Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(13)

The scream of another siren blasted. The backup truck had arrived. Thank God.

Kenton let out a groan. A frown pulled his brows low as he stared up at her. “Damn, sweetheart, you hit hard.”

She had three older brothers, and they’d taught her to tackle long ago. “You’re welcome.”

His face was close to hers. The guy had a line of stubble starting to grow along that hard, fierce jaw.

His eyes glinted. Her breasts were pressed tight against his chest. All muscle. So that was what he hid behind his fancy clothes. Strength.

And…

Her leg shifted. Made contact. Okay. No room to hide that.

She jerked back, then stumbled to her feet. “Just—ah… stay low.” Lora spun away from him, sucking in a deep breath.

The other team had their hose ready now, and they launched another attack on the blaze.

Lora and Kenton headed behind the second fire truck. Cover, just in case.

Frank ran toward her. “Dammit, Spade, you know better than to bring a civilian into—”

“Where’s the vic?” Kenton snapped, cutting across the words. Ah, some anger there. Probably didn’t like being called a civilian.

Frank’s eyes narrowed. “What do you—”

“Chief—he’s the agent Hyde sent.” Lora jumped in. “He’s here to find the bastard doing this.”

Frank knew what was happening in this town. He’d connected the dots after the second blaze.

“Where’s the vic?” Kenton pressed.

“He didn’t make it.” Frank wrenched off his helmet and threw it against the truck, revealing the gleaming scalp of his bald head. “The poor * never had a chance.”

“He was cuffed.”

At the gruff words, Lora turned and saw that another firefighter had marched up behind them. Rick Suvalis stood to the right, his tall frame stooped, ash and soot covering him. “I—I saw him, right before the roof—” His dark gaze shot to Lora, then away. “The guy was already dead, but I saw… he was cuffed to the radiator. I–I think it blew, when the fire hit. There must have been some—”

“I’m tired of this *!” Frank’s hands clenched. “I could have lost men in this blaze. This isn’t some f*cking game.”

“It is to him.” Kenton shifted slightly, and his gaze swept the street. “That’s exactly what it is.”

There was a tense note in his voice. An alertness. “Kent?”

But he strode over to two cops and flashed his badge. “Get backup out here, ASAP,” Lora heard him say. “We’re searching these houses.” He pointed to the broken row of boarded-up windows and doors.

She hurried to his side. “What’s going on?”

Hard lines were etched on the sides of his mouth. “It’s his game, Lora. A game I’m betting he likes to watch.”

She stared at those windows again. Here. The guy could be right here.

Bracing her legs apart, she stared into the darkness and wondered who watched.

? ? ?

Too late. He rocked backward on his heels, and his hands tightened around the binoculars. The fire had won again.

But she always won. She took out his prey, burning so brightly, charring the flesh of his victims and sending the guilty to hell.

He stared down at the swirling lights. The running firemen.

Lora.

And Lora—she stared right back. A woman who knew the touch of fire better than she knew a lover’s touch.

When he closed his eyes, he could still hear Lora’s screams. She’d tried so hard to save her lover. Gone right back into the flames with him.

The others had run out, but she’d run in. And then dragged out a body.

The screams had come, when she couldn’t get the man to breathe. The choked sobs that wouldn’t stop.

Even when they hauled the body away. Poor Lora.

She looked so lovely by firelight.


“I want in that building,” Kenton growled. “I need to check the scene.”

They were back at Mickey’s. Three hours had passed since the flames had eaten their way through the walls and the roof of 419 Byron Street. The fire was out. All of the old houses near the fire scene had been thoroughly searched.

No sign of their pyro.

Lora turned off her car. “Tomorrow—” She broke off, shaking her head. What time was it? “Today, the arson team will go in first. But we should be able to get in maybe around two or three.” Once Seth and his guys had given the all-clear.

“I’ll go in with the team.” The scent of smoke clung to Kenton, filling the interior of her car. “And you’ll go with me.”

“Seth isn’t gonna like that.” The guy was more than territorial.

“Screw what he likes. From here on out, this is my show.”

Another man with a territory complex. “Have it your way, Special Agent.”

He turned on her, fast, and Lora realized that her car was way too small for the two of them.

“Keep it up, Spade. Keep pushing.”

’Cause, yeah, that’s what she was doing. Pushing. Sparring. So what? That was the way she worked.

“I’m calling my boss when dawn hits,” he said. Dawn wasn’t far away. She could already see the pink hues lighting the sky in the distance. “I’m getting a profiler down here. I’m going to rip apart every case the arson unit has worked on—and I’m going to make damn sure we haven’t missed another one of this guy’s hits.”