CHAPTER Three
Kenton followed Lora outside. She kept her keys gripped tightly in her hand, and she walked with quick, long strides.
But then she stopped and turned to face him.
A few other folks were in the parking lot. A guy had his date up on the hood of his Vette. His arms were locked around her, and his mouth crushed hers. Kenton caught the flash of a badge. Figured, the place had smelled of cops.
A car door slammed. Two men strode toward the bar.
A woman eased out of the heavy doors.
“There’s something you should know…” Lora began, voice grim.
His brows raised.
“Carter and I—”
He waited, because he’d known this was coming. It was the way she said the guy’s name. The softness that whispered in her voice. It told him they’d been—
“We were involved.”
Her eyes widened, reflecting the moonlight. “Yeah, yeah, we were.”
She’d buried her lover. Lost him to the fire.
And gone back to battle the flames.
“It’s been six months, and the guy hasn’t struck again. Could be he’s moved on or could be he’s lying low, waiting for his next strike.” Lora rocked forward on her heels. “But I was tired of waiting for this case to break. Carter needed justice.”
Carter? Or her? “What makes you so sure the fire on LeRoy wasn’t set by your guy?”
“At first, I thought it might be him, even though there was no 911 call. A liquid accelerant was used, and the vic was locked in the closet. But my guy—the guy we’re after—he doesn’t kill first. He lets the fire do the dirty work for him.”
Yeah, he’d been thinking about that, and he’d realized… “He’d kill if he wanted to make damn sure the victim didn’t survive.” Jerome had called the Bureau with a tip about an arson fire in Charlottesville. Jerome had lived near Charlie Skofield, and the guy had said he wanted to cash out on what he’d seen the night of that fire.
Jerome had been ready to cash out, all right; then the poor bastard had been trapped in a blaze.
Kenton didn’t believe in coincidences.
“Why? Why that guy?” Lora demanded. “I don’t—”
He wasn’t going to tell her. Not yet. Because while he needed her knowledge, he didn’t trust her.
Kenton trusted his team at the SSD. And no one else.
A loud burst of music broke the night. Hard-hitting rock. His eyes narrowed because the music was coming from Lora.
Lora yanked out her phone. “Spade.” Her breath sucked in. “Shit. Okay, I’m on my way.”
He caught the tremble of her fingers. “What’s going on?”
“Fire. Looks like our guy’s back in the game.”
Kenton wasn’t sure that he’d ever left. “How do you know it’s him? Fires do happen, you know. It doesn’t have to be—”
“The jerkoff called it in, said the chief had to hurry.” She was already whirling around to run away, but he easily heard her last words. “The bastard said to hurry because the vic didn’t have much time.”
Damn.
Kenton ran after her and caught her arm. “Sweetheart, no way in hell you’re leaving me behind.”
Partners. For now.
The building was still burning when Lora braked to a stop on Byron Street. Firefighters scrambled, some dragging the long hose toward the building. The cops were there, keeping the perimeter blocked, though no one stood in the street. No watchers this time.
Not in this neighborhood.
Lora jumped from her car, then slammed the door with a hard thud. “Chief!” Frank was there, close to the truck, with his head down. He started at her call and spun around.
“I don’t see the victim,” Kenton muttered from beside her.
The flames shot higher.
“Pull back!” Frank snarled into his radio. “Every damn one of you, pull back.”
The fire licked at the night sky. The yellow flames twisted and turned while the thick, black smoke billowed in the air.
“Gasoline,” she whispered. “This time, he used gasoline as the accelerant.”
“What?” Kenton asked immediately. “How do you know that?”
“The color of the smoke.” She pointed to the fire. “And the yellow flames. Those are two damn good indicators.” Firefighters learned early on to match up the smoke and fire color with the accelerants.
Two firefighters ran out of the building.
Sometimes they don’t make it out.
“Carter!” The echo of that scream was in her mind, and God, she’d screamed his name for so long. Screamed and begged, but he hadn’t moved. Hadn’t answered her.
“Lora, get him the fuck back!” Frank’s snarl snapped her attention back to the present, and she grabbed Kenton’s expensive shirt.
“Not safe, GQ.” She yanked him with her. She shouldn’t have brought him inside the perimeter line, but dammit, she hadn’t been thinking. She’d jumped from the car, run for the chief—
And Kenton had been right beside her.
Lora licked her lips. “We’ve got to move!”
Those flames were rolling, tightening, and spreading too fast. She knew the signs; she knew what was coming even before she heard the loud groan as the roof gave way.
“Shit!” She shoved him, knocking him to the ground as debris shot into the air.
Even this far away, she could have sworn she felt the lick of that heat on her skin.
You never forgot the touch of fire.
Her hands slammed into the earth, and she raised up, trying to get a look at the agent. “You okay?”
The scream of another siren blasted. The backup truck had arrived. Thank God.
Kenton let out a groan. A frown pulled his brows low as he stared up at her. “Damn, sweetheart, you hit hard.”
She had three older brothers, and they’d taught her to tackle long ago. “You’re welcome.”
His face was close to hers. The guy had a line of stubble starting to grow along that hard, fierce jaw.
His eyes glinted. Her breasts were pressed tight against his chest. All muscle. So that was what he hid behind his fancy clothes. Strength.
And…
Her leg shifted. Made contact. Okay. No room to hide that.
She jerked back, then stumbled to her feet. “Just—ah… stay low.” Lora spun away from him, sucking in a deep breath.
The other team had their hose ready now, and they launched another attack on the blaze.
Lora and Kenton headed behind the second fire truck. Cover, just in case.
Frank ran toward her. “Dammit, Spade, you know better than to bring a civilian into—”
“Where’s the vic?” Kenton snapped, cutting across the words. Ah, some anger there. Probably didn’t like being called a civilian.
Frank’s eyes narrowed. “What do you—”
“Chief—he’s the agent Hyde sent.” Lora jumped in. “He’s here to find the bastard doing this.”
Frank knew what was happening in this town. He’d connected the dots after the second blaze.
“Where’s the vic?” Kenton pressed.
“He didn’t make it.” Frank wrenched off his helmet and threw it against the truck, revealing the gleaming scalp of his bald head. “The poor asshole never had a chance.”
“He was cuffed.”
At the gruff words, Lora turned and saw that another firefighter had marched up behind them. Rick Suvalis stood to the right, his tall frame stooped, ash and soot covering him. “I—I saw him, right before the roof—” His dark gaze shot to Lora, then away. “The guy was already dead, but I saw… he was cuffed to the radiator. I–I think it blew, when the fire hit. There must have been some—”
“I’m tired of this asshole!” Frank’s hands clenched. “I could have lost men in this blaze. This isn’t some fucking game.”
“It is to him.” Kenton shifted slightly, and his gaze swept the street. “That’s exactly what it is.”
There was a tense note in his voice. An alertness. “Kent?”
But he strode over to two cops and flashed his badge. “Get backup out here, ASAP,” Lora heard him say. “We’re searching these houses.” He pointed to the broken row of boarded-up windows and doors.
She hurried to his side. “What’s going on?”
Hard lines were etched on the sides of his mouth. “It’s his game, Lora. A game I’m betting he likes to watch.”
She stared at those windows again. Here. The guy could be right here.
Bracing her legs apart, she stared into the darkness and wondered who watched.
Too late. He rocked backward on his heels, and his hands tightened around the binoculars. The fire had won again.
But she always won. She took out his prey, burning so brightly, charring the flesh of his victims and sending the guilty to hell.
He stared down at the swirling lights. The running firemen.
Lora.
And Lora—she stared right back. A woman who knew the touch of fire better than she knew a lover’s touch.
When he closed his eyes, he could still hear Lora’s screams. She’d tried so hard to save her lover. Gone right back into the flames with him.
The others had run out, but she’d run in. And then dragged out a body.
The screams had come, when she couldn’t get the man to breathe. The choked sobs that wouldn’t stop.
Even when they hauled the body away. Poor Lora.
She looked so lovely by firelight.
“I want in that building,” Kenton growled. “I need to check the scene.”
They were back at Mickey’s. Three hours had passed since the flames had eaten their way through the walls and the roof of 419 Byron Street. The fire was out. All of the old houses near the fire scene had been thoroughly searched.
No sign of their pyro.
Lora turned off her car. “Tomorrow—” She broke off, shaking her head. What time was it? “Today, the arson team will go in first. But we should be able to get in maybe around two or three.” Once Seth and his guys had given the all-clear.
“I’ll go in with the team.” The scent of smoke clung to Kenton, filling the interior of her car. “And you’ll go with me.”
“Seth isn’t gonna like that.” The guy was more than territorial.
“Screw what he likes. From here on out, this is my show.”
Another man with a territory complex. “Have it your way, Special Agent.”
He turned on her, fast, and Lora realized that her car was way too small for the two of them.
“Keep it up, Spade. Keep pushing.”
’Cause, yeah, that’s what she was doing. Pushing. Sparring. So what? That was the way she worked.
“I’m calling my boss when dawn hits,” he said. Dawn wasn’t far away. She could already see the pink hues lighting the sky in the distance. “I’m getting a profiler down here. I’m going to rip apart every case the arson unit has worked on—and I’m going to make damn sure we haven’t missed another one of this guy’s hits.”
Now that was what she’d been hoping to hear. “Good.”
“If I’m right about this perp, and he’s been watching the scenes, then he’s seen you, Lora. He knows every man on your team. A guy like this—he wouldn’t take chances. He’d know you all.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. Because it hit too close to the weird feelings she’d had lately. Watching.
“Are you ready for what’s going to come? When we go after him, this guy won’t go down easy.”
A brittle laugh broke from her lips. “Trust me, things haven’t been easy so far.”
The streetlight spilled into the car, and she saw his gaze drop to her mouth. “No.” His hand came up and cupped her chin.
“Kent…” He shouldn’t do this. She shouldn’t. Bad idea. She’d already told him this. But her heart drummed too fast, and her gut clenched.
“I like the way you say my name.” Those sexy dimples flashed. “You’re the only woman who’s ever called me Kent, and when you say it, your voice goes soft and husky.”
His head came closer.
She sucked in a breath, tasted him and smoke, and put both her hands against his chest. Lora tried real hard not to notice how good he felt beneath her hands. How hard.
She failed.
“Lora…”
Damn. She liked the way he said her name, too. “I don’t want to get involved,” she told him, and her voice wasn’t so soft anymore.
Not that getting involved would probably be a real problem with a guy like Kenton.
Here today, gone tomorrow.
His eyes locked with hers. His fingers still held her chin, not too hard, stroking lightly. “I want you, Lora Spade.”
Didn’t get more blunt than that. Her breath caught. For once, Lora wasn’t sure what to say.
“But I can keep my hands off…” He freed her chin and gripped the seat behind her. Lora’s palms pressed against his chest, feeling the heat of his skin through the clothing. “If you want to keep things professional, fine. I can play that way.”
She bet he could play any way. Her heart kicked faster.
“But I know something about you, sweetheart.”
Her stomach tightened because the man had one deep, rumbling voice. Growling in the dark.
“I know you feel this, too.” He leaned in even closer, stopping when his lips were just an inch, maybe two, from hers. “Attraction, lust, need—call it whatever the hell you want, but for us, it’s there.”
She swallowed. “Y-yes.” She wouldn’t lie. Why bother? Lora felt the fire between them. A fire that could burn too fast, too hot.
“Don’t you want to see?” he whispered, and she felt his breath on her. “Before you turn away, don’t you want to know what it would be like?”
Why did people always want to touch the flames?
Why did she?
Six months.
And every night had hurt.
Sometimes, you just didn’t want to be alone.
But, sometimes, you wanted a lot more than just another body with you. So much more.
“One kiss.”
So tempting. Too tempting. She’d been weak before and wound up with guilt and ash come morning. Her fingers curled against him. “Kent…”
“Or you can tell me to fuck off. Hell, you can tell me to fuck off after the kiss if you want, but, sweetheart, I’ve been dying to know…”
Mistake. She knew it, but—
She wanted him. Wanted him more than she’d wanted anyone in so long. Was it wrong?
“I’ve been dying to know,” he said again, “how you taste.”
Oh, hell. Her right hand grabbed the back of his head, and she yanked him down toward her.
Their mouths met. Open. Ready. Lips kissed. Tongues licked. And—damn.
Yes, she wanted.
The control she’d held so tightly began to crack. She jerked in her seat, struggling to press against him. He took her mouth. Tasted her. Tormented her. And she met him. No, she fought him, fought him for more.
His hands locked around her, and her breasts shoved against his chest. Her nipples were tight, aching, and her sex began to cream.
From a kiss.
Zero to sixty… faster, faster…
The man had one wicked tongue.
When he lifted his head, she wasn’t surprised to hear the ragged sound of her own moan.
“Thought it’d be like that,” he said.
Unfortunately, so had she and that didn’t help her.
“But where we go next, if we go anywhere, that’s going to be your call, sweetheart.” His fingers curled around hers and pulled her hands from behind his head where she’d been clinging oh-so-tightly.
Because he was right about her. She did like to run red-hot. Passion. Lust. Lora was well-acquainted with the fiery need.
As acquainted as she was with the loneliness.
“Where do we go?” he asked softly.
“We work the case.” He took a deep breath and yeah, his voice broke a bit around the edges as he said, “I keep my hands off you.”
But those strong hands felt good on her flesh. And for just a few minutes there, with him, she’d forgotten…
Fire. Screams. Death.
And remembered pleasure.
She’d always loved her pleasure.
“Or we take option two.”
Lora waited.
“We work the case each day, and we see just how hot we can make the nights.”
When she licked her lips, she tasted him. Spicy. Wild.
“I’ll make you scream,” he promised. “I’ll make damn sure you’re satisfied, every time.”
“Don’t doubt it.” She hesitated. “But I—”
His eyes hardened. “Is there someone else?”
Did a dead man count? Guilt stirred now, squeezing her heart, but Lora shook her head. “No.”
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” His voice rumbled. “Damn, Lora, I swear, your mouth was made for sin.”
He still held her hands. She wanted his mouth back on hers. And because she wanted him right now, that wanting scared her as much as it aroused her, so she said, “I can’t.” Not then. Too fast. She needed to think. To make absolutely sure this—he—was what she wanted.
I won’t make another mistake.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. He eased away from her, sliding back into his seat. “Clear.” Clipped. “We’ll work the case. I won’t—”
“Give me some time,” the words tumbled out. She hadn’t meant to say them, but the need twisting in her gut had other plans. “Because you know I want you.” Just not yet. Not then. The lust was too raw. Her hands shook, and the past kept teasing her. “Give me some time,” she said again.
They wouldn’t have long. Kenton would only be in town long enough to catch the arsonist. Then the case would end.
He’d leave.
And she’d move on. Like she always did.
Take the pleasure. There’s no pain with him. No risk to your heart.
He wouldn’t be there long enough to hurt her. But maybe, just maybe, he could make her nights better, for a while.
Take the pleasure. Yeah, that sly voice was sure whispering to her.
Pleasure, but no pain.
Her interior light flashed on when Kenton shoved open her door. “See you soon, sweetheart.”
And her special agent was gone. Walking into the dawn.
Her fingers curled around the steering wheel. That last sweetheart, it hadn’t been the sarcastic drawl he’d used before. It had been slower. Deeper.
A lover’s caress.
Pleasure.
She knew he could give it to her.
Now, the question was… could she take it?
The light from the rising sun shot across the sky just as Kenton climbed out of his rented SUV and hurried toward the hotel at the edge of the highway.
Ah, hotels. Sometimes, it seemed as if he spent all his nights in run-down hotels.
And usually alone.
Damn but the woman tasted good. Not sweet. Not her. Hell, no. Rich. Tangy.
He wanted more.
But he’d get a cold shower. Shit.
Room 106 waited just a few feet away. And so did that very, very icy—
The door to room 107 opened, and Kenton tensed, his hand automatically going for the weapon at his hip.
“Late night, Special Agent?”
“Hyde?”
His boss flashed his shark’s smile. “Got your message.” He stepped forward, the shadows sliding off his dark skin. “Figured I’d come and take a look at Charlottesville myself.”
Kenton shook his head. “We’ve got a problem here, sir.” He unlocked his door, driving the keycard in with a quick punch of his fingers. “My gut tells me the crimes are linked—”
“And what does Lora Spade tell you?”
Kenton crossed the threshold but glanced back at Hyde. “The same thing I’m betting she said when she talked to you.”
Hyde’s expression never altered. He walked inside the hotel room, slowly. The door closed behind with a click.
Kenton’s fingers curled around his gun, and he brought out the weapon.
“Ah, so you already know about that bit of business, hmm?” The one chair in the room creaked as Hyde made himself comfortable.
Kenton placed his gun on the bedside table before he faced Hyde again. His brows rose as he said, “I don’t think Lora was too impressed with me at first.”
“That’s because she had to pull your ass out of a burning building.” The shark’s smile was gone, and the words fell heavy in the room.
Well, hell. The woman really had called his boss and ratted him out. Huh.
“I heard a man calling for help; I went in.” Because dammit, it was his job to save lives. “Jerome was in that building, sir.”
“I know—I already read your report.”
Figured. Hyde was always fast—one of the reasons the guy was the boss.
“Interesting, don’t you think, that the man who called to make a deal with some arson tips wound up in a fire like that?” Kenton asked.
Hyde eased back against the chair cushions and steepled his fingers under his chin. “I’d call that very interesting.”
“There was another fire tonight.” Glancing down, he saw the line of ash on his white shirt. Another one. Dry cleaning would be a bitch. “The vic was handcuffed to a radiator. He didn’t make it out.”
“Back-to-back fires?” Hyde’s brows shot up. “If we’re talking the same perp, that’s some serious escalation.”
“I know.” Kenton rolled his shoulders. Christ, he hurt. Tension knotted between his shoulder blades and right then he sure could have used a massage.
Preferably one from Lora. The woman had great hands. Long fingers. Delicate bones.
After stretching his arms over his head, Kenton said, “I’m gonna need Monica on this.” Because when it came to killers, Special Agent Monica Davenport was the best.
“Done.”
“I could sure use Sam, too.” He watched Hyde carefully now. “It seems like the fires stopped for almost six months… then started again with a freaking vengeance.” And a break period like that just wasn’t normal. “I’m thinking our guy just went somewhere else for his fun and games. Sam could do a check for me, cross-reference fires in a three-county radius and see if—”
“Not Sam.”
But when it came to patterns, Samantha Kennedy was a genius. Give her a computer, hook her up to the SSD’s files, and the woman could have a dozen linked cases in an hour.
“How is she?” Kenton asked bluntly, because he knew the other agent had been through hell. On their last big case, Sam had been captured by the perp. By the time they’d found her, the guy had already gotten off on torturing her and making Sam wish for death.
Beg for it.
It wasn’t easy to come back from something like that. He knew.
Some crimes—they killed the victim right away. A quick, clean kill.
Others—they left the shell of the vic alive, but on the inside, the person slowly died. One piece of the vic’s soul at a time.
“Sam took some extra time off,” Hyde told him, voice smooth. “She’s getting some rest. Taking it easy.”
Getting help. Christ, yes, she needed to talk to someone.
He’d seen her eyes in that hospital room. He knew when he was staring into hell.
“I’m trying someone new for the tech work right now. A guy who finished from MIT with Sam and did well at Quantico.” Hyde inclined his head. “I’ll get him to run your search.”
“I’m investigating the scene today.” Kenton took a quick breath. Time to lay it all out there. “I’ve asked Lora to be my local contact for the cases.”
No flicker of surprise. But then, when had Hyde ever been surprised? “From what I hear, Lora’s one of the best firefighters Frank has on his team.” He gave a slow nod. “You can use her eyes on the scene.”
Yes, he could.
“Just be careful, Lake. Until we know exactly what we’re dealing with here, we need to keep our investigation very, very secure.”
In other words, don’t trust the locals with all the case details. That was a lesson he’d learned the hard way before. “Yes, sir.”