Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(8)

The band blared louder, voices laughed and cheered, and when she lowered the beer, he was there.

GQ.

She raised her brows and let her voice mock. “Well, if it isn’t the special agent man.”

He shook his head. “Don’t mess with me, Lora.”

Lora. She shouldn’t like the way he said her name. But with his deep voice, the name rolled on his tongue, and yes, okay, she could easily imagine him saying her name in that same way when they were alone.

And naked.

Too long without a lover.

Her fingers curled around the chilled beer bottle. “What are you doing here?”

He sat down beside her. Uninvited. It figured he’d do something like that. “You said you’d be here.” A pause. “And I needed to talk to you.”

The guy still smelled good. Looked good. “So talk.” They were getting stares already. Lora caught the eye of Tony Long, one of the firefighters on her crew. He raised his beer bottle toward her.

Ah, the night couldn’t get any better.

The news about their little meeting would spread like wildfire. Because with cops and smoke eaters filling the room, the gossip vine would run fast.

“I want your help.”

She blinked and all semblance of bitch faded. “Uh, run that by me again?” Bitch was her defense mechanism, so what now?

Those gray eyes were steady, and he seemed to inch closer. No, maybe he was just so big that he took up a lot of space. Her space. “I’m not leaving, not until I’m sure the area’s clear.”

The tension in her shoulders eased. “Good.” Because Lora didn’t think the fires were going to stop, not until they stopped the pyro out there.

“I want you to help me,” he said again. “I need a contact at the station. Someone to walk me through the crime scenes. Someone to tell me what the hell I’m looking at in the fire.” His arm stretched behind her, almost caging her. “I need you.”

Her breath came, real slow. “You have to—you’ll have to get approval from my chief.” But the chief knew the score. He’d been the one to send her to Hyde.

“Already got it.”

So the agent worked fast.

“Like I said… I need your help.”

She hesitated because there was something there in his eyes. This wasn’t just about the cases. There was a dark awareness lurking in his gaze. A hunger, a need she understood.

One that she shouldn’t be feeling.

But one that stirred in her gut anyway. One that had her thighs tensing, her heart beating a little too fast, and hell, had her wanting.

“Do you want to catch this guy?”

“More than anything.” I can still hear the screams.

“Then I guess for the time being…” He offered her his right hand. “We’ll be partners.”

Her eyes held his. Slowly, she reached for that hand. His fingers curled around hers, warm and strong.

A lick of heat shot right through her.

His mouth hitched into a half smile. “I think I’m gonna like working with you, Lora Spade.”

She pulled her hand back. “Working only, Kent.” The shortened version of his name rolled easily off her tongue. “Not screwing.”

Just to be clear.

He blinked. “Didn’t say anything about screwing.”

“You didn’t have to.” A woman knew signals. His weren’t easy to miss. Even if he did a good job of keeping those eyes up and off her chest. “I’m not looking for a lover.”

Just a killer.

“Seems a shame…” That smile faded. “But I’m not asking you to work with me so we can f*ck.”

Ah, blunt. She could like that.

Like him.

But she wouldn’t.

She didn’t want any more pain. Special Agent Kenton Lake was the kind of man who could hurt a woman. Because he was the kind who’d walk away when the job was done, and leave her in the ashes.

Been there, not doing it again. No matter how sexy the package.

“Then I guess you have yourself a partner.” Her smile was a little mean, and she knew it. “We will bring the guy down.”

? ? ?

Some habits were hard to break.

He watched the man stumble down the street. The guy flashed cash at some punk kid and got a small bag in exchange.

The kid vanished. His prey didn’t.

He’d started to think about the man last night. Wonder about him. The guy had been pulled from the second story of that hell on LeRoy.

How long had he been up there? What all had he seen? Heard?

The flickers of fear had come then, and he wasn’t one given to fear.

Larry Powell. Finding out the guy’s name had taken two minutes. Picking apart the guy’s life—five.

Larry had made him change his plans. He wouldn’t have chosen tonight for the flames, but he couldn’t afford to wait. Not with Larry talking to the cops and that * agent.

No time to waste.

Larry scurried down the street, slinking and hiding like a rat in the dark.

This rat wasn’t gettin’ away. Not this time.

The fingers of his right hand rolled the match he carried.


“I read the case files.” Kenton leaned back and heard the vinyl booth cushion groan as he motioned for the waitress. “Different accelerants were used in all the crimes, different points of origin for the fires—hell, even different structures.” The woman might not believe it, but he actually did his homework.