by Lily LaVae
She stood and came over to him, then slid onto his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe how much you still smell like the fire. I guess being a firefighter really is a part of you. I never felt that way about reporting. I just, did it.”
He held her close, unwilling to offer a solution or advice that might steer her wrong or sound conceited. “It’s in my blood. I don’t think I could quit.”
“I’m not asking you to. Even if I decide to continue on as a reporter, I can’t work for someone like Melva who would willingly destroy another person, just because she’s trying to feed a story. And before you say that she was right about DemaCrane, I’m not so sure anymore. Axe felt evil when I met with him the second time, like he was perfectly capable of bombing people to get the town to listen.”
“And maybe he’s working for someone else. Alexander will have to handle the investigation from now on. There’s too much evidence and danger. It’s out of my hands.”
She rested her hand on his chest and took a deep breath. “I didn’t really think Alexander would stay with Livy.”
Gage scoffed, “I didn’t even think he was that kind of man.”
“Oh, he’s that kind of man, but Livy is all wrong for him. He needs someone solid, who will be calm and inviting when he gets home. Livy is not that kind of girl.”
Alexander wouldn’t go for Livy, he was just too busy and too uptight. “I didn’t say they were together. It sounds like he slept on the couch.”
Melody laughed. “Yeah, so did I.” She winked and stood up as his phone rang again. He watched her wiggle her ass all the way back to his bedroom.
“Yeah,” Gage answered, craning his neck to see her until she closed the door.
“He’s left the country. Apparently, this entire scenario had been planned for about eight months, because that’s when the ticket was purchased. I’ve got a warrant for his home now, and we can gather evidence, but unless we can get him extradited from wherever he stops, this case is DOA.”
“I’ll contact the insurance companies. Maybe we can find evidence, like the remotes, at his place or even a stockpile of buckets and kerosene.” It was a long shot. If he’d planned that far ahead, he’d known just how much of everything he would need.
“I think if we could find evidence, we could have him convicted for attempted murder. The couple whose house was blown to bits, were the former owners of the gym there in Santinas, the ones who had to foreclose. Plus, the first bomb at the apartment was scatter-style, meant to kill.”
“Shit.” He’d been with Melody. While that asshole might not have the balls to kill anyone face-to-face, he’d still been pissed at her and sitting across from her as he blew up bombs.
“You can’t let it get to you,” Alexander said. “Focus on the endgame. Let’s finish this and at least get the victims back on track.”
“Yeah.” The whole case felt out of his league. “I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
“Me and my team will handle most of it from here. If we ever catch him on US soil again, you’ll need to testify, so will Melody. I’ll keep you in the loop as much as I can, but other than the insurance side, you’re off the case.”
Gage hung up the phone and rested his face in his hands. He still needed another shower and wasn’t sure what to do, now that the danger was over. At least for now.
Melody stuck her head out from his room and he realized he didn’t want her to leave, didn’t want her to go back to her apartment even after it was cleaned. He wanted her right there. He wanted her to balance out his crazy neatness and give him hell once in a while. He wanted her to question him and be bossy, then melt. How could someone so wrong for him, be so perfectly right?
“Shower with me, then let’s go shopping. I think you need a new toothbrush.”
She flicked a smile at him. “I need more than that.”
Damn, she was good for him.
Chapter 26
Eight months later
Los Hermanos Lake spread before them, crystal blue in the warm sun. The air buzzed with possibility and Gage wouldn’t miss it. He just had to figure out how to broach it with Melody. She still argued with him whenever she could, but making up kept things interesting.
He stood, picked up a flat stone, and skipped it across the water. “Alexander called today. He said Axe vanished in thin air, but they are still looking for him. Whoever was working with him is still unknown. The second burner phone was registered to someone with a fake driver’s license out of Albuquerque. It could be Axe, but with the Livingston’s being so far out of town, it was likely he hadn’t been working alone. Axe doesn’t have a big enough bank account to stay gone for much longer. There was no connection that they could tie to DemaCrane with any certainty, but there was enough evidence that should Axe come back, he’ll be arrested.”
Melody nodded and pursed her lips, then bent and picked up a stone. She tried to skip it, but it sank before it bounced. “I still think they are behind it. He mentioned them too many times for there to be no connection. This isn’t over.”
He couldn’t argue with that. Everyone living in Devastation Circle was on pins and needles, waiting to see what would happen. They had made it through one summer without any more fires, but the owners of DemaCrane were not happy about the time it had taken. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”
“Livy has been talking about you-know-who almost non-stop lately. But he hasn’t called her. It’s been almost a year and she still hasn’t gone out with anyone. It’s impressive.”
He smiled, a pleasant segue to what he really wanted to talk about. “Do you like living with her?” He’d offered to let her live with him, but he’d been so stressed about getting all the loose ends tied up for the victims, herself included, that she’d told him she wanted to stay with Livy instead. It had bothered him, but he hadn’t fought her on it. Over time, without the stress of the investigation to get in the way, he’d found she only annoyed him when she really wanted to. Most of the time, they worked well together. Really well. So well, he didn’t want to let her go.
“She’s depressed. She hasn’t even gone out to party like usual. She actually stays home and grades papers. It’s very strange. She and Agent Hernandez are so different, but she can’t let him go. She never did sleep with him, by the way. She kept up her promise.”
He wasn’t surprised. Hernandez wasn’t the type to just sleep with anyone. “You know, I never believed in that opposites attract garbage until I met you.”
She smirked. “We’re not opposites at all.”
“Name two things we have in common.” He watched as she concentrated on finding something she could say to argue with him.
“We’re both career-driven.”
“Which makes us fight even more,” he pointed out.
She rolled her eyes. “We both like coffee.”
“You like coffee, I like making you coffee.” He stepped in behind her and kissed her neck, waiting for her to realize he was making her prove him right.
“If we were the same, life would be boring.” She laughed and he joined her, nestling her close.
“Melody, I’m ready to give us a shot, make “us” more permanent. If you are?” He’d never felt more nervous around her. “Livy is welcome to come see you whenever, but I’d like you with me.”
Melody laughed, then smirked like she always did before she said something saucy as she turned to face him. “So, what happens when you don’t plug in your car battery correctly?” She raised her eyebrows and slid up on her tiptoes in the sand to be eye-to-eye with him.
“It creates a spark,” he breathed, hoping she wasn’t insinuating all that was between them was a tiny flame.
She smiled. “Say it. Say the rule, Gage.”
“Positive to negative…negative to…ground…” He slid onto one knee as he laughed, finally understanding as his knee hit the sand. “Melody, will you marry me?”
“In a flash.”
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About the Author
Lily LaVae is a lover of all things romance. At the age of 22, she left her home in middle America and jetted off to sunny, sultry Hawaii, where she lives with her husband and two dogs.
Fascinated with historical dime novels, she set out to write her own 21st Century version. You can get to know Lily better at:
