Hell Is Burning

by Morgan Kelley

  He was done talking.

  Steele wanted them out of there.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow then,” Emma stated, giving the man some room to do his job.

  “Oh, Greyson and Emma?”

  They both turned.

  “Yes?”

  “We would very much like to ride with you to the charity event. It’ll be our first time out at a social gathering, and I think Dante is a little worried. His name and face are going to be all over the media the second he exits that limo with me.”

  Greyson was well aware. “I know my brother. For you, he’d face anything.”

  Steele felt his heart kick in his chest. He was well aware that Dante loved him. He’d kept his promise to him. The second he was out of the military, he didn't hide his sexuality anymore. When people asked if he was in a relationship, Dante never batted an eyelash before admitting he was gay.

  It gave him hope that he’d be as happy as Emma and Greyson one day.

  She patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “It’s no problem, Steele. We’ve got this. I’ll do something outrageous to counteract the whole thing. The media will be focused on me--maybe a see through dress. Will you be home for dinner?”

  Croft held up his hand. “Hold on. What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Steele started laughing.

  “You are not wearing a see through dress. That’s not the kind of publicity we want.”

  “We or you?” she teased. God, she loved when his gray eyes went all stormy. Emma wanted to kiss him.

  “ME. There is no way my woman is wearing a dress that shows off all her girly bits. MY girly bits,” he growled.

  The techs in the room giggled.

  Steele knew it was time to step in. The caveman was out, and there was blood in his eyes. “To answer your question, no, we won’t be home for dinner. We have tickets to a game, so we’ll likely crash at my place. It’s closer.”

  “Works for me,” stated Emma. She could feel Greyson staring at her. She wanted to laugh in the worst way.

  Instead, she waved and headed out.

  He was right behind her.

  “Emma…”

  “I was trying to make Steele feel better, so you can relax. He’s worried too. He’s only been out for a couple of weeks. Dante isn't the only one freaked out.”

  He relaxed. “So the dress isn't see through?”

  Emma took his hand in hers. “Nope.”

  Now he smiled. “This is quite the little family we’ve built,” Greyson stated. “Think about it. We have you, me, Hairy, my brother, his gay lover, and our new son, Curtis. I never saw this coming in Celestia.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, all of these sexy men, and I’m the only one who gets to ogle them.”

  Greyson dropped his arm around her waist. “You can stare all you want. At least I know that no one will be trying to get in your pants but me.”

  She wanted to chastise him, but the doors to the elevator opened and he pulled her out to the lobby before she could come back with something witty.

  “We have a trip to take before we head out,” he said, pointing across the large entryway.

  Emma was confused.

  Then she saw her boss.

  Croft led her to the man who was still on the phone. While they waited, he finished up.

  Chris hung up and was grinning triumphantly. “My office wasn’t broken into…yet. The detectives are all busy with work. You look like you need something. What’s up?” he asked.

  “Can you babysit for about ninety minutes?” Greyson asked.

  “Sure? Am I on Briggs duty?”

  “Yes, we need to head out to Brynn and Curtis’s place. We have to search it. I know your report is going to go a long way in keeping his neck out of the noose, but someone still has to do the search. I’d rather it be us. It’s less intrusive.”

  The man lifted a brow. “What do you expect to find? She wasn’t killed there, was she?”

  “We have to cover our bases. We still haven’t found Brynn’s vehicle, and I want to dig through her things. We might find something that tells us who took her.”

  They let the captain in on the ME’s findings.

  He whistled. “So we have two killers.”

  “It looks like that’s where this is headed, so covering our bases is very important.”

  “Good idea.”

  Emma added, “We don’t want to hurt Curtis, and he’ll want to come with us if he finds out that’s where we’re headed. That’s the last thing we need. He can’t go back there.”

  He got it.

  “I’ll check on him and keep him busy.”

  “Captain, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?” she asked.

  He was surprised. “Is this a trick?” he asked. “Are you setting me up for being tough on Curtis earlier?”

  Emma laughed. “No, do you want me to rake you over the woman coals?”

  “Hell no! I’ve been there and done that before. That’s why I like being a bachelor.” Then he needed to know, “By any chance are you cooking?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be there. In fact, I’ll transport Curtis if you want.”

  She patted his arm. “Great. We’ll see you there.”

  He was still suspicious.

  “Thanks,” Greyson stated, leading Emma toward the doors. When they were out of earshot, he stared down at his wife. “You’re messing with him again.”

  “Yeah, I am. All the way over there, he’s going to be wondering what I’m up to, and if I’m going to put spiders in his dinner.”

  Croft laughed as they hit the doors. “You’re evil. Now point it at the horde of reporters so we can get away. They deserve your animosity.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  * * * Croft & Croft * * *

  Upstairs in Croft’s office, Chris Ford found the young man trying to lay low. The second he saw him, there was a discernable tensing of his body.

  “Coming back for round two?” Curtis asked. “I still have some of my heart left. Do you want that little sliver next? You might as well have it. I’ll never use it again.”

  Ford sat behind Greyson’s desk and got comfortable before he spoke, “We need to have a little talk.” It was time the boy had an intervention, and it needed to come from someone who had their heart kicked around.

  Chris Ford was no stranger when it came to betrayal and hurt. It was his old friend.

  Curtis watched the man pick up the picture of Emma and Greyson. “About?”

  “This fantasy you’re living in your head. The perfect woman isn't out there. Emma, she’s a one in a million,” he stated. “It doesn’t happen every day. Some of us have to go through a few bad ones before we find that gem.”

  The agent said nothing.

  “I don’t know their back story. Tell me about them. How did they meet?”

  Curtis relaxed as he began telling the man about them. “We went to Celestia to track a serial killer. Greyson thought the murderer was preying on Emma’s constituency. We went there to help out, but the second he saw her, it was love at first sight.”

  “That’s magical.”

  “Yeah, it is.” And he wanted that in the worst way. He wanted to see a woman and know she was the one. Curtis wanted those butterflies and the quickening of his heart.

  He would die to feel it.

  Brynn, she’d made him happy at first. Toward the end--not so much. Deep down, he knew the truth.

  Curtis didn't want to face it. If he did, it meant he failed--bigtime.

  “I was married once, kid. Know how I met my wife?” he asked.

  “How?”

  “I saw her across a bar. Know what my first thought was?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “I wonder if I can get her into bed. I wasn’t thinking with my heart. That was purely a dick move on my behalf. Literally.”

  Curtis stared at him. “Is there a lesson in this?” He didn't know what the man was getti
ng at.

  “I rushed into it, and before the year was out, we were married. It was a blur. I stopped listening to my gut, and went with my heart.”

  He listened. It was beginning to sound familiar. Curtis had done the same thing. He saw Brynn and wanted her.

  “I thought everything was great. I went to work, came home, jumped the little woman, and went to bed. It was copasetic. Every day, it was the same thing, and I was myopically blinded by the world I created.”

  “Okay.”

  “Only, it takes two people to make a world. While I was out getting my macho on, my wife was doing her thing. She was getting laid by some guy she met at a pottery class.”

  “Straight men take pottery class?” Curtis asked.

  He laughed. “I said the exact same thing when I was kicking his ass. When I broke his arm, I was pleased that the little weasel wept.”

  Curtis smiled.

  “Know what it got me?”

  “What?”

  “Divorced. My wife left me because I didn't understand her. I forced her into a situation that she didn't like. I stopped seeing her, and only saw me. It was all about my life and my world. I made her fit my mold, and I tried changing her to fit my needs.”

  “If you’re telling me I was a dick, I already know that. She didn't want to leave homicide, but I was so pissed I forced her. All it got me is this mess.”

  “Hey, I’m not preaching. I’m sympathizing. I’ve been there. You have to be you. I’m betting that the Crofts work so well, because he accepts her as she is, and Emma does the same.”

  “They do.”

  “That’s the key. From the day my wife cheated, I had a lesson to learn.”

  “And it was?”

  “Be yourself. Men like Croft and myself are a dying breed. If you want to be a hard ass, who plays boss, so be it. Only, find a girl who likes that. Brynn was a feminist. She was the antithesis of your existence.”

  “Wow! You’re throwing down the big words today.”

  “Don’t be a smart ass, kid. I could break your head off your shoulders for the sass. I’m trying to help. You’re not seeing this clearly.”

  He was aware. “Sorry. This is just a sore point for me. You know, since your wife divorced you, and mine got herself killed. I can’t really get closure.”

  He understood.

  “When you first saw Brynn, what was your first thought?”

  “I wonder if I can get her into bed.”

  Ford lifted a brow. “Sound familiar? Did you rush into the marriage thing?”

  “Yes. We got shitfaced drunk and eloped.”

  “You made a mistake and with a woman you were never supposed to be with. Instead of sitting here, kicking your own ass, you need to rethink it. She didn't die because of something you did. You tried to protect her. You did your job, but it wasn’t meant to be. Now focus on what lies ahead.”

  “Like you?” he asked. “You’re celibate and cranky.”

  “You’re a gem. Thank you for pointing that out. What I am is keeping my eyes and heart open. When it’s time to find that woman, you’re going to look up and there she’ll be. If she has a sister, send her my way.”

  He grinned. “I used to think you were a dick.”

  “And now?” he asked.

  “Oh, you’re still a dick, but birds of a feather flock together.”

  “Kid, you have no idea. How about we take this power trip for a ride?” Chris said, pushing the button on Croft’s phone to ask his secretary for some coffee.

  “Drive it like you stole it, Captain. Once Greyson is back in that seat, you’ll never be in it again. It takes a special kind of man.”

  Ford laughed.

  “Now who’s being the dick?”

  * * * Croft & Croft * * *

  When they got to the small house, Greyson glanced up and down the street. He was on the lookout.

  “Are you okay?” Emma asked. Her husband was acting odd, and that worried her.

  “I’m looking for Brynn’s vehicle. I was hoping she parked it somewhere on the street.”

  That was total BS.

  Greyson had that feeling in his gut, and there was a suspicious car down the block. He’d been a killer in the military, and he wasn’t an idiot. Someone was watching them. He didn't doubt it for a second.

  Now came the hard part. Were they dangerous?

  It could be the media or Dominic Marianna.

  At this point, it was anybody’s game.

  “Let’s get inside,” he stated, pulling his wife under his arm. Safety was his first concern.

  Emma’s life was paramount.

  At the front door, Emma noticed that it had been kicked in. All that was holding it closed was the deadbolt--and barely.

  He shook the door, and it practically came off the hinges. “I had to kick it open. He was going to shoot himself.”

  Well that explained it.

  Inside, he shoved the door closed before glancing around.

  The place was chilly, and Emma wasn’t referring to the temperature. There were no pictures, the walls were stark white, and there was very little coziness going on there. It was like someone lived there, but they didn't ‘live’ there.

  “Poor Curtis. He had to come home to this every night. Brynn was a bitch.”

  There.

  She said it.

  It felt good to get it off her chest, and Emma knew Greyson wouldn’t judge her for speaking ill of the dead. He’d understand.

  Greyson glanced down at her.

  “I’m sorry, but I had to say it. She ran him through the ringer. Yes, he was guilty too, but come on!”

  Her protective side was showing.

  “You can tell by looking around, that a couple didn’t live here, Grey. This room looks like two people lived separate lives. His things are over there, and hers are over there.”

  He understood.

  Before Emma, his home was lonely too. It was cold and masculine. Now, it was a mix of them.

  “They had separate bedrooms. I’m betting that if Brynn had anything she wanted kept private, it would be there.”

  When they entered her space, it was just as depressing. There was nothing of Curtis in the room. There were no pictures, and there was no love. Something bad had happened to push them off the trail to happily ever after.

  They both felt guilty for not stopping it before it got this far off the rails.

  Greyson began rooting around in the night stand. “We have birth control pills, a vibrator, and a book. It looks to be an erotic romance. That says a lot.”

  “Not to me it doesn’t. I have similar things in my nightstand, only it’s a cookbook.”

  He looked up when he realized what she said. “Wait! We own a vibrator?” he asked. “When did that happen? Do you use it without me?”

  The look on his face was one of horror.

  Emma laughed. “It’s in our box of fun. I haven’t used it yet. I’m waiting for my sexy pirate to play with me.”

  There was relief.

  Solemnly, he shook his head. “Don’t keep reminding me about the fun we could be having. At this rate, I’ll be too old to have any fun with our box of kink.”

  Emma snorted. “You’re being silly. I’m going to go search Curtis’s room. I think you have this under control.”

  When she left, he continued digging through the room, trying to find anything. When he pulled open the desk drawer, there was a large, plain, yellow envelope.

  It was unmarked and thick. Something about that called to him. Call him curious, but it seemed out of place.

  Cautiously, he slipped the papers out, and began reading through them. He didn't need a law degree to know what they were. It was crystal clear.

  “Emma,” he called. “You better get in here.”

  She returned, carrying a few of Curtis’s things in her arms. They were going to bring them back to their place for him.

  He wasn’t coming back here. “There’s nothing suspicious in his room. I d
idn't even find porn. We raised our son right,” she teased.

  He didn't laugh.

  “Uh oh. You have the serious look on your face, Grey. It’s the one you get when something bad has gone down. What did you dig up?”

  Still, he didn't say anything.

  Instead, he handed her the pack of papers.

  Emma took them from his hand and read through the first page. When she got to two specific lines, she wanted to be sick.

  “It’s bad,” he said.

  “Oh, God! She wouldn’t! How dare she do this to him! Curtis isn't like that. Greyson!”

  He didn't know what to say. This changed everything, and it took the light of guilt and shone it right back on Curtis.

  “Greyson, we have to tell him. If these are her copies, then that means his are on the way. We can’t let someone hand him these and not prepare him.”

  He was well aware.

  “It’s one thing to file for a divorce, but this is insane,” Greyson stated. “Now I’m obligated to ask him if she was lying in the divorce papers, or there’s something we don’t know.”

  Emma sat on the bed and closed her eyes. “If she was alive, I’d kick her ass.”

  Greyson got it.

  Talk about burning your bridges.

  Brynn sure as hell lit this one up.

  * * * Croft & Croft * * *

  Sky Villa

  Thursday Night

  It was like fate knew.

  As they were driving home to meet Chris Ford and Curtis, Emma’s phone rang. The captain had to head back to work to handle something and needed to get a raincheck on dinner.

  It was probably for the best, since they didn't think that they could fake their way through dinner and drinks--not after finding the papers in Brynn’s desk.

  Now they had to find a way to talk to Curtis before they all headed to bed.

  This was going to be shitty, any way they approached it.

  When they arrived home, Emma changed into a simple slip dress and started making dinner. She needed something to keep her mind off the mess that was coming.

  They were going to level Curtis Briggs again, and she wasn’t sure he could bounce back from this.

  While she stayed there, Greyson headed out to go find Curtis and bring him home. She prayed he talked to him before they got back there. Honestly, Emma didn't know what to say to him.