Savage Ice (Ice Breaker Cold Case #10)

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Even for someone who spent her days interviewing killers and studying crime scenes, the day had been…a bit much.

More like a waking nightmare.

Avalon swiped her keycard over the lock at the hotel suite—the presidential suite because Beau had insisted that she be put in that particular suite at the ritzy hotel—and when the light flashed green, she shoved open the door.

Weary beyond belief, Avalon walked over the threshold. She was far too conscious of Beau trailing in behind her. “You didn’t have to pay for the room.” Completely unnecessary. She had plenty of her own money.

“Your house is currently soaked, ash covered, and it reeks of smoke. Not like you could have stayed there. It’s also a crime scene.”

Yes, it was. Because a man had been murdered there. Or, technically, right in front of her home. Beau had seen the attack. Blessedly, she hadn’t because she’d been tossed over his shoulder at the moment of impact. But she’d still heard the gut-wrenching sounds. The pain-filled scream that had choked off. The crunch of bones.

What she hadn’t heard? The sound of a car screeching to a stop as the driver tried to brake. According to Beau, the driver had never braked. Instead, the driver had been lying in wait and he’d deliberately plowed down her attacker.

He looked barely eighteen.

She put her precious laptop on the table near the couch. The suite had a sitting area, a small kitchen, a freaking grand piano—the piano caught her attention and she frowned at it for a moment—then she ignored the suite and turned to confront Beau. “I meant you didn’t have to actually pay for the suite. I have my own money. I could have taken care of the bill.” Thanks to her parents and her own career, she had quite a bit of money. One of the firefighters had managed to get her purse and her phone out of the house for her.

Beau crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at her. “I wanted to help.”

“You’ve saved my life—twice now—so I think that counts as you helping me plenty. Way more than should be expected.” Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly as she thanked him again and again. When he’d come bursting into her bedroom, the relief she’d felt had made her nearly light-headed. And, weirdly enough, she’d…known he would come.

She’d actually looked up and thought…

Running a little late, are you? But, of course, that was ridiculous.

Wasn’t it?

Not like the man spent his days and nights playing guardian angel for her. Until that very night, their paths hadn’t crossed in years. So why was she reacting this way to him? What was wrong with her?

Maybe it’s the adrenaline. Or the fear. Or the crazy attachment I’ve always felt to him.

“You’re pissed at me.” Beau winced. “You’re glaring, so it’s pretty obvious.”

Actually, yes, she was angry. Add that to her mix of emotions. “You asked me to lie to the cops. I don’t like lying to police officers.” It was not her standard mode of operation. “Call me crazy, but it feels criminal. Considering I was the victim, lying didn’t make sense.”

He nodded. “I can see that point of view.”

He could? How wonderful. “Talk.”

“I thought we were.” A little furrow—a damn, oddly cute furrow—appeared between his brows.

“Beau.”

“Yes, Avalon?”

She huffed out her breath and strained to keep the little bit of patience that she had left. “How the hell were you at my house?”

“Simple.” A nod. “Try not to get angrier, though, would you?”

“I make no promises. Spit it out.”

“I followed you.”

Goose bumps rose onto her arms. “Say that again.” Wait. Did she want him to say it again? Maybe she wanted to have misunderstood.

“I. Followed. You.” Very clear. No way to misunderstand. His hands fell to his sides. He took a step toward her.

Instinctively, she took a step back.

“Easy.” Soft. As if he were speaking to some sort of frightened animal.

Her eyes narrowed at that particular word. “I don’t see anything easy about this situation. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve just been told that you followed me to my home. Why in the world would you do that?” And, P.S., she never liked anyone telling her to be easy or to settle down or any of that shit. Phrases like that tended to be the equivalent of waving a red flag right in front of her face.

“One of my bouncers informed me that you had left the bar alone. While the city is certainly gorgeous, danger still waits in the dark. I wanted to be sure that you made it to your destination safely.”

“Isn’t that going a bit above and beyond for a woman you barely know?”

He shrugged. “It was a slow night until you arrived. Not like I had anything better to do.”

He was straight-up lying to her. “There wasn’t any danger waiting.”

A burst of laughter escaped him.

The laughter was oddly warm and deep, and she wanted to hear it again. “Fine,” Avalon bit out. “There wasn’t any danger waiting until I actually got home.” Then there had been plenty of danger.

But he was shaking his head. “You barely escaped a mugging on McGregor.”

Her brows shot up. “What?”

“Don’t worry. I convinced the gentleman of the error he’d nearly made. He shouldn’t be troubling anyone for a while.”

“Not troubling anyone for a while…” Avalon licked lips that felt suddenly parched. “Want to translate that for me?” She was suddenly very conscious of each hard beat of her heart. Impossible not to be when the pounding seemed to echo in her ears.

“Not particularly. He didn’t hurt you. He won’t hurt anyone else. That a good enough translation?”

Her hand pressed to her chest. Her heart raced so fast and hard she just had to make sure it wasn’t about to lunge out. “You stopped me from being attacked near McGregor.” That was what he was telling her?

“Um.”

She took that as a yes. Even though it came out as an “um” from him. “So that means you’ve saved me three times?”

A smile stretched his lips. A secretive one. As if he knew something she did not.

The last bit of her patience snapped. “Beau.”

“Yes?” He stared expectantly at her.

“How many times have you saved me?”

“You just said three,” he reminded her.

But she had the feeling there were more instances. Impossible. Right?

“Perhaps you should just be grateful I decided to play the role of gentleman and go for a stroll tonight. If I hadn’t gone out, if I hadn’t stopped in just the right spot, if I hadn’t looked up and seen the shadows in the turret window, our story could have ended differently.”

“I had a taser. I used it.” She hadn’t been helpless.

“Yes, I do remember his shudders. Excellent job, by the way. Most impressive.”

His shudders. The dead man’s shudders. Her goose bumps got worse. “I…was going to run outside. Go to a neighbor’s house and get help.”

“It’s possible that when you ran out, the second attacker would have been waiting for you. Maybe that was the plan.”

“No, he said I was going to burn.”

His eyes seemed to go even darker. But Beau knew this already. He’d been at her side as she repeated the story to the cops.

“He told me I’d be alive when I burned.” Like that wouldn’t give her new nightmares. “And then my house got set on fire.”

“I heard the firefighters saying they think an accelerant was tossed around your den. The second attacker started the flames and that was the whoosh of sound we heard.”

“You think the—the second attacker was the man who drove the black car.” The killer.

“Don’t you?”

Yes. “The cops didn’t seem so sure.”

“Those were the uniforms. Not the lead detectives. You got a break-in, an arson, a hit-and-run…and murder. The big guns will be taking over the investigation. Honestly, I’m surprised the uniforms didn’t hold us at the scene longer. But I’m sure we’ll be called to the station in the morning.”

She was sure of that, too. “I have friends at the police station. And at the DA’s office.” People who could help them.

“How lovely for you. My friends tend to run in different circles.”

Avalon shook her head.

“Hardly surprising that you’re friends with the cops,” Beau added. “I’d expect nothing less from you.”

Avalon rocked forward onto the balls of her feet. “I keep getting the feeling that you know way more about me than I know about you.”

“Because you haven’t dug into my life yet. You will. You and that trusty laptop of yours.”

Yes, she would dig. With her trusty laptop.

His expression hardened. “Your friends at the police station are going to tell you to stay away from me.”

He was so close that she could reach out and touch him. She wanted to touch him. In order to stop what she was sure had to be a bad impulse, Avalon fisted her hands at her sides. Her nails dug into her palms. “Why would they say that?”

“Because you should stay away.” He didn’t even hesitate with his response.

“Why.” Not a question.

“Because they’ll tell you that I’m dangerous. Trouble. Unpredictable and uncontrollable.”

“And are you those things?”

“Oh, sweetheart.” That killer grin of his flashed again. “I am all of those things and more.”

“You’re trying to scare me.”

“You mean you aren’t the kind of woman who falls for the bad guy? With your obsession for killers, I am shocked.”

Was he mocking her? Avalon’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have an obsession with killers.”

He stared straight into her eyes. Seemed to stare straight into her soul. “We all have our obsessions.”

“Oh, really? What’s your obsession?”

“You.”

The room seemed to shrink. Or maybe he just got bigger. It also got hotter. “That’s...a joke.”

“But you don’t know me well enough to determine when I’m joking.”

“I know you well enough to say that you’re not obsessed with me!”

“I’m obsessed with keeping you safe.”

And he sounded as if he meant that. Beau looked as if he did, too. The hard features of his face appeared dead serious. “Why?”

“You ask that a lot.”

“Side effect of my job. I always want to understand motivations. You understand motivations, and you might be able to stop the crimes. The killers.” Wasn’t that the whole reason she did what she did? Not like she enjoyed sitting across the table from sadistic killers who made her stomach twist and her fingers tremble. But the more you knew about monsters, the better you could control them. Stop them.

Maybe even change them?

“I like your optimism.” He swung away.

Before she could stop herself, her right hand flew out and curled around his upper arm.

Heat. It lanced up her fingers, chased across her arm, and drove straight to her core. People talked about electric attractions, but this was different. It was more of a primitive heat that flared between them. No denying. No pretending. When he looked at her and his pupils flared, she knew he felt the awareness, too. “Where are you going, Beau?”

“I do have a home.” His head tilted. “Unless you’re inviting me to stay with you?”

“Of course, not!”

“Well, that was certainly a fast no. Don’t worry about hurting my pride. I’m a big boy.”

Yes, she could see that. “We…I…I don’t have sex with strangers.”

How could dark eyes heat so much? “But I’m not a stranger.”

In that instant, facing off against him was more intimidating—in a way different manner—than sitting across the table from Everett Thomas had been.

“Don’t worry.” Soft. “I wasn’t asking for sex. When I do, you’ll know.”

Her hands went to her hips. “Then what did you mean?”

“I meant the sofa converts into a bed. If you’re scared, I’m happy to play guard and protect you until morning comes.”

Oh. Her hands fell. “That is kind of you.”

“Right. Kind. Goodness and light. I am all that is upright and upstanding in the world.”

She heard the mockery. Didn’t like it. “You just told me you were dangerous. Trouble.”

A shrug. “Can’t a guy be all those things? I’m different, with different people.”

She had the feeling that he might just be serious.

“For example, someone who wants to hurt you? I’m the most dangerous asshole that fool will ever face. No one hurts you on my watch.”

“Why would you care so much about me?” They’d gotten back in each other’s lives hours before. For all intents and purposes, she was a stranger to him.

A stranger he seemed to know far, far too well.

“You ever have one good thing?” Beau asked her.

She had no clue what he meant.

His laughter came again. Low. Sexy. “Of course, you have lots of good things. You do your charity runs. Raise money for sick kids. You volunteer to build houses for disabled veterans. You have all kinds of good things in your life. You do good things.”

“How do you know that stuff?” Way too much about her. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

Instead of answering, Beau told her, “I don’t do a lot of good things. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Everett Thomas. Not like I do the worst shit imaginable. But until the night I met you, let’s just say that good wasn’t a vocabulary word I knew.” He rolled back his shoulders. “You are my good thing. I look at you, and I know that I’m more than the world thinks I am. You matter. You are my good thing. And I’m not going to let some prick terrorize you.”

You matter. “So, what, I should consider myself under your protection or something like that?” Avalon laughed.

He did not. “You’ve been under my protection for quite some time. Consider it seriously amped up until I find out who the hell was driving that car tonight—and I destroy him. I will destroy him. That’s a promise.”

She could not move.

His hand rose and his knuckles brushed over her cheek. “This hotel has the best security in town. This suite has the best security in the hotel. No one will get up here. I know the security guards on staff, too. I’ll make sure they are keeping a very close watch on the cameras for this floor. You will be safe here.”

And that explained why he’d insisted on the presidential suite.

“Want me to stay?”

She opened her mouth. Almost said yes. But there was too much work for her to do. Too many alarms ringing in her head. “No.”

“Too bad. I would have very much enjoyed spending the night with you, Avalon. Fantasy fulfilled.”

He had not said?—

He was heading for the door once more. She rushed to follow him. Her fingers grabbed the doorframe and held tightly to it as he walked over the threshold. He didn’t look back as he strode down the hallway and headed for the elevator.

He’d been right. The floor was very secure. Only the presidential suite was on this level. A big, massive suite.

With the equally massive grand piano. “You know I play the piano.”

He didn’t stop.

“You know I play the piano just like you know where I volunteer.”

“Lots of people play the piano as a way to unwind. You had a tough night. You might want to de-stress.”

Sex is great for de-stressing. Her lips clamped together so she would not share that fun fact.

He was almost at the elevator. To access this floor, you had to have a special keycard. She had one of those keycards.

He had the other.

Beau’s hand rose, and he pressed the button for the elevator.

“Should I be afraid of you?” The question spilled from her.

Beau stiffened. Then turned slowly to peer back at her. “Maybe.”

Boom. Boom. Boom. Her heartbeat was way too fast. “Do you want to hurt me?”

“Never.” Immediate. “I would never do anything to hurt you. I want to keep you safe.” His expression turned savage. “It’s the driver of that car who will be hurt. The killer.”

She didn’t leave the safety of her room. Not fully. “Then why should I be afraid of you?”

The elevator dinged. “I said that maybe you should be afraid.”

“Why?”

“Your favorite question.” The elevator doors opened. He stepped inside. But turned to look back at her. “The answer is…because I want you.”

Boom. Boom.

“I want you very badly, Avalon. But I would never, ever do anything you didn’t want. You’re the one who came to me. Probably would have been so much better if you’d stayed away. But you didn’t. You walked into my bar. Walked up to me. You’re the one who kissed me.”

Yep. Guilty as hell.

“Now you’re in my head. Before you were a memory. A dream. Now you’re real. I can still taste you. And I want more.”

The doors closed.

I want more, too.

But first…

She slammed her suite door shut. Flipped the locks. Even dragged a big chair in front of the door because a woman could never be too careful, and she’d had one hell of a scare that night. Then she grabbed her laptop. Booted up. And got to work.

Beau LeBlanc knew far too much about her. It was time for her to learn all about her hero. And to find out just why the cops thought he was so dark and dangerous.

The elevator doors opened. Beau stepped out. He was still on the top floor. Avalon’s floor. A sweeping glance assured him that the door to the presidential suite was shut. Then, smiling and satisfied, he slid back into the elevator. He’d just taken a short ride moments before. He’d had no intention of actually leaving the building until he was certain that Avalon was safe for what remained of the night.

He rode down to the lobby in silence. He toyed with sending out a text. There were people he wanted working this case, but it was cutting close to four a.m. They’d give him hell if he woke them up now.

He’d let them sleep for two more hours.

Whistling, he left the elevator when it reached the lobby, but he still didn’t exit the building. Not yet. The night manager was waiting for him.

Percy rubbed his hands together. “Everything to your liking?”

Beau grunted. The presidential suite would work, but, no, there was very little about this pisser of a night he liked.

Except for kissing Avalon.

Beau forced his back teeth to unclench. “Her security is priority, understand?”

Percy stopped rubbing his hands. He nodded. Three times.

“She’s VIP. The only VIP in this hotel as far as you’re concerned.”

Percy nodded a fourth time. “Absolutely.”

Percy owed him—a lot. Plenty of people did. Beau tended to work in favors, among other things. “I want to know the minute the cops arrive. I’m thinking they’ll be here around seven, maybe eight.” Which didn’t give Avalon long to sleep.

“The cops?” Percy’s dark brows shot up.

“Yeah, they’ll be coming. Got a little matter of a murder to handle.” He looked at his watch. Damn late. But there was still work to be done. “Avalon really needs her sleep.” Though he doubted she’d be hopping straight into bed. More likely, the woman would be booting up her laptop and working to uncover all of his dirty little secrets.

He had so many secrets.

“I can stall the cops until eight,” Percy offered. “I’ll stay after my shift to make certain things are handled appropriately for you.”

Beau lifted his head and smiled at the night manager. “Percy, I’ve always liked you.” Actually, he had. From the minute he’d found the kid digging in his dumpster behind LeBlanc’s. Too scrawny, too dirty, and with one hell of a chip on his shoulder.

Percy had reminded Beau of himself.

Except…Percy didn’t need to go down the same path. That path led to hell.

So he’d sent the kid in a different direction.

“Her safety is priority.” Beau wanted to make sure there was no doubt on that point.

Percy nodded. A fifth and final time.

Beau headed into the night. He didn’t like the scene that had gone down at her house. An attacker waiting inside? One who told her that she’d burn?

The flames tonight had reminded Beau too much of another time.

Another place.

The scars on his right shoulder seemed to ache.

Avalon had now escaped two fires. How many more times could she escape death?

It always amused him when monsters pretended to be normal.

From his position in the shadows, he watched Beau LeBlanc stride out of the ritzy hotel. The man took his time. Acted like he owned the place. He’d put Avalon in that hotel. Behind the doormen. The security guards. Locked the princess away.

He glanced up.

He’d bet for all the world he’d locked her in the tower. The safest place, right at the very top.

He knew Beau LeBlanc. After all, it was important to know your enemies. Beau was a very dangerous man. Only he liked to pretend sometimes that he wasn’t.

Liar, liar. I know what you keep locked inside.

Beau was heading away from the hotel.

Away from Avalon.

He pulled out his lighter. It had belonged to his father. The only thing of the bastard’s that he had. Gold on the outside. Smooth. Cold. A flick of his wrist, and the top swung open. His thumb moved of its own accord. A habit, second nature, and the flame flared to life.

Beau glanced back. Too late.

He’d already killed the flame.

But he smiled from the darkness. Because he had prey. The fire was going to burn again soon. In a blaze bright enough to consume the past.

The past…

Avalon Trahan.

Beau would not be able to save her again. After all, the dead couldn’t save anyone. And if Beau didn’t get the hell out of his way, the bastard would be a dead man.

The first thing she found was the murder charge.

Avalon’s breath shuddered out even as her body leaned toward the computer. Beau had been locked away because…a patron of his bar had been found beaten to death. Witnesses reported the dead man had become rough with one of the waitresses in LeBlanc’s. Beau interceded. The two men fought and, the next day…

Dead.

Her fingers tapped on the keyboard as she fought to learn more, but even as she explored and pushed deeper into Beau’s life, his voice whispered through her mind.

You’ve been under my protection for quite some time. Consider it seriously amped up until I find out who the hell was driving that car tonight—and I destroy him. I will destroy him. That’s a promise.