Death and Her Devotion (Rogue Vows #1)(26)

His determined statement took her voice away. “You did?” she squeaked.

“You bet. The moment we met, when you stepped into my office the morning after Roy asked me to take over as police chief. I knew right then it was over for me.”

“Huh.”

“Not that way for you?” he gently teased.

“I found you good-looking,” Stevie admitted. “But usually I get to know someone before I decide if I’m going to marry them. For all I knew, you had the ego of twenty men and allowed mold to grow in your shower.”

“Deal breakers?”

“Definitely.”

She glanced at his profile in the dim light. Strong jaw. Decisive chin. I can’t imagine my life without him now.

A golden glow hovered over the town, and Stevie wondered if the networks had set up a dozen bright lights to deliver their latest news reports. I’ll be glad when Solitude is simply ours again.

“Stevie.” Zane leaned forward in the passenger seat, staring at the glow. “Is that coming from . . .”

“It can’t be.” She floored the accelerator and sent the vehicle surging down the road. Thirty seconds later she pulled to a stop across the street from the flaming real estate office. Zane called in the fire as she dashed to assess the situation. Situated on a quiet cross street in the town, this location didn’t have the foot traffic that the main road did. Two men stood near the office, both talking on their cell phones, also calling in the fire. The real estate office was a tiny one-story building, and the fire appeared to have started in a small shed connected to the primary structure. The flames had engulfed the entire shed and spread up the wall to take over the roof of the office.

Déjà vu swamped her. Another fire? Cyndee.

“Is anyone inside?” Stevie shouted.

“I just got here,” said the first man. “I banged on the door, but no one answered.” He pointed at a two-by-four. “That was propped up against the door handle. If someone had been in there, they would have been trapped.”

Stevie darted around to the back of the office and spotted the black Hummer through the window of the tiny garage. There was a good chance the guys were inside.

Drunk and asleep?

Adrenaline shot through her as she ran up the steps to the back door and spotted another two-by-four wedged under the handle. Who trapped them inside? She ripped it away and pounded on the door, rattling the locked handle. “Josh?”

Thank goodness Brandon is with his mom.

Zane came around the side of the office. “The flames are taking off. Can you hear anyone?”

“No. Their vehicle is here and both doors were blocked.”

“What the hell? I think we need to check inside.” He picked up the two-by-four and focused on a window.

“Careful!” Stevie warned, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest.

“Both back windows are open a few inches. Breaking a window won’t make a backdraft.”

Stevie looked away as he swung the board at the window. The old, cheap pane shattered, leaving deadly teeth of glass in the window frame. He knocked out the rest of the window as Stevie stepped back and checked the flames on top of the roof. She’d seen smoke start to appear inside the office, crawling along the ceiling.

“Toby!” Zane yelled through the window. “Spider! You guys in there?”

He grabbed a rickety chair from the far corner of the back patio, set it next to the window, and started to climb in. Stevie took a deep breath, hearing fire engines in the distance. “Let’s wait for the firefighters.”

“It’s barely smoky inside,” said Zane. “It’ll take me thirty seconds to clear the house.”

“The entire roof is on fire!” she argued. “It could collapse.” She grabbed the back of his shirt. “Don’t go in there.”

“Zane?” Toby appeared in the rear room of the office, rubbing sleepily at his face. He wore only boxers. He stopped and stared at the broken glass on the floor. “What’s going on?” His eyes grew wide and he looked up at the ceiling, slightly ducking his head. “What’s that noise up there?”

“The office is on fire!” Stevie shouted. “You need to get out before the roof collapses!”

“Holy shit!” Toby whirled around and vanished.

“Who’s inside?” Zane shouted after him.

“All of us!”

Stevie heard Toby yell at the other two guys. Zane tried to move through the window again, but she held on to him. “They’re coming.” I hope.

The seconds felt like hours and the layer of smoke along the ceiling rapidly grew until the upper third of the room was full. The crackling and hissing from the flames grew louder.

Moments later all three appeared, barefoot and half-dressed, clutching various belongings as they hunched over below the thick smoke. They were terrified.

“Watch the glass!” Stevie ordered. They stepped gingerly around the broken glass, fumbled with the lock at back door, and dashed out. The five moved to the street, away from the flames, and stared at the fire.

“What the f*ck?” said Josh, his bleached hair flat on one side. “We could have died in there.” Toby and Spider were stunned silent, gripping their cell phones and clothes. All three of them had bloodshot eyes, and Stevie smelled pot hovering around them.