Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(26)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Sexy lady. Kenton’s eyes narrowed and a stab of jealousy sliced into his gut. “Watch it.”

The grin didn’t fade.

Kenton’s back teeth clenched, and he gritted out, “Other than ogling Lora, did you see anything I need to know about last night?”

“Your girl’s got great legs.” A shrug. “And I didn’t see a damn thing else. No one was checking out that area on foot, and there weren’t any vehicles that didn’t belong in the neighborhood.”

“There might not have been any sign of him yet,” Monica said, raising her voice. “But I’m thinking…” She shook her head. “He’s not going to wait long after that broadcast. He’ll hit fast, and he’ll hit hard.”

Lora was on duty. Kenton’s heart rate kicked up. “We want him coming after me, not anyone else.”

“Right.” Monica’s heels tapped on the floor as she paced the close confines of the space. “While he’s planning his move, we need to hunt him. We need to figure out who he is—and where he is.”

“How?” Ramirez crossed his arms over his chest and waited. The guy was good at waiting. He was also good at remaining freakishly still.

“We’re going to talk to the arson investigator, Seth MacIntyre,” Kenton said. He’d tried to get the guy before, but Seth had been out at a scene.

Monica’s nails tapped the edge of the desk. “I want to see his files.” Kenton knew Monica really meant that she wanted to rip apart his files.

“But first,” Monica said, “and this is the part you’re not going to like.”

He held up his hand. “I already know.” And he did. It was a simple matter of connecting the dots. “We’re going to the Bringham station.”

She nodded. “We need to interview every man and woman there.”

Kenton’s jaw tightened. Sometimes there were parts of the job that he damn well didn’t like. “Lora’s clear.” He wanted to be definite on that. Yeah, they needed to question the firefighters, but Lora was clear. She’d been in his arms, her mouth soft and tempting against his, when that psycho had called in to the station.

“We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” Monica’s nails stopped tapping. “Maybe it’s not just one killer. Maybe it’s two. Maybe that wasn’t the real arsonist on the phone. Maybe it was some poor idiot that he hired to call—and we’ll find his burnt corpse in a few days.”

She shook her head. “One thing I learned long ago, assume nothing about the serials. They don’t think like regular folks, so if you’re going after them, you have to think like them.”

Dammit, he knew that, too. The SSD had taught him to trust no one but the team.

“After the last case, we don’t take anything or anyone for granted,” Monica said. “We investigate all leads and, as much as you might not like it because of your, ah… situation—”

“Him screwing the hot female firefighter,” Ramirez offered.

“Fuck off,” Kenton fired back. Like Monica was in a position to judge a delicate “situation.” “Ice” had hooked up with the new guy at the SSD just days after Luke Dante had joined the team. She could stop throwing those stones at his house any old time.

Her lips tightened. “We can’t overlook any of the fire departments in this town. They have to be checked. Everyone has to be checked.”

And wouldn’t he be Mister Popular when he rolled in at the Bringham station. Lora was going to love this. “She called the SSD.” This arsonist had killed her lover. No way would she be helping him. “She wouldn’t—”

“I don’t think she would. As I said last night, I believe our perp is a male.”

Well, that was something.

“I think Lora’s motive in all of this…” She wet her lips and cleared her throat, and his stare sharpened on her as she continued, “Lora Spade lost someone who was close to her. She views these attacks as being very, very personal. And I think—I think she’d do just about anything to bring down the killer.”

“The lady’s not just jonesing for you.” Ramirez cocked a dark eyebrow. “She wants revenge.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Kenton didn’t blame her.

Not one bit.

“You know, don’t you…” There was hesitation in Monica’s voice. “She was the one who went back into the flames for him. The chief ordered an evacuation…” She walked around the desk. Picked up a folder and flipped through the contents. “But Lora went back inside and pulled Creed out. He was still alive, but not for long.”

She’d gone back into the flames to save the guy.

Must have loved him one whole hell of a lot. Enough to face the flames. But then, a woman like Lora would love like that.

Fire and heat and passion.

Loved so much—she’d risked death. And now she hunted his killer.

And she’d thought about the guy last night.

Fuck.

He spun around. The office’s blinds were up. He could see straight across to the bullpen, and he could see Carter Creed’s grinning face.

The man who’d had Lora. All of her.

“I can come along. I’m great at backup,” Ramirez said, his voice quiet.

“No,” Monica’s answer came immediately. “You need to get to bed. Kenton and I can handle this.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry, Ramirez. There are plenty of firefighters to go around. You can take the next station.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Shit. Kenton knew the drill. Wasn’t anything new. But—

But he didn’t want Lora thinking he believed she was a suspect. He knew the woman was innocent. And when she found out he was interrogating her friends…

Hello, cold shoulder.

Pity, he sure liked things hot with her.

He yanked open the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

Because as much as it grated, he knew Monica was right. They had to do the interviews. You could tell a lot about a man—or a woman—when you had him locked down in an interview. Secrets came out then.

Some good.

Most bad.

And if the killer turned out to be a man on Lora’s team…

Well, hell, what better place to hide than in plain sight?

Kenton wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but walking into the firehouse on Bringham Boulevard to find Lora wrestling with some sweaty blond bastard really hadn’t been part of the plan.