Read Online Up in Flames by Starr Ambrose - Free Book Online

he already knew the answer, “Why?”
    “They’re going to the lab. Gotta test for latent prints, fibers, blood, the whole spectrum.” He gave it a couple of seconds to sink in. “Those boys can find anything.”
    Zane returned the cop’s hard stare as he reached into his pocket and handed over the keys. “Check the oil and washer fluid, too, will ya?”
    He got one last deadly look before the guy walked off with his keys. Shit. What was he supposed to do for transportation? Not to mention hauling stuff to job sites. He estimated the cost of renting a pickup, weighed it against his bank balance, and called Will instead.
    Two minutes later he breathed his first small sigh of relief that day. It wasn’t the first time, or even the hundredth, that he was thankful for his friendship with Will Chambers.
    As he ended the call, two cops with black lights and fingerprint kits walked out of the office. It reminded him that he should probably collect some of the contact information that Annie kept in her desk, since they’d probably need it before the police were done looking through everything. “Hey, can I get in there now?”
    “Nope.” The cop started unrolling yellow crime scene tape.
    Zane clenched his jaw over the profane words he wanted to say. “When can I?”
    “Can’t say.”
    They’d been that helpful with everything. On a normal day he didn’t care to deal with the local cops. Today, it infuriated him. Letting it show would only make things worse, so he clamped his jaw shut and stalked back to the yard to tape the investigation there. They might not like it, but there weren’t too many other ways they could screw him over today.
    He hadn’t gotten twenty feet when Sophie’s red Jeep crunched onto the drive and pulled in front of him. For a brief moment his spirits rose with a deeply ingrained and undoubtedly masochistic pleasure at seeing her, until he remembered she was a persistent pain in the ass.
    She slammed the door and came around to intercept him. The pink John Deere cap was gone, and he kind of missed it. It suited her.
    He kept his expression neutral. “What’d you forget?”
    “I need to talk to you.” Her steel-toed work boots crunched over the gravel much like her tires had. “I came to withdraw my resignation. I’m taking my job back.”
    He allowed a wry smile. “I realize you princesses are used to getting what you want, but you’re no longer in an ivory tower, and I’m no longer hiring.”
    She frowned. “What do you mean, you’re not hiring? You need me.”
    He did, but he needed her away from the impending legal explosion even more. She had no idea how much hatred swirled around the Thorson name in this town, and how damaging that association could be. The least he could do was protect her from that. “Things change. Go home, Sophie. I’ll have Annie mail you a check for your day and a half of work.”
    He started toward the yard, but she jumped in front of him. “What’s your problem? Are you mad because I used the shovel arm?”
    “You mean because you disobeyed my direct orders? That would be a good reason, but no.”
    “Then why?”
    He didn’t stop walking, and she had to skip backward to stay ahead of him, bobbing around enough to make him want to take her by the arms and hold her still. But touching her would bring back too many erotic memories; he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Because you shouldn’t be part of this.”
    “But I still need the job.”
    He stopped to keep from bumping into her. For a brief moment her plaintive expression showed how desperate she was for money, stabbing unexpectedly at his heart. But she covered it before he could weaken, tightening her jaw and flashing her usual stubborn look. It was a good reminder that he shouldn’t trust her—she would use every tool at her disposal to get what she wanted. She had before. “You’re fired, Sophie. Deal with it.”
    He stepped around her and walked away. He listened for the