Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(50)

She straightened her shoulders and went inside.

“There are multiple points of origin on this one,” Seth called out.

“There had to be,” Lora said as her gaze drifted around the shell of the house. “When Randall came out, he had lighters in both hands. Liquid accelerant was everywhere, and he was lighting the place up as fast as he could.”

Kenton brushed his fingers down her arm and saw the slight shiver that shook her body. “You okay?”

Her eyes found his. “He almost took out one of my team members last night. Hell, no, I’m not okay.” Her shoulders straightened. “But I’m not broken either.”

No, she wasn’t.

“Got something back here!” Seth’s voice had Kenton tensing. Carefully, they made their way through the small house. Seth was in the back room, crouched low. The room was blackened, charred far worse than many of the other areas.

Seth glanced back at them and grunted. “Another point of origin.” He gestured before him. “The female victim’s remains were found here. Based on the placement, the techs think she was sleeping when the fire started.”

“Any signs she was restrained?” Kenton asked, but the room had been burned to hell and back, so he doubted that any evidence had been left behind.

Seth exhaled on a hard sigh as he sealed one of the containers that he’d carried into the room. “Hailey loved her booze. Odds are good the woman was passed out. If she didn’t try to escape, I doubt she even realized the fire was around her.”

Dead to the world.

“Broken bottles were all around the interior of the house,” Lora said, and her voice was far more subdued than normal. Right, because she’d almost died there the night before. “Looks like Hailey’s alcohol was the accelerant.”

Seth lifted the container. “Yeah, we’ll officially confirm that real soon.”

Beneath the scent of soot and ash, Kenton could still smell the odor of whiskey and tequila. He had no doubt what the accelerant had been. And if the guy had used the booze…

“He brings the accelerant when he knows there isn’t anything on site.” Excitement had his heart thumping faster.

Seth and Lora both turned to him.

“He knew there were accelerants he could use at Hatchen’s garage.” Motor oil and gas. “So he used what was on scene.” And that had thrown off the arson investigators. “This time, he knew there’d be plenty of alcohol to use.” No need to bring another accelerant, not when the place was ready to blow on its own.

“He would’ve had to know the Randalls,” Seth said, “if he came in—”

“He came in knowing he’d set this place ablaze,” Kenton broke over the arson investigator’s words. “And he came in knowing that he didn’t have to bring a damn thing to start the job.” Because everything he needed had been right there.

So easy to slip in when the scene is already set for you.

“He’d been here before,” Kenton said as he surveyed the soggy, black remains of the house. “The bastard was here.” There one day to visit, there the next to kill.

One cold sonofabitch.

A calculating killer who’d taken the time to get to know his prey.





CHAPTER Ten


When they finally finished the sweep of the house, Lora and Kenton headed back outside. She sucked in the clean air, hating the bitter taste that always filled her mouth at an arson investigation scene.

Kenton stared at the older houses that lined the street. The houses were packed tightly together. “If he came here before, then someone might have seen him.”

She rubbed arms that shouldn’t have been chilled. “The police canvassed the scene last night, right?”

“They interviewed everyone here.” His gaze zeroed in on the house directly across the pothole-lined street. The house that would’ve had the best view of the Randalls’ place. “But maybe they just didn’t ask the right questions.”

He strode forward, heading for the light gray house with the broken shutter. Lora yanked off her latex gloves and followed behind him.

Kenton pulled out his badge as he walked across the street. “They didn’t ask about visitors who might have been here long before the fire.”

Excitement had her heart leaping. Could this be it? Oh, damn, but she hoped Phoenix had screwed up.

The old porch groaned when Kenton hurried up the steps. “Stay behind me,” he told her.

Kenton knocked on the door. The faded wood rattled.

Footsteps thudded behind the door. It opened a few inches and a grizzled face poked out. “What the hell do you want?”

Kenton moved forward, and she noticed that he positioned his right foot just inside that open door. He lifted his badge. “FBI, sir. I need to ask you some questions about—”

The guy snarled and tried to slam the door shut. Not gonna happen. Kenton braced the door and— The man—balding, with thick arms and a burly chest—yelled when the door didn’t close. But instead of running back inside, he charged at Kenton.

“Fucking *! You ain’t taking me back!” He barreled right into Kenton.

Lora screamed.

Kenton didn’t make a sound. He dropped his badge and caught the guy with a hard left hook. The attacker stumbled, blinked.