Her hands went of their own accord to lips that still vibrated with electricity. No. The kiss they had shared held the promise of much greater satisfaction if she would only allow. Couple that with the time they had spent together the day before, and Annie really couldn’t classify Mason Ramsay as a stranger.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
Annie jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.
“Gees, Mason.” Her hand fluttered to her chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry,” The satisfied smirk that crawled across his lips said he really wasn’t sorry. “Next time I’ll stomp around a bit.”
“Smart ass.”
“But, you were so lost in thought that I probably could have driven the fire engine right up to you and it wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“Let’s get this done.” She growled, irritated that he’d caught her daydreaming again.
“After you sweetheart. And try not to climb all over me again.” He gave her behind a playful swat. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep the guys from noticing the next time.”
~&~
CHAPTER FIVE
Mason watched Annie nimbly pick her way around the remains of the house. Did she realize just what it was she was photographing?
They made their way into the bedroom, using caution around the area she had fallen through a short time before. With a series of photographs, they documented the room, its contents and the damage done before they made their way to the basement.
The beam from the flashlight Mason carried illuminated their way through the blackened rubble. Several inches of standing water hid unknown dangers making the forward progress slower than Mason would have liked. Debris hung from water soaked cardboard boxes and littered the floor below.
Mason swung the flashlight around the ceiling of the basement paying close attention for any signs of damage.
“Get a couple of shots of the floor boards and joists.”
“Okay, but they look fine.” Annie mumbled, lifting the camera. Brilliant flashes lit the small area, lending an eerie air to the room.
Mason pointed to the hole in the ceiling. No charring marred the boards here either. Instead, small splinters jutted out from fresh cuts in the wood surrounding the opening. He swiveled the beam around inspecting the cuts that couldn’t have occurred by natural means.
“Someone deliberately sabotaged the structure? But why?” Annie’s voice shook. “Whoever set the blaze just upped the ante. This was guaranteed to hurt someone, or worse yet, kill them.”
Mason gave a curt nod in response. Had the traps been meant for anyone specific? How had the other teams managed to avoid becoming victims themselves?
He didn’t have the answers now, but he had every intention of finding them. Until he could figure out what the hell was going on, he needed to be hyper alert to his surroundings. He would also need to keep Annie close. There was no way of knowing if the traps had been set for them or just a random act. Either way, he wasn’t about to take a chance.
“We need to get a couple shots of these areas.”
“Yeah I kind of figured that out.”
“We need to keep it to ourselves for the time being.”
Annie’s surprised gaze flew to his. “What? Don’t you think we should let the Chief know about this?” She flailed her camera upward.
“I’d like to wait until we get these printed out and take a closer look at them.”
“Okay.” She lifted the camera again, clicking away. “What’s going on here Mason?” She shifted places, before resuming. “Why would someone do this? Especially here? It’s not like we’re a big town for Heaven’s sake.”
“I’m not sure Annie. Most times things like this are done for reasons unknown to the rest of us.”
“It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Few things ever do.”
Mason was beginning to understand a little more about the man he was hunting. Now all he needed to do was prove it and that could turn out to be the hardest part of the entire operation.
This was no amateur arsonist he was dealing with here. It was someone who had an agenda.
Mason needed to discover what exactly that agenda was if he had any hopes of tripping this guy up enough to catch him.
~&~
The overhaul of the house had taken longer than anyone had anticipated. As if to add insult to injury, once they had completed that task, an onslaught of ambulance calls had come in. Sometime after three in the morning they’d finally gotten the opportunity to crawl, bone weary, into their bunks.
Now here she sat, less than four hours later, in Chief Daniel’s office. Annie stifled a yawn, and prayed that he didn’t keep them long. A shower and sleep were the two things on her agenda for the day.
“Oh crud.” She muttered as her gaze turned to the man who sat next to her.
“Crud?” Laughter danced in his eyes. “It’s way too early for such harsh words, Annie.”
“I was just thinking about a nice hot shower and my soft bed.”
“And that makes you think of crud?”
“No,” Her gaze slid over his broad chest and shoulders before returning to his. “No it doesn’t.” Excitement tingled through her. Rein it in Annie. Jumping Mason on the Chief’s desk would not be good for your career. She swallowed hard, and scanned the surface of the desk in question. Come on now, Chief. Where the hell are you? “What it did make me think of was the road trip you were talking about taking. Did you still want to do that?”
She toyed nervously with the band of her watch while she waited for his answer.
“Why don’t we hold off until after we hear what the Chief has to say.” His laugh was stilted. “If someone saw us last night, I might not even have a job here anymore.”
“Oh crap!” Annie’s mind whirled with possibilities. Had they been seen? What was the department’s policy on fraternization? She twisted in his direction, but before she could voice her concerns, Chief Daniels ambled through the doorway.
“Good morning.” His deep voice boomed in the otherwise quiet office space. It would be hours before any of the other staff arrived.
“Morning, Chief.” They chimed in unison.
“I’m sorry to keep you both, especially after the hellish night you had, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.” His blue gaze bloodshot from his own lack of sleep, swept from one to the other. “And I’m not entirely sure how to handle it since I’ve never been faced with anything like this before.”
Annie’s stomach flipped and turned. Someone must have seen them. What other reason would he have to talk to both of them so early? A nervous sweat filmed the palms of her hands clenched in her lap. Humiliation burned in her face. She shot a sideways glance at Mason. He sat tall and confident in the chair. Not a single trace of concern marred his features.
“So Agent Ramsay,” Chief Daniels gaze locked on and held Annie’s briefly before he turned his attention back to Mason. “How do you suggest we handle this?”
Annie’s eyes flew from the older man to the man sitting at her side, disbelief rocketing through her. Agent Ramsay? Had Chief Daniels addressed Mason as Agent Ramsay? Maybe the lack of sleep was playing tricks on her brain. That had to be the answer. Mason turned toward her. The nervousness from moments earlier intensified, her stomach rolled.
“Agent Ramsay?” she whispered, her eyes darting between Mason and Chief Daniels. “Did I miss something here?”
A quick look at Mason, if that was even his real name, made it clear she hadn’t missed a thing.
Anger propelled her from her chair. She had trusted Chief Daniels and he had lied to her. Annie searched the older man’s face. She didn’t like being used one little bit. And both men had certainly been guilty of doing just that for the past several days.
She’d be damned if she was going to let either of them do it anymore.
“One of you had better tell me what the hell is going on here,” she all but
shouted, making her way to the door, “or I’ll find out for myself.”
“Sit down, Annie.”
“With all due respect, sir,” she pinned her gaze on the one man whom she, up until seconds ago, thought she could always count on to be honest with her. “I think I’d rather stand.”
Mason’s lithe movements as he straightened from his seat captured her attention. Each stride was fluid as he moved in her direction.
Annie took an abrupt step in retreat as he closed the distance.
“Listen, Annie,” Mason spoke softly in the same soothing manner one might take with a child. “Art had no choice in the matter.” He stopped and inhaled a deep breath, lifting her chin so her gaze met his. “I haven’t lied to you about anything.” He quickly amended his last statement before she could protest his words. “I’m an agent with the The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. I was sent here at the request of Chief Daniels.”
Annie’s gaze captured the older man’s over Mason’s wide shoulder. She pinned him in place with her questioning gaze as she waited to hear his explanation.
Chief Daniels cleared his throat, looking almost as upset as Annie felt. “I knew you had some suspicions about those other fires and the things you mentioned to me didn’t sound right so I went back and looked.”
“When?” Confusion resonated in her voice. “You never said anything to me about it.” The confusion warred with anger in her chest, until she feared she might explode. A flurry of emotions pummeled her. “You made me believe that you thought I was being an ‘emotional female’.” Her face twisted in anger as she spat the last two words at the man she’d once thought of as her second father. She pushed against the impenetrable wall of Mason’s chest. “Why couldn’t you tell me you thought there might be something to it?” she railed, not caring what either of them thought of her at the moment. She stared hard at both men, as the truth dawned on her. “You thought I was involved somehow?”
This time Annie didn’t even try to hide the hurt in her eyes. She turned her attention back to Mason. Somehow his mistrust of her hurt worse than Art’s did and that was something she didn’t care to decipher at the moment.
Right now she only wanted out of this room. She needed to be alone so she could digest the turn of events.
“Please move, Agent Ramsay.” Fury almost choked her as the title passed her lips. “And don’t worry,” her gaze once again bounced from one to the other. “I won’t tell anyone who you really are.”
“Annie,” Chief Daniels began, an almost pleading tone to his voice.
“Let her go.” Mason punctuated the statement by moving away from her.
Annie turned toward the door, reaching for the knob.
“We still need to talk Annie.”
“I know.” She bowed her head slightly, closing her eyes to keep the threatening tears from spilling over. She breathed deep, gathered what was left of her rapidly ebbing resolve, and walked through the door.
~&~
Mason watched Annie march across the parking lot toward the side door of the fire department. The dark circles beneath her eyes were visible proof of the lack of sleep she’d had the night before. He’d suffered the same problem, spending a better part of the night poring over personnel files, always coming back to the one person who seemed to be occupying a large part of his thoughts lately.
He climbed out of his truck, and her pace slowed when she noticed him standing there.
“Morning.”
“Morning.” She resumed her trek, changing course just enough to avoid being within arm’s length of him. The gesture was not lost on Mason.
“Chief’s waiting in his office,” he continued, feeling like the new kid on the block. “I know you’re mad as hell at me and I can’t blame you but we need to not let on to the others.” Mason reached out, and grabbed her arm, halting her forward progress. “Can I count on you, Annie?”
~&~
Her eyes searched his for long seconds. Had Mason’s attention and subsequently the kiss they’d shared, been nothing but a ploy? The sense of betrayal still burned in her. But, Annie had to admit, however grudgingly, that she understood why they had done it.
She just wasn’t about to tell them yet. Letting them squirm a little longer could prove to be fun. The concern in Mason’s eyes, however, had her quickly changing plans.
“I’m not about to do something that will let an arsonist escape justice just because I’m mad at you.” She stated matter-of-factly. “At the same time, that doesn’t get the two of you off the hook.” Her gaze came up to study his face. “And you can lay off all the fake attention now, too. I know it was just a part of your job.”
“Damn it, Annie.” His deep voice simmered with barely controlled anger. “Everything that I needed to learn about you, I had pretty much accomplished before I walked through that door the first morning.” The fire burning in his eyes held her captive. “The rest was totally off-duty.” He laid a finger across her lips before she could interrupt him. “I do not,” his finger stroked over her lips tenderly, and Annie saw a spark of indefinable emotion flash in the depths of his brown eyes, “mix business with pleasure, Annette Andrews.”
Annie swallowed hard as a tingle of desire began to form low in her body. Despite the maddening sense of arrogance that he carried, Mason was disturbing to her in every way. Her body ached for his touch. And she couldn’t afford to give into it. She stepped back and broke the contact.
“All that rampaging testosterone isn’t going to change my mind, Ramsay.” Annie spoke the words with more confidence than she felt.
“I figured not.” Mason laughed, and the low, sexy rumble set Annie’s already taught nerve endings even more on edge.
“So what do we do now?” Annie puffed out a breath, and started toward the door again. “How are we going to investigate without tipping him or her off as to what we are doing?”
“Chief’s going to make an announcement implementing the new photography procedure.” She sensed his gaze on her as they walked, “You’re going to be asked to be the lead on it,” the pause in his tone had her turning toward him, “and of course you’re going to need an assistant.”
“Well of course I will.” She didn’t even attempt to hide the sarcasm in her tone. “Let me guess,” she broke contact with him and continued walking. “You just happen to have some experience in the field.”
The corners of his mouth pulled up slightly, transforming his mouth into the sexiest grin Annie had ever seen. The effect on her stomach only reiterated the opinion she had the first time she’d laid eyes on Mason. This man spelled trouble.
“Like I said before,” he began, the grin now reaching his eyes, “I know my way around a camera though not as well as you of course.” He added quickly, the light dancing in his eyes belied the last of the statement.
“I’ll just bet.”
“It’s called trust, Annie.” His jovial mood of seconds before vanished, “And it looks like we’ll have to work on that concept.”
Reaching the entrance, Annie turned to study him. Sure that he was only interested in gaining her trust for practical reasons, she couldn’t keep from wishing there was some personal motive as well. Get a grip Annie! He’s only here for one thing and considering he didn’t know you from Adam a week ago, it’s a sure bet it isn’t to whisk you off of your feet and live happily ever after!
“The only thing we have to work on, Ramsay,” she stressed his last name, hoping to emphasize the fact he could trust her with his true identity. “is this assignment. So there’s no need for us to work on any concept.”
She jabbed the door code into the keypad, and waited for the click that signaled the release of the lock. Annie pulled the door open with a little more power than necessary. The weight of the duffle bag slung over her shoulder shifted throwing her off balance. The last thing she needed was to fall on her face in the middle of the doorway. After a brief struggle with the wayward bag, she regained control and shoved through the n
ow open door.
CHAPTER SIX
You must be crazy! Annie chastised as she raced around the small confines of her living room. It would have been simple to lie and tell the chief she was busy when he’d suggested she and Mason get together and go over the case. But she hadn’t.
Are you a glutton for punishment or just insane? Either ailment would explain why she was, at this very minute, in a frantic race to straighten an already tidy house.
Dealing with her burgeoning feelings for Mason was difficult enough in the company of seven other people. How in the world was she going to keep it in check when it was just the two of them, in a much more personal space to boot?
She must be certifiable. There really was no other explanation for it.
Even knowing who he really was, and worse yet, that he had lied to her about his identity, she couldn’t keep desire from bubbling through her at the mere thought of him. This was insane!
A loud rap on her front door drew her out of her thoughts. The excitement intensified. Hell for all she knew it was the neighbor kid wanting to get his ball out of her back yard again. The thrumming in her middle insisted it wasn’t.
She smoothed her tie dye tee shirt over her stomach, and made her way slowly across the room. Stopping in front of the door, Annie took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her rioting emotions, before she opened the door.
Mason stood on her stoop, looking sexier than any one man had a right to. A navy blue sweatshirt boasting the name of the local college hugged his broad chest and shoulders. Annie’s mind begin to wander off in a direction it had no business going at the moment when her gaze landed on a pair of faded blue jeans, worn thin in the most interesting places. His dark hair mussed from fingers raking through it. She clasped her hands together tightly in front of her waist to squelch the sudden, almost overwhelming, urge to run them over the same path.
“Mind if I come in?”
The question jolted her from her reverie. Heat blasted over her as the embarrassment of being caught ogling, yet again, grew.
Where There's Smoke: The Heroes of Hammonds Bend(Romantic Suspense) Page 6