Red Nights

by Shari J. Ryan

  Although, if he didn’t? I don’t know how many other suspects there could be besides me.

  “Why would they ever think I’d burn my own house down?” I ask Hayes.

  “Unfortunately, you’ve incriminated yourself a bit.” He opens the fridge and grabs two bottles of water, placing them both down on the table in front of me. “You left things out of your original statement and you thought Blake was out, which means you’d only have to worry about getting yourself out of the house. People do this type of thing for insurance reasons. You said you were caring for your brother financially. That would be a burden to most twenty-five year-olds.”

  “But you believe me when I say I didn’t do it…don’t you?”

  His arms are around me before another tear has a chance to escape. He presses his face into my hair. Then he leans back and looks down at me. “Yes. I believe you. We just have to play things out the right way. I know what I’m doing.” He reaches over to grab my purse off the counter and retrieves my phone from the side pocket, handing it to me. “Call Tanner. Tell him you want to catch up and make plans to go out to dinner with him. Then show up at his house an hour early so he’s not expecting you. What time does he get out of work?”

  “By four, I think.”

  “Make dinner plans for six, then; he should be home no later than five, which is when you’ll show up.”

  I take the phone, looking at it for a second before looking back up at him. “If there’s a chance that he’s dangerous, isn’t this a bad idea? Stupid, even?”

  He takes my phone and fumbles with it for a minute. He flips it back around to show me, pointing to a button he created on my display. “All you have to do is press this and an alert will be sent to my phone. I’ll be waiting down the street. I need you to try and think like a detective. I’m sure you’ve seen the Lifetime movies.” He winks and nudges my shoulder. “Get creative. Try to get into rooms alone and take pictures of everything you can. We can analyze them later.”

  I take the phone back from him and press on Tanner’s name. My hand is shaking as I wait for it to connect. I can hardly swallow.

  “Breathe,” Hayes whispers.

  Tanner picks up. “Hey, Liss! What’s up?”

  “Hi,” I say, forcing the cheeriness.

  “You doing okay?”

  “Can we grab a bite to eat tonight?”

  He sounds happy; eager. “Sure. Is something wrong?”

  I look at Hayes the whole time. “I just want to talk to someone who loved Blake as much as I did.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “Thanks, Tanner. Pick me up at six?” I look up at Hayes, giving him the thumbs up.

  “You got it. See you then,” he says.

  And I’ll see you an hour earlier, as I’m searching for ways to prove my innocence. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  GOING THROUGH THE EFFORT of trying to make myself look good for Tanner is making me ill, especially with Hayes watching me. “How long did you say you were with him?”

  “A year,” I say, swiping gloss over my lips.

  “Do you know any of his exes?” he asks, fumbling with his phone.

  “Yeah. The one before me was Kayla Lyle…before her were Melanie Lane and Jenna Gold. The others were pretty casual.”

  “Did you all go to school together?” he asks.

  “Melanie and Jenna, yes. I haven’t seen them since high school. But Kayla was his girlfriend when I was in New York; I don’t know much about her. He said very little about her.”

  “Okay.” He walks to me and takes my cardigan into his hands, straightening it at first, then using it to pull me into him. “I don’t like sending you over there, especially considering that you have a past with the guy.” He kisses me on the nose, then presses his lips into mine, hard and breathtaking. He holds me tightly against him.

  Why can’t things just be simple like this, always?

  Our mouths are interlocked, his arms looped around me, and I feel safe, warm, and cared for. This is all I want.

  He pulls away and sweeps the hair off my shoulders, twisting it behind my neck. “Blondie-locks,” he says, smiling. “I want you to be mine. All mine.” He takes my hand and lays it on his chest. “Do you feel how much I need you?” His heart is pounding as hard as mine is.

  I close my eyes and bite my lip, forgetting all the shit in my life. “I’m already yours.”

  “Good,” he says. “I’ll obviously have to discuss this with the old Lady first. She can be a real bitch sometimes.”

  I snort. “You treat that poor Lady like a dog on a leash.”

  “Wow. Look at you,” he laughs. “You trying to show me up?” I press my head into his chest, and he squeezes me tightly, letting out a soft groan. “God, you’re perfect.”

  Perfect. I feel like laughing at that. “Yeah, except for the whole suspected arsonist thing,” I say, breaking through the moment of forgetfulness. I pull away to look at him again. “Will you still like me if I’m dressed in an orange jumpsuit for the next twenty to life?” The thought sickens me. But it’s a distinct possibility.

  He just holds his focus on mine, combing his fingers through my hair. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  * * *

  Please be home. Please be home. Please don’t be home.

  I pull in a sharp breath as the door opens. “Liss.” Tanner looks down at his watch. “What are you doing here? I said I’d pick you up at six.”

  My mouth is moving, but nothing comes out. I’m supposed to act casual, and this isn’t casual. Say something. “I just miss talking to you.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” he says, looking over his shoulder. “Come on in.” I’d never show up unexpectedly at anyone’s house for this exact reason—I hate making people feel uncomfortable. I follow him in, remembering why we worked so well. Another neat freak.

  “I can leave if you have things you need to do before dinner,” I offer.

  “No. It’s cool. I was just going to take a shower. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be quick.” He’s scratching at the back of his neck, spinning around like he’s unfamiliar with his own house. I’ve definitely caught him off guard. “It’s weird having you sit on my couch. The last time you were here, we were—you know.” Yup. Screwing on the kitchen table a month after we broke up. I promised myself that was the last time. Oh God. I hope he doesn’t think that’s why I’m here. I watch his focus move to the kitchen table as a slight sadistic and proud grin tugs at his lips.

  “Just dinner tonight,” I say, forcing a giggle.

  “Damn,” he breathes. “Now I really need a shower.” He winks and disappears into the bathroom.

  The second I hear the shower crank on, I pull my phone out of my pocket and open the camera app. I don’t know where to start, so I snap several pictures in every angle of the living room. Now onto the kitchen. I quietly open every cabinet door, still unsure of what I’m looking for. I’ll just snap pictures of everything…just food, plates, and silverware. Not exactly incriminating.

  I squat down and poke my head into the cabinet below the sink, but once again, nothing here that screams “arsonist.” I take pictures anyway.

  I’m so screwed.

  I’m pretty sure this whole plan is useless.

  I take a quick peek into his bedroom.

  I’m sure he can’t hear me, but because the bedroom is on the other side of the bathroom, I’m a bit more nervous. I have to get in and out quickly before the water goes off.

  I step into his charcoal and black draped room, noting nothing out of place in here either. His bed is made, and his closet doors, while open, display nothing other than perfectly pressed clothes hanging in order by color and size. His shoes are even lined up.

  I move over to his dresser and pull open every drawer. The top one reveals a mega-sized box of condoms. Nice. I take pictures of everything in here too, and thanks to impeccable timing, the shower turns off right as I
snap the last photo. I tip-toe back into the living room and plop down on the couch, making it look like I’ve been sitting here comfortably for the past ten minutes. I’m hoping my pounding heart and flushed cheeks don’t give me away.

  He steps out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. The memory of why I was so attracted to him in the first place hits me hard. He has the torso of a Greek God. “Need anything?” he asks, sort of making a show of his sheen-streaked nakedness.

  “I’m good,” I croak.

  He turns into his bedroom.

  Things go quiet.

  “Hey, Liss?”

  “Yeah?” I shout in the direction of his room.

  “Were you in my top drawer?” Every part of my body goes cold, and my mouth goes dry. Really, really dry. I can’t swallow. Or think. Which is bad since he’s now standing in front of me. I want to push the panic button on my phone, just for the sake of telling Hayes I’m panicking.

  “I—ah—I was looking to see if you had any condoms.” I’m trying to give him a sexy smile, but my lips are quivering, making me look like a child who’s trying not to cry.

  “Oh?” he smirks. Shit. Shit. Shit. This encourages him to saunter toward me, his hand holding the center of his towel, which displays a growing bulge. When he reaches me, he extends his hand, waiting for me to give him mine. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

  I put my hand in his and I’m up on my feet before I can blink. He’s holding me against him. I can feel his erection poking into my stomach. Oh my God. No. This can’t be happening. “I’ve missed you, Liss. I’ve missed you so damn much.” He has a half empty box of condoms. We didn’t use condoms since I’m on the pill, so I’m pretty sure he hasn’t missed me that much.

  I can’t breathe. I’m dizzy. His finger is under my chin, tilting my face up. He’s going to see my eyes, and he’ll know I’m lying. “I need to use the bathroom,” I say. He tilts his head down, his lips coming closer.

  He’s going to kiss me…

  I pull away, slipping out of his arms. “I really have to pee.”

  I close myself into his bathroom. I fall heavily against the back of the door. What am I going to do? I shouldn’t have agreed to this. I pull out my phone, realizing I have to take pictures of this room too. I open the medicine cabinet, then the cabinet under the sink to take one more. I reach to close the medicine cabinet door, but I stop halfway. What is that? I reach in and pull out a prescription bottle. I don’t recognize the name of the medication. I put it back and snap a picture before closing the cabinet door quietly.

  I flush the toilet for show and open the bathroom door to find Tanner standing only inches in front of me. He’s completely naked. No towel. No nothing. “I’m glad you stopped by.”

  “Tanner, I’m suddenly not feeling so well right now. I think the stress is getting to me. Can I take a rain check on tonight?”

  He places his hands over my shoulders, looking worriedly at me. “Are you okay?”

  “I can’t think straight right now. I just need some air.” He leans over and grabs his towel from where he tossed it, lashing it tightly around his waist again. “I’m sorry.”

  As we approach the front door, he wraps his hand around my wrist. “What’s going on with the investigation? Have you heard anything?”

  “Yeah,” I breathe out the air I’ve been holding in. “They still think I did it.”

  “Damn. And did they say why they are calling it arson?”

  Do I tell him? My gut says no. “Not yet.” I clutch at my stomach. “I really need to go.”

  He gives me a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Call me when you’re feeling better.”

  “Okay,” I say, breaking out of his hold and pushing out through the screen door. I try not to look down the street to where Hayes is parked. I don’t want to draw any attention to him with Tanner watching me from the door…in his towel.

  When I pass Hayes, he does a sharp U-turn and follows me back to his condo.

  “Hey, hey.” He grabs my arm as I step out of my car. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

  “No,” I say while shaking. “He might have thought I was there to seduce him.”

  “And what gave him that impression?”

  “The fact that I might have told him I was looking for condoms…”

  “What?”

  “I left his drawer open, and he asked. I said the first thing that came out. I got all of the photos.” He leads me upstairs, his hand gripping tightly around mine.

  The second we’re secure inside of his condo, his arms envelope me, and I lose it. “It’s okay,” he says. “You did great.” I try to relax. I try to breathe. But God, I haven’t breathed normally in almost two months now. “Can I see your phone?” I inhale sharply and pull it out of my back pocket, giving it to him with an unsteady hand. He takes it with him and sits down on the armrest of the couch. “Put a password on this thing. Okay?”

  “Okay.” I watch as he scans through the photos. Once. Twice. During the third round, he stands up with his eyes still glued to the screen. He walks into his office and comes back out with his laptop and a USB cord.

  He sits at his kitchen island and plugs my phone into his computer. His computer is much faster than mine; his photo manager pops up in seconds, filling the screen with all of my photos. “Does he have a cat?”

  “He didn’t when we were together…and I didn’t see one now.”

  “Well, he has a container of cat litter.”

  “He does?” That makes no sense. “I think he’s allergic to cats…”

  Hayes clicks through the photos until he reaches the ones from the bathroom. “He had a bunch of prescription bottles in the medicine cabinet,” I tell him. “You can see them in one of the pictures.”

  He finds the picture and zooms in quite a bit, tilting his head and squinting. “These are sedatives.” He scrolls to the next photo, the one of the cabinet under the sink. “Wow.”

  “What?” I ask, looking back and forth from the screen to his washed-out face.

  He huffs. “There’s brake fluid under his sink. This asshole really thinks no one would consider him because of his stupid daddy.”

  I press my hand into my chest as my eyes widen, staring at the zoomed in picture of brake fluid. “Oh my God.” I sound as scared as I feel.

  “You need to bring these photos to the police department. I don’t think I should go with you, though. I can’t have them thinking I prompted you to do this part. I can investigate Tanner from outside of his home, but not within,” he explains.

  “I don’t think I can do that, Hayes.”

  “I’m trying to save you from being charged with arson, Felicity.” The way he says my name hurts. Like he’s talking to a child. I have to remember this isn’t his problem. He pulls me over onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me and placing his chin down over my shoulder. “I need to keep my ties strong with the police department and my firm. I need to be kept in the loop about finding the murderer of that kid.”

  I twist around on his lap. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been selfish,” I say, looking into his beautiful, sad eyes. “I didn’t realize you were still working on that case.”

  “That case won’t be closed until the murderer is found.” He swallows hard and closes his eyes briefly. “Look, right now, we just have to play nice and do things the right way. We need to get blame pointing away from you so can we push forward in a more favorable direction.” I want to ask him more. I want to know all of his pains. He’s been so focused on me, and I’ve been so self-absorbed that I haven’t stopped to think about what he’s going through.

  I place my hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry.” I feather my fingertips along the carved lines of his jaw. “I can’t imagine what you went through—what you’re still going through. And yet, you’ve been focused on me.”

  “It’s fine,” he says like he’s trying to brush it off.

  “The child who got shot was around the same age as Ella, right?” I’
m asking because I can’t help but to wonder if that’s why he’s taking this case so hard. Too close to home maybe.

  He looks down and away from me. “Yeah.” He lifts me off of his lap and walks over to one of his kitchen drawers and retrieves two thumb drives. “I’m going to put all of the images on these, one is for us and the other you can bring to the station. They’ll know what to do with it.” He closes the drawer and leans up against it, folding his arms over his chest defensively. “You should go to the station first thing in the morning.”

  “I’m sorry I upset you.” I reach for my car keys. “I should leave.” I can’t read him. I can’t understand why he just shuts down and won’t tell me why he’s hurting.

  “No, don’t.” And just like that, the black world around me brightens just a little. “I know it’s been a rough day, but can I take you to my mom’s restaurant? It’ll be quiet this time of night, and it’ll be a nice break from the day you’ve had. Plus, you guys can talk and trade kitchen secrets and stuff.”

  “Will it be considered leaving the area?” I’m becoming more infuriated about Earnst saying what he said about not going anywhere too far. I guess Mexico is out of the question now.

  “It’s less than a half hour away. You’re with me. It’s fine.”

  “Okay then. Let’s go,” I tell him without a moment of hesitation.

  “Wait.” He grabs my arm, turning me around to face him. “Tonight is about us. Nothing about the case. I want everything to just melt away for a little bit. We both need this.”

  I lift up on my toes and kiss him. “So, I guess I’m in for a lot of corny Lady puns, huh?” Lady hears me say her name and trots over, nudging her head beneath my hanging hand.

  “Lady already got me the girl. So I don’t know…I might need new material.” He kisses me again.

  And again…and again, making our departure an hour later than we had planned.

  * * *

  The quiet ride out to the restaurant is nice, and I’m doing what I can to clear my mind. It’s getting easier to block it all out as we move further away from home. Maybe I just need some space.