Deadly Heat

by Cynthia Eden

  Seth rolled his shoulders. “Two years later, I’m here, and he’s in the ground. Life can be a real bitch sometimes.” His eyes lifted. “I am working this case. Lora might not think I’m trying but I am. I got my whole department on board with me. We’re not stopping, not until this is over.”

  The faint lines around Seth’s eyes tightened as he stared at Kenton. “I meant what I said last night. Carter Creed was a hero. He didn’t deserve to die in that fire, and if it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna repay my debt to him.”

  Carter. “So you’re a fan of his, but not hers.” Seth’s earlier words still rang in his ears. She’s using you, man… She’s done it before. You’re not him.

  No, he wasn’t Carter.

  “No, that’s not…” Seth shook his head fast. “I saw what she was like, after, and I know her.” His dark stare glittered. “You met her days ago, but I’ve known her for years.”

  Kenton knew her, too, inside and out, and he didn’t need this guy telling him about his lover.

  He could feel Sam’s stare on him but he didn’t look her way. Not now. He kept Seth pinned with his gaze.

  “Lora tries to forget sometimes.” Seth licked his lips. “She hasn’t learned yet that you can’t forget.”

  Kenton remembered the first time that he’d had Lora in bed. Look at me. He’d never be a stand-in for a dead man.

  No matter how much of a fucking hero the guy was.

  “This isn’t—I didn’t come here to—”

  “Special Agent Lake!”

  He turned at the call and found a nervous-looking cop shouldering across the bullpen.

  “I found Detective Malone,” the cop called out. “He’s gone to the Bringham fire station to talk to Garrison.”

  “We need to detain him, now.” Kenton’s phone rang, vibrating in his pocket. He yanked it out. “Lake.”

  “I thought you’d want to know,” came Jon’s easy voice. “Lora’s on her way to the fire station. The captain called her, and she’s gonna fill in for someone with food poisoning.”

  Lora was headed to the station. Malone was there. Shit. “Stay with her, and when you get there, don’t let Detective Malone out of your sight.”

  Because all these puzzle pieces were lining up. And right in the middle, like a big giant X, was the fire station on Bringham.

  “I’ll meet you in twenty, Jon,” Kenton told him. He spun away from Seth and Sam and hurried toward Captain Lawrence’s office. He knocked first, barely, then pushed inside. “I’m gonna need your personnel reports.”

  The captain looked up at him. “The hell you—”

  He’d left the door open because he didn’t care who overheard them. Twenty minutes. No time to waste. “You know how the Watchman case ended.” He shook his head. “You really want that same shit on your doorstep?” Kenton’s control was razor thin.

  Silence filled the air behind him as those in the bullpen strained to hear.

  The captain slowly stood up. “You’re sayin’ my men—”

  “We’re checking the firefighters. We’re checking the cops.” Not all of them. But there were some right at the top of the SSD’s list. “And I want to start with Peter Malone.” The detective seemed like a good guy, but appearances could be deceiving.

  He knew that too well.

  “Starting with him, but there’ll be others.” There always were.

  Lawrence gave a jerky nod and walked toward the door. “I—I’ll go to personnel.”

  “We’ll go.” He followed right on the captain’s heels. “And we’ll fucking hurry.”

  CHAPTER Fifteen

  Lora had just stepped into the fire station when she heard Kenton’s voice behind her. She turned around and saw him. The drumming of Lora’s heart echoed in her ears even as she shoved her way past the guys who wanted to make sure she was all right.

  “Lora, damn, woman,” Garrison called out, “just slow—”

  She almost slammed into Kenton.

  He caught her, and his hands rose to lock around her arms. A furrow pulled down his brows. “Lora—”

  “We need to talk.” Right then.

  But he shook his head. “I’m here to see Malone.”

  Malone? Pete?

  “He’s not here,” Jon told him. “Garrison said the guy cut out before word came to detain him.”

  Lora’s eyes widened. “Why do you want to detain Pete?”

  Kenton leveled a stare at Jon. “Malone’s father was a firefighter.”

  “Saul Malone wasn’t just a firefighter,” Lora said, blinking. “He was a damn great firefighter. He died in the line of duty while he was saving some kids back in the eighties.”

  But Jon’s lips thinned, and his gaze didn’t stray from Kenton. “Was he now?”

  “When you call the station, talk to Monica,” Kenton ordered. “Get her to bring you up to speed. And make sure the cops are searching this town for Detective Malone.”

  Kenton pushed Lora into the conference room, then slammed the door behind her. The little speech she’d prepared for him flew right out of her mind. “Pete? Are you suggesting Pete had something to do with this? Because, Kent, you’re wrong. He—”

  “How well do you know Peter Malone?”

  Ah… she licked her lips and managed to hold his stare. “Well enough.”

  His eyes bored into hers. The air got real thick. “Shit. You’ve slept with him.” His hand ran through his hair. “That was what Seth meant.”

  Seth? Great, so he’d been spreading gossip, but so what? She had a past. Big deal. “Before us, yeah, I did. He’s a good guy.”

  “Fuck! Now I understand why you weren’t worried about going over his head. You could do pretty much any damn thing, and he wouldn’t get mad, right?”

  She pulled back, stumbling away from him. “Whatever happened between me and Pete, it’s over. I don’t need to explain this to you.”

  “Oh, yeah, sweetheart, you do.” He stalked forward. The back of her thighs bumped into the conference table.

  Her chin lifted. “Have I asked you for a list of ex-lovers? Huh?”

  “My lovers might not be involved in murders. Murders.”

  “Pete isn’t involved. He’s the cop investigating the case, for God’s sake. Not some—”

  “The guy investigating,” he repeated, and she could hear the banked fury in the words. “The guy who happens to know about every single piece of evidence we’ve got. You think cops don’t go bad?”

  Pete wasn’t just a cop, though. He was her friend.

  “Did you sleep with him before Carter?” He fired the question at her. “Or after?”

  She swallowed. What did this matter? “After.” Three months after. The three-month anniversary. They’d just had one night.

  “Who else?”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Someone you work with? You—”

  She shoved him back and used enough force that he staggered. “Watch it, GQ.”

  His hands snaked out. He grabbed her and pulled her close. “Am I just another in a line for you? Never good enough, because I’m not him?”

  The question blasted between them, and she sucked in a breath. Then…

  Silence.

  His eyes squeezed shut. “Christ, I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “You’re damn right you shouldn’t have.”

  Kenton’s eyelids lifted, and he stared at her. “I can’t think when it comes to you. I’m not like this. I—” He took a breath. “From the beginning, I was lost when it came to you.”

  Her own breath rasped out. “And you think I wasn’t?” Was the man blind? “I wasn’t ready for you. Hell, I still don’t think I am, but when we’re together… lost, yeah, that pretty much sums up the way I feel.”

  “Lora.” No man had ever said her name like that. Like it was breath. Life.

  “You’re not a stand-in for anyone.” That first night… “I wanted to forget. I tried with Pete.” She’d be brutally honest because he deser
ved that. “It didn’t work. The next day, I just felt…” Dirty. Ashamed. “Empty. Then I met you. From that first moment…” Jeez, she’d punched him. The heat had surrounded them, and she’d struggled to get him out of that fire. “You got to me.”

  His gaze seemed to bore into her, and there was so much heat and intensity in his eyes.

  “The more I’m with you…” This was what she’d needed to tell him. “The more I want you, Kent.” Stark truth. “I’m not using you to forget anyone or anything, because when I’m with you, I can’t remember anything else.” And that was her shame. That was why she’d gone to the cemetery.

  To say good-bye.

  “This isn’t me. I’m not the jealous type, not possessive, not—” His head lowered toward her. “I can’t even think of the case. Just you.” His lips skated over hers. “Just you, and when I think of you with someone else…” His breath blew over her cheek. “This isn’t me.”

  Maybe it was just him without all the fancy trappings.

  “Carter was my best friend for seven years. I worked with him, day in and day out. He saved my ass. I saved his.” As she spoke, Kenton watched her. “Then we became lovers, and I loved him.”

  His body was so still.

  “Everything with him was so simple. Dating, becoming involved.” No fear. No uncertainty. Not with easygoing Carter. She’d always known how he felt and always known that he was there for her.

  Then he’d been gone.

  “You’re not easy,” she told him and meant it. “You drive me crazy. You make me want you so much that I want to scream.” Her fingers wrapped around his shoulders. “But it’s not easy. It’s scary and wild, and I don’t know what to expect next.”

  He caught her hips and lifted her up. Kenton set her down on the edge of that long table. “You’re the kind of woman who can make a man beg.”

  “I don’t want you to beg.” She held his gaze. “I just want you.”

  His fingers tunneled under her hair. He tipped her head back, and he kissed her. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and it was what she wanted.

  He was what she wanted.

  Kenton pushed between her legs. She pressed closer and tightened her mouth on him. The kiss took. Claimed.

  Hers. Because she was the possessive type, and Kenton was most definitely hers. She knew it, deep inside. Her sex moistened for him. Her nipples ached, and she wanted him. It didn’t matter where they were or who waited down the hallway.

  Dark need. Hot passion. Wild with him, always wild.

  He might say she tempted him and pushed him past his careful reserve, but he drove her right to the edge.

  And made her want more.

  So much more.

  She grabbed his hips and arched closer against him. Lora opened her mouth wider, and her tongue slid against his.

  His left hand smoothed down her body and paused over her racing heart. His fingers feathered over her breasts, and his touch made the flesh ache even more.

  “I want you naked.” His words, but they could have been hers. “I want you alone,” he whispered as his lips hovered just above her mouth. “I want you spread out on the bed. And I want to make a fucking feast of you.”

  Oh, okay, wow.

  “When this is all over, I want you to come with me. Just us. A few days at my cabin. You and me—no killers. No past. Us.”

  That sounded so good, but she didn’t want to wait that long. She wanted him, now.

  His lips pressed against her throat, just under her right ear, that spot that made heat pool between her legs. The spot that made her quiver and moan.

  He’d learned her body well.

  Her hands slid down his chest. Moving down, down until her fingers rubbed over his arousal.

  “Lora.”

  And she’d learned his body.

  “I want you…” he told her. “More than I’ve ever wanted anyone.” His admission had her heart racing faster.

  Voices rose outside.

  A radio blared.

  Her hands stilled on him.

  His scent was around her. His strength and his flesh. She needed so much more.

  But she wouldn’t get it. Not yet. Not here.

  “I’m trading days and working the shift tonight.” She took a breath and swore she tasted him. “I’m off at 7:00 A.M.”

  Kenton’s head lifted. His pupils were big, dark, and full of need.

  Her hands pushed him back, and she eased off the table. “Pick me up then.” She stood on her toes and skimmed her lips over his jaw. “And you can have me ten minutes later.”

  His body hardened. “Aw, damn.”

  She smiled, took a breath, and then made her hands free him. “But until then, you’ve got a killer to catch.” One who was making her life hell. “So go get the bastard.”

  He eased back, but he kept his stare on her, and Lora’s knees trembled. Her panties were wet—no big surprise. She wanted him driving that cock deep. She wanted to scream, and she wanted to come, and she didn’t want to care about who would hear her.

  Control, oh, it was weak.

  But Kenton took another step back. Maybe his control was better.

  “The case…” He stopped, cleared his throat, and tried again, “The case is hitting close to home.”

  Pete. “You’re wrong about Pete. Just like you were wrong about Garrison. When you find him, Pete will clear this situation up.” Her voice was husky. Hell, she sounded as if she’d just gotten out of bed. No, as if she wanted to get into bed. “He’s not the kind of guy you’re looking for. He’s not—”

  “Any man can kill.” His stare swept over her. “Sometimes, all you need is the right motivation.” Then he turned and reached for the door.

  The safe house was out of his kill zone and out of the reach of the Bringham fire station. Ah, deliberate, that. The Feds had obviously noticed his play area and mapped it out.

  Maybe they thought that they were being smart by hiding the witness here, where he didn’t like to hunt.

  They were wrong.

  He lifted his binoculars and watched the house. The two guys on the front stoop, leaning back so nice and easy, had to be cops.

  Did they think he was stupid?

  His fingers tightened around the plastic. They’d stashed the witness in a classic one-story house. Five windows lined the front of the house, and he figured that there had to be at least two exits.

  How many cops were inside?

  How many folks would have to die in order for him to take out Bob Kyle? And yes, he knew that was the asshole’s name. Thanks to his contact, he knew everything about Kyle.

  The guy had lived a fucking wasted life. A life that would end today.

  Outside his range? His lips curled. No. No one was outside his reach.

  He measured the roof and saw the weak patches. He could start the fire there, let it blaze and burn, but he had to make certain Kyle was trapped. No more mistakes.

  He’d started to become sloppy because he was having so much fun. And to think, it had begun as a job. Someone had needed to step up to the plate. He’d stepped.

  A small movement on the side of the house caught his eye. Something was—

  A window opened. A leg shot out. Then an arm. A few seconds later, a guy fell to the ground, hitting hard.

  Laughter spilled from him as he watched.

  Sonofabitch.

  He wouldn’t have to go after Kyle.

  The guy stumbled to his feet and ran for the alley. The cops on the stoop never even glanced back at him.

  No, he wouldn’t have to burn the house around the bastard. The witness had just made the game much easier.

  He tossed the binoculars onto the seat of his borrowed car. Not the pickup this time, just in case old Kyle had seen it. With a flick of his wrist, he cranked the engine. He knew where that alley led.

  And knew exactly where to find his prey.

  Kenton straightened his jacket as he stalked down the narrow hallway. He could still feel Lora o
n him. Her breasts, pressing against him. Her sex—sweet hell—right over his cock. Her lips skimming along his jaw…

  His arousal pressed hard against the front of his pants and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  Seven A.M. couldn’t come fast enough for him.

  His phone vibrated. He tugged it out of his pocket and winced a bit. Monica. Kenton answered the call immediately. “You got Malone?” He didn’t want her to start the interrogation until he was there. “Hold off until—”

  “Malone’s not answering his phone. We sent a unit out to his house, but he wasn’t there.”

  Dammit.

  “All units are searching for him,” Monica said, but there was something in her voice, a tension skirting under the words that told him she was worried. “But we’ve got another problem.”

  When Monica worried, it wasn’t just a problem, it was a big damn deal. “What is it?”

  “Bob Kyle is missing.”

  Kenton froze near the station’s check-in desk. A banner waved over the door. We love our firefighters. The sign was filled with hearts and the oversized scrawl of schoolchildren. “Run that by me again.” The guy was supposed to be safe. Lawrence had promised that he’d keep his best men on Bob.

  All the cops on that team knew the order. Bob Kyle was to be protected.

  Fuck, he was outside Phoenix’s kill zone. His placement there had been a deliberate move to add extra security for Bob.

  “Bob was in his bedroom. The cops thought he was sleeping.” Her voice lowered. “Officer Daniels went to check on him, and he was gone.”

  “Phoenix?”

  “The window was open. They think he left on his own.”

  Why? “What do you think?”

  “I think Bob Kyle is a man with severe medical and emotional problems. I think he’s been off his medication for a long time.” A sigh. “I think we need to find him, right now, because I have a knot in my gut that’s telling me this isn’t going to end well.”

  When it came to Monica’s instincts, he listened to them. “You already start the search?”

  “Five minutes ago.”

  Malone and Bob missing? Hell, no, that wasn’t a good sign. Kenton ended the call and rushed for the door. The uniforms were there. He’d arranged for them to take over Lora’s watch. “Jon…”