“The diary also indicated that Zeke was doing something to girls. Something Rachel didn't come out and say, but it was something I assume he'd done to her. Maybe the prostitution.”
Adam winced at the word, and Brynn felt sorry for him. How had he come from such a messed up family? There were times in the past she'd found herself praying that the bad blood of the Good family wouldn't spread into her own son. The thought of the people he came from sent chills down her spine.
“I still can't believe it.” Adam broke into her thoughts. “Zeke was my brother. We were raised the same, to be good people. My mother drove us nuts with her preaching all the time, but we listened. We knew what was right and what was wrong.” His eyes widened. “If my poor mother ever finds out, it'll destroy her. She'll never be able to accept that Zeke did these things.”
She'll never admit it, either.
She knew damn well Doris Good was not the saint Adam thought her to be. Brynn wasn't even sure she was a Christian. She'd tried to tell Adam's mother the truth of what happened all those years ago, but the woman wouldn't have any of it. She'd labeled Brynn a whore, a tempting snake in the Garden of Eden, Eve bearing the apple…
“Brynn?”
“What?” She shook herself out of the awful flashback starting to insert itself in her brain. “I'm sorry, I zoned out for a moment there.”
Adam patted the cushion next to him, gesturing for Brynn to slide closer to him.
“That's a dangerous suggestion, Good,” she said, knowing she wanted to get as close as possible to him but fighting the urge for both their sakes.
“Why do you call me that?” He narrowed his eyes on her.
“Why do I call you what?”
“Good. You never called me by my last name before you left here. I don't like it.”
She cringed under the hard look he gave her, feeling like a child being admonished. “I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you didn't like to be called by your last name.”
“What I don't like is you using my last name against me to distance us,” he clarified. “I let it slide when you first came back to town and we were thrust into this situation together, but, over time, I think we've progressed past being enemies.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees but kept his head turned toward her. “Yet, you keep throwing my last name at me as a barrier. I know you still have feelings for me. Why are you fighting them so hard?”
“I already explained that to you.” She squirmed under his unrelenting stare.
“You gave me lies. The problems between us and the situation with your son we can work out, unless there's more you're not telling me. Does this have to do with my brother?”
Brynn’s heart thumped heavily in her chest beating so fast that passing out became a possibility. How could he know? How could he have figured out?
“Do you think I'm tainted because I have his blood?”
He knew nothing. Brynn shifted between sweet relief and deep sorrow. It was so unfair that Adam had to bear the weight of his brother's sins, that he'd believed in someone so horrid. All because they shared blood, a fact he had no control over whatsoever.
“Of course not,” Brynn responded, touching his cheek lightly. “You're not your brother.”
I just wish I'd known that the night I followed him into the room where Cal was waiting for me.
She damned herself once more for the stupid mistake that had ruined both their lives. “I'm just putting up barriers because I don't want to hurt my loved ones again. I can't do it again and live with myself.”
“I trust you not to hurt me,” his words were branded with sincerity, “and I know you will do right by your son. You don't have to shut me out to take care of him.”
Brynn dropped her hand and expelled a shaky breath. “Adam, we need to solve this case before we examine our relationship any further,” she said in hope of moving the topic away from dangerous territory. “People, including your brother, have been killed. Property is being damaged, and someone very unstable is out there walking free. This is bigger than what is happening between you and me.”
Adam cleared his throat, slowly nodding in agreement as he scooted back a fraction, straightening against the back of the couch. “You're absolutely right. So, we have motive for Rachel Wood to kill Zeke. Either she wanted out of the lifestyle he'd drawn her into or…you mentioned she wrote about him doing something bad to other girls.”
“It seemed like she was compelled to stop him,” Brynn stated, glad to be discussing something which didn't directly involve her and Adam.
“But, someone killed her, too. She didn't just drop dead of natural causes beneath the floorboards of a house.” Adam turned his body to fully face her.
“We don't know yet for a fact who died first, but they couldn't have killed each other. One could have killed the other, but—”
“There has to be a third party involved,” Adam finished her sentence. “Who would want to kill Rachel?”
“If she was helping Zeke with the drugs, a deal could have gone wrong and she got caught up in it.”
“A jilted boyfriend, angry that she carried another man's child?” Adam suggested.
“You knew her. Who cared for her?”
“Jimmy Nelson had a mad infatuation with her,” Adam supplied. “The boy got googly-eyed and tongue-tied whenever she was near. I'm sure he didn't like the thought of her with other guys. If he knew she was doing it for money…if he knew my brother was involved…” Adam tightened his hands into fists and Brynn covered his hand with her own, easing some of the tension from him.
“So we've got Jimmy Nelson on the jealousy angle, but he really did seem sincere in thinking Rachel was alive and had just run off,” Brynn stated. “What other enemies did your brother have?”
“Obviously, if he was dealing drugs, a situation could have gone terribly bad, or if he was doing something to girls that Rachel really wanted to stop…”
Brynn groaned inwardly, realizing Adam was never going to detach himself enough to thoroughly explore what could have happened. In his mind, he knew Rachel had killed Zeke, and then someone had killed her. But, in her gut, Brynn knew that couldn't be right.
Still, she had to take him through this as gently as possible until it came time to slap him in the face with the facts. “So, what if the same person killed them both? Who do you know who would have wanted to take out both of them?”
Adam thought about it, chewing his bottom lip as he worked out an answer. “Someone I hadn't even thought of before,” he answered after a few minutes of deep thought. “Stacy Willinger.”
“Why would she want to kill them?” Brynn blinked in surprise at the sudden suggestion of Stacy’s name. “Correct me if things changed after I left, but Stacy knew Zeke worshiped the ground she walked on and used him to get closer to you. And she finally got you,” she added bitterly. “I hardly see her getting into a jealous rage over Zeke and one of his girlfriends.”
“She never had me,” Adam said firmly, his eyes dark. “Ten minutes was all she got, and she knew damn well it meant nothing to me. Believe me, she got off on the fact Zeke adored her. This last year he grew more independent of her, finally tiring of her games. Maybe she decided she wanted him after all and didn't like the fact he had Rachel.”
“But he had other girlfriends, too.”
“Rachel was pregnant. Maybe Stacy thought she couldn't compete with the mother of his child.”
“A child he didn't want.”
“Stacy might not have known that.”
“Adam,” Brynn said, seeing the possibilities but too aware of the obvious. “Although that all sounds plausible, we can't ignore the fact that Rachel was found beneath floorboards, which is exactly where your brother taught you to hide things that would get you into trouble.”
Adam looked away, his lips thinned as rosy color infused his cheeks. “He also taught that hiding place to Rachel,” he bit out. “Maybe he taught it to Stacy, too. It makes sense. She killed Rachel out of j
ealousy and hid her, maybe Zeke hid the body for her. Even though he'd grown away from her a little, you remember how obsessed he was with her, all the fights we got into because she liked me and I didn't even want the woman. If she snapped her fingers, he'd do her bidding, no doubt about it.”
“But why would she kill him?”
Jeez, Adam. How many straws are you going to grasp at?
“She got scared,” he answered with a shrug. “Thought he might tell somebody, so she covered her tracks. Maybe she just got really mad at him. I don't know.”
Brynn thought about it, saw how the scenario could work, but her gut said no. “Adam, I think your brother killed Rachel, either because she wouldn't abort the baby or because she threatened to stop him from doing something to some other girl, and then I think someone else he had hurt finished him off.”
Adam shook his head, obviously in denial.
“Adam, think about it.” She rested her hand on his muscular shoulder and suppressed the shudder of awareness the move sent through her.
Focus, Brynn! “Rachel has been missing since before he was murdered, since before all these fires started.
“Whoever is starting the fires is starting them in places that are associated with him. His best friend's grandparents' home, the football field where he played—the arsonist even left his jersey as a clue—and, then, the very house Rachel's body was hidden in.”
“So, you're saying the arsonist is telling us my brother killed this girl and all the fires have just been to lead us to this conclusion?”
“I think so.”
“Who would know, Riley?”
“She did attack you.” Brynn looked at the blossoming color on Adam’s cheekbone, evidence of the incident.
“Stating my family would pay for what Zeke did to her sister.”
“But, she had no idea her sister's body was in that house. You saw her. She couldn't have faked her reaction,” Brynn stated firmly, recalling the girl's sorrowful wails, how she'd kept repeating that she'd almost lost her sister again.
“She's a high school student, she would have access to where his retired jersey was kept.” Adam rubbed his chin. “And her family lives above their store which is located right by the football field.”
“Which would give her the small frame of time it took to start the fire in the field and get away before the fire truck came,” Brynn admitted. “Her mother is dead but what about her father?”
“Severe depression. Stays in his bedroom all day and night, pretty much leaving Riley on her own to care for herself.”
“So Riley can come and go as she pleases. It makes perfect sense. Zeke killed Rachel and Riley killed Zeke.” Now, all they needed was hard evidence.
Adam shook his head again, standing to pace the floor. “I still say Stacy killed Rachel or somebody else did. Riley went after Zeke, suspecting him because of his relationship with her sister.”
Brynn groaned. “Adam, I don't think so.”
“He's not a murderer.” He paused to pin her with a dark glare, his tone comprised of steel conviction.
“I'm sorry, Adam. I know Zeke was your brother—”
“But he was also a murderer,” Adam finished, shaking his head. “That’s what you were going to say, right? He was a good guy, Brynn. Cocky, arrogant, yes, but to murder someone?” His voice broke. “It’s hard enough to believe the drug dealing was real. But this? There has to be some other explanation.”
“Adam, your brother hid things under floorboards,” Brynn pointed out yet again, hating herself for having to be so blunt, especially when Adam winced.
“Yeah, I know, and he'd been having a relationship with her, but to kill her?”
“He didn't want the baby.”
“He didn't have to kill her to cure the problem.” He ran a large trembling hand through his damp hair, shaking his head. “If Stacy didn't do it, maybe he and Rachel were arguing and something went wrong. She fell and hit her head or something. He was scared. He didn't know what to do.”
“It's a possibility.” Brynn doubted it thoroughly. She knew the truth about how sinister Zeke could be.
“Are you just saying that to comfort me?”
Brynn looked into his desperate eyes, torn between saving him from further pain or doing what was right, letting him know just who he'd defended all these years. But, she couldn't bring herself to say the words which would get the message through to him loud and clear. His brother was evil.
“What do you want me to do, Adam, tell you the truth to crack this case or sugarcoat it to make you feel better and let Zeke's murderer get away?”
“I want you to make it go away,” he said softly, lowering himself back down to the couch. “Just make it all go away.”
“I wish I could,” she replied as he laid his head against her chest and she wrapped her arms around him protectively.
You have no idea how badly I wish I could do that.
His warm breath tickled over her skin before he placed his lips on her throat, sending a thousand little fluttery sensations straight to her core as he planted gentle kisses, his way of seeking permission. She couldn't deny him. Not after what he'd just discovered, what he now knew to be true, what she'd always known about his brother but had never told him. She couldn’t deny herself his touch after spending so much time with him, inhaling his earthy scent and aching to relive the pleasure she’d once shared with him.
There were several reasons not to allow him to go further. They had a case to solve, and they were running out of time. She couldn't stay. She still held a secret that would destroy him.
But, she didn't stop him when he slid his hands beneath the shirt she wore and lifted it over her head. The reasons to let him continue were too powerful. She loved him and he needed her. If she could take his pain away for even a short while, it was worth the aftermath. It was the least she could do considering the secret she still kept from him, even if it killed her inside later.
“For just a little while, Brynn, help me make it all go away,” he pleaded, laying her back against the cushions so he could ease his larger body over hers.
They fit together perfectly as though they were designed for one another, Brynn mused, breathing in the fresh clean scent of him as he dipped his head to take in an exposed nipple.
His suckling grew stronger as she squirmed beneath him, knowing she shouldn't allow him to remind her of the powerful chemistry they'd always shared, but damning the consequences anyway.
For thirteen long years, she'd denied herself the touch of a man, believing herself unworthy after having lost the love of the only man she'd ever cared about. But, that love hadn't been lost. No force could blow out the flames of a love as strong as theirs.
He'd been waiting for her, waiting to reignite the fiery passion they'd shared, a blaze which had never burned out, had instead simmered patiently, waiting for its chance to explode once more.
Suddenly, Adam went rigid above her, raising his head to look at her with such pure concern, she nearly cried in response. She wasn't worthy of that much love. “Brynn…have you…I mean, since…”
“No,” she whispered, saving him from having to voice the question she knew was killing him to ask.
He straightened to pull away from her. “I'll understand if you don't want to—”
“Please,” she cried, grabbing him by his powerful arms. “If I never have sex again, please don't let my last time be the night I was raped.”
His cell phone rang, and he reached out to grab it. Brynn felt deflated as he held the phone in his hand, knowing he would use it as an excuse to stop what he felt hesitant about doing.
To her surprise, he turned the phone off and placed it back on the table, following that action by turning the ringer off her own cell phone.
“We might get an important call about the case,” she pointed out.
“The arsonist has never struck twice in one day or night.” He scooped her up from the couch, easily supporting her full weight in his s
trong arms. “And right now there is nothing more important than showing you just how greatly I've missed you.”
He took the few steps necessary to reach the bed and lowered her onto the mattress, taking a moment to stare down at her, his blue eyes shining with heated admiration.
“You're making me self-conscious.”
“You have nothing to feel self-conscious about,” he said matter-of-factly as he removed his T-shirt and lounge pants to stand beside the bed completely nude.
Brynn sucked in a breath of complete appreciation and raised her hips to help him remove his sweat pants from her body, leaving her bare and ready.
“Absolutely nothing at all,” he reaffirmed, lowering to start a trail of kisses starting at her ankle and leading to her inner thigh, each light caress sending her closer to the brink of insanity.
“Are you sure?” He rose so they were face-to-face.
“See how angry I get if you back out now,” she warned and he chuckled in response.
“Whatever my lady wants.” He lowered his head to meld his mouth to hers, exploring her depths as though it were the first time.
His hands ran over her body, finding all the places he'd visited before. Brynn ran her fingers along his shoulder blades, re-familiarizing herself with the body she'd once known better than her own and realized she hadn't forgotten a single inch of it even if it had improved with time.
She didn't know how long they explored each other, adoring each other's bodies with lips, fingers and tongues. Both of them greedily tasting one another like a dessert dish they knew would be gone too soon, but neither wanting to speak of it.
Instead, they let their bodies talk to one another, throwing caution to the wind. There was no thought of tomorrow and what would come with it, only now, this moment they had to forget the rest of the world and get lost in each other.
Then, he was inside her and the world shifted. For a brief moment, the stars were perfectly aligned, there were no wrongs, no consequences, no secrets. They were one, united as they were meant to be from birth and then there was a starburst of blinding white light and they both cried out in unison before crashing back down to earth, where tears glided freely down Brynn's flushed cheeks.
The Fire Still Burns Page 17
