UNCONTROLLED BURN (8 page)

When his assignment in South Kenton was finished, he had no idea how he’d ever walk away from this woman.

Chapter Four

“So if Josh called this meeting, where the hell is he?”

“How the hell would I know?” Reese stepped from the bathroom, finger-combing his wet hair. The shower had done nothing to wash away his irritation.

Ronan had been at the cabin for nearly an hour annoying the hell out of him.

“Wasn’t my turn to babysit him,” he said. Josh had called before noon and scheduled an emergency meeting for one o’clock, forcing him to leave Alex at the tavern. Though both Chris and the part-time bartender had shown up, he hated leaving her without Glenn’s experienced protection. He wondered if Chris had the chops to defeat an older vampire if it came to that. He’d heard Glenn’s concerned thoughts and knew the man would be hours before getting back to the tavern. With his patience paper-thin and his anxiety jacking his nerves, Reese was none too happy his roommate had yet to show.

“Did he happen to share with
you
what we’re doing here?” Ronan had his fancy boots resting on the coffee table, a glass of red wine in his hand.

“Feel free to make yourself comfortable,” Reese muttered. “And no, he didn’t.”

“Cabernet. Not my favorite, but it’ll do.”

It was a two-hundred dollar bottle of wine Reese was saving for a special occasion. After his morning with Alex, he’d hoped they would be sharing it over a candlelight meal. There was no sense mentioning that fact to the cocky vampire. “Listen, if he doesn’t show in the next half hour or so, we’ll just have to reschedule. I’ve got plans.” Needing his space, Reese walked to his bedroom. He had no idea what had prompted the kid in the living room to join RISEN—of course
kid
may be exaggerating the vamp’s description—but everything was relative when you carried two-hundred years of experience around.

Whatever
. RISEN had thought they needed eyes out in the community so they’d sent in the cocky vamp. The guy displayed his egotistical attitude as obviously as his high-end clothes and annoying accent. Reese had to work with him, but no one said he had to make friends with him. He grabbed his jeans from the end of the bed, shucking off the towel at his waist.

“Would those plans happen to be with one, Alexandra Flanagan?” Ronan leaned casually in the doorway, sipping his wine. “I wouldn’t mind a little piece of—”

In a single heartbeat, Reese was in Ronan’s face, sending the wine glass crashing against the wall and wrapping his hand around the vampire’s throat. “Don’t say another word. Don’t even breathe her name.” Reese’s fingernails dug into the tender flesh as the scent of Ronan’s anger and confusion filled the air around them. “As a matter of fact, if I
ever
find you alone with Alex again, I won’t be responsible for my actions. You feel me, asshole?”

“A little bonding time, boys?” Josh’s voice broke through Reese’s fury.

“Just clearing up a little misunderstanding.” Reese pushed Ronan out of his face, unaware, until that moment, just how much Alex’s safety meant to him. No matter how annoying he found the kid, it was no excuse for his explosive outburst. “Sorry, man. I—”

Ronan waved him off. “Forget it. I was out of line.”

“How about you boys kiss and make up? We’ve got some real work to do.” Josh’s half-cocked grin and raised eyebrow implied humor Reese didn’t feel. “I’ve got some information that may finally blow our whole investigation out of the water.” Josh smacked a pamphlet on his palm.

Reese quickly pulled on jeans and tamped down his frustration, following the guys into the kitchen. He pushed aside his personal life and refocused on their assignment. “I hope you’ve got the silver bullet. I’m ready to take down this bastard.” Reese clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation. Any new information would be better than stumbling blindly forward as they’d been doing for the last year.

Josh eyed him warily. “Just keep an open mind.”

“Don’t I always?” Reese asked.

Ronan let out a snort.

“I don’t know what I walked in on, but I need you both to let that go and pay attention.” Josh unfolded a California state map on the cracked Formica table. Portions of the map had been marked with colored circles and numbers. “Hope came up with—”

“Hope?” The name came from Reese and Ronan in stereo.

“She’s human.” Ronan’s indignation rode tight on his words. “You shouldn’t be involving her. How the hell can she help?”

“She’s a reporter,” Josh said, the low growl contradicting his calm tone.

Guess Reese wasn’t the only one who thought their asshole team member overstepped when it came to their women.

“As I was saying, Hope started cross referencing fires and reported deaths. Every fire in the last two years is highlighted in yellow. The number in that circle indicates how many died. If they were vamps, they’re also highlighted with blue.”

“Hope knows about vamps?” Ronan asked.

“What I’ve chosen to tell or not tell Hope about our world is not what we’re concerned about.” Josh’s words came out stilted through clenched teeth. “It’s what she’s pieced together that’s important. And no, she doesn’t, I added that detail myself.”

Reese knew his roommate had been struggling for the last couple of months with his deepening feelings for Hope and his need to share the truth with her. He’d known Josh long enough not to question his decision one way or the other.

“Hey.” Reese laid a hand on Josh’s forearm, unfazed when the man growled at him. It seemed everyone was a little short tempered when it came to this investigation. “What douche bag meant to say was …” he swept his hand over the map, “… cut to the chase. We’d like to know what the hell you’re getting at.”

Tension eased from Josh’s shoulders. He inhaled, reining in his temper. “The thing is, we’ve done this a number of times over the last year, but I’ve never noticed a pattern. The fires in the beginning were all vampires.” Josh pointed to a dozen sites, varying distances from South Kenton. “But in the last six to nine months, they’ve been a two-to-one mix of vamp and human.”

“What made the rogue change his MO?” Reese wondered aloud.

“Well, it’s the last piece of information that may give us that clue,” Josh said. “This is where
Hope
…” he looked at Ronan as he emphasized her name, “took it in a direction we haven’t. See these circles?” Josh traced several of the colored rings at the fire sites. “She used different colors to indicate the victim’s connection to different people. What do you see?” He gave them a moment to process the information.

“A whole lot of red mixed in with the other colors,” Ronan said.

Reese couldn’t believe it had been that easy. “Yes, we got ‘em
.”  He punched Josh in the shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to finish this case and bring the SOB vampire to justice. Killing vamps was bad enough, but when it spilled over into the human population, well, that just pissed Reese off.

“Not so fast, Reese,” said Josh.

“What, he’s right. Unless the red circle isn’t a vampire,” Ronan said hesitantly. “Then we’ve gotten nowhere”

“Oh, no, she’s definitely a vampire,” Josh responded.

“
She
?” In the half century Reese had been with RISEN, there’d been only one other female rogue. “Doesn’t matter her gender. What’s been done breaks all codes. We bring her in and let the tribunal decide her fate.”

“With that number vamp kills, the woman should be beheaded and burned.”

Both he and Josh looked at Ronan. What he said was true, but no one, least of all another vampire, wanted to see one of their own punished that way.

Josh held his palm out, pumping the air in an attempt to slow Ronan’s judgment. “Let’s not be so hasty until you know all the facts.”

Just the tone of his roommate’s voice put Reese on edge. He had no doubt the man was holding back a crucial piece of information that was going to upset one of them.

“Are you kidding me?” Ronan stomped away and began pacing the small kitchen. “‘Tis our
job
to bring this rogue vampire down. Humans? Vamps? This … this …
thing
has no conscience. She’s left a wake of murder and destruction through two counties.” He waved at the map. “How many more have to die before we stop her? Are you two seriously going soft because it’s a female?”

“Enough.” Reese knew instinctively he didn’t want to hear the last bombshell Josh was going to drop, but he had no desire to listen to Ronan’s criticism of the vampire tribunal. Nothing was worse than taking down one of your own—even if they had been doing the same. “What
don’t
we know, Josh.?”

“Those red circles?” He paused, his gaze locking on Reese’s. “Are all associated with Alex.”

Silence fell over the room like a thick blanket smothering him.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Time hung suspended.

It was Ronan’s condescending laugh that finally broke the spell of disbelief. “Oh, now that’s rich. The irony of the savior being the slayer …” He stopped to catch his breath. “Seriously, who would’ve predicted our villain was sweet innocent—”

“Shut up, Ronan. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Josh’s words came out through clenched teeth.

Reese fought through the fog of confusion. “Alexandra Flanagan?
My
Alex Flanagan?” He’d known his undercover work would eventually tear them apart, he just never could have imagined it would take her life.
His timing definitely sucked.

“Yes, Alexandra Flanagan, you idiot.” Ronan stormed back to the table. “Stop thinking with your dick and look at the facts.” He pounded a finger on one of the highlighted circles. “How’s this person related to Alex?”

Josh slapped his hand away. “Back off, Nason.”

“No, he’s right.” Reese knew there had to be another explanation, but without understanding everything, he wouldn’t be able to get to the bottom of it. “Tell us, who they are.”

“The university fire was a student of hers.” Josh moved his finger around the map. “This fire killed her hairdresser. This one was a cashier at Ricker’s Market in town.”

“That’s a stretch. All three of us could be suspect there,” Reese said.

“That’s true. But the cashier was a vampire and a regular at the tavern.”

“Go on.” A cold knot of dread coiled tight in Reese’s gut as he listened to Josh explain Alex’s connection to all but a handful of the fires.

“So that’s it? Case closed.” Ronan straightened the cuffs of his shirt. “Once it’s reported and the tribunal takes Alex in, do they transfer us right away to the next case or—”

Josh’s left hook took Ronan down before the arrogant asshole had seen the flash of movement. If the impact hadn’t kept him on the floor, Josh’s knee in his chest and the grip on his throat was certainly doing the trick. “This is a fellow vampire and a
friend
. Our
job
is to gather solid evidence before taking it to the tribunal. You aren’t going to breathe a fucking word of this to anyone. Got it?” His grip tightened imperceptibly. “Nod if you understand.”

Ronan’s features contorted into rage as he reluctantly dipped his chin.

“Good.” Josh ground his knee into Ronan’s gut as he pushed himself up. “Your only job right now is to keep your head down and stay the fuck out of our way.”

“Whatever, asshole.” Ronan got up from the floor and straightened his coat. “I didn’t join RISEN to take shit from you two.”

Reese stepped in front of Ronan, bumping his chest hard against the presumptuous prick. “Why
did
you join RISEN?”

“To protect the vampire population.” His lips pursed in a tight line. “Isn’t that why we’re all undercover?” He elbowed his way past Reese. “I won’t report her to RISEN … yet. But
trust
me, when I find the proverbial smoking gun, Alex is going to wish like hell she hadn’t crossed paths with Ronan Nason.”

Reese stared at Ronan’s back as he stormed out of the cabin. “Think he’ll steer clear of her?” he asked, turning back to Josh’s tired expression.

“Yeah. He’s too green to go forward on his own.”

“And this?” Reese swept his hand over the map, wondering what the hell they were going to do. “Is Nason right? Is my personal involvement blinding me to the facts?”

“Depends on how bad you have it for her.”

“Let’s just say after today, you can rip up that IOU.” Reese’s whole world had been dropped in a blender and put on
pulverize to shit
.

“You certainly picked a lousy time to get over your fear of commitment.”

“Ya think?”

“Dude, the whole situation just sucks.” Josh raked his fingers through his hair. “I’d like to think someone is setting her up for some reason.”

“Is that what you honestly believe?”

“What I
know
is that Alex has been working to perfect a nutritional supplement so vamps don’t have to drink human blood. She’s got the protection of Glenn and the blessing of the tribunal. What I
believe
doesn’t matter.”