Trial by Fire (Sizzling Romantic Suspense) (All Fired Up)

by Taylor Lee

  “Nate, I told her you were busy. I also told her that Erin had called and would be here any minute and that she would have to wait, that she couldn’t go in, couldn’t bother you. She just gave me that haughty look of hers that says she is the ‘Queen of Egypt’ and I’m am dog shit.”

  Nate stood for a long moment letting the truth settle in his churning gut. He shook his head.

  “No, Naomi. You are a decent human being and a good woman. As for Laura, no dog would stoop so low as to have shit like hers.”

  Laura walked out to her car taking deep breaths to control her anger. She was shaking with fury. On the one hand she was frightened by Nate’s angry warning. But more than anything she was enraged. How dare he think that he can throw me out of his office? Tell me that I can’t speak Erin’s name? As if she is too pure to be associated with the likes of me? She huffed out a harsh laugh. Does he really think he can walk away from me? Pretend that we have nothing between us? Laura knew differently. She’d seen it in his eyes. His pretense at indifference was ludicrous and infuriating.

  Erin. Just the thought of that pathetic blue-eyed temptress made her blood boil. God, how Laura despised her. She’d heard other men raving about the woman, lamenting that Nate Stryker had claimed her. Pfft! Men were so stupid. They always fell for the vulnerable little twits. That was the only thing that raven-haired skank had going for her. One soulful look and every guy wanted to take care of her—right after he fucked her. So she had a great body. But it still didn’t compare to Laura’s.

  She’d thought Nate was smarter than that. To fall for that kind of crap. But if Nate thought she’d let some little pathetic firefighter take him away from her, he’d forgotten what Laura was like. She’d take care of Erin. Look what she did today? Ran. And Laura would keep her running. Plant just enough seeds to convince her that her lover boy was already taken—taken by someone more powerful that Erin McFadden could ever be.

  For a moment she wondered if Erin’s tits were real. She reassured herself. They can’t be. Damn, she ought to know. At some point gravity takes over. It got harder every year. But that’s what surgeons are for. And it cost money to stay at the top of her game. It was getting harder every year. Why else would she put up with Drew James once she learned his wife held all the cards? Humping him a few times a month bought her the best plastic surgery services in the area and assured discretion. And look how useful he was as a distraction for Nate? Poor Drew. Now he had more to fret over than a conniving witch of a wife. It served him right. She hated pussies.

  In the meantime, she needed to put the screws on Nate. Teach him a few lessons. Remind him who he was dealing with. Sure he’d be angry when she drove Erin away. And probably furious when she turned the suspicions onto him. But he asked for it. Soon he’d be begging her to help him. After a while she would. After she let him stew. Face scrutiny. Try to defend himself. After all who else but Nate had been trained in Eskrima. And who else but Nate kept a range of Latigos in his weapons safe.

  With a salacious grin, she pulled out her phone and tapped in a number. When it connected she assumed a lost frightened tone.

  “Dan, Officer Coulter. This is Laura Peterson. I need to talk to you. Privately… I’m frightened….”

  ~~~

  Nate and Mayor Ivor Sundstrom detested each other the first time they met. The mayor represented everything Nate despised. He was the ultimate politician. Utterly untrustworthy. His loyalties were as dependable as a weather vane in a windstorm. One thing and one thing only motivated him, and that was the next election. The mayor’s dislike of Nate was even more visceral. He’d made it clear on more than one occasion that if it had been up to him the Chief would have fired Nate years ago. What really stuck in the mayor’s craw was that Nate was the town hero beloved for his badass attitude as much as anything. And of course, that Nate could get press just by showing up drove the publicity hound politician nuts.

  The final straw was the infamous bridal shower that put Nate’s prowess with women in the town’s version of Guinness Book of World Records. The mayor’s twenty-one year old daughter was one of the eleven women who built Nate’s ‘all night wonder’ reputation. Marilyn was a nice girl, nothing like her father. Nate chuckled thinking about the scandalous evening. Marilyn had been the maid of honor. After the all-night orgy, you could skip the “maid” part.

  “It’s about time you got here, Stryker. We have a press conference in five minutes.”

  The mayor’s comb over blondish grey hair and placid, flat face spoke to his Swedish heritage. Nate was glad that Marilyn got her mother’s looks not her fathers. Even in an orgy, he would have struggled with an ‘Ivor-look alike’.

  “Hell, Mayor, the last thing you want is me going out there. You wouldn’t get thirty seconds of coverage. But, lucky for you, I have put a quarantine on any members of the CFPD appearing in the press.”

  The mayor’s pudgy face flushed an ugly shade of purplish red. The web of broken veins on his cheeks bulged.

  “I wouldn’t participate in a press conference with you if you were the last person on earth, Stryker.”

  Nate grinned. “Smart move, Mayor. Nuthin’ like sending a mouse out to compete with a lion. So yeah I won’t get in the way of your moment in the sun. By the way, what are you gonna tell them about my case?”

  Puffing up like an angry toad, the mayor glared at him, then nodded to Sam who was clearly enjoying the exchange.

  “Fortunately, this gentleman has given me a progress report so that I can speak to the press without making a fool of myself.”

  Nate whistled. “Wow, Sam. Must have been some report—to do the impossible. Hate to tell you, but the mayor has an uncanny ability to jumble even the most cogent information and make it unrecognizable. Sure hope you didn’t give him permission to quote you. He’s a master at making chicken shit out of chicken salad.”

  The mayor looked apoplectic, ready to explode. Whirling on the Chief he sputtered in fury. “Chief Roberts, I demand that you formally reprimand this… this—”

  Nate moved up next to the mayor purposely invading his personal space. The short man who came to Nate’s shoulder stumbled in his haste to retreat.

  The anger that had been roiling in Nate’s gut coalesced. His voice was silky soft.

  “This what, Mayor? This detective who has solved every major crime this city has faced in the last three years? Who, along with the best Chief in the country, has this Police Department ranked in the top ten for the third year in a row? Hell, we’re so damn good, that hotshot here came from the big city of L.A. to see how it’s done. And, Mayor, you know as well as I do, we’ve done that in spite of your meddling and attempt to undercut us every step of the way.”

  “Nate.” The Chief cautioned him.

  Nate made a conscious effort to tamp down his anger but couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He gave the mayor an appraising glance.

  “Gotta say, though, Mayor. You’re lookin’ good. Those are fancy duds. I know you gotta look sharp when you go out there to expound on everything you are doing to move along our investigation for the gullible folks at CNN. I’m curious, knowing what a budget hawk you are when it comes to our requests, when you buy a $3,000 suit, is that a personal expense or does it get charged as a business expense to the City?”

  Chief Roberts huffed an audible long suffering sigh, but Nate couldn’t stop.

  “One more thing, Mayor Sundstrom. You got any leads on BDSM clubs?”

  The mayor took three steps back, his face paling dramatically.

  “Good God… why would you ask me that?”

  Nate shrugged. “No particular reason. I know you’re in the Cities a lot and like convention junkets. Don’t know if you’re into kink but if you are maybe you could help us. We’re looking for anyone who may have seen Mike in those kinds of clubs.” Eyeing the trembling mayor, who was clutching the edge of the desk for support, Nate added, “Heads up. Won’t be long until the press grabs that angle. You should be p
repared to respond.”

  Nate closed in on the pale, sweating man, pinning him against the desk.

  “And Mayor, a word of warning. You break one confidential fact on this case and I’ll have you in lockup so fast you won’t have time to change out of your fancy suit. And the clientele we have in the lockup? You’d be surprised, the variety of kink they think up.”

  The pallor on the mayor’s face said it all.

  The city clerk appeared in the doorway. “Mayor Sundstrom, are you coming? The press is getting impatient. We scheduled the briefing to start ten minutes ago.”

  Nate stepped back and grinned at the white-faced mayor who had a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

  “Hey Mayor, go out there and break a leg. Make us proud.”

  As the mayor and his aide hurried out of the room, Nate muttered, “That ought to keep the little prick out of my hair for a week or two.”

  The Chief frowned. “That was rough, Nate. Even more than the asshole deserved.”

  Nate just shrugged. Glancing at his watch, he said, “I’m late. Going to the morgue. Jim called. The toxicology reports are back. Some of the bigwigs from the Cities are here. We may have gotten some breaks.”

  He glanced at Sam.

  “You comin’, hotshot?”

  Without waiting for an answer, Nate headed for the door.

  The Chief’s quiet voice caught him. When he looked back over his shoulder he saw the concern on his mentor’s face.

  “Nate, how about you and Sam join me for a drink after your meeting with the coroner? Hell, come to my house. I’ll order in your favorite Thai. We can have dinner then we can all get drunk together.”

  Remembering the pain on Erin’s face brought back the memory of Laura’s outrageous trick.

  Nate shook his head.

  “Not tonight, Chief. Sure as hell not tonight.”

  Chapter 16

  “Goddamn it, Erin! Answer your phone! I’m going crazy not hearing from you. You misunderstood, darlin’. I’ll explain as soon as I get home. Please, baby, pick up the phone.”

  Nate slammed his phone down. He’d left at least six messages for Erin and she still hadn’t answered. Goddammit! He didn’t know who he was angrier at. Laura—or now, Erin. But mostly he was angry with himself. He should have known Laura would pull something like this. He’d ignored her escalating messages over the last year. He knew what a tease she was. She enjoyed tormenting, taunting men she thought were interested in her. But, since Erin had moved in with him, Laura’s sultry invitations had picked up steam. They’d become more and more explicit. Nate wrote them off. Laura never could bear the thought of competition. Even though she’d walked out on him, betrayed him, apparently she couldn’t stand the thought of him with another woman. It had gotten so bad, he started deleting the messages without listening to them. The sound of her insinuating voice and over the top solicitations were nauseating. Plus, if Erin ever heard them, she would never understand.

  Nate pulled up in front of the cabin and leapt out of his car before the motor shut off. Dammit, he was angry. Didn’t know how he’d managed to participate in the meeting with the lab guys, but he was glad he went. Some of the craziness in the case was beginning to make sense. He just needed time to ruminate. Let the puzzle pieces careening around in his brain settle down—coalesce into a coherent whole. But first, he had to deal with his woman.

  “Erin? Where are you, baby? Erin, dammit, where are you?”

  Nate moved from one room to another calling her name. When it was obvious she wasn’t in the house, he circled around the back of the cabin, thinking she might have gone down to the lake. He often found her there, sitting by the water. She said the lake calmed her spirit. Nate understood. He’d spent many a quiet evening or night listening to the waves lapping against the shore. The reflection of the moonlight cutting across the dark waters soothed him as nothing else could. Except for Erin.

  Shoving down his growing concern, he jogged from the lake to the garage. Chiding himself, he increased his pace. He should have looked there first. His heart sunk when he saw that her car was gone. He started to get in his car but hesitated. He couldn’t just chase around town looking for her. Hell, she might even be at work. Heading for the kitchen, he grabbed a long neck from the refrigerator and ripped off the cap. As he tipped the icy cold bottle to his lips, he saw a note on the counter. Addressed to him. He choked down the mouthful of beer and opened the note. The beer hovered dangerously in his throat as he read her message.

  Nate:

  I can’t handle this. I thought I could. But I can’t. It’s too much. When the case is over, let’s talk. Erin.

  It took Nate a full moment staring at her swirly handwriting to grasp that not only was she gone, but that she didn’t want to talk to him. Until the case was over? Weeks? Maybe months? He slammed the beer bottle on the counter. Crumbling the note and shoving it into his pocket, he strode to the door, his heart hammering in his chest. Was she crazy? Out of her fucking mind? Did she honestly think that he could be away from her for one night, much less the time it would take to solve this fucking case?

  He jumped in his car and in a loud squealing circle backed up then shot forward gaining traction as he roared down the driveway. At the intersection to the highway, he forced himself to stop. Christ, where was he going? She could be anywhere. He called the Fire House dispatch who confirmed that Erin hadn’t been on the roster today. He thought about calling Mama D but they’d barely spoken since he’d ruined her dinner party. Besides, he knew that Erin would never want Mama D and Marcus to know about Laura. They despised Laura as much as Nate did. Anxiety and fury collided in his gut, making him glad he hadn’t had the beer. He raked his mind, forcing himself to think. God, she could be anywhere. Knowing how she hit the running trail whenever she was upset, he headed for the reservoir. Hell, there were only seven entrances to the damn trail, but he’d drive the whole twenty-mile trek if he had to. As he roared along the city streets peeling away from one barely green light to another, he had a flash of insight. Slowing enough to jerk out his phone, he punched in a number on his speed dial. After three rings, the call connected.

  “Where is she, Connor?”

  The heavy silence confirmed his instincts were on target.

  He barely recognized his own voice. It would put the fear of God in any man—except his righteous cousin.

  “Connor, so help me God, if you know where she is and you don’t tell me…”

  After a long silence, Connor answered. His response was as measured, as threatening as Nate’s.

  “Nate, let me tell you, so help me God, if you hurt this woman or have anything to do with that bitch Laura—”

  “Connor, listen to me. You don’t know what you are saying.”

  Connor interrupted. “All I know is that something happened, something with Laura and it upset Erin so much that she ran. Look, Nate, I don’t know what the hell is going on with you. I can’t figure you out. But in this case, Cuz, blood ain’t necessarily thicker than water. And if Laura is involved in any way, I’d side with Erin so fast—”

  “Goddammit, Connor. Shut the fuck up! Do you think just once, you could give me some credit?”

  In the silence that followed, Nate pulled over to the side of the road and took a deep breath. Shaking with emotion he spoke as calmly as he could.

  “Yeah, Connor, something happened. But it was just more of Laura doing her dirty work.

  She set me up. She came to my office uninvited. She knew Erin was coming and threw herself at me right as Erin walked in. Christ, Connor. Work with me on this.”

  “Damn, Nate. I don’t get it. What is she up to?”

  “I don’t know, Cuz. All I do know is that I need your help.

  ~~~

  Connor had met her at his front door. He reached for her hand and pulled her inside then led her into his study.

  “Okay, half pint. Lay it on me. What did my big bad cousin do now? It must be pretty bad if you’re heading fo
r a motel.”

  Erin gazed at her best friend not wanting to answer this question or any others. She hadn’t wanted to come here. She’d called him when she left the cabin so that someone would know where she was. She knew that Nate would be frantic and she didn’t want to talk to him. She couldn’t talk to him. Not tonight or any time soon. What she’d said in her note was the truth. She couldn’t handle it. Not until she got the sight of Laura in Nate’s arms out of her mind. Right. Like that would happen in this lifetime. Connor had insisted she come to their house. She’d reserved a room at the Motel Six on the edge of town, until she could get an apartment. But she gave in when Connor said he would come over and kidnap her if she wasn’t on their doorstep within fifteen minutes.

  She shook her head. “Please, Connor. I don’t want to talk about it. The only reason I came here was because you insisted. But I can’t stay. You need to understand that. I will be going to the motel tonight and—”

  “Erin, if Nate hurt you in any way, I need to know that….”

  Erin was startled. Seeing Connor’s serious expression she realized that he must think that Nate physically hurt her. Oh God, how could he think that? Because she reminded herself her actions implied that. Dear God, she should never have come here. Nate was upset enough. Why hadn’t she kept their issues between the two of them?

  “No, Connor. As I said before, Nate would never hurt me.” Remembering Laura’s arms around his neck and her face buried against his chest she added with a broken sigh, “At least physically.”

  Connor tensed. After a moment he broke his silence.

  “Talk to me half-pint. You know I love my cousin, but I love you too. And I’m not going to let anything or anyone hurt you.”

  Erin practically sneered. “Humph. That’s what Nate said too. Then he and… he and Laura….” She struggled to finish her sentence but the effort was too much, not if she was going to keep from bursting into tears.

  “Laura? What does that bitch have to do….” A sound at the doorway interrupted Connor’s incredulous question.