Deadly Heat (Deadly #2)(97)

“Rick Suvalis,” Hyde continued quietly. “Max Quint, and Seth MacIntyre.”

Her right temple throbbed. “How—”

“They’re all tied to the station,” Sam said.

“And they’ve all been injured by fire,” Pete added. “That was the link, wasn’t it? I knew after I talked to Davenport… they’d all felt the burn.”

“What the f*ck?” Garrison shoved the files away. “I’m no killer. You can’t—”

“Yeah,” Pete said. “It sucks being a suspect.”

Lora’s gaze rose to Garrison. He didn’t fit the age profile Davenport had given for Phoenix, and—“Garrison’s been with me at the hospital. He didn’t have anything to do with—with Kenton.”

“We’ve already ruled you out, Garrison,” Hyde said, voice unruffled. “And we’ve got two of your men waiting in Interrogation right now.”

Two?

“Quint and Suvalis. It was easy enough to round them up.”

Then just one was missing. One…

Seth.

Her breath caught even as her phone rang, vibrating in her pocket with a squeal. She pulled it out and glanced down at the screen. Lora could feel all the eyes on her. Don’t know that number. She turned away, fumbling. “Hello?” Not a good time. End the call. I can’t do this—

“Walk away from them.” A man’s whisper.

She didn’t take another step. “What?”

“Alert them, and he burns right f*cking now.”

Lora lowered the phone and swallowed back the ball of fear in her throat. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Hyde’s watchful eyes on her. Kim stood at his side now, with her hand on his arm. Lora cleared her throat. “M-my brother…” She motioned to the phone. “Ryan wants to make sure I-I’m all right.”

Hyde nodded, then bent to whisper to Kim.

Lora pushed through the crowd and headed for the corner at the far right. “What do you want?” she asked quietly.

A soft sigh rustled in her ear. “You know, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Seth, I f*cking know,” she whispered right back to him. Three suspects in the station. One on the loose. Didn’t have to be a damn genius to figure out who the bad guy was.

“If you tell them it’s me on the phone, I’ll light him up right now.”

“Don’t!” Too sharp, too loud. She cleared her throat. “Don’t worry, Ryan, I’m okay. You don’t need to come down here.”

“Because you’re coming to me,” he taunted. “You’re gonna get away from the cops and the agent *s, and you’re coming to me.”

“Why?” Why the f*ck had he done all this?

But he only laughed. “Get here in time, and maybe you can save him.”

Bullshit. He’d kill her and Kenton both. Or try.

“He’s already surrounded by gasoline. One light… he’s gone.”

Why? The question screamed through her mind.

“You know, I think I like the gas best. Its fire is so damn beautiful, and it burns so fast.”

Asshole.

“If I see a cop,” he rasped, “so much as one f*cking flashing light, he’s dead.”

Her eyes closed.

“You and the flames, Lora. You and the flames. Let’s see who’s stronger. The fire can f*cking judge.”

“Where?” she whispered from a mouth gone bone dry.

“Your place.” Another low laugh. “Knew they’d never look here.”

And her neighbors were all at work during the day. No one would be there to see the flames, at least not until it was too late.

“Hurry, Lora. We’re waiting for you.”

The call ended. Her fingers tightened around the phone. Damn nightmare. She shot a glance over her shoulder. The cops were huddled around Hyde as they got their orders. No one was watching her. Not now.

Her gaze darted to the door. That exit was so close.

I’m coming, Kenton.


Monica shoved her way through the cops in the bullpen and reached Hyde just as she heard him ask, “What do we know about Seth MacIntyre?”

“A team of my cops are at his house,” Captain Lawrence said as he straightened his spine. “They’ll do a sweep to see—”

“That’s not good enough.” Hyde pointed his index finger toward Ramirez. “Get over there. If you find something, you call me.”

Ramirez nodded. The poor guy looked as if he was about to collapse, but he spun away and ran for the door.

Hyde looked at Monica. “Did you find anything at the scene?”

Monica slanted a quick glance Sam’s way. Sam seemed even paler now. “Blood.” Not enough for a death scene, but enough for her to know that Kenton had been hurt when he left that parking lot.

Sam flinched, but she sucked in a deep breath and her shaking hands reached for a nearby folder. “Seth MacIntyre received two burn injuries in his life,” she told them quietly as she handed the file to Hyde. “The first incident occurred when he was—”

“Just a kid.” Garrison’s gravelly voice interrupted her. “He was just a kid when that fire tore through his house. It killed his mom and dad. I barely got him out, and the flames burned the hell out of his arm.”