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Authors: Marie Ferrarella
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Detective.”
Ethan smiled to himself. Nothing goaded him on like a challenge. Maybe, he thought, he’d get this strong-principled, “get the hell out of my way” woman to eat her words. He had a feeling that she could be a hell of a wildcat in bed.
“If you’re through here,” he said, “you’re welcome to come back to the precinct with me now and take a look at the information we’ve got.”
It was probably more than she had compiled. They had only recently been entertaining the idea that the fires were connected and the work of just one person or possibly one team.
Kansas nodded. “Okay, I just might take you up on that, Detective.”
“I do have a first name, you know.”
Kansas looked at him with the most innocent expression she could muster. “You mean it’s not ‘Detective’?”
“It’s Ethan.”
Like he was telling her something she didn’t already know. She made it a point to access all the information she could about the people whose paths she crossed.“Yes, I know. What floor are you on, Detective?” She deliberately used his title.
Ethan laughed softly under his breath. She’d come around in her own time. And if she didn’t, well, he could live with that. She wasn’t the last beautiful woman he’d ever encounter.
“Third,” he answered. “Why?”
She packed up some of the tools she’d been using to collect evidence. “Well, here’s a wild thought—so I know where I’m going.”
He looked at her quizzically. “I thought I’d take you.”
“Yes, I know,” she told him. “I’d rather take myself if it’s all the same to you. Besides, there’s something I need to do first before going to the precinct.”
He made an educated guess as to what that was. “You don’t have to run this past your captain. The chief of D’s has already cleared it with him.”
She didn’t like being second-guessed. It made her feel hemmed in. “That’s all well and good, but that’s not what I need to do first.”
She still wasn’t elaborating. “You always this vague about things?” he wondered.
Her smile widened. “Keeps people guessing.” And me safe, she added silently. Slipping the recorder she’d been using to tape her thoughts into her case, she snapped the locks into place and picked up the case. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
He had no idea if she intended to make good on that or if she was just saying it to humor him. All he knew was that he fully intended to see her again, fire or no fire.
Dax paced back and forth before the bulletin boards in the front of the room. “There’s got to be some kind of pattern here,” he insisted, staring at the three bulletin boards he’d had brought into the task force’s makeshift squad room.
Each fire had its own column with as much information as they could find listed directly beneath it. All the fires had all broken out in the last six months in and around Aurora. Other than that, there was nothing uniform and no attention-grabbing similarities about them.
And yet, he had a gut feeling that there had to be. What was he missing?
“If there is,” Ortiz commented in a lackluster tone, “I can’t see it.” Rocking in his seat, Ortiz slowly sipped his extra-large container of chai tea. He drank the beverage religiously at least once a day, claiming it gave him mental clarity.
The others knew better. Especially after Ethan had pointed out that Ortiz liked to flirt with the cute dark-haired girl behind the counter who filled the detective’s order as well as his less-than-anemic imagination.
“Maybe we’re including too many fires,” Ethan speculated, gesturing at the bulletin boards with its news clippings.
“Isn’t that the point?” Youngman questioned. “These are all the fires that’ve taken place in and around Aurora in the last six months. If we don’t include all of them, we might come up with the wrong pattern.”
He knew he was playing devil’s advocate here, but they had to explore all the
Ethan smiled to himself. Nothing goaded him on like a challenge. Maybe, he thought, he’d get this strong-principled, “get the hell out of my way” woman to eat her words. He had a feeling that she could be a hell of a wildcat in bed.
“If you’re through here,” he said, “you’re welcome to come back to the precinct with me now and take a look at the information we’ve got.”
It was probably more than she had compiled. They had only recently been entertaining the idea that the fires were connected and the work of just one person or possibly one team.
Kansas nodded. “Okay, I just might take you up on that, Detective.”
“I do have a first name, you know.”
Kansas looked at him with the most innocent expression she could muster. “You mean it’s not ‘Detective’?”
“It’s Ethan.”
Like he was telling her something she didn’t already know. She made it a point to access all the information she could about the people whose paths she crossed.“Yes, I know. What floor are you on, Detective?” She deliberately used his title.
Ethan laughed softly under his breath. She’d come around in her own time. And if she didn’t, well, he could live with that. She wasn’t the last beautiful woman he’d ever encounter.
“Third,” he answered. “Why?”
She packed up some of the tools she’d been using to collect evidence. “Well, here’s a wild thought—so I know where I’m going.”
He looked at her quizzically. “I thought I’d take you.”
“Yes, I know,” she told him. “I’d rather take myself if it’s all the same to you. Besides, there’s something I need to do first before going to the precinct.”
He made an educated guess as to what that was. “You don’t have to run this past your captain. The chief of D’s has already cleared it with him.”
She didn’t like being second-guessed. It made her feel hemmed in. “That’s all well and good, but that’s not what I need to do first.”
She still wasn’t elaborating. “You always this vague about things?” he wondered.
Her smile widened. “Keeps people guessing.” And me safe, she added silently. Slipping the recorder she’d been using to tape her thoughts into her case, she snapped the locks into place and picked up the case. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
He had no idea if she intended to make good on that or if she was just saying it to humor him. All he knew was that he fully intended to see her again, fire or no fire.
Dax paced back and forth before the bulletin boards in the front of the room. “There’s got to be some kind of pattern here,” he insisted, staring at the three bulletin boards he’d had brought into the task force’s makeshift squad room.
Each fire had its own column with as much information as they could find listed directly beneath it. All the fires had all broken out in the last six months in and around Aurora. Other than that, there was nothing uniform and no attention-grabbing similarities about them.
And yet, he had a gut feeling that there had to be. What was he missing?
“If there is,” Ortiz commented in a lackluster tone, “I can’t see it.” Rocking in his seat, Ortiz slowly sipped his extra-large container of chai tea. He drank the beverage religiously at least once a day, claiming it gave him mental clarity.
The others knew better. Especially after Ethan had pointed out that Ortiz liked to flirt with the cute dark-haired girl behind the counter who filled the detective’s order as well as his less-than-anemic imagination.
“Maybe we’re including too many fires,” Ethan speculated, gesturing at the bulletin boards with its news clippings.
“Isn’t that the point?” Youngman questioned. “These are all the fires that’ve taken place in and around Aurora in the last six months. If we don’t include all of them, we might come up with the wrong pattern.”
He knew he was playing devil’s advocate here, but they had to explore all the
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