Hearts on Fire 9: Her Shadows of Light (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  She pulled back, and he could see the tears in her eyes.

  “You needed fifteen stitches. That’s not nothing,” she scolded him. He raised one of his eyebrows at her, and she immediately blushed and lowered her eyes. His dick got instantly hard.

  “I’m sorry. I was scared from the moment I heard the firetrucks and sirens go by the office. Well, even before that, I was thinking about you and the guys and worrying about your professions. I’m not used to this. To feeling so close to anyone and worrying. I’ve been on my own for a while now. I mean I have my friends, but this is different.”

  He chuckled and kissed her chin.

  “Baby, of course it is because of what we shared over the weekend. You’re part of us, and we’re part of you. Making love was special, and the bond is deep and strong.”

  He caressed her hair and her cheek as she held his gaze with those gorgeous green eyes of hers. He squeezed her hip, loving the sexy business dress in small black and white polka dots she wore today. When she’d walked into the emergency room, wearing those high heels and looking so sexy and sophisticated, catching everyone’s attention, he’d been jealous and proud. His buddies left them alone to go check on Reece, Rusty, and the others.

  She hugged him again and then stood up and pressed her hands down the material of the dress.

  “How long before I can check on Reece and Pat?” she asked.

  “Reece is in x-ray, and Pat is right next door, giving everyone hell. Perhaps the two of you could go in and calm him a bit?” Catalina said to them as she came back into the room.

  Rusty stood up and took Brighid’s hand.

  “Come on, baby, sounds like Pat is being a baby,” he teased.

  “You said x-rays for Reece? Why?” Brighid asked.

  “He injured his arm, and it’s all bruised up and swollen. The doctor wants to make sure there’s no fractures. He isn’t too happy either, but he’s cooperating,” Catalina told them.

  As they entered the other room and saw the doctor shaking his head, Rusty knew that Pat was being resistant.

  “Well, Mr. Uncooperative, I have some visitors that may make you a bit calmer about this situation,” Catalina said and then motioned for Brighid to come closer.

  Pat was lying on the table, his pants cut up and blood oozing along the bit of skin. He had shards of glass sticking out of him in different spots.

  “Jesus, Pat, you look like a fucking porcupine,” Rusty teased, and Brighid let go of his hand and went around the front of the table.

  “Fuck you, Rusty,” he barked. “Heard you needed stiches. Pansy.”

  “Pat,” Brighid scolded, and Pat turned to look.

  “Brighid?” he whispered, and to Rusty’s ears, it sounded like shock and thrill in his brother’s voice.

  “We need to cut his pants and get a clearer view of the damage to make sure nothing is too deep or in need of stitches,” the doctor said.

  Brighid leaned over in front of Pat. She clutched his cheeks between her hands.

  “I was so worried. Let them work so I know that you’re okay.”

  “I’m not okay with a bunch of fucking people looking at my naked body while I lie here helpless.”

  “You can keep the underwear on. There’s nothing on your backside,” the doctor said to him.

  “Come on, Pat, and do it. I’m worried.” She then kissed him.

  Rusty smirked.

  “Fine, do it and get this shit over with. I said I’m fine,” Pat barked. But a few minutes later, after the uniform pants were cut from his body and the view of the shards of glass were clearer, even Rusty cringed.

  Son of a bitch, that looks like it hurts like hell.

  * * * *

  Pat tried focusing on Brighid’s green eyes and not the sharp pain he felt as the doctor began to slowly take out the shards of glass. The doctor would warn him when the deeper ones were being pulled. He needed a few stitches here and there to keep the skin closed to heal better. But they were the kind that would disintegrate as the cuts healed, so they weren’t so bad. By the time the doctor was finished, Pat felt exhausted. He was trying so hard to not show pain and keep a smile on his face because Brighid looked about ready to cry. It was an odd sensation to have these feelings, to have a woman, their woman, by their side like this when they got injured on the job. He’d bet she was scared now about their professions. He hoped it didn’t make her want to pull back and out some distance between them. They would have to talk about it together and help her to deal with being a first responder’s woman.

  “That slit at the top of your dress is pretty low cut for work. Can’t you button it up more?” he asked her.

  She looked him in the eyes and shook her head.

  “It’s not too low cut, and no, this is the way it’s made.” She ran her thumbs along his jaw and then pressed her lips to his. “I’m so glad that you’re not hurt worse. I heard you rescued a bunch of people and took the brunt of the hit to protect an elderly couple.”

  “Don’t tell him about the local news crews waiting to interview him. It will go to his head,” Rusty said aloud.

  Catalina chuckled. “It’s honorable what he did. Saving all those people who could have gotten caught inside the burning building. That cute elderly couple has been talking non-stop about him and how he covered them to protect them.”

  “Well, it’s better than them suing me for bruising them up as I tackled them to the ground,” Pat added.

  “You’re not kidding,” Rusty said.

  “People do that kind of thing?” Brighid asked, sounding so sweet and innocent. He loved that about her. She seemed untouched by violence or the cruel intentions of evil people.

  “They sure do. There’s a lot of bad out there,” Rusty added.

  “Well, I’d like to think there are more good people than bad people like that. I’m just glad that you guys are all okay.”

  Pat gave her a soft smile. She really was so sweet and untainted by the negatives in society. Perhaps that was why he and his brothers were so into her. They each dealt with negativity on a daily basis. They saw a lot of bad, evil, and criminal things in their line of work, especially Tobin. She represented a positive, a light in the darkness that showed there were still good people out there who were optimistic, positive in their perspectives on life and on people. He and his brothers could use a little more of that positivity and innocence in their lives.

  That thought suddenly brought feelings of protectiveness and concern over Brighid. She was their woman now, and she would come first in all they did. He never wanted her to lose that love of life, that thinking that more good people and good things occurred in life than bad, and he hoped she never experienced anything evil or that caused her pain.

  He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them as the doctor finished up. She smiled at him, and nothing had ever felt more perfect in his life.

  * * * *

  Brighid stood by with her arms crossed as Pat insisted he didn’t need help putting on a pair of scrubs the doctor had given him to go home in. As he teetered and scrunched his face, indicating he was indeed in pain, she exhaled in annoyance.

  Rusty leaned next to him. “Take my shoulder tough guy.”

  Pat growled, but he did take his shoulder to lean on as he stepped into the pants.

  “You’re so stubborn. Why won’t you let me help you?” she asked him.

  “Don’t, Brighid. Just let me do this.”

  She uncrossed her arms and was about to continue to argue with him, but then one strong arm came around her waist, and she gasped. Pat and Rusty didn’t even look up. They had obviously seen Reece coming.

  She pressed back against him, and his arm tightened as he kissed her neck.

  “I thought that was my girl’s sexy ass in this tight dress. I think we’re going to have to talk about your choice in business attire.” He suckled the skin on her neck, making her shiver.

  “Reece.” She exhaled. “Are you okay?” she asked, voice cracking.


  He loosened his hold, and she turned in his arms and saw his arm was in a sling. She carefully touched it and covered her mouth with her other hand.

  “Oh God.”

  He placed his hand on her hip. “Shh, baby, I’m fine. It’s just a bad sprain, no fracture or anything.”

  “Well, what did the doctor say? What do you need to do? Can I help in any way?”

  He cupped her cheek and gave a soft smile. “There’s nothing to do but just let it heal, take some over-the-counter pain relief, and rest it. It’s good, Brighid.”

  She started to feel as if they didn’t want her near them. Like maybe she shouldn’t have come here to the hospital. Their relationship was brand spanking new. Had she overstepped the boundaries here in the dating-four-men kind of relationship? She felt hurt, confused.

  “Fuck, I got it, Rusty. Let’s get this shit over with,” Pat said, and they started to head out of the room to the main area, where their friends were waiting to see them and show support. As was the media.

  She felt out of place as she walked with them and the crowd of people bombarded them.

  She stepped aside and watched, wondering why they seemed to be putting distance between them and her.

  It took quite some time for the interviews and for their bosses to discuss things with them. She figured it was best for her to leave before they were whisked off to give their statements to police and to the investigators. As she waited for an opportunity to tell them she was heading out, an arm came around her waist, scaring her. She gasped and grabbed onto the arm.

  “Hey, it’s only me,” Tobin said and turned her around and held her shoulders.

  She tried swallowing hard and blinking the tears from her eyes, but one look at Tobin’s serious expression and she knew he’d seen them.

  “Hey, they’re fine. My brothers are tough as nails.”

  She nodded. She was feeling more and more like some weak female who over exaggerated her concern for her four lovers. Maybe that was it. They were only lovers, nothing more right now because they’d made love for two days and hadn’t even gone out on a date. That had to be it. None of them had expected her to be here and to be so concerned. They might even think she was playing it up.

  “I’m glad you’re here. I need to get back to work. I can’t even get close enough to the guys to let them know.”

  “You don’t need to leave. I’m sure their chiefs and Pat’s commander will tell them to come to their jobs tomorrow to file paperwork etcetera.”

  She shook her head and lowered her eyes. “I think I should go. I’m really just in the way, and like I said, I have stuff to do at work.”

  He looked disappointed and then looked behind her at the crowd of reporters and people.

  “You’re probably right. It’s a madhouse. I can drop you off.”

  “No. That’s okay. I’ll grab a bus on the corner. No worries.”

  He pressed his lips to hers. “Thanks for coming and being here for them. I’ll see you tonight.”

  “We’ll see,” she said, and saw his facial expression and that hardness, that unreadable, deep expression that made her think he didn’t trust her or believe her. She hurried out of there and down the street, hoping to keep the tears at bay. But as she reached the corner and threw on her sunglasses, the tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt incomplete. As though she’d done something wrong or she’d thought of their relationship differently than they did. They’d seemed so happy to see her at first, and then they’d pushed her away and distanced themselves. Maybe this wouldn’t work out after all.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean she’s not coming over?” Reece asked Rusty.

  “I don’t know, something about being behind at work because she left today to go to the hospital to see us,” Rusty replied.

  “She was acting funny when I got to the room,” Reece said to them.

  “Probably because Pat was being a stubborn dick,” Rusty stated.

  “I was not.”

  “You were, too, and wouldn’t let her help you,” Reece said to him.

  “So this is my fault?” Pat asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

  “You insulted her.”

  “So did you, Rusty, and you, too, Reece, by not keeping her by our sides when we were swarmed by the media.”

  They were all quiet a moment, and then Pat spoke up.

  “I hurt her feelings. Holy shit, I was so worried about not looking weak in her eyes that I was pushing her away. I also didn’t want those cameras taking pictures of her. You never know what the media might do or say when they see ménage couples in the spotlight. We don’t know if she has any family or if having our relationship televised would be negative for her.”

  “We have to make her understand that we were protecting her and protecting ourselves. This is new to us, too. We’ve never had a serious relationship and shared a woman like Brighid. It’s understandable to hold back and to get cold feet,” Reece said.

  “God knows what’s going through her head right now. We should call her,” Rusty added.

  “We should call Tobin and tell him to stop by her office and bring her back here,” Rusty stated.

  “He’s caught up with the investigation into the fire. You heard what Jake said about it being suspicious,” Pat said to them.

  “Well, that was pretty fucking obvious by the two separate explosions,” Reece said. “I know the first might have been due to an old boiler system, but damn, the second was something separate and not normal in a fire like that. It’s amazing that the adjacent buildings didn’t go up in flames, too.”

  “It was a four-alarm fire,” Rusty said. “The second the call came over the radio that an office was down and an explosion had rocked the main streets, everyone got there to assist. It’s amazing that more people weren’t killed.”

  “Well, if it is arson, I hope they find the fuckers responsible,” Pat said, and they all agreed.

  Chapter 6

  Arson Investigator Jon Sanders tapped his finger on the printout. He was at the fire training facility and main office with two other investigators. “Look at this. It came over the Internet this morning through our fire call system. A fire in Treasure Town, New Jersey, and the same insurance company that is connected to the two fires here in Connecticut,” Jon said to Jeffrey Stone and Gregory Voight.

  “Holy crap, that’s another link we need,” Gregory said.

  “Well, we’ve got ourselves a name that connects the four female fire victims and him, thanks to that trip out to New Hampshire. All four of those women were seeing a man with the same description as the boyfriend of our last victim, Gracie May. It has to be our arsonist,” Jeffrey said to them.

  “Okay, so what do we do from here? We can’t get a location of residence, only a name,” Gregory said.

  “We have a picture of the guy and his name. Let’s run it through the system and see what we get,” John Sanders said to them as he started typing on the computer.

  “I think if we put in these details and last known address as Hartford, Connecticut, and we can take it from there. With this new system, if he ever started a fire, called up about a fire, was hospitalized or processed for a crime, it will come up. Hell, if he got a ticket for no seatbelt or was late returning a library book, it could come up on here.”

  “And to think with a system like that there are still assholes getting away with murder and arson,” Gregory said.

  “You’re not kidding,” Jeffrey said.

  “Bingo, looks like we have two pages of shit,” John said and scrolled down, looking for more info to nab this guy.

  “Here we go. Let’s see what we have here. Okay, looks like he’s been in and out of trouble since about thirteen years old. Petty larceny, oh, yeah, look at this. He started a fire in the boys’ bathroom at the high school he attended.”

  “Click onto that file.” Jeffrey pointed. “It shows more information.”

  “Yeah, but it’s with the juvenile cou
rts system. It won’t give much more than what can be disclosed at public records. Write this number down and this case number. If we call up, they could give us more info to help with the investigation,” Gregory told Jeffrey, who wrote it down.

  “Scroll farther. Anything else on there?” Gregory asked.

  John scrolled further. “Just some illegal parking tickets.”

  “Wait, can you see where those were? Does it give an exact location?”

  John looked and clicked onto the next screen.

  “Gives addresses in town and the exact spot. Why?”

  “Look at that address. That’s right down the block from the fire that started in the storefront,” Gregory said.

  “Coincidence?” John asked.

  “What’s the likelihood of that?” Jeffrey said. “Scroll farther and see the others. Gregory, call that number and find out what’s in that closed case file. If anything, this can all lead up to strengthening the profile of this guy Stark and show motive to committing these crimes. Right now, at minimum, we can bring him in for questioning in regards to the deaths of four women he was with.”

  “Why wouldn’t the investigators in the case look at him as a prime suspect? He was the shared factor in all cases,” John said.

  “Maybe simply because no one knew this guy Stark was the boyfriend of those other women at the time. Remember, we only found out that the last two victims had a boyfriend who was hardly ever seen. He probably made them keep their relationship a secret.”

  “Which could also explain why the victims were burned first and appeared to be tied to a bed when their homes were set on fire. It could be some sexual fantasy for the killer since those fires started on the beds.,” John said to them.

  “But the fires on the businesses have no connections to these women or to Stark. The only connection between them is that the same chemical substance residue was found at all crime scenes, including the ones where the women were killed.,” John added.

  “I don’t get it yet either, but making a call to the investigators involved with the fire in Treasure Town yesterday is definitely a necessity, especially because of the shared insurance name between the business fires,” Gregory said.