Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(86)

A nod.

“Well,” Kenton drawled slowly, “there actually were a few things you could do.” He waited for Malone’s gaze to come back to him. “Or rather, a few things Phoenix could do.”


“I am not f*cking Phoenix.”

Monica shut the door behind her. “What have I missed?”

Ramirez shook his head. “Not much yet. It looks like the show is just getting started.”

Her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Sam. In interrogation? Since when?

“Did it piss you off to see them all get away with it? Breaking the law, hurting innocents—did that just make you furious?” Kenton’s voice fired at the cop.

Monica edged toward the viewing window to get a better view of Peter Malone’s body language. Definitely pissed. And nervous. His eyes darted back toward her, or rather, to the two-way mirror. Then he looked back at Kenton.

“I’ve been working this case with you, man. I’ve been trying to find him! I’ve been here.” Peter leaned forward now. “Maybe you’re the one who’s pissed. Your witness is dead and you’re looking to blame someone.”

Beside Ramirez, Captain Lawrence flinched.

Kenton just stared back at Malone.

The cop’s eyes narrowed. “Sure hope you plan to do a better job of watching Lora’s ass. I’d hate to see her wind up like—”

Kenton sprang to his feet and lunged across the table with his arms out and his hands fisted.

Oh, hell. “Ramirez… get in there!”

But Sam had Kenton. She grabbed his arm. “Kenton, easy.”

Monica could tell by his face that easy was the last thing Kenton was feeling.

“Are you threatening her?” Kenton demanded in a voice that was barely human.

“I’d never threaten, Lora. She’s my friend. I want her safe.”

“Do you?” Still that low rumble. “Or do you just want her to pay? Is she guilty, too? Because she rejected you? Just once, right? That’s all you said she wanted.”

Monica saw the cop’s hands flex, as if getting ready for a punch. Kenton was pushing all the right buttons.

Let’s see what happens when Malone’s control breaks.

“I wouldn’t hurt her!”

“Then tell us where you were,” Sam said. So calm in the face of that male storm. “For every kill, give us an alibi.” Her quiet voice seemed to settle Kenton.

Kenton took a deep breath and slowly eased away from her and back into his chair. “That’s right, that’s all you have to do. You’re innocent? We’re wasting our time? Then tell us where you were and all this goes away.”

“Start with Jennifer.” Sam pushed her file across the table. “Where were you on the eighteenth of October?”

“I’m supposed to remember that?”

“Yeah,” Kenton told him. “You are.”

The guy spun away and faced the mirror.

Monica studied him and noted the tense lines on Malone’s face. A lot of rage. And some fear. Now why would the fear be there? Phoenix didn’t strike her as a man who was afraid.

More like desperate for attention. Fame. He’d called the news station because he wanted his fifteen minutes. He’d demanded them.

Then attacked Lora because he hadn’t gotten them.

“You’re not gonna believe this, but I was fishing at my uncle’s cabin near Pontlock Lake.”

“And I’m not going to believe it because?”

Malone’s shoulders drooped a bit. “I was alone. I remember—I remember the date because my captain had to call me in.”

“Called on his cell phone,” the gravelly voice of Captain Lawrence told her. They were the first words he’d said the whole time that she’d been in the room.

Monica glanced over at him, brows rising. “He didn’t have a direct line at the cabin?”

The captain shook his head. Deep grooves bracketed his mouth and eyes. The captain looked older today. Much, much older. And that arrogance she’d seen before? Gone.

“What about the others?” Sam asked, flipping through the files. “Tom Hatchen? Charlie Skofield—”

“Dammit, I was here!”

“Um, no.” Sam looked up at him. “I checked the station log. You were off-duty for all those attacks.”

“No, no.” He turned, giving Monica a side profile view as he ran his hand through his hair again. “Wait, wait! I was here, don’t you remember? When the call came in from Phoenix? I was here, so there’s no way it could have been me! We’d just finished up that damn briefing and—”

“You weren’t in the bullpen when the call came in,” Monica murmured even though she knew that he couldn’t hear her. Because as soon as she’d heard Phoenix’s voice, she’d turned and scanned the area. She’d talked to Peter just moments before, but he hadn’t been there.

“It would have been easy enough to duck outside, find a quiet place, and make a sixty-second call.” Kenton cocked his head. “Or did you think we hadn’t considered that possibility? You were there before he called, there after, but no one remembers seeing you exactly when the call came in.”

“This is bullshit!”