Chapter 7
7
G arth folded his arms across his chest and stared at the paperwork sprawled across Timothy “Holiday” White’s desk. There was a time when everyone called Timothy Holiday . But over the years, he’d slowly gone back to using his first name. That change had come shortly after he’d gotten married and became point man for the Jacksonville office of the Aegis Network. It had taken time for it to stick and no one was really quite sure why Timothy had demanded it.
Nor did anyone question it.
“What do you think?” Garth asked.
“I’m not sure,” Timothy said, pressing his hands against the wood top. “Looking solely at Kaelie’s report. The police report. The autopsy. It’s a cut-and-dried case. But I agree with you and Logan; if this letter is authentic, there are too many dead bodies and coincidences that don’t add up. I don’t like the names attached to it, both good and bad, especially Jeff Bellen’s. In the past, I’ve heard really great things about him. Not so much lately.”
“Amber is adamant her brother was murdered. That’s a whole lot of conspiracy theory going on and I’ve dealt with a few people who believe in conspiracies. They’re almost always wrong. It’s based in paranoia and fear. In Amber’s case, it’s out of love and blindness.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She doesn’t want to believe that Steve could have had a moment of weakness. That his addiction could have reared its ugly head and tempted him to use.” Garth leaned his hip against the desk. “I’ve seen that before too. A friend of mine in college had a drug problem. It got so bad our sophomore year none of us could stand to be around him anymore. And this was after doing everything we could think of to help him. He dropped out of school for a bit and came back the beginning of our junior year, clean. But all it took was one asshole to shove some coke in his face, and Rick was down the rabbit hole again. His girlfriend didn’t want to believe it. She preferred his lies. We saw through them, but she wouldn’t.” Garth ran a hand over his mouth.
“What happened to him?”
“He died of an overdose during Christmas break.”
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Timothy said.
“It’s one of the many reasons I struggle with this fire.” Garth pushed around a few papers until he found the report he was looking for. “I’m not an investigator. And honestly, as much as Arthur pushes me to do so, I don’t want the job.”
“You really need to start trusting your instincts more.” Timothy held up his hand. “I know. You went to college and got a degree in marketing. Went to work for your dad in sales. But you’re a combat fireman. You know missions. The prep. The planning. The execution.” Timothy tapped his temple. “Your mind is a valuable asset to this organization. The only thing standing between you and something other than a bodyguard assignment is your confidence.” He pointed to the report. “Now tell me what you’re thinking.”
“All right.” Garth blew out a big puff of air. “I’ve seen this kind of fire a million times. It’s nothing special. Nothing there that would make any good fireman walk out of that house and think it was anything other than an accident. A tragic one, but an accident nonetheless. But, and this is a big but, when I step back and consider every angle, it’s almost too perfect.”
“Like in how the fire behaved?”
Garth shook his head. “The flames moved like they should. At least from how we can tell after the fact. What I’m talking about is all the events that led up to the fire. The way Steve was acting. And then how it wrapped up nice and neat, even though he was connected to all these other deaths, yet no one connected the dots. They still haven’t.”
“That is interesting,” Timothy said. “But let’s stick with just Steve for a second. Drugs do make people paranoid and do stupid things.”
Garth scratched the side of his face. “They do. But if what Amber is saying is true, then he wasn’t using. People on drugs hide their use and he would lie to his sister about it. However, while Amber said his behavior was odd, it wasn’t using behavior. He showed up when he said he was going to. He paid his bills on time. He sort of had a job. He wasn’t being a fuckup is what I’m trying to say.”
“Okay, but to play devil’s advocate, denial is a powerful thing, as you’ve said regarding your friend and his girlfriend.”
Garth nodded. “When Steve was using, Amber turned her back on him. She wasn’t the enabling type. And that wasn’t the first time he’d gotten clean, though it was the first time it stuck for any length of time.” He pushed from the desk and made his way to the window. He focused on one of the palm trees swaying in the breeze. “If he was onto something, and it involved any of those people he named, they’d want to get rid of him before he had the chance to make the connections he needed to break a story. How best to do that?”
“By using the man’s personal demons.”
“Exactly.”
“Amber has spoken out pretty loudly about what she thinks. If what you’re saying is true, they will come for her.”
“I know.” Garth turned. “I’ve got her to agree to stop talking to anyone who will listen. Including the cops.” He pointed to the stack of papers. “Because if that fire was set on purpose, that means either someone in my department played a role. Or a cop. Or someone who works for Kaelie.”
“Didn’t we just go through this with Buddy?”
Garth ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m tired of the good guys being the bad guys. We know it’s not anyone on my team. Or in my house. Kaelie now runs a very tight ship. The question is who. And why. And that I don’t have an answer for.”
“We’ll get there,” Timothy said. “You have full use of the Aegis Network resources. I’ll take you off rotation until this is figured out. If you need a man or two, pull from your team. If they aren’t available, let me know. I’ll assign someone.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Can I keep this? I want to keep going over it. A second set of eyes can’t hurt.”
“No problem.” Garth checked the time. “I better get home. Stupid fucking mandatory classroom training tomorrow morning at the butt ugly crack of dawn.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Only part about my job that I hate,” Garth said. “Let me know if you see something I missed.”
“Will do.”
Garth turned on his heel and headed out toward the parking lot. He had two stops to make.
Dessert shop and the wine store.
Garth tapped his knuckles against the wood door, glancing over his shoulder. It was early evening and a few kids ran up and down the street laughing while their parents stood on the corner, gossiping.
He had thought about pulling his truck into Amber’s driveway to really give them something to talk about, but that wouldn’t be fair to Amber. Not to mention he didn’t like being the center of attention. Not with that group.
The door rattled open and there stood Amber in his shirt with his boxers peeking out from under it.
He blinked.
His breath hitched.
She did a little curtsy. “You told me I better be in this outfit, so here I am.” She smiled.
“I was half-kidding.” He swallowed. Hard. “And I honestly didn’t expect you to do it.” He stepped across the threshold, giving her the once-over and giving himself a mental lashing for being anything other than a gentleman.
But damn, she wore his clothes well.
Maybe a little too well.
“You absolutely weren’t joking and I certainly expect you to spend the night.”
“Well, that last part I do have every intention of following through on.” He followed her into the kitchen and set the bag of treats on the counter, along with the wine, all while trying to figure out how his boxers managed to stay on her slender body.
She raised up on tiptoe and pulled down two wine glasses. “Stare much?”
He groaned.
She gave her hips a little wiggle and yanked down one side of his underwear, showing off half of her ass.
Fumbling with the bottle opener, he kept his focus on the wine and not the gorgeous lady. They had things to discuss before moving into the bedroom. And all he really needed was a good cuddle. He had a few girlfriends who thought he was an odd duck because he wasn’t a horn dog, always wanting sex. One even asked if he was a closet case gay man. That got a good chuckle. Of course he liked sex. A lot. But he didn’t need it every damn day.
He might not be the most romantic man on the planet, but he did enjoy a little romance.
He poured two glasses and handed her one before bringing his glass to his nose. He didn’t know a lot about wine. His drink of choice was a good beer or some whiskey.
“What’d you bring?” She pointed to the bag.
“Chocolate-covered strawberries. The lady at the store said they’d go good with this wine,” he managed to croak out.
“Sounds yummy. Why don’t we take them upstairs.” She lifted the hem of his T-shirt and flashed her breasts with a big smile.
“This is probably not the question I should be asking, but are you always this aggressive and forward?” He took a large gulp of his wine. It went down a little harsher than he expected.
She narrowed her stare. “Yeah, that’s a real buzzkill,” she said.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I thought you might want to discuss the conversation I had today with my boss at the Aegis Network instead of using sex to avoid it.”
She hopped up on the counter and swung her legs back and forth, glaring at him as if her eyes were weapons and her stare were bullets.
He pressed his hands on her knees, opening them and easing between them, gripping her hips. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”
“You asked me to keep my mouth shut, essentially silencing me. You told me that until you and your friends have a better handle on the new information I presented that I needed to stay out of it. That’s what I’m doing. Excuse me for thinking I was being playful and fun. I had no idea you’d take that as being aggressive.”
“Okay. So maybe my word choice was off.”
“Ya think?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “This is probably going to dig me a bigger hole; however, I’m concerned you’re using me—and sex—to avoid all the emotions that go along with your brother’s death.” He pressed his finger over her lips. “You dove into your investigation full steam ahead. You were obsessed by it. And don’t try to tell me you weren’t. It consumed you to the point you haven’t given yourself a chance to grieve.”
“I’ll do that when I find who killed Steve.” She pressed her hands against his chest and tried to shove him away.
But he wouldn’t let her. Instead, he held her closer.
“It’s okay to feel. As a matter of fact, it will do you some good.”
She fisted his shirt. “No. I can’t. I won’t.” Her eyes welled with tears.
He cupped her face. “Come on, Amber. Let it out. I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her chest heaved up and down with every breath she took. Her eyes were wide with both fear and anguish. “How dare you,” she whispered.
Tucking a few strands of hair behind her ears, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Let go,” he said. “Feel it. Even if it’s just for right now. This moment. With me to hold you and help ease some of the pain.”
“I’m going to hate you for this.” She dropped her head to his shoulder and a guttural sob filled the air.
He lifted her off the counter and moved toward the stairs.
“What are you doing?” she asked between gasps of air.
“Taking you to bed.”
“Finally something I can get on board with.”
“Not for that.” He chuckled. “There will be plenty of time for us later. Right now, you really need to do this.” He navigated the stairs with ease and pushed open the bedroom door. He pulled back the covers and tugged her to his chest, cradling her on his chest.
She pounded her fist against his chest. “I miss him so much.”
“I know.” He kissed her forehead.
“Don’t you dare leave me.”
“I won’t.”
More sobs echoed through the thick emotion filling the room. So much pain. So much hurt. And he felt every single drop filtering from her body to his. He wished he could absorb it all. Take away all that sadness.
But he knew he couldn’t.
She needed to feel something other than the rage that bubbled through her system and her attempts to numb it. If she could do that, she’d be able to think clearly and see that he and all his friends were on her side.
The crying continued for a good thirty minutes until her body fell limp in his arms. Gently, he rolled her to the side and slipped out of his clothes before tucking himself in behind her and wrapping his arms around her body.
He’d promised her he wouldn’t leave, and he’d keep his word.
He kissed her shoulder. “I care about you, Amber,” he whispered. “I’m going to see this through. I won’t let anything happen to you and I will find out what really happened to your brother. I promise you that.”