Explosive Forces

by D. D. Ayres

  “Thanks for the tip.” Carly’s expression soured as she made a motion with her hand for her dog to sit and feed him another morsel. “For the record, nothing was on fire when I went into the store. I heard this dog whining and went to investigate.”

  “Like I said, you’re brave but also seven kinds of stupid.”

  She knew he was right, which really annoyed her. “I saved a man’s life.”

  He opened the refrigerator. A sign, she knew from experience, that meant he was done with that subject. But she wasn’t. He was police. He could answer her questions.

  She made the hand signals for “down” and then “roll over,” doling out treats when the dog complied. He was a champ, just like Cooper had been. “I was surprised there wasn’t a mention about the guy in the news.”

  His answer came from the depths of the refrigerator. “Moms is definitely falling down on the job. There’s not even cold cuts in here.” He slammed the refrigerator door, hunger making his features sharper. “Guess I need to cruise by Mickey D’s.”

  “Aunt Fredda’s out now buying groceries. Probably buying bacon and those sweet rolls you love.” She watched his eyes roll heavenward. “While you wait, you can tell me about the man whose life I saved. You have to know something about him.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck, as if it ached. “I wouldn’t say anything to anyone about him. In fact, it’d be best if you just forgot about him.”

  “Why? Oh no.” Her stomach took a nosedive toward her Doc Martins. “He didn’t die, did he?”

  “No, nothing like that. Only, well, you’ll want to stay away from the inquiry. All right!” He’d spied through the entry to the dining room the fresh pound cake cooling on a rack on the sideboard.

  “What inquiry? What’s going on, Jarius?”

  “Did I say anything was going on?” He pulled the longest knife from the wooden knife block on the counter and headed for the dining room.

  Carly trailed him. “You’re evading my questions and trying to put the burden on me. Just like you used to do when we were kids.”

  “I don’t need to evade.” He grinned as he positioned himself before the heavenly smelling confection that was his mother’s pound cake. “I’m a grown-ass man, in case you haven’t realized.”

  “Not so grown you didn’t just give yourself away. That cocky smile doesn’t fool me. What’s going on? And don’t lie. I’ll make you pay. Just like when we were kids.”

  “I don’t think so.” He slid the blade into the cake. “You got nothing on me.”

  “Oh yeah? Who just cut the pound cake your mom made for the church social tomorrow?”

  “Aw damn!” Jarius dropped the slice of cake he’d scooped up like it had bitten him. “You’re still a menace, you know that?”

  “And you never learned to say ‘may I.’ And don’t think you can mend the cake by pinching the edges together like that. You’re only making it crumble.” She leaned in to better watch his efforts. “You’d better tell me what you know about last night so I can help you think up a reason why her cake is ruined.”

  Jarius hauled back from the sideboard with a big sigh and began licking cake crumbs off his fingers. “And here I thought we were tight, cuz.”

  “You were saying?”

  He wet his lips then glanced at the cake as if it was the site of a horrific accident. “There’s a reason the fire wasn’t on the morning news. It’s because the department refused to give out any details. Said the cause of it was undetermined.”

  Carly folded her arms. “Why would they do that?”

  “Because of who was involved.”

  “Me?”

  He grinned. “You may be a certain kind of famous in some places but the man you saved is the reason the authorities shushed things up like a morgue.”

  “Stop trying to be mysterious.”

  “I’m going to give it to you straight but then you forget it. He’s a fire investigator named Noah Glover.”

  “Why would a fire investigator be passed out in a vacant building? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Jarius shrugged and reached down to rub the ears of the shepherd who’d come up to him. He got his fingers licked for cake crumbs in return. “So, you two didn’t talk, or anything?”

  “Jarius, I swear if you don’t answer me!” She pointed to the cake.

  He glanced at it and winced. “Apparently, he was trying to commit suicide.”

  “Really?” She folded her arms. “You used to tell better lies.”

  “I’m serious as a heart attack. Before Glover was a firefighter he was a cop. That’s how I know him. A little. But don’t you go telling anyone, at all, what I just told you. The department is on lockdown where this investigation is concerned. The only thing you’ll get if you talk about it is deeper into a mess you don’t want any part of.”

  Carly chewed her lip. “Why do they think it was a suicide attempt?”

  “You promise to fix this mess?” He waved a hand at the cake. She nodded. “Everybody in his unit got an email from him last night. It was his suicide note.”

  Carly felt all the air leave her chest.

  The man had been unconscious before the fire broke out, impossible to rouse. Even when she’d prodded him to consciousness, and told him of the fire, he’d seemed reluctant to help himself.

  A chill stole through her as she remembered how he had pushed her away at the doorway, telling her to run, even before they reached the alley. Was that because he wanted to be left behind to die? It was too horrible to be believed.

  I don’t want to die.

  No. He’d gripped her like his last salvation as he whispered those words to her. She’d felt them reflected in the deepest part of her soul. And she believed him. He was strong and hard and certain, a life force refusing to relinquish its hold.

  And yet, when she’d hesitated, she’d felt his readiness to die. She’d looked into his eyes a second time and seen his preparedness for sacrifice. She’d thought it was on her account. What if she’d been wrong?

  She began to pace. “Why would he want to commit suicide?”

  “Guess he had nothing to lose.”

  “Nothing.” Carly paused and looked at the happy shepherd wagging his tail. “He had him.” She pointed. “What kind of man makes his dog part of a suicide?”

  “Somebody who doesn’t like loose ends?”

  “No jokes, Jarius. I nearly died last night.”

  “I know.” He came over and gave her another bear hug. “I was scared to death when I heard. By the time I was relieved of duty and could get to the site, the overhaul crew told me you were okay and had gone home.”

  “I came here instead. Didn’t want to be alone.”

  “Makes sense.” He held her at arm’s length. “No more stupid sacrifices. Okay? You’re not trained for it. It’s over now. Put it out of your mind.”

  “Okay.” She turned to pick up more dry nuggets for the dog. Yet the more she thought, the angrier she became. “Something doesn’t make sense. There has to be more than I know.”

  He shrugged. “There’s always more.”

  That caught her attention. “What do you know?” She walked up to him, anger making her flush. “Spill it or I swear I’ll feed the cake to the dog and tell Aunt Fredda you ate it.”

  “Easy.” Jarius spoke softly and spread his arms, like a police officer showing a frightened child that he doesn’t pose a threat. “There’s been some talk about Glover ever since he and a firefighter were trapped inspecting a fire last year. The roof collapsed on them. The other guy didn’t make it. Glover took it hard. Everyone did. First responders are tighter than most families. But we thought he’d, you know, worked through it.” He wagged his head. “I guess you never can tell. They’ve kept him overnight at the hospital for observation.”

  “Which hospital?”

  “John Peter Smith. Why?”

  Her heart pounding against her ribs, Carly watched as he continued to pet the shepherd. “He tr
ied to kill his dog!”

  Suddenly all the anxiety and fear—gut-watery fear she’d been stuffing down too deep for the light of morning to reach—came roaring back into the front of her mind. She stiff-armed her cousin aside and headed for the kitchen.

  “Wait.” Jarius followed. “Where are you going?”

  Carly snatched up her purse from the kitchen table without pausing. “To meet Mr. Glover.”

  “You can’t—” He seemed to know that was a useless argument as she pushed through the back door. Instead, he went after her, the shepherd at his heels. “What about the dog? And the cake? You said you’d fix this for me.”

  She spun around. “Put the dog in the yard behind the fence. Then go to the store and buy two cans of butter cream frosting. Next go to a florist and ask for a bunch of edible flowers.”

  “What if Moms comes back before you do?”

  “She’s at the beauty salon.” She yanked open the door of her Mazda. “Then there’s her monthly luncheon bridge game. You’re safe.”

  “I forgot.” He shook his finger at her. “You played me, cuz.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Carly moved slowly down the hospital corridor, as if the sound of her footsteps were an intrusion. She’d hung around in the lobby, cooling her heels but not her temper, after being told that there was no Noah Glover listed as a patient. Then she’d spied a fireman in uniform and followed him into an elevator on a hunch. Maybe he was making a social call on Mr. Glover. Her visit would be a lot less friendly.

  “Can I help you?”

  Carly paused as a nurse stepped into her path. The fireman paused, too, to talk to someone at the nurse’s station. “I’m looking for Mr. Glover’s room.”

  The nurse’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t have anyone by that name here.”

  Thinking fast, she answered, “I know that’s not the name he’s here under. Noah called me to come over and bring his cell phone.” She unpocketed and held up her own phone as a kind of proof. “He didn’t say locating him would be an issue. We’re family.”

  The nurse’s expression soured. “Really?”

  Carly gave her a look. “You got a problem with multi-ethnic families?”

  “Of course not.” Her eyes said she just didn’t believe Carly.

  “Okay, but how am I to get Noah his phone?” No response. The nurse was well-trained. “I suppose I can call him and see if he will tell me where he is.”

  “You can do that from the lobby.”

  “Fine. But you can tell him for me that I don’t appreciate wasting my time on running errands so he can be all mysterious and paranoid.” She dialed her old Manhattan apartment and waited through the message announcing that this number was no longer in service, all the while scanning the hallway for clues.

  Finally, Carly made a face and hung up. “I’ve a million things to do beside play errand girl for Mr. Tall Dark-Hearted Attitude.”

  “He is good-looking, isn’t he?”

  Got cha! But she didn’t let on, only shrugging. “You’ll have to ask someone else. We’re cousins. Now about seeing him. Can’t I just slip him the phone? I promise not to breathe on him, or anything.”

  For the first time the nurse looked indecisive. “I’ll have to check. You stand right here while I make a call.”

  It was the call that told Carly she’d get through to her quarry. The nurse was no match for Carly Harrington-Reese on a mission. As a once up-and-coming model—read that poor and unknown—she’d learned to talk her way around bouncers and through security and into the most exclusive clubs and private parties in six different world capitals. But this time she didn’t feel good about lying. This wasn’t a party, or a game. A man had tried to commit suicide, which was sad. But how dare he burn his dog alive in the process.

  But maybe life was telling her it wasn’t her place to deliver that message.

  A woman dressed in jeans, boots, and a thick mane of blonde hair worn by only a certain breed of Texas woman, and the singer Adele, pushed open a patient’s room door at the far end of the hall. “You know how long it takes to check out of a hospital, Noah. I’m going to your place and grab some clothes. Bet I’m back before the paperwork is signed.” She let go of the door and came down the hall directly toward Carly.

  She offered Carly a big smile and a “Hi there” as she passed.

  On an impulse she couldn’t explain, Carly blurted out, “Do you know Noah Glover?”

  The woman stopped, her expression now as intimidating as the nurse’s had been. “Why?”

  Carly offered the woman her best smile. “I’m a friend.”

  The woman gave Carly an up-and-down glance, taking in every piece of clothing. “Is that so?”

  It suddenly hit Carly that she might be talking to the man’s wife. “Look, I don’t mean to intrude, but I’m the woman who found Mr. Glover unconscious just before the fire started last night.” And I want to yell at him for almost torturing his dog. But she probably shouldn’t admit that.

  The woman’s expression brightened. “You saved my brother?”

  Glover’s sister! “Yes. I was working late in my shop next door when—”

  The woman had thrown her arms around Carly and was squeezing her, hard. “Thank you. Thank you. You saved my little brother’s life.”

  She let Carly go, backing away quickly. She wiped tears from her eyes, smearing her mascara. “I’m so sorry. I don’t usually go in for big displays of emotion.”

  “That’s all right.” Carly handed her a tissue from her pocket. “He’s okay, isn’t he?”

  “Ornery as a bear with a sore tooth. But he’s fine otherwise. You go right in and introduce yourself. I’ve got a couple of errands to run.”

  “I wanted to but the nurse said—”

  “You let me handle the nurse.” She patted Carly on the arm and after giving her the number moved on down the hall toward the elevators, boot heels clacking.

  Carly didn’t even look back over her shoulder before heading toward the door. She hadn’t exactly lied about why she was here. Okay, she had. But she was compelled by a moral urgency that wouldn’t be denied.

  She knocked softly at the door. When she didn’t hear a reply, she hesitated. Maybe he had fallen asleep. Doubtful, the way his sister’s voice carried. But, just in case, she pushed the door open carefully. Despite the sunny morning outside, this room was dim. A curtain was pulled halfway around the bed to shield it from the door. “Mr. Glover?”

  “I told the last nurse I’m not giving any more blood. Go away.” That hoarse voice sounded vaguely familiar.

  Carly stepped past the curtain to look at the figure on the bed. Only he wasn’t on the bed. He must have just come out of the shower because his hair gleamed with beads of water dripping from his hair. But that wasn’t the most significant fact.

  He was naked. Standing by the bed, his back to her, with phone in hand.

  Years in the fashion industry where scads of women and men wearing nothing at all during prep backstage before a show had made her somewhat indifferent to the human body. Human coat hangers was how the models thought of themselves, to be dressed and made up and coiffed for someone else’s view.

  But this man in this setting arrested her attention. He wouldn’t have made it as a runway model. He was too muscular. Broad back, defined arms, and a tight sexy ass. He exuded a flagrant virility that would never fade into the background. That meant no fashion buyer would notice the clothing if it were on him. While she was ogling him, he half turned to her.

  “Can I help you?”

  She should have averted her gaze. That’s what people did in awkward situations. But her gaze remained long enough to notice his strong calves, hard hairy thighs, and the shadow of his package. She’d seen it all on some of the most physically–blessed people on the planet. Still, it was more than a bit impressive, that flash. Not that she was interested, or looking, or even remotely curious.

  “Who are you?”

  Without being able to s
ee them, Carly recalled his hard blue eyes and the force of his hands gripping her shoulders the night before. The rest of him hadn’t registered. Until now. No wonder she’d had the devil’s own time of it pulling him to safety. He must outweigh her by fifty pounds.

  She realized she needed to answer him, but she was still having trouble making her mouth form words.

  “If you’re looking for the visitor’s lounge, you missed it,” he said.

  Carly suddenly remembered why the room seemed so dark. She was wearing sunglasses. She reached up to lift them to her forehead.

  “I’m looking for Noah Glover.”

  He turned fully toward her, expression set in challenge. “You found him.”

  For a moment it all registered, every gloriously naked inch of him, and sensations sent a shiver through her body.

  Her physical response so surprised Carly, she gave herself a mental shake. Whoever and whatever he was, he wasn’t a nice person. In fact, his attractiveness made her even angrier. How could a man who’d been blessed with so much, or at least enough advantages to turn heads while in a hospital bed, treat his dog, an innocent creature, with such cruelty?

  Instead of ducking or reaching for the nearby bedding, he folded his arms and stood his ground, looking imposing and unapologetic. “You got something to say? Or did you just come by to get a good look at my junk?”

  Unwilling to give in, Carly took a step toward the naked man, letting anger surge through to the intimidation she felt. “I came by to see the asshole who ruined my life.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Noah didn’t know where to land his gaze. A most attractive woman had just appeared in his room after a knock. “Mr. Glover?”

  She wore a black leather jacket, the expensive light-weight kind that clung to her lithe body. Underneath it she wore some kind of sheer black T-shirt that allowed her bra to show through. More amazing were the brown leather drawstring shorts cut high up on her thighs. Underneath she wore dark stockings that seemed to have been put in a blender before she put them on. The pairing showed off a toned body and legs so long and curvy he couldn’t help staring. She should have looked ridiculous, or vulgar. What she looked was sophisticated, and scorching hot. And angry. And, unless blusher came in sepia, the flush of her bare skin was genuine.