Forbidden Fires

by Jodie Griffin

  Her eyes widened and filled with hurt.

  He let fly a vicious curse. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m trying my best to not get too personal. You’re the one who pointed out we’re on a case, remember?”

  Her spine stiffened. “Right.”

  “Damn it, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Fuck, I need to keep my hands to myself. But when I get around you, I can’t seem to help it.”

  “I know the feeling,” she said quietly. “But what are we going to do about it?”

  “Not a damn thing. Not until we get justice for those eight victims and stop this asshole from adding any more to the list.” He reached out, squeezed her hand, the only thing he trusted himself to do right now. “After that, though, all bets are off.”

  The ride back to their temporary office was rife with tension, and he was grateful when they arrived so he could put some much-needed physical distance between them.

  She dumped her purse into the desk drawer and turned on her laptop. “I’m going to map out the incidents we know about, and I’m going to search for anything else we might have missed.”

  He frowned. “I already did a search for commonality. Didn’t find anything else.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And did you include any bondage search terms like wrist restraints or spanking bench?”

  Those words, coming out of Dee’s mouth? His ears got hot, and his dick got hard. “Point to the smartass cop.” There. That was better. Keep things sarcastic, the typical kind of ribbing between colleagues. Not personal. He could do this.

  She lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. But I want to see if I can get a handle on the what so maybe we can get a fix on the who.”

  He looked at his watch. “I need to check in with my boss, let him know where things stand and make sure there’s nothing else going on. I’ll catch back up with you in a bit.”

  She shook her head. “Unless I find something big, I’m only going to be here another half hour. I’ve already got plans for tonight, and I don’t want to cancel if I don’t have to. We can catch up in morning, if that’s okay.”

  An unbidden shaft of jealousy pierced his gut. He wanted to ask what plans, wanted to make her miss them, whatever they were, especially if they were a date with some jerk. Not that it was any of his damn business.

  Fuck, what was wrong with him? He wanted to keep things casual, right? Wrong. Wanted to, no. Needed to, yes. Big difference, and a complication he didn’t need right now.

  “You reachable if something comes up?” he asked gruffly.

  She looked at him with eyes that said more than her one-word answer did. “Always.”

  Still feeling restless and antsy, he nodded sharply and headed off to the conference room to make his calls.

  He felt the weight of her stare long after he was out of her line of sight.

  * * *

  Delia blew out a long shuddery breath as Colin left the small office they’d been assigned. Thank God he’d decided to make his calls elsewhere. His scent and his voice and even his presence were killing her resolve to keep things all business.

  If she’d known today would be such a roller coaster of emotions, she might’ve begged off the case. She snorted. No, she wouldn’t have. Professional pride demanded she ignore the ex-boyfriend and focus only on the case. That was the cop talking. The woman beneath the shield lusted after the sexy, cream-her-panties, want-to-eat-him-whole guy who starred in her kinky bedroom fantasies, even now.

  Those kisses. Christ, he could still kiss like nobody’s business. She’d been right to shut him down out in the field, but if they hadn’t been at a crime scene, she might have given in to her baser instincts.

  She only had about twenty minutes before she needed to leave to head home for her standing date with her granddad, but she needed to get this done. She turned back to the case board, frowned, then pulled up a mapping program on her computer. First, she input the addresses of each of the fires, along with the dates, the incendiary device used and the number of deaths. She thought for a moment, then added the address of the bondage club, saved the whole thing and sent the results to the printer.

  Once that was done, she set up the search for additional fires that fit the parameters, including the BDSM angle. She might not get anything there, but it was worth a shot. And damn it, it felt right. It couldn’t be all coincidental. Since the second fire had destroyed everything, there was no evidence that pointed to them being a couple in the lifestyle, but she’d do some more checking tomorrow. Online purchases from adult toy stores, internet accounts, that kind of thing.

  But for now, done. She didn’t want to be late for her date. The first Wednesday of every month, she and Pops met for dinner and a movie. When she’d been a rebellious teenager, these dates had been her salvation. Now that Pops was retired—and bored—they were his.

  Colin still hadn’t returned, so she shot him a quick email about what she had planned for the morning, shut off her laptop, then grabbed the papers off the printer and stuffed it all into her bag. She’d look at it later tonight. With a final glance down the hallway where he’d headed, she slung the bag over her shoulder and left. She’d told him she was going, so why did she feel as if she was leaving part of herself behind?

  * * *

  Pops was waiting for her, and the grilling started the minute she got to his door.

  “Find yourself a man yet, Red?”

  She rolled her eyes but grinned. “Too busy with work. Besides, no one measures up to you.”

  He grinned back. “True. But I’m not gettin’ any younger, you know. Want some great-grandkids while I can still horse around with ‘em.”

  She snorted, not bothering to hide it. At seventy-five, her grandfather was no old geezer. He’d just retired from his job as head of security for a government agency, and before that, he’d done some kind of covert ops. He was fit and lean and in better shape than most men her age. Not Colin, her brain whispered. His shape was...

  Pops cleared his throat. “Earth to Delia Mae. Where’d you disappear to? You’re doin’ that drifting-off-to-nowhere thing you did when you were seein’ that fire cop last year.”

  “What?” She gaped at him. She had no idea he’d known.

  He dropped the slow country drawl and sharpened his voice. “The deputy fire marshal you worked with on the bombing task force. I’m not deaf or blind, Red. And I was a cop longer than you’ve been alive. Give an old man a little credit.”

  She ignored the churning in her stomach. “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s go or we’re going to have to skip dinner so we don’t miss the movie. And you know how cranky I get without food.”

  He agreed and ambled out to his truck, but once they were on the road, he started in again. “So who’s the guy who’s got you all starry-eyed now? Roy Oakes?”

  She swallowed hard, slid a glance his way. “The fire cop.”

  Her grandfather’s face tightened, and so did his grip on the steering wheel. “What the hell is he doing back in town? Jesus, Red. You moped around for months after he disappeared. Had me worried sick.”

  She winced. How had she not realized she’d been so transparent? She’d tried to keep quiet about the relationship because it had been new and she’d still been unsure of it, but obviously she hadn’t been successful. “He’s here for a case. He came to the department and asked for my help. We’re working together again.”

  Pops was silent about it all through dinner and the drive to the movies, but she knew he wasn’t done with the conversation. He had a way of waiting things out, one that had gotten her to spill her guts to him many times over the years and had surely served him well interrogating people during his career.

  With drinks and popcorn in hand they found seats, and as the first of the previews started playing, her phone vibrated in her bag. Shit, it was a text from Colin. Call me when you get a sec. Got something.

  Pops looked over at her and frowned. “
Work?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait,” she said, stuffing the phone back into her bag. She’d leave it on her lap so she’d feel it if he texted her again, but it didn’t sound urgent. “It was Colin.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing, kiddo.”

  She understood he was talking about far more than answering a text message, and yeah, so did she.

  Two uninterrupted hours later, she and Pops headed out of the theater as the closing credits rolled by on the big screen. “So what’d you think?”

  “They don’t make movies like they used to.”

  She laughed. “That’s true. Maybe next movie night, I’ll make dinner and we can stay in and watch a classic.”

  They got to the truck and Pops opened her door. They don’t make men like they used to either, she thought sadly. And then she backtracked. Colin was a lot like her grandfather, when it came to manners and how he treated women.

  She was quiet on the ride back to Pops’s house, and when they pulled into his driveway, he shut off the engine and turned to her.

  “You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind, Red, and not just about the fire cop,” he said gruffly. “Want to talk over the case any?”

  While she appreciated the offer, since he really did have more experience than she had years of life, she couldn’t imagine bringing up the specifics of this particular case. He probably wouldn’t bat an eye, but she didn’t think she could even speak the words anal plug or spanking bench to her grandfather. “Thanks, but I’m good. Just trying to sort it out in my mind. Besides, I need to check in with Colin and see what he’s got.”

  He nodded sharply. “You know where to find me if you need me.”

  They got out of the truck and she gave her grandfather a tight hug. “Love you, Pops.”

  “Love you too, Red. And watch yourself with Butler, you hear me?” She cringed at the realization he knew Colin’s name, and he barked a laughed. “Yeah, I know his name. Had him checked out, too, when you were seeing him last year.”

  She sighed. “Pops...”

  He waved her off, his face hard. “And if he gets outta line, feel free to tell him what I used to do for a living.”

  Chapter Six

  “I found something too.” Silence on the other end of the phone line echoed in her ear.

  “Dee?” Colin’s voice was sleep-drugged, and when she looked at the clock, she winced.

  That late, really? “Yeah, sorry.”

  “What time is it?”

  Bed sheets rustled, and she flashed hot all over. It didn’t take much for her to picture Colin in bed, bare-assed naked like he’d always slept with her. She didn’t have to imagine it, because that picture was burned into her brain. She’d remember it when she was eighty. “Eleven-thirty.”

  “Christ, couldn’t this wait?”

  “You said to call when I had a minute.” The words sounded defensive and she rolled her eyes at her own petulance.

  “I left you that text almost three hours ago.” His yawn garbled his retort. “What’s so important it couldn’t keep until morning?”

  More rustling, and the sound of pillows being rearranged. Heat furled low in her stomach, and she tried to shut her eyes against the image it produced in her brain. Closing them didn’t help in the least. “I ran queries against other fires in the area. There are two more that may fit our suspect, if he’s targeting places where people either live the lifestyle or play at BDSM.”

  “Seriously?”

  He sounded so shocked she couldn’t be offended. “Seriously. No deaths, just property damage. One was an upscale sex shop. Fancy lingerie, high-quality toys, artistic erotic films.”

  “And the other?”

  “A cigar lounge.”

  A disbelieving noise came across the line. “Excuse me? How’d you decide that’s related?”

  “I decided it might be related, not that it was,” she said. “I pulled photos from the scene. When I show you, you’ll see why I think it’s possible.”

  More silence came from Colin’s end of the line. When he spoke, his voice was lower, sexy as sin. “You avoided my real question, babe. One of these days, you’re going to tell me how you know so much about kink and spanking benches, and how you’d even make the connection between a cigar lounge and bondage.”

  Her heart sped up and the heat in her belly unfurled and flowed south. “I’ve already told you. I’ve seen plenty during investigations. You pick things up.”

  “I don’t believe you,” he said softly. “And if you think avoiding the answers are going to make my questions go away, you’re mistaken. Once this case is over, when we get around to talking about what went wrong with our relationship, we’re going to talk about this too.”

  Once again, she avoided what he said. “I also reran the mapping program with these two other cases in it, and we have a pattern.”

  Colin’s voice lost its sexy edge and got sharper, all business now. “Tell me.”

  “Whoever the arsonist is, he’s moving from east to west across the state. Two in Baltimore County, the Wests’ house and the sex shop. Two in Howard County, the McDonoughs’ house and the cigar lounge. The Lindstroms’ house in Carroll County.”

  “What about the bondage club? That was in the warehouse district in Baltimore.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, that one’s a problem. I’m not sure how that fits or even if it does.”

  “Hang on.”

  She heard the rustle of sheets again, then footsteps, and her mouth salivated. What the hell was wrong with her? They were talking arson, and she was fantasizing about his world-class ass? Jesus. His computer made a beeping noise, and then a few seconds later, she had mail.

  “This is what came up tonight. Another fire, just over the line in Montgomery County. Big home, although not nearly as big as some of the others. High-powered businessman and his equally high-powered attorney wife on their way out to a dinner party. Pipe bomb was under their car, went off in the garage when he turned the engine on. Both killed. When I talked to my boss this afternoon, I mentioned your suspicions. On-call fire marshal checked out the rest of the house and found a locked room in the basement. They gained entry, and the room was set up almost like that bondage club was.”

  “A dungeon,” she said, almost to herself. “Why didn’t I hear about this earlier?”

  “Because you were out on a date and you had your phone turned off?”

  That almost sounded as if Colin was...jealous? She shook her head to clear her mind of that unexpected revelation. “I didn’t have it turned off, I had it on vibrate because I was at the movies. With my grandfather, if you really have to know. And anyway, that sounds like it fits the profile, at least.”

  “It does. And it ties in the club too. The two victims are part-owners of it. So are the McDonoughs. Silent partners.”

  “Well, son of a bitch. I’m right?”

  Colin laughed, but while it was sexy sounding, it wasn’t really with humor. “Looks like it.”

  * * *

  Colin yawned widely and scrubbed a hand over his face as he doctored his second cup of coffee. He always had trouble sleeping in hotels, but he’d been so tired from working the nightclub scene the night before he’d crashed as soon as his head hit the pillow. Delia had woken him from a sound sleep, and then after their conversation, he hadn’t been able to settle back down for all the erotic thoughts sizzling in his brain.

  He should’ve been focused on the case, but he’d been haunted by her words and his imagination had taken over. He’d never fantasized about dominating her before, but now, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Dee, bound and gagged. Dee, facedown over a spanking bench. Dee, strapped to one of those crosses. He hadn’t known what an intact one looked like, but he knew now. You could get one hell of an education on the internet.

  As he took another bracing sip of his high-test coffee, the woman who’d monopolized his mind all night walked into their temporary office, looking as th
ough she’d had a solid night’s sleep. Unfair, damn it.

  “Morning, Colin.”

  He grunted, and she raised one sleek eyebrow at him.

  “Rough night?”

  He grunted again. “You could say that.”

  She winced and dropped her bag onto her desk with a loud thunk. “Yeah, sorry about calling so late. Have you gotten any more info about the car bomb yesterday?”

  “Not yet.” He leaned against his borrowed desk, watching Dee get herself a cup of coffee. She’d forsaken her uniform for a soft-looking moss-green shirt that matched her eyes and clung to her curves, and a pair of slim jeans tucked into suede boots the same color as the shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, and her lips were glossed a pale peach. She wore her shield clipped to her belt, her weapon at her right hip. Sexy, feminine, deadly. It was a heady combination.

  She put her cup down and leaned against her desk, facing him. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “Like what?”

  She flushed. “As if you’re imagining me naked.”

  His brows rose, his dick throbbed and his voice lowered. “In the office, Delia? Would I do something like that?”

  She wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him. “Yes, you pervert.”

  He caught it in one hand as he pushed himself away from the desk, stepping forward until their feet were nearly touching. “That’s assault on a law enforcement officer. I could put you in cuffs for that.”

  His words and tone were a deliberate taunt, a dare, and they hit their mark. The color on her face deepened and her eyes widened. She let out a little half laugh as he came even closer, straddling her outstretched legs, trapping her between her desk and his body.

  “W-what are you doing?”

  He dipped his head and growled in her ear. “You’re right, you know. I don’t know much about bondage, so I did some research last night. Read a bunch of articles. Looked at pictures. I even found one of a redhead strapped to a cross. She didn’t have your body, so instead I imagined it was you, naked and bound, your feet wide and your body open for me to see how wet you were.”