Deadly Heat (Deadly 2)

“When it’s someone you care about…” One of his shoulders lifted in a faint shrug. “All f**king bets are off.”

She swallowed.

“We’re done.” Kenton’s arm brushed against hers. “Monica wants us to meet her at the police station. She’s got some info for us about the other victims.”

Ramirez nodded. “I’ll meet you there.” Then he was gone, moving quickly through the tangle of bodies in the newsroom.

Kenton caught her hand. “We need to talk.”

In less than a minute, he’d found an empty office—Tom’s office, because his name was spelled out in gleaming gold lettering on the door. Kenton pushed her inside, slammed the door, and glared.

She glared right back. No way would she back down.

“I—I’m sorry.” His words sounded gruff, awkward. “About Carter, I didn’t mean—” He stepped forward, raised his hands, as if he’d touch her, but seemed to freeze. “He’s not getting to you.”

But Phoenix had already come calling once. “What about the other guy? Ramirez told me the witness—”

“The witness is safe. We’ve got him protected in an undisclosed location.” The faint lines around his mouth tightened. “Phoenix won’t get him.” He wrapped his hands around her arms. “Or you.”

He kissed her, pressing his lips hard against hers.

Hunger. Need. Lust. All there, always there.

But, more…

His body shuddered against hers. Lora’s hands came up and wrapped around his shoulders.

His tongue drove into her mouth. Her lips curled around it, sucking lightly, and he growled.

His mouth rose, a breath of space. “I just found you, I won’t lose you.”

What the f**k?

Witness in Phoenix Fires, Police Hopeful of Arrest.

He stared at the newspaper headline, his body trembling. No, no, there couldn’t be any witness. He’d been too careful…

But he’d been careful before, at the building on LeRoy. He’d thought the scene was clear, but Larry had been there getting high and watching.

He’d taken care of Larry. So easy.

There couldn’t be any loose ends. No tangles. No ties.

No witnesses.

He stared down at his fingers as they curled around the white edges of the paper. His eyes lingered on the black ash beneath his nails. She was calling again.

Burn.

She called to him, more and more now. The beast was out of the cage. The fire—oh, she liked to tempt.

Sweet, sweet fire.

No, there could be no witnesses.

His hand reached for the phone beside him. He cleared his throat and dialed his contact. He’d been in this business for so long. The SSD might think they could keep the witness safe, but some information—ah, some information was really too easy to get.

It was all about knowing who to ask.

CHAPTER Fourteen

She was in Interrogation. Again. Lora drummed her fingers on the table and tried not to shift in her very uncomfortable seat.

“I need to ask you some questions, Lora.” Monica Davenport sat across from her, looking perfect again, while Lora reeked of smoke and wrinkles covered her clothes. Figured. Oh, well. “I want to figure out why our perp seems to be drawn to you.”

“You mean you want to know why he decided to set my house on fire last night?” Lora gave her a tight smile. “Yeah, let’s figure out that one.”

Kenton yanked back the seat next to her, and the chair legs squeaked as they scraped across the floor.

She and Kenton hadn’t talked much after the kiss. He’d pulled away, stared at her with eyes too intense, then hauled her down to the station.

And that no-talking bit was a good thing. Truly. Because Lora wasn’t sure what to say to him.

She wasn’t real sure what was happening between them anymore.

Sex. Yes. God, yes. But… more.

Anger, hunger, need, fear—everything was so tangled up in her mind.

“We found a broken match at the edge of your property last night,” Kenton said.

She blinked. “What? And you’re telling me this now?” Christ, this was big! “You think Phoenix left it and—”

“No DNA was recovered from the match,” Monica said, interrupting Lora’s words.

Disappointment caused Lora’s shoulders to sag. She caught the clench of Kenton’s jaw and knew he felt the same way she did.

“But today we’re following some new leads.” Monica pulled out photos of the vics and spread them out on the table. Lora glanced at Carter’s picture and waited for the pain to come.

It didn’t. Just… a wave of sadness.

What could have been…

“Other than Creed, did you have any contact with these people before their deaths?” Monica asked.

Lora stared at the faces, the unmarred faces they’d had before Phoenix, and shook her head. “Maybe I saw ’em on the street, but I didn’t know any of them.” Well, okay, she’d heard her brother mention Tom Hatchen once or twice. He’d called the guy a dick, but she’d never met the guy.

“Jennifer…” Monica’s nail tapped against the picture. “Tom. Charlie.”

“I didn’t know them.”

Kenton leaned forward. “Something’s there. Louis Jerome—he was killed because he saw something. Or he knew something. We had word that he wanted to talk about an arsonist—”

“The arsonist just got to him first,” Monica finished.

“Because he didn’t want anyone talking.” Kenton exhaled on a rough sigh. “He must have figured that Larry saw something, too, and that was why he took him out.” His fingers brushed over the photos of Jennifer Langley, Tom Hatchen, and Charlie Skofield. “But these three—these three…”

“Maybe they saw something, too,” Lora blurted. Could be. If he was killing witnesses. “They don’t have to be linked to me.” She did not like that idea.

The door of the Interrogation room swung open slowly.

A woman stood there, wire-framed glasses perched on her small nose, her red hair pulled back in a tight knot. “Or maybe he saw them.”

Kenton jumped to his feet, sending the chair snapping back. “Sam?”

Monica’s eyes widened. “Wh-what are you—”

The woman’s thin shoulders stiffened. “Hyde sent me up here with Dante. I–I’m backup. I’ll be working with Jon.”

And Jon Ramirez stood behind her, wearing the usual expressionless mask on his face.