Hell Is Burning

by Morgan Kelley

  “I wish we could bail on it,” Emma stated. “I want to work on this case. We still have to interview Liam Eckerly, the yoga instructor, who was dating Kelly Granger. I feel like we’re falling behind.”

  Yeah, so did he, but that wasn’t an option. He had to stay in the public eye, and so did Emma. This was the trouble with being ‘famous’ in Vegas.

  “Maybe he’ll be at work.”

  She wasn’t sure. If anything happened to Greyson, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to head back to work for a while. That would have to be the indicator at how attached he was to the woman he was dating.

  Then she thought about their mini-Croft.

  Yeah, he was moving on.

  “Curtis, escort the doctor in and get to work,” Greyson stated. Pulling some cash from his pocket, he handed it to the man. “We’ll have to grab food in the field. Order breakfast for you four and Steele, okay?”

  He took it. “Sure thing. Grey?” he called after him.

  When he turned, the man was staring at him. “What, son?”

  “Watch your backs. I know you’re sending us all inside where it’s safe, so be careful. I can’t lose you guys too.”

  He totally understood. “We’ll be fine. We promise. Dimitri is sneaking around somewhere. I can feel it.”

  Curtis watched them walk away, and he hoped they were right.

  His gut was stirred up, and he didn't know why. Something was coming, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  * * * Croft & Croft * * *

  It was barely five in the morning when they knocked on his door. Cops were accustomed to early morning wake up calls, so this should be nothing of a surprise to him.

  When the man finally answered, he wasn’t in the uniform of a higher ranking captain, but that of a man protecting his place. Ford was scruffy, his jeans were barely on, and he had gun in his hand.

  The second he saw it was them, he zipped up and tucked his gun into the back of his pants. There was even a faint blush to his skin.

  Honestly, Emma couldn’t help but grin. She never thought he’d be embarrassed about coming to the door half-naked. It didn't seem like something that would rile the captain up.

  He was too tough to get embarrassed.

  It looked like she found a new way to bust his ass. Since he loved doing it to her, she was building her arsenal of comebacks.

  “Come on in,” he said.

  They followed him through the door as he began the mad hunt for a shirt to pull on.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, glancing down at his watch. “I know you two aren’t coming over for coffee at this time of the morning.”

  They followed him into the living room--or what was supposed to be one.

  “We had another victim,” Greyson stated.

  Chris took a seat on in a chair and pointed toward the couch. It was apparent that he’d been sleeping in there. It made Emma wonder why.

  “Interesting place you have here,” she said. “Are you going to be a bachelor for the rest of your life?”

  “Yep. I did the marriage thing. It didn't work out. Now, I know you’re not coming by to see if I’m sleeping with someone, so what do you really want? You could have texted me that we had another victim.”

  “True,” Greyson stated. “I need a favor.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Well then, it must not require money. If it does, you’re sadly misinformed.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, not quite. We haven’t burned through the rest yet.”

  “Good, because you own this building, and I don’t really think I should have to give you money twice.”

  Emma laughed. “We own this too? Christ, I hate this. What the hell don’t we own?”

  No one seemed to be able to answer her. In fact, Greyson looked just as horrified.

  “The favor?” Chris urged.

  “It’s related to Brynn’s murder. We know that the commissioner has some pull.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “We need to use that.”

  “What, and how bad is it going to hurt when I bend over to take one for the team?”

  “Not too bad, I hope,” Greyson stated. “He’s in with the big wigs in town.”

  “Yeah, he’s golfing with all of them but you, my friend. He’s trying to figure out how to get the billionaire Crofts on his socializing list. He’s asked me a few times if we ‘hung out’.”

  “And you said?” Emma asked.

  “No.”

  “That’s a lie,” she stated.

  “I’m well aware that it is.”

  Immediately, Emma assumed the worst. “Are you ashamed to have your name tied to two dirty cops?” It hurt that she had to even ask that of him. They’d been through a lot. She’d had him at her back when she’d gone through doors. Emma believed they were past this.

  He stared at her like she was crazy. “Did you hit your damn head, Detective? I didn't tell him yes because you’re my friends. I don’t want him using me to get to you. As far as he knows, we’re work associates and that’s it. I value my personal life, since it’s the only normal thing I have left.”

  Emma apologized. “I’m sorry, Chris. It’s been a long couple of days. I didn't mean to pin that to you. I’m running on no sleep.”

  He understood. “It’s okay, Emma. I know you two are burning the candle at both ends. Now what do you specifically need, Greyson?”

  “We have a reporter who has a source. That’s the only tie to who killed Brynn. Is there any way you can help me get him to use his influence to get it out of the newspaper staff?”

  He thought about it.

  “Yeah, I can do that. Tonight, I’ll introduce you. You can play it up.”

  Greyson went to say thank you, but the man stopped him.

  “You don’t owe me anything. Just have my landlord fix the lights outside this building. Someone’s going to get jumped one day, and I’m not that hard up for action.”

  “Why the hell are you living here?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Uh, I don’t make that much more than you do, Emma. I’m only a captain. I took a big pay cut to come back to our department. I think you’ve forgotten how expensive Vegas is, and how poorly the public servants are paid.”

  Yeah, she had.

  They needed to do something about that.

  “Can you head over to our place tonight?” Greyson asked. “We’ll take the limo from there. Bring a change of clothes. We can work out of our house tomorrow morning. We have a wedding to attend.”

  “Who’s getting hitched?” he asked.

  “My profiler and my agent are. We promised to be their best man and matron of honor at the courthouse.”

  “All this love in the air--I hope it’s not contagious,” he teased.

  Emma didn't buy it for a second. She could see it in his eyes. “Well, then we’ll see you at our place at six. We like to make an entrance.”

  “Are you going to be carrying?” Chris asked Emma’s husband.

  He simply laughed.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because guns aren’t allowed, and I was trying to figure out a way to slip you and a firearm close to the commissioner.”

  “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

  “Yeah, I’m good at figuring out impossible things. That’s why they pay me the big money,” he teased.

  “Well, my problem is just as big.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I’m going to try and figure out how to get Emma in body armor.”

  She stared at him. “Greyson, it’s a strapless dress. We discussed this. I can’t wear Kevlar!”

  Yeah, he’d heard her the first time, but that didn't mean he wasn’t going to try. “It’ll make a lovely wrap.”

  She was horrified.

  Saying goodbye, Greyson pulled her outside. It pleased him that their vehicle was still there and intact.

  “I need money--and a shitload of it too,” she stated. />
  He glanced over at her. “First, why are you asking me? Take out whatever you need. Secondly, why do you need aforementioned shitload of greenbacks?”

  “I want to buy a condo.”

  “We have one that we’re giving away. Why do we need another?”

  “We need to move the captain out of the slum and into a place where he won’t get car jacked walking to his truck.”

  He was well aware. “He’s not going to just do this because we want him to, Emma. Men have egos. Chris is pretty hardcore when it comes to being masculine. He had neon beer signs in his living room. I’m afraid redneck might win in this tug-o-war.”

  “He’s part of our circle, right?”

  He nodded. “Of course he is. He’s family.”

  “Then he’s a target too. Not only from this asshole tagging you, but also Marianna. He’s calm now, but who knows what’s going to happen in the near future. I don’t think the mob boss is going to take us running ‘his’ city lightly.”

  Greyson stared at her.

  “He could make a move on him. Here, he’s a sitting duck. We have to take care of it. We need to be proactive and cover all our bases. I don’t want to bury any more people, Grey. I don’t have it in me.”

  Still, he didn't say anything.

  “Please, Grey? What’s the point of having all this money, if we can’t share it with the people we love?”

  “I’ll handle it, but if he protests, that’s on you. I like banging my head against a brick wall as much as the next guy, but your captain is as stubborn as a mule. If he’s anything like I think he is, this is going to be a point of contention.”

  Emma knew she could handle it.

  She and Chris worked well together, and there was a direct line to his sensibility. “Can you make it happen by tonight, or is that asking way too much?”

  He laughed. “Emma, I’m not a freaking miracle worker. It takes time to buy a place, even if you have more money than God.”

  “If you pull it off, there’s really hot, raunchy sex in our secret room. I mean full-blown, ‘tie me up and get your Croft on’, sex.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  “I like getting dirty with my husband, so you get it regardless, but by helping me, you have the satisfaction of knowing we might have saved his life.”

  Okay, he liked those odds, and he really did like the man she served under. Chris Ford was a decent guy.

  “I’ll try.”

  “What was that?” she teased.

  “I said, I’ll make it happen.”

  “There’s that sexy man I have complete faith in when it comes to short deadlines.”

  “You drive. I have some calls to make.”

  Emma gave him a kiss. “I knew I loved you.”

  “Yeah, well be prepared to say it with lots and lots of kink.”

  Oh, she’d come through, and her sexy husband was going to enjoy every second of it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Saturday Morning

  FBI Las Vegas

  In the conference room, they were taking a short breakfast break, and it was well deserved. Paris and Tessa had been up most of the night working on linking the women together, and when they did sleep, it was on an uncomfortably small couch.

  It was unpleasant, despite the fact they were together. Sleep was still a luxury to every Fed and cop, and they knew it.

  As they ate out of foam containers, Mace wanted to get to know them better. Since Emma was his partner, and she often worked with this particular group of people, he wanted to fit in.

  He genuinely liked them.

  They weren’t phony, and they said what they meant. That was a big plus for him.

  “How are you two doing?” he asked.

  “With work or our personal lives?” Paris inquired.

  “I was thinking we could shut down the work for a few minutes, so I was talking life outside the FBI.”

  “We’re getting married tomorrow.”

  Mace smiled. “Well congrats to you both. I hope you have a really great life together.”

  “We do to. Have any advice?” Tessa asked.

  “Yeah, don’t cheat on your husband,” Mace said laughing.

  “Amen,” Curtis stated, eating a piece of toast. “That usually kills it.”

  Tessa leaned in to kiss her fiancé. “It’s never going to happen. I’ve found my other half.”

  Paris grinned. “Yeah, you have, Tessie, my sweet.”

  If they weren’t his friends, Curtis would have rolled his eyes. Instead, he let their love reassure him. That could be out there for him.

  He only had to be patient--unlike before.

  “You two will be fine,” Curtis admitted. “You can see it in everything you do. It’s sweet.”

  Tessa glanced over. She knew how painful that had to be for Curtis. “Thanks, partner.”

  He ate more toast.

  Mace focused on him, flipping his long braid over his shoulder. “So, Curtis, it’s been a rough one. How are you really doing?”

  He shrugged.

  Mace knew he’d need to give some information to get some, so he shared his own past. “My wife cheated on me too, only she didn't die. What she did was take my kids hundreds of miles away to marry some asshole who promised her a better life.”

  Curtis stared at him. “That had to hurt.”

  “Yeah, I lost my children, lost a marriage I thought was fine, and now I pay out half my paycheck each week in child support and can’t see my children.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Cops are tough people to marry.” He glanced over at Tessa and Paris. “You’re both in law enforcement, so you’ll have it easier. Look at the Crofts. They pull it off.”

  Curtis didn't buy that. “Brynn was a cop. That went sideways real fast.”

  He patted the man’s shoulder in sympathy.

  “Can I ask you something?” Curtis trusted the Feds in the room, and because Mace was Emma’s partner, he had to be a good guy.

  “Sure. Shoot.”

  “Do you ever get over it?”

  “The betrayal?”

  “Yeah, it’s a bitch.”

  “Honestly, it’s going to be with you a long time. When someone betrays you, it’s hard to let it go.”

  Paris spoke up, “You’ll find a way past it, Curtis. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” He pointed to his wheel chair.

  Tessa agreed. “She’s out there. Maybe Brynn wasn’t the one for you.”

  He was beginning to believe that all the way to what was left of his heart. He kept picturing Katerina, and it wasn’t easy to focus.

  Curtis glanced over at Mace, needing to know. “This is awkward, but how long until you were back in the game?”

  Mace thought about it.

  Curtis wasn’t sure what the man was going to say. What he wanted to do was admit that he’d been kissed, and it made him feel again.

  But then he’d feel like a dick.

  Brynn wasn’t even in a grave…

  Then again, for once, it might be nice to be pursued, instead of doing the chasing.

  “I think I started noticing the opposite sex again after a few weeks. I started dating about three months after my wife left. I might have started earlier, but I was focused on my kids. I really missed them. Her, well, I can live without.”

  Curtis appreciated Mace being so forthright with him. This was exactly what he needed. This talk was helping him work around the obstacles Brynn had thrown up in his life.

  “Why do you ask, Curtis?”

  “No reason.”

  He started to flush red.

  “Hey, you can tell us anything,” Tessa stated. “We have your back. No one here wants to hurt you. We want to get you back on your feet. I like having you as my partner.”

  Paris agreed. “I can do my job because I trust Tessie with you. I know you’ll have her back.”

  He thought about it.

  “Is it weird that I think I met someone?”
r />   They thought about it.

  “No,” they all said together.

  Mace agreed. “We all heal differently. You might have been meant to meet her at this time. You know…so you can heal.”

  “But Brynn…”

  Mace put his hand on his shoulder. “I liked Brynn, but honestly, she wasn’t the woman for you, Curtis. You may have to realize that. She wanted the captain bars more than anything, and she was ruthless.”

  Yeah he was well aware.

  “If you think you met someone already, there’s your answer. Your heart is telling you what your brain isn't getting yet. Always listen to your gut.”

  They all agreed.

  “I really appreciate this,” he stated. While he was intrigued with Katerina, he wasn’t rushing into anything, and he was never getting shitfaced drunk around her.

  That was for damn sure.

  A tablet beeped.

  “The data is coming in,” Paris said. “We need to get back on it. Emma and Greyson will be heading in soon, and they’re going to want everything we found.”

  They all knew that was true. This late in the game, they didn't have time to screw around.

  Not with the bosses.

  That was just a dangerous thing to do.

  * * * Croft & Croft * * *

  Body and Soul Gym

  Eight A.M.

  Sitting in their vehicle, Emma and Greyson watched the people stream into the gym. Apparently, this was prime time to work out--right before work.

  Emma was taking pictures of people entering and exiting the building, in hopes that if her team found anything, they could cross compare them to the data.

  She was hoping for a miracle at this point.

  “I’m glad our house has a gym,” she stated, pointing at the throng of people.

  “Yeah, I don’t like sharing my equipment. Gyms are dirtier than public bathrooms,” Greyson stated.

  “Yeah, I work with dirty detectives. I was thinking about something far worse. I just don’t like my husband checking out all the little tartlets in skimpy workout gear.”