On Fire (Shadow Stalkers #4)(12)
Author: Sylvia Day

Her eyes brightened. “Yeah, a hot date trumps pizza. Good for you.”

Returning to the coffee table, Jared grabbed what he needed along with the keys to the BMW. “I’ll be no more than a few hours. I’ll call if I’ll be back later than that.”

Darcy came to him, looking just as hot in stretchy pants and a V-neck T-shirt as she had in the red dress she’d worn to lunch. “You know where to find me.”

“Walk me out.” He glanced at Ralston, feeling marginally better knowing the man was going out to get laid tonight. “I’d like to see you tomorrow, Inspector. Go over a few things with you.”

“Absolutely.” Ralston gave a curt nod. “Buzz me and we’ll work out a time.”

When they reached Darcy’s car, Jared dropped his stuff in the back through the open roof, then turned toward her to catch her close. He brushed his lips across hers and murmured, “When Ralston leaves, lock up the house.”

She looked prepared to argue, then seemed to think better of it. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “For everything.”

“It’s been my pleasure, Deputy.”

“I’ll be back quick as I can.” He smacked her ass cheeks with both hands and squeezed playfully, lifting her to her toes against him. “Set out some lube on the bedside table. Bottled water, too.”

“You’re a machine.”

Flushed and sporting kiss-swollen lips, she looked like a woman who’d been f**ked long and well. It suited her. If he had his way, she’d be looking just like that every day from here on out.

She grinned as if she knew his thoughts. “Lucky for you, I can take it.”

He pressed his temple to hers, needing her safe and happy and close. He needed the time and space to explore the connection between them, both physical and emotional.

Backing away, Jared admitted that his emotions were still raw from their interlude in the shower. She was deep under his skin already. “Yeah, lucky me.”

WAVING, DARCY WATCHED Jared drive away in the car that was her last real piece of her former life. She clung to it for that reason and because she loved it. Thankfully, her parents owned the house outright and she didn’t have to pay rent. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep the car with what the town paid her.

“Things are moving pretty fast with you two,” Jim said, coming out of the front door with an open beer in each hand.

She accepted the one he handed her and smiled. “That’s an understatement.”

Together they walked back up to her porch and sat on the swinging bench. With one leg tucked beneath her and the other on the ground, she rocked them gently.

“He likens it to being smacked upside the head,” she said. “I have to say, I did feel like I’d been sucker-punched when I first saw him.”

“I’ve been hearing the women around town talking about him. I gathered he’s considered very attractive.”

“That helps. But it’s not everything.”

“That’s true.” He tipped his bottle back and took a long drink, the muscles of his tanned throat working with each swallow.

She looked away. The sky was deepening into shades of pink, purple, and navy blue. The breeze grew in strength, cooling slightly and carrying a tinge of salt from the nearby ocean. “We’re due for another fire, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” he said. “And we’re just sitting here. Makes me so goddamn mad that we know he’s out there and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Deputy Cameron thinks Dani’s murder and the fires are connected.”

Jim froze, his green eyes going wide. “What? Why?”

“He can explain it better than I can, which is why he wants to hook up with you tomorrow, I’m sure.”

“Wow.” He shook his head. “I’m speechless. Not a conclusion I would’ve jumped to.”

“I know, right?” Darcy took a pull on her beer. “Fucking insane. All of it.”

Reaching over, he set his hand on her bent knee. “I’m sorry. This has got to be really tough for you.”

She looked at the spot where her car had been and thought about Jared. Knowing he was working on Dani’s case was keeping her grounded and, for the first time in a long time, optimistic. Placing her hand over his, she squeezed. “I’m okay. Been a long time since I was able to say that and mean it.”

Her smile faded as the sheriff’s vehicle pulled up in front of her house. She watched as Chris got out and put his hat on his head, his gaze holding hers as he shut the door of his cruiser and rounded the front end. “Hey, Darcy. Jim.”

Jim returned the greeting, but she waited until Chris joined them on the porch, his boot-clad feet thudding heavily over the wooden planks and his leather holster creaking.

“What brings you out this way?” she asked.

“I need to speak to Cameron.”

“He’s not here.”

Chris cursed under his breath. “Where is he?”

“With his partner. Working the case.”

“Fuck. Did you know he thinks Dani’s murder is related to your arsonist?”

“Yes.”

“He’s in town two damn days and he’s going to wrap up a cold case along with the arsons? That’s bullshit.”

Her brows rose at his vehemence, but she wasn’t overly surprised. Chris didn’t like others digging into his cases and she couldn’t blame him. She knew how she’d feel in his shoes. “It’s an angle, but it’s not his only angle. I watched him compiling information—he’s covering a lot of bases.”

Leaning forward, Jim set his elbows on his knees, holding his beer in both hands. “Chris.”

Something about the way Jim said his name had Chris stiffening. Darcy frowned.

“What?” Chris snapped.

Jim stared at him.

“Don’t look at me like that, Ralston. You don’t know shit.”

Darcy’s gaze shot back and forth between the two men. “What doesn’t he know, Chris?”

Chris glared at Jim. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Putting both feet on the deck, she stood. “That’s crap. Don’t lie to me. Not about this.”

Jim pushed off the swing, too. “Dani told me.”

“Bullshit.” Chris ripped the hat off his head. “That’s f**king bullshit.”

“Dani told you what?” she demanded, her temper flaring.

Jim kept looking at Chris. “It’s going to circle back around to person of interest.”

“Fuck you, Ralston,” Chris shot back, turning to leave.

Darcy focused on Jim. “Jim?”

As his mouth opened to reply, his cell phone rang. “Damn it. Hang on, Darcy.” He stepped to the other side of the porch to take the call.

She set her beer on the little glass table by the swing and watched as Chris stalked back to his cruiser. She followed. “What the hell is going on?”

Then it hit her. Person of interest. There had been only one person of interest in Dani’s case…

“It was you, wasn’t it, Chris? You were the one seeing Dani.”

“No. Damn it.” He spun around halfway down her front walkway, his face red and eyes fierce. “It wasn’t like that.”

Darcy’s heart raced. “What was it like, then, Chris?”

He stared down at her when she came to a stop in front of him, his handsome face taut with strain. “She changed after you left, Darcy. A lot. She started dressing different, acting different, styled her hair and makeup different.”

“You were attracted to her.”

“No, I wasn’t.” He crossed his arms, looking ornery and defensive. “You’re the one I want. No one’s like you, Darcy. What we had…You can’t tell me you don’t think about it. We couldn’t get enough of each other.”

“Jesus, Chris.” She exhaled harshly. “We were kids. Teenagers for god’s sake. We were hormonal, and frankly, there wasn’t much else to do around this town.”

“I still get hard thinking about the things we did. Your mouth and hands on me…the noises you make—”

“What the f**k does that have to do with Dani?” Her sister wasn’t like her. She had been softer, sweeter. Sex had been highly personal for her. Darcy enjoyed sex for sex; Dani had equated sex with emotional commitment.

“She stopped by my house one night. Dressed like you, smelling like you. She came on to me like a freight train. I couldn’t help but think of you.”

“Oh my God…” Darcy turned away, feeling sick.

“I know you don’t believe me. You’re thinking Dani wasn’t like that. She was the quiet one, the good girl. But she wasn’t that way after you left. It was as if she wanted to be you.”

She barked out a humorless laugh. “Please. Dani was perfectly happy being Dani.”

He grabbed her by the arm, squeezing hard enough to bruise her, yanking her back around. His face was so hard and furious she recoiled from it.

“Hey,” Jim yelled from the porch. “Watch it, Miller.”

“I wasn’t the only one banging her,” Chris bit out, releasing her. “Because I’m not the one who knocked her up.”

She slapped him before she knew she was going to.

“You won’t want to do that again.” His voice was low and deep, his gaze dark and hot. The imprint of her hand glowed red on his cheek, intensifying the look of fury on his face.

Her tummy quivered with fear.

“There was someone else,” he insisted. “I gave her what she wanted that night and once more afterward. That was enough for me. She wasn’t you, couldn’t even come close. It was done and over long before six weeks prior to her death.”

“You’re an a**hole. A Grade A prick.”

“For taking what was thrown in my face? Repeatedly? Does it make you feel better to lie to yourself?”

“Nothing can make this better.” She backed away.

“Don’t f**king look at me like that.” He stepped closer. “You know me. You know I couldn’t do what was done to her.”

The awful thing was, she couldn’t imagine anyone she knew hurting Darcy the way she’d been hurt. But what did she really know about anyone, if Chris could’ve hidden this from her?

Jim came up beside her, his hand gently gripping her elbow. “You should go now, Sheriff,” he said grimly. “Go find Deputy Cameron and tell him what he needs to know.”

“Darcy…” Chris stared at her for a long minute, then cursed under his breath. “We’re going to talk about this. We need to talk about this.”

She turned her back on him and walked to the house.

“THAT’S THE WACKIEST theory I’ve heard in a long time,” Trish said bluntly. “Maybe ever. You’re trying to pin first-degree murder and arson on the same subject, with years in between crimes. It’s highly unlikely.”

Jared met her gaze and nodded grimly. “I know. But there are connections. After looking over Kelley’s notes, I found out Danielle’s obstetrician’s office is catty-corner to the phone booth where the tip came in for the shelter fire.”

“Could be coincidence.” She sat back in her chair at the small table in her motel room and rubbed the back of her neck, her dark eyes capped with a frown. “Think of the premeditation required to copy both the Prophet’s and Merkerson’s MOs.”

“I’ve requested a cross-check of library lendings of true crime stories on both. It’s a long shot, but at least we’ll tie off that thread.” He looked at his laptop screen and the case files Kelley had sent his way. “There was DNA from the fetus, but not one man in this town—regardless of age—volunteered a sample to rule himself out. Not one? And no probable cause on anyone to justify a warrant, because no one pointed a finger anywhere. Everyone knows everyone’s business in this town, but not who’s intimate with the vet, a woman who’s lived here her whole life?”

“They don’t believe he’s one of them. Everyone’s innocent, so there’s no one to be guilty.” She sighed and grabbed another slice of pizza out of the box they’d tossed on the bed. “Small towns. When everyone knows everyone else’s business, they can’t believe there’s something they don’t know.”

“You sound like you speak from experience.”

“I grew up in a small town. Some things are universal.”

He filed that information away for further pondering. “Our subject has no imagination. He hasn’t been thinking about killing and burning for years, as we’d expect, or he’d have his own pattern, his own style. Instead he has to borrow someone else’s, right down to the tiniest details. And when he’s done what he set out to do, he puts the urge away. Goes back to being himself. Forgets about it. Because he’s crazy as a loon, but his crazy doesn’t eat at him every day. Something has to set it off.”

“So we need to figure out what set him off. Maybe it was the baby the first time around. Maybe the guy’s married. That’s why they kept the relationship under wraps. I’ll look up the men in this town who were married at the time and see what shakes loose.”

He looked up at her. “We also need to find out what happened in the last year or so that set off the fires, with a cushion for the learning curve required to build those incendiary devices. Then we can try and tie that back to the murder. I’ve already started searching through the local paper’s archived articles on the web, but they didn’t have a website three years ago, so I’ll have to hit the microfiche at the library if we need to go back further.”