by Jane Godman
Calling the twenty-four-hour number for the Newark field office, she explained her problem to the operator. “I’m trying to get in touch with Agent Hilger.”
Did she sense a slight hesitation? “Who’s calling?”
“I’d prefer to speak direct to Agent Hilger. I just need his cell phone number.”
“Agent Hilger is no longer on active duty—”
Hollie ended the call fast, her heart thumping out a mad, new rhythm. What the hell was going on? How could Dalton be in town as part of the Incinerator investigation if he was no longer on the team? And what had happened to get him taken off active duty? Her head was spinning out of control when her cell phone rang.
She experienced a wild moment of hope that it might be Dalton calling her to explain the misunderstanding. It was Khan.
“Hollie? I hate to ask you this so late at night, but Sarange is really ill. She’s been throwing up nonstop for hours. I need to get her to a doctor friend of Ged’s so he can get some fluids into her...”
“I’ll stay with Karina.” She was on her feet, placing her cell on the bedside table as she spoke.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
Khan and Sarange had a suite just along the corridor. When Hollie arrived, Khan was already waiting by the door. He drew her into one of his signature hugs. At his side, Sarange looked like a pale shadow of her usual self.
“Thank you.” She kissed Hollie’s cheek. “We can’t go to the emergency room. Shifter DNA makes everything that bit more complicated. But we’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“Karina and I will be fine. You go and get well.”
After they’d gone, Hollie checked on the baby. Karina was sound asleep in her crib. Going back into the sitting room, she paused, realizing she’d left her cell phone in her own suite. Wanting to let Torque know where she was, she called down to reception.
“When he returns, can you let him know I’m babysitting in the Colorado Suite, please?”
With a restlessness fueled by the information she’d been given about Dalton, she wandered the luxurious suite. It was almost identical to the one she and Torque were in, except this one had different views. Standing on the balcony overlooking the perfectly manicured hotel gardens, she drank in the mountain vista, trying to make some sense of her disordered thoughts.
When she had seen Dalton at the aquarium, there had been nothing in his demeanor to make her suspect a problem. He had been evasive, but otherwise he had appeared to be his usual self. No longer on active duty. That could mean so many things. Was he ill? Oh, dear Lord, was Dalton dying? She took a breath, getting her disordered thoughts under control. It was probably less dramatic. He could be on a misconduct charge. If that was the case, why would he be here, pretending to be part of the investigation? Could this all be a terrible mistake? Maybe the operator she spoke to had gotten the name wrong. Dalton was the most dedicated agent Hollie had ever known. The FBI was his life. She couldn’t imagine he would allow anything to jeopardize that.
But those words had been so final. No longer on active duty. Not “unavailable” or “out of the office.” Something drastic had happened, and it had happened fast.
Her musings were interrupted by a cry from the bedroom and she left the balcony with a feeling of relief. At least dealing with the baby would give her a break from her other problems for a while.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m here—” She walked into the bedroom and stopped in shock. Dalton was standing beside the crib holding Karina.
“She scratched me.” Dalton cradled his hand against his chest, staring at the baby in horror. Blood was already running down his wrist and soaking into his white shirt.
“Good. I hope it hurt.” Shock took second place to the need to care for the baby. Hollie strode forward, taking Karina from him and holding the sobbing child to her shoulder. Stroking her hair, she felt a fierce pride in the little shifter. “There, there. It’s okay. I’ve got you now.”
“What kind of baby leaves marks like that?” Dalton held up his hand, showing the deep cuts in his flesh.
One who has a tiger-shifter for a dad and a werewolf for a mom. Hollie decided not to mention Karina’s parentage. “One that’s scared out of her wits because you woke her up and she doesn’t know you. What were you thinking? Why are you even here?” Trying to keep her anger and outrage under control so she didn’t alarm Karina was proving difficult. “And how the hell did you get into this room?”
As she spoke, Dalton started to smile. Then she saw the gun in his other hand and everything fell into place. All at once. Horribly and easily. Hollie raised a shaking hand to her lips. “You are the Incinerator.” Her voice refused to rise above a whisper. “Why, Dalton?”
His smile twisted, becoming something that made her glad Karina’s face was still turned away from him.
“Why? Because, even when we were together, you wanted him. Do you know how it feels to be second best to an album cover? Well, now you’ve made your dream come true.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “Only I’m going to turn it into a nightmare, Hollie. For both of you.”
* * *
Torque had never wanted to shift so badly. His inner dragon was making a strong case for just forgetting convention and taking flight across the city. So what if he was seen? He’d cope with the wild speculation about dragons over Denver once he knew Hollie was safe. In the end, his human common sense prevailed and he ran faster than he had ever done. By the time he reached the hotel, his lungs were on fire. If Teine, or Deigh, or whatever the hell she was calling herself right now, had gotten there before him, it would only be because she’d found a way to teleport since the last time they met.
He was about to dash across the lobby to the elevators when the desk clerk called out to him. “I have a message for you from Ms. Brown. She asked me to let you know that she’s babysitting in the Colorado Suite.”
Calling out a quick word of thanks, Torque headed up to Khan’s suite. As least he knew where Hollie was, although he didn’t know why she was with Khan and Sarange. He also had no idea why she wasn’t answering his calls.
Leaving the elevator at a run, he hammered on the door of the Colorado Suite...and was greeted by silence.
“Khan, open the damn door.” Even as he shouted to his friend, he already knew the suite was empty.
The fury that surged through him was so powerful it took everything he had to contain his inner dragon. Think. Focus. He couldn’t accept that there had been enough time for Teine to reach the hotel and snatch Hollie before he got here. And where the hell were Khan and Sarange? He was pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, ready to call everyone he knew, when the spots of blood on the carpet just outside the door caught his attention.
Squatting to get a closer look, he saw they were fresh and his heart ricocheted wildly against his rib cage. As he started to call Alban, his cell rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it with a feeling of dread.
“Lost something?”
Torque was instantly disoriented. Having expected to hear Tiene’s fiery voice, or Deigh’s mocking tones, he was thrown off balance by the man’s voice. “Who is this?”
“You don’t get to ask the questions. I have Hollie and the baby. If you want to see them again, go alone to the Denver Image Company. It’s a disused copy shop on Stockton Street.”
“Let me speak to Hollie—” He was talking to dead air. The caller had ended the conversation.
Alone. For Hollie and Karina’s safety, he would follow that instruction, but there was no harm in having backup waiting nearby. As he headed back toward the elevator, he was calling Ged.
“Get the guys together and head over to Stockton Street, but stay out of sight until I give you a signal. You’ll need to track Khan down. He’s not in his room.”
After he ended that call, the next person he spoke to was Alban. “This
is a long story and I don’t have time to give you all the details right now. Teine and Deigh are the same person and she’s loose in the city. Find her.”
His friend was still spluttering out a series of confused questions when Torque cut him off. Having reached street level, Torque was about to exit the building when he realized he was missing a vital piece of information. Turning back, he walked over to the reception desk. “Stockton Street. Walking distance, or a cab ride?”
The clerk looked startled. “It’s probably a ten-minute walk, sir. But it’s not a great area.”
“That’s okay.” Torque’s smile was grim. “I’m not in a great mood.”
The ten-minute walk took him five, during which time he recalled Hollie’s words about accelerants. Copier toner. That was one of the things she’d said the Incinerator looked for in the buildings he burned down. And now the arsonist was in a copy shop...
Bright needles of pain danced across his forehead and his skin felt too hot, too tight. He forced the surge of panic back down inside himself. He was no good to Hollie and Karina if he gave way to the tumult of emotion that was threatening to overwhelm him.
Stockton Street was a short street comprising a number of commercial units on one side and a weary looking high-rise block on the other. Several of the streetlights were out and Torque took a moment to catch his breath as he approached the boarded-up storefront of the Denver Image Company.
He paused before he drew level with the darkened building, some instinct warning him to stay back. His intuition was telling him he would know if Hollie was inside that place. She was his mate. He would feel her. He didn’t.
Now he had to weigh his options. Walk into what was probably a trap on the chance that Hollie and Karina were inside, or turn away, not knowing where they could be?
For a dragon, there was only ever going to be one answer to that question. Torque strode toward the door of the empty store.
Chapter 18
The streets were quiet as Dalton drove them away from the hotel. They had taken the back stairs down from the suite, leaving by a service exit to avoid crossing the lobby.
Hollie tried desperately to fix on something during the journey so she knew where they were going, but Karina was restless. Hollie had managed to snatch up a blanket from the crib and wrap Karina up in it as they left the suite, so at least the baby was warm.
“She needs something to eat and a diaper change.”
“Too bad.” Dalton kept his eyes fixed on the road.
He had ensured her cooperation as they left the hotel by keeping the gun pressed tight against her ribs. “I have enough bullets for the baby, as well.”
Dalton, the scratches on his wrist still bleeding, ushered Hollie from the vehicle and into a run-down apartment building. All she noticed as she left the car was the fairground on the square opposite the building.
When they got inside, the elevator wasn’t working and Dalton pushed her ahead of him up the stairs. She focused on counting. Fifth floor. I don’t know where I am, but I know how high. And that calliope music is already driving me crazy.
She was still struggling to come to terms with what was happening. She had always believed the Incinerator fires were either a tribute to Torque or an act of vengeance against him. Now it turned out Hollie was the target. Yes, vengeance was the motive and Torque was the trigger. But this had been about her all along.
I was hunting a man who was pursuing me. And he was doing it in plain sight.
She remembered how Dalton had always joked about her fondness for Beast and her liking for Torque in particular. Back then, she hadn’t seen it as a big deal. If anything, it had been a source of amusement between them. How had it come to this? A tear slipped down her cheek. How had it turned into this hateful obsession? And how had he committed these crimes while holding down his job as a federal agent? There were so many things that didn’t add up.
Dalton kept the gun trained on her as he unlocked the door of one of the apartments. As he thrust her inside, the open-plan space was lit by a single overhead bulb. Hollie’s gaze took in the piles of newspaper and cans of gasoline. Although she was confused about many aspects of what was going on, one thing was clear. She wasn’t meant to leave this place alive.
Thankfully, Karina had fallen asleep again. Dalton gestured for Hollie to sit on an old sofa. As she did, he went over to the window, looking out at the street below. When he took out his cell phone, he turned to look at her.
“I’m going to call your boyfriend. If you make a sound while I’m talking to him, I’ll shoot the baby. Understand?”
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be Dalton saying those words. Dalton liked comics and computer games. He gave money to wildlife charities and would go to great lengths to avoid killing a spider...
“Understand?” He pointed the gun at Karina as he raised his voice.
“Yes. I understand.”
“Give me his number.”
With the gun still trained on the baby, Hollie stammered out Torque’s cell phone number. Her whole body shook as she listened to Dalton speaking to Torque. There was a slight smile on his face as he ended the call.
“What happens now?” Hollie managed to get the words out despite the quivering of her lips.
“Now we wait.” He threw himself down in a chair opposite her, his gaze fixed on her face.
“Why did you kill McLain?” She had so many questions, but that one bothered her most. Why did an innocent woman, one they had both known for years, have to die a horrible death?
He was silent for so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Eventually he shrugged. “She wouldn’t tell me where you’d gone.”
“That was her job. I was working undercover and she was protecting me.”
He didn’t seem to be listening. “When you didn’t come into the office and no one knew where you were, I tried asking McLain politely where you’d gone. She treated me like I was a kid in school. She actually had the nerve to tell me to back off and stay on my own side of the line. Guess she didn’t realize who she was dealing with.” His expression switched from a scowl to a smile. “She found out later that night when I followed her home. It took me a long time—she was one tough cookie—but I got the information I needed. Eventually. Of course, I couldn’t let her live after that. So I took her to your apartment. Once she was dead, I made sure the place burned so good no one would ever know how she died.”
The images of him torturing McLain to get the information about Hollie’s whereabouts were sickening. She died because she tried to protect me.
“And Vince King? When I asked you to find his number, you said there was no one of that name in the New Haven office. Was that a lie?”
He laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t even look for his number.”
She swallowed hard. “Is Vince King dead, too?”
“Of course. They’ll probably never find him. I tipped his body into a Dumpster and set fire to the whole thing. It was miles from his home and it burned for hours.”
Hollie swallowed hard. “So when I spoke to you and you told me to come in so the Incinerator team could look after me, the truth was that you already knew where I was. And the only people who knew I had gone undercover were dead.”
He grinned. “Clever, wasn’t it? Of course, after I’d killed McLain and King, there was no need for me to keep turning up at the office each day. I knew where you were, so I followed you. The only times I needed to pretend that I was still on the team was when you called me and when I saw you at the aquarium.”
Hollie shook her head in confusion. “But for the last four years you did turn up at the office each day. How could you be the Incinerator if you were also working for the FBI? You didn’t have the time to travel across the country—across the world—to start those fires.”
“It always amazed me that no one came up with the
possibility of an accomplice. Even you, Hollie, with your databases and analytics, never once suggested that there could be more than one Incinerator.” He shook a finger at her. “You’re not as clever as you think you are.”
Hollie’s mind went into overdrive. An accomplice? It was an explanation that opened up a whole range of new possibilities. But who? And why? She supposed the obvious motive was money, but Dalton wasn’t wealthy and paying someone to start those fires, as well as buying another person’s silence...well, that wasn’t going to come cheap.
Dalton laughed as he watched her face. “I can see you’re trying to guess who it is and I’ll bet you’re thinking about it all wrong. I’d like to tell you the whole Incinerator thing was all my idea, but my partner came to me with the plan just after you and I split up.”
Hollie was starting to feel that familiar trickle of dread down her spine. “But I don’t understand. If this is about me and Torque, we didn’t meet until I went undercover. No one could have known that was going to happen.”
Dalton hunched a shoulder. “I don’t know how it works. Something about a destiny foretold. Gold, emeralds, rubies and a dragon hoard. Anyway, my partner told me Torque would find you eventually. Looks like it was a pretty accurate prediction, doesn’t it?”
As far as Hollie was concerned, that cleared up any doubt about who the accomplice was. It must be Teine. Who else could have engaged in such destructive forward planning? She could see into the future. Five years ago, she had set this trap. Preying on Dalton’s weakness and his jealousy, she had begun this devastating series of arson attacks, escalating the stakes when Hollie and Torque met.
The odds were already stacked against us, but this? We never stood a chance.
“Dalton, she is dangerous...”
“She? I never said my partner was a woman.”