Fight For Love (Wild Hearts, Contemporary Romance Book 5)

by Nancy Adams

  “Doctor Christopher, I don't scare off all that easily.”

  It was Rob's turn to chuckle. “Good. In that case, let's talk about that second date, shall we? I was thinking about tonight, unless you're busy?”

  “I'm not that busy, but I don't want to be out too late. I have to be at the clinic in the morning with Kylie, so we can start getting everything set up. Hey! Why don't we both grab our kid sisters, and just meet up somewhere, the four of us, for dinner? I'm quite sure that they're both delighted that you and I are back on track.”

  There was silence on the line for a few seconds, and then Rob asked, “Katie Lou, are we? Are we back on track?”

  “We are, if you still want to be. I couldn't blame you if you didn't, and I still don't really want to move too fast, but…”

  “Oh, believe me, I want it! And since I've already said this a couple of times, I don't think it's moving too fast to tell you that I love you.”

  “Rob—I love you, too. That has never been in doubt. I just wanted to be sure there weren't any ghosts hiding in the closets, nothing that would come back to haunt us later.”

  “Okay, I understand that, and I'm with you. So, where do you want to meet for dinner? Jimmy's?”

  “That'll work perfectly. I'll go grab Kylie, and we'll be on the way in just a few minutes.”

  14

  Kylie had jumped at the chance, and was excited when she realized it meant that Rob and Katie Lou were back together. The two girls hurriedly cleaned up and changed, then jumped into Katie's car and were off.

  Anna was also delighted, though she had had some earlier warning that things were working out between her brother and his dream girl. She had been in her room when Rob was talking to Katie Lou, and like Kylie, she had been thrilled that the four of them would be going out for dinner. Since Katie Lou and Kylie would have to drive all the way over from Ralston, Rob decided he had time to take a shower and shave before getting dressed to go out.

  Earlier that afternoon, a telephone had rung in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Maxwell. A tall, thin fellow answered it. “Yeah?”

  “Mister Wright,” said the cultured voice on the other end of the line. “I have an assignment for you. Are you interested?”

  “Depends what it is.”

  “There is a physical therapy clinic in Maxwell. Christopher Physical Therapy, it's called. I have a client who has reason to wish that building were not where it is. He would like you to apply your specific talents to it, preferably tonight. I quoted him twice your usual fee, since he was so insistent on speed.”

  “Let me look it up.” Mark Wright carried the phone to a computer, and found the clinic almost immediately. A scan of the area using Google Earth showed him that there were no connecting buildings. “Any security?”

  “None that we know of, but of course, you'll want to check for yourself.”

  Wright looked at the monitor for a moment more. “Double? I'll do it. I'll call you tomorrow.” He cut off the call without another word, then went into the closet and picked up a small toolbox. He opened it up and selected a few items, laying them on a towel and rolling them into a small package when he was finished. He would have to wait until it was dark, of course, so he decided to go ahead and have a beer while he was waiting.

  Hours had passed since then, and the sun was low enough in the sky to make shadows grow long and dark. Wright had driven into town a bit earlier so that he could grab dinner at one of the burger joints, before approaching the clinic. He parked his car two blocks away, and walked through the alleys to reach his destination.

  The only buildings close to Rob's clinic were commercial, and were closed by this time of the day. There was no one around the neighborhood, and a quick examination of the back door leading from the alley convinced him that there was no security system in the building. He took the towel-wrapped tools out of a pocket and selected a couple that enabled him to open the door only thirty seconds later.

  As always on one of these jobs, he took a walk through the building to make sure that there was no one present. Mark Wright was a professional arsonist, but he was not a killer. He always went to great lengths to make sure there were no people or animals inside the buildings he burned. A careful examination showed him that no one was present in this one.

  The other reason for the tour through the building was to determine the most logical point from which an electrical fire would result in the destruction of the building. Shorting the system to make the fire was not that difficult; he simply inserted a couple of devices into wall outlets, thick, heavy bars of copper that had been hammered flat and cut to fit perfectly into the sockets. They would grow rather hot, but they could handle a lot more current than any household or commercial building wiring. The wiring in the walls, as a result, would grow so hot that the insulation and surrounding materials would catch fire. As soon as the fire was going well enough that he could be certain it would do the job, he simply used an insulated hook to snatch the devices out of the wall sockets, and went out the same way he came in. The fire would do the rest, consuming and destroying the building.

  There were some empty, unused rooms in this building, and he noted with satisfaction that some of the outlets in them were older, and not up to current code standards. One of them was perfectly placed in a room that was used for storage, with boxes of paper stacked against the wall right beside it. Like all of his fires, this one would look like a simple electrical short had caused it.

  He went back to the building, to make certain he knew his way of escape, tracing the route three different times to make sure he had it correctly embedded in his memory. Once the fire started, he couldn't take the chance of getting confused about how to get out of the building. Practicing his escape at least three times was the best way to make sure he wouldn't panic and get trapped inside.

  Finally, he was ready. He picked up a pair of insulated pliers and grabbed the shorting loop, then shoved it into the socket. There were a couple of loud pops, and he could feel the heat rising off of the loop.

  He smelled smoke only a half a minute later, and the plastic faceplate on the outlet began to melt. The wires had shorted and caught fire close to the outlet, which meant that the wooden stud it was mounted to would already be burning. That accounted for the smell of smoke, so he snatched out the loop and turned to jog out of the building. Like always, he made it with no problem, pulled the door closed behind him and relocked it. He was already a block away by the time the fire burst through the wall and into the boxes of paperwork.

  Rob, Katie Lou, Kylie and Anna were laughing and having a wonderful time at Hungry Jimmy's restaurant. The food there was always fantastic, and the atmosphere was great. Katie Lou thought it was a wonderful place for starting over with her relationship with Rob, and having their sisters along with them simply made it more fun.

  “Oh, Katie Lou, I wish you could have known Linda,” Anna said. “She would have absolutely adored you.”

  “I know I would've loved her,” Katie Lou replied. “Everything I've heard about her just makes her sound so sweet and wonderful.”

  “Whoa, hold on, are we talking about the same person? Bubba, you need to set her straight. Linda was a hellion; she was only sweet when she wanted to be.”

  “Now,” Rob said, “that's not true! She was sweet even when she was being a little hellion. Sometimes, I thought she worked hard at being a stinker, just so we'd appreciate her more when she was being good.”

  “Katie Lou is like that,” Kylie said, which got a shocked expression from Katie Lou. “She'll act out and cause trouble, just so everybody will be happy when she's not acting that way.”

  “I do not! Kylie, how in the world could you say such a thing?”

  “Oh, I don't know, possibly because I've been living with you for twenty years? I think I know you pretty well, by now.”

  Anna held up a hand to Kylie for a high five, and Kylie smacked it. Katie Lou turned to Rob, her eyes wide. “Our sisters are gang
ing up on me,” she said. “Are you just gonna sit there and let them do that?”

  Rob looked at each of the three girls in turn, ending with Katie Lou. “Yeah, pretty much,” he said. “I have to live with one of them, and I'm pretty sure the other one can find a way to make my life miserable, if she wanted to. She'd probably get my sister to help her do it. I'm afraid you're on your own on this one, babe.”

  “I-I—oh, you just wait! You just wait until the next time you want help dealing with your sister, and see where I'll be. I'll be on her side, you can count on that!”

  They had finished their dinners a short while earlier, and were simply sitting there and enjoying each other's company. It wasn't late, but as Rob glanced around, he saw that there were customers waiting for tables. “Hey, ladies,” he said. “They got people waiting for our table, why don't we take this to the house?”

  “Oh, that's a great idea,” Anna said. “They've never seen our house, yet. Come on, we can hang out there for a while.”

  Katie Lou and Kylie agreed, so Rob got the check and paid it while the three girls gathered up their things and got ready to leave. They all met in the parking lot, and Katie Lou agreed to follow Rob to his house.

  They turned out of the parking lot onto the street, and Katie had to pay close attention because Rob was switching lanes like a race driver. They went about three blocks before making a right, which would take them right past the physical therapy clinic. This street didn't have as many lanes, so Katie Lou had an easier time keeping up with Rob.

  Suddenly, the air was rent by the sound of sirens, and lights were flashing up ahead. The traffic on the street began slowing, and Rob had to hit his brakes to avoid rear ending the car in front of them. He came to a stop, and that's when he realized that the lights and sirens were right in front of his building.

  Katie Lou realized that the same moment, and when Rob whipped his car to the side of the street and parked, she followed instantly. All four of them were out of their cars in a couple of seconds, running up the street to see what was going on. Katie Lou, because her left leg still wasn't quite up to par, started falling behind, but Kylie grabbed hold of her arm to help her along.

  The clinic was blazing, and flames had already come through the roof and were reaching for the night sky. It was obvious that there would be nothing left, and as Katie Lou and Kylie caught up to Rob and Anna, Rob sank to his knees on the sidewalk.

  “Hey, you've got to get back!” A number of firemen were hustling hoses across the parking lot and street, and one of them was yelling at them to stay out of the way.

  “That's my building,” Rob said. “That's my clinic.”

  The firemen gave him a sympathetic look. “I'm sorry to hear that,” he said. “It's a bad fire, I'm afraid. We're not going to be able to save anything, we're just trying to keep the fire from getting out of control and jumping to other buildings.”

  Rob stared at the fire for a moment, then turned to face the firemen. “Let it burn,” he said. “There's nothing in there that isn't replaceable, so don't any of you do anything that could get you hurt. Your lives and safety are a lot more important than anything in that building.”

  The firemen seem surprised, but he grinned and held out a hand. “That means a lot, Sir. I'm Fire Captain McReynolds. I'll make sure all the other men know that you feel that way. Most people just scream at us to save this or save the that; it's nice to meet someone who understands what we go through.”

  Rob just nodded. Unable think of anything else to say, he sat there on the sidewalk on his knees with Anna, Katie Lou and Kylie all gathered around him.

  The fire marshal showed up just a little bit later, with investigators who would begin trying to determine the cause of the fire as soon as they could. He spoke with Rob briefly, explaining that once the fire was out, it would still be several hours before any of his people could go inside and start looking for whatever started the blaze. “The fire might be out, but there will still be a lot of red-hot spots in there. We got to be careful, so no one gets hurt.”

  Rob nodded. “I agree,” he said. “Like I told the other firemen, there's nothing in there so important that it can't be replaced.”

  It was nearly midnight before the fire was out, at least to the satisfaction of the fire crew. At that point, Rob let the girls lead him back to the cars, and they went on to his house. They sat around his living room and talked for an hour or so, but then Katie Lou said it was getting late. She and Kylie said goodnight, and drove home.

  Rob and Anna sat up for another half hour, but finally, even he succumbed to exhaustion. He never made it to his bedroom that night, but just slumped over on the couch and fell asleep. Anna tossed a blanket over her brother, then went to her own room and collapsed into her bed.

  15

  One of the newspapers that was delivered to the Allsip Law Office every morning was the one from Maxwell, and Darren grinned as he looked at the photo of the flaming clinic that was on the front page, below the fold. The story told how the fire had consumed the building the night before, and that the fire marshal's office would be investigating the cause. Doctor Christopher, it said, who had been found at the scene the night before by reporters, had said that he would find a new location and be open again as soon as he could.

  He couldn't help himself. It was just too sweet a moment. He took out his phone and sent a single text message to Katie Lou.

  Too bad about your boyfriend's place. Maybe he should have paid more attention to business.

  It was a violation of the restraining order, but he had not officially been served, yet, so he could make a simple defense that he was simply expressing his condolences to his former fiancé on her new boyfriend's misfortune. He didn't really care what anyone else thought, not anymore. He just wanted Katie Lou to know that he had collected his pound of flesh. She had ranted, the other night, that she couldn't trust him; to Darren, it seemed that he was the one who couldn't trust her. If she wanted to be with someone else, then that someone else might have to pay the price.

  Katie Lou and Kylie had gotten home around one thirty in the morning, but they were up and out the door before seven thirty, anyway. The electric company was scheduled to meet them at the clinic at eight thirty, and they didn't want to risk being late. Breakfast that morning turned out to be a couple of doughnuts and a large, carry-out coffee for each of them, and they were working on it when the electric technicians showed up.

  It was almost nine when Katie Lou's phone chirped to tell her she had a text message, and she glanced at it out of habit. The message confused her for just a second, until she saw who it was from, and then it was like something clicked into place.

  “Kylie, look at this,” she said, passing her phone to her sister.

  Kylie took in and read the message, her mouth forming into an O of surprise. She looked up at Katie Lou. “Oh, Katie Lou, you don't think…”

  Katie Lou nodded. “I wish I could say I didn't, but I do. I've heard rumors, you know, that Darren's father had arranged things to intimidate people into doing what he wanted, so I can't help thinking that Darren might've arranged that fire last night.”

  “Oh, my God. Are you going to tell Rob?”

  “Of course I am. I doubt we can prove anything, but at least he deserves to know.” She dialed Rob's number on the phone, and he answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, Gorgeous,” he said. “How are you this morning?”

  “I'm fine,” Katie Lou replied. “The big question is, how are you?”

  “Coping,” he said. “I woke up this morning trying to convince myself that it was all a bad dream, but it's all over the news. The fire marshal called a few minutes ago, and said they're going inside to start looking for the cause in just a little bit.”

  “Oh. Do you need to be there for that?”

  “No, and in fact, they told me to stay away for right now. I guess they're afraid I might tamper with evidence or something.”

  Katie Lou bit her bottom
lip. “Rob, Kylie and I are at my new building. Can you and Anna come over here?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Want us to bring coffee or anything?”

  “We've got some, just bring some for you if you want it.”

  “No problem. We'll be there in about fifteen, twenty minutes.”

  It actually took Rob almost half an hour to get there, but most of that was because Anna wasn't quite ready to leave the house yet. She had been on the phone since eight o'clock, contacting people who had appointments that day to let them know that the clinic had burned and they would have to find a new location. It took her a few minutes to brush up her hair and put on basic makeup before she would be willing to step out the door.

  The power was already on by the time they got there, and Rob commented that the place looked even better with the lights on. Katie Lou agreed, and then handed him her phone. She didn't say a word, but when he looked at the message she had received, she could see his jaw suddenly tighten.

  “Rob, there have been stories for years about Darren's father using strong-arm tactics on people. I think it's possible he might have been behind the fire last night.”

  Rob looked at the message again, then handed the phone back to her. “Well, if he is, we're not going to be able to prove it with that. It just pisses me off that this guy seems to think he owns you, and can strike out at you through me. Who does he think he is, anyway?”

  “I've asked that same question a hundred times,” Kylie said. “He's a jerk, and he always has been. He just had Katie Lou fooled for a long time, so she couldn't see it, but I did.”

  “Wait a minute, are you saying that Katie's ex set the fire last night?” Anna asked.

  Katie Lou nodded. “Or had it done, more likely. Rob, I'm so sorry. He's just mad at me, and trying to take it out on you.”

  “Don't you apologize for him,” Rob said suddenly. “He's the asshole who did this, if what we're thinking is true. And even if it is, it's a little late to do anything about it now. We can't undo it, and it's doubtful we'll ever be able to prove it. There just isn't a lot of point in getting ourselves all worked up about it. Besides, we've got too much to do. I've got to go find a new location quickly, and as soon as the fire marshal gets done, I got to get my insurance claims in so that I can replace all my equipment and furniture.”