumped inside.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Kenton tossed a hard grin at the man he suspected to be Louis Jerome, informer extraordinaire. “You didn’t think I’d miss our meeting, did you?”

That stopped the screaming.

“Uh, sir, you need to sit back—”

He shook his head, hard, and the EMT quieted. “Tell me what’s going on, Jerome. Tell me what’s happening with these fires, tell me why you called—”

“N-name’s… not… Jerome.” Hoarse. Either from the fire or from the screaming. “Larry. Larry… Powell. Don’t know… who the… fuck you are.”

Kenton’s body tensed. The words didn’t sound like a lie. Those eyes didn’t look like the guy was lying either. After so many years of tracking criminals, Kenton was good at finding the lies.

Kenton reached for his phone, but his pocket was empty. He must have dropped it during the fall. Dammit. He needed to run a check on this guy, Larry Powell.

Because if this wasn’t his informant…

Then where’s Jerome?

“Prick.” Lora Spade watched the ambulance pull away in a flash of lights and shook her head. Those Bureau boys always thought they ruled the world.

God’s gift.

Okay, yeah, he had been hot, and not just because of the flames around him.

But still… a prick.

She glanced back at the building. They’d contained the fire, a damn good thing. In this part of Charlottesville, Virginia, the buildings were slammed right next to each other. The situation could have gone bad, too quickly.

“Spade!” Chief Frank Garrison roared her name. “Spade, get over here!”

The man rarely bothered using his radio. After all, why bother? Despite twenty-plus years of fighting fires, his lungs were plenty strong enough for good yells.

She hightailed it toward him. He’d stationed himself near the front of the smoking building, and his hands were in hamlike fists on his hips. A pose that she knew meant trouble.

“We got a damn body.” He spat on the ground. He did that when he was upset. She’d learned to watch her toes around him. “Or what’s left of one.”

Lora sucked in a sharp breath. A victim? But they’d done a primary and secondary sweep, they’d searched all possible rooms—and gotten the other two men out.

She adjusted her gear and followed the captain inside. Her boots pressed into the puddles on the floor and sank into the ash.

They went down two winding hallways and up one flight of stairs to the back of the building. Place was supposed to be empty. Giant “No Trespassing” signs were posted at the front. The building had been condemned.

But three victims had been inside.

Her heart slammed into her ribs and bile rose in her throat. Three victims.

And they’d only gotten two out.

Then she saw the door, or what was left of it. The fire had burned up most of the wood, and she could see the man, slumped inside.

Blisters and burns covered his body, but…

The smoke got to him first. The freaking unbelievable heat. Because the wounds weren’t enough to kill him.

What the hell? She inched closer. The guy was in some kind of closet. Two feet by four feet, why was he—

Then she saw the padlock. On the outside of the charred remains of the door. Still hanging on, despite the fire.

Locked in.

Left to die.

Her eyes met the captain’s, and she read the dark knowledge there.

Another one.

Dammit.

The poor bastard never had a chance.

He liked to watch the fire. When it danced, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Sensual, like a lover.

The firefighters had battled his blaze with all their strength. But, in the end, the fire had won—and claimed her prize.

And, to make things interesting, he’d even gotten a bonus during the show. Two bonuses, really. Two more victims.

Like the fool who’d rushed in… He hadn’t counted on that. He’d underestimated the man.

But he’d been saved. So had the addict.

Not that they mattered. They weren’t really part of the game.

Well, not yet.

But they’d tasted the fire tonight. They wouldn’t soon forget that taste.

After all, you never forgot your first.

The smoke was in the wind. When he opened his mouth, he tasted it on his tongue.

She came out then. Jerking off her helmet. Pacing back and forth too quickly.

Ah, she found my body.

Lora Spade understood the game. Perhaps better than anyone else. She knew what he was doing.

Did she know why?

Tonight, the firefighters had lost. They hadn’t searched hard enough. Hadn’t responded fast enough.

The dead… he was on their hands. Her hands.

More bodies would come. Because when you fought the fire, you learned, fast, that the fire fought back.