Maybe Rio was right. She was a florist, not a detective.
“Excuse me, who are you?” Kayla jumped at the voice behind her. She stepped back from Gloria’s office door as if she’d been burned. She faced a young woman with a no-nonsense brunette bob and the palest blue eyes she’d ever seen.
“I’m Kayla. I’m Ms. Charbonneau’s florist.”
“What are you doing standing here?” This had to be Cynthia. Her resemblance to her father was unmistakable.
“I needed to let Ms. Charbonneau know I’m leaving, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything important. And you’re...?” No way was a Charbonneau going to get the better of her. She reminded herself to stay cool. This job was too important to lose.
“I’m Cynthia.” Just like her father, a bright, wide smile and slight head tilt transformed Cynthia into a personable being, someone Kayla could easily see in front of a jury or an audience of voters. “It’s my wedding that you’re planning.”
“Oh, I’m so pleased to meet you. Your mother said you were finishing up final exams for law school.”
A slight narrowing of her eyes was Cynthia’s only sign that she might not like it that Gloria had been talking about her. “Stepmother. Gloria’s my stepmother. My real mother split when I was a baby. And I’m almost finished with my exams, which is why I could come home for a quick visit today, before I have to study for my final presentation—they’re a big deal, you know—and then start studying for the bar exam in July. I’m literally up the road at Dickinson College. The Penn State law program.” She laughed. “Mostly, though, I just couldn’t wait to marry Charles, even if the timing is a bit crazy.”
“Charles is your fiancé, I assume?” Kayla hadn’t thought to ask the groom’s name yet. And how was Cynthia able to talk so readily about her mother abandoning her?
“Yes, Charles Blackwell, the judge. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?” Cynthia smiled sweetly but Kayla detected the sense of victory underneath her query. As if her future husband was her trophy. Kayla swallowed her laughter. The parallel of the mayor and his daughter having trophy spouses didn’t escape her.
“Yes, he’s in the paper a lot.”
“Yes, he is. He’s met the president.” Cynthia smacked her lips as if she’d taken a mouthful of the world’s most expensive caviar. “I am so excited for us to be married. We share a common passion for politics and government.”
“Lovely.” Kayla smiled and prayed she looked mesmerized instead of completely baffled. It was as if she’d been dropped into a bizarre television drama.
“Lovely?”
“I mean, being so in love. A last-minute wedding is so romantic.”
“It’s not that last-minute. Our marriage has been in the planning stages for at least a month now. The wedding is just a day. Isn’t that what they say?” Cynthia raised an eyebrow as if she dared Kayla to contradict her. Kayla wasn’t a big believer in things “they” said, whoever “they” were.
“The wedding day is important, too, though—it can set the tone for a marriage. It’s definitely worth it to start your life together with a special day.” How many brides had she uttered these words to, believing them but never believing it would happen in her life? Kayla wasn’t so keen on marriage. Why did Rio pop into her head as she thought that? Marriage would be especially difficult with someone who had a job as crazy as his. Kayla could see herself living with someone maybe. A commitment for life, however, would mean risking the stability she had carved out for herself. Stability wasn’t something she was willing to give up.
Loneliness would be a good thing to give up.
“Our day will be wonderful, of course. Charles has told me to do whatever I want.” Cynthia leaned in closely to Kayla, as if they were longtime confidantes. “He’s been married twice before. It’s not common knowledge, but he’s had a run of bad luck with wives. He was divorced early from his first wife and was married to his second wife for over twenty years. He was widowed last year.”
“Oh?” Kayla didn’t want to know such personal details but if it gave her insight into this crazy family and a lead on who killed Meredith, she was all ears.
“Yes. Both of his exes had drinking problems. A lack of self-control can have terrible consequences. I’m just happy Charles won’t have to worry about that with me.”
Kayla bit the inside of her cheek to keep from uttering her opinion that addiction wasn’t a choice. Let Cynthia have it however she wanted it—Kayla was here to supply the flowers and help the SVPD solve a crime. It was the only leverage she might have to help Rio get the killer and free up his time to work on Keith’s case.
“Well, I need to let your stepmother know I’ve done my preliminary walk-through and I’ll be back to take more detailed measurements. She had her office door closed—I didn’t want to interrupt her.”
Cynthia stared at her a beat too long, during which Kayla wiggled her toes in her shoes. “No problem. I’ll let her know you’ve finished. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of you over the next ten days. It’s going to be a wonderful wedding.”
“Absolutely, it will.”
Kayla let herself out the front door and fought the impulse to shake her head in disbelief. The vast majority of brides she’d worked with were so happy and nervous about their nuptials that they talked about nothing else. Cynthia wasn’t exactly a typical bride-to-be.
What kind of bride will you be?
No kind. After being burned by her time with Rio, and still having to fight her attraction to him almost half a year later, long-term anything wasn’t on Kayla’s agenda. Not until her heart healed, as much as she hated to admit it even to herself. And even then, the man she eventually picked for a lifetime had to want to be in a safer position. Not fighting bad guys and risking his life every day.
Not that she was thinking about weddings and Rio together.
She’d leave the weddings to her clients.
CHAPTER 8
“Hi, Kayla.” Keith, her tall, sandy-haired brother, opened the front door to his townhome and accepted the bag of groceries she’d brought. “I’m not starving, you know. I’m still getting paid.” He closed the door behind them and followed her into the kitchen.
“I cooked some extra soup, some casseroles and lasagna last weekend. They’re frozen but all you have to do is thaw and heat them up and you’ll have a quick meal. I figured you’re so busy with your case that you’d be able to use some meals you don’t have to cook yourself.” Her brother hated the idea of her feeling sorry for him.
“We’re adults, sis. The older-sibling mantle is wearing thin on your shoulders.”
That was just like Keith, making her smile when he was in such grim circumstances.
“Let me be the big sis while I can. Someday you might be taking care of me in a nursing home.”
“Doubtful. You’re the most active person I know, besides the guys at the station. Between your business and yoga class, not to mention cooking pity meals for me, you never stop.” He eased onto his sofa, only a few feet from the kitchen counter in his small living space. “Have you heard from Mom and Dad?” Kayla knew what he was really asking was Do they still think I’m innocent?
“They’ll be back in town in two weeks or so. They asked if one of us could freshen up their place and put some basics in the refrigerator.” Her dad was long retired from diplomatic service, but her mother had her own international decor store in town. They were on the road through Poland and Russia at the moment, ordering pottery and wooden Santa dolls for the start of the Christmas season in six months. Their shop had to be prepared in September to appease the appetites of their voracious collectors, who preferred to shop early for the winter holidays. Silver Valley had been the home of both sets of Kayla’s grandparents and a natural place to retire once both Kayla and Keith started attending Penn State. Their older sister, Melo
dy, had gone to Oberlin College and worked for the State Department. She lived in Africa with her husband.
“When will they get in?”
“They’re flying into Harrisburg early on the weekend after Easter.”
“It’s the longest they’ve been gone to order stock.”
“I think they miss the old life. I won’t be surprised if they add a visit to see Melody.”
He nodded. “Nothing like how we grew up, moving around as if we were jet-setters.”
She laughed and he joined her. Their life had been far from materially rich as they’d traveled from embassy to embassy with the smallest collection of belongings. The furniture had always been provided, as had the appliances and basic cookware. The rest had been improvised according to the customs of the country they lived in.
“Those experiences were priceless, though. And you know they miss us, too. They’re not getting any younger.”
“Neither is my case,” he grumbled. Keith wasn’t self-pitying, but the case was wearing on him. “This is beyond inane. My record speaks for itself.”
“So why aren’t you being acquitted more readily?” She sat in the easy chair opposite him.
“Someone has a hard-on for the SVFD. They want us shut down, period.”
“That’s ridiculous. We need a fire department!”
“There’s a faction of the community who think the firefighting duties should entirely belong to the counties, not the municipalities. It’s about cash flow and taxation. And then the volunteer issue...”
“What do you think, Keith?”
His eyes flashed angrily before he blinked and let out a long sigh.
“I don’t know what’s better economically and frankly I don’t care about that side of it. What I know is that you have to have local firefighters who know the area like the back of their hand in order to keep the populace as safe as possible. However it breaks down, whether it’s the county or local community who calls the final shots, that’s a politician’s concern. A voting issue. I’m a firefighter.”
“And an arson expert.”
“Yes.” His haunted expression took her back to Christmas, when he’d singlehandedly discovered the accelerant the Female Preacher Killer had placed in the loft of the Silver Valley Community Church just minutes after he’d arrived on scene. It’d been too late to stop the loft fire, but they’d saved every civilian present, including Zora and the organist. The civil action against Keith claimed he and his team had overlooked the accelerant during their inspection before any civilians had entered the building and thus endangered hundreds of churchgoers on Christmas Eve.
“I spoke with Detective Ortega today.”
At his immediate silence and stony expression, Kayla cringed. She hated causing her brother any more angst. He’d had enough.
“And?” His face was unreadable.
“He thinks your case is tied in with something bigger that’s going on in Silver Valley.”
“He’s right.”
She jolted with surprise. “You already knew?”
“Yes. Rio came to me a week ago. He’s done a lot of digging for me, and he’s convinced I’m innocent. He was pretty much from the beginning, but he had to follow protocol. He’s getting blowback from this single attorney who’s come out of nowhere, with his clients insisting that I personally could have done something to prevent that psycho’s actions. Rio thinks the couple has been hoodwinked by this lawyer. That he was out there looking for someone to file a claim against me and the fire department. It’s pissing me off, Kayla, I have to tell you. First we all lived through the bastard’s killing and stalking, then the fire. It’s like he’s still coming after us from beyond the grave.”
“The janitor who was the Female Preacher Killer.”
“Right.”
So Rio had been watching out for Keith, even after they’d stopped seeing each other. He’d heard her when she’d spoken to him all those months ago. But he never mentioned it to her. Typical Rio—he allowed her to think the worst about him. She shook her head.
“What?” Keith didn’t miss her motion. “It was the janitor who was the killer, the arsonist. My people couldn’t have found his trap unless they’d had more time and been able to tear the balcony apart before the children’s pageant.”
“I’m not shaking my head at that. Of course I know that, and I believe you, Keith.” Rio had believed Keith from the beginning, too, but she hadn’t known it. “What I don’t get is how can complete strangers keep you tied up in this bogus claim?”
Her younger brother flashed her a sarcastic grin. “Money, sis. Money talks and whoever it is wasn’t happy when SVPD wanted all charges against me dropped. So they’re coming after me with the civil suit. They’re claiming that if we’d done our jobs correctly, the fire wouldn’t have taken off so quickly. I’m lucky that SVPD is still trying to figure out why these civilians are so hell-bent on nailing me.”
“You still think it’s somehow your fault, don’t you?”
“Hell, Kayla, there’s always a part of me that feels responsible whenever anyone is hurt because of a fire. But no, I don’t feel responsible for what that bastard did. And I have no doubt that I’ll get out of this mess, but what I do doubt is that I’ll do it before my career is completely shot.”
She couldn’t reply to his too-true statement. No matter how innocent he was, how untrue the claims against him and the department, the writing was on the firehouse wall.
If his case against him wasn’t dropped soon, Keith wouldn’t serve in Silver Valley’s fire department again. Not without a lingering cloud of suspicion trailing him for the rest of his career.
“Have you thought about what else you can do?” She quietly heated up one of the casseroles she’d brought him in his microwave. He hadn’t shaved in what looked like a week and he was in gym gear. At least the house was clean and he’d showered. “If you don’t go back to the force?”
“No. Yes. I can become an arson investigator, maybe work for SVPD or go into the private sector. I’ve got other options, too, that have popped up. I just haven’t explored them yet.”
“Like what?”
“I can’t say a lot about it, but there’s an agency that works covertly to solve crimes of all types. They contacted me.”
“Here in Silver Valley?”
“No, not only here. All across the country, probably overseas, too. But my focus would be more local. To help out local LEA as needed.”
“Are you talking about the CIA?” God, Keith wasn’t thinking of anything so dangerous, was he? “Dad would have something to say about that.” While in the Foreign Service their father had worked alongside the CIA in certain embassy tours and while he respected the agency it wasn’t a line of work he’d ever want either of his children pursuing.
“It’s not for Dad to say, just like it’s not for you to tell Dad about this conversation. It’s not CIA, Kayla. Just drop it.”
“Fine.” The microwave dinged. She pulled the hot dish out and lifted up the wax paper, releasing aromatic steam that she hoped her brother wouldn’t be able to resist. “Here. Eat. You look like you’re on a hunger strike.”
“I feel like an outcast in my own damn town.” Grumbling or not, he stood up and walked over to the stools at the high counter. “You’re the best, sis. I appreciate it.”
“It’s the least I could do. You took care of me last fall.”
“That was nothing.” He shoved a huge forkful of food into his mouth. “Ouch! That’s hot.”
Blowing on his next forkful, Keith said, “You never told me who you were so upset about then.”
“And I won’t.” She couldn’t. If she told him about her brief, failed relationship with one SVPD cop, and then her disaster with Rio, he’d think she needed more than his help. That she was crazy.
Keith already had been through hell, having his stellar career yanked out from under him by the bogus claims. If he’d known he’d been the cause of her broken heart, no matter how indirectly, he’d feel even worse than he already did.
“Huh.” He chewed, swallowed. “This is good stuff, sis. You’ll make some dude happy with your wifely skills.”
“Watch it or I’ll make it hotter and make sure you can’t talk to me like that.”
“You’re all talk, Kayla. You have a heart of gold and this food proves it.”
CHAPTER 9
Soft footsteps startled Kayla, and the panic from last night threatened to make a full-blown return.
Rio stood in the middle of the shop, his athletic build and mesmerizing eyes proving an antidote to her anxiety. Not that she’d admit it.
“What are you doing here again?” She’d been working since returning to the shop after having left Keith’s, and hadn’t even heard Rio walk up to the front counter. She clicked on the appropriate commands to shut down the register computer and close the cash till before she allowed herself to look at him fully. “I thought I’d locked the front door.”
It was a good thing the counter stood between them. She’d be lying to herself if she denied the thought of Keith’s case being cleared up hadn’t had her imagination going nonstop with images of what Rio and she had done together in bed, what they could do together again once he was no longer on the case.
“I told you I’m looking out for you. I wouldn’t have asked you to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and then just left you on your own.” He didn’t have to spell it out for her. He’d appointed himself her security guard.
“So you got my text?” She’d told him she’d learned some interesting things at the Charbonneau house.
“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it here.” He pointedly looked around the shop, with its huge front picture windows and artful displays that a customer could easily hide behind. “Come to dinner with me.”
Harlequin Romantic Suspense March 2016 Box Set Page 74