“He’s not answering his cell.” She could hear the hint of worry in Hyde’s voice.
Hell. Hyde wasn’t the type to worry without cause. “I’m going to his room.” Be there. Please, Kenton, be there.
Kenton wasn’t in his room. With some help from Luke, she’d busted the door down. The bed was empty, the covers rumpled, and Kenton wasn’t there.
But his SUV sat waiting, still parked in front of his room.
“This isn’t good,” Luke muttered.
No, not good at all.
She yanked out her phone and dialed his cell as she paced along the line of rooms. Answer, answer…
But the phone just rang and rang.
Monica froze, then slowly lowered her cell.
She heard the peal of sound then. A loud, quick beat that came from close by. She stumbled forward and her gaze scanned the ground near the ice machine. Oh, hell, it was—
“His cell.” Luke’s grim voice.
Monica glanced up and let her stare sweep around the lot. “We’re going to need a crime scene unit out here.”
“You need to come with me.”
Lora glanced up at Kim’s voice. Garrison and Sherri both turned toward the agent as she stood in the doorway.
“Why?” But she knew why. Phoenix. Lora rushed forward, and Garrison followed right on her heels. “Is there another fire?”
Kim shook her head. “Not yet.”
Not yet? Her brows dipped down. “Then why—”
The agent’s gaze held hers, and Kim’s lips pressed together. She swallowed, then said, “Kenton’s missing.”
And Lora’s world stopped.
When they arrived at the police station, Lora shoved her way through the crowd of cops with Garrison right at her side—until she found the man in charge.
“Hyde.” Hyde slowly turned toward her with his jaw locked and his eyes grim.
“Where is he?” Lora demanded.
“We have a crime scene unit at the hotel.”
A crime scene unit. She took the words like a punch to the gut. “Kenton’s been taken, is that what you think? Is that what you’re telling me?”
The voices quieted around her as everyone waited to hear Hyde’s response.
“It’s too early to know for sure.”
What? She flew at him. Her hands grabbed his pristine white shirt, and Lora yanked him close to face her. “Don’t give me that crap,” she ordered, her voice nearly a yell as the fear that had filled her during the long drive over finally destroyed her control.
Just found him. Can’t lose him—Jesus, Kenton!
“Do you think Phoenix has him, Hyde? Tell me!”
Hyde glanced down at her fists, then he looked back up at her eyes. “You should try to remain calm.”
A broken laugh slipped from her lips. “Trust me, I’m way past calm.”
If Phoenix had him…
Hyde’s hands closed over hers and slowly unpried her fingers. “There’s been no contact from Agent Lake in over two hours. We have no specifics at this time.”
“Two hours?” They’d waited this long to notify her? He could already be dead. Burning.
No.
“But I think it’s safe to assume that Agent Lake did not leave willingly from the Millway Hotel.”
Her breath hissed out. “Has there been a call? I mean, if Phoenix has him, he’ll call and give us a fighting chance.”
“There was no call for Bob Kyle.” Jon’s voice. Tired. Angry. She glanced at him and saw the dark circles under his eyes.
His words sank in, and they might as well have been a knife, because they cut right through her.
“What the hell is this?” Garrison demanded
Her head slowly turned toward him. Everything seemed slow right then.
Garrison stopped at the desk. His gaze was on the files. “My men?” His face tightened.
Kim crept closer to him, eyeing the files, but saying nothing.
“I thought we were past this. I thought—shit—”
“That’s a list of suspects…” Pete’s voice carried easily across the room. He stalked in and shook his head. “But it’s narrowed down now, right, Ramirez? Guess you and Sam tightened the list.”
“Down to four,” Sam said as she brushed past some uniforms. She looked as tired as Jon. The same dark circles lined her eyes, and the same tightness hardened her mouth.
Lora gazed at her as she tried to focus on what they were saying, but—dammit! She just kept seeing Kenton in her mind. Kenton, surrounded by fire. “Y-you’ve got four suspects?” Did that mean Pete had been cleared? Had he—
“You know them well, Ms. Spade,” Hyde told her, and she could only blink at him. “Some you work with, some you call friends.” He paused, then, “Frank Garrison—”
“The hell you say,” Garrison snapped. “Kenton knows I had nothing to do with—”
“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**k?” 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**king 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**king 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 a**holes, and you’re coming to me.”
“Why?” Why the f**k 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**king 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**king 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.”
“What was the cause of that fire?” Monica asked as she reached for the file. Luke was behind her, watching and waiting.
Garrison’s chin notched up. “Accident—it was an accid—”
“You sure?” They were dealing with a serial arsonist. One who loved the fire more than life. Just when had that addiction started?
Garrison’s shoulders hunched. “No… no, he was a kid… he had to bury his parents. He got sent to live with an uncle outside of town… Just a kid.”
But Monica knew some monsters were made as children.
Just a kid. That was an excuse that she’d stopped believing years ago.
“Seth… you really think…” Garrison sagged against the desk. “He can be a bit of a prick sometimes, but a killer?”
“Sometimes, you don’t see the killers,” Luke replied. “Not until it’s too late.”
“He worked by my side, right in the fire with me, for years.” Still disbelieving.
“Until the fire caught him,” Sam murmured. “About two years ago—”
“Carter pulled him out.” Garrison swiped his hand over his forehead. “Bad one, that night. Beam fell from the ceiling, caught his leg, screwed up his knee. Carter had to haul him out…” He blinked. “Carter.” A stark whisper. His eyes lifted slowly, and met Monica’s stare. “You’re telling me… you’re saying Seth killed Carter?”
“Uh, Hyde…” Sam’s hesitant voice stopped Monica from responding. “Where’s Lora?”
“She’s coming.”
Kenton forced his eyes open. He squinted as he tried to see through the darkness and focus on—
Seth MacIntyre smiled down at him.
Kenton lurched forward, only to be jerked back. His arms and legs were tied, shit, bound to the bedposts. Lora’s bedposts.
His gaze flew around the room. Lora’s room. The scent of smoke still drifted in the air.
“Guess you’ve been here before,” Seth murmured.
“Let me the f**k go!”
Seth’s smile stretched. “I told you that Lora was just using you.” He leaned close. Come on, a**hole, just a bit closer. “She wanted to get her revenge on Carter’s killer—”
“On you!”
He blinked. “Well, yes.” His smile didn’t dim. “She would do anything for her revenge. Well, I guess she did do anything, didn’t she?”
Ah, now he was close enough. Kenton slammed his head into Seth’s. He caught the bastard’s nose and heard the crunch of bone. Blood splattered on him.
“Bastard!” Seth stumbled back as his hands flew to cover his broken nose. “Look what you f**king did!”
“Newsflash, I’m gonna do a hell of a lot more!” He yanked at the bindings—bedsheets. They’d been cut and tied around him. His head throbbed, the drumming ache making nausea rise in his throat as—
Something wet hit his chest. Wet, and that smell… Christ.
Seth was smiling again. The bastard smiled through the blood that dripped onto his lips. “Figured this would be fitting for you. The bed you f**ked in will be the bed you die in.” He hefted the container he was holding and poured more gasoline onto Kenton’s body and face.
Hell. Hyde wasn’t the type to worry without cause. “I’m going to his room.” Be there. Please, Kenton, be there.
Kenton wasn’t in his room. With some help from Luke, she’d busted the door down. The bed was empty, the covers rumpled, and Kenton wasn’t there.
But his SUV sat waiting, still parked in front of his room.
“This isn’t good,” Luke muttered.
No, not good at all.
She yanked out her phone and dialed his cell as she paced along the line of rooms. Answer, answer…
But the phone just rang and rang.
Monica froze, then slowly lowered her cell.
She heard the peal of sound then. A loud, quick beat that came from close by. She stumbled forward and her gaze scanned the ground near the ice machine. Oh, hell, it was—
“His cell.” Luke’s grim voice.
Monica glanced up and let her stare sweep around the lot. “We’re going to need a crime scene unit out here.”
“You need to come with me.”
Lora glanced up at Kim’s voice. Garrison and Sherri both turned toward the agent as she stood in the doorway.
“Why?” But she knew why. Phoenix. Lora rushed forward, and Garrison followed right on her heels. “Is there another fire?”
Kim shook her head. “Not yet.”
Not yet? Her brows dipped down. “Then why—”
The agent’s gaze held hers, and Kim’s lips pressed together. She swallowed, then said, “Kenton’s missing.”
And Lora’s world stopped.
When they arrived at the police station, Lora shoved her way through the crowd of cops with Garrison right at her side—until she found the man in charge.
“Hyde.” Hyde slowly turned toward her with his jaw locked and his eyes grim.
“Where is he?” Lora demanded.
“We have a crime scene unit at the hotel.”
A crime scene unit. She took the words like a punch to the gut. “Kenton’s been taken, is that what you think? Is that what you’re telling me?”
The voices quieted around her as everyone waited to hear Hyde’s response.
“It’s too early to know for sure.”
What? She flew at him. Her hands grabbed his pristine white shirt, and Lora yanked him close to face her. “Don’t give me that crap,” she ordered, her voice nearly a yell as the fear that had filled her during the long drive over finally destroyed her control.
Just found him. Can’t lose him—Jesus, Kenton!
“Do you think Phoenix has him, Hyde? Tell me!”
Hyde glanced down at her fists, then he looked back up at her eyes. “You should try to remain calm.”
A broken laugh slipped from her lips. “Trust me, I’m way past calm.”
If Phoenix had him…
Hyde’s hands closed over hers and slowly unpried her fingers. “There’s been no contact from Agent Lake in over two hours. We have no specifics at this time.”
“Two hours?” They’d waited this long to notify her? He could already be dead. Burning.
No.
“But I think it’s safe to assume that Agent Lake did not leave willingly from the Millway Hotel.”
Her breath hissed out. “Has there been a call? I mean, if Phoenix has him, he’ll call and give us a fighting chance.”
“There was no call for Bob Kyle.” Jon’s voice. Tired. Angry. She glanced at him and saw the dark circles under his eyes.
His words sank in, and they might as well have been a knife, because they cut right through her.
“What the hell is this?” Garrison demanded
Her head slowly turned toward him. Everything seemed slow right then.
Garrison stopped at the desk. His gaze was on the files. “My men?” His face tightened.
Kim crept closer to him, eyeing the files, but saying nothing.
“I thought we were past this. I thought—shit—”
“That’s a list of suspects…” Pete’s voice carried easily across the room. He stalked in and shook his head. “But it’s narrowed down now, right, Ramirez? Guess you and Sam tightened the list.”
“Down to four,” Sam said as she brushed past some uniforms. She looked as tired as Jon. The same dark circles lined her eyes, and the same tightness hardened her mouth.
Lora gazed at her as she tried to focus on what they were saying, but—dammit! She just kept seeing Kenton in her mind. Kenton, surrounded by fire. “Y-you’ve got four suspects?” Did that mean Pete had been cleared? Had he—
“You know them well, Ms. Spade,” Hyde told her, and she could only blink at him. “Some you work with, some you call friends.” He paused, then, “Frank Garrison—”
“The hell you say,” Garrison snapped. “Kenton knows I had nothing to do with—”
“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**k?” 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**king 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**king 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 a**holes, and you’re coming to me.”
“Why?” Why the f**k 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**king 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**king 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.”
“What was the cause of that fire?” Monica asked as she reached for the file. Luke was behind her, watching and waiting.
Garrison’s chin notched up. “Accident—it was an accid—”
“You sure?” They were dealing with a serial arsonist. One who loved the fire more than life. Just when had that addiction started?
Garrison’s shoulders hunched. “No… no, he was a kid… he had to bury his parents. He got sent to live with an uncle outside of town… Just a kid.”
But Monica knew some monsters were made as children.
Just a kid. That was an excuse that she’d stopped believing years ago.
“Seth… you really think…” Garrison sagged against the desk. “He can be a bit of a prick sometimes, but a killer?”
“Sometimes, you don’t see the killers,” Luke replied. “Not until it’s too late.”
“He worked by my side, right in the fire with me, for years.” Still disbelieving.
“Until the fire caught him,” Sam murmured. “About two years ago—”
“Carter pulled him out.” Garrison swiped his hand over his forehead. “Bad one, that night. Beam fell from the ceiling, caught his leg, screwed up his knee. Carter had to haul him out…” He blinked. “Carter.” A stark whisper. His eyes lifted slowly, and met Monica’s stare. “You’re telling me… you’re saying Seth killed Carter?”
“Uh, Hyde…” Sam’s hesitant voice stopped Monica from responding. “Where’s Lora?”
“She’s coming.”
Kenton forced his eyes open. He squinted as he tried to see through the darkness and focus on—
Seth MacIntyre smiled down at him.
Kenton lurched forward, only to be jerked back. His arms and legs were tied, shit, bound to the bedposts. Lora’s bedposts.
His gaze flew around the room. Lora’s room. The scent of smoke still drifted in the air.
“Guess you’ve been here before,” Seth murmured.
“Let me the f**k go!”
Seth’s smile stretched. “I told you that Lora was just using you.” He leaned close. Come on, a**hole, just a bit closer. “She wanted to get her revenge on Carter’s killer—”
“On you!”
He blinked. “Well, yes.” His smile didn’t dim. “She would do anything for her revenge. Well, I guess she did do anything, didn’t she?”
Ah, now he was close enough. Kenton slammed his head into Seth’s. He caught the bastard’s nose and heard the crunch of bone. Blood splattered on him.
“Bastard!” Seth stumbled back as his hands flew to cover his broken nose. “Look what you f**king did!”
“Newsflash, I’m gonna do a hell of a lot more!” He yanked at the bindings—bedsheets. They’d been cut and tied around him. His head throbbed, the drumming ache making nausea rise in his throat as—
Something wet hit his chest. Wet, and that smell… Christ.
Seth was smiling again. The bastard smiled through the blood that dripped onto his lips. “Figured this would be fitting for you. The bed you f**ked in will be the bed you die in.” He hefted the container he was holding and poured more gasoline onto Kenton’s body and face.
